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Montclair Mayor Sean Spiller invoked his Fifth Amendment privilege during his deposition as a witness in the Montclair CFO whistleblower lawsuit, because of a purported criminal investigation by the Attorney General’s Office. Now the Township is seeking to make the transcript of his deposition confidential.
Spiller, who is represented by personal counsel, was advised to assert his Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination by attorney Frank Arleo, of Arleo & Donohue, LLC. Arleo.
The purported criminal investigation refers to allegations that the township paid council members’ health insurance or opt-out waiver payments when they did not appear to work the documented 35 hours a week to be eligible for the New Jersey State Health Benefits Program (SHBP).
in a Jan. 24 letter, Arleo writes to Judge Stephen Petrillo: “At the deposition, counsel for the Township of Montclair stated that she was deeming the deposition transcript confidential in accordance with this Court’s prior directives. Plaintiff’s counsel stated her objection. Rather than file a formal motion, we would like to address the confidentiality issue at the next conference, which is scheduled for Friday, February 2, 2004.”
“We will continue to oppose the efforts of the lawyers for the Township Council (and the Town) to keep the facts of this case secret from the residents of Montclair,” said Nancy Erika Smith, attorney for Montclair CFO Padmaja Rao, on Friday. She questioned what would be the basis for confidentiality.
“Montclair taxpayers deserve to know what is going on in their own town. The efforts to hide the facts have failed so far. We hope they continue to fail,” said Smith. “In 42 years, I have never had a defendant designate an entire transcript confidential before one question asked.”
The deposition, previously scheduled for Nov. 27, took place on January 4, in person, after several cancellations.
Montclair’s attorneys have previously sought unsuccessfully to keep documents secret from the public in the lawsuit brought by the CFO.
In June 2023, Judge Stephen Petrillo said: “I can’t imagine anyone, anywhere… other than maybe the CIA, Defense Department, the NSA, that has this need for secrecy. It should make any person shudder when a municipal government in a matter such as this says there’s this need for secrecy.”
Petrillo rebuked attempts by the township’s lawyers to close proceedings to the public and raised the issue of potential criminal liability.
Rao, in her lawsuit, charges she was retaliated against after she questioned the eligibility of the mayor and council members for the state health insurance program. It is only one of the allegations in the whistleblower suit, which includes allegations of time records fraud in the Montclair Fire Dept. and a no-bid contract awarded to the O’Toole Scrivo law firm. The original complaint was also amended to include Spiller’s alleged role in whistleblower retaliation.
When A $10,000 Salary Comes with Full-Time Benefits
Montclair’s mayor and council members receive $10,000 a year for their services. The town has also, for years, provided health benefits to the mayor and council members.
In 2017, Montclair changed its health insurance provider from a private insurer to the New Jersey State Health Benefits Program. Only full-time employees, working at least 35 hours a week, can be enrolled in the New Jersey State Health Benefits Program, per a change in law in 2010.
The whistleblower suit states that at the time the 2022 suit was filed, four of the seven council members were participating in the plan and that two members had received annual $5,000 waiver payments to opt out.
Two months after Rao first brought the lawsuit, Montclair Local reported that Attorney General Matthew Platkin’s office issued a subpoena to Montclair Township, requesting “any and all paystubs, paychecks and other documents concerning salaries, wages, stipends, bonuses, incentives or other payments” made to the council members, dating back to 2011.
On Friday, more than a year since the subpoena for documents, a spokesperson for the attorney general’s office repeated what it had previously stated in December 2022, that the office does not confirm or deny the existence of investigations.
In August 2023, Platkin’s office announced that a state grand jury had again indicted Wildwood’s mayor, a former mayor, and a city commissioner in connection with their allegedly fraudulent participation in the New Jersey State Health Benefits Program. The three officials were first indicted on the charges back in March; all three have plead not guilty.
Platkin has said of the Wildwood case that his office intends “to prosecute to the fullest extent of the law.”
