Evesham Township Council has once again awarded a contract to John Gillespie Esq. and the law firm of Parker McCay to serve the township.
Evesham Township Council has once again awarded a contract to John Gillespie Esq. and the law firm of Parker McCay to serve as the township’s solicitor for 2017.
At the latest council meeting, Mayor Randy Brown and Evesham Township manager Tom Czerniecki praised Gillespie for his service, while several members of the public who are critical of Brown faulted Gillespie for not doing more to prevent lawsuits the township has litigated in recent years.
Specifically, those against Gillespie’s reappointment criticized him for not acting as more of a “gatekeeper” in Brown’s recent decision to hold a press conference in January where Brown said a female employee of the Evesham Township School District alleged to him that the district’s director of personnel had sexually harassed her and others.
District director of personnel Richard Dantinne Jr. later filed a defamation suit against Brown, the township and several Evesham Board of Education members who were present at the January news conference.
Gillespie described the accusations in Dantinne’s lawsuit as “frivolous” while responding to the members of the public who questioned the cost of defending the lawsuit.
Gillespie took care to explain that when the plaintiff’s original lawsuit named only the mayor, Brown hired his own personal attorney to handle the matter.
“When it was only him (Brown) as a defendant and he knew he was not going to be covered, he went out and got his own attorney and made it clear it was not going to be at the expense of Evesham Township taxpayers,” Gillespie said.
According to Gillespie, it was only after Dantinne refilled his lawsuit in federal court and named the township that the case became a matter to be paid for by the local Joint Insurance Fund, of which Evesham is a constituent member.
The fund has since appointed Gillespie to represent the township and appointed an additional attorney to represent Brown.
Czerniecki defended Gillespie’s service to the township, pointing out that is was he who first recommended hiring Gillespie many years ago.
“I’m sure I wasn’t the final point of reference … in making that decision, but I would recommend him today again. I wouldn’t hesitate for a second,” Czerniecki said.
Brown also praised Gillespie for his service to the township.
“We’re proud to have him, very excited to have him — best municipal attorney in the state of New Jersey,” Brown said.
Members of the public also questioned a lawsuit filed by the township and planning board last year against the Evesham BOE, in which the township argued the BOE did not follow the proper procedure before voting to close Evans Elementary School.
Although the case was eventually settled, Czerniecki repeated his belief that the BOE previously violated local municipal land use law by not appearing before the township’s planning board to discuss the district’s long-range facilities plan or any capital improvement projects when the board voted to close Evans.
“We have nothing to be embarrassed about in spending public resources to defend the rights of the municipal government. That’s what we did, and that’s what we’re sworn to do,” Czerniecki said.
