Meeting on North Brunswick police chief referendum held Wed.
State Superior Court judge expected to rule on
legality of ballot request
By Alison Granito
Staff Writer
NORTH BRUNSWICK — Whether voters will get to voice their preference for a police chief or a police director will depend on the outcome of legal proceedings in state Superior Court.
Lawyers representing the township and the township’s two police unions — which petitioned in September for a public referendum on replacing the police director with a police chief — were scheduled to meet with Judge Yolanda Ciccone, sitting in New Brunswick, at 10 a.m. on Wednesday.
At press time, the outcome of that meeting was unknown. However, according to lawyers for both sides, the judge was not expected to issue a ruling at the conference.
A hearing on the matter, originally scheduled for Oct. 10, was put on hold to give attorneys for the police unions time to prepare their case.
Another adjournment was granted this week in order to give the township attorney time to respond to motions filed by the unions. Information on a new date was not available.
If such a hearing had taken place, Ciccone would have issued a ruling either to grant or deny a permanent injunction to keep the referendum off the ballot in future elections, Township Attorney David Himelman said Monday.
"It is my understanding that there will not be a ruling Wednesday. The judge will probably just review the papers and question both sides," Marc D’Angiolillo, an attorney representing the police, said Monday.
The battle to bring back a police chief has been raging since summer when officers began sporting "Bring Back A Chief" T-shirts at Township Council meetings.
The officers circulated a petition, obtaining 1,887 signatures, more than enough to place a question on the ballot.
The petition was submitted to the township clerk Sept. 1 and certified Sept. 20.
The township filed its challenge to the petition in state Superior Court on Sept. 26 and was granted an injunction to block the referendum from appearing on the Nov. 7 ballot.
Himelman previously told the Sentinel it was the township’s position that the petition to amend ordinance No. 97-4 by creating the position of police chief would violate state statutes which give the right to create a law enforcement department to the municipal government. Ordinance 97-4 establishes the present police department.
"The mayor and Township Council have reviewed this matter with the utmost consideration and believe that the statutory authority granted to the township to create a police department is an executive and administrative function which lies within the broad powers provided under the law and, thus, not subject to initiative and referendum," Himelman said in a Sept. 26 press release.
According to Sgt. Ken McCormick, president of the Superior Officers Association (SOA), both police unions intend to keep pushing for a chief.
"Our position has not changed," McCormick said Monday. "We still feel a police chief would be the right choice."
A police director can be a civilian, whereas a police chief is generally promoted from within the ranks of the police department.
The township’s Police Department has been run by a police director since the retirement of the last police chief, Carmen Canastra, in the 1980s.
The situation came to a head in September when the council appointed Ronald Romano, a former FBI agent, to fill the director’s vacancy.