Possible suit by clerk comes to light at meeting
By elaine van develde
Staff Writer

MIDDLETOWN — With scant details available and next to no one willing to comment, mystery still shrouds a notice of tort claim surrounding Township Clerk Rosa Garcia.

One thing’s for sure, a tort claim, or "notice of a possible suit" to the township, was filed by Garcia in November, involving personnel issues in her office that are still ambiguous.

Township Attorney Bernard Reilly said Monday it was a "personnel issue that [he] has reason to believe will be resolved" before there is ever any hint of a lawsuit. He declined to release the document because of the sensitivity of the matter.

Reilly further commented that a "tort claim notice is not to be mistaken with an actual lawsuit. It is just a standard procedure that one must go through when a public entity is involved if there is a possibility of a suit," he said, adding, "It says the person has that option."

The tort was brought to light at the Jan. 22 Township Committee meeting, when, during the public portion, local business owner and former Township Committee candidate Larry Loigman questioned whether an item on the business agenda required a vote to give a raise to the township clerk, whom, he said, had intended to sue the township and name Deputy Mayor Rosemarie Peters and Committeewoman Joan Smith in the suit.

Loigman said he saw the tort on Garcia’s desk, claiming he was at town hall trying to get a copy of what is a public document.

Garcia, who has been clerk since 1998, responded to Loigman at the meeting, chiding him for harassing her in her office. "You have come into my office, leaned over my desk and harassed me repeatedly. You yelled in my face and even broke the door. … I have witnesses from my office. As an officer of the court, I am surprised at your conduct."

The issue wasn’t aired any more than that because Mayor Patrick Parkinson set the tone for his tenure as mayor by making it clear that public comments would be limited to five minutes. Parkinson pounded the gavel and asked Loigman to sit down.

At first Loigman refused, but after a lot of gavel slamming, firm requests and a threat to have police remove him, Loigman said he would sit and did.

No more was said on the subject at the meeting, except a brief comment from the township attorney that the matter was one involving personnel and would not be publicly discussed.

Garcia was not available as of press time for further comment.

Smith commented Monday but only to confirm that the tort claim notice was filed.

"We are treating it as confidential since it entails employees in town. I feel I did the right thing. Any decisions that were made were made correctly," she concluded.