Update: Council Issues Press Release Regarding Change in Borough Attorney

During Tuesday night's Oradell Council meeting, Republicans unanimously voted in Brian Giblin of Giblin & Giblin as the new Borough Attorney to replace Andrew Oddo. Oddo has served as the Oradell Borough Attorney for the past three years and is a resident of town, while Giblin resides in Paramus, but his law office is in Oradell.

"In November the residents voted for change, not as much in the balance of power, but for the direction the town could go in," Councilman James Koth said (R). "While reviewing Brian's qualifications, he brings a different skill set to the table than Andrew does. It's not a negative to Andrew, he has a lot to offer, but we just need something different to fit our needs."

According to Koth, some of the needs the borough will face this year are finalizing a police table of organization for promotions and additional shared services with neighboring municipalities.

As of 7:30pm, former Councilman Robert Pizzuto sent River Dell Patch an email stating his position on the matter.

" Last night, the council made a motion to appoint its nominations for various positions," Pizzuto wrote. "All were re-appointed, with the exception of Andy Oddo. However, according to NJSA 40A:60-5(g) provides that the mayor shall nominate and, with the advice and consent of council, appoint all subordinate officers of the borough, unless the specific terms of the general law clearly require a different appointment procedure. The Mayor shall make her nomination to any such office within thirty days of the office becoming vacant. The vacancies technically became effective on January 1st, 2011."

Mayor Dianne Didio made her appointments during the Jan. 25 regular council meeting and while Councilman Michael Harte motioned for the approval, no other council members seconded the motion and no role call was taken.

Pizzuto further wrote that "NJSA 40A:60-6(d) provides that the council, whenever it fails to confirm the nomination by the mayor of any official to a subordinate office of the borough within thirty days of being presented such nomination, shall make the appointment to that office, provided that at least three affirmative votes shall be required for such purpose, the mayor to have no vote thereon except in the case of a tie."

According to NJSA 40A:60-6(d), the Council has 30 days from the Mayor's nominations to either confirm or wait until the 30-day period has expired to appoint an alternate appointee.

"If you do the math, the council did not wait 30 days," Pizzuto wrote. "Instead, they acted to appoint on the 28th day. Technically they should have made their resolution effective January 24th. However, as the record will reflect, no such motion, or resolution was made. Therefore, the council’s motion is illegal because they did not wait the full 30 days to confirm/or deny the mayor’s original appointments. It is my opinion that Andy Oddo is still the Borough attorney until the council meets again at its March 8th meeting to do a new resolution."

Councilman Garrie Murphy, Chair of the Communications Committee issues the following press release (a full PDF copy is found at the right):

"Following through on its promise of providing Open, Respectful and Responsive government, the Oradell Borough Council moved to fill vacancies in various professional positions at Tuesday night’s meeting. In doing so, the Council fulfilled its obligation under N.J.S.A. 40A:60-6, which provides that the Council may fill vacant positions after failing to confirm a mayor’s nomination. 

For 2011, the council used a Fair and Open procedure for appointing professionals. Under this process, professional positions were advertised and applicants submitted substantial documentation to demonstrate their qualifications to hold the position sought and their compliance with all applicable laws governing such. After advertising and issuing two requests for qualifications, members of the council reviewed the qualifications packages supplied and conducted interviews.

Brian Giblin, Esq. of the firm Giblin & Giblin was appointed to the position of Borough Attorney. Giblin brings over 24 years of municipal experience to the position. He has maintained an office in Oradell since 1988 and was formerly the attorney for the Oradell Planning Board. In addition to land use law, Giblin specializes in labor law and contract negotiations; qualifications which were the underpinning of his selection to assist in dealing with current and upcoming challenges to the Borough. Giblin will be compensated at the same rate as the former Borough Attorney, thereby providing the Borough with much needed additional experience and expertise with no increase in cost."

And while Koth stated that the change over for borough attorney is not political, several residents are not of the same opinion.

"Something happened that left me amazed and angry at the utter disregard the council members had for the taxpayers of Oradell," Anne Reynolds wrote in an email to River Dell Patch. " They voted "Yes" to hire another borough attorney to replace Andrew Oddo at an increase of $20,000. I give credit to Mayor Didio who was the only one who voted "No".  He's done an admirable job as borough attorney. There's no reason to replace him by someone else. Especially for $20,000 more...for all the talk about saving taxpayers' money, the council members went ahead and voted "Yes". That $20,000 should come out of their pockets."

Of the six member Council, Democrat Michael Harte was absent from the Tuesday meeting so the approval for the change over fell to Republicans James Koth, Eric Shuler, Donna Alonso, Joseph Murray and Garrie Murphy.

 posted on the River Dell Patch comment box that "Mr. Oddo's service as Borough attorney has been excellent."

Oddo has his BA from Lehigh University and his law degree from Rutgers University. He is the current municipal attorney for the Borough of Haledon in Passaic County, special labor counsel to the Township of East Brunswick and East Brunswick Library and is special litigation counsel to the County of Passaic. Oddo is also General Counsel to Med Edge LLC, a pharmaceutical marketing and communications company based in Freehold, and taught as an Adjunct Professor for the New Jersey Education Law Masters in Administration Program at Seton Hall University.

"They are cutting jobs in the middle of an economic downturn, yet the council has the temerity to hire an out-of-towner for an additional $20,000, while ejecting a sharp, experienced, savvy attorney who is an Oradell resident," Kristin O'Meara said. "Andy is the guy who guided us through the Walgreens mess and guided the council to legally find a way to overturn the Zoning Board's decision. That decision has stood up in court and it will again. There's no lack of sophistication in Andy's approach to guiding our elected officials. How could the council do this to us when we're embroiled in major litigation on multiple fronts? The ramp-up time on all the issues -- Blauvelt, the cell tower, and yes, the Haglers tract -- is going to be huge."

Giblin has his BA degree from Fairleigh Dickinson and his law degree from Seton Hall. He has previously represented the counties of Bergen and Sussex, the Bergen County Prosecutor, Sussex County Prosecutor and Sussex County Sheriff. Giblin has served as a municipal prosecutor in several municipalities, represented Planning and Zoning Boards and as a borough attorney. He is the current Borough Attorney for Paramus and Leonia. Giblin is an Adjunct Professor in the School of Administrative Science at Fairleigh Dickinson University.

The Council also appointed the following borough professionals: Alan Spiniello, Esq. as tax appeal attorney (reappointment); Thomas Randall, Esq. of the firm Randall & Randall as special counsel tax appeal attorney (new appointment); Alice Meehan, Esq. as public defender (reappointment); and the firm of Brown & Brown as insurance consultant (new appointment).

“As someone who has advocated for improved and more accountable processes since joining the council, I am concerned that the town has been left with a mischaracterization and misrepresentation that the council is irresponsibly spending taxpayer dollars as a result of the various claims and comments surrounding the appointment of a new borough attorney and associated compensation made at Tuesday night’s public meeting.” said Councilman James Koth. “I can assure our residents that the council has carefully weighed the current needs of the borough and selected the most qualified professionals and citizens to advise the council and best meet the needs of the borough.”

 Consideration of appointments for the positions of Borough Prosecutor and Alternate Prosecutors as well as the Borough Auditor are still under review and will be moved at a meeting in the near future completing the council’s re-organization process for 2011.