BY KAREN E. BOWES
Staff Writer
MIDDLETOWN – Critical of the recent rehire of politically connected attorney Malcolm Carton, the new Democratic candidate for freeholder says he wants to keep better tabs on the county’s legal spending.
Greg Gibadlo, 59, of Middletown, was chosen Aug. 31 to replace Leonard Inzerillo as the Democrats’ choice for a one-year term as freeholder. Employed as a hospitality executive, Gibadlo has never run for public office.
With last year’s county legal budget set at $2.3 million, Gibadlo said hefty legal fees should be the exception to the rule, not the rule.
“Legal expenses and corporations do not provide direct benefits,” Gibadlo said. He added, “Legal expenses per se are not a direct value to citizens.”
In order to give citizens “the most direct value” for their tax dollar, he said money should be put into areas where citizens have direct access, such as parks and recreation. But he was quick to add that “some legal expenses can’t be avoided.”
“We don’t want to spend anything on legal expenses,” Gibadlo said. “We consider legal expenses an anomaly. Obviously, there are times we have to, like when we purchase land, that sort of thing.”
The political novice wasted no time sending out press releases, one of which criticized the all-Republican freeholder board for rehiring the Republican Carton as county counsel.
“Legal expenses are budget lines in an overall budget,” Gibadlo stated in the press release. “I am very interested to know what portion of the county budget goes to legal expenses and what the trend has been over the last few years.”
These figures are a matter of public record. It is unclear, however, how much of the $2.3 million legal budget was paid directly to Carton. Last month, the board adopted measures aimed at dropping their legal fees by about 10 percent.
“I would like to know what the year before that and year before that and year before that was so we can get an idea of the what the trend is,” Gibadlo said.
“There has to be research,” he added.
It’s been about 20 years since a Democrat last sat on the Monmouth County Board of Freeholders. Electing one now would create a better system of checks and balances, Gibadlo said.
“Transparency is a sign of integrity,” he said last week. “If everything is above board and clear, to me that takes away the wonderment of it, the concern if things are right or wrong.”
Gibadlo says he wants further reform, namely specifics regarding legal costs, “especially considering the number of attorneys that Monmouth County keeps on retainer.”
Last month, the freeholders voted to approve some 20 attorneys and law firms as special counsels for three-year terms. According to the new rules, the county counsel, Carton, is barred from participating in activities such as fundraising events and political cocktail parties. However, the new county rules do not apply to the special counsels.
“Conflicts of interest or potential conflicts of interest resonate whenever party bosses are involved as vendors. … This is especially true when these bosses command the legal hand of the county,” Gibadlo said.
He added, “That’s just common sense.”
Reform is an area that may need to be enacted “for the county at all levels,” according to Gibadlo, but right now it is particularly needed in legal services.
Republican Andrew Lucas, of Manalapan, a candidate for a full term as freeholder, says there’s nothing wrong with the way the county keeps its fiscal records; in fact, it’s one of the few counties to receive recognition for its record keeping.
“Monmouth County is the best in the business when it comes to providing services to our residents,” Lucas said in a press release after Gibadlo’s nomination. “Our financial health is second to none. That’s why we’re one of just a handful of counties in the country to receive a triple-A bond rating from the top three rating agencies. That rating only comes from proper fiscal management.”
Lucas was critical of Gibadlo’s notion to “run the county like a business,” comparing Lucas to Gov. Jon Corzine.
“Just last year, Gov. Corzine, a former Wall Street tycoon, said he wanted to run New Jersey like a business,” Lucas said. “What did Monmouth County get in return? We received a cut in municipal and school aid, an increase in the sales tax and skyrocketing property taxes.”
“I didn’t have Corzine in my mind [when I said that],” Gibadlo said in response last week. “What I had in my mind was efficiency, to get the job done, and that’s to serve the people well.”
The candidate listed daily, monthly and yearly goal-making as ways a business, or in this case, a county, can “constantly reach back” and “measure our progress.”
Objectives and strategies are needed, he said, “so at the end of the day you can evaluate yourself.”