Middletown administrator leaps to town’s defense

The township of Middletown is the largest municipality in Monmouth County. As a result, and just like every large employer, be it public or private, in today’s climate we suffer the impact of litigation. People like to sue.

However, it should be noted that Middletown’s legal fees are comparable, both in dollars and on a percentage basis, with the municipalities used as comparisons in the Jan. 29 article in the Independent. For example, in response to the Independent’s request for how much is spent by the township of Brick in legal fees, Brick specifically addressed the amount paid to its municipal attorney.

However, Brick’s total legal fees, pursuant to its administrator, is in excess of a half-million dollars.

In Hazlet, where the total budget for the municipality is approximately $12.8 million, officials spent more than $180,000 in legal fees, which represented approximately 1.43 percent of their total budget. Middletown’s budget of $475,000 for legal fees last year represented less than 1 percent of our total budget (in other words, almost one-half less than Hazlet’s on a percentage basis).

Middletown has had multiple litigation regarding its land-use ordinance in 2002 as well as challenges to whether or not we had the right to hire more police officers, as well as other litigation regarding all areas of liability.

In many respects, Middletown has no choice but to defend against the many plaintiffs who present claims against the government of Middletown.

Robert M. Czech

Middletown Township administrator

Editor’s note: The Brick Township Administrator’s Office reported the township spent close to its budgeted $250,000 in 2001 and $285,000 in 2002 allocated for all municipal legal fees, not only the fees for its municipal attorney.