School Board Member From Monmouth County Apologizes In Wake Of Facebook Controversy

The vice-president of the Marlboro school board, who apparently “liked” a Facebook post that used a Muslim slur, has expressed regret and said she did not mean to be offensive, according to the website, Jersey Shore Insider.

Victoria Dean read a statement at the start of the Marlboro Board of Education meeting Tuesday, where more than 300 people were in the audience, many of them calling for her resignation, the website reported.

Dean said she often “likes” friends’ comments without paying much attention to their contents, the website said.

Dean and and the mayor of Union Beach came under fire earlier this week in connection with separate Facebook posts.

The details of both posts were first reported by Jersey Shore Insider.

Dean posted an article to her Facebook page last month about the New York City school district’s plan to start observing Muslim holidays. She wrote “Pandora’s box opened,” and then apparently liked a comment that used a slur to describe President Barack Obama, according to published reports.

She said she had no ill intent, and was making a reference to her own previous vote against her district observing Chinese New Year, according to the Asbury Park Press. According to the Press, she said:

“Maybe I shouldn’t have used Pandora’s Box. But it wasn’t stated to let the evil out. I meant it like opening a can of worms. ...When you open it up, you can’t discriminate against people who say that they want this day off and that day off.’’

A well-known Monmouth County resident of the Muslim faith has also called for her resignation. On his own Facebook page, Sami H. Elmansoury, of Marlboro, who has written about religious tolerance, wrote:

“This could happen anywhere, in any township across the nation, and against any community, so it is critical to not leave these actions unchecked, setting terrible precedent that they will be tolerated from those elected to represent us and our children.”

Dean is married to the Marlboro Republican Municipal Chair Chris Dean.

In other incident, the Republican mayor of Union Beach, Paul Smith, posted a photo on his own Facebook page that described President Obama as a “Communist, a Muslim, and an illegal alien.”

The chairman of the Monmouth County Democratic Party, Vin Gopal, is calling for Smith’s resignation, the Asbury Park Press reported.

“His comments show a complete lack of respect for the people of Monmouth County and for the President of this country,” he told the Press. “They are beneath the office he holds and undermine our confidence in his ability to fairly represent people of different ethnic and religious backgrounds.”

Smith told the Asbury Park Press that the post was a joke and both Gopal and the website that first reported on it owe him an apology.