cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/27111902

Robert Ehrlich was “falsely asserting his authority as mayor, demanding access to office space, and declaring that the entire Village staff was fired," said officials in Sea Cliff, New York.

The founder of Pirate’s Booty Snacks lost his chaotic bid for mayor of a tiny New York community after he claimed he was the village leader and had the authority to replace the entire local government, officials said Thursday.

Elena Villafane, the incumbent mayor of Sea Cliff, defeated Pirate’s Booty Snacks founder Robert Ehrlich, 1,064-62, on Tuesday in the village, which is about 26 miles northwest of midtown Manhattan.

Villafane had been running unopposed for her third two-year term when Ehrlich jumped into the fray a week ago Monday.

That's when Ehrlich went to Village Hall and "presented a statement falsely asserting his authority as mayor, demanding access to office space, and declaring that the entire Village staff was fired effective immediately but could reapply for their jobs," the village said in a statement.

"While Village staff remained calm and professional throughout the incident, Ehrlich and his associates raised their voices, used profane language, made outlandish claims, and engaged in direct harassment of Village personnel," the statement said. "Despite multiple requests to leave, they refused, creating a hostile and disruptive environment that required police intervention."

The brazen assertions stunned village officials who said they'd never seen or heard from Ehrlich before in any civic context.