Judge rules mayoral appointments were valid Mayor Kelly has no plans to appeal decision BY PATRICIA A. MILLER Staff Writer CHRIS KELLY staff Brick Township Clerk Virginia Lampman makes a call Friday after Superior Court Judge Frank A. Buczynski Jr. ruled that the professional appointments she made as acting mayor were valid. With her is attorney Douglas J. Steinhardt. Brick Township Clerk Virginia Lampman walked out of Superior Court a happy woman last week. Superior Court Judge Frank A. Buczynski Jr. ruled on Friday that the appointments she made during her time as acting mayor earlier this year were valid. "I wanted to be here," she said in the hallway outside Buczynski's courtroom. "I didn't need to be. I feel the right decision was made. I'm glad it's over for me and the citizens of Brick Township." Mayor Daniel J. Kelly, who filed a lawsuit on Feb. 2 contesting the appointments, said he had no plans to appeal Buczynski's decision. Kelly said all along that he only wanted an answer to whether the appointments were valid and would abide by the judge's decision. "I'm disappointed," the mayor said. "I said from day one, whatever the decision is, I'll go with it and move on. Let's get the work done. I'm sorry it took as long as it did. I did get my decision. We move on and do what is right for Brick." Kelly said if he had to do it all over again, he would. "Without a doubt," he said. "I believe in right and wrong. I thought I was right. I would have never been comfortable ignoring something I thought was wrong. The judge doesn't think it's wrong and that will have to be good enough." Lampman sat up front, flanked by Douglas J. Steinhardt and John A. Carbone, the two attorneys hired by the Township Council to defend her and other municipal employees named in the suit. The sole issue in Kelly's lawsuit was whether Lampman, who was appointed acting mayor by former Democratic Mayor Joseph C. Scarpelli on Dec. 6, had the legal right to make professional appointments at the New Year's Day organization meeting. Kelly and his attorneys contended that the appointments process violated the state Municipal Vacancy Law. Lampman's rights as acting mayor ceased on Dec. 8, when Scarpelli's resignation became effective, according to the suit. But Buczynski said there is conflicting case law on when resignations become effective. "The difficulty in this case is that the letter of resignation was an attempt by Scarpelli to resign in futuro," Buczynski said. Any future resignations must take place on the date the resignation letter is submitted and the dates must be "clear and unambiguous," the judge said. Since Lampman was legitimately appointed acting mayor on Dec. 6, and Scarpelli qualified his resignation with a future date, his resignation became "a nullity," Steinhardt said after the hearing. "Consequently, he was still the mayor," he said. "Ginny was still the valid acting mayor. The argument the other side was making was that once he resigned, he no longer had the authority to name a replacement. But because the resignation was defective, her appointments perpetuate. The reality was Scarpelli was still legally the elected mayor up through at least Jan. 4. Ginny was the acting mayor." Steinhardt said he "absolutely" sees the case as precedent-setting, at least in state appellate court. "There are conflicting rulings on the same issue," he said. "A law division is not binding on other law division rulings." But Toms River attorney Steven Secare, who represented Kelly, said the ruling doesn't make "legal sense." "The decision in Ocean County is that no public employee or maybe even private employee can resign except at the time they put their letter of resignation in," he said. "I can't tell my employer I am resigning two weeks from now. It doesn't make any legal sense." Civil service statutes require that employees give 10 days notice that they are going to resign, Secare said. "It's [the ruling] inconsistent with that." Secare argued that former Gov. James McGreevey announced in August 2004 that he would step down that November. The move, which met the definition of an in futuro resignation, was never questioned, he said. "By the logic of the judge, the township of Brick owes Mayor Scarpelli money," Secare said after the hearing. Steinhardt said that McGreevey announced in August 2004 he would resign that November, but he didn't submit a resignation letter until a week before he left office. "Nobody ever challenged it," Steinhardt said. "It may have been a nullity; however, nobody did anything about it." Council President Stephen C. Acropolis called Buczynski's ruling a "victory for Ginny." "This was never about the council and the mayor," he said. "This was one acting mayor against another. She made decisions based on what she felt was the right thing to do. We had to provide legal representation for employees. It's unfortunate we had to spend tax dollars. I'm happy for her. I think we need to put this behind us as quickly as possible. Let's just try and move forward." None of the parties involved in the suit had to attend the June 15 hearing in Buczynski's courtroom. Kelly sat in the front row. Councilwoman Kathy Russell, the lone Democratic on the Township Council, also attended. Russell was the only council person who voted against Lampman's appointments. Ocean County Consumer Affairs Director Stephen Scaturro sat through the entire hearing, then went up and shook Steinhardt's hand after the decision. Scaturro is the husband of Councilwoman Ruthanne Scaturro. Carbone called out to Lampman in the hall after the hearing. "Madame mayor, are you going to put your picture up on the wall? Carbone asked her. "I'll pay for it." Scarpelli, who was elected to an unprecedented four terms as mayor, pleaded guilty on Jan. 8 in federal court in Newark to accepting bribes from an unnamed developer. He was originally scheduled to be sentenced on May 29, but the sentencing has been postponed until Sept. 7.