‘I call bulls–t’: Laketown officials spar over campaign messaging
Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to include a statement from Jim Delaney.
LAKETOWN TWP. — Laketown Township’s manager and a current trustee running for township clerk are at odds over the latter’s campaign messaging.
Manager Al Meshkin, who is set to retire in December after 35 years, took issue with claims made by Jim Delaney in his election mailers. Meshkin sent an email sent to Delaney and a reporter at The Sentinel on Saturday, July 27.
In his email, which had a subject line of “I call bullsh–t,” Meshkin disagreed with Delaney's claim that: "As a candidate for (clerk), I bring a wealth of knowledge and experience, working closely with the assistant clerk and treasurer to authorize checks and ensure smooth, accurate elections.”
“Why do you spread lies like this?" Meshkin wrote in his email. "You, who always demands transparency? When have you ever even spoke more than five words with either deputy clerk? You know you haven't. You know absolutely nothing about the election process. What do you have a wealth of knowledge and experience in? It certainly isn't governance. You should be ashamed for mailing this kind of bullsh–t."
Delaney replied Saturday, telling Meshkin to “get your facts straight.”
“I don’t need to respond to you about anything," he wrote. "This has already been addressed online. The likes of you should not even be talking to me about this. Get your facts straight before you attack me.
"You should be ashamed of sending an email to me like this. Stop it, Al. Quit. Using (township) resources against people you disagree with. Not a good look for you. I guess you don’t have access to any of the emails that address this.”
The emails did not come from the officials’ Laketown Township accounts.
Meshkin doubled down on his comments in a subsequent interview with The Sentinel on Monday.
“Someone showed (the mailer) to me and I went, ‘That’s not true.' He’s running for clerk and he has no experience at it whatsoever and he has no ability to do the job. It’s a tough job. He’s misleading the residents, that’s why I had to speak out.
“You saw his response, that’s more bulls–t. Whatever. I called him out, I did what I think I had to do.”
Delaney, for his part, said there was no intention to mislead anyone. He emailed a statement to The Sentinel late Tuesday, saying the section of his campaign messaging Meshkin had an issue with was a typo.
“I did address my error on our local residents' Facebook page,” he wrote. “I advised that the word ‘will’ was unintentionally left out. I do not work with either the treasurer or assistant clerk. I meant to say I ‘will’ work with them.”
Delaney said he was “repulsed” by Meshkin’s email.
“The only people who it seems to have been offended are those who are campaigning against me,” Delaney wrote. “I am repulsed by the aggressive and expletive email I received from Al Meshkin, an employee of the township, who does not reside in the township.”
Despite the tension, Meshkin said he doesn’t expect any difficulties working with Delaney for the rest of the year.
“He’s a big boy, so am I,” he said. “If we can’t throw a jab at each other once and a while and call bulls–t, well then we shouldn’t be doing the job.”
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Delaney was elected trustee in November 2020. He is challenging incumbent and fellow Republican Amber Davis for the role of clerk on Aug. 6. Delaney was on the board that appointed Davis to her seat in Sept. 2022, but voted against her selection.
There are no Democrats filed in the race.
— Contact reporter Mitchell Boatman at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Laketown officials argue over campaign messaging in mailer
