BY WALTER ELLIOTT
IRVINGTON – There are those in and around here who are wondering if there will be a third annual Irvington Opioid Awareness concert in light of the State Comptroller’s July 8 report on the first two – and, if so, will morph into a different event.
State Comptroller Kevin D. Walsh, in a 48-page “Strategic Initiatives Union Report: An Investigation of Irvington’s Mismanagement of Opioid Settlement Funds” released that that Tuesday, that the $632,000 used for the June 10, 2023 and June 8, 2024 concerts held here were more entertainment than awareness.
“These funds are supposed to be lifelines for communities overwhelmed by the opioid epidemic – not a slush fund to hold concerts and throw parties,” said Walsh’s report. “Irvington wasted hundreds of thousands of dollars that should have been used to save lives and help people recover from addiction.”
Mayor Anthony “Tony” Vauss and Township Attorney Ramon Rivera issued a 36-page response and an 11-paragraph summary to the comptroller’s report July 9. including documentation that they said contradicted the state report. Vauss and Rivera said that they have followed the law, displayed transparency and have filed a defamation suit against the OSC.
“With all due respect to the OSC, they know nothing about my community and the people within it,” said Vauss that Wednesday. “This initiative is about saving lives and bringing people together to eliminate the stigma associated with addiction. We maintain that we did nothing wrong and, while the OSC may feel differently, they have no right to misrepresent our finances in this investigation.”
The Township had received $1 million from a $50 billion federal settlement fund for opioid education and treatment. The fund came from a court agreement made with 14 parties involved with the making, distribution and marketing of the drug. Those parties include Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family, Cardinal Health, CVS, Walgreens, Walmart and Kroger.
Irvington had spent $353,446.33 and $279,055.83 on both events held at D. Bilal Beasley Civic Square. Checks were issued to 12 entities for promotional material ($17,969), arranging performing artists ($368,500), food vending equipment and supplies ($11,192 – including 2,373 for “a catered buffet” in 2024), eight generators in 2023 ($11,192) and luxury bus rentals for the artists ($12,648).
The line item for 50 Narcan kits – distributed by Family Connection’s Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention Team Coalition “via Essex County” at the spreadsheet’s bottom was left blank. Those overdose recovery kits were donated. The 2024 concert had an Irvington Health Department table, which drew 57 signatures for “Opioid.”
OSC, who said they had staff present at the concerts, said they found little, if any mention about opioids and how to prevent or recover from its use.
The township presented photos of people wearing “Opioid Awareness Day” t-shirts featuring “Everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about” on the back and “mayor Tony Vauss” on both sides.
Content on the printed materials and billboards feature the awareness day, the featured artists and the mayor but little on education or recovery. The 2023 concert’s stage was backed by “A Yacht Party Cruise Around Manhattan,” organized by Antoine “DJ Qua” Richardson; no opioid mention.
Richardson, as DJ and MC, said he told the audience to “say no to drugs,” “stay clean,” “stay in school, stay away from drugs.” Vauss said that he, the Township Council artists spoke about the opioid crisis from a written script “on the risk of prescriptions, drug addiction and overdose.”
The comptroller’s report noted that the inaugural concert was organized with a single meeting of township department heads but without input from health and/or drug addiction experts. The OSC issued an advisory letter about this topic prior to the 2024 concert that it should be postponed until the township made some changes from 2023.
The state agency meanwhile found a probable “double-dipping” situation with Richardson, who received a DJ contract as “Taj Lounge 973” in 2023 and Taj Entertainment in 2024. Richardson’s day job is listed on the New Jersey State Civil Service Commission as a keyboard typist in the Municipal Building.
The report issued 28 recommendations, including greater N.J. Department of Human Services supervision, to improve settlement fund allocation.
Vauss and Rivera, in their July 8 response, furnished five documents they said refute OSC’s claims, including:
- May 29, 2024 correspondence “containing legal research and rationale for use of Extraordinary Unspecifiable Service Contracts” for the opioid awareness events.
- Supporting correspondence from Rutgers Health New Jersey Medical School’s Addiction Treatment Center of Excellence.
- Promotional photo of events evidencing that Narcan was available at the events.