Since 2017, Montclair has paid nearly half a million dollars, in benefits to former and current elected officials for coverage or in lieu of it if they were covered elsewhere, according to the NJ.com report. For councilors who took family plans, the coverage could be as much as $35,000 annually.
The monies to pay for the council’s opt-out waiver payments and the premiums comes out of the Township’s general fund (i.e. monies from property taxes, fees, etc.).
Spiller, whose full time job is president of the New Jersey Education Association, received an annual $5,000 waiver in lieu of taking medical benefits. Spiller also opted to take dental insurance through the township which does not require any employee contribution.
According to records obtained by NJ.com, Spiller received nearly $28,000 in waiver payments for not taking health coverage; the town paid $21,800 in premiums over four years for his dental coverage. In July 22, 2021, Spiller signed a self-certification that during 2020, as mayor of Montclair, he devoted an average minimum of 35 hours per week, exclusive of vacation days and holidays, “working at my official position.” Spiller certified the same for the period of January through July 2021.
Spiller’s salary as head of the state’s teachers union was more than $291,000 in 2021, according to tax filings obtained by NJ.com.
Any investigation into Montclair’s alleged fraudulent participation in the SHBP by the attorney general’s office is close to home: Platkin, who was appointed by Gov. Phil Murphy to serve as the state’s 62nd Attorney General in February 2022, is also a resident of Montclair.
Murphy also has connections to Spiller, who he has described as a “dear friend.” Murphy came to the Montclair mayor’s swearing in ceremony in July 2020.
In oral arguments before Petrillo in May 2023, Smith said the people of Montclair have probably for years unknowingly paid their town council full private insurance benefits even though they were only making $10,000 a year.
“A whole lot of people deserve to pay back the people of Montclair a whole lot of money for a lot of years, way before 2017. But after 2017, when they moved into the state system, what they were doing became illegal,” said Smith.
“We get a whopping $10,000 a year salary to do this job. Think about that every time you comment or send me a text or email,” said former Councilor at Large Peter at a town hall in October 2022 that took place just days before the Rao lawsuit became public. Yacobellis did not mention the health benefits or waiver payments that he, Spiller and four other councilors had also been receiving.
Councilor at Large Bob Russo, the only council member to not take health benefits – or the waiver in lieu of them – blames former town manager Tim Stafford for the “mess.”
“A waiver payment for not taking town health care benefits was never offered to me and I never knew about it. I would not have taken it anyway. I am already covered and have always believed serving on the council was a part-time, largely volunteer position,” said Russo. “The Town Manager should have discussed this coverage issue with all of us. The CFO and town attorney apparently tried to clarify and prevent this.”
Per the Rao complaint, on August 16, 2022, Gina DeVito, Montclair’s assistant township attorney, sent a memo to all council members stating they were not eligible to take township-paid health benefits. DeVito’s memo referenced a June 2022 press release from Platkin’s office first announcing charges against Wildwood officials for enrolling in the SHBP when they were not “full time employees” as defined by state law.
“It’s unfortunate the Township is in this position. If you don’t have anything to hide, there is no reason to plead the Fifth,” said Councilor David Cummings, who added that unlike Spiller, if deposed he would not plead the Fifth.
The township stopped the practice of offering health insurance and waiver payments to the council in late 2022. In April 2023, Montclair Township Council approved an ordinance that would guarantee a range of municipal employees – including the council – a paid defense for any “pending, threatened or completed civil, criminal, administrative or arbitrative action, suit of proceeding.”
I always look forward to this time of year when Mayor Spiller traditionally gives his State of the Township address.
I get his pleading the 5th.
The request that the rest of the transcript be kept confidential? I am having hard time reconciling that with his sworn pledge to us.
