Monday, October 19, 2009

CURLEY SAYS BYRNES’ VOTE ON MIDDLETOWN APPOINTMENT WHILE OPPOSING COUNSEL IN A LAWSUIT “UNETHICAL”

Did he use information obtained in disposition of lawsuit?

Republican Freeholder candidate John Curley today denounced his opponent, Democrat Sean Byrnes, for voting as a member of the Middletown Township Committee against the appointment of Mr. Thomas F. Stokes to the Middletown Sewerage Authority while he was trial counsel in a lawsuit involving Mr. Stokes, a clear violation of state law.

“For Mr. Byrnes to vote on this man’s appointment, instead of recusing himself, is unethical and frankly, unconscionable. Anybody who has been a local elected official for five minutes could see that this is a total conflict of interest and that he had no business voting on this appointment. If Mr. Byrnes cant recognize a conflict on a matter as clear cut as this, how can anyone believe he’ll do it as a Freeholder?”

At issue is a January 6, 2008 vote where Mr. Byrnes discussed and voted against Mr. Stokes’ appointment to the Middletown Sewerage Authority. Mr. Stokes has filed complaints with the Local Finance Board and the Attorney Ethics Committee, pointing out that Mr. Byrnes signed several court documents identifying him as trial counsel in the lawsuit against Mr. Stokes and providing the minutes of the January 2008 meeting where Mr. Byrnes discussed and voted against Mr. Stokes.

Curley also wanted to know if any information from the lawsuit was discussed or was part of Byrnes’ decision making process.

“Mr. Byrnes needs to come clean with the voters of Monmouth County right now- did he or did he not use any information gained from his position as a trial attorney in the lawsuit against Mr. Stokes to make his decision or influence others?”, asked Curley. “ If he did, he has a lot bigger problems than just the Local Finance Board.”

Curley closed by saying “ This episode shows a shocking lack of judgment from a man who wants Monmouth County voters to put their trust in him for the next 3 years to do the right thing on their behalf. I think voters have every right to consider this in two weeks when they cast their votes for the next Monmouth County Freeholder.”

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

How about Byrnes' PERS membership?

Fund Name Employer 2006 Salary Tot. Salary* Years/Months service time
02 BYRNES, SEAN ATLANTIC HIGHLANDS $15,689 $15,689 10/3

This is from the Star Ledger database, 2007 (based on 2006 PERS records).

Anonymous said...

Curley is a great candidate with a solid core message. He has been out there at the grass roots level. He fought the deal making Red Bank government and changed parties because of it. He would not give in to the bosses. He has had a clear message of cutting costs and cleaning up government. While Byrnes vote on Stokes in Middletown was clearly unethical and at very best thoughtless, its probably not something that Curley himself should waste much time with. Let other people take the lead on this Byrne attack and let Curley stay on his message to keep Monmouth out of the control of Union, Camden or Trenton bosses.

Anonymous said...

Go Johnny Go !

Anonymous said...

"I represented (the client), but I didn't have any personal interest in the lawsuit," said Byrnes. - From today's PoliticsNJ. This should make their quote of the week or month. I know Clinton was coming into the state for Corzine, this is the kind of legal parsing that made him so famous. Is Byrne saying he has no interest in how any of his clients do or simply showing that he will say whatever he needs to when the occasion arises. He could have voted against the others and abstained on Stokes or abstained on them all to make his point.
And his defense on the Mason hiring which involves a lot more money and potential responsibility for someone's whose chief qualification was that he had just lost an election. While a different set of criteria, demonstrates the same concern for quality that Mccrevy gave to his homeland security appointments. Just what we need in Monmouth.

Anonymous said...

John Curley should practice what he preaches".Show me the company you keep and I'll tell you what are" as the saying goes !!!!

Anonymous said...

"Show me the company you keep and I'll tell you what are" as the saying goes !!!!"

you mean like lawsuit happy Carolyn Schwebel and Pat Walsh who support Byrnes?

I absolutely agree with you. That's why I'm voting for John Curley.

Anonymous said...

How low will the republicans go this year??? Gutter politics stink and the current tactics just prove how bankrupt the republicans are !!!!! Carton and company don't insult the integrity of Middletown's residents again this year !!!