Township Council - Regular Meeting

Go ahead.

Good evening, everybody. Welcome to the June 1st, 2026 Cedar Grove Town Council meeting. Madam Clerk, roll call, please.

Councilwoman Peterson? Absent. Councilwoman Skavage? Here. Councilman Zazali?

Here.

Deputy Mayor Masseri? Absent. Mayor Miga?

is on the phone telephonically excuse me mayor thank you very much adequate notice of this meeting was duly provided to the verona cedar grove times and the star ledger by email and published in an annual schedule of meetings on december 18th 2025 filed with the township clerk and posted on the public bulletin board in the municipal building lobby in accordance with the open public meetings act Please stand for the flag salute.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Item two on the agenda is is extraordinary business. We have the administration of oath of office to a newly hired police officer, Carlene Topoleski.

I'm going to turn it over to Chief Pomfrey to introduce Officer Topoleski.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Zichelli. Council members, thank you. We are here again tonight. for the swearing in of another new officer. It's been quite a turnover in the police department. I'd say definitely within the last year, it's quite a bit that we've been able to bring in. Going through our applicants, we were very, very happy to get to Officer Carlene Topolesky. She is a Cedar Grove native, born and raised here, a graduate of Cedar Grove High School, where she then attended Montclair State and got a business degree. What struck us, too, was when we went through the... Excuse me. Could you guys put that down, please? Thank you. like I said, looking through her application just to see, even for her age, what she's accomplished so far through college, through doing internships with the state police, coming in with the Cedar Grove Police Department at one point, coaching young children, being involved with St. Catharines, just really committed to the community. One of the things that I think really impressed me was when she handed the application in, I took note that she took the time to actually type everything on the application as opposed to I usually get them handwritten. Just a little indication of her professionalism and how happy we are to have her. at the police department. I also had the pleasure of having her as a recruit in the police academy. And she really stood out as one of the students who was engaged, asked the questions. I could see the pen working to write notes during my topics, realizing she really wants to be a part of this and be a police officer. And I think you could tell that by one of the drill instructors, who's now retired, coming here tonight to see her with this accomplishment of getting sworn in. So it means a lot. We're very happy to have her with the department. With that, if the clerk would like to administer the oath.

repeat after me I Carleen Topoleski I Carleen Topoleski do sincerely profess and swear do sincerely profess and swear that I do and will that I do and will bear true faith and allegiance to the government established in this state under the authority of the people.

I do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States of America Of the United States of America.

And the Constitution.

And the Constitution.

Of the state of New Jersey.

Of the state of New Jersey.

And that I will faithfully.

And I will faithfully.

And partially.

And partially.

And justly.

And justly.

Perform all the duties of.

Perform all the duties of.

Police officer of the Cedar Grove Police Department.

Police officer of the Cedar Grove Police Department.

According to the best of my abilities.

According to the best of my abilities.

And understanding.

And understanding.

So help me God.

So help me God.

Congratulations.

Thanks.

The next one is for you. That one as well.

THANK YOU.

THANK YOU.

CONGRATULATIONS. THANK YOU.

CONGRATULATIONS. CONGRATULATIONS.

ON A LIGHTER NOTE, I THINK SHE'S GOING TO IMPROVE ONE OF OUR FOURSOMES FOR GOLFING IN THE DEFENSE. OH, YEAH. I MEAN, I HAVE ONE OR TWO OFFICERS THAT ARE UPSET, BUT THAT'LL BE OKAY.

So, Officer Topolesky, on behalf of the Township Council, I just wanted to congratulate you on getting sworn in tonight. This marks the department's fifth hire this year, and it also signifies the Township Council's commitment to its residents and also to the first responders. You're joining a great organization with a fantastic chief. We all collectively wish the best for you, and we hope that you have a long, fruitful, successful career here in your hometown. Mayor Miga is here tonight. She's appearing by phone. She's ill, but she did want to personally extend her congratulations to you and to you and your family on this milestone achievement in your career and your life. Deputy Mayor Masseri is also ill he's not here this evening and he was unable to join us by phone but he also extends his congratulations to you and he's he's grateful for the commitment that you're making to the cedar grove police department as well as Councilman Peterson. She's feeling better than the first two. She's in Ireland, so she sends her wishes from Dublin. And she comes from a family of law enforcement, and she has fond memories of you growing up with her daughter Katie from kindergarten through high school. So we wish you well, and congratulations.

councilwoman scavenge if you'd like yeah sure thank you I don't know what else to add except thank you so much for serving our community we're all very proud of you and we hope you stay safe and thank you again yeah so Carlene thank you congratulations and good luck

So the next item on the agenda is the meeting open for public comment on any item on the agenda. Seeing none, I close that portion of the meeting. The next item on the agenda is the introduction of ordinances, which we do not have any this evening. And then we have the second reading, item 5A, second reading of the public hearing of ordinances to consider adoption of pending ordinance number 26-974, an ordinance fixing salary, grades, and ranges, wages and fees of the officers and employees of the township of Cedar Grove. I'm opening the meeting up to the public. Anyone wishing to be heard on the adoption of this ordinance, of pending ordinance number 26-974? Seeing none, I ask for a motion on this ordinance.

