An Annandale attorney who has served as counsel for the Independence Township (Warren County) Land Use Board since at least 2006 has been charged with ethics violations arising out of his alleged neglect of and misrepresentations to a Tewksbury man who had hired him to file a tax appeal.

In the formal ethics complaint, District XIII Ethics Committee Presenter Richard A. Gantner of Oakland said that Walter N. Wilson, who maintains a law office at 67 Beaver Avenue, Annandale, told Tewksbury homeowner Roger McLaughlin that he had filed a tax appeal regarding McLaughlin’s Cold Spring Road home that had not in fact been filed.   According to the complaint, McLaughlin went to the Tewksbury tax assessor’s office to inquire about the status of his appeal and was told by the clerk: “I know Walter Wilson. He hasn’t been here. We haven’t heard from him.”  In addition to ignoring McLaughlin, Wilson is also charged with failing to cooperate with the ethics investigation.

According to Ethics Committee records, Wilson’s case was scheduled to be heard in early February before an Ethics Committee panel chaired by Paul H. Loeffler of Basking Ridge. I have requested information regarding the hearing results.

Chairman of the New Jersey Libertarian Party's Open Government Advocacy Project. Please send all comments to [email protected]