DUI Lawyers in Palisades Park, NJ

3-minute read

NorthJersey.com

PALISADES PARK — The borough is suing its former administrator to recoup nearly $300,000 in paid unused sick and vacation time.

Palisades Park officials filed a lawsuit against David Lorenzo, the fired former borough administrator they say wrongly received $276,334.85 in supplemental compensation from 2015 to 2024.

The borough's lawsuit says Lorenzo used his position in municipal government to authorize the improper payments to himself, which included payments for unused sick and vacation time to which he was not entitled under state law.

"As the business administrator for the borough, David Lorenzo had a fiduciary duty to act in the best interest of the taxpayers and in accordance with all applicable laws and regulations," Sara Rossi, a spokesperson for the borough, said in a statement. "Instead, he violated that trust by accepting funds he was not statutorily entitled to. Palisades Park is taking legal action to ensure these funds are returned to the borough and its residents."

Lorenzo served as the business administrator for Palisades Park from 2008 until he was terminated in 2024.

Lorenzo's attorney said the lawsuit was "frivolous" and in retaliation for filing pending lawsuits against the borough.

The lawsuit, filed in state Superior Court in Bergen County on Jan. 13, says that during his tenure, Lorenzo "deliberately and improperly claimed and received payments" for unused sick and vacation time, which were not in accordance with or applicable by state law and two state comptroller’s reports.

The borough seeks judgment against Lorenzo for the recoupment of the supplemental compensation in the full amount, along with interest, costs of suit and any additional relief deemed equitable and just by the court.

Between 2015 and 2024, Lorenzo "caused and authorized himself" to receive a total of $276,334.85 including, $81,226.65 for unused sick time and $195,108.20 for unused vacation days.

During Lorenzo's tenure as borough administrator, the suit says, he "crafted several purported employment contracts for himself which defendant caused to be 'rubber stamped' by the borough’s governing body with actual or constructive knowledge that the contracts violated the applicable law as it pertains to the compensation of officers and employees of a municipality."

Officials said it wasn't until after Lorenzo was fired that the borough discovered the "full extent" of his actions and omissions that caused him to "wrongfully" be paid the supplemental compensation.

To date, says the lawsuit, filed by borough attorney Ruderman & Roth, Lorenzo "has refused" to return the money.

"Defendant’s actions and omissions which caused himself to be paid the supplemental compensation to which he was not entitled violated his duty of good faith and fair dealing and duty of loyalty," the suit says.

The lawsuit was a result of allegations made against Lorenzo before the Borough Council launched another investigation this past November, Rossi said.

"Mr. Lorenzo is being singled out in this frivolous lawsuit seeking to claw back salary payments he earned for accrued time dating back to 2015," said Richard Malagiere, Lorenzo's attorney.

The payments in the lawsuit were authorized by the borough's chief financial officer and presented and voted on by the mayor and council, including now-Mayor Chong "Paul" Kim, Malagiere said, until Lorenzo was "wrongfully terminated."

Comptroller's Palisades Park report

In 2021, a scathing comptroller's investigation found that officials were improperly paying employees for unused sick time.

After the state comptroller said hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars were wasted, the mayor and Borough Council made changes, including amending white-collar contracts, issuing gas cards to department heads only and instituting an oversight committee.

Its most concerning findings are related to the borough’s policies on sick time payouts.

"Under state law, the 2015 contract and many actions taken by the Borough pursuant to the contract related to the BA (business administrator) and his sick and vacation leave appear unlawful," the report says.

A 2010 New Jersey law largely prohibits municipalities from making annual sick leave payouts, other than a one-time $15,000 payout at retirement. The law was put in place in an attempt to curb municipal spending, but Palisades Park “substantially” ignored it, the report said, paying out tens of thousands of dollars each year to workers for unused sick time.

The borough’s contract with Lorenzo came under specific criticism in the 2021 report.

At the time, Lorenzo's two most recent contracts had no limitations on sick leave payouts, and he received payouts of about $9,200 in 2018 and $9,500 in 2019. Lorenzo's contract also allowed him to accrue vacation time beyond the state's one-year cap, the report said.

