Hightstown Council Votes to Hire Labor Attorney

The Hightstown Borough Council voted 6-0 in a closed session Monday to hire a special labor attorney, according to Mayor Steve Kirson.

The resolution authorizes the borough to spend up to $15,000 to pay New Brunswick-based firm Benedict and Altman $150 an hour "to address police issues."

Republican Councilwoman Skye Gilmartin, who is running for reelection, called the vote "a cautious, deliberate consensus."

Mayor Kirson, a Democrat, could not be reached for further comment, but Police Chief James Eufemia has been the topic of several public council discussions in recent weeks over his handling of the New Jersey State Police Gang Survey.

At the council's March 21 meeting, when Chief Eufemia was on the agenda to speak, he instead to state police officials. Residents in the subsequent public comment session, and council members said they too were surrpised by the switch in speakers.

The state police report, released in January, listed Hightstown as . In Mercer County, it said, the borough has the most gang members and is second only to Trenton in the number of gangs. At the March 21 meeting, the study's authors said they were confident in those numbers but that they needed to be examined in a larger context to be fully understood, instead of being singled out.

Earlier after the report's release, the borough to contradict the chief's downplaying gang activity in the borough.

Chief Eufemia could not be reached for comment by the time of this posting.