Maybe during the State of the Township he will tell us we will just have to take his word on how some things are going.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVSrSWR3spc&list=PLywBB8wF4JNkxN3Vkz2p9MvPov6FyBgo1&index=81
Does anyone notice the startling visual composite of Michael Corleone and Sal Tessio (from the Godfather) in the picture of Spiller above? It’s uncanny. That same angry stare of Al Pacino and the mealy “”Tom, can you get me off the hook? For old time’s sake?” of Abe Vigoda? If that’s what Spiller aspires to, maybe he should take his schtick to Brooklyn. I’m sure the good people of the Borough would deliver him his due.
Pleading the fifth in genteel Montclair was once unthinkable. Folks, do you ever ask yourselves, What’s become of our town?
“Sorry Sally, can’t do it.”
And then Sally went away.
Sean, just go away!
@TooBigToFail,
OMG! Great call by you!
Even more disturbing- our illustrious mayor didn’t need or use the township provided health insurance (except for dental), but had the gall to request and receive a payment in lieu of the insurance. Gratitude to Rao for doing the right thing, and to her attorney Ms. Smith for calling to task the town for their demands of secrecy. Is Mr. Spiller’s personal attorney being paid by the taxpayers?
The comments here can be as snarky as the various anonymous commenters and Mr. Rubacky choose but there is a real issue at play here and it arises in the context of us learning about a lawsuit between the Montclair Board of Education and The Township. How many lawyers are the town’s taxpayers paying and at what hourly rates? What is the projected timeline for resolution and what is the estimate of the cost of the litigation? Does the Town’s indemnification policy include payment for Mr. Spiller’s lawyer in both the Rao case and the criminal proceeding? When they have that status conference refernced in the article how many lawyers will be there on the local taxpayer’s dime? Three, four, more? It is clear, at least to me, that eventually Ms. Rao’s claims wil be resolved with either a settlement or a judgment in her favor. Her lawyer, one of the State’s preeminent employer lawyers wil be paid by the taxpayers too and as long as the case goes on the fees for all the lawyers, expensive lawyers, will continue to grow. Other than the taxpayers who has an incentive to get these cases resolved sooner rather than later? Why aren’t offers of judgment being filed? When Mayor Jackson was the Mayor there always seemed to be an adult in the room and he did seem to let these situations fester ad nauseum. We do seem to need an adult now.
@pelberg,
You really need to lighten up. It is just money. If we weren’t reckless on this, we would just be reckless on something else. The we being the registered voters in Montclair. Who the “adults” over both the municipality and the school district. To blame the elected designees of these “adults’ is silly. We wanted accountability. We asked for accountability. We got accountability. Now blaming the stand-ins?
As some Montclair residents wonder how they will pay their rent as medical bills pile up. As some Montclair residents go without dental care for themselves and their children, these people are taking benefits that they aren’t entitled to? They should never be able to serve this town again. Where is the justice? Why was Wildwood treated differently?
Pretzel logic, Frank!
Spiller already had family provided health insurance through the teachers union (NJEA)!! He had the gall to take the stipend for “in lieu”?? This man is just a swindler and Montclair has been duped. He should be charged with fraud and double-dipping on taxpayers dime and ordered to pay back to the taxpayers all of his “in lieu” payments as well as much more. This is probably only the tip of the iceberg with the likes of him!
sickntired – Thank you for providing details around this issue.
Now, will it impact his re-election chances?
Kudo’s to Russo for not taking the 5k waiver in lieu of them.
Attorney Nancy Erika Smith comment is alarming, ” “In 42 years, I have never had a defendant designate an entire transcript confidential before one question asked.”
Comprehensive article here. Paragraphs 7, 8 most insightful, 12 resonates most.
https://www.city-journal.org/article/montclairs-morass-of-greed-and-dysfunction
Silverleaf, thank you a thousand times over for that link, and I encourage every Baristanet reader to click through:
https://www.city-journal.org/article/montclairs-morass-of-greed-and-dysfunction
Written by Lee Siegel, a local (whom I don’t know — and no, I am not Lee Siegel) for City Journal, the magazine of the Manhattan Institute, the country’s top urban affairs think tank, it gets right to the point of our town, circa 2023.
