West Orange Mayor Susan McCartney being sworn into office earlier this year.
A Sept. 7 court date will be the next step in the legal battle that pits West Orange Mayor Susan McCartney against the township council in a battle over Township Attorney Richard Trenk.
McCartney filed a lawsuit against the West Orange Township Council on July 24, saying that her authority as mayor was usurped over a resolution involving Trenk.
The council held an emergency meeting on July 26; the members immediately went into executive session that was not open to the public.
The lawsuit says that the council “overstepped its legislative authority and improperly infringed on Mayor McCartney’s executive powers both under the township Code and the Optional Municipal Charter Law, N.J.S.A. 40:69A-1, et seq., commonly known as the Faulkner Act. As such, it is unlawful and must be invalidated.”
The issue began at the March 21 council meeting, when a resolution approving a contract to retain Trenk, who has served as West Orange’s attorney since 1998, was voted on. The council’s vote was a tie; Councilwoman Michelle Casalino and Council President Tammy Williams voted in favor, Councilwoman Susan Scarpa and Councilman Bill Rutherford voted against, and Councilwoman Asmeret Ghebremicael abstained. To break the tie, McCartney voted on the advice of Assistant Township Attorney Ken Kayser.
At the April 4 WOTC meeting, a resolution to rescind Trenk’s contract was introduced on the basis that McCartney should not have been allowed to vote. Casalino and Williams wanted to table the resolution; they did not have support from the rest of the council and the resolution passed unanimously.
The issue was addressed again at the WOTC’s June 13 meeting, when the council again reintroduced the resolution rescinding Trenk’s appointment as Township Attorney, this time to remove Kayser’s name from the language. He had initially been included. The amended resolution passed 3-2; Casalino and Williams voted against it.
McCartney’s lawsuit says that the council’s “no support” resolution against Trenk would leave the township without a municipal attorney. It says that if the council wants to remove Trenk from his position, they must “bring charges ‘for cause’ and obtain a super majority (4 out of 5) vote of the Council.”
In a phone interview with the West Orange Chronicle, McCartney referenced this section of the lawsuit.
“If they really did not have confidence in him, they should have levied charges,” she said. “The council majority was told by Ken Kayser and by myself that there would have been a hearing. It was my decision as a mayor to appoint him, unless they went through the process.”
According to McCartney, the council majority would not consider resolutions that Trenk was involved in, which held up the municipal budget process for two months.
“The resolution of no confidence had no merit because it’s a matter of opinion,” she said. “Instead, they were tabling resolutions.”
Williams said the council could not comment on pending litigation.
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