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Joanne Howley, 67, a former Council president whose term is due to expire in 2012, is scheduled for a first appearance Friday morning in Superior Court in Hackensack to answer the charges.
Howley did not return a phone message left at her home late this afternoon.
Woodcliff Lake Mayor Joseph LaPaglia issued a statement saying he would discuss the charges with the council and get determine “Councilwoman Howley’s response to the charges and her determination regarding her continuing service.”
“Whatever the ultimate outcome of the matter, Joanne Howley will leave an impressive legacy to the residents of Woodcliff Lake in the many successful park and recreation activities we enjoy today,” LaPaglia said.
Prosecutors said Harley — who is responsible for the Parks and Recreation Department and oversees pool registrations — submitted applications to the borough last summer for three pool passes for the kids, who CLIFFVIEW PILOT learned were living with her last summer while her son was involved in a marital problem.
“Rather than purchase the requisite number of guest passes or purchase a non resident membership for each of the children, fraudulent information was placed in the [borough’s] computerized application and registration system,” said Bergen County First Assistant William Galda. “The fraudulent information permitted the three visiting grandchildren from New Mexico to attend the pool as borough residents free of charge.”
She also tried skipping payments for two of three weeks the grandkids spend in the borough’s summer day camp but was flushed out and finally paid up nearly $700, which Galda said was “only after and as a direct result of subpoenas being issued and served upon the Borough on June 15, 2010 seeking the attendance and payment history of the Howley summer camp account.”
The witness tampering charge “arises out of Ms. Howley’s attempt to influence the Borough’s Parks and Recreation Director to give false information to law enforcement officials investigating the theft by deception charges relative to the failure to pay for the summer camp program,” the assistant prosecutor added.
“Specifically, in a series of phone calls, Ms. Howley attempted to fabricate an explanation for the non-payment, and asked the Parks and Recreation Director to affirm her fabricated story,” Galda said.
“Ms. Howley surrendered to members of the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office” and was served with criminal complaints before being released on her own recognizance, he said.
There are five Republicans on the Council and one Democrat in what was once a Democrat-dominated borough.
A few months ago, a fellow councilman accused her of stealing from Costco while using the town’s card. Although she paid for it and no charges were brought, town officials reprimanded her.
Another incident happened when the department of Parks and Recreation moved to a computer registration system. A source said employees who were being trained to use the system logged in with Howley’s ID and password. Somehow, her adult daughter was registered as a child. Again, nothing happened because Howley had enough passes to cover the expense, anyway.
A volunteer who runs the girls basketball program, Howley has been involved in various other borough programs over the years.
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