By Kevin Coughlin
The Morristown Council had a busy night on Tuesday, approving contracts for police and firefighters, listening to complaints about rental “stacking” and a defense of town enforcement policies, and hotly debating an appointment to the town’s public housing authority.
There also were developments in the town’s ongoing battle with the owner of the Iron Bar over a pending expansion called the Iron Bistro.
CONTRACTS
Three-year deals, retroactive to January and running through 2017, will grant annual increases of 1.75 percent to 57 police officers and 24 firemen, said Acting Business Adminstrator Frank Mason. Four superior officers in the fire department also will get raises pegged to the contract, he said.
The pacts were approved by 6-0 votes. Council President Rebecca Feldman was absent; Councilwoman Raline Smith-Reid voted by phone.
STACKING ARGUMENTS
Gregg Bruen, whose Speedwell Avenue lawn signs deploring overcrowded housing (stacking) caused a stir last week, read a list of grievances in Spanish and English.
He said his lawn protest was triggered by a threat from a town housing inspector, who allegedly told him he would face a $2,000 penalty if he rented an upstairs bedroom without approvals.
Bruen contends inspectors have turned a blind eye to numerous residences along Speedwell that he says are overflowing with illegal tenants.
The resident alleged that inspectors give landlords advance warning of inspections, never inspect at night when stacking is most evident, and nitpick homeowners over cosmetic issues instead of pursuing unscrupulous landlords and the fire hazards they spawn.
“Why does zoning allow people to stack and live in basements in our neighborhoods? Every basement is full,” asserted Bruen.
He also took police to task for having too few Spanish-speaking officers, for allegedly refusing to issue fines for noise violations by repeat offenders, and for allegedly attempting to conduct a psychological evaluation of him.
Bruen was critical of firefighters as well, for not randomly inspecting homes for fire hazards caused by stacking.
In recent days, Bruen added, people have wedged into two neighboring houses, one of which lacked a certificate of occupancy, he claimed.
Mayor Tim Dougherty shot back that Bruen was mistaken about those houses: One obtained necessary approvals in August, while an inspection of the other found no stacking.
Some inspections do occur on nights and weekends, said town Attorney Vij Pawar. And Joe Costa, director of code enforcement, produced statistics indicating Speedwell is Morristown’s most inspected street.
Some 63 violations were found there last year; Western and Sussex avenues were next, with 39 and 38, respectively. So far this year, 27 overcrowding inspections on Speedwell have yielded seven violations.
When combined, overcrowding/ stacking (96 violations) and lack of certificates/inspections (55) accounted for more violations last year than any category except for overgrown properties.
Those 96 overcrowding summonses were the most since 2010 (104 violations). The department is on pace to write 90 such tickets this year, Costa estimates.
Since 2013, the town has investigated 14 complaints by Bruen. Four summonses resulted, though none for stacking.
Police Chief Pete Demnitz rebutted Bruen in smooth Spanish. He rattled off names of four other bi-lingual officers on his 60-plus member police force.
Mayor Dougherty framed the debate largely as a free speech issue, involving the lawn signs.
“We support the Constitution of the United States, which is free speech, as long as it’s not interfering [with] or hurting an individual,” said Mayor Dougherty.
“Anybody in this town files a complaint, it is investigated and a report is filed.”
MUSICAL CHAIRS AT THE MHA, SPARKS AT THE COUNCIL
The council tabled an appointment to the federally funded Morristown Housing Authority, but not before some heated back-and-forth.
At stake: Whether the seven-member volunteer housing board has a member who actually lives in public housing, as required by federal regulations.
Presently, it does not.
Council Vice President Toshiba Foster, running Tuesday’s meeting, was eager to vote for a resident of the Manahan Village public housing apartments to fill an expired term. At least one candidate was in the audience.
But Councilwoman Michelle Dupree Harris prevailed upon the governing body to let things play out at the housing authority, as requested in a letter from MHA Executive Director Roy Rogers.
The housing authority oversees 470 units of public housing and 186 housing choice vouchers.
It awaits a response from the federal Housing and Urban Development, on a request by authority Chairman Michael Cherello to waive the requirement for a public housing resident on the board.
A waiver would enable the chairman to seek reappointment to his term, which expired earlier this month, explained Elnardo Webster II, assistant attorney for the town.
But Webster was highly critical of Cherello’s request to HUD, and of Rogers asking the town council to delay making an appointment while the matter is pending.
