By Doug Miller
During his endorsement interview with the Herald's editorial board on Oct. 14, Ellmer said of Tangney, "I think [the City Council] is the type of job where you'd better be physically and emotionally ready for a lot of work and a lot of pressure. I'm not sure she can physically handle it." The comments appeared at the end of an article in the Herald's Oct. 20 issue.
In a letter faxed to the Herald on Tuesday morning, Ellmer wrote, "I deeply regret making those comments and apologize for any hurt my words caused Denise Tangney and her family."
Tangney was severely injured July 3 in a car crash caused by a drunk driver that claimed the life of her granddaughter, Katherine Marie Flynn, a 7-year-old Long Beach Catholic Regional School student. She elected to stay in the City Council race after the crash, and until Ellmer's remark the topic had not been broached by either side during the campaign.
On Tuesday night, the Long Beach Democratic chairman, Joshua Ketover, sent a statement to the Herald calling on Ellmer to withdraw from the race. "I and the other Democratic candidates are calling on the GOP to disavow Ray Ellmer's candidacy," Ketover wrote. "It is hard to believe he would bring the Tangney family's tragedy into this race. It's deplorable, and if he doesn't step down voluntarily, the GOP should force him to step down."
In the same statement, Tangney said: "Ray should not have brought this up. It's really a cheap shot. My family's tragedy has not stopped me from pursuing what I believe is right and talking about the issues that are on the minds of Long Beach residents. ... Either Ray was foolish enough to say this on his own or the Republican leadership put him up to it. In either case, the Republicans in Long Beach should be embarrassed by their party leaders."
Ellmer is one of three Republican candidates vying for three openings on the Long Beach City Council in the Nov. 8 election, along with Valerie Buscemi and incumbent Mona Goodman. Tangney is running on the same ticket as incumbent Democrat Leonard G. Remo and Robert Tepper.
GOP Leader Jim Moriarty dismissed Ketover's demand, and said that while Ellmer made a mistake, his apology should be accepted. He also accused Ketover of hypocrisy, claiming that Ellmer's statement was no worse than what Democratic county Legislature candidate Robert Solomon said about his opponent, Legislator Denise Ford, in the same issue of the Herald.
"Mr. Ellmer has never made Denise Tangney's physical abilities an issue in this campaign, and he made an error in judgment in his comments to the Herald," Moriarty said Tuesday night. "He expressed his regrets to her personally within 24 hours of the article appearing and wrote a letter to the editor of the Herald apologizing.
"Mr. Ketover should know that people make mistakes," Moriarty continued. "I assume that is why he only criticized Mr. Ellmer's comments, while ignoring the demeaning and derogatory statements about Denise Ford's personal tragedy made by Solomon in the same issue of the Herald. Everyone should take a step back and realize people can make mistakes with their words in the heat of the campaign. Let's get back to talking about the issues that matter to the voters."
Ford's husband, Harry, was a New York City firefighter who was killed in the line of duty in June 2001, two years before she was elected in November 2003.
In his endorsement interview with the Herald's editorial board on Oct. 7, Solomon said of Ford, "She suffered a terrible tragedy and she got into office, I'm sure, because people felt a connection to her. But you shouldn't get to stay in office unless you do something while you're there. ... There is a disingenuousness about her, regardless of how appealing she is on the surface because of her story."
Meanwhile, Moriarty claimed that Ellmer approached Tangney at the Long Beach Catholic Regional School's fund-raising Crystal Ball Saturday night and apologized to her. Tangney said that Ellmer had "mumbled" an apology, but since she hadn't at that point seen the article, she was not clear what he was apologizing for.
Comments about this story? DMiller@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 213.
