CLARK -- Assemblyman Jamel Holley (D-Union) faces a petty disorderly person's charge of harassment that carries a $500 fine, but the money isn't the point, said Roselle Mayor Christine Danserau.

"This is about the fact that harassment is unacceptable," said Dansereau, who claims she was the target of Holley's obscene tirades.

At a municipal court hearing Tuesday, Clark municipal Prosecutor Jon-Henry Barr moved to dismiss the case, saying Dansereau's claims do not constitute a crime.

Dansereau's attorney, Josh McMahon, disagreed and asked Municipal Court Judge Antonio Inacio to reject the motion to dismiss the case and instead conduct a trial. The case was transferred from Roselle to Clark to avoid conflicts of interest.

Central to the case is Dansereau's claims of Holley's intense verbal condemnations that allegedly reached a tipping point when he called her at Roselle Borough Hall and screamed at her, calling her a "f------ b----," a phrase Barr, McMahon and Inacio repeatedly referred to during the court hearing.

Holley's attorney, Anthony Anastasio, repeatedly denied that his client used the obscene phrase and denied that the assemblyman harassed the mayor. Holley was the borough mayor before entering the state Assembly. He supported Dansereau's appointment and subsequent election as mayor.

Barr, while not condoning the phrase, said he didn't think the allegations were criminal.

"If every instance of this type was a crime, I'd be here all day," he said, referring to the use of the two-word phrase.

McMahon claimed Barr wants to dismiss the case without interviewing Dansereau or the two witnesses who were at borough hall and heard the alleged comments from Holley. Barr has failed to investigate records showing Holley made the call, which came one day after Dansereau sent an email telling Holley never to contact her again, McMahon said.

The mayor, McMahon added, wants a court to hear the case.

"I don't know that I've seen a stronger case for harassment. This woman has a right to be free from being harassed," McMahon said.

Inacio told McMahon to file a legal brief giving reasons for denying the motion to dismiss the case.

However, Inacio also suggested all the parties would do better to resolve their differences.

"There is a lot of energy that is being spent on having a day in court rather than solving this issue," Inacio said. "There has to be something better than two people coming into court," he said.

Inacio set dates for McMahon to file his brief for a trial, and for Barr and Anastasio to respond.

After the hearing Anastasio issued a statement saying Holley maintained his innocence and that Dansereau had filed a "baseless complaint." The attorney said Holley would join the prosecutor in opposition to the "frivolous argument" that Dansereau can force a trial.

The strained relationship between Holley and Dansereau stems from a dispute over the borough's proposed $56 million library and recreation center, called the Mind and Body project. Holley has been pushing for the project to move forward, and Dansereau has pushed for more details about how much it will add to homeowners' tax bills.

Tom Haydon may be reached at thaydon@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @Tom_HaydonSL. Find NJ.com on Facebook.