Lame Duck Township Committee Kills In-House Law Department After Public Hearing, Appoints Two Township Attorneys

The township’s in-house law department has been killed by the lame duck township committee.

The vote to kill the law department was unanimous, despite some unspecified “reservations” cited by Committeeman John Furey.

Only two members of the public spoke against the ordinance killing the law department.

Linda Garvey, a member of the Toms River Regional School Board who emphasized she was there as a private citizen, questioned representations by “Mayor” John Russo Jr. that the dissolution of the law department would “save money”.

Compensation Attorney For School Board Got $326,000 In One Year

Mrs. Garvey noted that school board expenditures for workers compensation legal services ballooned to $326,000 in one year. The compensation attorney for the School Board and apparently the $326,000 annual billing was Robert Shea, who is also the Planning Board Attorney for Dover Township.

Shea bills by the hour.

Mrs. Garvey also questioned the budget appropriation of $160,000 for labor attorneys, but the township committee members would not acknowledge that there was such an appropriation.

“Labor Counsel” Holzapfel Gets $6667 Every Month

They did, however, acknowledge that the Law firm of Citta and Holzapfel (Assemblyman James Holzapfel) gets a $6667 check every month without having to detail anything about the bill.

Mrs. Garvey noted the school budget for labor counsels was “miniscule” compared with the township.

Russo Jr., an attorney, said Holzapfel has “provided service at a very attractive rate for many years.” The “mayor” said he hoped the new system would result in significant savings and would result in better service because because of added specialization which “cannot be provided under the current system”.

Money For Legal Services Is In The Wrong Line Item?

Recalling he was there two months ago criticizing the plan to kill the law department, DMUA Commissioner Robert K. Haelig Jr. refuted claims that the governing body was stuck with the private attorney plan because the money for legal services was in the wrong line item in the budget.

“If you had bothered to ask the division of local government for an exception, they would have given it to you in a minute”, Haelig said, adding “you folks have no credibility on this.”

Committee Appoints Two Attorneys At $135 An Hour

Following the adoption of the dissolution ordinance, the committee voted to hire two township attorneys, each of whom will bill $135 per hour.

They are Howard Butensky and David T. Corrigan, who was also appointed two weeks ago as a labor attorney at a salary of $25,000.

Corrigan was the maker of a $5000 contribution on October 30th to a Political Action Committee associated with the campaign of Richard Larsen.

The PAC, according to officials at the Election Law Enforcement Commission, failed to report the contribution until nearly three months after the fact, and may be in serious violation of the election law.

See Yesterday’s Law Department Demise Article Below.

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Wnek And Hedinger May Have Been Coached By Holzapfel And Gilmore In Last Week’s Botched DMUA Burlington Memo Ambush

Axis Of Greed Now Rules Dover Township: Sen. Russo, Chairman Gilmore And Assemblyman Holzapfel May Finish The Job Of Killing In-House Law Department After Tuesday’s (Jan 28th) Public Hearing At Town Hall

Second Labor Counsel Appointment Followed Possible Serious Election Law Violations Involving Alleged Failure To Make Timely Disclosures On $5000 Campaign PAC Contribution From West Keansburg Attorney

Dover Township: The township’s full time in-house law department, established in the late 1970's, is one of very few genuine accomplishments of the old Democratic administration that went out of business in 1980.

But in recent years, the department has become a patronage dispensing agency for deserving Republican lawyers, and its budget has skyrocketed.

Coalition Of Lawyers, Now Running The Township,
Decides To Kill The Law Department

Instead of fixing the department by eliminating the more wasteful expenditures like the $160,000 budgeted for “labor counsels”, a move which would save money and give the township legal representation not so directly connected with political patronage handouts, the tripartite “Famous Lawyers” coalition that is now running the township has decided to kill the law department and turn its responsibilities over to an outside private attorney who will bill $125-$135 per hour.

This decision has important implications for expensive distribution of patronage throughout Ocean County, a contingency that will be covered in future articles on OceanCountyPolitics.

Holzapfel’s $6667 A Month Payment A
Factor In Law Department Demise

The $160,000 appropriation in the current budget for “labor attorneys” includes a monthly check for $6667 sent to the law firm of Assemblyman James Holzapfel for “labor counsel” services which the firm apparently does not have to detail.

Holzapfel was inexplicably reappointed on January 2nd and his $6667 monthly check reinstated as a three member Republi-Crat coalition of Republican Posse members Carmine Inteso and Michael Fiure and Democrat John Russo Jr. designated Russo Jr. as the Chairman of the Committee, or appointed “Mayor” for 2003, touching off an explosion of criticism by jilted Democrats John Furey and Richard Larsen.

Two Jilted Democrats Questioned The “Integrity” Of The New “Mayor”

The two jilted Democrats questioned the “integrity” of the new “mayor” and suggested that local Democrat boss “Doctor” Jack Moriarty and county Democrat boss Fred Potter were better qualified to carve up the township government and share in its its financial resources than Republican County Chairman George Gilmore, former Democratic Senator John F. Russo Sr., Russo Jr.’s father, and Holzapfel.

Gilmore, Holzapfel and Russo Sr., according to reports, were the architects of the new Republi-Crat coalition. “Gilmore’s fingerprints are all over it”, said a report in the Ocean County Observer.

$5000 Contribution From West Keansburg
Attorney May Not Have Been Properly Disclosed

Last week, a second “labor counsel”, David F. Corrigan of West Keansburg, was hired unanimously by the committee to share in the lucrative $160,000 budget appropriation.

The appointment raised some eyebrows because paid appointments have produced a geyser of acrimony between the two competing patronage interests, and this was the first one to get a 5-0 affirmative vote.

The apparent contradiction was cleared up for some, however, when reports filed January 15th with the State Election Law Enforcement Commission showed an October 30th $5000 contribution from Corrigan to a Larsen Campaign “Political Action” Committee, was not reported prior to the election as legally required.

Alleged Timely Report Failure May Violate
ELEC Law’s Most Important Rule

If these reports are accurate, the alleged failure to make a timely report of the $5000 Corrigan contribution may represent a direct violation of the most important single requirement of the state election law.

In other developments, OceanCountyPolitics has learned that County GOP Chairman Gilmore and Holzapfel may have more than a casual indirect connection with last week’s botched DMUA ambush of Executive Director John Broome and others by former “Mayor” Paul Wnek and DMUA Chairman Leonard Hedinger.

Former “Mayor” Wnek Made Several
Unsupported Charges Against Broome

In a memo which turned out to have its roots in the Burlington County Highway Department where Wnek works, the former township public works “Coordinator” made several unsupported charges against Broome.

Click here for article on retirement of
prior township attorney on OCPolitics•Com.

See Front Page For Previous Wnek-Hedinger-Burlington Articles

and

Click Here for Wnek Payroll Pad Piece

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