Millville's Lawyers: the Saga Continues


At the August 21, 2018 work session the reappointment of Doug Long’s law firm was discussed. Thank you once again to Commissioner Udalovas for questioning the appointment however, she was really not questioning the appointment or the need to go out to bid but rather how to pay Mr. Long. The question was whether to let Mr. Long bill hourly, or give him a flat fee for his work.

The city attorney, James Schroeder stated it is hard to have a flat fee for work. He stated that he does the same work being given to Mr. Long for Hamilton Twp. so while the issue is being looked into Mr. Schroeder will do the work. Mind you it is out of his contract so he will be billing for the work. He also stated if he has a question he will contact Mr. Long’s firm. That will be an additional fee. The attorney’s fees are spiraling out of control in the Commission’s effort to repay them for their support in the last election.

The city administrator admitted that the city has been paying Long without a contract while the city clerk added the work is out of the scope of his contract. The city has been paying the firm out of the labor account. Both actions are highly irregular. Furthermore, the City has COAH money which does not come from the City’s real estate tax dollars.  This would not cost local taxpayers. Why is that account not being used?

Mr. Schroeder told the Commissioners to appoint Long’s firm with a cap on the fee. That doesn’t mean a thing. Schroeder’s contract had a cap and when he went over it it was just increased. The same happened for the city engineer. So the cap does not mean anything to these Commissioners.

Can you believe that Commissioner Pepitone did not know what it meant to “table” a resolution? And after it was explained to him he didn’t know how to vote. This is a man who has been a freeholder and a member of the Board of Education. He should be thoroughly familiar with parliamentary procedure. But then maybe you don’t have to know the rules if you are just doing what others tell you to do.

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