HENRY’S APPOINTEES CONFIRMED

Council Agrees To Keep Mostly O’Leary’s Picks (Reprinted from Amboy Beacon, Jan. 26, 2011) SOUTH AMBOY — The City Council last week voted unanimously to confirm five administrative appointments made by Mayor Fred Henry, four of them previously made by his predecessor, former Mayor John O’Leary, who decided not to seek an unprecedented seventh four-year term.

In a consent-agenda moved by Councilman Donald Applegate, seconded by Councilman Mark Noble and adopted 5-0, Henry’s appointments of Business Administrator Camille Tooker, City Law Director John Lanza, City Engineer Mark Rasimowicz, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Terance O’Neill and Municipal Court Judge James Hoebich were confirmed. All but Hoebich were O’Leary appointees who were reappointed.

Lanza’s appointments of Thomas Downs IV as Municipal Prosecutor, his brother Thomas Lanza as First Alternate Prosecutor, his son John E. Lanza as Second Alternate Prosecutor and George Otlowski Jr. as Municipal Public Defender — all reappointments — also were confirmed by the Council in the same consent-agenda.

While acknowledging that his reappointments might draw criticism, Henry — the previous Council President — defended them. “I believe that we worked-well as a team,” he said. “These people are good people.”

As for Hoebich, Henry pointed out that the New Brunswick attorney also is not new to the South Amboy scene because he “has filled-in before” as Acting Municipal Court Judge.

O’Leary had appointed Emery Toth, who serves as Municipal Court Judge in several other jurisdictions, including Perth Amboy and Woodbridge Township, to complete the term of Judge Joseph Hoffman, who died last year.

Henry said that in selecting Hoebich for the full three-year term as Judge, he had interviewed “people who applied for the position who actually worked in Municipal Court.”

Henry has not yet appointed anyone to succeed Code Enforcement Director Richard Cronin, who died just-before Christmas.

“There was someone I interviewed yesterday (Jan. 18), and I’ll see another person tomorrow (Jan. 20),” Henry said. “I want to pick someone as soon as possible for that position, which is important.”

Lanza interjected that the new Mayor has made his appointments “using an RFQ (Request For Qualifications) process,” but Henry said that for Judge, he used “just a resume system.”

Henry, Applegate and Councilmen Joseph Connors and Michael “Mickey” Gross were sworn-in privately by City Clerk Kathleen Vigilante at City Hall, N.

Broadway, on Saturday, Jan. 1, at various times, and the Jan. 5 Council Reorganization took less than 15 minutes.

Henry — who was leading Independent mayoral candidate Mary O’Connor by three votes at that point — was ordered by Superior Court Judge Phillip Paley not to make any permanent appointments at the Reorganization, pending a hearing by the Judge on whether to certify Henry or O’Connor as the winner or to order a new election, following his review of 23 contested election-ballots.

Paley upheld Henry’s election over O’Connor by two votes after disqualifying the vote of a hairdresser who maintained that she lived half-the-time in the back of her S. Broadway salon.

However, O’Connor filed an appeal of Paley’s decision to certify Henry as the winner and not order a new election.

Christopher Struben, O’Connor’s attorney, said the Judge “addressed only nine of the votes” in making his ruling and “did not even consider the whereabouts of 103 provisional ballots sent to South Amboy but never returned to the Board of Elections.”

In addition, O’Connor’s team discovered on Jan. 8 that a couple living in Matawan who had sold their Barkalow Street home 16 years ago had cast their votes in South Amboy, in what Struben called “a clear case of voter-fraud,”

but Paley would not allow that evidence to be presented, saying that it was submitted “too-late.”

Despite the appeal, the new Mayor apparently was free to make any permanent appointments he wanted, but O’Connor — who did not attend last week’s Council meeting — issued a prepared statement prior to that meeting, warning the Council of adverse consequences which could result should she be successful in her appeal.

“The City Council is putting South Amboy at-risk of litigation by making permanent appointments prior to the election-challenge being heard at the Appellate Court,” O’Connor said in the statement. “If Judge Paley’s decision is reversed, then appointments may also be subject to reversal. Only temporary appointments should be made at this time.”