Councilman, I move for the adoption of pending ordinance to be read by title only. No, I'm sorry. Excuse me. I have the wrong note here. Does anyone have the...

Thank you.

Thank you.

Sorry about that.

Sorry. Okay, I move for the adoption of pending ordinance number 26-974 to be published on the township's official internet website and take effect as prescribed by law.

Is there a second?

Second.

Roll call, please.

Councilman Miscavige? Yes. Councilman, Mayor Miga? Yes. Councilman Zazali?

Yes. The next item on the agenda is reports of township officials. We will begin with Item 6A, the Township Manager. Mr. Sicara.

Good evening, Councilman. Just a few items for the public, mostly for some scheduling updates and some project updates. On Saturday, June 6th at 9 a.m., the Township is hosting its 34th Annual Clean Sweep Day. This will be at Town Hall, and each group will be assigned to a specific location to clean up. DPW will follow to pick up any debris. Also on June 6th at 11 a.m., the township with our police fire EMS is joining the Aliber Foundation for the dedication of their outdoor AED equipment. This equipment will be located at Panther Park. On Saturday, June 20th at 10 a.m., the township's hosting the grand reopening of the ADA accessible playground at Community Park. This was funded by the Jake's Law from the NJDEP in the amount of $750,000. And then on July 2nd, we're having our fireworks celebration. The gates will be opening at 7 p.m., and this is a special event because America's turning 250, so there's a lot of new features, a lot of cool giveaways, and a longer show for the public to enjoy. On some project updates, the upper playground at Community Park will be resurfaced this summer as part of our capital bond ordinance. PSE&G will also be performing a paving operation that's going to encompass the Glen, the Fairway, Brookside Terrace, Fairview Avenue, Church Street, Elm Drive, Robin Lane, Ridge Road, Yorkshire Drive, and The milling and paving operations are set to begin at the end of next week and will last through June 16th. This is being paid for by PSE&G as a credit-based negotiation with the township. We are also hosting a pre-con meeting tomorrow with AJM contractors for the paving of Rockledge Place and Reservoir Place. All this work is being done before the township commences its own paving operation through the Morris County Cooperative Pricing Initiative, which will include Vincent Road, Rose Terrace, Ira Place, Clara Place, Lewis Road, Cedarville Parkway, and Briar Hill Terrace. After the water main is finished on that street, that will be set in August. I also had a lot of meetings with PSE&G last week. They are replacing the gas main on Ridge Road beginning this summer. It's a 12-inch stainless steel gas main that's going to be replaced, as well as 47 services. PSE&G is also upgrading some electrical work at their substation on Little Falls Road. And while this is also taking place, Transco will be making some repairs to their gas main and some of the shoring along the Peckman River on Little Falls Road as well. That's set to begin September or October. All of this will be made available for notification via social media. Nixle and the utility contractors will also be providing notices to the homeowners. Briefly, just on some consent agenda items, if you look at 7G, that's just a transfer of who the professional service is with. Previously, the council awarded it to CME Associates. But we received information that CME, Nike Consulting, and Churchill Consulting combined operations under a new entity called Arthreon. This resolution is reflecting the council's consideration of consent to transfer the terms of that professional service to the new entity. There's no change in cost or scope of service. It's just the name of the vendor. 7H is the award of bid to AJM contractors. As I indicated before, this is for the paving of Rockledge Place and Reservoir Place through bid OTE2026-01. This is in the amount of $339,742.40. The Township opened sealed bids on May 7th. The Township attorney, QPA, and engineer found this to be the lowest responsible bidder and has recommended awarding the same to AJM. This is being funded by a $374,238 grant from the NJDOT. Agenda item 7I is a change order for the water main on Briar Hill Road. This is change order number two upon the recommendation of CP engineers for the installation of a fire hydrant on Briar Hill. Briar Hill is very rocky, and they discovered a lot more rock in this particular area where they're seeking to move the fire hydrant to that requires some extra jackhammering and excavation. The amount of this change order is $6,892.32, or 1.18% of total contract value, reflecting a revised total not to exceed $590,868.88. 7J is an NJDOT grant application for Cedar Street, as the council is aware. The prior year, we discovered a clay stormwater pipe on the lower portion of Cedar Street. This is authorizing the engineer to submit a grant application to the NJDOT that would pay for, in whole or in part, the replacement of the stormwater pipe as well as the repavement of that lower portion of Cedar. any curbs or catch basins that are deficient as well. 7K is an amendment to a shared services agreement, an existing agreement between the Township of Little Falls and the Township of Cedar Grove for the provision of fire inspection services. The administrative code requires a four-year term be set forth in the agreement. The prior agreement did not have that. Little Falls has now amended it, and this is the council considering that resolution to include the four years of service. And a 7L is awarded a professional service contract for the inspection of paving projects. Those are all the paving projects that I've outlined earlier in my report to ensure that there are specific and sufficient quantities, qualities, and specifications met when all of these roads are milled, reconstructed, and repaved. This is an amount not to exceed $41,050. That ends my report.

