BY TALI ISRAELI
Staff Writer
MARLBORO — A visit from FBI agents at a Zoning Board of Adjustment meeting last week has put board Chairwoman Sherry Hoffer under attack from all sides.
After Hoffer was handed papers by federal agents at the start of the zoning board’s June 22 meeting, the Reformed Democratic candidates for Township Council, the Republican candidates for council, Mayor Robert Kleinberg and some of her fellow board members requested Hoffer’s resignation.
Hoffer said she is consulting an attorney about the situation and about how she should proceed.
According to a press release from zoning board Vice Chairman Jeffrey Rosen and board alternate Seth Goldzweig, the board’s atmosphere has recently been “clouded with accusations, personal attacks, rumors and innuendoes.”
“We feel that we need a clean break and a fresh start with a new chairperson,” Rosen and Goldzweig said.
Rosen is one of three Reformed Democrats running for a seat on the council.
In comments to the News Transcript, Rosen said he is not asking Hoffer to resign from the board because he thinks she is guilty of anything, but because the recent events have become a distraction to the board.
“I want to thank Mrs. Hoffer for her time and dedication for the countless hours she has served the community. However, with all of the investigative activity in town, I am requesting that Mrs. Hoffer do what is best for Marlboro and step down to allow some new faces to help shape our town for the years to come,” Rosen said in the press release.
Goldzweig agreed and said that as a member of the board for two years, he believes a “fresh start and a new direction” on the board is needed.
Goldzweig said asking for Hoffer’s resignation has nothing to do with guilt or innocence or the upcoming Township Council election, but has to do with the distractions at the zoning board meetings on a weekly basis.
Goldzweig and Rosen said the distractions occur when people question Hoffer about items unrelated to zoning board business during the panel’s public comment sessions.
Rosen, whose term will expire in December, said he will not be seeking the chairmanship of the board. The Township Council appoints the members of the board, but the members select a chairman from amongst themselves.
Republican Councilman Jeff Cantor said he has been asking for Hoffer’s resignation from the board since September. Due to recent events, Cantor said the time for her to resign is now. Cantor has said his issues with Hoffer include what he believes is her poor treatment of residents who appear before the board and ethical concerns that he has brought to light using an ethics ordinance the council adopted.
At a zoning board meeting in April, Cantor publicly questioned whether Hoffer had ever accepted any payments from a builder or a developer.
In response, Hoffer said, “I personally didn’t accept money from any developer. I have no guilty conscience. I have voted according to the law.”
Using the ethics ordinance, which requires all builders and developers to disclose any campaign contributions they have made to any member of the planning or zoning boards, Cantor produced documents stating that two developers, K. Hovnanian and Meiterman Holdings, donated money to the Marlboro Democratic Party while Hoffer was the chairwoman of the party.
Cantor said his belief that Hoffer should resign are shared by the two candidates who are running with him for council, Colleen Napoli and Steve Rosenthal. He said they believe the representation of the chairwoman is inadequate and they all want to see her resign.
The Reformed Democratic candidates, Rosen, Howard Tilis and David Strickler, said Hoffer should step down from the board. The candidates released a statement last week requesting her resignation.
According to the release, the work of the committees in Marlboro is important to the future of the town because the members make decisions regarding planning and zoning which affect the number of homes built, the infrastructure and the number of schools that are needed.
“The mere fact that the FBI came to a public meeting to serve papers sheds a negative light over the important work that the zoning board performs. For this reason, it would be in the best interest of the zoning board and Marlboro if the chairwoman resigns immediately. Our request for her resignation is not personal in nature,” the press release stated.
Kleinberg issued a press release stating that he saw the FBI agents approach Hoffer and her husband, Fred, at the June 22 zoning board meeting and that due to speculation, he believes Hoffer should resign from the board.
“A person can only assume that the FBI’s actions were related to their public duties and the ongoing corruption investigation in Marlboro. … In light of this, I am asking for her immediate resignation from the Zoning Board of Adjustment. Her resignation is essential to my efforts to restore public confidence in local government,” Kleinberg said.
Board member Adrianne Spota said she is not looking for anyone’s resignation. Spota said she wants all decisions made by public officials — including herself — from this point forward to be good decisions.
Board member Joseph Castellucci said he did not want to be quoted for the record.
Board alternate Michael Stern said he is not specifically asking for Hoffer’s resignation from the board because he does not know if she is guilty of anything.
“In my opinion, anyone that’s been appointed from past administrations should voluntarily resign to allow for fresh individuals with little to no political history to serve on the planning and zoning boards,” Stern said.
In comments to the News Transcript, Hoffer called Kleinberg an “out and out liar” because of a statement he made in his press release.
In regard to the board’s June 22 meeting, the mayor’s press release, which was dated June 23, stated, “I as mayor demanded to know the content of the paper served upon her by the FBI, however, she refused to answer me.”
However, during the public comment session at the June 22 meeting, Kleinberg asked Hoffer if the papers she was given by the FBI had anything to do with the zoning board.
Hoffer responded by saying no, the papers had nothing to do with the zoning board.
Following her response, Kleinberg left the meeting.
Hoffer said she has been advised that she does not have to keep the contents of the paperwork she received private, but she is not obligated to reveal the contents. She stressed that the papers she was given by the FBI agents had nothing to do with the zoning board.
“I have served this township honorably,” Hoffer said.
Hoffer said she believes that the individuals who are sending the press releases asking for her resignation are all running for office and therefore want to kick whoever is down at the time.