Council votes 3-2 along party lines for attorney Mayor opposes Hak's reappointment; calls for review of legal costs BY MICHAEL ACKER Staff Writer SAYREVILLE - Democrats have approved the appointment of BoroughAttorney Brian Hak, despite Republican opposition. The borough had issued a request for proposals from law firms after Republican Mayor Kennedy O'Brien refused to reappoint Hak to the position in January. But since the council majority, which is Democratic, gets to make the appointment after a certain amount of time, it was able to appoint Hak at last week's meeting. The borough received proposals from three firms: James P. Nolan and Associates LLC, of Woodbridge; McLaughlin, Gelson, D'Apolito and Stauffer LLC, of Wall; and Weiner Lesniak LLP, of Parsippany, which is Hak's firm. Nolan's firm proposed a $125-per-hour cost for general matters and $150 per hour for litigation and special conflicts. Roger McLaughlin's firm proposed $150-perhour cost with paralegal fees at $65 per hour, and other costs such as printing and copying not included. Hak's firm, Weiner Lesniak, proposed a flat fee of $325,000 per year, which amounts to $140 per hour. The firm of Eric M. Bernstein, of Warren, applied for special counsel, but not for borough attorney. Bernstein proposed a $130- per-hour cost for special legal services and $65 per hour for paralegal work. Other fees, such as postage, copying and printing, were not included. O'Brien said Hak's bills have accounted for almost 3 cents on the borough's tax rate, and that the cost needs to be lowered substantially. He suggested the governing body form a committee to review the proposals and see if they could be negotiated. O'Brien also recommended that the borough hire a legal auditor to review the borough's "extraordinarily high legal bills of the last several years" and to try to bring the costs down. "I no longer think we can accept these bills as they are given to us," themayor said. Council President Dennis Grobelny, a Democrat, disagreed with O'Brien. He noted that Weiner Lesniak was the only firm that provided the borough with a flat fee rather than only an hourly fee for all work except litigation. "I don't think I see how we can do any better," Grobelny said. After he made a motion to reappoint Hak as borough attorney, the council voted 3-2 along party lines to approve the appointment. Democratic Councilman Stanley Drwal was absent from the meeting. O'Brien said the flat fee of $325,000 is an increase over last year, when Weiner Lesniak did the same work for $300,000. "We are paying $25,000 more than last year for the same services," O'Brien said. The council, he said, should make an effort to consider the three other firms in order to reduce the borough's legal bills, which he described as "out of line and out of touch" for what residents should pay for the service. With litigation fees, Weiner Lesniak costs too much for the municipality, according to O'Brien. "We once again could be looking at another $600,000 legal bill," he said. Grobelny described the mayor's suggestion as unfair, since the council already sought proposals, and should not negotiate with the firms for a better price. "That wasn't the way it was advertised," Grobelny said. O'Brien said that in light of the stateimposed budget cap and the poor state of the economy, the council should do more to lower the borough's legal bills. He cited approximately $41,000 in legal costs in January as an example of what he believes to be high costs for legal work. "It is incumbent upon us to drive costs down," he said. "It has to be fair to the Sayreville taxpayer." Democratic Borough Councilman Rory Zach said the council reviewed the litigation that Weiner Lesniak has dealt with, and some of it was due to ill-advised actions taken by the governing body. He added that the council acted fairly by seeking proposals for flat fees. "You said you wanted to be fair and we did that," Zach told O'Brien. Zach said he did not see the sense of spending more borough money to hire a consultant to assess legal fees. "I'm not in favor of bringing in a legal auditor and bringing in more expenses," Zach said. O'Brien responded by noting that private industry deems it a good investment to assess legal bills. Hak said his firm submitted a fair and competitive proposal "that is more than reasonable." He noted that Sayreville has an inordinate amount of litigation for a municipality its size. Republican Councilman David Kaiserman recommended that the council appoint an in-house attorney, but Grobelny responded that it is unfair to Weiner Lesniak for the borough to wait any longer to appoint an attorney for the year. Democratic Councilwoman Kathy Makowski questioned whether the other firms that sent proposals to the borough would save the town money, in comparison to Weiner Lesniak. She added that while some of the firms with hourly rates may sound like a bargain, they did not offer all-inclusive packages. Debate on the matter continued at this week's Borough Council meeting, when resident Chester Schwartz voiced concerns about Hak's reappointment. He said he feels that the council has a conflict of interest by being both the appointing body and the officials who ultimately approve the attorney's fees and review his work. "Theoretically, there is no window for this," Schwartz said, citing the fact that the cost of litigation is not capped. Council Democrats responded, saying that the borough's professionals, specifically the business administrator and the chief financial officer, are tasked with reviewing the attorney's bills.