Letter from Dr. Ziegler -Rotary

Dr. Vitta's Legacy

Professional Educator. Master School Administrator. College Professor. Dedicated Husband, Father, Grandfather, And Loyal Friend To Many

Bump on My Road of Professional Success

“Those Without Sin Cast The First Stone”

Fact: I was charged with Obstruction of Justice/ Witness Tampering

Fact: This happened years after my retirement

Fact: I pled guilty to this offense. There was no arrest or indictment.

Fact: I mistakenly told someone not to tell the truth about a gift(s) given to my daughter at her graduation party at the Madison Hotel in 2007. It should be noted that I had given the gifts back shortly after the gathering in 2007. However, the mistake, error in judgment or offense as it’s called happened in 2013/14. It truly was a mind boggling stupid act on my part. I am not including all the details of this here but the charge was as stated above

Fact: Federal Judge Chesler said if he thought I took a bribe he would be sending me to jail; however what happened here is very unclear and it represented mind-boggling stupidity. There was no restitution of the gifts at all as there was no bribery or corruption.

Fact: I was sentenced to three years of probation with the first year being home confinement. I was also fined $10,000

Fact: I never was charged with bribery or corruption and I never did anything against the law in the past. The word corruption or crooked was never used by anyone other than an article written by a radio station and perhaps some other media outlet. I assume that those words were used to inflame what occurred and to defame my good name

Fact: I am also a very trusting, amiable human being and let many people into my life. I have been told by many this is part of my personality and that I should be far more careful as to whom I call a friend.

Fact: I had over 135 strong letters of support from individuals in all professions including a former Chief of Police, a former Secret Service Agent, Police Officers, Doctors, Detectives, Lawyers, Board of Education Members, Professional Colleagues, Family, Friends, former students and neighbors

Fact: I take full responsibility for my stupidity and for the offense as well as the pain and suffering I caused myself, my family and friends

Fact: About a year after adjudication of the offense, the State of New Jersey filed a civil lawsuit against me claiming that the offense would precipitate a forfeiture of my earned pension and medical benefits and that I should be barred from public employment

Fact: This lawsuit went on for months and a vigorous battle was fought by my attorney and the attorneys for the State of New Jersey

Fact: Superior Court Judge Mary Jacobson ruled and a final judgment was declared with prejudice meaning that this case can never be brought forth again. She ruled that the State of New Jersey failed to prove that what happened touched upon my role as Superintendent and that my pension must be restored immediately and retroactively. She also ruled that I could work in public employment.

Fact: The State of New Jersey filed a motion appealing her decision to the New Jersey Appellate Court. The State of New Jersey then dropped their appeal on August 3, 2016 indicating that upon further review of the record and issues in this case that it was decided that the State should withdraw its Notice of Appeal

Fact: The New Jersey Bureau of Pensions refused to abide by Judge Mary Jacobson’s decision and my attorney had to fight vigorously with the pension bureau

Fact: The Judge had to once again be asked to reissue her order and after more legal briefs and battles my pension was finally restored in late August 2016

Fact: Steve Edelstein, my attorney, is in my humble opinion, the absolute best expert in the field of school law and pensions. The legal briefs and oral arguments were outstanding and truthful. He and his team carefully examined all the issues and provided concrete examples as to why the State was so off base in even bringing forth such a lawsuit.

Fact: This entire ordeal took years off my life and caused so much suffering not only to me but to my wife, children and all my family and friends. I take full responsibility for my stupid ridiculous action.

Fact: There are definitely media outlets that choose words that are inflammatory such as crooked Superintendent and Corrupt etc. These are defamatory remarks that incite the public with information that is totally erroneous.

Fact: In addition, the New Jersey Board of Examiners also did not abide by the Judge’s decision regarding working in public employment and decided to try to revoke my certification. After another legal battle I agreed to settle for a 3 year suspension of my School Administrator’s Certificate.

Fact: I presented above the facts and only the facts. There can be no dispute over what is written here.

Fact: As I said above I was wrong and this was a major blip in my successful career. It will be a stigma I must learn to live with all my life.

It is my hope that others can learn from my mistake

It is also my hope that I can move forward despite fake news and the damage I did to my reputation

It is my hope that whoever lays eyes on this website reads the various pages in total

I plan to post about 25 of the 135 letters of support I received during this life altering crisis

It has been a rough road but with God, Family and Friends I survived

I plan to move forward with integrity and dignity

2017

Honorable Stanley R. Chesler,U.S.D.J.

