Controversial social posts land firefighter, DPW worker in hot water

An Orange County firefighter and a Department of Public Works employee in Port Jervis are being called out for controversial and lewd remarks on social media toward a government official.

News 12 Staff

Dec 28, 2018, 10:15 PM

Updated 1,954 days ago

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An Orange County firefighter and a Department of Public Works employee in Port Jervis are being called out for controversial and lewd remarks on social media toward a government official.
One remark questioned the immigration status of American-Columbian Orange County Legislator Kevin Luján. Another lewdly referenced his mother.
The comments were made on a Facebook thread about the proposed plastic bag ban.
Terri Blancato was following the post when she saw the comments by Maybrook firefighter Tommy Starro and George Busch, a DPW worker, and clicked on their profiles.
Both Maybrook and Port Jervis officials told News12 that they have zero tolerance for this type of behavior and are deeply disappointed by the remarks made. They said that disciplinary action either has or will be taken against the men.
News 12 reached out to them on social media. Starro responded saying his comments were taken out of context and were written as a joke.
Legislator Luján says the remarks speak to a larger issue of racism in the country. He hopes the incident serves to show it won't be tolerated in the community.
Officials say they're looking into whether the remarks violate the municipalities' social media policies and that both men have been told to remove their affiliations with Port Jervis and Maybrook from their Facebook profiles.


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