PARK RIDGE—A court-approved settlement will pay $23,500 in legal fees to the attorney for the Committee to Recall Robert Fisher Jr., led by Laura Clark and Theresa Hollers, after the committee sued the Bergen County Clerk’s office over incorrect guidance leading to the rejection of its recall petition.
“We were pleased with the outcome and that we were able to settle out of court,” Clark told Pascack Press Jan. 21.
The committee had collected 2,141 signatures seeking a referendum to recall school board trustee Robert Fisher Jr., and time was of the essence to get the question printed on town ballots at the general election.
An attorney for the County Clerk’s office said the petitions were not valid because they were not notarized.
The committee challenged that determination in court, on the grounds they clerk’s office specifically had told them they didn’t need to be notarized, and rejecting them would disenfranchise voters. They won in Superior Court and the Appellate Division ordering the recall question onto the Nov. 4 ballot.
Fisher, who opposed the recall as politically motivated, resigned before the election, effective Sept. 19, 2025, rendering the ballot push moot.
The $23,500 will be paid from the County Liability Fund and made payable to Weismann & Mintz, LLC.
Stipulated in the settlement: “Plaintiffs acknowledge that no liability is admitted; that the entry of this settlement is solely for the purpose of amicably resolving all issues between the Plaintiffs and the County Clerk.”
The recall effort was tied to Fisher’s living away at college, his attendance record at meetings, and claims that he was not properly representing constituents, according to the committee.
(See “Calls it quits: In wake of court losses, school board member Robert Fisher says he’ll resign,” by Michael Olohan, Sept. 19, 2025.)
The settlement was referenced in a stipulation of dismissal filed in Bergen County Superior Court and resolved a lawsuit by the recall committee seeking to recover legal fees in its case against John Hogan, in his official capacity as Bergen County clerk, and Fisher.
Fisher challenged the petitions, saying they had not been properly notarized. After Fisher’s attorney filed objections, the clerk’s office and county counsel Paul Kaufman upheld the challenge and rejected the petitions.
Superior Court Judge Peter Geiger later sided with the recall committee on the strength of its clear evidence and ordered the recall question onto the ballot.
Attorney Brett Pugach of Weismann & Mintz, LLC, who represented the committee, told Pascack Press on Jan. 28, “At the end of the day, it was a big win for democracy. The court had ruled in our favor, found that the petition should have been accepted, and that the recall election process should move forward. Attorneys fees are appropriate in such instances where fundamental voting rights were denied.”
He said, “This is a great result not just for the plaintiffs, but for the many individuals who signed the petition and for the voters of Park Ridge.”