Mark Roselli, Bordentown Township
Mark Roselli is a Bordentown Township Committeeman. This letter is in response to Bordentown Township Committeeman Bill Morelli’s “Guest Opinion” letter of Oct. 16.
Simply writing a few letters and appearing on Comcast Newsmakers does not make a leader or public servant. Rather, it is the willingness and ability to fight for the rights of your residents, even in the face of extraordinary odds. Over the past few weeks, Bordentown Township residents have read how Bill Morelli has gone to great lengths to justify his actions – or inaction – regarding his “negotiations” with the New Jersey Turnpike Authority and the proposed turnpike widening. Rather than joining with township residents and the Township Committee, Morelli is more interested in attempting to discredit me and other committee members to justify his failures.
As an elected official, we are charged with serving and standing for our residents, whether that means 11,000 or just one. Everyone is entitled to the same protection and service. We must remember, especially as elected officials that government exists to serve people, people do not exist to serve government. When that line is crossed and elected officials fail to see the difference, democracy will cease to exist. If that occurs, and I will fight with every fiber of my being to ensure that it does not, then the life – and death – of every great American man and woman who fought to secure the freedoms and liberties we now enjoy as Americans, has been in vain.
Morelli’s efforts belie the truth and serve to heighten his failure to comprehend what it means to be a public official elected to serve and fight for Bordentown Township residents. This was painfully evident at the Aug. 25 Township Committee meeting, where Morelli chose to belittle and demean residents of Clifton Mill, Williamsburg Village and others in attendance, charging that they were apathetic and deserved to get whatever NJTPA offered them. Morelli further chastised these residents for appearing at the meeting and for offering opposing thoughts, ideas and opinions against the “Morelli Proposal” offered by the NJTPA and for telling the NJPTA that it was not acceptable and more needed to be done to protect their quality of life. While Morelli thinks that simply because hundreds of people voiced their opposition to the Turnpike expansion, rather than thousands, it is acceptable to take “what is given to you,” I do not.
The NJTPA officials attended the meeting that evening, apparently at the invitation of Morelli. Apparently because approximately one week earlier, Mayor Hill, Deputy Mayor Delaney and I were only informed of the representatives’ attendance by way of comment from a township resident. Were it not for this resident – who knew about the meeting before we did – we would not have known. When questioned about the representatives’ attendance, Morelli stated it was not yet confirmed. Later, I discovered that at the time, it was confirmed that the NJTPA representatives would be present on Aug. 25.
Further evident at the Aug. 25 meeting was Morelli’s consternation over the large crowd of Township residents who attended. Not surprisingly, the residents clearly rejected Morelli and his condescending remarks, demanding that he be replaced as the Committee’s liaison to the NJTPA and vehemently opposing the Morelli Proposal. Simply put, if tar and feathering were still permitted, Bordentown Township would have had its own “town turkey” that evening.
At the Aug. 25 meeting, Mayor Hill requested a follow up meeting with “policy makers” from the NJTPA because the Morelli Proposal, that only included the reforestation of an area behind Clifton Mill abutting the turnpike with evergreen and deciduous trees and transferring a portion of the old Dix Drive In to the Township as compensation for lost open space, was not acceptable. These were items that the NJTPA was either obligated to provide (i.e. the planting of the additional trees) or were previously offered to the Township (and may again be offered regardless of the proposed expansion) because it is excess state property (i.e. the Dix Drive In). However, these items were not the berm and sound wall Morelli apparently promised he could secure from the NJTPA – according to comments received from Township residents.
If the expansion is to occur, the residents need and deserve a berm and sound wall along the north bound side of the turnpike, along with other items such as rubberized asphalt, to reduce vehicular noise. Therefore, prior to any subsequent meeting with turnpike officials, the Township advised it wanted to secure its own sound study and alternative design proposal for the NJTPA’s consideration. This was something Morelli failed to do or suggest while he was liaison (though I did previously suggest it on numerous occasions). The Township subsequently received a letter from the NJTPA proposing 4 meeting dates (late September and early October) and to advise if the dates were acceptable. At no time during the Aug. 25 meeting or in the subsequent letter, did the NJTPA establish a deadline to meet. Because of Committee members scheduling conflicts, the Township was unable to meet on the dates selected by the NJTPA.
The township forwarded an Oct. 10 letter providing alternative dates to meet with the NJTPA. Subsequently, Mayor Hill received the NJTPA letter stating for the first time that the NJTPA was unilaterally ending further discussions and that the NJTPA would be proceeding with the “diversion” – i.e., condemnation of the township’s open space along the turnpike without the township.
Despite Morelli’s distortions, Mayor Hill, Deputy Mayor Delany, Committeewoman Di Mattia and I are committed to doing what is in the Township’s best interests. We obtained a sound study and alternative design study from Pennoni Associates – which is not closely “aligned” to the NJTPA – another Morelli falsehood. Discussions are continuing with officials from the NJTPA – a fact Morelli does not know because he failed to attend any committee meetings since Aug. 25. Additionally, the NJTPA will not be able to proceed with the condemnation of the Township’s open space withoug the Township’s participation because it would establish a precedent that the NJ DEP and Green Acres previously rejected. Another fact Morelli failed to comprehend.
For the past eight years, I have served on Township Committee and have always given you my best and my all. I know that not everyone agrees with my opinions or positions and others object to my determination. Be assured, however, that I am here to serve you and fight for you – no matter who you are, no matter what you believe and no matter what the cause.

