Middletown BOE Rehires Politically Connected Lawyer Bruce Padula

MIDDLETOWN, NJ — At their meeting Friday afternoon, the Middletown school board took the unanimous vote to re-hire Bruce Padula as the lawyer to represent the school district.

Padula is politically connected and he is an operator in the Monmouth County Republican Party. He is pictured in this photo (third from right, next to state Sen. Declan O'Scanlon) at a gala fundraiser last August for the Monmouth County Republican Party. In 2024, Padula was also elected as a Republican committeeman in Oceanport.

Last Wednesday, Board president Frank Capone first suggested hiring Padula, but he could not get a majority vote of the board to approve it. At that meeting, multiple school board members accused Capone of trying to rush through the re-hiring of Padula.

What changed 48 hours later, by Friday's meeting?

"At the end of the day, we have open court cases and we need a lawyer on those cases," Board member Joe Fitzgerald said Monday. He was one of the BOE members who initially voted against re-hiring Padula.

"Bruce was (working) on those cases. We would have to get another lawyer up to speed, and some of this stuff is imminent. It would cost money to get (a new) lawyer up to speed. At the end of the day, we don't have the time or money to get a new lawyer."

The Middletown school district has been involved in numerous legal battles in recent years, with more looming: First, Middletown was sued by the state of New Jersey in 2023 over its transgender student policy. Padula defended the district's policy in court, and two different courts ruled Middletown's policy was possibly illegal.

Then, in 2024 Middletown was sued in a wrongful death lawsuit by the grieving parents of a 14-year-old girl who took her own life after she was bullied in Middletown public schools. The girl's parents allege the district did not take their daughter's bullying seriously enough, and they are currently seeking financial damages. The case has not been resolved.

Third, Dan Rodrick, the mayor of Toms River and also a teacher at Thorne Middle School, vowed he will sue the Middletown school district after the district filed tenure charges against him last month. As of Monday, he has not filed suit yet.

And in a fourth case, the girls' basketball coach at Middletown High School North was criminally charged in January with sexually assaulting a teenage player on the team.

It's safe to say Middletown needs a lawyer.

Padula has been Middletown's lawyer for several years now. He worked for Cleary, Giacobbe, Alfieri & Jacobs law firm, which was hired in 2021 to represent Middletown.

In February, Padula quit and started his own law firm, called Padula Law Group, LLC. According to this Feb. 28 public document, the BOE hired Padula for a five-month term, February 17, 2025 - June 30, 2025. However, the document does not say how much he will be paid, and he is paid in taxpayer dollars by the people of Middletown.

Patch had to ask.

He will be paid his current rate of $185 an hour, said Board member Jacqueline Tobacco.

Neither she nor Capone answered when Patch asked why his salary was not published in that public agenda item.

When Padula was employed by Cleary, Giacobbe, Alfieri & Jacobs, the four partners of that law firm — James Cleary, Matthew Giacobbe, Salvatore Alfieri and Mitchell Jacobs — each donated $200 to the election campaign of Caterina Skalaski, according to public Election Law Enforcement Commission records. Skalaski was a running mate of Capone/Tobacco; all three sit on the board.

This was in 2023, and while Cleary, Giacobbe, Alfieri & Jacobs held the contract to be Middletown school district's lawyer.

"After practicing law for over 25 years, Mr. Padula decided to open his own firm," said Capone Monday, when asked why he recommended the school district hire Padula. "He provided us with a contract at the same hourly rate as Cleary Giacobbe for the remainder of the current school year, which was the duration of the Cleary contract. After reviewing all the information in their possession, the Board unanimously approved Bruce’s contract."

Padula did not answer any questions for this story.

Watch Friday's meeting here; the board votes to re-hire Padula at the very end: