Aldo DiCarlo admitted he has faced a lot of criticism over the years, but the vandals who slashed the tires on two vehicles in his driveway have gone too far.
"It's that violation of privacy," he said. "So, when you wake up and you realize that somebody has trespassed, left you with that, it really puts the family in a bad state of mind."
Police are investigating after the incident sometime late Friday night or early Saturday morning.
"Saturday morning, my wife and I went out to just go for a morning drive, and we noticed the flat tire. Then as I went to go get the air, I noticed another flat tire," explained DiCarlo. "I walked around the car and realized that all four tires were flat -- they had all been punctured in the sidewalls."
Whoever was responsible also ruined the tires on his daughter, Emily's car.
DiCarlo told BlackburnNews.com he can take the online vitriol. It comes with the job, but involving his family is another matter.
"It hasn't been proven, but with everything going on, you've gotta believe it's probably politically motivated," he said. "My family, up until now, has always respected the political role and all the politics that come with it. They've never engaged in any of it -- now, you know, they've been dragged into it as well. It's really sad."
In a Facebook post, his daughter wrote, "This wasn't some kid saying, 'let's slash some tires.' Our house was the only one targeted. This was an adult who said, 'let's slash the mayor's tires.'"
Her comment continued, "I don't care what your political opinions are. To make an entire household feel unsafe, and to destroy the property of someone just because you don't like what he's doing in office is absurd."
DiCarlo admitted criticism is an ongoing annoyance starting when he was first elected mayor.
"It's not just agreements to disagree or just constructive criticism," he explained. "There's some pretty vitriolic statements out there. There's some real personal comments about myself, some real borderline threats out there, and even comments that are libel."
Councillor Don McArthur condemned the vandalism during Monday night's town council meeting calling it "garbage."
The act comes as public officials, partisan and non-partisan, face ongoing hateful comments, threats, and libel on social media.
DiCarlo still is not sure how much it will cost to fix the tires. The vehicles are still in the shop.
