NJ Councilman Targeted Mexicans, Jews Through Rental Rules, Lawsuit Says

HOWELL, NJ — A Howell Township official alleges he has faced retaliation for refusing to take "blatantly discriminatory" actions that target Mexicans and Jews living in Howell, according to a lawsuit.

Matthew Howard, the township's director of community development, filed the lawsuit Sept. 5 alleging violations of the Conscientious Employee Protection Act, also known as a whistleblower lawsuit. It is the second accusing Councilman Ian Nadel of repeatedly targeting Mexican and Jewish residents, seeking to have them forced from homes in the town.

Former Township Manager Joseph Clark filed a similar lawsuit in July, alleging Nadel had asked him and Howard to take actions toward rental properties to revoke certificates of occupancy and had pushed for ordinance changes that were unconstitutional. Read more: Howell Councilman Targeted Immigrants In 'Blatantly Discriminatory' Actions, Ex-Township Manager Says

Howard's lawsuit, like Clark's, also names as defendants Mayor John Leggio, whom Howard accuses of subjecting him to significant hostility from the public, along with municipal clerk Diane Festino and Councilwoman Susan Fischer.

Nadel and Fischer were elected to the council in November 2022. Leggio was elected mayor in November 2024.

A request for comment from Howell Township officials was not immediately answered on Thursday.

Howard was hired in September 2016 as the township's director of land use and was promoted in 2021 to director of community development and, in November 2022, to deputy township manager.

In the lawsuit, Howard lists proposals for issuing or revoking rental certificates of occupancy that he says Nadel and Leggio sought, and that he says are illegal, including:

• Only issuing rental COs when tenants prove they have U.S. citizenship or resident alien status and requiring them to prove they have updated their New Jersey state ID to reflect the address;
• Seeking to ban the rental of properties for five years when a rental CO is revoked, "regardless of ownership or tenant change;"
• Immediately revoking a rental CO for "any rental property that poses a risk to health, welfare, or safety of tenants or surrounding residents," along with revoking the rental COs for any other property in Howell owned or managed by the same person or company;
• Immediately revoking a rental CO when an occupant of a rental is arrested "for any criminal offense (including disorderly persons offenses anywhere in the Howell Township). (2) Arrest of any individual for any criminal offense (including disorderly persons offenses) at or in the vicinity of a rental property within Howell Township, or arrested elsewhere for an offense committed at or in vicinity of a rental property, excluding an offense where occupants or owners are merely a victim of a crime. (3) 2 or more verified calls to police within a 12-month period for a criminal matter (including disorderly persons offenses to a rental property within Howell Township). (4) 3 or more verified calls to code enforcement within a 12-month period for property maintenance violations.

Those were all suggested by Nadel as part of a "Law and Order Rental Ordinance" update, Howard said.

In addition, Howard said Nadel wanted him and Clark to get reports from the Howell Township Police Department of all police responses and the reason for the call to any rental property in Howell, "all arrests that fit the criteria of a rental CO revocation, and the names and addresses of any individual arrested within Howell Township that is suspected of being a criminal illegal alien," policies Howard said were "blatantly unlawful."

In a separate situation, Howard alleges Nadel wanted him to send a code enforcement officer to stake out a home that Nadel believed was hosting people for Jewish Sabbath observances, to potentially cite them for over-occupancy and evict the residents from the property, in spite of Howard telling him it was a violation of their religious rights to gather.

In October 2024, Nadel took a class roster from one of Howell's schools and asked Howard and Clark to see if the township had records of children being listed on rental certificates and using their names to check into the living situations, specifically citing names such as "Ortiz, Velasquez, and Rodriguez as being stereotypical Hispanic surnames," the lawsuit says.

Howard alleges Nadel wanted registration information from the Howell Township Public Schools to identify who was living in rentals in town, saying, "We can just tell from the last names who we need to look at." The school district employee refused to turn over the information, the lawsuit said.

Howard's lawsuit shares similar incidents with Nadel that Clark cited in his lawsuit, including one in where Nadel suggested having a code enforcement officer check for empty bottles of Modelo beer, as a way of determining whether immigrants live in the homes, an action Howard said was "blatantly discriminatory and a clear instance of racial profiling."