Thank you, Mr. Zichelli. The next item on the agenda is 6B. Madam Clerk, do you have a report to see?

Yes, good evening, Councilman Zali, Councilman Scavenge, and Mayor Mika. I hope you're feeling better. I just wanted to announce to the public that tomorrow is my happy day's primary election. All polling locations will be open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thank you, Madam Clerk.

Thank you. The next item on the agenda is Item 6C. Township Attorney, Mr. Logano.

Thank you, Deputy Mayor, Council. Just one comment with regard to the consent agenda. Item 7A, I received information from the Seller's Council this afternoon. that that transaction is on hold and ask that it be pulled from the agenda. So I ask that 7A be removed from the agenda.

Okay.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Lagana.

And that's all I have.

Mayor Amiga, do you have a report?

No, you do not. Thank you.

Mayor, can you repeat that, please?

I do not have a report either.

So the next item on the agenda is item 7, the consent agenda. Mr. Zichelli just explained a lot of these items as part of his report. If there's no objection, can I have a motion on Agenda Items 7B through 7L?

So moved. Second.

Roll call, please.

Councilman Skavage? Yes. Mayor Amiga?

Yes.

And Councilman Zazali.

Yes.

Thank you.

The next item on the agenda is approval of bills. Madam Clerk, do you have the bills?

Thank you very much. Be resolved by the Township of Cedar Grove, County of Essex, New Jersey, that the summary of bills, having been duly audited and found to be correct, are hereby ordered paid in the aggregated amount of $261,513.63.

Is there a motion?

So moved. Second.

Roll call, please.

Councilwoman Scavage? Yes. Mayor Meager?

Yes.

Mayor?

Mayor Meager? Yes. Councilman Zazali?

Yes.

Thank you.

The next item on the agenda is new business. We don't have anything. Item 10, public comment. So the meeting is open up to the public for comment on any item on or off the agenda concerning township business. Sir, anyone? Can you please step up to the microphone and state your name?

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, council.

Pardon me, excuse me. Could you please use the microphone? They can't hear you while they're recording. I can, Mrs. Ford.

Good evening. My name is Bill Brown.

