Morristown town Attorney Vij Pawar was confirmed unanimously in Trenton on Monday as a Superior Court judge.
His apparent successor has friends in the Legislature, too.
The town council is poised on Tuesday to hire David Minchello, a partner in the law firm of state Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin (D-19th Dist.; no relation to this reporter).
“David Minchello, who is part of that firm, is highly renowned and experienced in municipal government and represents other municipalities. And we think… his experience and the experience of the firm will serve our town very well as Vij transitions to his new role,” town Administrator Jillian Barrick said on Monday.
Pawar was among five persons nominated by Gov. Phil Murphy for the bench in Morris County. They were confirmed together by a 38-0 vote in the state Senate.
“Feels great,” said Pawar, 45. “I’m excited for this new phase of my career. As a judge, you have an opportunity to touch upon many lives and I look forward to the public service.”
Pawar emigrated from India with his family when he was 13. His American Dream story continues with his swearing-in ceremony on Friday.
Also confirmed with him: Claudia Jones, Patricia O’Dowd, Marcy McMann, and Jonathan W. Romankow.
Pawar must relinquish all side enterprises, according to state Sen. Anthony M. Bucco (R-25th Dist.), who supported his nomination.
These include Pawar’s partnership in the Morristown law firm Pawar, Gilgallon and Rudy LLC, along with a managing partnership of the cannabis venture Green Garden LLC, and his seat on the Morris School District board of education.
‘MORE EXPERTISE IS BETTER THAN LESS’
Minchello will be paid $150 an hour as an outside contractor.
That’s a departure from the present arrangement.
Pawar earned $127,000 as a Morristown employee while continuing his private practice. Mayor Tim Dougherty hired his former campaign treasurer in 2010 as municipal attorney and director of the town legal department, asserting that Pawar would help control legal costs.
The hiring withstood a legal challenge by political opponents who argued it was a dodge to avoid disclosures under the town pay-to-play law.
While praising Pawar’s performance as “stellar,” Barrick said moving away from an in-house counsel “fits our needs.”
“Vij’s was a very unique position. But I think we can still get the support that we need by having outside counsel,” the administrator said.
The mayor could not be reached for comment on Monday.
Barrick said the town also will continue being represented at council meetings, on an hourly basis, by Assistant Town Attorney Joni Noble McDonnell of Inglesino, Webster, Wyciskala & Taylor. The firm represents the planning board and redevelopment authority as well.
“They each bring different expertise to the table. More expertise is better than less,” Barrick said. “As we transition through the end of the year, we’ll evaluate how everything’s working, just like we do with every other professional services agreement.”
Minchello will have to get up to speed quickly. Morristown is defending at least 15 lawsuits, according to Esperanza Porras-Field, who Dougherty defeated earlier this month in the Democratic primary as he seeks a fourth term.
Most of the suits are by developers and bar owners. A judge recently ruled the town must hand over public records–and pay legal fees–in a dispute over the Speedwell Avenue redevelopment. The plaintiffs’ lawyer in that case is asking for almost $100,000 in fees and costs.
The mayor has contended it’s his job to oppose projects he considers detrimental to the town.
MUNICIPAL POWERHOUSE
Minchello co-founded Rainone, Coughlin and Minchello LLC in Woodbridge in 2017, to represent municipalities and public entities. The company quickly became a powerhouse in the field.
Last year, it was the only law firm on the state’s top 10 list of contractors making political contributions, giving $141,700 to candidates and landing public contracts totaling $5,890,204, according to the state Election Law Enforcement Commission.
ELEC records do not show any contributions by Minchello or his partners to Morristown candidates. The town’s pay-to-play ordinance bars vendors from doing business with the town for four years if they have donated more than $300 to any municipal candidate or official.
A 2003 graduate of Seton Hall Law School, Minchello represents Plainfield, Westhampton, Scotch Plains, the Union County Improvement Authority and the New Brunswick Parking Authority, according to his firm’s website.
Past clients have included Burlington City, Mount Holly, and Dover, where he served as Special Counsel. A former municipal prosecutor for North Plainfield, he now defends persons charged with drunk driving and related offenses.
In Morristown’s form of government, the administration vets individuals for key positions and submits them for council approval.
No public bidding was required for the town attorney job, because professional services contracts are exempt, Barrick explained.
She declined to say how long the search lasted, or how many candidates were interviewed.
“We looked at enough,” Barrick said. “We looked at a few, and this was the one that we chose.”
There was no pressure from anyone in Trenton, she said in response to a question.
“They’ve never been involved in a decision about the town attorney in the past. That’s not changed.”
It’s no coincidence that a law firm that “contributes” big bucks to politicians winds up cashing in to the tune of millions of dollars worth of business with government. Of course this is all “perfectly legal”.
New Jersey (our whole country actually) should adopt public financing of all campaigns. It should be illegal to bribe lawmakers and anyone else in government. As it stands now, bribery is legal based on an absurd perversion of the concept of free speech. The result is a system in which pretty much every penny spent by government is, at all levels, influenced by some kind of money (spent directly or indirectly) to influence/determine spending and, actual policies in general.
Pretty much every existing problem in our state and nation can be traced back to our system of legalized bribery, systemic legalized corruption, and legalized influence peddling. Giving a politician money should land you in jail, not make you rich.
Truly fixing this will require new laws, clean judges and a Constitutional Amendment. There is still much that could be done within the framework of existing SCOTUS decisions, New Jersey should be the national leader in that department, instead…the wealthy and the powerful continue to pay and those in power continue to play.
Of course, in the long run…systemic corruption is as unsustainable as an untreated malignancy. We can, and must, do better.