"Convoluted, novel and legally unsupported" is how a judge described the mayor's argument. Watch video
After a judge dismissed his arguments as "convoluted" and legally flawed, a Warren County mayor is appealing his lawsuit seeking authority over fellow elected officials who oppose him.
Lopatcong Township Mayor Tom McKay (Courtesy photo | For lehighvalleylive.com) Lopatcong Township Mayor Tom McKay's interpretation of the law was "novel" but had no legal support, Somerset County Judge Thomas Miller ruled in July. In an earlier hearing, Miller chastised McKay, saying "he is the mayor, not the king."
McKay this month filed an appeal to Appellate Division of New Jersey Superior Court.
"We're going to try to persuade them that the trial judge misapplied the law," said McKay's attorney, William Caldwell.
Word of the appeal dismayed Lopatcong Township Council President Joseph Pryor, one of three sitting council members among the officials named as defendants.
"I had hoped that the one-sided ruling would convince the mayor to put this tired case to bed," he said in an email. "That would save the taxpayers thousands of dollars and let the council focus on more important things. Apparently, that is not to be."
Why Lopat's mayor is suing council
McKay's authority as mayor over a council with which he is frequently at odds is at the heart of the lawsuit. Specifically, he argued that he should be able to make appointments, produce a budget and refuse to pay bills without council's consent.
"I tried when I came into office to institute certain changes and make things right in this town," McKay told lehighvalleylive.com this week. "And I had a council who didn't want to follow rules the way I thought they should be followed."
The judge -- in a 60-page ruling posted on the township website -- tore the argument apart.
In one part of his opinion, Miller rips the mayor's "long-winded, rambling response" to the defense's arguments and says his interpretation of the law governing his powers is "a convoluted, novel and legally unsupported theory of government."
"Taken to its logical extreme," the judge says on the mayor's contention that he can refuse to sign off on the township's invoices, "(McKay) effectively claims that he can grind the government to a standstill if he disagrees with the payment of any authorized bill ... by simply not paying it."
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Miller also said the logic was flawed in McKay's argument that he should be able to make appointments without council's authorization, one of which included a failed attempt to install Caldwell as Lopatcong's attorney. Rather than the council taking a vote, the judge said, it would be the mayor illegally taking unilateral action.
McKay said the judge gave the council the authority to do whatever it wants, and that he hopes the panel of appellate judges will bring a new perspective to the case. He could not say if he plans to continue the fight if the appeal fails.
"I wish I was dealing with people who had the level of professionalism that I'm accustomed to," the mayor said. "All I can do is go along, do the best I can. Maybe the next election, new people come in."
Pryor said the general conflict within Lopatcong's government will end "once the mayor understands that his executive powers are limited."
"Policy-making is performed by council," Pryor said, "where he represents just one of five votes."
Steve Novak may be reached at snovak@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @type2supernovak and Facebook. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.