Lambertville mayor, a former Murphy aide, accused of ethical lapses and graphic language

Dustin Racioppi
Trenton Bureau

When her boss threw a chair in her presence in October 2016, Julia Fahl said it was one example of the "toxic workplace issues" on Phil Murphy's campaign for governor. 

Four years later, Fahl faces similar accusations as the mayor of Lambertville.

She frequently used graphic sexual language, kept an "important political supporter" on the city's payroll, got involved in a project despite a conflict of interest and continually broke the state's Open Public Records Act, according to a lawsuit filed by Alex Torpey, a business administrator she fired earlier this year. 

"Mayor Fahl’s continued use of sexual and offensive language toward (Torpey) created an unlawful work environment," said the lawsuit, which was filed against the city in Hunterdon County Superior Court in September. 

Fahl, who is also a lobbyist, said on the city's Facebook page Saturday that Torpey "makes a number of unfounded allegations" against her.

"In my opinion, this lawsuit is no more than a case of a disgruntled former employee who seized an opportunity to line his pockets with taxpayer money," she said. 

"We live in a world that encourages and often rewards these types of malicious, opportunistic lawsuits because it is easier to pay out than deal with the drama that lawsuits like these are designed to create," Fahl added.

"As a governing body, we chose not to allow Mr. Torpey to extort the city."

Fahl won election in 2018 in the small city of about 3,900 people along the Delaware River with the goal of hiring a full-time business administrator for the first time. The city hired Torpey, a former South Orange village president — the equivalent of a mayor — to fill the newly created position of administrator in April 2019. 

But a little more than a year later, Fahl announced the city would not renew his contract and would find someone "who will be a better fit for our unique place and our unique situation."

Torpey's attorney Ellen O'Connell said that during discussions with Fahl over his severance, "she fired him." Torpey sought to be reinstated, but a judge did not allow it.  

Related:Report: Another Phil Murphy official was investigated for behavior during campaign

More:Was Phil Murphy campaign 'toxic'? Top staffers aren't talking after misogyny allegation

Clashes from the beginning 

Representatives of Columbia Care LLC, a cannabis growing and dispensing company, came to the City Council meeting Tuesday night to talk about their hope for local support for a a retail operation in Vineland. Left to right are  Julia Fahl; Dr. Ken Blank; Jon Gilbert; and David Grusemyer.

The allegations in Torpey's lawsuit against the city detail friction with Fahl from his earliest days as administrator.

In the summer of 2019, Torpey told Fahl that the city's emergency management coordinator, David Burd, lacked the proper certification to serve in the position and that could pose legal trouble.

Fahl said that "because he was an important political supporter, she would not remove him from the position," the lawsuit said. 

When reached for comment Thursday, Burd said he was in a meeting and could not speak.

Torpey also claims Fahl "continually" violated the Open Public Records Act by speaking about city council business with members outside of meetings.

Her use of one phone number for professional, personal and political matters, as well as using outside email accounts for city business, was also a potential violation of the law, according to the lawsuit.

And it said Fahl was concerned about the public learning that text messages were government records "and tried to discuss ways to exclude these records from public view."

Fahl also directed Torpey last summer to see that the city give Public Service Electric and Gas an approval for a project, allowing the company to skip an appearance before the land use board, the lawsuit said.

She had a conflict of interest, however, and recused herself only after Torpey advised her to speak to the city attorney, the suit said. 

When Torpey raised the various concerns with Fahl, the lawsuit said, "she told him that complaining about these issues would jeopardize his ability to successfully negotiate a new contract with the city." 

Graphic, inappropriate language

Beyond alleged ethical lapses, the lawsuit said Fahl spoke in a vulgar and insulting way about others and to Torpey, which he found inappropriate.

The lawsuit was first reported Monday by the New Jersey Globe, the political website run by David Wildstein, the former Port Authority executive who admitted to devising the 2013 George Washington Bridge lane realignments for political revenge. 

For Fahl, the allegations could deal a blow to an ascending political career. She served as the LGBT Leadership Council's director for the Democratic National Committee and as a finance director for Murphy's primary campaign. 

In that role, Fahl gained attention after the Wall Street Journal reported that her boss, Joe Kelley, had thrown a chair against a wall in October 2016. She later said she experienced "toxic workplace issues" on the campaign. Kelley was hired by Murphy in a senior position.

Fahl's major political achievement was defeating longtime Lambertville Mayor Dave DelVecchio as a 28-year-old who had never ran for office before. Should she seek reelection, the lawsuit could cloud her pitch to voters of the liberal stronghold along the Delaware River.

The discovery phase of the lawsuit, in which attorneys collect documents and depose people involved, is scheduled to last until January 2022, a month after Fahl's first term ends. 

Dustin Racioppi is a reporter in the New Jersey Statehouse. For unlimited access to his work covering New Jersey’s governor and political power structure, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

Email: racioppi@northjersey.com 

Twitter: @dracioppi