Under the terms of his last contract, Lorenzo was entitled to receive a $160,000 total payout for sick and vacation leave that New Jersey law prevents him from getting, according to the report. That figure does not include the amount he has already received, it said.

Lorenzo is also promised terminal leave — a severance-like payout at retirement — that is calculated based on his entire tenure with Palisades Park, which includes 13 years when he was a councilman making less than $2,000 annually, according to the report. His terminal leave could total more than $100,000 for those 13 years when he earned just $24,000 total, the report says.

But, Lorenzo wasn't the only one.

The report found that in 2018, the borough made sick leave payouts of about $109,000 to 27 employees who, under a 2010 law, should not have received them. In 2019, $95,000 was paid to 22 employees. Most payments were between $3,000 and $5,000, the report shows.

The council hired Matthew Giacobbe of Cleary, Giacobbe, Alfieri, Jacobs to serve as the special counsel and paid the firm $150 an hour to review the comptroller's 56-page report.

"While the complaint against him is partly based on the 2021 comptroller's report, it is only one piece of a larger puzzle," Rossi said. "There are other employees under investigation, but no conclusions have been reached yet. The Cleary, Giacobbe report echoed the comptroller's findings and served as a basis for the lawsuit."

"Annual payments for accrued and unused sick and vacation pay were made to dozens of borough employees, year after year, and yet Mr. Lorenzo is the only former employee being singled out in this lawsuit," Malagiere said. "Clearly, this lawsuit is nothing more than retaliation against Mr. Lorenzo for his political activities and his pending lawsuits against the borough, Mayor Kim and Councilman Min."

Malagiere said they will "demand" an immediate dismissal of this lawsuit.

Palisades Park pending lawsuits

Lorenzo is currently suing the borough in federal court.

The day after being placed on administrative leave, Lorenzo filed a lawsuit against the borough, Kim and Councilman Suk "John" Min, claiming retaliation for protected speech, conspiracy to violate civil rights and common law conspiracy to violate civil rights.

Lorenzo's lawsuit says he was targeted after the Palisades Park Democratic Club — of which he serves as president — withdrew its support for Min and ceased campaigning on his behalf.

Lorenzo was eventually terminated last year for not seeing "eye to eye" with the council during its reorganization.

He also has a second pending lawsuit over Open Public Records Act requests.

Palisades Park and Clifton are the latest in a trend of local governments that have hired professional publicity companies to handle their municipal communications.

Clifton hired a communication manager earlier this month for a salary of between $80,000 to $100,000. The goal, councilmembers said, was to more effectively get information out to city residents.

Palisades Park hired Vision Media in November for $3,500 per month through the end of the year, with a plan to move forward with a longer-term agreement, said Philip Swibinski, the chief operating officer for Vision Media Marketing.

The trend to hire professionals to do the talking began at the state level and has spread to counties and municipalities to better control their message, said Marc Pfeiffer, assistant director at the Bloustein Local Government Research Center at Rutgers University.

Why are local governments hiring public relations companies?

Public officials and government employees have become increasingly wary of speaking to the media and to constituents privately and publicly.

Comments, Pfeiffer said, can become skewed by political opponents or taken out of context. The ability of misinformation to spread widely on social media, the partisan slant of some publications, journalists who look for “gotcha stories” and the concept of “fake news” have all contributed to a deterioration of trust between public officials and reporters, said Pfeiffer, a local government employee in New Jersey for 37 years.

The hiring of Vision Media by Palisades Park comes after years of internal conflicts and lawsuits, as well as scandals in the borough. Within the last year, a former councilwoman filed a lawsuit claiming a recording of her private conversation was wrongfully released, an employee claimed he was retaliated against for his protected speech, an ex-deputy administrator sued for being fired, claiming it was for not being Korean and a borough clerk quit and filed a lawsuit claiming sexual harassment against the mayor and the ex-borough manager. That employee was fired this year and in return filed two lawsuits.

What do media consulting, public relations firms do?

"Vision Media is excited to begin working with the Borough of Palisades Park to help ensure that residents, local businesses and other key stakeholders are informed about the tremendous progress happening in the community," Swibinski said.

