Washington Twp. solicitor sues over firing

Months after being fired, Washington Township's ousted solicitor is contending in federal court that four members of the town council and two former councilmen, motivated by politics and power, conspired to wrongfully remove him.

The "racketeering" went so far, John Armano alleges in a lawsuit filed this week, that the group exerted its power by threatening to lower the salaries of some employees in the Gloucester County town - a move of political retaliation.

The officials who proposed those pay cuts have long denied rumors of a connection to the solicitor's position, but most declined to comment Thursday on the allegations by the town's former lawyer.

The four council members named in the suit - President Michelle Martin, Vice President Angela Donato, and Sean Longfellow, all Democrats, and the lone Republican councilman, Nicholas Fazzio - voted during a hearing in January to dismiss Armano on a conflict-of-interest charge. Democratic Councilman Scott Newman voted against the removal.

Council members said conflict arose after Armano's law partner represented a 2014 primary slate of Democratic council candidates in a lawsuit against the township Democratic Executive Committee and its endorsed candidates. The suit was eventually dismissed and the party-backed candidates - Donato, Longfellow, and Albert Frattali - won in the primary.

While Donato and Longfellow went on to secure council seats, Frattali, a former councilman and current chairman of the town planning board, lost in the general election.

Though Armano continued in his role for several months, the suit alleges that a plan was hatched to end his contract nearly two years early and replace him with John Eastlack, the lawyer who represented the Democratic committee and the successful candidates in the primary dispute.

Martin said in January that the removal was warranted because Armano's law firm's suit meant the relationship with the council members was "broken."

"They sued members of council personally," Martin said at the time.

In addition to the four council members who fired him, Armano's suit targets Frattali and John Rogale, a former councilman and former Delaware River Port Authority employee, citing political ties and a purportedly related retention of an engineering firm.

Martin and Donato did not return requests for comment. Longfellow, Fazzio, and Rogale declined to comment.

Political struggles have been an ongoing story in the town of nearly 49,000 residents.

Told of some of the allegations, Frattali said some of the remarks by him included in the suit were taken "out of context" during meetings with Mayor Barbara Wallace.

He said he was disappointed that Wallace, also a Democrat, did not support his candidacy.

"They're taking what I said and using it to apply whatever their motive is," he said. He declined to discuss the case further but said he might file a countersuit for defamation.

Armano's suit claims that because Wallace would not remove the solicitor - who was appointed by the mayor - before his contract expired in December 2016, the council members raised the salary measure.

The four council members voted during the township's reorganization meeting in January to initiate the personnel charge against Armano that led to his firing. They also introduced a salary ordinance that included a supporting document outlining a potential 40 percent cut to the mayor's salary and reductions in the permissible salaries for six others, including the business administrator.

The ordinance was approved in concept only. At the time, Martin said the prospective pay cuts - handwritten on a document submitted to the township - were not definite and had no connection to the solicitor issue. The salary ordinance has not come up for a final vote.

In a statement following the reorganization meeting, Wallace said she was "incredibly disappointed" with Martin, her one-time running mate, calling the episode "politics at its worst."

Later that month, Armano did not appear at a hearing to fight the conflict-of-interest charge.

"The decision to hold a public hearing was designed to humiliate and slander the plaintiff's reputation," the suit states, arguing that the council improperly hired one attorney to act both as prosecutor and hearing officer. "The hearing was little more than a kangaroo court or Soviet-style show trial."

Armano's attorney, Louis Giansante, said an expert's report provided to the council found there was no legitimate conflict of interest.

"I've watched a council do this to a fellow member of the bar," Giansante said. "I think any attorney who would look at this should be concerned about the manner in which this thing was handled."

He declined to elaborate on points made in the lawsuit or to identify the sources of certain information, including alleged conversations and text messages.

Wallace declined to comment Thursday, as did the township's business administrator, Bob Smith.

The township has not appointed a permanent replacement for solicitor, though it is reviewing five applicants. Eastlack, who the suit claims was the preferred pick for the job, is not among them.

Township records show that Eastlack, who was previously the township's solicitor, submitted his credentials for the solicitor's position in late 2014, even though the town had not advertised for the position, which was filled by Armano until 2016. One other applicant, municipal prosecutor Scott Burns, also filed a proposal for the job.

Eastlack declined to talk about the case and his submission.

Burns did not return a request for comment.