Attorney's practices were not illegal, but they were wrong

A township attorney subcontracting legal work on the cheap, then submitting inflated township legal bills ironically is not illegal, it just illustrates a lack of integrity. The announcement by the U.S. Attorney that former state Sen. John Bennett is not a target for investigation suggests state Sen. Ellen Karcher's response to the issue as being most appropriate.

Ms. Karcher remarked, "It's kind of sad in New Jersey that if you are not led away in handcuffs that means you didn't do anything wrong."

Mr. Bennett may have succeeded in rescuing himself from any stigma of malfeasance, but unfortunately, not from earning a label, which in some quarters depicts a deficiency of character.

It should be pointed out that Mr. Bennett, during his tenure as an elected official, took every opportunity to remind his constituents that Marlboro held special significance for him since he was born and bred in this township. One could assume that having an alleged special emotional linkage with one's hometown would naturally energize incentives to maintain the highest levels of personal integrity. Subsequent investigatory events proved the contrary.

Marlboro's Mayor Robert Kleinberg, shuffling-up to the "powers that be," was quick to comment, "I have full confidence in the U.S. Attorney." However, it behooved the mayor, in his endorsement of the decision, to have also proclaimed those past billing practices of Mr. Bennett as contemptible and unethical.

Herbert Resnick

Marlboro