JACKSON, NJ – Jackson Township Councilman Chris Pollak is calling out what he describes as a lack of transparency from the township government after being asked to vote on a settlement with the Chief of Police, Matthew Kunz, without ever being given access to the full agreement or lawsuit details.
Pollak said during a recent video that he was “never provided any documentation” before being asked to approve the settlement, which he claims involved an amount that later changed without a second council vote. “I wasn’t given the full settlement agreement. I wasn’t given the original lawsuit,” Pollak said. “They expect me to vote on this. I didn’t even know if the chief signed off on it and was totally okay with this.”
The councilman, who abstained from the vote, said he later learned the payout—reportedly near or above $1 million—was approved despite outstanding questions about its terms. He accused township officials of withholding information from both the public and members of the governing body, adding that his formal request for a copy of the settlement has yet to be fulfilled.
It is unknown if any elected officials besides Mayor Jennifer Kuhn and President Mordechai Burnstein knew how much the settlement was for, or what the details are.
Pollak also noted that the lawsuit stemmed from the township’s controversial decision to install a public safety director, a move that he said “took away the chief’s authority” and created internal tension within the department. “They used meetings to blast the chief and badmouth the chief,” Pollak said. “This is all part of this lawsuit. How are you pretending it was the former administration when our current mayor and the council president voted yes on this?”
Court documents show that while some of the issue was a back pay issued tied to former Mayor Michael Reina, many of the grievances cited in the lawsuit point to Kuhn and Burnstein’s push for a Director of Public Safety position which was created, illegally under New Jersey law, to oversee and marginalize the powers of the police chief.
Many negative interactions between Mayor Kuhn and the police chief were also cited.
Councilman Nino Borelli was the lone “no” vote on the vote to hire a Public Safety Director while Burnstein, Kuhn, Ken Bressi and Giuseppe Palmeri voted yes to the ordinance that was one of the major grievances of the lawsuit.
The township has publicly characterized the lawsuit as a back pay dispute, a claim Pollak says is misleading, and he’s backed by court filings submitted by Chief Kunz.
Pollak vowed to continue pressing for the release of the full settlement details and to inform residents once he obtains the document.
“I don’t trust this government,” he said. “Why aren’t they sharing that number? Why aren’t they being honest with the people who live in this town?”
- Councilman Chris Pollak says he was denied access to police chief settlement documents
- Jackson Township approved the payout despite unanswered questions
- Pollak accuses officials of hiding details and vows to make the agreement public
Full transcript of Pollak’s video:
Let’s continue talking about lawsuits, and we have to continue talking about the lawsuit with the Chief of Police in Jackson. Now, I had to vote on this settlement. I wasn’t provided any documentation. I wasn’t given the full settlement agreement. I wasn’t given the original lawsuit, and they expect me to vote on this. I didn’t even know if the chief signed off on this and was totally okay with this. So I abstained on that vote. Now, the vote went through, of course. They have now settled it. But I’m pretty sure some of the settlement terms have changed. I think the amount went up from what I was told, but I didn’t get to vote on it again. Is that legal? I don’t even know. I don’t trust this government. I don’t trust the decisions they make. Why aren’t they sharing that number? I’ve requested this settlement. I haven’t received it yet, though. The public doesn’t know how much this settlement was for. The public doesn’t know the details. They put out a statement and they blamed everything on the former administration, and they made it out like it was some type of backpay issue, which is untrue.
That’s just part of it. Part of it was when they brought in a public safety director. Now that caused a lot of issues. It created problems for the chief. It took away his authority, and it was a part of this lawsuit. They used meetings to blast the chief and badmouth the chief. This is all part of this lawsuit. How you’re pretending it was the former administration, meanwhile, our current mayor and the council president voted yes on this. Nino Borelli on the council voted no, by the way. They were cheerleading this, big supporters of this new role, and we wound up in a horrible lawsuit over this. This is not the way you handle problems. This is not the way you treat department heads. This isn’t the way you’re transparent with the public by hiding things, by misleading people, and not giving the whole truth. Why aren’t you telling people how much this amount is? Why haven’t they gotten me this settlement as somebody on the council who votes on these things? I’m getting tired of this, and I’m going to keep calling it out. I have to be a total nightmare for these people, and that’s okay, because I’m fighting for the people who live in this town.
I’m fighting for this town, and I’m going to continue being vocal, continue calling these things out, and I’m sure things are going to heat up eventually. When I get the details, I’m going to share it with everybody because it seems like this government is afraid, too.