The first of what may be many battles between Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh and what he calls “the new majority on council” has begun. The opening salvos in a war between Morgan’s council and Hsueh’s administration are being fired over whether to replace the township’s legal representation.##M:[more]##
Council can not fire the township attorney, nor can it hire a new one. It can, however, vote not to pay the person who holds the job. Charles Morgan says council will wield “the power of the purse” to keep attorney Michael J. Herbert from returning to represent the township for a 10th year.
On Sunday, July 1, Charles Morgan and Will Anklowitz will welcome their running mate, George Borek, onto the township council. On the same date, the new council will vote on whether to renew the annual service contract with Herbert, Van Ness, Cayci, and Goodell.
Herbert was appointed by Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh for a four year term. If the service contract is not approved, Morgan says it could leave the township without representation. In that case, the township would have to notify Mercer County courts by Friday, June 8. Morgan says that is the mayor’s deadline on making a decision.
“Mike Herbert won’t be the township attorney after July 1. If he stays on, he won’t get paid,” said Morgan.
According to Herbert, if council were to stop payment, he would not vacate his post unless asked to do so by the mayor. “I serve at the pleasure of the Mayor,” said Herbert. “I would still remain as the attorney, and the mayor would consider taking legal action, which we hope to avoid.”
Hsueh has given Herbert his full support. “Our current Township Attorney has two years remaining in his term and it is my intention to submit his annual contract to Township Council for authorization in July,” said the mayor.
Morgan has asked that the mayor appoint a different firm, GluckWalrath of Trenton. He said that firm would provide the township two lawyers, Michael Gluck and Andrew Bayer. “They are proposing that for the cost of one attorney, they would have two represent the township at council meetings. One would sit with council, and one would sit with the mayor.”
According to Hsueh, Morgan informed him of his plans two days before Hsueh was due to leave on a two week vacation.
Council President Linda Geevers sent Morgan a remonstrative E-mail on May 19. “There appears to be some decisions being made behind closed doors,” wrote Geevers. “This sounds terribly political to me.”
Morgan responded: “I am free to meet with Will and George at any time I want and discuss anything that I want. There haven’t been any closed door decisions because no decision will be made until the Mayor acts publicly.”
Geevers wrote that if another lawyer were to be chosen, multiple candidates should be considered and interviewed. She wrote that council should discuss the matter in an executive session “where we can all freely talk about this personnel matter and what the process should be.”
In response, Morgan wrote that he would attend no such executive session. “The Mayor has a simple choice. either he puts Mr. Gluck’s Law firm forward or the staff can do its legal work in-house without the services of any outside counsel. You can choose to interview attorneys if you want, but it would be foolish to go through the exercise.”
Morgan, who has a history of disagreements with Herbert at council meetings, says his reasons for asking the mayor to replace Herbert are political. “Herbert has had a habit of expressing political opinions,” says Morgan. “It is difficult to distinguish between what is political advice and what is legal advice. It is inappropriate when discussing a policy issue. He is an unelected official who carries an undue amount of influence.”
Morgan also took issue with Herbert billing the township for time spent reviewing the economic analysis of the redevelopment zone by ERA, a company hired as a financial consultant.
“All of this work is within the legal requirements of the redevelopment process,” said Herbert. “Our obligation is to ensure that all phases of the Hillier report are consistent with their contract. If I don’t do due diligence, I would be subject to malpractice. Hopefully, Mr. Morgan also mentioned that I put in many hours on the redevelopment that I did not bill for.”
Herbert also pointed out that since 2000, the legal fees charged by his firm to the township have dropped. That year, the total bill for legal services was $274,”651. In 2006, it was $250,”062. In that time, the firm’s hourly rate has risen from $125 to $165. Herbert said he charges between $250 and $300 per hour for private clients.
Herbert is also the attorney for Princeton Borough, and has represented 12 other townships. He has resolved 48 lawsuits as the West Windsor attorney. Herbert said the township is involved in several ongoing lawsuits, and that “an abrupt change is not the way to do things. We’re involved now in substantial litigation. We believe we have handled them all quite successfully.”
Morgan says he plans on rolling out numerous pieces of legislation in the coming months. “I have done a re-write of the guiding principles for the redevelopment resolution, and I’ve written a draft of an ordinance to create a council document committee,” says Morgan.
Morgan said he also plans to introduce a council code of conduct, and an ordinance stating goals for Channel 27. Morgan also plans to call a vote on the long-contested ordinance governing council’s use of E-mail.
The E-mail ordinance is among the issues that Morgan and Herbert have clashed on in recent months. This particular piece of litigation left the confines of the council room and involved the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office.
Morgan and Herbert each wrote a version of the ordinance. Morgan’s stated that council members should be allowed to communicate by e-mail, and that an e-mail dialogue between three or more members does not constitute an unnoticed, and prohibited, meeting. He said this offers the public a record of their conversation, which could become public information.
Morgan met with Skylar Weissman, the assistant prosecutor, to try to convince him that his was the correct version. But Weissman wrote that: “Council members should not use E-mail or any other electronic messaging service as a substitute for deliberations at council meetings. The public has a right to the free flow of information conducted by their elected officials at a public forum.”
“His version has us standing 10 feet behind the foul line, and I want us to stand right up at the foul line,” says Morgan. “If we’re going to deny ourselves use of this tool we’re going to hobble our ability to move forward.”
