Mazzei Pledges to 'Listen,' 'Share' 3rd Ward Residents' Concerns

Councilman Franco Mazzei said he will maintain his impartiality regarding voting on any proposed changes to the Master Plan while he is a member of the Planning Board.

A three-person committee of 3rd Ward residents, the ward Mazzei represents, has filed a petition to hold a recall election and get Mazzei off the council. The committee filed a notice of intent with town clerk Paul Margiotta Friday. The committee and other residents are against a redevelopment plan introduced earlier this year.

The committee would need to collect about 2,000 signatures in order for a recall election to be held.

The committee claims that Mazzei will not speak out against the plan, which involves changing the town’s Master Plan.

“He just stonewalls us,” said Carver Washburn, the committee’s chairman.

As a member of the Planning Board, Mazzei would vote on any proposed changes to the Master Plan. Subsequently, as a councilman, Mazzei would vote on any proposed revisions to zoning ordinances. He was elected to the council in 2011.

“My voting role aside, as the 3rd Ward councilman, I pledge to listen and share all of the concerns of the 3rd Ward residents with the members of both the Planning Board and the Township Council to ensure that the 3rd Ward is fully and fairly represented in any proposed revision to the Master Plan,” Mazzei said in a statement issued Monday.

“I must and will maintain my impartiality as it relates to any conceptual presentation and I will not jeopardize and/or risk my ability to vote on behalf of the 3rd Ward residents on such an important matter by taking speculative positions based on mere concepts and/or rumors.

“I will only deliberate and vote upon written proposed revisions to the Master Plan after carefully considering all of the testimony and evidence.”

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