It’s a slap in the face of the redevelopers and realtors, the deceit and corruption of our failing institutions, the faithlessness of our elected officials and town bureaucrats, but a necessary slap at ourselves, as well.
Please read. While we are all eyewitnesses to the greed, dysfunction and stupendous assininity of our “leaders” a refresher course in political malignity is a must. And since the article was written back in June, the author might wish to update us with his critical eye, seeing as we have witnessed a first in this sophisticated, educated, “city in the suburbs” promotional machine we call Montclair: our mayor pleading the Fifth.
The Montclair of 2023 suffers from a pompous self-regard wholly out of proportion to reality. We are a parody of urban progressivism; a bickering community that declares itself a ‘welcoming place’; a once simple, well-governed town that has allowed corruption, mendacity and self-dealing to define us. Having a Steven Colbert headlining a film festival doesn’t make up for a failing school system, a disregard for the working poor being driven out by property values, a coarseness in our political vocabulary. It’s a bloody film festival. So what?
City Journal, from its vantage in the capital of the world of media, is doing us all a favor by reminding us of what we as a community really are: not as good as we used to be, not nearly as good as what we could be, and likely not going to get better with the types of people we attract, who come for the promise of property values with no intention of permanence; and those we elect, who parrot progressive bromides while feeding off the public teat. And we gobble it all up. We are becoming a public joke, a spectacle, a punch-line about the bridge-and-tunnel crowd.
Of course, if you’ve read this far, you know the answer. There’s no turning back short of a revolution. But if we get caught organizing (domestic terrorism and all that) will we be allowed to take the Fifth?
Thank you silveleaf for the article. It was hysterical.
The type of people that could straighten this town out have either already packed up and left or know better than to run for office and get vilified. Montclair has chosen flash and trendy yard signs over a proper education and investing in infrastructure. Nothing will change until the value of houses decline. It is the theory of the “greater fool.” As long as someone will take you out at a profit why rock the boat? Positive PR only!!!
Frank, your sense of humor escapes me.
TooBigToFail – You’re welcome. I was born and raised here. The truth hurts.
I am not surprised. I was referring to both definitions of hysterical.
From the Greek, you mean?
You knew Jimmy The Greek? Man, what a character. No, not from him.
@flipside,
I miss the days when we appointed people to office…and vilified them. Which brings me to Roger Terry, our (using that term loosely) appointed Councilor… [What is it? It’s coming to me. Uh. Yes! ] At-Large!
Cleary he is waiting until May to represent the 1st Ward…for a day. Yes, we can have a Roger Terry Day! However, the 2nd Ward – specifically those poor, poor children that trick-or-treat on Montclair Ave – are going to take it on the chin. Sadly, that brownfield called Aubrey Lewis Sports Complex is getting sliced, diced & plowed under and wouldn’t you know it? They not only found more extensive contamination, but new contaminants they didn’t know were there! Absolutely priceless. There go our reading & math scores!
And I believe Dr Ponds when he will say he had absolutely no idea. Yes, the environmentally conscious and protector of children Superintendent. BTW, I am upstream and upwind, so it is not my problem.
But, I have to wonder why the Health Department is on the sidelines for this one. I thought we staffed them up?
Frank, no I wouldn’t think so. I meant “hysterical” Re: the Greek etymology root meaning. But if not, from where then? You tell me.
I had to Google etymology. I tried to follow the root thingy and ended up in Cambridge. Then, God knows how, I ended on a Lenape dictionary page. Forgive me, I went through the Montclair public schools. It is from First Mountain Vernacular. That is what we speak up here. I would have to find an aging-in-place old-timer to get the oral history.
You are making this too difficult for me, Frank. I simply wanted clarification to your comment, “I was referring to both definitions of hysterical.” Both definitions?
