A week before the election, Council President and mayoral candidate Charles Morgan has filed a request with state Attorney General Anne Milgram and the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office for an investigation of Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh and Councilwoman Linda Geevers, both of whom
are seeking re-election, alleging they have “illegally used West Windsor Township administrative staff, and hence the public money, in furtherance of their political campaign.”
The issue centers around Morgan’s proposal that the township use more of its fund balance, or surplus, to offset taxes in this year’s municipal budget, and a review of that proposal done by Business Administrator Chris Marion and Chief Financial Officer Joanne Louth.
Morgan’s proposal — with specific calculations which he says will result in a 12.1 percent decrease in the tax rate currently posed in the budget by utilizing the surplus — has been a centerpiece of his team’s campaign this year.
His team maintains that suggests that the cost of maintaining the AAA bond rating the township has cost taxpayers $214 every year, compared with what he says is only $44 in savings (Refer to the News’ article in the May 1 edition to read Morgan’s proposal in full detail, as well as the analysis by the township administration).
Where Morgan finds issue is in the analysis by Marion and Louth of his proposal, which he alleges was bias in that it was prepared for political purposes and “not proper governmental purposes,” and that the document attempts to defeat the political arguments he has made in his campaign. “The fact that the mayor’s staff is preparing a response to my policy initiative to lower taxes in a campaign is evidence in an of itself that the mayor’s staff was preparing a political document,” Morgan wrote.
His argument is that he put forth a campaign pledge to lower taxes and had not discussed this pledge. However, Morgan says, during the April 16 budget meeting, in response to questions from Marion and Louth about whether council had final comments on the budget, he stated that “the amount of surplus proposed to support the budget was inadequate and should be increased by 4 pennies. This was my response to a question about the budget and not a campaign pitch,” Morgan states.
The professionals asked how he made his determination, and Morgan referred them to his campaign literature. “I did not suggest that they review my campaign literature for purposes of fashioning a response to my analysis,” Morgan states in the letter.
Morgan stated all of his arguments in a letters he sent on May 4 to Milgram as well as Mercer County Prosecutor Joseph Bocchini, requesting an immediate criminal investigation. Morgan said during a press conference he held on May 5 on the steps of the municipal building that he asked that the investigation occur before the election on Tuesday, May 12, but has not yet heard from either the Attorney General or prosecutor’s office.
Morgan also pointed to the “factual errors” he says were deliberately fashioned by Louth and Marion in their analysis of his numbers to discredit his position. He also said he felt it was unfair that their analysis was released to the News before he had a chance to fully vet the numbers. Although he saw a draft of those numbers as early as April 29, he said he was both unaware that the numbers were publicly released — and subsequently asked that all of the documents be destroyed — and was unable to fully examine them for errors.
He also accused Geevers of illegally asking Township Attorney Michael Herbert for a legal opinion as to whether it was a violation of the law in publicly using the materials put forth by the township professionals in response to council requests. He said it was “inappropriate to use the township attorney for campaign advice.” (see the story below for his letter, with his allegations, in full).
During the press conference, Morgan called it a “sad day.”
“We’ve got corruption in West Windsor Township,” he said. “It really saddens me that I will have been put in a position to do this.” He accused Louth of “acting on behalf of the mayor and Mrs. Geevers.” He also said that he’s turned his cheek on other attacks and that “I’ve been running a clean campaign.”
When asked how residents will know his requests are not just a last minute political ploy, Morgan said people will know because he has not controlled the timing of the events, since the staff did not send him the spreadsheet with the analysis of his proposal until April 30 at around 3 p.m., and because of time demands, he did not see it until later that evening, and he had no time to respond.
“I am merely reacting to their timing,” he said. “The fact that I’m reacting doesn’t mean that I’m the one playing politics; it is they who are playing the politics just before an election with the intent of damaging my election.”
In response to the accusations, Hsueh and Geevers called Morgan’s press conference and filing with the attorney general and prosecutor a “political gimmick,” and insist they and the township professionals participated in no wrongdoing. Rather, they were simply following normal procedure, they said.
“If any council member comes up with an idea, the township professionals, as a routine, always analyze the different ideas to compare which ones really work, and which ones will not work,” Hsueh said, saying that Morgan’s proposal fell under this routine. “This is the budgeting season. According to him at the council meeting, he had a good idea.” And that idea was analyzed by township professionals, he said.
Hsueh also defended Louth, saying she was the “most apolitical person; she’s still a professional.” Further, “nobody is in support of that (Morgan’s) idea,” Hsueh added. “If it’s so good, why does no one support the idea?”
Hsueh said that when he was first elected mayor, Morgan actually supported his budgets for the first five or six years, until last year.
“I have to speak for the township employees,” Hsueh said. “I think they’re doing everything based on what they’re trying to do as professionals. I never asked them to compromise their professional opinions.”
Hsueh says he thinks Morgan is “looking for issues out of desperation.” He also defended Geevers in her decision to get an opinion from Herbert. “In this particular case, the way I see it, it is a public document,” he said. “The township employees worked on all documents. It’s nothing unusual. I’m not a lawyer, but I see this as a natural reaction for any elected official to ask the township attorney if they can use the numbers.”
Geevers also explained her position. “None of his accusations are true,” she said. “At one point, in one of the e-mails, he said the analysis of his proposal from the administration was not a governmental record. I called Mr. Herbert to confirm that it was a governmental record. You can’t destroy any governmental records.”
“Council asked to review his proposal,” she added. “He submitted materials, and the administration analyzed those materials. It’s that simple. It is not campaign advice. He’s trying to make it a campaign story, and I’m saying the real story here is an open government.”
Geevers said his proposal was discussed at the April 16 council meeting, and it was actually Councilwoman Heidi Kleinman who suggested having the administration review Morgan’s proposal, she said. In this case, “the campaign and any council member’s budget proposals are intertwined,” she added. “I support the review of any council member’s proposals. I don’t understand why Mr. Morgan is complaining because he doesn’t like the results.”
Geevers called Morgan’s threats in the e-mails to go to the attorney general and prosecutor “bullying tactics,” which is why she called the attorney. “The budget is an ongoing process,” she said. “He can’t bring forth his proposal and try to stop the analysis of the administration. It’s not fair. The public has a right to know the analysis of any council member’s proposals.”
