The so-called “New Majority” on West Windsor Council didn’t last long. At the first council meeting after George Borek was sworn in and Will Anklowitz was made president, the two broke rank and voted against their running mate Charles Morgan, allowing township attorney Michael J. Herbert to keep his post.##M:[more]##
On July 1, the three voted not to renew the township’s service contract with Herbert’s firm, stopping payment for his $165-per-hour services. The mayor, who appointed Herbert, threatened to sue council to keep the attorney, who has served the township for ten years.
At a July 9 meeting, Herbert did not sit on the dais, as council president Will Anklowitz had requested, and defended against Morgan’s latest charges, that Herbert had not been officially appointed and sworn in in 2005, and that the township had been “illegally” paying his firm for the past ten years.
Prior to the adjournment to executive session, council discussed—but did not introduce—an ordinance that would have set the township attorney’s salary at $20,”000 – $25,”000 per year. “You can draw your own conclusions as to what the ordinance is meant to accomplish,” said Herbert, who billed the township $250,”000 for his services last year.
After a four-hour-plus meeting, the council, the Mayor, and Herbert adjourned to an executive session, as Anklowitz said, “to work this all out.” After 90 minutes, council returned to public session, and voted 4-1 in favor of keeping Herbert as township attorney, and hiring a special counsel for the township’s redevelopment. Herbert had previously suggested the compromise.
Morgan, who cast the lone vote against the agreement, says the issue has not been resolved. “As far as I’m concerned it’s not closed,” said Morgan. “I don’t have a lot of support for addressing the issues. It’s very frustrating.”
Morgan says the vote should not have been allowed. “There should not have been a vote. It was made without council and without the public being informed. It was taken late at night with a lawyer complaining he was being put in an awkward position. That was not the case. He was informed two months ago that this would happen.”
Morgan continued: “We should not be making decisions in executive session, and that happened last night. We should not be making decisions out of public view.”
When asked about the reasons for his running mates changing their votes, he said: “You would have to ask Mr. Anklowitz and Mr. Borek.”
Borek, who was elected council vice president on his first day in office, said that although Morgan was not satisfied, the majority of his issues with Herbert were resolved during the executive session. “We had a healthy dialogue, and Mike was able to answer some of the questions we had about the disagreements,” said Borek. “I voted in the affirmative. Even though he didn’t address some of Mr. Morgan’s concerns, I felt we needed to move forward and do what is in the best interest of the township.”
“Everyone has to vote their conscience,” said Anklowitz. “This is not a popularity contest. We had a vigorous discussion. There was a lot of hard work going in to this. Everyone worked hard, I was proud of everyone for hammering this out. Everyone had the township’s best interests in mind.”
The township is now accepting applications from attorneys for the position of special counsel for the redevelopment. The mayor will nominate a firm or individual from among them, and council will vote on the mayor’s recommendation.
If someone were keeping score, this political battle might be tallied as follows: Score 1 for Morgan, for establishing his authority to put his adversary, Hsueh in a difficult position. Score 1 for Hsueh for holding his ground. Score 1 for Herbert, for keeping his position—and his cool. Score 2 for Anklowitz, for resolving his first conflict as council president, and for establishing himself as voting independently of his running mate, Morgan.
