Monday, August 08, 2011

Magazzu resignation shows power of local bloggers

This is an excerpt from the Press of Atlantic City article regarding the resignation of Lou Magazzu, which can be read in its entirety here.

Small Political sites are designed to maintain a focus on local issues or politicians.



But where once they could get the word out only
through fliers or newsletters, today they have the
Internet. One such local legend was Larry Angel, of
Mullica Township — who was such a prolific poster
on his gadfly01 website that his last post on how to
save money on police enforcement was put up less
than two hours before he died of a heart attack in
2008.

Angel may have gained his greatest notoriety when he
filed a municipal complaint against Gov. Jon S.
Corzine for not wearing a seat belt when the State
Police-driven SUV he was riding in crashed on the
Garden State Parkway — he later withdrew it after
Corzine paid the $46 fine — but his greatest impact
may have been in the legal sphere.

In 2005, a judge dismissed several defamation
lawsuits against Angel by several former Mullica
Township officials. Although Angel described people
by such names as “The Mullah,” “The Bag Lady” and
“The Auto Insurance Fraud Queen of Atlantic County,”
Atlantic County Superior Court Judge Carol E. Higbee
ruled that his words were in fact protected speech
under the First Amendment. None of the complaints
had merit, Higbee ruled.

“The whole thing has been an abuse of the court
system,” Angel said at the time.

Anon

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am so grateful that all of Larry's blogs are preserved here! There is so much history with the past administrations that should never be forgotten.
Thank goodness that we still have "The Gadfly" and the new Mullica Tax Force to watch what's going on.
I certainly miss Larry and know he would be writing some of his best, funniest and most critical work if he was here right now.

Anonymous said...

I miss Larry too.
At times his blog was too personal, hurtful and over the top but he was a valuable asset to our community nonetheless, in keeping us informed on the issues in Mullica and on the secret deals and ineptitude of our local, closed-door government that the Press never was.

Anonymous said...

At least the archives are still here and the site is being kept up with town events.

As for keeping up with the tax issues of the town, Mike St. Amour is doing a good job keeping an eye on things and posting, without all the name calling and negativity, on Mullica Tax Force much to the chagrin of some.

Anonymous said...

Let's hope that the three "former township officials" mentioned in the article never sit on council again; alas, my bet is that they still have influence over the current council.

Kip said...

Larry Angel was a true American Patriot. I miss his postings.

Anonymous said...

I agree with 3:14... Larry was a good man & he care about what was right..