'Carmelo's Revenge- Part 3' update

GA was fascinated by the exchange between the Hoboken Horse and Plaintiff Carmelo Garcia, which took place at Mike DeFusco's fundraiser- the Horse described it as follows:

"...Carmelo insisted the City of Hoboken needed to offer a settlement. He was told he deserved none and should drop this third civil lawsuit. He persisted saying he was wronged. When asked if he had cashed the check for early termination of his contract from the HHA he repeatedly denied it saying, “I didn’t accept anything” before finally admitting he had."

Does the City "need" to offer former Hoboken Housing Authority Executive Director Carmelo Garcia a settlement?

Ummm,  "NO."

According to Hudson County Superior Court's Public Access system (ACMS), 'Carmelo's Revenge- Part 3' is in the discovery phase, which is scheduled to end on October 25, 2017; the case was assigned to "Track 3."

So what's the latest?

The ACMS shows that a case management conference for  'Carmelo's Revenge- Part 3'  has been scheduled for March 7, 2017.

4:5B-2. Case Management Conferences In cases assigned to Tracks I, II, and III, the designated pretrial judge may sua sponte or on a party's request conduct a case management conference if it appears that such a conference will assist discovery, narrow or define the issues to be tried, address issues relating to discovery of electronically stored information, or otherwise promote the orderly and expeditious progress of the case... The order may include provisions for disclosure of discovery of electronically stored information and any agreements the parties reach for asserting claims of privilege or protection as trial preparation material after production.

But... but... but... the Plaintiff allegedly told the Horse that "the city needed to offer a settlement,"  so is the  March 7, 2017 session a settlement conference"?

4:5B-3. Settlement ConferencesThe court may conduct a settlement conference or schedule any other settlement event in any civil action on its or a party's request.  The settlement conference need not be conducted by the designated pretrial judge.

On March 22, 2016, an Earwitness Tipster told GA the following, which was never disputed:  

Mediation between Carmelo and the HHA, Stan G. and the City was held last July [2015].Carmelo started off asking for $700,000 from everyone. No more discussion after that. Mediation was terminated.  

The 2nd mediation was a couple of weeks ago in February or March.  Carmelo started the discussion by asking for $2.4 million. $1.2 million from the city and $1.2 million from the HHA.  That ended it.  I hear Carmelo was upset when he heard mediation was terminated. I think he expected to walk away with a big bundle of money. 

Carmelo's damages theory is that he had a right to be Executive Director for the rest of his life. He is claiming millions in damages because he lost his job before the end of his 5 year contract. He is also wants to add more racketeering charges and expand the complaint. 

What do my Hoboken taxpayer friends think about the City settling this case, that's dragged on for 4 years in its various iterations?

In the meantime, the ACMS  shows that Defendant Carmelo Garcia has not retained an attorney yet for the Hoboken Housing Authority's lawsuit against him.  Why not?

GA urges the City NOT to settle any of these crap, opportunistic lawsuits-  please don't give these Plaintiffs a payday out of our pockets.