Comments on Prosecutor’s Decision
I am here today to announce that the prosecutor’s office has
confirmed that Charles Morgan’s accusations of corruption, on the part
of West Windsor Township staff, Linda Geevers, and me, are baseless. I
can still hear Mr. Morgan’s words on the steps of the municipal
building in front of WZBN cameras (May 5, 2009; www.wzbn.com) saying
“…we’ve got corruption in West Windsor Township. I’m faced with a
chief financial officer of West Windsor Township acting on behalf of
the Mayor and Ms. Geevers providing erroneous information which is
difficult to compete with.”
That was a blatant last-ditch effort of desperation in the waning days
of a political campaign designed to confuse and mislead voters.
However, West Windsor voters instead saw this as a cheap, offensive
and callous attempt by Mr. Morgan to damage and besmirch the
reputation of hardworking elected officials and Township employees in
reckless disregard of the consequences his actions would have — all
in the interest of political expediency. The electorate in a landslide
vote sent a clear message to Mr. Morgan that his conduct will not be
tolerated.
These empty accusations attack the credibility of every honest local
official; undermine the trust of citizens for local officials; and
discourage others from seeking public office or working in a municipal
environment. Who would want to become the target of one who exhibits
such reckless and insensitive behavior?
Linda Geevers and I have devoted years of service to this community
and we demand an apology from Mr. Morgan. An apology not only to us
but also more importantly to the staff he maliciously maligned,
specifically Joanne Louth, our CFO, and Chris Marion, who had been our
Business Administrator and might still be, if an environment of
hostility against Township staff had not been created by Mr. Morgan,
and it was a factor in his resignation. An apology is also due to the
residents of West Windsor who paid for countless hours of wasted staff
time to defend something that only existed in Mr. Morgan’s mind and
his blind political ambitions. “The investigation consumed hundreds of
hours,” according to the Office of County Prosecutor (Letter to
Charles Morgan from Mercer County Prosecutor Bocchini, dated October
5, 2009), we appreciate the efforts made by the Office of County
Prosecutor.
Council and staff have been under severe stress for over five months
due to Mr. Morgan’s incessant complaints and bizarre behavior stemming
from the May election over ideas that were rejected by the voters. We
are delighted to have confirmation that administrative staff, Linda
Geevers, and I acted appropriately and innocently in responding to Mr.
Morgan’s budget ideas as a member of Council.
I am very proud to say that Township staff and professionals are
always ready and able to work with Council. I would also like to take
this opportunity to call on Mr. Morgan to set our political
differences aside, stop this destructive behavior, and commit to
working constructively with Council and Administration to move this
community forward.
