Late-Night Phone Call Issue Referred to Superior Court

After a four-month wait, the Morris Township Board of Ethics has decided not to address whether or not a late-night phone call from Deputy Mayor Bruce Sisler to a township resident that included cursing was appropriate. Instead, the board has referred the matter to the state Superior Court, where a current lawsuit from the same resident has been filed, according to NJ.com.

The phone call, which was made after midnight on Aug. 3 to resident Lee Goldberg,

The video of the call is 12 minutes long and the discussion pertains to what Goldberg believes to be a conflict of interest on part of Sisler voting in favor of the Honeywell redevelopment project. Sisler is employed by state Assemblyman Anthony Bucco Jr. and at one point was recused from the Honeywell proceedings, but has been reinstated since after residents signed a petition calling for a supermajority vote on the issue.

With the Honeywell redevelopment proposal, the company would expand office and laboratory space and build 235 townhouses on the site on Columbia Road. The township committee voted in favor of the rezoning of the property for the project to move forward 4-1 in October.

Goldberg and another resident, Robert Burke, oppose the project and brought challenging complaints not only before the committee but the Ethics Board and now superior court as well.

According to NJ.com, this is the first issue to come before the township's Ethics Board in two decades.

Read the full story from NJ.com here.