Deputy mayor apologizes for 'hour of call' to Morris Twp resident who filed ethics charge

Morris Township Deputy Mayor Bruce Sisler's Aug. 3 call to resident Lee Goldberg, as recorded by Goldberg

MORRIS TOWNSHIP ? Deputy Mayor Bruce Sisler says his apology to a resident for calling his home after midnight on Aug. 3 has been rebuffed.

Resident Lee Goldberg, however, says that the apology is only a media statement and that Sisler has been bullying him over his objections to issues surrounding the proposed Honeywell corporate headquarters site redevelopment, which would require a rezoning being considered by the township committee.

Honeywell says?its 147-acre property, with 11 buildings for 1,200 employees is currently underused and is seeking zoning changes that would let it develop 235 townhouses, an office and a lab at its site on the corner of?Columbia Turnpike and Park Avenue.

As Goldberg previously told NJ.com, Sisler called Goldberg's home shortly after midnight on the morning of Aug. 3, which struck him as odd, so he turned on the video camera he uses to record township meetings. Goldberg later posted that recording to YouTube, which only captured a portion of the call.

In an email to NJ.com, Sisler said he received Goldberg's email "after a typical long day of work" at 11:25 p.m. which "was quite critical of my work on the Municipal Messenger as a Township Committeeman." "I was bothered by his email?s tone but regardless, I made a mistake by calling him at that hour," Sisler said. "The next day, I received an email from Mr. Goldberg that addressed some of the issues we discussed in our hour-long conversation that included ideas he had regarding Township business."

Sisler said he began to helm the electronic newsletter in late 2010 at the direction of Mayor Scott Rosenbush and that he put his "heart and soul into this piece of communication."

On Aug. 15, Sisler said he learned of Goldberg's complaint ? which has been referred to the newly convened ethics committee ? about the phone call through Township Attorney John Mills. Sisler said he asked Mills to set up a meeting to apologize in person for the hour of the call to Goldberg and his wife. Sisler said his request was "rebuffed" by the Goldbergs.

In August, Goldberg also sent the township committee correspondence regarding what he said was a conflict of interest Sisler had in the Honeywell matter. Goldberg alleges Sisler?inappropriately?disclosed to media that he was behind the conflict concern.

Sisler has previously told NJ.com he believed Goldberg only brought up the conflict issue as political retribution. In the weeks prior to that, Sisler brought up a potential conflict by another committee?member, Jeff Grayzel, who has questioned parts of Honeywell's plan. Grayzel's wife is a former Honeywell employee and continues to collect a pension from the company, Sisler noted.

"Presently, this matter is in front of the Morris Township Board of Ethics but has been released to the public," Sisler said. "I will abide by the Board's review and decision on this matter. That being said I once again would like to formally apologize to the Goldberg family for the hour of the call."

In comments on Patch, Goldberg's wife, Debi, said Sisler never tried to set up a meeting.

"We were never asked to have a meeting so that Sisler could apologize," she said. "We contacted (Township Attorney) John Mills two weeks after the call to inform him of the outrageous behavior of an elected town official and was told that maybe he could reach out and try to get Sisler to apologize. Also, this "apology" does not acknowledge the overall inappropriateness of the phone call. This call would have been just as inappropriate at noon!!!"

According to Lee Goldberg, Mills asked he and his wife if this matter could be settled if he could reach out to Sisler and the deputy mayor were to apologize. Goldberg declined the meeting and filed an ethics complaint.

"We really felt the public had a right to know about the behavior of a township official," Goldberg said, adding that the apology issued to the media was only for the "hour of the call" and not the substance of the conversation.?

"He's apologizing for the hour of the call, not for the behavior or the content or the harassment," Goldberg said. "This is just a statement issued to the media once the cat got out of the bag."

In an email, Goldberg later added, "Sisler's lack of personal self control and judgment as an elected official who exercises executive, legislative and judicial powers representing Morris Township residents has no place serving on the Morris Township Committee. He should resign."

A vote on the rezoning of the Honeywell property could come as soon as a special meeting set for Oct. 1. Mills has previously said the ethics complaint against Sisler shouldn't hold up the process.

Mills could not be reached for comment.

Source: http://www.nj.com/morris/index.ssf/2012/09/deputy_mayor_apologizes_to_res_1.html

tom brady sister dad shoots daughters laptop brandon jennings channing tatum the vow review luol deng culkin