Township Manager Joseph Hartnett and Township Attorney Alan Trembulak thought it was okay not to seek bids for services that nonprofits provided. They believed that the nonprofits provided EUS (Extraordinary Unspecified Services) that exempted them from bidding requirements. Such an exception would allow one to skate around the bidding laws.

These 12 plaintiffs prevailed in court. A Superior Court judge decided that Montclair’s use of the EUS exception was improper and wrong. According to the judge, EUS cannot be used for long-term consultants. Shouldn’t Hartnett, who has been doing this for 20 years, know this? Certainly, our town attorney should have known better, or at the very least, he should have done his homework to determine the legality of such an exception.

Enter the spin-doctors. First The Montclair Times publishes a response to the lawsuit, but they only get a reaction from the defendants, who lost. Why didn’t they bother to get a response from any of the 12 plaintiffs? Next we see Hartnett, a defendant, who also lost, conjuring up a mysterious state director of community affairs who, according to Hartnett, called him just to shoot the breeze, and let him know that the Superior Court judge’s ruling was wrong. Finally we have Steve Schuckman, president of Montclair Economic Development Corp., also a defendant, who lost, expressing his pleasure that the judge’s decision was favorable to his organization.

Nope, not what the judge said at all. Too bad The Montclair Times failed to accurately report this story, particularly since they have a copy of the judge’s ruling. Hartnett continues to express his concerns about saving taxpayers money. If Hartnett’s concerns are genuine, I would suggest Hartnett start by acting in a legal manner before his actions result in more lawsuits.