Photo by Chris Sykes Jerome Reid's surviving family members stand with members of the People’s Organization for Progress grassroots social justice and economic advocacy group on Monday, Aug. 22, during their weekly Justice Monday protest rally outside the Peter Rodino Federal Building on Broad Street in downtown Newark, after hearing U.S. Attorney General for NJ Paul Fishman has decided not to open a federal civil rights investigation into his shooting death at the hands of Bridgeton police, after reviewing the facts of the case.
ORANGE, NJ — On Aug. 23, Orange city clerk Joyce Lanier confirmed to the Record-Transcript that she received that day a copy of a Federal Bureau of Investigation subpoena ordering Mayor Dwayne Warren’s administration to testify before a grand jury on Tuesday, Aug. 9.
“I just got it five minutes ago,” said Lanier on Tuesday, Aug. 23, adding that she had requested a copy of the subpoena “two weeks ago.”
The subpoena was signed and dated Friday, July 22, by William T. Walsh, the clerk for the U.S. District Court of New Jersey. City attorney Dan Smith informed the Orange City Council of the subpoena’s existence during the council’s executive session meeting Wednesday, Aug. 3, according to West Ward Councilman Harold J. Johnson.
Based on that information, Lanier said she had made a request for the subpoena on Tuesday, Aug. 9, the same date the Warren administration had been ordered to appear in Room 2075 of the Peter W. Rodino Federal Office Building at 9:30 a.m. to testify before a grand jury.
Lanier is responsible for keeping copies of all records and official correspondence within city government and outside agencies and entities. However, she was not able to confirm who, if anyone, testified before the grand jury on Aug. 9.
“I’ve been the city clerk in Orange for almost a year and a half,” said Lanier. “But I’ve worked in a clerk’s office for over 18 years. And in my experience, warrants and subpoenas are served on the city Clerk’s Office.”
She said that, according to the Orange City Code, “the city clerk is the secretary to the Municipal Corporation. … As secretary, all subpoenas, search warrants or legal notices should be served on the Clerk’s Office.”
But Lanier said it wasn’t until this week that she received the subpoena served Friday, July 22, to the city. On Thursday, July 21, the F.B.I. raided the Orange Public Library and carted off materials and information, including computers, files and documents related to an ongoing investigation of that institution.
The Warren administration made an official statement regarding the Orange Public Library search and seizure warrant.
“The city of Orange Township is cooperating with authorities and complying with the requests for documents in response to allegations in connection with the Orange Public Library,” said city spokesman Keith Royster in an official statements for the Warren administration on Tuesday, Aug. 23. “The library is now open and city government continues to operate and serve the citizens of Orange Township.”
The administration also warned that there could be repercussions for anyone who leaks information about ongoing legal issues.
“Any disclosure from City Council members or the city Clerk’s Office about issues discussed during closed City Council executive sessions is a violation of their duties, obligations and possibly illegal,” said Royster in the statement. “Therefore, it would be inappropriate for the administration to comment on any items discussed at the Aug. 3 council executive session meeting.”
The subpoena itself reads as if it were a who’s who of Orange government: among those named in it are Willis Edwards III, Tyshammie Cooper, Ana Maria Amin, Felicia Simmons, Darryl Hammary and Anthony Carey. The subpoena requested items ranging from bids, qualifications and proposals regarding Orange’s water utility and water services to its purchase and maintenance of the YWCA property and conversion into a recreation center to business dealings “with Nishuane Group LLC and its employees or representatives, Franklyn Ore, Urban Partners, LLC, CSF Technologies and its employees or representatives, and Savannah Rose Cleaning and its employees or representatives.”
This follows the subpoena at the Orange Public Library, with a specific purpose of collecting “Evidence and instrumentalities of violations of Title 18, United States Code, Section 641, 666, 371, 134, 1349, 1951, and 1956.”
Section 641 covers theft of federal government funds; 666 relates to theft and accepting corrupt payments concerning an organization receiving federal funds; 371 is conspiracy to commit theft and accept corrupt payments; 1343 is wire fraud; 1349 conspiracy to commit wire fraud; 1951 is extortion under color of official right, conspiracy to do the same; and 1956 is money laundering.
The warrant for evidence related to the “Specified Federal Offenses” included materials “For the period Dec. 1, 2013, to present, documents, records, correspondence, invoices, bills, quotes, estimates, payments, checks and other monetary instruments and transmissions, receipts, requests for proposal, memoranda, diaries, calendars and notes pertaining to or to or from: Urban Partners LLC; the Saturday literacy program; BHZA Cleaning Services Inc.; Strategic Ace Solutions LLC; VH Electrical and Plumbing LLC; Adams Construction and Demolition Co. Inc.; Willis Edwards III; Tyshammie Cooper; Franklyn Ore; Anthony Carey; Shenandoah Adams and Shane Adams; Vernita Harrell; janitorial and maintenance services at the library; and the library’s HVAC system.”
About the Author
The Custodian of Records and the person subpoenaed to appear in court is the City Clerk. That raises the question of how anyone could have kept this subpoena from the Clerk. Did she know but was directed to keep quiet? Is it legal to tell her to do so?.The other big question is – will Warren and company actually produce the records and are they accurate? In the Edwards case, they refused to produce a fraction of the documents now requested in the face of a threatened $750,000 fine. Perhaps impending jail time will make a difference.
Going forward, I believe it imperative that the City Council protects itself and the city from further embarrassment and ridicule by distancing itself from these criminal accusations. Your decisions on this issue have moral and ethical implications. Any money authorized to protect individuals from these criminal charges will make Council Members complicit in the eyes of citizens and perhaps the law. Taxpayer Class Action suits are not out of the realm of possibility.
The city law department has not been just complacent to fraud over the past years, but actively supportive. How could any honest and competent lawyer defend the Edwards case let alone the years of stonewalling the City Council’s legitimate requests for competent legal advise and city documents? The City Council must exercise it’s authority and responsibility and immediately fire Dan Smith as City Attorney. He should have been fired years ago. Let the mayor explain why he deserves to keep his job.