Charles Wasko, a white, Republican mayor of a Pennsylvania borough 100 miles west of Philadelphia, resigned Monday after he caused an uproar by posting racist comments on Facebook.
Wasko was censured by the borough council last week for posting the racist material, but the council did not have the authority to remove him from office. The vote to accept his subsequent resignation was unanimous Monday, according to The Associated Press.
Wasko posted numerous racist pictures and messages on his Facebook page, including one in which a wagon full of orangutans was captioned “moving day at the White House.” Lynching was mentioned in another message.
Wasko admitted in a radio interview that he posted the racist material. “The racist stuff, yeah. I’ll admit I did that, and I don’t care what people label me as.” He also said in the interview that he didn’t regret his comments about President Barack Obama and his family, the AP reported.
The former mayor claims the council wanted him out because of a dispute over the police chief of the 4,500-resident town and that the Facebook posts were just an excuse to get rid of him. He offered to resign if the previous chief was reinstated, but the council chose to accept his resignation even though they did not reinstate the former police chief.
“Our chief is still the chief,” new mayor and Democrat Shawn Mauck told the AP.
About Wasko’s resignation, Mauck said, “I think Mayor Wasko missed a golden opportunity. He could have come out and apologized, and that would have been a signature move forward.”
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