The city’s deputy coordinator of the Office of Emergency Management, Joel Mestre, racked up 31 unpaid parking tickets in Hoboken between 2006 and 2008 and was asked by the city a week ago to pay the ones that were not dismissed in court.
In addition to the local tickets, Mestre was also ticketed three times in Secaucus and once in Point Pleasant in Ocean County, according to official reports provided to the Reporter by an unnamed source.
The reports showed that Secaucus issued warrants for the unpaid tickets. But last week, Mestre said he settled up all the debts after the violations were recently brought to his attention.
A second source confirmed that the tickets were all for a city vehicle to which Mestre had unrestricted access between 2006 and 2008.
Mestre said last week that he was allowed to use the vehicle whenever he wanted, but that all of the trips were for city business.
On the job
Mestre was able to dismiss 24 of the parking tickets between 2006 and 2008 by telling the court they were for official business, according to documents he provided to the newspaper.
The remaining tickets – including those from outside of Hoboken – were paid by Mestre last week. He conceded that the Secaucus tickets were received at his house.
City Attorney Steven Kleinman said that the city’s policy on parking ticket dismissal changed recently. He said there are now more stringent requirements in order to prove that the ticket was given during the course of city business.
Before that, employees merely had to list the tickets on a sheet and submit them to the court, without evidence.
Kleinman said that city employees are now required to pay parking tickets incurred with city vehicles unless there is an extenuating circumstance, such as an emergency.
“That’s something that could be taken into account,” Kleinman said.
Another City Hall source complained that there are probably other city officials who have outstanding parking tickets, but Mestre may have been singled out because he has a lawsuit pending against the city. Mestre’s lawsuit alleges harassment and retaliation against him as a whistle-blower, and lawyers have recently started to depose witnesses.
Driving a taxpayer car
Mestre said he was well within his right as an emergency management employee to have the city car at his Secaucus home. He said he just didn’t realize the he had received the tickets.
Since then, Mestre’s out-of-town driving privilege has been revoked by the city, so he said there is no risk in this sort of thing happening again.
As far as the ticket in Point Pleasant, Mestre said former Police Chief Carmen LaBruno sent him out in the city vehicle as part of an investigation, and that he received the ticket when he stopped in Point Pleasant on his way back to Hoboken.
City Spokesman Paul Drexel confirmed last week that Mestre was notified by the city a week ago about his outstanding tickets, but he did not say why it took so long for the city to notify him. City officials did not respond to other questions about their handling of the tickets.
Timothy J. Carroll may be reached at tcarroll@hudsonreporter.com.