New Commissioners Officially Meet for First Time Tuesday

Haddonfield's new Board of Commissioners will hold its first official meeting tonight at 7:30 p.m. at the Municipal Hall at 242 Kings Highway East.

It will feature a public ceremony to swear in Jeff Kasko, John Moscatelli and Neal Rochford. T They were sworn in last week during a brief midday ceremony by the borough clerk to comply with law mandating they take office no later than a week after the election.

The new commissioners also met for a work session on May 20, the day before they were sworn in. They decided then that Kasko would become mayor, Moscatelli the deputy mayor and commissioner of public works, and Rochford the commissioner of public safety. Solicitor Mario Iavicoli advised them they could make decisions before officially being sworn in, if they affirmed the decisions after taking office.

Kasko was the top vote-getter, which traditionally leads to the commissioners voting for him to become mayor. Kasko, 48, a state Department of Health official, was re-elected to a second term. Rochford, 53, an insurance salesman, was returned to the board after being defeated in a bid for a second term four years ago, and Moscatelli, 44, a former corporate engineer and now stay-at-home dad, is a political newcomer.

Another measure on the agenda tonight will establish meeting times. The new commissioners have agreed to push back the starting time of work session meetings an hour to 6 p.m. Typically work sessions are held on the first and third Monday of each month. They are meetings in which policies and procedures are discussed, but usually feature no votes on action.

Regular action meetings are expected to remain at 7:30 p.m. on the second and fourth Tuesday monthly.

The three commissioners are the borough's highest elected officials.