Township Council splits vote to approve towing licenses

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WEST ORANGE, NJ — The West Orange Township Council approved a resolution during its May 24 meeting that awards three-year town licenses to two of the three towing companies that applied for them; the third company made no secret of its objection to the reason and process by which its license application was denied.

The council voted 3-2 in favor of granting licenses to Select Towing and Twin Towing, with Councilman Joe Krakoviak and Councilwoman Susan McCartney voting against the measure. That means the West Orange Police Department will call Select or Twin whenever it needs a vehicle to be towed.

Ajaco Towing, the third company that had applied, was rejected after a WOPD investigation reportedly found that its garage did not meet the storage requirements mandated by the township towing ordinance. Specifically, Officer Scott Smarsh ruled that Auto Body Techs — the facility Ajaco uses — does not have four dedicated indoor spaces to hold vehicles for investigations.

But Ajaco owner Jason Cleffi disagreed with the WOPD’s findings, pointing out that other township-contracted towing companies have used the same 10,000 square foot garage in the past without incident. Additionally, Cleffi expressed frustration that this is the second application from his company that West Orange has denied. The first was rejected three years ago due to missing paperwork, though the owner maintains he had submitted all required documents.

Overall, Cleffi said Ajaco has both the equipment and experience within the township to have received a license.

“I’ve been doing the AAA in this town for over 20 years,” Cleffi said at the meeting. “And anything that was thrown at us that we had to do, from big heavy truck moves to little truck moves in the town, we were able to handle it. I’m just looking for an equal shot to do business in the town and bring business to the town.”

Ajaco attorney Steven Jayson also protested the fact that his client’s request for an appeal was denied for being out of time when, according to his reasoning, the appeal was filed in a timely fashion. Jayson said Ajaco had three business days to acknowledge the receipt of the township’s April 29 letter informing the company of its rejection. Since April 29 was a Friday, he said May 4 would be the last date Ajaco could acknowledge receipt of the official notification, not counting a May 2 phone call and May 3 email Ajaco received from township counsel Mark Moon. Since the company then had 14 days to appeal, he said his client had just made the deadline when it filed its appeal May 18.

Aside from that, Jayson found fault with the inspection of the Auto Body Techs garage, pointing out that Smarsh had arrived at the facility without warning.

When it came time for the council to consider the matter, Krakoviak brought up an email sent by Ajaco to the council members stating that Auto Body Techs had reconfigured its garage since Smarsh’s visit to house the four dedicated parking spaces required by the township. The councilman asked whether it would be possible for the township to re-inspect Ajaco now that it is in compliance.

McCartney seemed to echo this sentiment, saying that the garage might not have yet made room for the four spaces when the inspection came unexpectedly.

But after clarifying that the WOPD was not required to announce when it would be conducting its investigation, township business Administrator Jack Sayers said discussion about the details of the case was not a good idea.

“Either vote for (the resolution) or vote it down — we’re not going to discuss this in public,” Sayers said. “The report has been made. The investigation was done. The administration’s submission is given to the council for approval or not approval. It’s up to you guys to approve it or not approve it.”

In the end, Krakoviak suggested voting down the resolution and starting a new bid process so that Ajaco could receive a second chance.

“It seems to me that the township benefits from having more services here instead of less,” Krakoviak said. “I think the reasons we have been given for why we shouldn’t be considering (Ajaco) don’t rise to the level of trying to prevent somebody from doing business in town here.”

The council majority, however, said the resolution awarding licenses to the other two applicants should be approved. Council President Victor Cirilo stressed that considering the measure was not meant to show prejudice against Ajaco’s case. Rather, Cirilo said granting licenses to Select and Twin after they were found to be in compliance with the township’s towing ordinance was a separate issue entirely.

According to Ken Kayser, the assistant township attorney, the township believes Ajaco missed its window to appeal, so the towing company could very well could exercise its available legal remedies. But if it does so, it would not come as a surprise — Kayser said litigation is not infrequent when it comes to towing contracts.

Photos by Sean Quinn

  West Orange Township Council