Decoding the Town Council’s Legal Spending: Firms, Costs, and Connections
The last three Council meetings have been a whirlwind of rushed resolutions, amended agendas, and executive orders—most of which passed with minimal discussion. Among the most troubling decisions was the abrupt dissolution of the Ethics Council, despite the Mayor ignoring a simple solution: electing new members. Instead, the Council chose to hire a high-priced media firm with deep political ties,...
More Information on the High-Powered PR Firm Berkeley Heights Families Are Paying For
As highlighted in Mr. Samson’s Community Voices article, the Town Council recently voted to approve $30,000 in spending for a public relations firm—Vision Media Marketing. The firm describes itself as: “…a full-service media and communications consulting firm with numerous strong, long-term relationships with elected officials, political and labor officials, and business leaders throughout North Jersey.” (emphasis added) Their slogan? “Winning takes...
Follow Up on Executive Orders and Police Training Connected to OSC Investigation
NJ21st recieved an email from a Berkeley Heights resident after the publication of Mr. Samson’s article that included all of the Executive Orders signed by Mayor Devanney in 2024 and 2025. These documents appeared to be the product of an OPRA request submitted on 02/01/2025. Executive Orders Signed from 2024 through January 2025 As a follow-up to our January 17,...
Berkeley Heights BOE Public Comments on Controversial SLEO Contract (Video)
At the latest Board of Education meeting, an addendum to the contract for SLEO’s (a jobs program for retired police officers) sparked significant discussion. Unlike other districts, this agreement includes no cap on spending and places the burden of sick time and overtime costs squarely on the District. Public comments featured insights from the Town Administrator Liza Viana, NJ21st contributor...
Is It Time for the District to Re-Evaluate Its Services from a Politically Entangled Municipal Government?
The current Agenda for the next BOE Meeting includes an SLEO Contract Amendment. In Berkeley Heights, the District pays the full $37.45 per hour for each Special Law Enforcement Officer (SLEO), and now the township is asking the District to divert even more funds from classrooms to cover additional costs like sick time and overtime pay along with an increase...
Berkeley Heights Among 16 Union County Townships That Sent Police to Private Police Training by Organization that Promoted Unconstitutional Tactics
The NJ Office of the State Comptroller published a supplemental report to it’s original findings published 12/06/2023 on “Street Cop Training”. It found 240 law enforcement officers from NJ attended the six-day Conference in Atlantic City on October 2021. Among other things, OSC found: Instructors at the Conference promoted the use of unconstitutional policing tactics for motor vehicle stops; Some instructors...
Laura’s Notes on the 01/07/2025 Berkeley Heights Town Council Reorganization Meeting
With the November 2024 election results favoring Andrew Moran, our community seems to be heading toward a direction that many, including myself, are concerned about: governance by a single party. Regardless of political affiliation, single-party dominance rarely benefits anyone. A balanced leadership with diverse ideologies and perspectives fosters healthier governance, especially in a small town like ours, which feels more...
Ten Most Read Articles of 2024
NJ21st had another strong year as traffic to the site and subscriptions topped the prior year across all platforms. Here are the ten most-read articles of 2024… (10) No….The Township Does NOT have a CFO, and the Proposed Solution Should Raise Concerns The CFO position for the Township has been a revolving door, with the last former CFO raising numerous...
Concerns About the 11/18/2024 Town Council Meeting and the “New Civility”
A resolution authorizing the township to seek bids for improvements to Deerpath, previously pulled from the last Town Council meeting, has returned to the agenda for this weeks council meeting. This development comes on the heels of the controversial approval of a $450,000 resolution connected to the Westside Drainage Project. Before Ms. Akiri addressed the council at the last meeting,...
Follow Up to Controversial Berkeley Heights $450,000 Old Farm/Orchard/Mercier Resolution
The township has uploaded the video of the November 12, 2024, meeting to its website. The video provides further discussion on the $450,000 Old Orchard/Mercier resolution, a topic covered two weeks ago. This resolution, which includes repaving the neighborhood and adding curbing, has sparked frustration among some residents. Critics point out that a $100,000 engineering study and a letter from...
nj21st.com (with the exception of featured images and logo) is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
