Dear Editor:
A little over a year ago, more than 900 agitated Parsippany residents crammed the PAL building in opposition to the mayor’s support for three Payment-in-Lieu-of-Taxes (PILOT) agreements that were on the town council agenda that night. Residents voiced opposition to the PILOTs for over 6 hours. Without a doubt they were heard, but they felt ignored and angry when the town council passed the mayor-supported PILOTs by a 4-1 vote. This was not the first time that the mayor and the public clashed on a major issue – the mayor’s Project Labor Agreement (PLA) ordinance evoked a similar response from the public. So, when the lone dissenting council member, Justin Musella, who voted against both the PILOT and the PLA ordinances, announced his intention to run for mayor, many residents were thrilled and optimistic that they would be able to express their policy preferences during a primary election.
Based on the many supporters who attended his fundraisers, including Assemblyman Brian Bergen, Musella seemed to be a legitimate alternative to the incumbent mayor. It certainly didn’t hurt his cause when Morris County GOP Chair Laura Ali announced her support for Musella last May while describing Barberio as “the highest-paid and least-qualified mayor in Morris County” (Daily Record, Jan.10, 2025, by William Westhoven).
Then, on Jan 10, Morris County GOP Chair Laura Ali unexpectedly switched allegiance to Barberio in the name of party unity and focusing on winning the general election. However, Musella refused to drop out of the race. A couple of days after Musella’s refusal, it seems that the GOP Chair decided to tighten the screws by getting assemblyman Bergen to switch allegiance and recruiting all the Republican mayors of Morris County to endorse Barberio.
In my opinion, the sudden turnaround in allegiance has nothing to do with party unity. There were no calls for party unity in 2013 when Councilman Carifi challenged Mayor Barberio in the primary. Likewise, there were no calls for unity when former Councilman Lou Valori challenged the mayor in 2021. The mayor won both primaries and general elections, so the plea for an uncontested primary in 2025 in the name of party unity is just a lame excuse.
So, what is the real reason why the Republican establishment wants to eliminate a primary contest for mayor? Again, in my opinion, it has to do with political contributions. Musella is an avowed opponent of both PLA and PILOT agreements. If he were elected, there is a good chance that the PLA would be rescinded, and there would be no chance of a new PILOT being approved during his tenure as mayor. I believe that a big bloc of donors consisting of unions and developers, who are the main beneficiaries of these agreements, threatened to withhold contributions to the Republican Party if Musella became the candidate.
If Mayor Barberio cannot get a majority of Republican voters to vote for him in the 2025 primary, then he doesn’t deserve to be the next mayor of Parsippany. Republican voters of Parsippany have the constitutional right to a primary election to determine who will be their mayoral candidate. Party bosses should not try to suppress the primary process in any way or try to pressure a candidate into not running.
Bob Venezia
Parsippany