Sorry. 1. a spontaneous emotional overload, 2. a badly distorted interpretation or application
If that is how you interpret the article, you miss the entre point of what Montclair has become and evolved into. Surprising considering you are a long-time residents with what should be a more accurate historical (not hysterical) perspective.
As an FYI, Frank . . .
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/article-abstract/488986#:~:text=The%20name%20hysteria%20is%20derived,or%20displacement%20of%20the%20uterus.
silverleaf,
The author’s opening paragraph indicated the topic was an indictment on school funding. It turned into a list of grievances with provocative sociographic tangents. By the end, I cobbled together his/her/they unifying proposition was actually the twenty-year, multi-faceted decline of the town.
Let’s not overlook his original baseline reference was the 2 years of experience here as a college student at the most Northern end of the First Ward. And even that was wholly limited to his “white picket fence” idealization of the town’s physical character. You are a highly educated student of language, usage, etc. Your monogamous relationship with the OED aside, how what is your critique the quality of the author’s thesis?
We both have the advantage of experiencing Montclair over the period covered in the piece. On any one of his grievances I can gladly debate you whether we have advanced or regressed as a town. Pick any one: muni or school financing & mismanagement, quality of our schools, the concentration of power and wealth, illegalities and litigation, etc. I am certain we will find common ground on at least some. And I am fine if we don’t cover the misrepresentations and errors of fact in this piece.
I found the piece to be a hysterical, poorly written one.
OMG, you are too funny.
“Pick any one: muni or school financing & mismanagement, quality of our schools, the concentration of power and wealth, illegalities and litigation, etc.”
Sure! Let’ start with, uh, muni mismanagement, then move on to litigation.
I’m “too funny”?
Scroll up, it was you made the reference to Jimmy The Greek! Perhaps you were serious!
On muni mgmt (not muni finance) and litigation: both have regressed.
Next?
Ps: I actually was serious. You said “the Greek”. You know how I got with the Ukraine.
Muni mgmt, litigation . . . check,
Concentration of power and wealth?
I said “the” Greek, as in “from the Latin”, or “from the French”, etc. I thought it was implicit. Had I meant Jimmy, I would have said, “The” Greek. See the difference?
So very Jersey!! Everyone pleads the 5th!
https://www.nj.com/essex/2024/02/amid-scrutiny-nj-county-will-no-longer-cover-benefits-for-elected-board.html
Yes Frank. So very “jersey”. Ohh yes, that “double dip”!
Power in numbers, oh yeah. Thanks for providing the link.
I suspect there will now be more journalism exposing these corrupt practices.
Long history of it. So who can blame them right? “If everyone is doing it why not me?” mentality. Except for the few that have a little more personal integrity or “social conscience” ? So Spiller will likely “get off” without consequence to himself because he knows the “team” is behind him. Yes, Frank, So “Jersey”.
Agree, sickntired . . . my sentiments exactly. It goes to the heart of the matter of reflected in title of the ‘City Journal” article, “Montclair’s Morass of Greed and Dysfunction”.
Frank, you dodged “concentration of power and wealth”.
I believe you were selecting the topic order. OK, I address the list and we can be done with it because I think we are boring ourselves and everyone else.
Concentration of wealth – advanced (higher)
Concentration of power – regressed (lower)
School financing – advanced
School mismanagement, school quality – both no change
Done.
You may be done, but hopefully come May 14th, voters aren’t!
Yes silverleaf (about the city Journey article you linked to….. How Montclair has devolved over the last 20 years.)
A lot could be said on the root cause but I actually see it now as generational; changing times and cultural norms…
I can’t speak yet for the other 11 census tracts in Montclair, but the disproportionate & stunning population growth of males in CS 161 over the last 10 years should be considered. Sometimes the causes are just that simple. And CS 161 is the home of the that very Northern First Ward…and of that the writer you admire.
More distracting esoterica.
Distracting? Not my intent. I am trying to open minds to how Montclair has changed with this period that has been our focus. To not rely on possibly dated perceptions and supported by anecdotal experiences passed down over the years.
