Ex-mayor treated like a ‘zoo animal’ during visit to Roselle Borough Hall

A former mayor’s impromptu visit to Roselle Borough Hall this week devolved into a public spectacle that critics say lays bare the toxic culture gripping the Union County borough under Business Administrator Denise Wilkerson.

Christine Dansereau, who served as Roselle’s first female mayor from 2015 to 2020, said she was treated with open hostility and contempt during a routine visit Tuesday to pick up public records with Councilwoman Cynthia Johnson.

Dansereau recounted the encounter in a social media post that has since drawn hundreds of reactions from residents demanding accountability.

“When we reached the second floor, Denise Wilkerson immediately came out of her office and announced that I could not be there because she wants only business to go on there,” Dansereau wrote. “I asked Ms. Wilkerson, doesn’t public courtesy exist for former Roselle elected officials. She ignored my question and stood there making sure I left.”

Wilkerson, who previously served as councilwoman-at-large before being installed as deputy municipal manager and business administrator, escorted Dansereau out of the administrative area and relegated her to a waiting room while Johnson retrieved the requested OPRA documents, according to the former mayor.

Dansereau, who said she was visiting to see the changes made since her tenure, described the atmosphere inside Borough Hall as cold and unwelcoming — a stark departure from the community-oriented environment she said she once knew.

“The employees have to communicate through windows to the community,” she wrote. “Offices are set up like prison quads and there is a lack of warmth and positivity that is allowed to exist. Like she said she only wants business to be conducted in these offices with a complete separation from the public.”

Dansereau went further, likening the treatment of staff to that of “zoo animals behind glass cages” and calling the work environment “soulless,” “claustrophobic” and “sad.”

“Employees need more than just a paycheck to get up in the morning to come to work,” she wrote. “They need to be appreciated and treated like people.”

Residents and former colleagues quickly rallied behind Dansereau, questioning why a former mayor and current council member would be treated with such disdain.

“Last time I checked, Borough Hall is a publicly owned facility, and if you were there with a current Council person picking up an OPRA report, then you were conducting business there,” Alexia Bost wrote in response. “Not to mention you’re the former Mayor. There is no reason whatsoever you were asked to leave other than the fact that Ms. Wilkerson didn’t want you there, which isn’t actually a valid reason to kick you out.”

Bost also noted that recording the interaction would have been protected under the First Amendment.

Others saw the incident as part of a broader pattern of dysfunction.

“Elections have consequences and cronyism is alive and well in Roselle,” wrote Celeste Aarons-Jenkins.

Michele Bono Alcamo lamented the decline of the borough, citing “corruption, high taxes, lack of educators” and code enforcement failures.

Dansereau and Wilkerson were once political allies. Dansereau, who resigned mid-term citing health reasons, has since become one of Wilkerson’s most vocal critics. She has previously accused Wilkerson of exploiting municipal funds for unaccountable nonprofit activities and using tragic events for political spectacle.

Wilkerson has faced scrutiny before. In 2023, colleagues on the governing body accused her of using municipal coffers “as a check-cashing service to launder money,” according to NJTODAY.NET.

Dansereau alleged at the time that Wilkerson withdrew funds from a Children’s Trust Fund account without council approval.

Dansereau said it was inappropriate for a councilmember to use the charity fund “as her own financial bank account.”

More recently, Wilkerson — who lost a council primary election to Johnson — was installed in a $130,000 taxpayer-funded position under Mayor Donald Shaw, an Elizabeth homeowner and convicted heroin dealer who was elected to fill the remainder of Dansereau’s unexpired term.

Wilkerson’s tenure has been marked by high turnover. Dansereau said Tuesday that the borough has earned a reputation as “the revolving door” — a reference to the rapid departure of top officials including borough administrators, chief financial officers and department heads.

“I understand that it’s important to create professional work spaces,” Dansereau wrote. “But the extent that she has gone to limiting the human component has made the work environment claustrophobic and sad. The employees and the community deserve better than an administrator who is an unqualified authoritarian.”

Paula Berenstain summed up the outrage in a blunt question: “What is Denise Wilkerson hiding? What doesn’t she want the public to see???? How she treated you was disgusting, and it should not be tolerated!!”

Doreen A. Rinaldo called the treatment “disgusting”.

Shaw did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Wilkerson also did not respond to inquiries seeking her side of the story.

The Borough of Roselle has not issued a public statement regarding the incident.