Petriello Named Mayor As Moorestown Dems Assume Council Majority

MOORESTOWN, NJ - By the end of Moorestown’s reorganization meeting, members of council and the public were talking about setting aside partisan differences and working together for the betterment of the community. Leading up to that moment, though, there were moments in which the two parties voiced their disagreements.

During the meeting, Democrats Nicole Gillespie and Brian Donnelly will be sworn into office. They joined Lisa Petriello in changing the majority on council from 4-1 in favor of the Republicans to 3-2 in favor of the Democrats. Council members Victoria Napolitano and Mike Locatell are the Republicans who remain on council.

Disagreements began with the first nomination, selecting a new mayor. The Democrats voted for Petriello, while Locatell nominated Donnelly, and both Locatell and Napolitano voted for him.
Petriello and Locatell often disagree publicly during council meetings, but Locatell said he nominated Donnelly because he questioned Petriello’s ability to lead.

“I think Lisa is a good person, but she often has difficulty making decisions,” said Locatell, who then said he would work with Petriello and help her make the best decisions for the town.

“I appreciate the vote of confidence, but I have all the confidence in Lisa,” Donnelly said. “She will do what’s best for the township.”

When it came to deputy mayor, Locatell nominated Napolitano, citing former Mayor Kevin Aberant. Aberant was the Democratic mayor of a split council, and chose Republican Dan Roccato to serve as deputy mayor in the interest of bipartisanship.

However, Napolitano didn’t provide a second for her own nomination, and none of the three Democrats seconded the motion, so the proposed nomination failed. Instead, Gillespie was nominated and unanimously approved to the seat of deputy mayor.

“I expect this to be a busy year,” Petriello said after taking the mayor’s seat. “We have a lot to accomplish. We have some things to wrap up and some new things to get started. We’re going to look at how we can do things better, and I think council is up to the challenge.”

The first thing Petriello pointed to was that council is now taking input from members of staff when it comes to the township’s professionals. During the ensuing discussion, Napolitano voiced concern about the change in counsel for labor negotiations.

Council appointed Genova Burns despite staff showing clear support for the previous labor counsel, Napolitano said.

“I thought it best that we cut ties with Capehart Scatchard and move in a new direction,” Petriello said. “ … That was the outlier, but everything else is as we discussed.”

Both Napolitano and Locatell cast dissenting votes on that appointment. Locatell also voted against Burns appointment as Redevelopment Counsel, and Napolitano voted against The Garty Law Firm as Alternate Labor Counsel.

Napolitano also dissented on the appointments of Bach Associates as the Township Landscape Architect/Park Design Consultant and Environmental Resolutions as the alternate. Napolitano and Locatell argued that Scott Taylor should be kept on, at least for the Lenola revitalization project, which focuses on a quarter mile of the Lenola Town Center Camden Avenue corridor. Taylor helped procure a federal grant for $971,500 for the project.

“I’ve been working on this since I came to council six years ago, and it took a long time to get to this point,” Napolitano said.

There are timelines that need to be met quickly approaching, and Napolitano said if they don’t make it, all that work will be for nothing.

There were a number of other issues that came up with the appointment of professionals as well as members of the township’s various committees.

Petriello said a change on the township’s Economic Development Advisory Committee (EDAC) was in response to the business community’s desire for a better relationship with the township.

Petriello said that was something Gillespie and Donnelly heard on the campaign trail and one reason they were elected, to which Locatell responded, “Donald Trump’s Twitter use is why you got elected.”

Napolitano said she felt others were being taken off of committees for arbitrary reasons, but Petriello said some of them served on multiple committees. She felt it was best to open up some of these seats to get as many people involved from the community as possible.

Petriello said they were appointing qualified people, but Napolitano argued they were removing qualified people from positions despite their accomplishments.

For the full list of appointments, visit the agendacenter on the township's website. (NOTE: Janet Knowles was appointed as an alternate to the appearance committee. Her name was added Monday night, and the position appears as VACANT on the agenda.)

A resident asked council whether it will support the affordable housing agreement the previous council reached with the Fair Share Housing Center. They said they would honor that agreement, noting there are still some legal matters to be left up to the courts.

During the public comment portion, former councilman Greg Newcomer noted that outgoing professionals are supposed to share information with the new professionals to support a seamless transition. He also praised the appointment of Aberant as township attorney. Residents also urged council to work together for the betterment of the township.

“We all strive for better transparency, and a healthy public discussion is not bad,” Napolitano said. “We just want to fully understand the decision-making. We need to work together, and we don’t intend to let our political differences get in the way.”

“A strong civic interest and listening to each other is very important,” Locatell said. “I do intend to work with Lisa and help her with her decisions.”

Gillespie said the process was long and very involved, and said anyone who is interested in the township and isn’t on a committee is always invited to attend committee and council meetings and give their input.

“We are fortunate to have so many talented and engaged citizens,” Gillespie said.

Image via Shutterstock.