Aug 5, 2008 By Jennifer Harr 2 min read

The attorney for the former secretary of the Washington Township Municipal Authority said Monday his client was only following orders when she wrongly accepted payments for meetings. Last week, the state Ethics Commission found that Judy Arrow improperly accepted payments for two authority meetings held on the same nights from April 2002 through June 2007. One meeting dealt with water and the other dealt with sewerage. The ruling said that the authority should only have been paid for one meeting, when all business was conducted.

“When she was told it wasn’t appropriate, she agreed to pay the money back,” said attorney Samuel Davis.

Arrow, as well as the others on the seven-member board, accepted the double payments, which were either $50 or $75 per meeting. At some point, the township supervisors upped the meeting pay to $75.

The Ethics Commission found that the supervisors would have needed to approve the authority holding two meetings instead of one, and did not.

This ruling only applies to Arrow, who agreed to pay back $5,925.

Davis said that others on the board have been under the same scrutiny, but indicated that Arrow has fully accepted responsibility. He questioned what became of the others who also accepted the payments.

“That should be the inquiry. (Arrow) made an error in good faith,” Davis said, noting she did not know it was wrong to accept the second payment because other board members also did so.

Arrow will make repayments on the restitution owed, according to the Ethics Commission order.