Legal costs add up to debate in Parsippany

PARSIPPANY – Mounting legal fees for a variety of conflicts dominated the dialogue Tuesday at the township council meeting.

Several of those bills have accumulated as part of an ongoing clash pitting Mayor James Barberio and Township Attorney John Inglesino against a majority council faction comprised of President Paul Carifi Jr., Vice President Robert Peluso and Louis Valori.

At the center of the conflict is a lawsuit filed by Carifi's brother, former township Police Capt. James Carifi, who alleged he was unfairly denied a promotion to deputy chief. The township responded by bringing suit against James Carifi for allegedly unlawfully downloading approximately 1 million police documents just before his retirement in April 2013.

The list includes nearly $250,000 billed to the township by Inglesino's law firm since September 2013 for the case against James Carifi, and more than $600,000 billed through Inglesino to the township by Aurora Information and Security Risk for forensic investigative services related to computers in the James Carifi case. Township Administrator Ellen Sandman was able to negotiate the Aurora bill down to $220,000, but questions about the charges came up from both members of the council and public at the meeting.

Councilman Michael dePierro launched the discussion by acknowledging that Mayor James Barberio had stopped a planned audit of charges from Aurora. A Jan. 28 letter from CPA firm Nisivoccia LLP to the township confirms an agreement to audit the Aurora bills, with Sandman and some councilmen copied on emails discussing the plan.

But late last week, Barberio said he would not execute the agreement, stating that, under the form of government outlined by the Faulkner Act, only the mayor is vested with the authority to negotiate and execute contracts on behalf of the municipality.

Tuesday, Valori pleaded with the mayor to reconsider an audit of the Aurora bills while councilman Michael dePierro suggested an alternative.

"By now, we all know there is not going to be an audit," dePierro said. "I have a redacted list of all of Mr. Inglesino's charges regarding James Carifi and that total was $236,000 and change. I also have a copy of all of Aurora's redacted bills for the same issue, and their charges came to $244,000 and change. All of these charges from Aurora, many people have asked, how could they spend that many hours looking at a computer. I would like to have them come and make a presentation, who they are, what their qualifications are and how they could justify spending all of those hours on a computer."

The council unanimously passed his motion, with Valori clarifying with Sandman that the township had agreed to pay Aurora $267,000, and the original bills exceeded $600,000.

"It was actually more than that," Inglesino said.

"I'm in the wrong line of work, I'll tell you that," Valori said.

Valori also expressed concerns that "We all agreed unanimously to go through with the audit," and that "A year ago, when I came in, I was told the initial expense was $80,000 (on Jan. 17, 2014)."

A year later, Valori said the revised charge amounts have given him "sticker shock" that prompted him to plead the council and administration to reconsider the audit.

"They have all the bills. They just want to use taxpayers' dollars to obstruct the township's ability to retrieve data that James Carifi wrongfully took," Barberio said Wednesday. "Neither I nor the township attorney, nor anyone else in my administration want to continue spending any money on the Carifi case. ... It is our responsibility on behalf of township residents to retrieve this data. To do otherwise would be a dereliction of our duty and would open the door to other employees taking sensitive data from the township without due punishment."

"If the mayor has nothing to hide, then let the audit go through," Carifi said after the meeting. "Obviously to me it appears there is something to hide."

But the high legal fees in Parsippany do not end with the James Carifi case. Inglesino's firm has billed the township more than $143,000 to fight a lawsuit against RD Realty, which is suing the township for the council voting down approval of an overlay zone that would have permitted the construction of a mixed-use retail and residential project in a Professional Office District zone at Waterview Plaza.

Inglesino, last confirmed by the council in 2013, continues to carry over as the township attorney because Barberio has refused to appoint a replacement.

The township investigation also has held up James Carifi's retirement payout from the township of more than $300,000 for accumulated unused sick, personal and vacation days.

Election opponents

Paul Carifi ran unsuccessfully for mayor against the incumbent Barberio in the 2013 GOP primary, but his running mates, Peluso and Valori, were elected to the council that November, forming a majority faction that has continued to call for fiscal accountability from the mayor and for Inglesino's ouster, with strong criticism coming from both sides.

Frustrated by a township-appointed special attorney who opined Valori and Paul Carifi were conflicted to vote in matters involving Inglesino, including his official reappointment over the last two years, the council passed several resolutions last spring to form a "Council as a Committee of the Whole," which in essence turns the council into the investigating body; another to allocate $30,000 from the temporary 2014 township budget to pay for the committee's legal representation; and one more to hire an attorney as counsel for the new committee.

But Barberio produced a letter from the township special counsel Michael Lavery, claiming the council exceeded its authority in passing the resolutions, which he concluded were "void as a matter of law." The council responded in the fall with another suit asking a Superior Court judge to allow it to hire a special attorney to assist in its investigation.

Staff Writer William Westhoven: 973-428-6627; wwesthoven@dailyrecord.com.