Tenner v. Krutt-Schnitt
Tenner v. Krutt-Schnitt
Opinion of the Court
By this action the plaintiff seeks to be reinstated as managing agent of the emergency housing units of the Town of Irvington and seeks a judgment of this court compelling the defendants to pay to plaintiff a sum equal to the loss of his salary, wages and remuneration as such managing agent from June 30, 1950, until restored to said position.
The fact is that having entered into a contract with the Administrator of Public Housing and Development Authority and the Department of Economic Development of the State of Hew Jersey, the Town of Irvington on December 24, 1946, enacted a resolution by which Commissioner Percy A. Miller was designated coordinator on behalf of the town with the Administrator of Public Housing and Development Authority to coordinate activities respecting emergency housing itnits to be constructed in the town. The said resolution “further resolved that Commissioner Edward J. McKenna, shall have jurisdiction of all matters involving the Town of Irvington, growing out of said contracts entered into by the town with said Administrator, or to be entered into; also he shall have jurisdiction to designate person or persons to act for the town in a ministerial way, as such action is required
At the trial of this case, David S. Laurie, Chief of Veterans’ Housing for the Northern District of New Jersey, testified that the Town of Irvington receives 25 per cent of the gross rents received, less utilities, and that said sum is paid to the municipality in lieu of taxes; that the five per cent which is paid for management of the veterans’ housing units is not paid out of the above 25 per cent of the gross rents, less utilities, which the Town of Irvington received in lieu of taxes.
The gist of the plaintiff’s argument is that R. S. 55 :14G—1, ei seq., was enacted by the Legislature to cope with an acute shortage of housing accommodations for veterans of World War II, and the argument is that the emergency described in the first section of the act “requires the temporary suspension of various normal restrictions, prohibitions, limitations, and procedures, in order that immediate relief from this condition may be provided; that the acquisition, construction, management, operation, and disposition of such emergency housing and the real and personal property and other facilities necessary, incidental, or appurtenant thereto is a public use for which public money may be spent, and property acquired.” The plaintiff then points to section 17 of the act, providing “Any municipality, by resolution of its governing body, is hereby authorized and empowered to enter into any contract which the administrator is authorized by this act to execute, and any such municipality is hereby given all powers necessary, convenient or desirable in order to carry out and perform any and all provisions of any such contract * * The plaintiff contends that the appointment of a managing agent for the veterans’ housing units is, in the terms of the statute, a convenient power and that by virtue of the provisions of section 17, having found it con
The protection which, as an honorably discharged veteran, the plaintiff would be entitled to under this statute is accorded to him if, and only if, he holds any employment, position or office, the term of which is not fixed by law. It therefore becomes necessary to determine whether he held such an employment, position or office and this question brings us to the nub of the case. Under R. 8. 40 :48-l, the Home Rule Act, the statute under which the Town of Irvington functions, it is provided in Article 1, section 3, that the governing body of the municipality may make ordinances to “prescribe and define, except as otherwise provided by law, the duties and terms of office or employment, of all officers and employees; and to provide for the employment and compensation of such officials and employees, in addition to those provided for by statute, as may be deemed necessary for the efficient conduct of the affairs of the municipality.” In Handlon v. Town of Belleville, 4 N. J. 99 (1950) it was settled that under R. 8. 40:48-1 “a municipal office or position, if not created by statute, can come into being only by ordinance of the local governing body. The sense of the statute is that, because the creation of offices and positions involves an increase of the financial burden of local government, the power is exercisable only by ordinance, a deliberative process requiring notice to the public.”
The fact that the subsequent resolution authorizing the plaintiff to collect the funds, deposit and withdraw them from a bank account cannot operate in such manner so as to validate an appointment or designation otherwise illegal.
Judgment will be entered for the defendants.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.