Six years after an ugly incident on Schopmann Drive involving a gay couple and members of the local fire department divided the town – and nearly two years after a Hudson County Superior Court jury awarded the couple millions in damages – Secaucus might finally get answers to dozens of questions about what took place that night.
On Tuesday, the Secaucus Town Council voted to retain the law firm of McElroy, Deutch, Mulvaney to “investigate and report on the facts and circumstances surrounding the resignations of the Secaucus firefighters” in the 2004 incident, according to language in the consent agenda.
“They need to speak now. They need to tell their story and they need to say what happened.” – Michael Gonnelli
________
Gonnelli later said he hopes the investigation will bring some “closure” to the matter so the town can move forward.
Various residents, however, may have their own expectations of the investigation.
Members of the fire department will likely use the inquiry to lobby for the reinstatement of three former firefighters implicated in the bias attack against the couple. Other residents, including members of the gay/lesbian community, will try to use it to argue against reinstatement.
It remains to be seen whether the mayor, whose young administration has been dogged by the legacy of the attack, will get the closure he seeks.
Controversy dates back six years
Peter DeVries and Timothy Carter, a gay couple who once lived on Schopmann Drive next to the North End Fire House, filed a harassment suit against Secaucus after enduring two years of harassment from a handful of firefighters, they said.
The ongoing harassment culminated on one night in April 2004, when anti-gay slurs and violent threats were yelled outside their house. At least one person, Carter and DeVries said, pounded on the side of their home. The men, and at least one witness who came forward, heard something that sounded like a gunshot. One attacker allegedly threatened to kill them.
In 2008, a jury in Hudson County Superior Court awarded them $2.8 million, on top of another $2 million for legal fees.
Three firefighters – Charles F. Snyder, his son Charles T. Snyder, and Charles Mutschler – were never arrested or charged in the incident, but they were implicated in the attack in police statements and in court testimony.
During the trial, the men took the stand, but on the recommendation of their attorney, took the Fifth Amendment. When the trial ended, the firefighters were supposed to have a closed administrative hearing before the town’s labor attorney. However, they chose to resign from the department rather than participate in this hearing.
Weeks after Gonnelli’s election last year, members of the fire department delivered a petition with more than 500 signatures to 2nd ward Councilman Jim Clancy, who serves as the governing body’s liaison to the fire department. The petition demanded the reinstatement of the three firefighters.
The possibility that they might return led several members of Garden State Equality, the leading statewide gay rights organization, to state a rally and protest in Secaucus January. Several gay residents also participated in the protest.
But supporters of the firefighters have continued to call for their reinstatement.
The upcoming inquiry
“I recognize there are people who want them back, and there are people who don’t want them back,” the mayor told the Reporter after Tuesday’s vote. “What really needs to happen is we have to get to the facts. Nobody really knows what the facts are.”
Edward DePascale of McElroy, Deutch, Mulvaney will now sift through all the evidence in the case – police reports, trial transcripts, etc. – to try to determine what happened the night at the bias incident. DePascale will also try to interview the key players in the incident: the three firefighters, Carter, DeVries, former Fire Chief Frank Walters, Police Chief Dennis Corcoran, Mayor Dennis Elwell, former Town Administrator Anthony Iacono, the officers who investigated the incident and witnesses who testified at the trial.
The inquiry, which Gonnelli has likened to “a truth commission,” will cost $12,500 and could take at least three months to complete.
If DePascale is successful, it will be the first time the town has heard publically from the Snyders and Mutschler regarding what happened the night of the incident.
“They need to speak now,” Gonnelli – who is friends with the elder Snyder – said. “They need to tell their story and they need to say what happened.”
Iacono: ‘I commend him’
Gonnelli acknowledged that the decision to hire an independent investigator will be “controversial.” But at least one of his critics applauded the move when reached last week for a comment.
“I commend Mayor Gonnelli for making an effort to clearly answer the questions that should be answered,” Iacono said. “I think the town has a right to know the whole situation. There were so many questions that were asked that the town was never able to get any answers to. By hiring an independent law firm to investigate, I don’t think anyone can hide behind the Fifth Amendment.”
He said he would speak to the investigator if contacted for a statement.
Former Mayor Elwell last week also said he would cooperate.
“If they contact me, I’ll speak with them,” Elwell said, although he declined to offer his opinion of the investigation. “I’m not going to tell Mike Gonnelli how to run Secaucus. He’s got the right to do whatever he thinks is right.”
Public opinion of the investigation is likely to run the full spectrum.
In a comment left on www.HudsonReporter.com Wednesday, one resident who posted under the name Northender stated, “I don’t think these men would have had a fare hearing with Dennis Elwell sitting there…I for one did sign the [petition] to reinstate the firefighters. What’s that old saying, innocent until proven guilty? Well, they were never found guilty in a court of law.”
But at least one Gonnelli detractor questioned whether a comprehensive investigation can be done adequately for $12,500.
DePascale will draft a report when the inquiry is completed. Depending on his conclusions, the Snyders and Mutschler could be permanently barred from the fire department – or they could claim grounds for reinstatement.
E-mail E. Assata Wright at awright@hudsonreporter.com.