Pittsburgh-area councilman under scrutiny over social media posts
EMSWORTH, Pa. (KDKA) — An Emsworth Borough Council member says there's no chance he'll resign no matter what people think about what he's posting on Facebook.
At a heated Emsworth Borough Council meeting on Wednesday, many people condemned Daniel Lenz's incendiary Facebook posts. He is the council's vice president.
"Where is the outrage over what this man said?" one person said.
"I've never been embarrassed to be part of this community, but today I am," another person said.
In the posts, Lenz admitted to hating President Joe Biden, calling him "Hitler Joe," and his supporters, which he calls "Demo-rats." He also wrote hateful things about drag queens and used the "R-word."
"I have never seen such a witch hunt in all the years I attended meetings as this one tonight," said Deborah Lenz, Daniel Lenz's wife.
Councilperson Kevin Yurkovich's motion to remove Daniel Lenz as vice president on Wednesday failed 4 to 3.
"I refuse to be on a board where somebody condones that," Yurkovich said.
Yurkovich, Abby Donovan and Mike Mary withdrew from the meeting and stood with the public as the meeting went on. KDKA-TV asked the mayor and new borough council president about Daniel Lenz's posts after the meeting.
"I don't agree with them," Emsworth Borough Council President Bill Bauer said.
When asked if Daniel Lenz should resign, Bauer said, "That's a personal choice."
When KDKA-TV asked Mayor Alexander Nalevanko if he condemns Daniel Lenz's posts, he said, "I'm not going to play that game."
"Mr. Lenz has been doing this job for 20 years, and he is the most seasoned, experienced person on the job," the mayor added.
Daniel Lenz called the whole thing sour grapes since Yurkovich isn't council president anymore.
"I'm not resigning. I appreciate the people coming tonight and making their comments. That's their constitutional right," Daniel Lenz said. "I could have critiqued my words better."
KDKA-TV's Jennifer Borrasso: "How?"
Dan Lenz: "Kept some of the explicit words out of it. And I apologize for that. Am I going to stop going to make comments? No."
KDKA-TV asked Yurkovich about what the next steps are. He plans to keep trying to remove Daniel Lenz as vice president at every meeting. Daniel Lenz is in the middle of a term that expires in two years.
