At its March 12 meeting Council approved a $10,000 professional services agreement with the Toms River-based law firm of Secare, Ryan & Hensel for special counsel as the township continues to pay for representation of Mayor Hsueh in lawsuits brought against him by former councilman Charles Morgan. Ahead of the council meeting, Hary spoke with attorney Harold Hensel for an update.
“When Morgan filed his latest lawsuit the attorneys did file a frivolous claim to put him on notice that, should it go forward, they intend to recoup the money from him. Also Morgan has a deposition for summary. From the first lawsuit that Morgan lost, he has to do a petition for certification and we are waiting for a response for that. At that point we’ll move for summary judgment to have the other lawsuits dismissed,” he said.
Hary added that Morgan is also threatening yet another lawsuit because he wants the township to pay for his expenses related to the proceedings.
Councilman George Borek clarified that Morgan’s lawsuits were against the consensus of council.
“None of us believed in what he [Morgan] was doing. He didn’t do this as part of the council, he did it on his own will,” Borek said.
Borek also reflected on why the matters have continued so long. “He’s representing himself, and the courts do bend over backwards for pro se-ers. If he had an attorney I’m certain this process would have come to an end already and that’s the problem that we have. Unfortunately we’re stuck with the process,” he said.
