Grasso 'Flattered' by @notjohngrasso Twitter Account

Last Wednesday morning I awoke to an email alert telling me that John J. Grasso now was following me on Twitter.

"Really?" I thought. Twitter didn't seem to be the Glen Burnie county councilman's style.

I logged into my account to see that I was right—it in fact wasn't Grasso. It was someone who'd created an account with the Twitter handle @notjohngrasso that was—for lack of a better term—mocking him.

So, of course, I gave the District 2 councilman a call to find out what he thought about the whole thing.

"That just means that I've drawn somebody's attention ... Personally, I'm flattered because they know my name," he said Tuesday, noting he wasn't aware of the account before we spoke. "I could care less. There are going to be people mocking me. But if you've got any balls, call me up and tell me to my face—you don't even have to tell me to my face. Call me up on the phone and tell me what you think.

"Instead of being a man or a woman and calling me directly they hide behind an email address or Twitter account ... That's a coward," he said.

As of Tuesday afternoon, @notjohngrasso had very few followers—most of them journalists, including myself—and had only sent a handful of Tweets, including one stating "R15 can only mean one thing. Tenants. And tenants can mean just one thing. Crime. You heard right: renters are criminals."

Grasso laughed when I read the Tweet to him.

"I've never said that. I make some strong statements but I've never said that. Tenants aren't criminals," he said.

He welcomed a challenge from any of his opponents.

"I always say: if anybody thinks they can do a better job than John Grasso, they need to roll up their sleeves, raise the money and run [for office]," he said.

But he added that he welcomed any criticism he received.

"When people criticize me, good. That's how you learn. From constructive criticism," Grasso said.