“Spousal Interest Disqualification” —

• “Judge is disqualified from serving on county election canvassing board for the specific race involving the elected county official by whom the judge’s spouse is employed as general counsel where the spouse’s continued employment in that position likely depends on the outcome of the upcoming contested election. Judge is not disqualified from serving on the canvassing board for other races during that election cycle.”
• “The judge’s duties as a member of the canvassing board include many tasks that would not be perceived as affecting the outcome of any contested race. However, the canvassing board, according to the inquiring judge and the governing statute, may determine whether an absentee vote was properly executed or timely received and may also be called upon to determine the voter’s intent if the voter’s ballot was not clearly marked. The judge acknowledged that some races can be decided by a very close margin, meaning that any decision by the canvassing board regarding even a single ballot could conceivably change the outcome of any given race.”
• “Because the judge’s spouse’s continued employment as general counsel is likely contingent on the outcome of that specific election, that means that the judge’s spouse has more than a de minimis interest and indeed has an economic interest in the proceedings, should there be any contested or questioned ballots.”
• “There are occasionally circumstances that make judicial recusal impractical if it would result in delay and distant travel for the parties when there is only one county judge who would be ethically disqualified from ruling on urgent or emergency matters affecting those parties.”
• “There is nothing to suggest that the judge or the judge’s spouse has any similar interest in the outcome of the other races; thus, general disqualification of the judge from serving on the canvassing board is not required by the Code of Judicial Conduct.”

“Conflict Gets 8 Officials Disqualified From Hearing Warehouse Application” —

• “A New Jersey judge disqualified eight members of Sparta’s municipal planning board from ruling on a warehouse application because they belonged to an organization formed to oppose the project.”
• “Superior Court Judge Stuart Minkowitz, in Sussex County Superior Court, said the eight board members belong to Sparta Responsible Development, an organization formed to stop the warehouse project in question.”
• “That makes it ‘virtually impossible’ to separate the organization’s goals from the need to impartially rule on the site plan application, Minkowitz ruled.”
• “Such a large-scale disqualification appears to be unprecedented, said Adam Garcia, an attorney from Giordano, Halleran & Ciesla of Red Bank, New Jersey, who challenged the board members’ impartiality on behalf of Diamond Chip Realty, the company seeking to build the warehouse project.”
• “‘I think the takeaway is: impartiality is key. You know everybody comes to an application with their own views. But you can’t align yourself with an organization that has already determined that the application must fail,’ Garcia said.”
• “Giant warehouses have been a booming sector in New Jersey real estate, spurred by an uptick in online shopping during the pandemic. But as developers seek local approval for their warehouse projects, opponents have become more vocal.”
• “A founder of SRD, Neill Clark, was elected to the township council in November 2022 on a ‘no mega warehouses’ platform, and he allegedly participated in the appointment of warehouse opponents to the planning board, Garcia claimed.”
• “In September 2023, Diamond Chip filed a suit seeking the removal of eight of the nine planning board members on the basis that they belonged to SRD.”
• “The case can now proceed with a board consisting of members who were not disqualified, along with substitutes from Sparta’s Zoning Board of Adjustment, as provided for in the state Municipal Land Use Act, Garcia said.”
• “‘Because the eight identified appointees are current and active members of an organization that was solely formed to challenge [Diamond Chip Realty’s] application, there is a clear conflict, as it is virtually impossible to separate their organizational membership goals in SRD and the impartiality necessary to render a fair determination on a site plan approval,’ Minkowitz wrote. ‘The interest does not have to actually influence the action of the eight members, but only that the interest creates a conflict.'”
• “Minkowitz also denied Garcia’s requests to appoint a special master to supervise the planning board. Collins, the attorney for Sparta, did not respond to a request for comment on the case.”