West Orange Has Spent $14K On Legal Battle With Bagel Shop Owner

WEST ORANGE, NJ — As of November 1, the Township of West Orange has spent nearly 7,000 bagels-worth of taxpayer money fighting Jarrett Seltzer in court.

That’s the price of the town’s ongoing legal bills involving the Bagels By Jarrett case, as measured by the local restaurant’s menu listing for a loose, plain bagel (without spread or salad). In more conventional financial terms, the total currently stands at more than $14,000.

And there may be more to come.

Many West Orange residents are familiar with the ongoing arm-wrestling match between the township and Seltzer, the owner of Bagels By Jarrett on Mount Pleasant Avenue.

The source of the dispute? Window coverings.

West Orange officials allege that Bagels By Jarrett isn’t using them properly (he's got too many of them up), and that they’ve made repeated attempts to broker a truce. Meanwhile, Seltzer says they’re unfairly targeting him with a murkily written rule – while other nearby businesses flaunt their own coverings.

Bagels By Jarrett, which switched to a curbside pickup-only model during the pandemic, doesn’t allow customers inside the building. Seltzer says that in addition to defraying heating/cooling costs, the window coverings help alert customers that they can’t come inside.

West Orange township officials have felt differently, however, maintaining that they're only asking Seltzer to follow the same rules as other local business owners.

“I think that in all fairness, we did try to work with him,” Mayor Susan McCartney previously told Patch, adding that the perception that the town is “targeting” Seltzer isn’t accurate.

“There's no reason why you can't open the blinds,” she said.

The situation has ignited a fierce debate on social media, with the potential $1,500 per day fine adding fuel to the fire. Read More: Jarrett vs. Town Hall: Feud May Cost West Orange Bagel Baron Big Bucks

The tug-of-war has been playing out in court over the past months, with Seltzer retaining his own lawyer and West Orange represented by Trenk Isabel Siddiqi & Shahdanian P.C. and town attorney Richard Trenk.

Trenk has made recent news headlines in connection with a lawsuit filed by McCartney against the West Orange Town Council, which passed a “no support” resolution against him as town attorney earlier this year. See Related: West Orange Mayor Sues Town Council; Trenk Saga Continues

On Nov. 7, a municipal judge in West Orange found Bagels By Jarrett guilty of violating township code. The ruling came with a $4,566 fine for Seltzer, who said he plans to appeal the decision. Read More: West Orange Bagel Shop Owner Fined After Losing Court Case

McCartney released a statement about the verdict, saying that township officials “respect the court’s determination after hearing and carefully considering the evidence and testimony.”

“The municipal court is an independent branch of local government,” the mayor said. “The township’s priority has always been to work with all local businesses to help ensure their success.”

THE BILLS

Patch recently made a request under the state’s Open Public Records Act (OPRA) for copies of all legal bills submitted to the township between Jan. 1 and Nov. 13 involving the Bagels By Jarrett case.

See the town’s response below, or view it online here (redacted items are not related to the summonses issued to Bagels By Jarrett).

The records show that from Aug. 1 to Oct. 31, Trenk Isabel Siddiqi & Shahdanian P.C billed the township for a combined total of $14,770.

The above total doesn’t include two expenses – postage and Westlaw fees – which were also used on other cases for the township.

Trenk, who billed his time at a rate of $150 per hour, wasn’t the only staff member of the firm who performed work on the Bagels By Jarrett case. Billable hours were also submitted by other partners, associates and paralegals at rates of $100 or $150 per hour.

The firm’s work on the case involved at least one township employee, who participated in multiple conferences prior to the trial: the zoning officer who wrote the citations that led to the legal brouhaha.

Patch reached out to municipal administrators and the mayor’s office seeking comment on the town’s legal bills. We’ll update this article with any reply we receive.

Article continues below

For his part, Seltzer – a proud punk rocker who has organized turkey drives and done other charity work in the township – has turned to his supporters on the internet for legal aid.

The bagel shop owner recently launched a GoFundMe campaign, which has raised $11,274 from 182 donors as of Nov. 30 (view it online here).

The campaign reads:

“I truly didn't want to have to do this but here we are. Between the town pulling my permits during our expansion (the pulling of the permits cost us between $100,000-$150,000) to the legal battle we are in over window treatment, I have drained my bank account. This business is difficult enough without what we're going through and sadly, I have to ask for help. I don't know where I'm going to end up financially overall, but I can assure that any excess of the goal will be put to a good cause.”

“Launching a GoFundMe was extremely difficult for me,” Seltzer told Patch earlier this week. “I’m normally the one raising money for people, so to be on the other side asking was difficult, as it’s not my character.”

According to Seltzer, while the legal expenses of facing West Orange in court are steep, the shoving match over his attempts to expand his business to a nearby property has hurt his wallet even more.

“If you look at the timeline of everything that happened, it completely shows that the permits were pulled as a retaliatory action,” he alleged. “The permit pulling was way more detrimental to my finances than hiring an attorney to fight a completely misused code that doesn’t state anywhere that you can’t have window treatments.”

“There’s literally a handbook published by this town that talks about how window shades provide blockage of sun and privacy,” Seltzer added. “This was never about window shades. This was about me standing up for myself and having a voice – and the town needing to silence my voice.”

When asked if a potential settlement was floated in August (as the bills from Trenk’s firm seem to show), Seltzer said that he was offered a “plead guilty and pay a fine” deal.

“My attorney asked what the fine was and Richard Trenk said he wouldn’t give him an amount,” he said. “Trenk also met with my landlord that day, where my landlord told me he wanted to fine him $30,000 for me having window shades.”

“I wasn’t going to plead guilty to having window shades that are not against the code – window shades that were existing at both businesses before I got there – and risk a $30,000 fine,” he added.

In the meanwhile, the wheels are still spinning on an appeal, Seltzer said, alleging that the court proceedings were a dog-and-pony show:

“What people don’t realize is we were waiting and waiting, expecting the judge to issue a verdict after summations went in, but we didn’t get anything. When my attorney’s secretary called the courts to see what was going on, they said: ‘You need to come in for sentencing.’ We replied [that] ‘we weren’t found guilty or not guilty yet.” A week later my attorney called personally and was told the same thing – and responded the same way. How on Earth does someone answering phones at the courthouse already know the verdict?”

The total amount of the town’s legal bills may be even higher than $14,770, as there was another court appearance in November, Seltzer said. But even at that number, it’s not a wise use of taxpayer money, he insisted.

“I’ve been a businessman since I was 14-years-old when I started a record label, but it doesn’t take a business mind to realize that paying $14,770 to win a $4,566 judgement on a resident and business owner isn’t a smart business move,” he told Patch.

“This is why towns have town prosecutors (like we already do, paid a salary) and don’t allow their town attorney to prosecute,” Seltzer said. “The only one who wins from this is Trenk Isabel Siddiqi & Shahdanian, and they will continue to do so until this town makes a change.”

Send local news tips and correction requests to [email protected]. Learn more about advertising on Patch here. Find out how to post announcements or events to your local Patch site. Don’t forget to visit the Patch West Orange Facebook page.