In her June 29, 2017 letter, Former Fairfield Mayor Viola Thomas Hughes has requested an Administrative Law Judge’s review of a $100 ethics fine assessed against her by the Local Finance Board, the chief enforcer of the Local Government Ethics Law (LGEL).

According to the Board’s June 14, 2017 Notice of Violation, Thomas Hughes, while Deputy Mayor in 2013, voted to request state funding to resurface Thomas Drive when she owned property on Thomas Drive.  According to the Notice, Thomas Hughes’ “ownership of the real property represented a direct or indirect personal or financial involvement which might reasonably be expected to impair one’s objectivity or independence of judgment.” 

According to the Board’s roster of ethics matters, the case against Thomas Hughes was initiated by a complaint filed by former Township Mayor Michael Sharp.

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