State dismisses complaint lodged against Kleinberg
BY TALI ISRAELI
Staff Writer

Mayor Robert Kleinberg

MARLBORO — An ethics complaint that was filed against Mayor Robert Kleinberg in April has been dismissed by the state Department of Community Affairs (DCA).

The complaint filed by resident Steve Glickman raised issue with the mayor’s use of a township-owned vehicle.

Glickman was Kleinberg’s opponent in the 2003 election that saw Kleinberg, who was a Marlboro Board of Education member at the time, win election as mayor.

The document filed by Glickman in the spring alleged that Kleinberg violated a New Jersey statute which states that “no local government officer or employee shall use or attempt to use his official position to secure unwarranted privileges or advantages for himself or others.”

Glickman’s April 12 complaint states that on numerous occasions, Kleinberg was seen driving the township-owned vehicle, a Dodge Durango belonging to the public works department, around Marlboro. The complaint alleged that the mayor drove the vehicle to a physical therapy appointment and that the car was parked in front of the mayor’s house for a substantial period of time.

As reported in a previous story on the matter, Kleinberg explained that he only drove the vehicle for a few weeks when he had broken his ankle. He said the vehicle was used to handle mayoral duties, including attending to duties at sites around town and driving to and from town hall.

According to an Aug. 15 letter from the DCA to Kleinberg, during its preliminary investigation on the matter the Local Finance Board inquired as to whether any Marlboro policies governing vehicle assignment or vehicular use existed. A town official informed the staff that some policies have been drafted, but nothing was in effect as of May 18 when the board made its inquiries, the letter stated.

Due to that information, the board decided not to further investigate the matter and determined that the mayor’s use of the township vehicle did not constitute a violation of the law. The board voted to dismiss the complaint against Kleinberg due to the complaint having no reasonable factual basis.

When asked to comment on the outcome of his complaint, Glick-man said if the state believes it is all right for public officials to use official vehicles for personal use, then “that says more about the state of the state than it does about anything else.”

Consistent with his previous belief that the filing of the complaint was the result of a sore loser in the political arena, Kleinberg said it is obvious to him that Glickman still has not gotten over losing the 2003 mayoral election.

“Instead of trying to join me in making Marlboro a better place, he’s trying to be divisive,” the mayor said. “I feel completely vindicated by the state’s feeling that I did nothing wrong.”

Kleinberg said this was not the first time political opponents have turned him in to officials on what he labeled nonsense charges.

“They have nothing on me so they’re trying to create things that don’t exist,” the mayor added.