Secaucus-based Vision Media provides public relations and media consulting services to governmental agencies, private sector clients, political campaigns and nonprofit organizations. Swibinski said the company looks forward to implementing a successful communications program in Palisades Park.

“It’s critically important to ensure that we effectively communicate with our residents and raise awareness about the many beneficial programs, initiatives and community events happening in Palisades Park," Palisades Park Mayor Chong "Paul" Kim said via a statement from Vision Media. "We are confident that Vision Media's experience and successful track record of implementing public relations strategies for municipalities throughout New Jersey will help us achieve that goal."

Why local governments spend money on public relations firms?

Hackensack has used Vision Media since 2016 for public relations consulting services, writing and disseminating press releases and statements and acting as the city’s media spokesperson and point of contact, under a contract for $4,000 a month.

The company also assists the city with social media content, graphic design and advising officials on public policy issues, Swibinski said.

“We really are just helping them communicate with residents,” he said. “I think that’s really an essential function of government and it’s becoming even more important now with the media landscape as it is.”

Many municipalities no longer have day-to-day media coverage as traditional media outlets have reduced their staffs or closed. Some areas are “news deserts and there is a lack of engagement,” Swibinski said. “This gives them a platform to engage with residents.”

For the past two municipal elections in 2017 and 2021, the firm, at the request of the city manager, has taken a break from its city role to help with the incumbents’ campaign.

In 2017, just before the company stepped down from its city work, then-Councilwoman Deborah Keeling-Geddis accused the mayor and other council members of using taxpayer dollars to send out campaign materials, specifically four mailers that were prepared by Vision Media for the city that featured Mayor John Labrosse and several of his running mates.

The political services Vision Media provides candidates, including paid media, direct mailers, digital advertising and social media messaging are paid for by the campaign, not the city, Swibinski said.

The company will step down again ahead of the May municipal council election if asked, he said.

Besides Hackensack and Palisades Park, Vision Media works with North Bergen, West New York, Paterson, Morristown, Parsippany-Troy Hills, Edison, Fanwood and Berkeley Heights.

The firm Public Strategies Impact has also worked with local governments, including Cliffside Park and the Passaic County Sherriff's Office.

Professional firms can help local governments craft a message and get a statement out without an employee taking time to deal with a reporter, and without the concern of saying the wrong thing, Pfeiffer said.

“It has become more difficult for responsible and caring elected officials to have trustworthy relationships with the press,” he said. “The degradation of that relationship has contributed to the decisions made by some government agencies to have third-party representatives or communications professionals to face the press.”

Is the public less informed?

But this method of communication can lead to a less informed public, he said.

In getting information secondhand through a spokesperson, reporters cannot easily ask follow-up questions. It also makes it difficult to develop relationships with public officials and employees that provide a deeper understanding of a story, which then better informs the public.

Hearing from someone within the government who can speak about an issue rather than a spokesperson adds credibility to a story. Using a spokesperson can give the impression that the government has something to hide, instead of developing public trust.

“It’s really a sad state of affairs,” Pfeiffer said. “The wariness that public employees and officials have with the press is incredibly unfortunate, but it’s the price we’ve paid for how political and media environments have evolved over the last 15 years.”

PALISADES PARK — At a special meeting, the Borough Council unanimously approved new zoning and permits for accessory dwelling units for one- and two-family homes.

The ordinance creates a new code for building and accessory units. An accessory dwelling unit can be within a proposed or existing primary dwelling, like a basement or attic; an extension; or constructed as a separate detached structure on the same lot as the existing or proposed primary dwelling.

It was introduced last month right after a judge ordered the borough to develop an affordable housing plan.

The dwelling unit must provide complete independent living facilities including provisions for living, sleeping, eating, cooking and sanitation, according to state regulations.

The installation of accessory dwelling units was created to provide additional options for affordable housing to allow residents to remain in town, Borough Attorney Scott Krumholz of Ruderman & Roth previously said.

