Roselle again without economic development director, as Carpio exits the post

For the second time in just over two years, the Borough of Roselle finds itself searching for a director to oversee its economic development, buildings, zoning, and code enforcement after Samantha Isabel Carpio quietly exited the post last month to take the reins as Business Administrator in Rochelle Park.

Carpio’s departure, effective February 2026, leaves a gaping hole in a municipal government that has lurched from one administrative crisis to the next, punctuated by allegations of political infighting, abrupt personnel changes, and a revolving door of leadership that shows no signs of slowing.

Her tenure lasted two years and two months—a blink-and-you ’ll-miss-it stint in a borough where stability in the departments that shape growth and enforce order has proven as elusive as a straight answer from the dais on a council meeting night.

The position, which oversees everything from grant management and housing policy to the everyday grind of zoning and code enforcement, is now vacant—again.

Carpio, whose résumé boasts a dizzying ascent through New Jersey’s municipal ranks—from school secretary two decades ago to overseeing millions in federal grant dollars in Jersey City, to assistant director in Union Township, and finally to Roselle’s top development post—is now bound for Rochelle Park.

She started there in March, according to her professional profile, stepping into a full-time township administrator role after moonlighting for years as a consultant with her firm, D’Ardently Consulting.

The move raises uncomfortable questions for Roselle residents who have watched their borough struggle to maintain continuity in the very offices tasked with dragging it into economic relevance.

Carpio’s departure is not a resignation born of scandal—at least none made public—but it is a stinging indictment of a municipality that cannot seem to hold on to talent.

And the timing couldn’t be worse.

Roselle has been dogged for years by allegations of political chicanery that have left the governing body fractured and suspicious in the eyes of voters.

The infighting, which has included sharp exchanges over code enforcement policies and personnel decisions, has created a climate hardly conducive to wooing developers or retaining qualified professionals.

Residents have not shied away from calling out what they describe as a political “bloodbath” orchestrated to silence dissent and consolidate power—a climate hardly conducive to wooing developers or retaining qualified professionals.

Carpio’s departure also comes on the heels of other eyebrow-raising appointments and exits that have defined the borough’s recent history.

Just last year, the borough made waves by appointing an Ocean County Republican as fire chief—a move seen by some as political patronage reaching across the aisle in a deeply Democratic stronghold. The optics, fair or not, paint a picture of a town where personnel decisions are as much about politics as they are about policy.

Mayor Donald ‘Big Tookie’ Shaw had a hand in appointed former Councilwoman Denise Wilkerson as deputy municipal manager and executive director of Roselle First Community Development Corporation, a community-based nonprofit, despite her complete lack of qualifications for the dual role carrying a salary of $130,000.

On May 8, 2025, Administrative Law Judge Thomas R. Betancourt delivered a scathing rebuke to Roselle’s political establishment, overturning Police Chief Stacey Williams’ termination and exposing the sham behind power-hungry politicians’ attempt to railroad him out of his job. Roselle’s taxpayers will foot the bill for Shaw’s political vendetta.

A protracted administrative purge has been underway in Roselle since 2023, marked by the forced departures of the Police Chief, Fire Chief, multiple Business Administrators, Chief Financial Officers, Superintendent of Public Works, Building Inspector, Zoning Officer, and Code Enforcement Supervisor—leaving the borough’s offices hollowed out and part-time elected officials wielding outsized authority while installing less-qualified, politically connected replacements.

The borough has not yet announced an interim replacement for Carpio, nor has it signaled whether a national search will be launched or if another internal shuffle will fill the void. What is clear is that the work of economic development—the grants, the zoning reviews, the code enforcement complaints piling up on desks—does not pause for a job hunt.

Just last year, the borough made waves by appointing an Ocean County Republican as fire chief—a move seen by some as political patronage reaching across the aisle in a deeply Democratic stronghold.

In November, when a family suffered a terrifying house fire, top elected officials headed off for a week of parties in Atlantic City.

The optics, fair or not, paint a picture of a town where personnel decisions are as much about politics as they are about policy.

The borough has not yet announced an interim replacement for Carpio, nor has it signaled whether a national search will be launched or if another internal shuffle will fill the void. What is clear is that the work of economic development—the grants, the zoning reviews, the code enforcement complaints piling up on desks—does not pause for a job hunt.

In Rochelle Park, Carpio inherits a different kind of challenge: a township with its own pressures and politics, but perhaps a clearer chain of command.

For Roselle, the question is not whether Carpio will be missed, but whether the borough will ever get serious about building an administration that can outlast a news cycle.

Carpio replaced Victor Klymenko, the recipient of the 2023 Economic Development Director of the Year award from the Gateway Regional Chamber of Commerce, who was paid $40,000 less than state Senator Joe Cryan’s political playmate.

Klymenko had been a driving force behind several major investments that helped to transform the borough, including the St. Georges Avenue corridor redevelopment; 118 Roselle Properties, a mixed use complex; the $16 million renovation of the Roselle Public Library; and the $22 million rehabilitation of Cherry Gardens, to name a few.

He was gone only a few months after Mayor Donald Shaw said, “Victor has made a lasting impact on this borough…”

The last time this economic development director’s office went dark, it took months to fill. With no plan announced and a council still nursing wounds from the latest bloodletting, residents should not hold their breath.

In Roselle, the only thing developing faster than a vacant lot is the line of officials heading for the exit.