A very wise friend once told me that in life you have a choice, you can either face the wall or turn and face the truth. The problem with facing the truth is that often it is hard to confront; often it is inconvenient because once you face it, you are compelled to act.
As a town, and as a community of people who are striving for the best, we must all turn and face our truth, which is the state of our infrastructure and the condition of our water. Anyone can say that the water is safe but when you face the truth, and by truth I mean actual facts provided from the DEP, you would see that is not correct.
Our water has contained high levels of dangerous chemicals and radiologicals for an extended period of time that no person, and certainly no child, should be forced to consume. Simply saying that these contaminates in our water have not reached levels that would result in a DEP violation, is an acceptance of mediocrity. We do not accept mediocrity. We certainly do not accept it in our schools, in our businesses or in our homes. So why should we accept it when it comes to our water?
I moved my family to Moorestown from Haddonfield because I believed that the residents and the leaders of this town set high expectations for themselves and the community and that the leadership would always put the best interests of the residents first. I was mistaken.
When faced with the truth, our current Town Council has chosen to face the wall. Over three years ago the first contaminates were discovered in our water and it took council 16 months to even notify residents. Two members of council, who are currently up for reelection, turned the contaminated well back on despite the DEP recommendation to keep it closed. After council failed to ensure Moorestown met its obligations with the DEP to address the water situation, Moorestown was forced to enter into an Administrative Consent Order with the DEP and we currently have nine violations of the Safe Drinking Water Act against us.
Now that council is finally taking action, they want the credit. Much of this action is now required by the DEP and 100 percent of it was inspired and motivated by the members of the Moorestown Water group and Lisa Petriello, Amy Leis and Kati Angelini. The inaction and action by our current council is disturbing, unacceptable, and less than mediocre.
As responsible residents it is our obligation to research the facts ourselves (not the “facts” on the glossy mailers), watch the videos of the town council meetings to see how council and our paid professionals have repeatedly treated residents with absolute disrespect and hold council members accountable. Once armed with the facts, we must face the truth and, as inconvenient as it might be, we must deal with it and make it right.
This is why I will be voting for Petriello, Leis and Angelini. They have been part of the movement to fix our water issues from the beginning and they have kept our best interests in the forefront of their minds. They have worked tirelessly to bring the water issue to the attention of council and every resident. They want transparency in our local government, they want to build our business district, and they want to invest in long term solutions for the problems our community faces.
So on Tuesday, Nov. 8, I would encourage every resident to have the courage to turn, face the truth and vote the clear choice, Petriello, Leis and Angelini.
