by Frank F. Fleischman III (FF3,) Lead Editor With everything that has happened in Belleville in the past few years, you’d think the media would be falling over each other to report on them. But that has rarely happened. There… Continue Reading →
State Monitor Thomas Egan was assigned to Belleville School District in 2014 to oversee school board financial decisions following the disastrous $4 million deficit the school district incurred. In the beginning, Mr. Egan received public approval in Belleville for controlling spending and preventing bad school board decisions. In recent years, however, Mr. Egan has been physically absent from school board meetings, has seemingly approved controversial school board decisions and spending, and recently overruled a board vote on the School 1 property. Belleville taxpayers have good reason to wonder why.
BetterBelleville — consisting of Mayor Michael Melham and at-large councilpersons Naomy DePena and Thomas Graziano promised transparency in government and a break from Belleville’s political past. We believe they have failed in this endeavor and do not deserve re-election.
Belleville has seen bad politicians come and go but we believe that never has a Belleville mayor like Michael Melham so blatantly and arrogantly grabbed for power, control, and benefit. Throughout the past four years of Melham’s reign, his running mates on the Town Council have been largely silent. For these reasons, it is our opinion that Melham and BetterBelleville do not deserve re-election.
By FF3, Lead Editor Note: This is the second part in a multi-part series about the Planning Board and its activities since the election of Mayor Michael Melham’s BetterBelleville slate of candidates in 2018. You can read Part One here…. Continue Reading →
Since 2019, Mayor Michael Melham has claimed the right to appoint almost all members of the planning board, despite contrary evidence. The planning board’s vice-chairman challenged the mayor’s claims at a recent planning board meeting. by FF3, Lead Editor Note:… Continue Reading →
by FF3, Lead Editor To Whom It May Concern, I am going to assume you are either the owner of one or both of the properties around the Soho Hospital (the owners of both properties have the same address in… Continue Reading →
A recent New York Times article about Belleville painted an idealized picture of the town, especially from a real estate point of view. Here, Belleville Watch highlights some of the things that maybe realtors and politicians would rather not discuss.
By FF3, Lead Editor A nearly 200-year old painting, appraised at $125,000 and belonging to the Belleville Historical Society, was removed from the Belleville Public Library and now hangs on the wall in Michael Melham’s office at Town Hall. The… Continue Reading →
By FF3, Lead Editor Two public meetings were held last week. One — the Belleville Board of Education on Monday, January 25th — permitted residents to attend. Since bringing back in-person meetings in late September 2020, the BOE put in… Continue Reading →
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