I'm a combat veteran Navy SEAL. I was a Navy SEAL in 9-11. I went to war for our country. I served in Iraq. I am also the founder of the New York City SEAL Swim and it is an epic event and one of the things that it does is I believe in adventure therapy and it brings a lot of good people together men and women who put it on in life for our country, brings together veterans, SEALs, police officers, and firefighters. And it concludes we swim to the Statue of Liberty where we do 100 push-ups, 22 pull-ups to honor our nation's freedoms and civil liberties. Then we swim to Ellis Island. We do 100 push-ups, 22 pull-ups, honor all the men and women who came to our country for a better life, honor our nation's diversity. Then we swim all the way across to Hudson to the South Cove Marina in lower Manhattan. We get a bunch of American flags. We hold them real high, and then we'll run into the World Trade Center. And at ground zero, we do our last set of honor push-ups and pull-ups for all the men and women who lost their lives for this country and all the men and women who stepped up. And I've lost some friends. My buddy Brian Bill, he served with me in Iraq. He was killed. His father, Scott Bill, talked there. Michael Strains, he was killed. He's from Philly. His father, Charlie Strains, talked there. And we also honor all the firefighters and police officers, great Americans like James Nadal. He's a firefighter, he's a captain at FDNY. His father, Kevin Dedal, was killed during 9-11. He swims with us to honor his father. Same thing with Fred Ill. He's also a captain at FDNY, Fred Ill III. His father, Fred Ill, was also a captain. He was killed. And they spoke, you know, and they swam to honor all those beautiful Americans. That's not going to happen this year. And that's why I'm here. Now that's a SEAL thing. So now you know the real purpose of my lawsuit. Because that event helps a lot of beautiful people. And as a leader in the SEAL community, I have to do everything I can possibly to let everybody know what happened here. And so I sued the chairman of the Port Authority after I received a threatening text from a Port Authority official that I should not mention his firm or him or we wouldn't have access to the Port Authority or the World Trade Center. Well, seven years, no problems with the permit, but this year there was. And all my email correspondences with the permit, I never had that individual copied on any of those emails. But on the denial email, he was copied. So the message is loud and clear. So that's what's happening here. Now here's the truth. There's a corruption problem in the police department. That's the truth. You know it. It's the truth. All right? It's not a good thing, but it's the truth. I wish it wasn't the case, but it's the truth. All right, when you have a process server just doing his job and he gets basically unlawful stop. It was unlawful. They stated he was on his property. I saw the videotape. Thank God he has a body camera. I saw Lieutenant Jason Rivers' body camera footage. It shows that the justification list on the incident report is a lie. They said that he was refusing to leave their property. We all know that's a lie. He was just doing his job. They pulled him over down the street. Your own records show, your own records you provided me show that that incident report was backdated. It's backdated. What does that tell you? It was fabricated. That's the truth. That's what's happening here. Now, what am I seeking? What am I seeking? Why am I fighting? I want you to see who's on the other side here. Have no doubt I went to war for this country. Have no doubt I'm a leader in the SEAL community. Have no doubt the chairman, he did something that he angered the SEAL community when he interfered with that beautiful event that helps a lot of beautiful Americans. And that's why I'm suing you. All right? And you're paying a lot of money to protect somebody who did something wrong to a lot of beautiful people. Now you've got your own police department involved in something. Look, you can do a background on me. I'm on Fox News, Newsmax all the time. This is not going to go away. You just honored the entire SEAL community on sacred ground. We finished that event at the World Trade Center because that's where it all started for us. There's no way I'm backing down. There's no way I'm stopping. So when you go back and you do your assessment and your analysis, have no doubt. What happened here is wrong. Now, Lieutenant Jason Rivers, he's absolutely fabricated an incident report. He told my processor to lie. I have it on tape. I don't know why this township is spending money to protect corruption. What is the information I'm seeking? What am I seeking? On the video you provided to me. It doesn't have the buffer. It doesn't have the buffer. Why? I've had other police officers tell me it's likely because it was edited. That's a problem. Why aren't you giving me the phone records for the police chief or Lieutenant Rivers? Why aren't you giving me the GPS position so I can see where Lieutenant Rivers went? There's only one reason. It's because you're protecting corruption. This ain't going away. You know, when you think about things, here's the truth, right? You think about things. Like I've been to war. Sometimes you have to do the hard thing because it's the right thing. Look, the chairman's crossed the line here. Kevin O'Toole has crossed the line here and this is the truth. It's not an isolated incident. This is not an isolated incident. You know, our actions in life define us. I'm looking at Mr. Chairman O'Toole's picture right there. And he just had a young police officer sworn in. But everybody in this police department knows what happened was wrong. There's no doubt that Lieutenant Jason Rivers fabricated a police report. That's 100%. There's no doubt that he told my process server to lie on a legal document that goes to the court. You guys, look, I represent America's war fighters. I'm not here suing you because I want to. I'm suing because of all my brothers and sisters that want the war for this country. and that beautiful event that helps so many good people. Now I want to tell you how it helps so many people. I'm not going to lie to you. I have a hard time sleeping sometimes. I do. I've seen real horror. And a lot of my friends have too. And you know one of the cool things when we're swimming by the Statue of Liberty, we're swimming by Ellis Island, those are the iconic landmarks that represent what our nation's really about. And then when we get to the other side, a lot of the guys, SEALs come from all over the country for this event. And a lot of them have never been in New York City. And here's the other thing, they've been to war, and they've done things and seen things, that any good person would have a hard time dealing with. And you know what's so beautiful about this event is a lot of them have never seen somebody from, like, Makayla Cruz, who spoke last year. She's on the 95th floor, and the only reason why she's alive is because her friend grabbed her arm and pulled her in the elevator. So my brothers, like me, who won the war and put in work for this country against the hottest and they see the other side, this beautiful woman who survived that horror and she lost everybody on her ground floor. Or like Ron DeFrancisco, he spoke last year at the World Trade Center. Google all this up, hopefully you're recording this. He was the last person rescued out of the World Trade Center, he spoke. Now that's not happening this year. That's who I'm representing. I hope you make the right decision.

Are there any other members of the public?

Good evening. Kate Hartwick, Essex County representative. How is everybody this evening? It's June 1st, and that means we have a whole slate of June events coming up here in Essex County. This Saturday, June 6th, right here on West Bradford Avenue, we'll have a paper shredding day from 8.30 a.m. to 12 noon. It's free for all residents, and they don't have to remove paper clips or staples. That flyer information is up on the county's website. On Saturday, we also will celebrate the outdoors in our park systems at our reservations where we'll have free trail hiking happening with some outreach. You can register in advance for those tours, but we'll also have giveaways happening at those sites. This weekend is also our open house at the Essex County Riker Hill Art Park, which is located up in Livingston. That event happens from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and you'll be able to see studio artists at work when you tour. And then we have our fishing derby programs, which started last week. This week we will be nearby in Grover Cleveland Park on Thursday, June 4th. But the full event is listed on our website. And then, of course, as you mentioned, the 4th of July is coming up. And our summer concert series information is now available on the website. And I'll just bring everyone's attention to the three firework shows that are happening. The first of those is on June 24th in Weequake Park. on June 26th in Branchbrook Park featuring the New Jersey Symphony. And then our finale will be in Brookdale Park on Wednesday, July 1st with a larger than average fireworks show this year. All of the performers for all of the events are listed on the website and will be mailed out to residents shortly. That's it.

Thank you, Ms. Hartman. Is there anyone else in the public? Sure.

What an unusual setup here.

Yeah. Does that move?

Yeah. You would think you would face this. You can turn it. Oh. Okay. I'll talk to the people I came to. Okay. Thank you.

How's everybody doing?

Good. Good evening. My name is David Snow with the exposure report. Subscribe to me on YouTube. Can you make sure I'm in frame here? What brings me to the fine town of Cedar Grove this evening? Surely not controversy. Surely not questions about political influence. Surely not concerns involving powerful public officials, political networks, law firms, government agencies, or the occasional appearance of a former mayor whose name somehow continues to cast a remarkably long shadow over this town. No, that couldn't possibly be it. After all, this is Cedar Grove, a town where power is always questioned, a town where influence is always scrutinized, a town where public officials never hesitate to challenge authority, a town where relationships never affect what a beautiful story that is. It's the kind of story that would make Hollywood jealous. The kind of story where everyone is independent, objective, fearless, and accountable. And somehow, by pure coincidence, nobody ever seems to have any difficult questions when the names become important enough. Amazing how that works. You see, I travel around different places. I've stood in city halls, counties, state agencies, something every government says it believes in transparency every government says it welcomes accountability every government says it supports scrutiny right up until the scrutiny arrives then suddenly transparency becomes complicated accountability becomes nuanced and questions become inappropriate that's when you learn whether you're dealing with public servants or public actors because no because anybody can support transparency when it costs them nothing The real test comes when transparency becomes uncomfortable, when powerful names become involved, when influential people become involved, when relationships become involved, political networks. That's when character is tested, when courage is tested, and leadership. And that is exactly why I'm here tonight. because the people of New Jersey had seen this movie before. They saw it during the Bridgegate. They were told not to worry. They were told to trust the process. They were told everything was perfectly normal. And then the facts started crawling out of the shadows one by one. The lesson wasn't about traffic. The lesson was about power and arrogance, about what happens when government becomes more interested in protecting itself than examining itself, which brings us here to see the Grove. And now we arrive at the reason many people outside Cedar Grove are paying attention. Kevin O'Toole, former mayor of Cedar Grove, former state senator, chairman of the Port Authority. Long-time ally of former Governor Chris Christie, a man whose political influence has extended far beyond the borders of this town for decades. And with that influence has come controversy. Not findings, not convictions, controversy. Public allegations, lawsuits, thank you for your service by the way. Claims, questions, questions raised by people who once stood very close to him. His own sister, Captain publicly alleged that political influence was used against her career and her opportunity to become police chief. His brother-in-law alleged retaliation and improper conduct. Those allegations were denied as well. Mr. Brown has publicly alleged that a process server attempting to serve legal papers connected to litigation involving Kevin O'Toole became the subject of police involvement after communications involving the Port Authority and Cedar Grove Police.

Strange.

He further alleges that body camera footage and official reports raise questions that deserve scrutiny. your scrutiny, again, allegations, disputes, denials. But here's what fascinates me, not the allegations themselves, the silence. Because when former mayor of your town, one of the most politically connected figures ever associated with Cedar Grove, becomes the subject of repeated public allegations involving influence, retaliation, law enforcement interactions, government power and litigation, Why is nobody here talking about public confidence? I would address Mayor Mago, she's absent today.

Excuse me, she is not absent today.

You appeared in multiple school ethics commission complaints during your tenure on the Board of Education. Those complaints were ultimately dismissed, but my point isn't that you were found guilty of anything. My point is that you understand public scrutiny. You understand public concern. You understand the importance of confidence in public institutions. So why aren't you the loudest voice demanding transparency? Deputy Mayor? McCarty? Excuse me, it's Masseri. Masseri, thank you. I might put a lot of your names a little unusual. No problem. I apologize in advance for that. Public office is not a spectator sport. The public didn't elect an observer, they elected a representative. just one for example councilman scabbage yes scabbage is that how you say it okay and it's councilwoman councilwoman councilwoman scabbage that's what i have here yeah transparency is easy to support when it costs nothing the real test is whether you support transparency when it becomes uncomfortable Peterson. Leadership is not reading proclamations. Leadership is not unanimous votes. Leadership is standing up when silence becomes convenient. What leadership have you shown when public confidence is on the line? And Councilman Zazali?

Zazali.

Thank you. Your family name carries one of the most respected legal legacies in New Jersey. What does that legacy mean if scrutiny only applies to people without power? Because the rule of law means nothing if accountability And Mr. Lagana? Guess I got that one right. You are not a spectator. You're the township attorney. Your responsibility is not merely to protect the institution. Your responsibility is to preserve public confidence in the institution. What advice have you given regarding transparency? What advice have you given regarding transparency? Outside residents see something troubling. They see the same names, same networks, insiders, law firms, political circles, relationships, power structures, and wonder who is willing to challenge whom? Who is willing to question whom? Who is willing to scrutinize whom? Or is everyone simply connected to everyone else? That's the concern. Not guilt, influence. Not conspiracy, culture. Because political machines do not survive because everyone is corrupt. They survive because everyone is connected. Everyone knows everyone, and everyone benefits from stability. Everyone avoids rocking the boat. Everyone waits for someone else to ask the uncomfortable question, and eventually no one does. That's how accountability dies, not with a confession, with silence. And that's where Chris Christie's name becomes relevant. Not because this is Bridgegate, it isn't. Not because Kevin O'Toole was convicted in Bridgegate, he wasn't. Because the lesson of the Christie era was that It was the belief that institutions would protect themselves. The public remembers being told to trust the process. Then the emails surfaced. Then the explanations collapsed. Then the truth emerged. And that is why people are paying attention now. Not because they know all the answers. because they recognize the warning signs. And I want to know whether anyone in this room has the courage to ask questions before someone else forces those questions into the light. And now we get to the part I think many public officials still don't understand. You keep waiting for people like us to get tired. That's your mistake. You think that we're both like generations that came before us. We're not. You think if you ignore questions, avoid enough scrutiny, hold enough executive sessions, and wait long enough, the story disappears. It doesn't. Because the new generation of activists are a different breed. They don't need approval or invitations or access. They don't need a seat at your table. They bring their own. You build careers in a world where information could be controlled. You operate in a world where information is permanent. You count votes, we count facts. You manage narratives, we preserve records. You see another public comment, we see another exhibit. You see another council meeting, we see another page in the historical record. We're not chasing headlines, we're building archives. We're not documenting moments, we're documenting patterns. Because power is temporary. Titles are temporary. Political influence is temporary. every title is gone, long after every election is over, long after every alliance fades, the record every act of avoidance, every opportunity for transparency that was ignored. The record remains. So tonight, each one of you has a choice. You can embrace transparency, or you can continue to embrace silence. You can welcome scrutiny, or you can fear it. You can prove that Cedar Grove operates under the rule of law, or you can allow the public to decide for themselves what your silence means. Because understand this, we are not leaving, we are not slowing down. So we're not impressed by political pedigrees, and we don't care who knows who, we care about the truth. And unlike politicians, the truth never retires. Thank you for your time.

Are there any other members of the public wishing to be heard? Sorry, I thought you were checking the camera.

My apologies. Right. Hello, everybody. I am Leroy Truth of Leroy Truth Investigations. And I have been asked to come here by numerous people, including some members of your police department. And I want to make very clear is that I am making no statements of facts tonight. Every man and every woman is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. And I also want to underline that most of the men and women who are police officers here are exceptional public servants. However, when you have police officers who do the wrong thing, they have to be called out, they have to be investigated, and you have to stop hiding. Truth is the foundation of what I live from. Ideally, that's what each of you would live from as well. But what I find almost universally happens is in municipalities where I speak all over the country, when someone screws up and does something corrupt or criminal, whether it's a mayor, whether it's a chief of police, whether it's a police officer, whether it's an accountant, for some reason, The municipalities circle the wagons at all costs instead of just acknowledging this person screwed up or these people screwed up, there's something illegal, or we have an entire paradigm of corruption in our city or town and have to route it out and they have to be held accountable. Now, I'll get to the end first. I have been asked to investigate. And I am a relentless man. I will not stop until I get to the truth. I have no agenda, no personal connection with anyone here or any people I will be exposing. But the truth will be revealed. And your defense of anyone who has done criminal actions will not be able to withstand the weight of the relentlessness that I bring, I know Mr. Brown will bring, the Exposure Report, Guard State Accountability, and others. So stop defending, especially Attorney Lugana. Open up everything. It will save you so much time and so much money. I don't think any of you were part of this corruption that we're speaking about, so why defend it? Now, also, metaphors are important. And this is a metaphor, and more on this in a bit. This is Silk Hankerchief from the Mingming Dynasty, 15,000 BC, or something like that. So more on that in a minute. Now, why I'm here is because I heard a rumor that Michelle Mega is the mayor.

Excuse me. Miga.

Miga? Yes. Thank you for correcting me.

No problem.

