Township attorney's pay target of lawsuit
Court calls for ordinance setting compensation
BY JAMIE ROMM Staff Writer

MIDDLETOWN - At the monthly workshop meeting on Feb. 4, the Township Committee discussed drafting an ordinance to establish compensation for the township attorney,

The attorney's salary became an issue following a ruling by Superior Court Judge Lawrence Lawson thatMiddletown had incorrectly fixed township attorney Bernard Reilly's salary by resolution rather than in an ordinance.

The suit brought against the township by Larry Loigman, Joseph McGrath and James Griffin had sought Reilly's removal as township attorney until the matter was settled.

The fact that Loigman, an attorney, has been in litigation with the township before was cited as a factor in Lawson's decision to keep Reilly in his post.

"Loigman has a history of suing Middletown," Lawson wrote in his decision, adding that removing Reilly as the township's counsel would be detrimental to Middletown.

Such a ruling could amount to "opening the floodgates of litigation because the township of Middletown would be unable to use their township attorney to handle the matters."

McGrath, a former Democratic candidate for Township Committee, said last week that he put his name on the lawsuit because he disagrees with the way in which the Township Committee handles certain matters.

The way the committee dealt with the matter was illegal and should be rectified before another situation occurs, he said.

"I joined this suit because the way Reilly was being paid was illegal and could afford him a boosted pension," Mc- Grath said. "That is still a possibility."

During Middletown's 2007 reorganization meeting, the Township Committee passed two separate resolutions relating to attorney positions for the municipality.

According to court documents, this was done to combine the positions into one township position.

Reilly was named as the municipal attorney, at an annual salary of $50,000, while a second ordinance named him township attorney, at an hourly rate of $125 with an annual cap of $295,000.

As municipal attorney, Reilly is paid for attending Township Committee meetings and drafting ordinances and resolutions. As township attorney Reilly is paid for representing Middletown in matters relating to litigation. At a meeting in July the committee passed a resolution that eliminated the term "municipal attorney" from Reilly's job description, replacing it with "township attorney," according to the court documents.

Since the township did not follow proper procedure in selecting Reilly, according to the lawsuit, the plaintiffs wanted Lawson to remove Reilly and order him to return the money he has received since Jan. 1, 2007.

In his decision, Lawson declined to remove Reilly, and said that it would be a "gross injustice" for him to have to return themoney he had earned representingMiddletown.

According toMiddletownMayor Gerard Scharfenberger, "the only people that the lawsuit affects are the taxpayers."

"It's just a typical lawsuit that we sometimes face that is unfortunate," Scharfenberger said last week. "It serves no purpose to the town except [to] cost the taxpayers money in that we have to pay these legal fees."

Scharfenberger said that Middletown has been following this procedure for years and it is common in other municipalities.

"We pay our appointed attorney the same way that it is done in most towns," Scharfenberger said. "Basically we are introducing this ordinance due to the court's decision."

Lawson said that the township would have 30 days to propose and enact an ordinance or Reillywould have to forfeit his pay.

Should the committee fail to enact the ordinance, the judge said that Reilly would only be allowed to keep $50,000 from his 2007 compensation.

Scharfenberger said that the committee will probably introduce the ordinance at the meeting on Feb. 19.

"The whole story of the lawsuit is ridiculous," Scharfenberger said. "Now it's behind us."