SEASIDE HEIGHTS - Former Borough Administrator John Camera told Bamboo Bar and Karma nightclub operator John Saddy that he had been sent to "check out" the crowd at the Bamboo Bar because there "was a concern there was ethnic issues and problem issues" at the club.

Saddy's lawyer, Thomas J. Mallon, said the tape of a telephone call between Saddy and Camera was made by Saddy on Oct. 28. Now, the tape figures in a legal tussle between the borough and the proprietor over alleged harassment by officials looking to disrupt the businesses.

In November, Saddy sued Seaside Heights and various borough officials, claiming police and the borough unfairly targeted his business because he would not accede to their demands to stop hosting events that could attract African-American and gay patrons.

Camera, who was Seaside Heights' administrator for 25 years, said Friday that he didn't know Saddy was taping the phone call.

Taped phone call

During the phone call, Saddy and Camera discussed his upcoming litigation with the borough. You can listen to the phone call in the video above this story.

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"I would never make you testify to this, but do you remember when you had to come walking through the Bamboo because they complained about my crowd and you had to defend me all the time?" Saddy asked Camera.

"Oh, definitely," Camera responded. "I went there specifically because the word was you were having all kinds of people they didn’t want in town. Catering to, you know, different ethnic groups that were a problem and yeah, I remember that."

Later in the seven-minute call, Saddy questions whether Camera would feel comfortable testifying about going to the Bamboo to view the composition of the crowd.

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"Yeah, but John, you’re not going to feel comfortable ratting your friends out that they sent you down there because I had too many blacks, buddy," Saddy said.

"You know what, that I don’t see where there’d be a problem, but, like I said, let’s sit down and talk and see, what he thinks I could be helpful, but the truth is," Camera said, referring to Saddy's lawyer, Mallon. "If I said that back then that there was a, if I just said to you now that there was a concern there was ethnic issues and problem issues and I was sent down to ask to go check out what kind of crowd there was there, I think I can say that."

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Saddy's lawyer, Mallon, said the tape supports Saddy's contention that his venues were targeted because he had too many black and gay patrons.

"I think the tape shows that there's been an ongoing attempt by officials in Seaside Heights to limit the number of African-American patrons of John Saddy's clubs, and probably other clubs as well," Mallon said.

"The former longstanding administrator of the town readily admits that this is what was going on," he added. "It's sad, it's horrible, this day and age to think that type of attitude is acceptable and carried out methodically by officials in a town like this."

Camera said Friday that he did go into Saddy's bars, as well as other ones, to investigate complaints from council members and residents about bar clientele, but "I was never counting black people."

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"I did go to his bars and other ones. We regularly got complaints about the patrons of the bars and people thought that there were gangs, people wearing colors, and rowdy, bad people," he said. "I lived right in town, I would go in occasionally and check out the crowd, never once did I count numbers of people, or numbers of black people."

Camera said he and the borough's governing body were "pretty much pro bars" when he was serving as administrator, working with bar and club owners on later closing times and other regulations.

"I did go in to check things out, so I could say, 'I am directly familiar,' I did check it out so I could go back and report on it," Camera said.

Camera retired as Seaside administrator in December 2014. He became Berkeley's administrator in December 2015.

'Seaside Heights does not discriminate'

Borough Attorney Jean Cipriani responded to the release of the tape with a prepared statement in which she said, "it appears someone is attempting to circumvent the process and gain some sort of advantage by releasing a particular discovery item to the press simultaneously with that item being provided to defense counsel.

"The litigation in this matter is young, and as the course of discovery fully runs, there will be much more information exchanged," Cipriani said. "The borough’s position remains unchanged: The Borough of Seaside Heights does not discriminate on the basis of race or sexual preference or identity. Period."

Cipriani has previously said that Saddy sued the borough because he is seeking money. The borough plans to challenge Saddy's standing to file the lawsuit, noting that he does not own the liquor licenses of either Bamboo Bar or Karma nightclubs. The licenses are owned by Saddy Family LLC, of which his sister, Linda, is a principal.

Last week, Saddy Family LLC filed for bankruptcy, saying in court documents that it has debts of $1 to $10 million and less than $50,000 in assets.

"It's a restructuring under Chapter 11," said John Saddy, "while the lawsuit goes on." He insisted that the two clubs will be open this summer.

Named as defendants in the lawsuit are the Borough of Seaside Heights, Mayor Anthony Vaz and Borough Council members Richard Tompkins, Michael Carbone, Louis DiGiulio, Agnes Polhemus, Harry Smith and Victoria Graichen, Administrator Christopher Vaz (the mayor's son), and Police Chief Thomas Boyd, police Sgt. Luigi Violante and unnamed borough employees and police officers.

Jean Mikle: 732-643-4050, @jeanmikle, jmikle@gannettnj.com