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90 Day Hiring of Attorneys and Illegal Housing Come into Play

4/12/17 Council Meeting

PERTH AMBOY – Communication No. 12 – Mayor Wilda Diaz appointing Peter J. King, Esq. as Acting Law Director for a period of 90 days pending consent of Council.

Resident Stanley Sierakowski asked a hypothetical question in regards to hiring attorneys for 90 day blocks. He addressed Attorney Peter J. King if his firm was hired. King answered, “I was hired – not the firm.”

Sierakowski continued, “Does the Mayor have the power to hire a Law Director for 90 days only?”

King responded, “She has the power.”

Sierakowksi asked, “How did the Attorney get the job?”

King answered, “I was called by someone in the Administration and I was not aware if there was an advertisement for the position.”

Sierakowski continued, “Can the Attorney assign cases to other attorneys in his law firm?”

King answered, “Theoretically, in some cases I can.”

Resident Ken Balut came up and asked a similar question, but this time about the new Tax Assessor to see if they had gotten a call about a job opening in that position.

Law Director King responded to Balut, “I got a phone call from another attorney about sending in my resume for the Law Director job.”

Balut responded, “It’s a quick quo pro.”

This prompted Councilman Irizarry to say to Balut, “You have no proof.”

Resident David Caba continued the line of questioning, “Did all the attorneys who came after Blunda (former Law Director) take his cases?”

Council President Bill Petrick responded stating that Law Director Quinones who was hired after Blunda reviewed all of his cases.

Business Administrator Adam Cruz reminded the Council that the DeCotiis Lawyers continued the cases that were in progress prior to March 1, 2017. “Some of the minor cases that the DeCotiis Firm was working on prior to March 1, 2017 could be passed on to the new Law Firm.”

During the last public portion, former Council President Lisa Nanton had several concerns. She stated, “There was another fire in town – another illegal house. Code Enforcement needs to be looked at because of all the illegal housing before the budget is increased. The City is in such a decline. Somebody is falling short. DeCotiis took over all of Blunda’s cases when he was replaced. Faulkner is an inefficient form of government. I urge the Council to get their own server.”

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