By Allison Musante, Staff Writer
WEST WINDSOR Councilman Charles Morgan has filed a second lawsuit against Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh in the Mercer County Superior Court.
The new action, which will cost taxpayers more money to defend the mayor, alleges that Mayor Hsueh and the administration again failed to respond to a written request for a report from last year which he is entitled to receive under state statute and township code.
Mr. Morgan announced his intention to file another lawsuit against the mayor in April, after a judge dismissed his recent lawsuit of the same nature and denied his two subsequent motions in the Appellate Division for the judge to reconsider and to amend his original complaint.
Township Administrator Bob Hary expects to ask the council to approve another $10,000 appropriation for the mayor’s attorney fees at the council meeting on Monday night. Mr. Hary said $10,000 has already been spent on the mayor’s litigation with Mr. Morgan.
According to the new complaint filed on May 17, Mr. Morgan says he asked Mr. Hary on April 30, 2010, to provide “a citation to the law or regulation that (Joanne Louth, township chief financial officer) was referencing in an earlier budget meeting.”
Referring to the minutes of the May 10, 2010, council meeting, Mr. Morgan claims that Mr. Hary said he would not gather information “that is time consuming unless there is a unanimous vote of council.”
The complaint says the mayor replied, “If Mr. Morgan feels as if Bob is not responding to him and he has problems, Charlie can always contact me,” according to the minutes of the June 14, 2010, council meeting.
Mr. Morgan e-mailed Mayor Hsueh two days later, he says, asking that he “kindly direct Mr. Hary to respond to (his) e-mail.” Mr. Morgan says neither Mr. Hary nor the mayor responded to his request.
Stemming from this incident, Mr. Morgan is demanding declaratory judgment on 23 statements in his complaint. Generally, the complaint seeks the court’s judgment on the rights of council members and the responsibilities of the mayor, which he believes are ambiguously defined in the statute in question. The statute says, “any council member may, at any time, require a report on any aspect of government of the municipality by making a written request to the mayor.”
He is asking the court to declare that the “mayor himself must deliver the report and the mayor cannot delegate the responsibility for delivering that report to his designee;” also that the mayor cannot ignore a written request for a report, that he must provide it within a “reasonable period of time” and that the mayor and administration are prohibited from requiring council’s consensus before responding to a request.
Specifically, he also seeks judgment that a “concrete dispute does exist” and “a declaratory judgment will settle the present controversy and provide a guide for both (parties) in the future.”
”This is the same thing being repeated again and again,” said Mayor Hsueh. “The spending of tax dollars on this is something I feel very uncomfortable with. I don’t know why we can’t try to think positively about how we can resolve this. It’s money we’re spending without a tangible resolve.”
Mr. Morgan’s previous lawsuit sought judgment that the mayor violated township code and statute after he failed to provide a report related to the 2010 municipal budget. The Superior Court dismissed all claims against the mayor in February. In 2010, Mr. Morgan’s criminal suit against the mayor and Councilwoman Linda Geevers was also dismissed.

