Robert F. Edwards v. Housing Authority of Plainfield (Union), 2008-183 & 2009-259 – Supplemental Findings and
Recommendations of the Executive Director
10
The Complainant asserts that proper notice is essential in contested cases. The
Complainant contends that the OAL erred by not notifying him of any and all substantive
changes in the original directive of January 11, 2011 in advance of the October 6, 2011
hearing. The Complainant contends that the OAL allowed the Custodian to unlawfully
violate the notice and service requirement set forth in N.J.A.C. 1:1-6.1. and N.J.A.C. 1:1-
7.1., thus circumventing these complaints. The Complainant argues that according to
Superior Court guidelines discussed in Carteret Properties v. Variety Donuts, Inc., 49 N.J.
116, 123-125 (1967), proper notice is essential to the Court’s jurisdiction and said notice
shall be specific.
7
The Complainant further contends that the PHA called him as a witness on
October 6, 2011 although he received no proper notice of being included on the witness
list. The Complainant contends that he was repeatedly subjected to inappropriate,
irrelevant and disparaging comments for nearly 2 ½ hours. The Complainant asserts that
this bombardment equated to the PHA accusing the Complainant of entering into a fact-
finding hearing in bad faith. The Complainant notes that the Appellate Division
previously addressed repetitious and persistent lines of questioning in Romano v. Stubbs,
2010 N.J. Super. Unpub. LEXIS 3015 (App. Div. 2010)(“… repetition is relevant to the
prejudicial impact of improper argument. When an attorney directed to avoid a
prejudicial line of argument persists, we have held that repetition is important to an
evaluation of the prejudice from the argument and required a new trial. See, e.g., Haid v.
Loderstedt, 45 N.J. Super. 547, 554 (App. Div. 1957).”)
The Complainant argues that the ALJ denied him the opportunity to cross-
examine Mr. Hurd, the Custodian, Custodian’s Counsel and others in regard to their
trustworthiness and reliability at hearings on October 6, 2011, October 20, 2011 and
November 25, 2011. The Complainant contends that this is in violation of R. 2:10-2
(providing that “any error or omission shall be disregarded by the appellate court unless it
… [is] clearly capable of producing an unjust result…”). The Complainant further
contends that the ALJ improperly sustained objections to questions regarding the
Custodian and Mr. Hurd’s affidavits and questions regarding credibility. The
Complainant asserts that the ALJ also restricted the Complainant from examining the
credibility of Mr. Hurd, the Custodian, Custodian’s Counsel and so on. The Complainant
contends that these restrictions were a violation of the Complainant’s Sixth Amendment
rights. See Davis v. Alaska, 4156 U.S. 308, 94 S. Ct. 1105 (1974).
April 13, 2012
Letter from the Complainant to the GRC with the following attachments:
PHA document (untitled and undated) and receipt of records dated July 8, 2008.
Planning Board special meeting agenda dated July 10, 2008.
Planning Board special meeting minutes dated July 10, 2008.
Courier News article “120 Units May Be Razed” dated July 17, 2008.
7
The GRC notes that the issue in Carteret is whether a property owner provided sufficient notice of
termination to a tenant. The Court discussed what constituted sufficient notice and defined the term
“specify” as it relates to a notice of termination. The Complainant also cited to Kroll Realty, Inc. v.
Fuentes, 163 N.J. Super. 23, 26 (App. Div. 1978), which also involves a tenant/landlord issue.
Robert F. Edwards v. Housing Authority of Plainfield (Union), 2008-183 & 2009-259 – Supplemental Findings and
Recommendations of the Executive Director
11
Memorandum from Mr. Hurd to the Complainant dated July 22, 2008.
E-mail from Ms. Fran Snyder (“Ms. Snyder”), previous GRC Mediator, to the
Complainant dated January 7, 2009.
The Custodian’s Affidavit dated January 13, 2009.
Mr. Hurd’s Affidavit dated September 30, 2009.
Complainant’s OPRA request to the Planning Board dated February 28, 2012.
Letter from Mr. Nierstedt to the Complainant dated March 2, 2012 attaching a list
of Planning Board members from 1998 to 2002.
The Complainant recapitulates his arguments from the exceptions filed on
February 19, 2012. The Complainant notes that Mr. Hurd served on the Planning Board
from 1998 to 2001. The Complainant provides no additional new information or evidence
that is relevant to the instant complaint.
Analysis
Whether the GRC should adopt, modify or reject the ALJ’s Initial Decision dated
February 6, 2012?
Complainant’s first (1
st
) exceptions:
The Complainant first excepted to the ALJ’s Initial Decision in its entirety and
argued that the ALJ did not consider the significance of probative, competent evidence
and acted arbitrarily and capriciously. The Complainant argued that the ALJ ignored
contradictory evidence and the Custodian’s failure to submit an SOI in GRC Complaint
No. 2008-183. The Complainant further argued that the ALJ ignored the Council’s
holdings that the Custodian violated OPRA by failing to respond properly to the July 22,
2008 OPRA request and failing to respond at all the August 20, 2009 OPRA request.
The GRC rejects the Complainant’s exception. The ALJ stated in the Initial
Decision that “based on the credible evidence … the [PHA] maintained documents
concerning Elmwood Gardens.” Id. at pg. 12. This is consistent with the evidence
provided as part of GRC Complaint No. 2009-259 that the GRC took judicial notice of in
GRC Complaint No. 2008-183. However, the ALJ specifically noted that “[w]hether
those documents, taken together, meet the definition of a plan or proposal remains
dubious.” Id. at pg. 13.
Moreover, the ALJ noted in the Facts section of the Initial Decision that the GRC
requested an SOI from the Custodian on three (3) occasions. Id. at pg. 2. The ALJ further
referred to the fact that the Custodian’s failure to respond to the Complainant’s August
20, 2009 OPRA request in GRC Complaint No. 2009-259 resulted in a deemed denial. Id.
at pg. 14. Thus, the Initial Decision indicates that the ALJ took into account all of the
facts that the Complainant argued the ALJ failed to consider.
Complainant’s second (2
nd
) exception: