Will Lawyer for Pension

August 21, 2010, NJ.COM
by John Bury
 
Gov. Jon S. Corzine in June 2007 signed into law a bill that barred attorneys and others working for government under professional-services contracts from state pension rolls but apparently not everyone got the memo.  I checked 20 municipalities in Union County to see if they were complying and I found:

Berkeley Heights: Thomas Scrivo
Clark: Joseph Triarsi
Cranford: Carl R. Woodward
Elizabeth: William Holzapfel
Fanwood: Daniel Antonelli
Garwood: Robert Renaud
Hillside: Christine Burgess
Kenilworth: Harvey Fruchter
Linden: Edward Kologi
Linden: Asst. John G. Hudak
Linden: Asst. Daniel McCarthy
Mountainside: John Post
New Providence: Carl R. Woodward
Plainfield: Daniel Williamson
Rahway: Louis Rainone
Roselle: John G. Hudak
Roselle Park: Blake Johnstone
Scotch Plains: Jeffrey Lehrer
Springfield: Jeffrey Lehrer
Summit: Barry Osmun
Union: Daniel Antonelli
Westfield: Robert Cockren

Full-timers in Elizabeth, Plainfield, Linden (3) and Union were all in the pension system.  The appointed attorneys appear to all be out of the system except for Harvey Fruchter in Kenilworth and Daniel Antonelli with his Fanwood job.

But what I want to focus on is John G. Hudak because in addition to his full-time job in Linden and his part-time job in Roselle he also has a private law practice that I found out about at the last freeholder meeting in resolution:

2010-758 CHAIRMAN SULLIVAN, amending Resolution 644-2007, to increase the
appropriation to John Hudak, Esq., Linden, New Jersey, Special Counsel in the matter entitled City of Linden and the County of Union v. Devine Media Enterprises, et als. for an additional sum of $10,000 for a new total contract amount not to exceed $15,000. 

The suit itself has an interesting backstory that I'll recount when I get more video but, as to Hudak, I was told that he is a part-timer in Linden so this arrangement is fine.  I didn't see it that way and I said so. 

The upshot for me is that these situations with the outside contract to Hudak and both Fruchter and Antonelli even being in the pension plan on account of part-time jobs are suspicious.  But they go on.  That's why I (and I suspect most of you) would hesitate in presuming guilt on the assumption that oversight exists.   Surely if there was wrongdoing then someone somewhere would be charged to act...or do we need to hire more lawyers?