Medford Township Mayor Chris Myers addressed the public at a recent special council meeting regarding the scandal in which he is embroiled.
Sometime in October, a man claiming to be a male escort posted a photo of what appears to be Myers in his underwear and also stated he has a photo of the mayor’s ID card. The photos were posted anonymously on a website that is no longer available.
The anonymous person also said Myers paid him $500 for sex in October 2010 at a hotel in California. He said he publicized the photos because the mayor welched on promises made.
“The Burlington County Times” broke the story.
“I deny the allegations,” Myers said. “Anyone can do what they want anonymously on the Internet.”
He then said he would make no further comments.
The scandal has been fodder for the likes of Jay Leno and Keith Olbermann on the national stage as well as internationally.
Fellow council member Bob Martin said he thinks the situation is “terrible” for Myers’s wife and children.
“You just don’t know whether it’s true or not,” Martin said. “His personal life is his personal life.”
While he said he would never ask Myers to resign and that the scandal has not changed his view of the mayor, Martin recognizes what it does to the perception of the town.
“Any kind of thing that puts a black mark on a council member affects the township because we are the township,” he said.
Glenn Lawless owns Main Street Vacuum Center on Main Street.
“I think it’s appalling,” Lawless said. “It gives the town a bad name, it’s a smear on the township of Medford.”
He said he feels politicians think they can get away with anything but ultimately almost always get caught.
“When they do I think they should just resign from their positions,” Lawless said. “It’s bad for business, bad for the community.”
Deputy Mayor Mark Sander said he does not think the mayor should resign.
“I understand that he’s denied the charges against him and I believe him,” Sander said.
Council Member David Brown agreed.
“He’s denied it,” Brown said. “I believe him.”
Brown said he has no idea why someone would want to smear the mayor but said it happens all the time to people in public office.
Council member Dominic Grosso had no comment on the subject.
Republican candidate for council James “Randy” Pace called the scandal “an unfortunate situation” and asked that people pray for mayor and his family.
“I wouldn’t like to see Mr. Myers resign because of an allegation,” Pace said. “The financial condition we’re in I think says a whole lot more about Mr. Myers than any scandal.”
Independent candidate for council George Youngkin said he would not comment on the mayor’s personal life.
Donna Symons, a 28 year resident of Medford called Myers’s comments “ridiculous.
“I think that he’s being a poor role model in the way he is responding to the allegations and should resign in the best interest of the community,” Symons said, noting her perception of the mayor has been altered. “We should be looking up to our mayor as a respected authority figure and at this point he’s lost the confidence of the majority of residents.”
Christine Balentine, a Medford resident for 26 years, thinks Myers called the special meeting to have a large audience to proclaim his innocence and to change focus from scandal to Medford Crossings.
“If they’re not true, then why isn’t he making every effort to find out? It makes no sense to me,” Balentine said. “If you’re a victim, why aren’t you trying to clear your name?”
She said Myers should “absolutely” resign.
