Three vote to censure fellow public officials Action revolves around Manalapan legal matter

BY KATHY BARATTA Staff Writer

MANALAPAN — Township Committee members Anthony Gennaro and Susan Cohen were publicly censured by their fellow municipal officials during a meeting on Nov. 12. A resolution that passed by a 3-1 vote castigated Gennaro and Cohen for actions they took in a matter of civil litigation that Manalapan has brought against attorney Stuart Moskovitz in regard to actions Moskovitz took when he served as Manalapan's township attorney in 2005.
The case of Manalapan v. Moskovitz is continuing in state Superior Court. Although Manalapan is represented by legal counsel in the matter, Gennaro and Cohen — without notifying the counsel — submitted certifications to Judge Dennis O'Brien this past summer. O'Brien, who is presiding in the case, rejected the certifications. Cohen and Gennaro have said the township's legal counsel was not responsive to inquiries they had about the litigation.
Moskovitz later resubmitted both certifications as part of a brief he filed with the court. At the end of the Nov. 12 committee meeting, Committeeman Andrew Lucas proposed the resolution of censure against Cohen and Gennaro. The resolution was supported by Lucas, Mayor Michelle Roth and Committeeman Richard Klauber. Gennaro voted no. Cohen was not present at the meeting, having been released from a hospital that day following a 48-hour stay. Klauber said he was "very troubled" by the action taken by Gennaro and Cohen to submit material to the court without notifying any township official or professional.

"I expect more as a resident of this town and more of them as members of this governing body," he said. "Whatever your reason, you released confidential information. It was a breach of your ethical obligations, whatever your reasons."
Klauber said asking for Cohen and Gennaro to resign from office might be going too far, but said he felt the public censure was appropriate.

Roth observed that there had been a previous instance when Gennaro had chosen to disregard that a document disseminated to the governing body had been marked confidential and had nonetheless made information from the document public.
In defending that action, Gennaro said it was a matter regarding the township's budget and said he had only read aloud a particular excerpt and not the entire document.
Regarding Manalapan's ongoing litigation against Moskovitz, Gennaro said, "I never challenged the merits of the case, it was the mechanics of the case." Gennaro's reaction to the censure was, "You people do what you want." Cohen later said she had no regrets about submitting a document to the judge. She said she had sent the same information in the form of a letter to a judge who had previously been hearing the Manalapan v. Moskovitz case.

Cohen said it was her understanding that the first judge had only rejected her letter because she had not sent it by certified mail. She said she did not think there was anything wrong in resubmitting the information in the form of the certification she said she hand-delivered to O'Brien.
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A Time to give back: Maybe we'll make it all year 'round?

The folks at Caffe-Amante have kicked off a campaign today where customers can direct what charity they'd like them to support. With a specific "PASSCODE" upon check-out in the memo field, Caffe-Amante of Manalapan, NJ, will donate 7% of that order to the customer's charity of choice. What's interesting is there's no deadline in sight.

Here's an excerpt from their blog:

Therefore - starting today, Nov. 18th to celebrate my birthday, until, sometime in 2009 maybe, Caffe-Amante will donate 7% of every order placed with the PASSCODE "FOR OTHERS" in the CHECKOUT memo field, to the charity of YOUR choice.

What we need from you:
The Name (and contact) of the Organization
Mailing address

We will email you a confirmation of how much we sent, and when we sent it so you can confirm that we're truthful to what we say!

Visit their blog HERE
You can also go right to their website HERE

They have Gourmet Coffee roasted to order - usually packaged and shipped within 24 hours.
They have a tantalizing line of gourmet teas, giftsets, and other accessories. Remember - 7% goes to the charity you decide!

Visit them for their Fundraising program opportunities tailored specifically for you. The program allows your organization to raise up to 50% profit.