Ethics Board Dismisses Claim

The Ethical Standards Board, in a special meeting Wednesday night, voted  5-0 to dismiss a complaint of conflict of interest lodged against a council member.

“It is appropriate to dismiss the complaint as it lacks factual basis,” said board member Dan Posternock.

The complaint, based on an vote by council to use up to $217,845 in for engineering, design and bidding expenses for Phase I of the , was found to have no basis of fact.

"I'm thankful that the members of the ethics board took their roles seriously, followed the law and found the claim to be without merit," said councilman Michael Testa. "Moorestown taxpayers deserve results for their tax dollars. We can save open space, fix fields and build a new library/community complex."

Although the complaint itself is confidential, a question of conflict of interest pertaining to Testa was raised by Pat White during the April 11 special meeting.

“The lion’s share of the funds for K.I.D.S. appears to be going to enhancements at the Wesley Bishop fields and the two adjacent fields that will be used for lacrosse and other purposes,” White said. “Mr. Testa has a business that supplies lacrosse materials and gives lacrosse instruction. I don’t know how this isn’t considered a conflict of interest for him to vote for this.”

Testa is a managing partner in RuffLax, a lacrosse-specific retail store and training facility on the Moorestown-Maple Shade border on Kings Highway.

In rendering its decision, the Ethical Standards Board received advice from Special Counsel William Kerns, who was hired specifically for the complaint.

Kerns is counsel to the NJ League of Municipalities and gives training sessions in ethics.

Kerns cited three similar cases in New Jersey. The one most directly relevant to the Moorestown complaint concerned John Zisa, who was mayor of Hackensack when the city voted to make improvements to a municipal parking lot. Zisa owned a business near the lot. It was argued that improving the lot would indirectly improve his business. Before the vote, Zisa sought the advice of the city attorney who told him he could vote. The court held Zisa was entitled to rely on the advice from counsel and dismissed the case.

In Moorestown, the township solicitor said during the April 11 meeting that he saw no conflict of interest in Testa participating in the vote to use the open space funds.

“I reviewed this matter with Mr. Testa and in my opinion it is not a conflict,” said Thomas Coleman, township solicitor, at the April 11 meeting.

More than a dozen people were at the meeting Wednesday night with other concerns about the use of Open Space funds for the K.I.D.S. project. However, the board said that it was only charged with addressing ethical complaints. Challenges to the actual vote would have had to be filed with Superior Court within 45 days of the vote.

“This board cannot set aside the vote,” Kerns said.

Scott Cooper, a member of the Ethical Standards Board and a member of the K.I.D.S. Task Force, had been asked to recuse himself from the vote; however, Kerns advised that the alleged conflict was so remote to cause an issue.

“If you disqualify everyone who took an advocacy position, you’d exclude everyone,” said Kerns.