Council tables ordinance to create own attorney Ad hoc committee to research legality, necessity of position BY TOM CAIAZZA Staff Writer The Edison Township Council opted to table an ordinance that would create a position for an attorney to work exclusively for and with the council. The ordinance was pulled on Jan. 10 by its sponsor, Councilman Salvatore Pizzi, in order that further research could be done into the legality and the necessity of a position that circumvents the role of the current township attorney, Jeffrey Lehrer. The ordinance was introduced at the Dec. 27 council meeting over objections from then-council President Robert Diehl. Diehl had expressed concern that the creation of this attorney was more about a rift among some council members, the mayor and the administration, and less about the necessity for such counsel. Pizzi said that Lehrer was not adequately representing the council, and Councilwoman Antonia Ricigliano worried about Lehrer's ability to "serve two masters." Lehrer has questioned the legality of the ordinance in the past, citing case law from Washington Township, where a similar ordinance was overturned because it went against the Faulkner Act, the legislation Edison's form of government is based on. Tomaro addressed those concerns and said it was part of why the issue was tabled and will be looked into. "This type of ordinance has been challenged before in court and has lost," Tomaro said. "So there is a legality part of it, so we want to research that a little bit more." Tomaro also said that the council wanted to make sure that creating the position of municipal counselor was truly in the best interest of the residents. "Also, just to make sure that we're not doing something wrong," Tomaro said. "And I just think everybody is maybe having just a little bit of second thoughts and want to try to work together to try and straighten it out." The position of the township attorney is appointed by the mayor; however, under the proposed ordinance, the municipal counselor as it is titled, would be appointed by the council itself. This person would serve at the pleasure of that body, not that of the mayor. The municipal counselor would assume all legal responsibilities regarding the council currently performed by Lehrer and would not act subordinately to him. Jerry Barca, a spokesman for the administration, praised the work of Lehrer and said that creating a municipal counselor would be an unnecessary expense for the residents to incur. "Jeff Lehrer works for the residents of Edison," Barca said. "Serving them is and has been his priority. He has done an outstanding job. This council and administration has been able to adopt 62 ordinances last year because of his diligence and hard work. An added attorney seems to overburden taxpayers unnecessarily." Barca said that a municipal counselor taking away any of the power mandated by law to the administration has not been a factor in their opinion. The only factors are Lehrer's service to the township and the added expense to the taxpayers. The council created an ad hoc committee consisting of three council members to research and discuss the creation of a municipal counselor and to make a recommendation to the council as a whole. The committee consists of Pizzi, Diehl and Councilman Peter Barnes III, who had expressed interest in creating the position as long as it does not "run afoul" of current case law against it. Tomaro said that he wanted to "mix it up to get three different opinions on it and hopefully they can talk to each other and work out a good solution for this ordinance." Tomaro said that the idea of a municipal counselor has been talked about in the past, but to his knowledge has never reached the level of drafted legislation or introduction. "I think it's something everybody needs to look at, take a step back and move it in the right direction," Tomaro said.