I've heard Michelle Miga is the mayor. However, I've also heard that Cedar Grove is a very unique place that resembles more the Wizard of Oz than a representative republic. in that it's been alleged that Kevin O'Toole, the allegedly very corrupt head of the Port Authority and former mayor here, truly runs things. I have a whole series of allegations of people that head of Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, Kevin O'Toole, has alleged to have abused his power, profoundly breaking the public trust. Not just once, not twice, three, four, five times. Starting with Eileen O'Toole, his sister. Again, you all know the story well. How did he allegedly torpedo her ascension to the chief? Went from what I understand, and I've talked with many sources, that she had the job. But vindictiveness, soullessness, some describe him as, and he torpedoed his very own blood, his sister, allegedly. Number one. Number two. Eileen O'Toole's husband, I believe he's a lieutenant, allegedly he was retaliated against. Why? Because he's unrelated to his own flesh and blood. Number three. Mr. William Brown right here. Highly respected gentleman. A hero. He created something beautiful, amazing, that inspired so many people with the New York City seal swim. Yet somehow, Kevin O'Toole allegedly gets involved with that. Why? Because this gentleman was exercising his First Amendment and criticizing the head of the Port Authority, Kevin O'Toole. Kevin O'Toole didn't just decide allegedly to take him out but to injure an extraordinary event that had been taking place, what, since 2019? Without incident, with great inspiration for not just the Navy SEALs, but for people throughout the nation and the world. He's willing to destroy an entire event because someone dared to expose allegations against him. Number four, Mr. Brown sends a process server to simply do a simple job, to give court documents. Knock on Kevin O'Toole's door, which he did. Accidentally had the wrong papers. Has a body cam, fortunately, very smart. Joshua Lee, very professional, very highly respected process server. Leaves, comes back, and he has a legal authority to do because he is an agent of the court. Knocks on Kevin O'Toole's door. No one answers. He goes on his way. He's going to come back, of course. That's what process servers do. Then, major... alleged corruption begins. And I've seen the body cam. I saw Sarah Wallace of NBC TV, her report. I have talked with Sarah Wallace. I hear your Lieutenant Jason Rivers say, got him. It appears that Lieutenant Jason Rivers was not a police officer, but he was like one of those in the movies hunting someone. A process server simply doing his job. Got him! Who did he say got him to? I happened to come here to do an open request last week. As the gods would have it, who's at the front desk? Lieutenant Jason Rivers. Wow, this is awesome. And if Jason Rivers is innocent, he has nothing to hide because no one should ever be afraid of the truth or having it exposed if there's nothing to hide. So I saw Lieutenant Rivers, and I asked him for an Oprah for him. He gave me a post-it note, a little blue thing. I ended up keeping that for a souvenir. That was very disrespectful. I said, can you give me a real piece of paper? He said, oh, you can't do it now. You have to do it between 9 and 4 o'clock or something. I'm like, no, I'm here. I live in Connecticut. I drive hours to get here. I'm not even a New Jersey resident. But I am a truth resident. That's the core of what I'm about. And I'm willing to drive 2, 3, 4, 10 hours, whatever it is. So then he gives me the paper. And then I saw, it says Lieutenant Rivers on his name tag. I said, Lieutenant Rivers, wow, since we're talking here, When you targeted process server Jason Lee, innocent process server, who were you talking to? And then I asked him because he didn't answer. Were you talking to Kevin O'Toole? And I had never seen someone run like a jackrabbit. It was like, run, Forrest, run. He ran so fast. And I was live streaming at the time, by the way. And as soon as he ran out of that room, I had this surge. in my live stream audience, not like thousands, but it was just about the amount of police officers you would have working at that particular time. And again, you have many, many good police officers, men and women here, I want to acknowledge that. He ran away, I got no answers. I gotta drive hours again to get here today. So now we have Eileen O'Toole, Eileen O'Toole's husband, alleged abusing the authority, Mr. William Brown here, and then Jason Lee, process server. How did I get involved? Well, I wanted to simply speak at a Port Authority public meeting. Open to the public. I go through the process. I email the speaker's email and let them know I will be speaking. Now, there's a little conflict of interest because I'm excited to speak peacefully, as always, at this meeting. Except I get this bizarre email the night before I'm going to speak. It says, Mr. Filipowski, my legal name, we have become aware that you have been indicted for speaking at meetings in some of your actions. And with that, we are not going to allow you to speak at our meeting in person, as it is a security threat. What? And I was indicted on false criminal charges while trying to protect children in Union City schools controlled by extremely corrupt Union City mayor, senator, and head of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Brian Stack. I had uncovered a profoundly expansive alleged sexual predator teacher, assistant principal named Edwin Marinas, alleged to have sexually assaulted hundreds of children over 26 years and is still going to school right now. as we're talking about this. And so I was set up. A police officer lied, named Lieutenant Glenn Gaston, claimed I had forcefully struck him, causing him to fall, when I was live streaming. If you're going to set someone up, do it off camera. I'm completely innocent. And that's what I was indicted for. And that's why, allegedly, Kevin O'Toole is now abusing his authority now on... Victim number five. A man can be indicted, a woman can be indicted, by the way, number one, innocent and proven guilty, and still speak at any public meeting. I'm here, right? What if a man was convicted, say he did something terrible, and he unalives someone, goes to jail for 30 years, immediately leaves prison, and goes to speak at Kevin O'Toole's Port Authority? Would he be prevented from speaking? Absolutely not. Unless his name was Leroy Truth. Oh, a little conflict of interest here. Kevin O'Toole, I was unlawfully arrested July 16, 2024, while speaking at a meeting, just like I'm doing now, exercising my First Amendment rights, and Mayor and Senator Brian Stack, very corrupt, he didn't like the words I said. That was the day that Senator Bob Menendez had been found guilty on all 16 counts. And I said to Mayor Brian Stack, now you know, Mayor Brian Stack, that you are not untouchable because your mentor, Bob Hernandez, who used to be the mayor of Union City, was just found guilty on all 16 counts. Your mother would not be proud. That was it. Police officer said, Captain Omar Hernandez, you cannot disrespect the commissioners. I'm in the middle of my public comment time. And I said, well, since you're talking with me, yes, I can't. You can't disrespect them. Yes, I can. And then they proceeded to say, but you've got to stay behind an elector podium. No, I don't. I was speaking over here for a minute and 30 seconds. And then I was arrested unlawfully. What does this have to do with Kevin O'Toole? He is representing Union City. He's one of the main attorney firms, O'Toole and Scribo, that Mayor Brian Stack uses. And he is... The defendant, attorney, against me as the plaintiff. So I'm asking, in closing, for something. And this gets back to the metaphor that I have in final words here. So here's what happened. I'm going to ask you. Are you the police chief? Yes, I am. Hey, good to meet you, sir. Nice to meet you, too. Now, this was the body cam footage. In fact, you know what, I'm gonna read. So you have all of these things. There's seven items here. So this handkerchief represents seven items. It represents the complete unedited body worn camera footage, which exists like this handkerchief which you see right here. Also the body worn camera metadata and audit logs. GPS AVL tracking records for Lieutenant Rivers patrol vehicle Chief Pomfrey's telephone records, Lieutenant Rivers' telephone records, the incident report system audit trail, and in-car camera footage from Lieutenant Rivers' patrol vehicle. All that existed as soon as the incident and the targeting that Lieutenant Rivers allegedly did to Jason Lee, the process server. But then magically, watch this. Check this out. So it existed, you see it. This is a metaphor for everything, all seven items. But then, there was investigation into it, and there was some exposure, like wow, something may have happened. Watch this. And then what happens? You go small, it's gone. Everything's disappeared. Where is all this stuff? So I'm asking that all seven of those items, that you release them, Township Attorney Legata, and that you support the release. Because if you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear in the immediate release of all those items.