“I find it problematic that the chairperson of the housing authority sent a letter to HUD without the consensus of the board or meeting with the board, when in fact, the action he’s requiring is to benefit himself. I find that extremely problematic,” Webster told the council.
“I find it more problematic that the director of the housing authority has echoed these sentiments, most likely at the chairperson’s direction. I find that to be very problematic,” Webster added.
Tawanna Cotten, a resident of Manahan Village, is among several public housing residents seeking the appointment. She implored the town council to follow federal guidelines.
“It is important because we live there. We know what we need. We can speak for the voice of the residents,” Cotten said afterward.
Toshiba Foster, the council vice president, cast the only vote against delaying an appointment. She noted that HUD could take months to resolve the residency waiver request, leaving the housing authority in limbo.
But Councilwoman Harris said too many questions are up in the air; three former residents of public housing serve on the housing authority board, she said. She also referred to a federal audit of the board.
Vij Pawar, the town attorney, said he lacked specifics about the audit — except that he was told it’s unrelated to the appointment. And federal audits sometimes are routine, he said.
“It seems like there is something still going on that is not clear, and it’s like a game being played… and I don’t feel very comfortable making a vote until I get that clarity,” said Harris.
The councilwoman, who has announced plans to run for mayor in 2017, set off sparks by asserting it’s a conflict of interest for the Mayor’s wife, Mary Dougherty, to serve on the housing board.
“Mary Dougherty can speak for herself on her volunteerism. The council supported her, and so did you, Councilwoman,” the Mayor said to Harris.
The Mayor said he has not attended a housing authority meeting since his wife’s appointment. “There is no conflict. It’s been vetted by the attorneys that there is no conflict.”
It’s the council’s duty to appoint a public housing resident to the authority, the Mayor said. The council anticipates revisiting the situation next month.
IRON BISTRO: ‘BACK TO SQUARE ONE’
A long-delayed trial to decide the fate of the Iron Bar’s expansion has been scrapped… for now.
The case was scheduled for Monday before an administrative law judge in Newark. But it’s been rendered moot on technical grounds, said Elnardo Webster II, assistant attorney for the town.
“We’re back to square one,” Webster said after Tuesday’s council meeting.
The fight is about curfews imposed last year by the council.
If Iron Bar owner Jimmy Cavanaugh wants to expand his South Street operations next door to create the Iron Bistro, alcohol sales there must stop by 11:30 pm on Fridays and Saturdays, and at 11 pm on weeknights, the council ruled in 2014.
Other bars serve until 2 pm. Cavanaugh appealed to the state Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control, which stayed the council conditions.
The legal burden shifted to the town, and to a lawyer for residents who support the curfews, to defend these conditions before the judge in Newark.
But a technicality has reset the clock, Webster said. Everyone has been fighting over last year’s liquor license… which no longer is in effect.
Earlier this month, the council approved renewals for every liquor license in town, including Cavanaugh’s. All the same conditions remain in effect.
Cavanaugh is free to open the Iron Bistro, as long as he complies with the alcohol curfews, Webster said. Or he once again can ask the state ABC to stay them… which Webster anticipates, based on his conversations with Cavanaugh’s legal team.
Earlier on Tuesday, Cavanaugh stood outside the Iron Bar and Iron Bistro space, overseeing changes to the building façade.
He hinted at a legal challenge to this month’s license renewals, on procedural grounds.
“They didn’t give us notice,” said Cavanaugh, who attended the Sept. 8, 2015, council meeting but did not publicly voice any objections.
Stay tuned.
Willow Hall was my project which was fought by Stefan Armington and ultimately defeated.
After being a part of the business community in Morristown for 35 years, politics has reached an all time low. Iron bar which has become a potential landmark with a multi million dollar renovation has become a lightning rod by some members of the council. Secret reports not shared by the council showing multiple violations taking place at certain bars in town go unpunished. Iron Bar with no violations is singled out and burdened with conditions. Why is this happening, one council member fought against the development of willow hall, a project which would have brought a luxury townhouse project to town and insured the future of the mansion forever, at no cost to the public. Clearly this is a conflict on the part of the council member. The office was granted expansion at the same time iron bar was saddled with conditions. The administration objects to two seperate concepts using one license, but the state permits this, Roots Urban Table as an example. The town should worry more about the illegal consumption of alcohol in unlicensed restaurants. Morristown businesses have a right to be treated honestly and fairly and shouldn’t be governed by personnel agendas.
Wy does this Bruen want cops who speak Spanish? We shouldn’t be catering to people who refuse to learn our language.