United States District Court

Frank Lautenberg U.S. Post Office & Courthouse

2 Federal Square

Newark, New Jersey 07102

RE: U.S. v. Gary Vitta

Crim. No. 15-01

Dear Judge Chesler,

May I introduce myself to you in the hope that what I submit to you in this letter about Dr.Gary Vitta will be an objective picture of this man and will in some way assist you when consider his sentence.

I was initially employed by the West Essex Regional School District as the School Psychologist and subsequent to receiving my Ph.D. I became the Director of Special Services; a position I held for 26 years before retiring. Five of those last years were during Dr. Vitta’ s tenure as superintendent (approximately 1989 through 1995).My responsibilities required keeping Superintendent Dr. Vitta and the Board of Education fully informed about the status Special Education students. I had a great deal of contact with Dr. Vitta and I will say that although at times we were on opposite sides of the issue regarding the services to/for special education students, Dr. Vitta was always first and foremost about “giving” the student every conceivable service. However, he was always willing to listen to me and respected my position on what we could and should do and what we could and should not do. His decisions were always to follow the law and give the students the best possible opportunity to reach their potential.

Our professional relationship began to change and become more personal after my husband died. I accepted an invitation to attend a Holiday party hosted at his home. I met his wife, Susan, and his two outstanding teenage daughters, Alyson and Pamela. Slowly through the years a strong relationships developed and I was privileged to attend many family events such as the girl’s high school graduations and their college graduations as well as other events. I think I was instrumental in helping Alyson choose her profession and continued to encourage her to pursue her doctorate before leaving school. Alyson completed her Doctorate in Physical Therapy, married a few years past and is the mother of a wonderful daughter who will be three in May. I was given the honor of meeting the baby within hours of her birth and am a presence in her life as much as my schedule permits. I even babysit but only after proving myself to the parents as a competent baby sitter. Dr. Vitta cherishes our personal relationship and admires the fact that we have such a wonderful bond of friendship.

The younger daughter and I also have a wonderful relationship and it has been a blessing for me to see how she has developed into a remarkable young professional. I have seen the family in so many different situations of birth and death and Gary has always been the major glue for the family. Gary and I had many a conversation concerning my own personal trials and tribulations in my life and I owe a great deal to his counsel.

Throughout my life I have always found time to volunteer and give back to my community, then in 1992 after my husband’s death, I was invited to join Rotary International and I truly found a way to work toward better understanding in our world.

In 2005-6 I was honored to be District Governor in the area covered by Newark and the Delaware Water Gap. The one year as Governor, I called upon Dr. Vitta and his family in many ways; he and they were always willing to help.

Some examples: Dr. Vitta, although not a Rotarian was an enormous help when I was negotiating and planning the President’s Ball. His family opened their door to host Japanese high school students exchange students. When I hosted visiting Rotarians from around the world, Dr. Vitta was always interested in meeting them and invitations to family events were often extended. This was a great opportunity for visitors to learn about the customs in a one particular family.

A couple of years ago, a friend in Switzerland asked if I would host a 16 year boy so that he could fulfill a school “homework” assignment outside his country. Not having children around me I did not think the boy would have a good experience. As I was chatting with Dr.Vitta about my search for a suitable family, he immediately conferred with his wife and offered to host the boy for three weeks. The boy became a member of their family and had a memorable time with the Vittas. The parents of the young man and the Vittas have established a warm relationship.

Dr. Vitta is a very close friend and someone I have come to know extremely well over the years .I have always found him to be a person of the highest integrity, ethical in his dealings with others and a family man who has solid core values. He is always wants to personally help anyone who comes to him with a problem, and there are so many times when his actions for someone have made a profound difference in that person’s life.

As a friend and not as his therapist I can say without reservation I have been seriously concerned about his emotional and physical health over this past year. Dr. Vitta has punished himself over this past year and no longer appears as the smiling, eager to please enthusiastic man he was. He admits he made a terrible error and it is hard to believe that anyone can punish him more than the punishment he has and continues to inflict upon himself.

I will continue to stay close to Dr. Vitta and his family no matter what the final outcome of this ordeal is. I will always stand by him one hundred percent because I know who and what he is not only to me but to many others. If you have any questions and concerns please don’t hesitate to contact me

Respectfully,

Dr. Karien Ziegler, Former Governor of Rotary Service Organization