Brick Mayor faces unfriendly fire
Brick Township Council to mayor: Drop your lawsuit now
BY PATRICIA A. MILLER
Staff Writer

Daniel J.Kelly

Republican Township Council members took turns blasting Brick Mayor Daniel J. Kelly at a recent meeting, for filing a lawsuit over professional appointments made on New Year's Day.

The council voted to hire two legal firms, at a cost not to exceed $17,500 apiece, to defend Township Clerk Virginia Lampman, Township Council members and township professionals named in the suit.

"It's at your hand, Mr. Kelly, that you are going to continue the discord instead of allowing the business of the township to go on," Councilwoman Ruthanne Scaturro said. "It's at your hand that we have to do this. The council has to be represented. Mrs. Lampman has to be represented."

"I think there is one other thing that can be done," Kelly said. "You can return the appointments that should have been there."

"We didn't do them," Scaturro said. "We did not appoint anyone. She was acting mayor at the time, as you are an acting mayor. You are a mayor of circumstance, not the mayor of the people. You are not elected."

The major issues are Lampman's appointment of the Toms River firm of Gilmore and Monahan to replace Starkey, Kelly, Bauer and Kenneally as township attorney, her removal of former Democratic Councilwoman Kimberly Casten as municipal prosecutor, and her removal of Planning Board member Kevin Aiello to replace him with Dominick Rappoccio.

The controversy stems from longtime Democratic Mayor Joseph C. Scarpelli's sudden resignation on Dec. 8 and his subsequent guilty plea in federal court in January to accepting bribes from an unnamed developer.

Scarpelli appointed Lampman to serve as acting mayor. She made the appointments at the Jan. 1 reorganization meeting. Kelly's suit contends that Lampman served only two days as acting mayor. Any rights she had as acting mayor ended when Scarpelli's resignation became effective on Dec. 8, according to the suit.

Kelly has said repeatedly he feels the appointments were his to make.

"Because this litigation was filed in an emergent setting, there is a need for attorneys to represent Lampman, and other employees affected by the challenge, as well as the council," Council President Stephen C. Acropolis said.

Council members voted to hire the firm of Florio, Perrucci, Steinhardt & Fader to represent Lampman and any other employees whose appointments are being challenged. They voted to hire the firm of Carbone & Faase to represent the council. Each firm will be paid $17,500.

Councilman Daniel Toth called the suit "absolutely ridiculous."

"The only people who are going to lose in this are the taxpayers of Brick Township," he said. "The only reason I'm going to vote yes is, if I don't, then people wouldn't have legal representation."

Acropolis said he was disappointed that Kelly had chosen "confrontation over cooperation."

"It's unfortunate," he said. "Mayor, I hope you might consider paying for the attorney the taxpayers are going to pay for."

Acropolis said he asked Pezarras and purchasing agent Richard McDonald to research how much the township has paid Steven Secare, Kelly's attorney, over the past six years.

"Letting an attorney who has made thousands of dollars off the taxpayers of Brick Township represent you, maybe for free, I think that's a conflict, myself," Acropolis said.

Both Acropolis and Councilwoman Ruthanne Scaturro berated Kelly for not informing them of the lawsuit ahead of time.

Scaturro told Kelly she was "totally, totally unnerved" about the lawsuit.

"I never found out about this until it hit the papers," she said. "So I am totally taken aback that you did not pick up the phone … at least made us aware this is being done."

She said Kelly had said during the interview process for Scarpelli's replacement that communication between the mayor and council members was a priority.

"Those were your words, Dan," she said. "You so far have not demonstrated not one iota of that spirit of cooperation. You are single-handedly going about what you think [is] your agenda, or your people's agenda ... without any consideration for the people of Brick Township. Are you going forward with this? Everybody's job is at stake."

"All I asked for is this whole thing to go to the judge, and ask for a judgment," Kelly said. "Was Virginia right in making the appointments on January 1, or wasn't she? That's all it was. I'm not spending anybody's money.

"We have to have representation," Scaturro said.

"You have to have representation because Mr. Gilmore requested it," Kelly said.

Gilmore disagreed. The township attorney represented both mayor and council and cannot be involved in a dispute between the two, he said.

Most of the professional appointments have remained the same, said Councilman Anthony Matthews.

And Lampman was "very respectful" for not going into detail about why some appointments were changed, he said.

"This may all end up coming out in court," Matthews said. "Feelings are going to be hurt. It's going to cost the taxpayers money. We are in the midst of probably the worst corruption scandal in the history of Brick Township. And I know that more information has still been subpoenaed, which means it isn't over yet. It will be interesting to see who else will be caught up in this."

"Listen, we had harmony for 37 days," Acropolis said. "I think that's pretty good."

Councilman Joseph Sangiovanni said Scarpelli ran again because of the "axis of greed."

"I don't understand why this surprises anybody," he said. "Mayor Scarpelli knew he was in trouble. I'm sure his party knew he was in trouble. So Joe Scarpelli got convinced into coming back into the race, with everyone knowing the fact that this guy was going to jail. I don't know whether Mayor Kelly knew about Joe Scarpelli and his problems, or if Kathy [Democratic Councilwoman Kathy Russell] knew. I do know the party leadership did. I would like to find out who knew what when."

A special mayoral election should be held "right now" or Lampman should serve as acting mayor until November, Sangiovanni said.

Township officials are taking a risk, if more corruption is uncovered later, he said.

"They are talking about developers," he said. "I find it hard to believe someone on the Planning Board or the Board of Adjustment wasn't involved in this. Where I come from, we clean house. Everybody talks about healing. First you have to have a cleansing before you have a healing. You don't redress a wound when it's dirty. You clean it out."

And the corruption investigation is not over, Sangiovanni said.

"I gotta tell you, there is still more to come," he said. "And I feel that every time I OK a bill, I'm looking over my shoulder wondering whose hand is in whose pocket."

Sangiovanni said he never would have voted to appoint Kelly as mayor if he had known at the time that "developers" figured into Scarpelli's guilty plea.

"Unfortunately, I would have chosen someone else, not to say that Dan is involved in it," he said. "This is for some greedy people to get reappointed for a couple of months. And that's all wrong."

Russell said she was not going to chastise the mayor or any council members, or explain why she dropped out of the 2005 mayoral race to let Scarpelli run instead.

"I made that decision on my own," she said. "I took a marketing class. I learned a great deal about what it takes to run a campaign. It takes money, a group of people to support you, and I'll leave it at that."

Russell said she would also like to know if Lampman had the right to make the appointments on Jan. 1.

"I don't think we should prolong it," she said. "Get the judge to make a ruling."

Acropolis questioned why the original complaint Secare filed didn't name names and had to be amended.

Township Attorney George R. Gilmore said he thought it was an attempt by the mayor to make the complaint "less controversial and antagonistic."

"I appreciate your comment," Acropolis told Gilmore. "But the fact is, we are being sued by our own mayor."

Acropolis urged Kelly to drop the suit.

"I hope at our next council meeting that will be the announcement that is made," he said. "As you said when you were sworn in, you want to be on the train. You are here for the ride. We want to take you for that ride. It's not to a dead end on a dark street. We want to move the town forward. I think your heart is in the right place, mayor, Dan, Mr. Kelly - however you want to put it. I don't know who your advisers are."

Lampman also asked Kelly to drop the suit.

"I'm asking you as the former acting mayor to the current acting mayor if you would let my appointments stand and reconsider your lawsuit," she said. "This would be in the best interest of the township"

Toth suggested that the loser of the court case should pay the legal fees. He asked Gilmore if that was possible.

The suit would have to be deemed frivolous, Gilmore said.