Ask Yourself This Question

Moorestown Save Open Space turned out to be exceptionally easy to organize.  In late April, a few emails were circulated amongst supporters of open space, and very quickly, a group of 45 passionate supporters met one evening.  The passion created when the Moorestown Town Council decided to use $217,845 in Open Space Funds to finance study, engineering and design of athletic field renovations, known as the K.I.D.S. initiative, boiled over into anger and frustration.  Today, our email list is burgeoning, we have a waiting list for yard signs, and our online petition is approaching 200 signatures, with many strong comments from Moorestown citizens.

Moorestown is unique amongst South Jersey communities.  It is a rare community that enjoys a historic, developed, and walkable town center, with homes and neighborhoods centuries old and yet retains significant open space within its borders.  Few communities have both. But in the past ten to fifteen years, residents have seen significant change in Moorestown, by developers, that continues to threaten our remaining open space and undeveloped land.

Currently, our Town Council has engaged in legal rationalization to use Open Space Funds for artificial fields, scoreboards, paved parking lots and lighting.  The Town Council sought and obtained a legal opinion that claimed that Open Space Funds could be used for these renovations, relying in part on a broad definition of recreation, while interpreting recreation as mutually exclusive from conservation. 

It is disturbing that our Town Council did not consider the ethics concerning the use of Open Space funds, but rather proceeded by seeking legal rationalization for their maneuver.  Fundamentally, this is not about legality.  It is about ethics.

At the April 11 Town Council public hearing, one citizen spoke to Council: “Just because something is legal, doesn’t mean it’s the ethical thing to do.” 

Another citizen, on the Moorestown Save Open Space online petition commented: “What you have done, dear Town Council, is an abomination.  Everyone sees clearly that you cheated the law and you cheated the citizens.”  Another said “The current legal sleight of hand demonstrated by our town council represents a breach of trust between the taxpayers in Moorestown and our local government.” 

Ask yourself this question:  when you were in the voting booth in 2007 and cast your vote to approve the Open Space referendum, did you envision that you were voting to allow these funds to be used for synthetic grass fields, paved parking lots, scoreboards, and athletic field lighting?  It is highly unlikely that you did, if you are being truthful.  We hope that the three members of Town Council, who voted to misuse Open Space Funds for the K.I.D.S. initiative, ask themselves this same question.  Perhaps they will then understand the anger that today seems to surprise them.