Lawsuit filed over change in mayor’s job

Former Township Council member Robert Nolan has sued the council, mayor and township over the change in Mayor Michelle Dale’s role from part-time to full-time.

The lawsuit seeks to invalidate an ordinance giving the council the authority to designate the mayor’s position as part- or full-time each year, an ordinance specifying the administrative duties of the mayor and the compensation range, and a resolution appointing Dale to the new position.

“I initiated this suit because of how the council went about circumventing the law and ignoring the voice of the residents,” Nolan said. “Changes like these need to be put to a public vote.”

The council approved a resolution appointing Dale to serve full time, effective July 8, at its meeting June 12. According to the resolution, she will be paid $130,000 a year, including the $16,000 that she had received as a part-time mayor.

In March, the council approved two ordinances to permit council members to determine if the mayor is full- or part-time each year and setting the salary for a full-time mayor. The second ordinance sets the salary range for a full-time mayor at $90,000 to $135,000 plus benefits and pension.

Legal arguments

The lawsuit argues that those actions violate the Faulkner Act, under which the township government is organized. For example, the law does not give the council authority to limit, expand or modify the mayor’s duties or hours.

Granting the council the power to change the position makes the mayor’s compensation and duties conditional on the council, undermining the separation of the executive and legislative branches established under the Mayor-Council-Administrator form of government, according to the suit.

Another conflict mentioned in the suit is that by giving the full-time mayor administrative duties, such as managing grants and overseeing major projects and township initiatives, the mayor is taking direction from the township administrator, whom the mayor can nominate and fire.

The suit also cites violations of the state Local Government Ethics Act, which forbids government officials and employees from taking positions where their “independence of judgment in the exercise of official duties” may be compromised.

”The mayor’s independence of judgment as mayor is clearly compromised by council’s ability to decide at any time whether the mayor is a full-time mayor performing the duties assigned to her by the council at a salary of $130,000.00 or is a mayor performing only the duties of a mayor, at a stipend of $16,000.00,” he suit says.

“The administrator is now compromised in the execution of his duties as his primary subordinate has the power to discipline him, notwithstanding the inherent necessity to provide direction, evaluate performance and reassign duties in the best interest of the township as is his prerogative.”

Nolan is treasurer of West Milford First, a nonpartisan Continuing Political Committee that aims to create a ballot referendum to return West Milford’s government to a nonpartisan, ward-based system.