Petillo will have a conflict of interest

Sussex County will have yet another problem should Sylvia Petillo, mayor of Hopatcong, be elected to the Sussex County Board of Chosen Freeholders. It’s called conflict of interest. Her husband, Ron Petillo, is the chairman of the Sussex County Municipal Utilities Authority (SCMUA) and he receives a salary and health benefits package totaling over $27,000 per year from the county.
Our freeholders appoint the SCMUA Board of Trustees. With Mayor Petillo’s husband as the chairman of SCMUA, and receiving this salary and health benefits package, how are we to trust that the best decisions are being made for taxpayers? As a freeholder, responsible for those appointments, should she be involved at all with any decisions regarding SCMUA? Mayor Petillo has already been officially charged with an ethics violation, and lost her appeal, for unfairly using taxpayer money to fund her own agenda in Hopatcong.
Voters should be aware of this conflict of interest and the financial windfall Mayor Petillo and her husband enjoy. This is a serious issue and one Sussex County citizens should not take lightly.
This financial windfall for the Petillo’s is funded by tipping fees and SCMUA rates. It is ultimately the taxpayers that are paying for Mayor Petillo’s health benefits. How can we trust her to watch our money when it goes to her family’s pocket?
Kathleen Gorman
Candidate Sussex County Freeholder