If they're protecting O2, they won't probably include them.

They're protecting O2? 100%. All right. And so two last questions. How many of you, by a show of hands, are you? How many, by a show of hands, condemn corruption? In government. Melissa doesn't.

Yeah, I do. This is, of course. Okay. Because you told me to.

It's a simple question. Okay. And the thing is, your defense and hiding of these things will not withstand the peaceful, always peaceful, weight of our continuous, relentless investigation and exposing. So I'm asking you to do the right thing now. Don't let this go through. A month, you're rolling your eyes. Why are you rolling your eyes?

I'm not going to. I just saw you.

What's that? Yes. So I appreciate the time that I've had to share with you all, and I ask you to do the right thing. Be in integrity. Be proud of yourself. I've been criminally charged over 31 times over the last 30 months since I started investigating Mayor Senator Brian Stack. allegedly on his direct orders to try to intimidate me, to try to stop me from investigating his corruption, and now exposing the most massive alleged teacher sexual predator ring in the history of New Jersey. In his schools, I have over 50 teachers, names, and administrators accused of having sexually assaulted hundreds of children, and many of them are still teaching right now. I've been attacked in riots, stalked, hit, harassed, kicked, I'm unfazed. You don't have to go through any of that to do the right thing. I'm always going to do the right thing. So I ask you to please stop defending Kevin O'Toole. And by the way, Chris Christie, you're in the mix too. I'll be exposing you too, peacefully as always. Please stop defending him. Please do the right thing so that you can all hold your heads up high and that Cedar Grove can be a profoundly amazing example of freedom, transparency, and accountability, and doing the right thing for the entire nation. God bless you all. Thank you.

Thank you for your courage.

Is there anyone else wishing to be heard? Okay. Seeing none, I close that portion of the meeting. The next item on the agenda is the announcement of the future meeting dates. THE NEXT STAFF MEETING IS JUNE 22, 2026 AT 7 P.M. IN COUNCIL CHAMBERS. WE DO NOT HAVE ANYTHING FOR EXECUTIVE SESSION. SO THE LAST ITEM IS A MOTION TO ADJOURN. DO WE HAVE A MOTION TO ADJOURN?

SO MOVED. SECOND.

ROLL CALL, PLEASE.

COUNCILOR MUSCAVI? YES. MAYOR MEEGAN?

YES.

COUNCILOR ZAZZALI? YES. THANK YOU.