Census Tract 161 (sorry for the abbreviation error CS) is the Western side of the 1st Ward. Over the years census data shows it has evolved (organically I will add) into a more robust example of our Live/Work/Play growth model than the government designed Transit Village around the Bay Street RR station. Are these Live/Work/Play applications good neighborhood building as urban planners say? Do they have a dark side effect of increasing social segregation here because residents have less interaction, by definition, with other parts of town? Maybe we also need to look at the environmental sustainability precepts a little differently? What are the factors creating the stunning growth in seniors in CT 161 and our ability to age in place? Is it all just a function of wealth? Why has average household size jumped more so than most all other tracts? Why is CT 161’s rate of racial diversity greater than other parts of town. Is it just because we historically had so little and we could only get better?
I know we all know better. We live here; we experience it. We don’t need more information to validate what we know. And I am sure many running for Council will design their planks and offer priorities largely based on what they already know.
Being distracted is not always a bad thing. It helps us to not focus on the world around us.
Esoterica?
I don’t want to be painted as a strict constitutionalist, but there is a required ‘count’ thingy in our Constitution related to having a representative democracy. And you just noted above another thingy about how we decide our representatives. Is that esoteric?
“To not rely on possibly dated perceptions and supported by anecdotal experiences passed down over the years.”
No Frank, not dated and anecdotal – the reality. The changes . . . demographic, attitudinal, behavioral are stark. Open your eyes, walk around town, talk to people!
We have entered an uncharted territory, folks. Today’s lead Star Ledger opinion piece on Sean Spiller is devastating. Spiller has brought nothing but dysfunction, corruption, and shame to Montclair.
I am calling for his immediate resignation!
We can not take another five days, let alone five months of this. I am not sophisticated enough to start an online petition, but I will sign and promote one. Spiller, do the smart thing: resign now! It’s over.
Here’s the link to the Star Ledger article. I know it’s behind paywall for some, but worth trying. Interesting material…
https://www.nj.com/opinion/2024/02/gov-sean-spiller-not-until-he-explains-all-this-editorial.html
Scriberman is right – Sean Spiller should resign immediately. Montclair had some bad or mediocre mayors in the past, but Sean is in his own wholly unspecial class. Whereever he came from, he brought with him corruption and bad taste in pretty much everything. Sean, please RESIGN.
Article without paywall:
https://www.nj.com/opinion/2024/02/gov-sean-spiller-not-until-he-explains-all-this-editorial.html
@silverleaf,
Pressure from Montclair parents and the MEA can drive a school superintendent out of her job, but not Mayor Spiller? The same principled union members buying into a chance for a life-altering payday from having one of their stars run a State? Is it a case of regressing or the same old story of what serves narrow self-interests? I’m on the fence.
Spiller has disgraced himself to the point that his resignation is the only option. He is politically finished, all his money notwithstanding. This is no longer local news given the coverage in the Star Ledger and in Gothamist.
Aside from who we choose for our next Council, the single biggest question over the next 90 days is how this Council spends our surplus in this coming budget.
I’ll make my response as brief as I can, Frank. Hopeful it will put an end to our tedious back-and-forth, as you suggested multiple comments ago, ‘be done with it because I think we are boring ourselves and everyone else.”
Any civil service, municipal, federal etc worker should be driven out of office if has been judicially determined that the best, good-faith interests of the constituent, etc are not served or violated’ This, most especially, where corruption and or criminality in all of their inglorious permutations are concerned. NB: Mayor Spiller.
Thank you for your humanity.
Spiller is an utter disaster. I don’t understand how he can still sit on that podium, toot his horn, and pretend that everything is fine and dandy as the townsfolk are pulling out their hair and begging for honesty, transparency and accountability.
AAA bond rating was achieved in 2016! Why does he keep taking credit for it?? Mr. Spiller – just because you keep repeating something, doesn’t make it true. It makes you sound phony and pathetic.
