Lawsuit affects every taxpayer in Vernon

Judge Gannon heard arguments in the case of Marotta v Township of Vernon, et al. on Aug. 21 in Newton. I would suggest that you read the Council minutes from May 14, 2009. Three months have passed since this lawsuit was first filed and I think it might be a good idea for all of us to refresh our memories about exactly what was said by who that evening and their subsequent actions and comments. What jumped out at me was the statement by Sally Rinker that (basically) were it not for her, Councilman Glenn McLaughlin would never have known his resignation was still in contention and it was only after she had spoken with him did he submit a new, complete resignation. She also did not suggest but actually accused the mayor, township manager and township attorney of engaging in a “purposeful manipulation of election outcomes” as well as engaging in “Censorship of information to select members of our Council.” In fact, if you actually read the minutes you will find that Ms. Rinker, not Vic Marotta, set the stage for this particular lawsuit against the town. After all, her statement was a total of 677 words, while Marotta’s comments are recorded in a grand total of 100 words. I think it is extremely safe to say, regardless of her comment at the Republican Committee meeting on July 20 that she “would not do that to my town” she obviously has no problem standing with someone who would and did. Mr. Marotta has, again in my opinion, had the good sense in all this to step back out of the public arena and keep his mouth shut. Unfortunately, in his attempt to “redesign” the reigning Republican organization into something more to his liking, he is costing the taxpayers (are you listening McClachrie?) a small fortune in legal fees. Perhaps I should rephrase that. He is causing the tax dollars of Vernon to be used to pay additional lawyer fees instead of allowing them to be used for the things they were originally budgeted for, improvements to goods and services for the benefit of the community as a whole. Getting back to the hearing itself, the judge is taking the weekend to consider the arguments and has stated he will issue his ruling Monday, Aug. 24. Whatever the outcome, Vernon will lose simply because we have people of prominence in this town that always put their own personal desires before the good of the town. Michele Danzis Vernon Editor’s note: This letter was submitted prior to the judge’s decision in this case.