NJ Zoning Board Member Who Threatened To Call ICE On Tree Workers Resigns

OLD BRIDGE, NJ — An appointed member of the Old Bridge Zoning Board who threatened to call Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Spanish-speaking tree workers has now resigned.

The Old Bridge Town Council accepted the resignation of Patricia Testaverde at their Tuesday night meeting, April 28.

This happened Nov. 5: Testaverde admitted she did indeed threaten to call ICE on the tree workers that day because they were blocking her driveway, and she was expecting contractors to do a bathroom remodel. The tree workers called their boss, who called Old Bridge Police. Testaverde's remarks were captured on the officers' body camera.

"Illegal alien f—; I said I'm gonna call ICE on you," she told the officers, in part.

Here is the full, 15-minute body camera footage.

Testaverde said Friday she is the victim of political retaliation.

"No one asked me to resign (from the Zoning Board)," she said. "I have medical issues from 9/11 and last September I asked them to find a replacement for me."

"I am so sorry I didn't get pictures of that truck blocking my driveway for 50 minutes," she said sarcastically. "I was a victim that day."

After video of her remarks surfaced, three Old Bridge Council members said they want Testaverde immediately removed from the town's Zoning Board. They are Councilman Mark Razzoli, a Republican, and Councilmen David Merwin and Kiran Desai. Merwin and Desai are the only two Democrats on the Republican-majority Old Bridge Council.

"This is a black eye to the Township of Old Bridge. It was disgusting," Merwin said in March. "Is this how we expect our Board members to represent themselves, and the Township? As a board member, you are representing the many cultures of Old Bridge Township, and she did not represent us well."

Testaverde was appointed to the Old Bridge Zoning Board in 2022 by former Old Bridge Mayor Owen Henry, a Republican. Her appointment was re-affirmed last year under current Old Bridge Mayor Debbie Walker, also a Republican.

This is not the first time a member of Old Bridge local government stepped down:

In November, Doreen Chevalier gave up her three seats on the Old Bridge Zoning Board, Environmental Commission and Open Space Committee after she responded to a Facebook post from a woman seeking affordable housing that she "shouldn't have had five children" and "should have used birth control like anyone else."

Chevalier resigned, and Mayor Walker apologized for her comments.

Then, Old Bridge Council vice president Anita Greenberg-Belli, Republican, made headlines in February when she defended ICE at an Old Bridge Council meeting, and asked people to stop comparing ICE to Nazis.

Prior reporting on this:

Old Bridge Zoning Board Member Threatened To Call ICE On Tree Workers (March 4)

Old Bridge Zoning Board Member Who Threatened To Call ICE On Tree Workers Should Be Fired, 3 Council Reps Say (March 5)