"Older residents for example may be living on a fixed income and are thereby especially at risk and face the possibility of having to leave the Borough, taking with them a lifetime of experiences that benefit the entire community," the ordinance reads. "Also people with disabilities may face considerable challenges when finding adaptive housing and risk having to live away from family and trusted support networks in order to find appropriate living environments."

The accessory dwelling units are a "partial but important solution" that requires no or little investment from the borough, the ordinance says.

Palisades Park affordable housing settlements

The ordinance was approved a month after a judge ruled against the borough in six builders' remedy lawsuits from prospective developers.

A suit settlement agreement is scheduled to be on the agenda for the Dec. 16 council meeting.

Judge Christine Farrington also invalidated a borough zoning ordinance, saying it "failed to provide a realistic opportunity for the construction of the borough of Palisades Park's fair share of the regional need for low- and moderate-cost housing."

A court-appointed special adjudicator will now assist the borough in developing its fair share plan and new land use controls, the court order said. The borough will have 90 days to create a housing plan and new land use ordinance.

Accessory dwelling units bill

A bill to address concerns about the development and use of accessory dwelling units was introduced earlier this year on the state level by Assemblyman Louis D. Greenwald, of the 6th District, and Assemblyman Benjie E. Wimberly, of the 35th District. It was referred to the Assembly Housing Committee.

This bill would authorize owners of property zoned for single-family or two-family residential use to develop an accessory dwelling unit on their property consistent with statewide standards. The bill would permit each municipality to adopt or amend its land use regulations to be consistent with the bill’s statewide standards.

Some regulations include a minimum floor area requirement of 300 square feet and a maximum of 1,200 square feet with a maximum height requirement of 20 feet.

The bill would also amend the Fair Housing Act to require a municipality's master plan housing element to include a plan to promote the creation of accessory dwelling units that will be offered "at affordable rent for low- and moderate-income households, and to clarify that amounts deposited in the New Jersey Affordable Housing Trust Fund may be applied for the purpose of creating ADUs to be occupied by low- and moderate-income households."

PALISADES PARK — The borough is looking to create zoning and permits for accessory dwelling units for one- or two-family homes on the heels of a judge ordering it to develop an affordable housing plan.

The ordinance was introduced at a special meeting on Friday night, but it will require a public hearing and formal adoption.

The ordinance creates a new code for building and accessory units. An accessory dwelling unit can be located within a proposed or existing primary dwelling, like a basement or attic, an extension or constructed as a separate detached structure on the same lot as the existing or proposed primary dwelling.

The unit must provide complete independent living facilities including provisions for living, sleeping, eating, cooking and sanitation, according to state regulations.

"The Borough Council will be considering an ordinance that would allow for the installation of Accessory Dwelling Units in order to provide additional options for affordable housing to help residents remain here in the community," one of the borough attorneys, Scott Krumholz of Ruderman & Roth said in an email. "Mayor [Chong Paul] Kim and council members are committed to taking bold action to address the affordability crisis plaguing the entire region and this ordinance is one part of that vision."

Some residents felt excluded from the Friday night meeting as it was held on the Sabbath. Jewish residents said an ordinance that may impact the entire borough should be presented at a time when all residents can attend.

Krumholz said the special meeting was scheduled for Friday at 7 p.m. "due to urgent matters that must be addressed by the governing body immediately in order to protect the interests of Palisades Park residents and taxpayers."

Palisades Park affordable housing settlements

The introduction of the ordinance comes weeks after a judge ruled against the borough in six builders' remedy lawsuits from prospective developers.

Judge Christine Farrington also invalidated a borough zoning ordinance, saying it "failed to provide a realistic opportunity for the construction of the borough of Palisades Park's fair share of the regional need for low- and moderate-cost housing."

A court-appointed special adjudicator will now assist the borough in developing its fair share plan and new land use controls, stated the court order. The borough will have 90 days to create a fair share housing plan and new land use ordinance.

"The ADU ordinance is not directly related to the recent court rulings that were caused by the prior negligence and mismanagement, and Mayor Kim and his team are working hard to clean up that mess and ensure that new development benefits Palisades Park residents," Krumholz said.

