Third-graders on a field trip filed into town hall Thursday morning to learn about government.

They could learn even more if they return Tuesday night, when the Township Committee may discuss whether to pay for Mayor William Kennedy to fight an assault allegation.

At the same meeting, it will likely accept the resignation of public defender Ernest Aponte, who quit after he said Kennedy warned him against publicly criticizing the administration.

State law allows the township to “indemnify” a public employee such as Kennedy in a court case, to pay his legal bills and cover damages. Several officials who spoke about the prospect of indemnifying Kennedy mentioned that it is important to determine whether a person in that scenario is acting as an official or as a private citizen.

Kennedy, however, said he believes there is no distinction. On Thursday, he spoke to a Press of Atlantic City reporter for the first time since his May 12 confrontation with resident Louis Vitale at a school board meeting.

“I’m never acting as a private citizen. I’m the mayor of Mullica 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” Kennedy said.

The mayor confirmed he will seek to have the township pay his legal bills but said he did not know whether the committee will address the issue Tuesday.

Two of the Democrat’s fellow members weighed in on indemnification Thursday. Janet Forman, a Republican, said she believes that if Kennedy was discussing township business at the time of the encounter, he should be represented by the township. Michael St. Amour has said he witnessed Kennedy grab and shove Vitale after the two yelled at each other about recently deceased resident Larry Angel and gun-control legislation, and he doubted such behavior is “part of the duties of the mayor … Initially, I’d be inclined to vote against it.”

Bernard Graebener, a Democrat like Kennedy and St. Amour, declined comment.

Republican Kathy Chasey couldn’t be reached for comment Thursday. Chasey voted in 1996 to have the township pay a $1,300 bill stemming from the investigation of a former committeeman. She later said she was “so mad at myself. … The taxpayers should not be responsible for something like this.”

An assault conviction in New Jersey can carry a sentence as steep as six months in jail and a $1,000 fine. Kennedy filed a counter-complaint against Vitale for harassment, and both men are due in Folsom court June 16.

Kennedy said he would direct his lawyer, whom he declined to name, to answer reporters’ questions about Vitale and about Aponte, the public defender until this week.

At the May 13 committee meeting, Aponte took the floor as a township citizen to criticize Kennedy for entering Angel’s property after his May 8 death. On Tuesday, Aponte said, early in the twice-monthly municipal court session, Kennedy accosted him.

“He pulled me out of court and threatened me. I’m not going to be threatened over $80,” his per-session salary, Aponte said. “It’s not worth the headaches.”

Aponte recalled that Kennedy said if he ever spoke out at a meeting, he’d “pay the consequences,” which Aponte took to mean he’d be fired.

Asked whether that account was accurate, Kennedy replied, “Not really.”

Township Clerk Kimberly Johnson said Kennedy and Aponte spoke outside her office Tuesday morning, but she declined to comment further.

A three-to-two Township Committee majority, including Kennedy, appointed Aponte the public defender at the Jan. 5 reorganization meeting. Kennedy was among those in favor.

Aponte sent the township a resignation letter that reads in part, “I am a tax paying Mullican first and foremost and a Public Defender second!”

No replacement for Aponte is expected until next month at the earliest. The township court heard about 75 cases on Tuesday; Aponte said he was assigned to seven of them.

Court administrator Eunice Aguina said cases on the June 3 docket will be postponed if the defendants request a public defender.

To e-mail Eric Scott Campbell at The Press:

 

 

 

ECampbell@pressofac.com