To the Editor:
An Open Letter to the Community:
As the attorney who defeated HP in New Jersey Superior Court sidewalk litigation, I must correct the inaccuracies in the Mayor’s recent open letter. HP clearly lost the suit I brought against them. The only reason the suit was eventually dismissed– with my consent– is that my clients had won an injunction and had achieved their goals: all summonses were rescinded, the ordinance was amended and the ruthless, mean spirited, unconstitutional issuance of punitive summonses ended. Many residents have thanked me for defeating a municipal government that bullied blind people, a disabled 87 year old veteran, elderly women and hundreds of others, threatening them with $2,000 fines. Typically, the “offense” penalized was living near a shade tree that ever-so-slightly raised sidewalk sections. The sidewalk replacement crusade has damaged and removed hundreds of these large shade trees. Does the Mayor think the town looks better– and is “greener” — without these trees? Further, numerous large trees whose roots were cut to accommodate sidewalk replacements fell during Sandy. If additional large trees fall during the next big storm, and land on houses or people instead of power lines, will the Mayor take responsibility? If the sidewalk replacement crusade was such an enlightened idea, why is HP the only town in NJ–and perhaps in the US–to implement an aggressive, punitive enforcement campaign like HP’s? READ MORE