Accessory dwelling units bill

A bill to address concerns of the development and use of accessory dwelling units was introduced earlier this year on the state level and was introduced by Assemblyman Louis D. Greenwald representing the 6th District and Assemblyman Benjie E. Wimberly representing the 35th District. It was referred to the Assembly housing committee.

This bill would authorize owners of property zoned for single-family or two-family residential use to develop an accessory dwelling unit on their property consistent with statewide standards. The bill would permit each municipality to adopt or amend its land use regulations to be consistent with the bill’s statewide standards.

Some regulations include a minimum floor area requirement of 300 square feet, a maximum floor area requirement of 1,200 square feet; and a maximum height requirement of 20 feet.

The bill would also amend the Fair Housing Act to require a municipality's master plan housing element to include a plan to promote the creation of accessory dwelling units that will be offered "at affordable rent for low- and moderate-income households, and to clarify that amounts deposited in the New Jersey Affordable Housing Trust Fund may be applied for the purpose of creating ADUs to be occupied by low- and moderate-income households."

2-minute read

NorthJersey.com

PALISADES PARK — The Board of Education will give an update on teacher contract negotiations at its next meeting, on April 11, the first since getting a vote of no confidence from the teachers' union.

The Palisades Park Education Association passed a vote of no confidence in the school board last month after working under an expired contract since June 2024.

The majority of the membership approved the no-confidence measure after contract negotiations stalled.

The teachers' association said it believes the nine-person board is mismanaging district funds, "prioritizing excessive legal fees over fair wages, essential programs, and student support."

Board of Education President Soo Chung said the special April 11 board meeting has been scheduled to give an update to the public.

"The vote taken by the Association has no legal, practical or other effect," Chung said about the no confidence vote via e-mail. "While the Association has sought to gain advantage with a campaign of negative publicity that has distorted or misrepresented the facts, the Board of Education remains committed to zealously seeking a mutually beneficial agreement that effectively balances and meets the needs of our students, teachers and taxpayers."

Since February 2024, the board has paid more than $72,000 to the Busch Law Group, the district’s legal firm, while saying it doesn’t have the funds to offer a fair and equitable settlement, the union said.

"In fact, the money spent on legal fees alone could have covered the first three years of a new contract settlement," the union, which represents more than 150 teachers, said in a statement. "Instead of focusing on achieving a settlement, the Board’s negotiations team chose to focus on attempting to rewrite vast portions of the PPEA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), resulting in unnecessary and inflated bargaining costs while also threatening to dismantle decades of educator rights and protections."

The expired contract has 17 steps, from step one, for a teacher with a bachelor's degree, which provides a salary of $58,650, to step 17, with a salary of $90,350.

The Palisades Park Education Association's negotiations chair, Korinne Sterni, said the teachers are among the lowest-paid in the county, making it hard to attract and retain employees.

“This is not leadership, nor is this fairness. This is how you run a school district into the ground,” Sterni said. “The priorities of this board must be questioned. Why is so much money being funneled into legal fees and creating conflict rather than collaboration and student success?”

The board has proposed cutting some health benefits for staff without offering the county-average salary increase, Sterni said.

"Research has shown that there are at least 25 districts within a 30-minute radius where teachers could earn significantly higher salaries," reads the union's statement. "The Board has selectively chosen to raise the pay for certain sports teams based on winning seasons, showing a lack of equitable support for all student-athletes and coaches."

The union said last year the board allowed $1.3 million in banked cap funding to expire, when it could have gone toward classroom enhancements.

“The Board’s refusal to offer a fair contract demonstrates a lack of respect for the educators who dedicate their time, energy, and personal resources to support students every day,” Sterni said. “Simply put, we have lost confidence in their ability to lead this district.”

The union has also raised concerns about a disconnect between the school board and the community it serves. Of the nine members, three have children in the district, and three students will remain enrolled in the district next year.

“Our students, educators, and the Palisades Park community deserve better,” union President Amanda DiLullo Bellottie said. “We call on our fellow stakeholders — parents, taxpayers, business leaders and community members — to demand transparency, accountability, and, most importantly, a budget that prioritizes education — not excessive legal fees.”