And, I’m sorry, but I have to wonder – is this interim town attorney Burr a real lawyer? Why is Spiller holding on to someone who is utterly clueless about local government? Inexplicably, Burr was underemployed and had ZERO municipal experience when he got the gig. He keeps increasing his budget and burning through money like there’s no tomorrow. “I need more money because of all the lawsuits.” You have to be kidding me!
Attorney Burr, listen carefully: Primo, there would be no lawsuits if not for your INCOMPETENT legal advice! Second, all tort lawsuits are handled by the insurance (Joint Insurance Fund). You keep giving lucrative contracts to outside law firms to handle all other litigation. So what is it exactly that you are able to do by yourself?? This is insanity, we used to have ONE township attorney and very modest budget because great majority of legal work was done in house. Is anything at all handled in house these days? I want to know because now we have TWO town attorneys and their budget is bloated to the level of absurdity. It’s not for nothing that Judge Petrillo referred to those two as “potted plants”.
This is yet another reason why Spiller must go. Instead of hiring competent people who are able and willing to serve the residents of this town, he hires incompetent minions (both town lawyers) and political hacks (town manager) who do his bidding and not much more. This has to end. Montclair had enough of corruption, incompetence, and secrecy. I will be happy to sign a petition for Sean Spiller’s immediate resignation.
I agree with TooBigToFail above that Spiller looks like a mafioso. Gives me the willies.
I have a question. Did you guys notice that when residents ask uncomfortable questions, Spiller has 2 ways of “handling” it: (1) total silence; or (2) assurance that “all questions will be answered at the end of public comment”.
Well, they never are! Spiller should quit lying that they will. Or, better yet, he should just quit. As one of the residents gravely stated at the last meeting, he has no legitimacy at this point and no right to sit behind that podium after all the s**t he’s done. He should not just quit – he should be chased out of Montclair.
Hey Frank, my humanity has noting to do with it. It’s about my sense of justice in a town that is full of creeping corruption! You do know about justice, don’t you, Frank? On second thought, never mind. Spare us the bloviation!
I agree. I was making a joke about putting our “devolve” exchange out of its misery.
I’m sorry I was not clear.
‘Devolve’ is a verb and it doesn’t work grammatically in this sentence.
IMHO silverleaf’s contribution to this thread is more valuable than that of FR.
TBTF, where do you stand on folks wanting Spiller to resign in the wake of the latest outrageous revelations?
No worries Frank; all good.
I hate to say it, but I told you so. How dumb do people have to be to elect a mayor who clearly didn’t have enough time to run Montclair and serve full time as a union head simultaneously with a clear conflict of interest to boot between the two. Me thinks he is grossly overpaid by both employers. Good old Montclair. Our shining example of progressive politics. Greed strikes again.
The good news is 4 out of 5 Montclair residents didn’t vote for Mayor Spiller. And our May election turnout was 20% greater than the turnout the 2016 November General election with Hillary, Bernie & Donald.
Furthermore, the 2020 turnout increased to 35% from 25% twenty years earlier…when we elected Bob Russo to be our Mayor and, as you know, we elected him again 20 years later to continue to serve us At-Large. Both still only get 1 vote out of the 7.
To your point Stu about dumbness & greed, most have not connected the dots between the Montclair Public Library audit imbroglio (that involved the MPL family going after our CFO) and the concurrent events itemized in her complaint against the Mayor & Township.
Was it coincidence there were concurrent efforts to target the CFO, simply the messenger in both cases, by parties defending wrongful behavior? Behavior that did not serve the public that pays the freight for both?
It wasn’t enough for us to attempt to misplace the blame on the CFO. No, we went all in and demeaned her, too. I hope this comes back up, & prominently, in the election campaigns. Maybe Montclair voters can show the same transparency they are asking of their elected and appointed officials.
Yes, we do have a wee bit of a inconsistency problem.