Appointments were mine to make, new mayor says Kelly files suit in Superior Court asking for legal determination BY PATRICIA A. MILLER Staff Writer Whether the appointments Brick Township Clerk Virginia A. Lampman made during her brief stint as acting mayor were proper will be decided in Ocean County Superior Court. Mayor Daniel J. Kelly filed a complaint on Friday asking a judge to determine whether the appointments were legal. "I became mayor under extraordinary circumstances and there has understandably been confusion regarding the appointments on Jan. 1," Kelly said. "I am seeking judicial clarification as to whether or not those appointments are valid. It is my position that they are not. If the judge determines otherwise, I will abide by that decision." Lampman said she was surprised that Kelly filed the complaint. "I got a written recommendation by our new township attorney regarding that appointment," she said, referring to a controversial Planning Board appointment. "I made the appointments with the advice and recommendations of the Township Council." Superior Court Judge Frank A. Buczynski Jr. told Steven Secare, Kelly's attorney, to amend the complaint and include the names of those involved in the appointments controversy in the lawsuit. "The mayor and I think he is statutorily entitled to it," Secare said earlier this week. "We had no recourse but to have a judge make a decision on it. He [Kelly] didn't want to create a hostile situation. He just wants a judge to determine if his opinion is accurate." Kelly said in the suit that when he was appointed as mayor at the Jan. 4 meeting, he told the audience he thought the appointments were his. "I did not believe that Ms. Lampman should have the legal or moral right to dictate to me as mayor the persons who were going to be my closest advisers for the remaining months of my term," he said in the suit. At issue is Lampman's appointment of the Toms River firm of Gilmore and Monahan to replace Starkey, Kelly, Bauer and Kenneally, to replace municipal prosecutor and former Democratic Township Councilwoman Kimberly Casten, and her decision to remove Planning Board member Kevin Aiello and replace him with Dominick Rappoccio. The controversy stems from longtime Democratic Mayor Joseph C. Scarpelli's sudden resignation on Dec. 8 for "personal reasons" followed by his guilty plea in federal court on Jan. 8. Scarpelli pleaded guilty to accepting bribes from an unnamed developer. He is slated to be sentenced on May 29. Scarpelli appointed Lampman as acting mayor in Dec. 6 letter. His resignation became effective two days later, on Dec. 8. Lampman served as acting mayor from Dec. 8 to Jan. 4, when the GOP-controlled council tapped Kelly to serve as mayor until a special mayoral election to be held in November. Kelly's suit contends that Lampman served only two days as acting mayor. Any rights she had as acting mayor ended with Scarpelli's resignation on Dec. 8, according to the suit. The Mayor's Office was "vacant" until it was filled in accordance with the Municipal Vacancy Law on Jan. 4, when Kelly was selected, the suit states. Any actions taken by Lampman "in the purported capacity of acting mayor" between Dec. 8 and Jan. 4, including appointments, are "null and void," according to the suit. Lampman said she met several times before the New Year's Day organization meeting with then-council President Anthony Matthews, Councilman Stephen C. Acropolis and Councilwoman Ruthanne Scaturro to discuss municipal appointments. "I wasn't pressured, but we sat down and we discussed them," she said. "It wasn't one meeting." Acropolis, who is now Township Council president, has said the appointments were Lampman's alone. He has said he would "swear on the Bible" that Lampman was not pressured into making the changes. Acropolis said Monday it was standard practice to meet with whoever is mayor to discuss the next year's professional appointments. "We used to meet all through the month of December with Scarpelli to make the appointments," Acropolis said. "It's a matter cooperating with the administrative branch of the government. We've always met with the mayor. It's nothing special or new." Both Acropolis and Matthews said they were disappointed Kelly had filed the suit. "I think his actions do little to repair the damage done by his predecessor," Acropolis said. "The appointments were made legitimately. I wish we would move on. Unfortunately, Dan Kelly's actions are making it very difficult for us to find common ground." The lawsuit was "not a good thing for Brick," he said. "We have had enough bad news and we are going to get more bad news," Acropolis said. "Mr. Kelly is choosing confrontation over cooperation." Matthews said he was disappointed with the mayor's "behavior." "It's just sad to think the mayor who preached about getting along together, now he wants to file a lawsuit that will cost the taxpayers of Brick Township money," Matthews said. He agreed with Acropolis that there was nothing unusual about sitting down with Lampman and discussing appointments. "If people do not live up to our expectations, we replace them, regardless of their political affiliation," Matthews said. "If the job doesn't get done, we will look elsewhere. He [Kelly] says these are his appointments. I consider them the appointments of Brick." Acropolis said he attended the court hearing because it was a "township issue." "I would be derelict in my duties if I didn't see what was going on," he said. Ocean County Consumer Affairs Director Steven Scaturro, who is Councilwoman Ruthanne Scaturro's husband, also attended the morning court hearing, he said. Kelly issued a statement on the afternoon of Feb. 2, announcing that he planned to challenge the appointments. He is away on vacation this week. But before he left, he appointed Public Works Director Robert Russo, not Lampman, to serve in his absence.