Howard alleges that no matter how many times he and Clark told Nadel his suggestions were illegal and discriminatory, he continued to pressure them to go after people based solely on the possibility they might be in the United States illegally because they were Mexican.

Howard alleges that Nadel and Leggio got mad when he and Clark told them targeting minorities through ordinances was illegal.

That resulted, Howard alleges, in posts by Leggio and Nadel on Facebook publicly blaming him and Clark for the June 5 slaying June where a Howell resident was found dead of a gunshot wound in a car in front of a home on White Street.

Howard said Nadel sent a text on June 5 saying, "Just heard that there was a murder on white st with a barricaded perp on Southport. Hearing Mexican victim. Time for a full on ban on illegal aliens renting in our town. Let's update our ordinances and revoke all their COs. We can defend it all in court if we need to. Also great work by Storrow saying we don't have MS13 members in Howell...."

Storrow is John Storrow, Howell Township's police chief.

The next day, Nadel posted the following statement, attributed to himself and Leggio, on Facebook saying, "With regard to yesterday's events in our township, we cannot comment on an active investigation.

"With that be said we are completely disgusted with certain Township officials that allowed this situation to happen, and allowed our residents' quality of life and safety to go downhill. Quality of life is one of our utmost priorities in Howell. We will not sit idly by while our town continues to deteriorate. We stand with our residents and will be a voice to correct all of these issues currently happening within our municipality.

"In the coming weeks we plan on introducing additional ordinances to combat these quality of life issues and taking a firm stance on addressing all of these safety and quality of life concerns," the statement said.

Another Howell man was arrested about 10 days later and charged in the killing. Prosecutors allege the killing was the result of a love triangle.

"At the time of said statement, they were fully aware that the Township administration, including Plaintiff, had acted appropriately and in coordination with law enforcement. The statement was misleading, retaliatory, and issued directly following Plaintiff and Mr. Clark’s continued refusal to implement directives they reasonably viewed as unlawful," Howard's lawsuit says.

Howard alleges Nadel and Leggio repeatedly discussed his employment in executive sessions without issuing him a RICE notice as required by law and put Festino in as the acting township manager after Clark resigned on June 21, instead of promoting Howard.

He alleges Festino "was walking around the clerk’s office advising employees to watch that night’s meeting because there was 'a plan in place' and that 'it was going to be good.' "

Festino was appointed as the acting manager over the objections of Howell's labor attorney, Jean Cipriani, who repeatedly urged Leggio and the council to not take actions against Clark during the June 24 meeting.

Festino served as acting manager only briefly, as Howell has since hired John Gross as township manager.

Howard shared a written complaint he filed with the township's human resources manager the day after the council meeting, noting that his employment was again discussed without him receiving a RICE notice.

He also alleges he was subjected to "a significant amount of hostility directed towards 'the professionals', 'administration' and even myself by name," with residents using his name specifically during their comments.

He said the council's actions "directly amplified the public outcry and pressure," and led to residents yelling at him and accusing him of illegal actions.

Howard said that after the meeting Leggio brought a group of residents to him, and after Howard and John Glynn explained the legalities of the situation, "The conversation turned to shouting and yelling and it was John Glynn and myself directly opposite 8-10 screaming residents. They were accusing me of being a liar, taking bribes and destroying their neighborhood. I had to remove myself from the situation as I did not feel comfortable continuing the conversation nor did I feel it appropriate that I was forced to take such abuse."

"Mayor Leggio said nothing during the conversation and did nothing to try and calm down the residents or to protect myself, an employee of the Township," Howard said. He noted that during the meeting Leggio had told residents his own family had been receiving threats, but when threats were directed at Howard, "he has never publically (sic) addressed those comments or called on the public to cease such activity. I feel like myself and administration are being intentionally targeted and forced to work in a hostile environment."

Howard said he has been cut out of the daily operations of the township since he filed that complaint, even though he has continued to hold the deputy township manager title.

The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages and attorneys' fees.