A handful of residents have called on Township Councilman Charles Morgan to drop his lawsuit against the mayor and reimburse the township for the money it has spent in the mayor’s defense.
During the Township Council’s March 7 meeting, a group of residents announced they had begun circulating a petition to residents who want to put an end to his lawsuits.
“We have a bully on our town council,” said resident Lindsay Diehl. “He is distracting our public officials from the work at hand” and creating a “hostile environment” for township employees, she said during public comment.
Morgan is vowing to continue litigation against Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh despite the dismissal of his lawsuit by the state Superior Court last month.
However, Morgan subsequently filed two new motions with the court — one to reconsider and another to amend his original complaint, as well as a 14-page brief. Morgan also sent a settlement offer to the mayor’s attorney, which proposed an amendment to the township code that would state that a council member “may at any time require a written report on any aspect of the government or the township by making a written request to the mayor, who shall provide such report within a reasonable period of time. The mayor shall affix his signature to such report. The mayor may provide an E-mail response to a written request for a report submitted by E-mail.”
Morgan tried to bring a measure before the council at its March 14 meeting to bring forth those changes to the code, but he failed to get support from his colleagues after he told them he was moving forward with the next step of litigation anyway, said Council President Kamal Khanna.
Morgan filed the civil suit in Mercer County Superior Court claiming that the mayor failed to provide a report with information about the 2010 municipal budget that the councilman believes he is entitled to under the township’s Faulkner Act form of government.
Diehl said she began going door-to-door to ask residents to sign her petition to end the lawsuit and request Morgan reimburse the township. “It was obvious residents were fed up with his behavior,” she said.
Resident Andy Bromberg pointed to the financial difficulties within the federal, state, and local government levels. “There is one pressing issue we need to address immediately — the senseless lawsuits” by Morgan, which he said was costing the taxpayers money.
He said the reason residents elect council members is to represent them in making decisions for the township — not for a lawyer on the council to fight with the mayor. He said the time and money spent on the issue “could have been used more productively.”
“It has caused extreme disruptions,” Bromberg added. “Go back to being a positive contributor on our township government.”
Resident Kristina Samonte urged the council to avoid making changes to the township code as a result of settling a lawsuit because it “establishes a precedent of legislating by lawsuit.”
Council members also called on Morgan to drop the lawsuit. To date, the township has spent about $16,000, said Geevers, referring to the $15,628 total bill from the mayor’s attorney.
Councilman George Borek urged Morgan to avoid any further lawsuits. “I think we can use the money in other areas of the township,” he said.
Khanna said that while the litigation has cost taxpayers a lot of money, the council has not been “bogged down” by the issue. He said, though, “I personally feel the lawsuit should be dropped unconditionally.”
When it came time for his turn during council comments, Morgan said, “No comment.”
