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Belleville Watch

1 day ago

Belleville Watch
๐’๐ฉ๐ž๐œ๐ข๐š๐ฅ ๐“๐จ๐ฐ๐ง ๐‚๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐œ๐ข๐ฅ ๐Œ๐ž๐ž๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐‡๐ž๐ฅ๐ ๐“๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐๐š๐ฌ๐ญ ๐“๐ฎ๐ž๐ฌ๐๐š๐ฒ ๐“๐จ ๐€๐ฆ๐ž๐ง๐ ๐Œ๐ฎ๐ง๐ข๐œ๐ข๐ฉ๐š๐ฅ ๐๐ฎ๐๐ ๐ž๐ญThe Town Council met this past Tuesday at noon to pass an amendment to the 2023 municipal budget. The amendment was necessary due to the Township receiving additional grants and aid, according to Belleville CFO Frank DiMaria.Mayor Michael Melham said that the Town Council will hopefully be able to vote on the budget -- inclusive of the amendments -- at the next Town Council meeting.Credit to Michael Sheldon for the video. ... See MoreSee Less

Town Council Meeting 9-19-2023

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The "special" Town Council meeting taking place in Belleville, NJ on Tuesday, September 19, 2023 at 12 noon.The purpose of this meeting was to amend the 2023...

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Belleville Watch

2 days ago

Belleville Watch
๐๐จ๐š๐ซ๐ ๐Œ๐จ๐ฏ๐ž๐ฌ ๐๐š๐œ๐ค ๐ˆ๐ง๐ญ๐จ ๐Œ๐ž๐ฅ๐ก๐š๐ฆ'๐ฌ ๐”๐ง๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐€๐ฏ๐ž๐ง๐ฎ๐ž ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฉ๐ž๐ซ๐ญ๐ฒ, ๐๐š๐ฒ๐ฌ ๐๐ž๐š๐ซ๐ฅ๐ฒ $๐Ÿ๐Ÿ,๐Ÿ”๐ŸŽ๐ŸŽ ๐…๐จ๐ซ ๐‚๐จ๐ฆ๐›๐ข๐ง๐ž๐ ๐๐š๐œ๐ค ๐‘๐ž๐ง๐ญ & ๐’๐ž๐ฉ๐ญ๐ž๐ฆ๐›๐ž๐ซ ๐‘๐ž๐ง๐ญSchools Superintendent Dr. Richard Tomko confirmed at Monday night's Board of Education meeting that district personnel are once again occupying 335 Union Avenue, owned by Mayor Michael Melham. Additionally, the board voted to pay Melham just short of $12,600, presumably for back rent and for September's rent.In January 2021, the Board of Education approved a five-year lease of 335 Union Avenue. Melham stands to profit almost $200,000 by the end of the lease. Two board trustees whose campaign Melham managed -- Gabrielle Bennett-Meany, and then-trustee Ralph Tunis -- voted to approve the lease. The third Better Belleville candidate, Luis Muniz, abstained. Trustee Frank Velez, to whose campaign Melham's BetterBelleville campaign made a contribution, also voted yes. Then-trustee Nelson Barrera -- now running again for school board after losing in 2021 -- also voted for the lease. Board personnel moved into 335 Union Avenue during the summer of 2021.School district employees left 335 Union Avenue this past June because Melham, as property owner, hadn't secured a Certificate of Occupancy. Due to a pending lawsuit against Melham and the Township from Belleville's construction code/zoning officer Frank DeLorenzo, Melham had to have another town do the inspection and furnish the certificate, which was finally done by the Township of Lyndhurst's code official.It would be easy to lay all the blame on Melham, but it would be wrong. Yes, Melham has owned the property since 2005 and is a prolific real estate "flipper;" it stands to reason he should have known a certificate of occupancy was needed for his tenants. With that said, the board approved 4-3 (then-trustee Chris Lamparello and current trustee Erika Jacho were absent from that meeting and Muniz abstained) a rather one-sided lease contract that vested almost all authority to terminate the lease in the property owner (Melham.) So although the board left because continuing to occupy the property without proper approval would have been a violation of both local ordinances and state law, stopping the rent payments even temporarily would have been a violation of that lease agreement, and Melham would have had grounds to file suit against the Board of Education (the bad optics of a sitting mayor suing the school district in his town notwithstanding.)There's a lot more to this whole matter (and I'm working diligently to bring the whole sad story to you) but as things stand, school district personnel are apparently back in Melham's building, the parking lot is being used for additional parking for School 3 personnel and Melham is being paid rent again.Original Belleville Watch post:bellevillewatch.com/blog/939/mayor-melhams-boe-enabled-windfall/ ... See MoreSee Less

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The Belleville Watch is part of theย Essex Watch Project, an interconnected network of independent public advocacy groups and citizen coalitions sharing resources and common goals.

The Essex Watch is a volunteer watchdog organization and public advocacy platform. It partners with engaged citizens and civic groups in various municipalities, and offers guidance on how to identify, report, and raise awareness of misconduct in local government.

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