Moorestown Patch Letter To The Editor: Supporting Democratic Council Candidates

To the Editor:

Although the 2016 presidential campaign seems to be capturing everyone’s attention this year, we hope Moorestown voters will also focus on the current contest for our town council.

We’ve recently had the opportunity to meet and talk at length with three impressive and energetic women running for council seats this year: Lisa Petriello (incumbent), Kati Angelini, and Amy Leis.

Each of these candidates has her own unique background, experience, and skill set that she would bring to our township government (you can find out more about them at www.wearetheclearchoice.com).

With their broad record of community involvement, they’ve already demonstrated their dedication to improving life here in Moorestown. Together they’re committed to making sure that our local government will exemplify high standards for integrity, proactive management, fiscal responsibility, and responsiveness to the concerns of citizens.

In Ms. Petriello’s past year on town council (filling the unexpired term of Greg Newcomer who resigned for health reasons), she has tirelessly advocated for more transparency and accountability regarding decision-making by the council.

She wants to make sure citizens have online access in advance to critical information about agenda items prior to actions being taken on them, and she’s also pushing to make sure council meetings can be broadcast and/or streamed for public viewing.

Ms. Angelini has performed an important public service by making citizens aware of issues surrounding our water quality. In response to the township’s decision to reopen a closed well in July 2015, despite the DEP's recommendation to keep them shut down, Kati and other residents expressed outrage about this action.
Under her leadership, grassroots citizens of our town (now numbering more than 800) have coalesced into what became the Moorestown Water Group in February of this year.

Kati has continued to play the role of advocate and watchdog, trying to insure that the council and township administrative officials face up to the issue and comply with all DEP directives. She decided to come forward as a council candidate from her passion to work towards a satisfactory solution to our water problems.

With her expertise as a financial planner and active involvement in the Moorestown Business Association, Ms. Leis will bring needed scrutiny to our town’s budgeting process. She’ll push for long-range planning to responsibly address and pay for such things as sorely needed upgrades to our decaying infrastructure.

For example, it seems we’re dealing with water main breaks in town—and the traffic tie-ups that result—on an almost daily basis! Amy is also committed to expanding Moorestown’s commercial/retail sector by creating new township policies and projects designed to reduce red tape and make dealing with local government a more user-friendly process for start-up businesses.

For all of these reasons and more, we are excited to support Lisa Petriello, Kati Angelini, and Amy Leis. We’re fortunate to have three such strongly qualified candidates running for council this year.

When voters go to the polls on November 8, we hope they’ll remember to cast ballots for those running for public office here in Moorestown, not just candidates at the national level.

Janet & John Khanlian
Moorestown residents