Dear Mr. Bocchini:
This responds to your October 5, 2009 letter.
With respect to the criminal investigation of Mayor Hsueh and Councilwoman Geevers, you state that “our review has revealed that the mayor and Councilwoman Geevers played no role in the preparation of the analysis of your proposal to utilize the fund balance to reduce the municipal tax rate.” Your conclusion is contrary to the facts.
The Mayor and Ms. Geevers did play a “role in the preparation of the analysis” because I demanded that they address the misrepresentations and other errors in a draft memo that had not been released to the public. Worst case, they failed to respond to my demand – a demand that was perfectly legitimate – and allowed the memo to be released to the public several days later without addressing my concerns.
Inaction under these circumstances is as much of a “role” as action. Ms. Louth, the Chief Financial Officer, is under the supervision and control of the Mayor. Please be reminded that West Windsor is a Strong Mayor/Council form of government under the Faulkner Act. As such, the Mayor is the Chief Executive Officer responsible for all municipal departments and employees, especially heads of departments like the Business Administrator, the Chief Financial Officer and the Township Attorney.
It goes without question that Ms. Louth would have addressed these errors if the Mayor had directed her, and if Ms. Geevers had encouraged him to direct her, to do so. Their role is self-evident and undeniable.
Their use of that material in their campaign literature under those circumstances constituted the use of Township staff for their campaign. That is a crime.
With respect to the invoice of the Township attorney submitted to the Township for personal services provide to the Mayor, you state that you are “satisfied that Mr. Herbert conducted the conference call with Mayor Hsueh and Russell Schenkman in order to obtain information concerning the West Windsor Community Foundation in order to respond to [my] questions about the Foundation and to address [my] call for an investigation into the Foundation.”
That conclusion is utter nonsense since it is a fact that the conference call was held on April 14 and my request for an investigation did not occur until more than two weeks later on April 30 as reflected in Mr. Herbert’s invoice submitted to the Council. If the April 14 conference call was part of Mr. Herbert’s response to my request, the invoice would not have been hidden from sight through submission to Administration but would have been submitted out in the open to Council (as was the case with respect to the April 30 work).
Importantly, too, you did not interview the key persons who are aware of this timeline and the facts – persons who would give you an objective perspective that would verify my version of these facts. That conference call had no connection to any Township matters.
Your letter creates the impression that you have reached a convenient conclusion motivated purely by politics in favor of a Democratic Mayor who actively supports a Democratic Governor in the context of an all-Democratic Board of Chosen Freeholders, a Democratic Township attorney (who also happens to be the attorney for the Freeholders) and a Democratic County Executive.
Your office must remove the cloud of petty politics from its decision, reopen its file on this matter and move forward with the criminal charges that clearly should be filed. I look forward to your immediate confirmation that you have done so.
Very truly yours,
Charles Morgan
Member, West Windsor Township Council
Former Candidate for West Windsor Mayor
