NJ town denies it ‘wasted’ $632,000 on concerts to fight opioid crisis

💸 State investigation finds New Jersey town wasted opioid funds

💸 Mayor's friend got paid $368,500 to book performers

💸 Irvington officials claim the state report ignores evidence and defames them

IRVINGTON — Local officials in this North Jersey town are on defense after a state investigation found they wasted hundreds of thousands of dollars meant to help communities overwhelmed by opioid addiction.

The Office of the State Comptroller released its shocking findings on Tuesday.

According to the report, Irvington received $632,000 from the state through settlements with opioid manufacturers and distributors.

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New Jersey distributed the funds to help cities and towns fight the opioid epidemic. Acting State Comptroller Kevin Walsh said Irvington "wasted" the funds that should have been used to save lives.

“These funds are supposed to be lifelines for communities overwhelmed by the opioid epidemic – not a slush fund to host concerts and throw parties,” Walsh said.

Opioid crisis continues in Irvington

Around 61,800 people live in the township in Essex County, which has been hit especially hard by the public health crisis.

Opioid overdose deaths among Black residents in Essex County rose to nearly 81 per 100,000 people in 2022, the report said.

Irvington is nearly 79% Black, according to the latest American Community Survey.

While overdose deaths fell nationally in 2023, deaths among Black Essex County residents that year were similar to rates in 2021. And they remained far higher than the previous decade, according to the state's Overdose Data Dashboard.

Irvington concerts to raise opioid awareness

In June 2023, Irvington held its first "Opioid Awareness Day" concert in front of the town hall on Civic Square.

Thousands of people attended the first concert, so Irvington held it again the following June in 2024.

The township spent $200,00 in opioid settlement funds on billboards, including $16,000 on mobile billboards and over $34,000 on t-shirts, according to the OSC investigation.

Those billboards prominently featured the face of Mayor Tony Vauss, who was instrumental in organizing the concerts.

Irvington mayor's friend gets over $368,000

Vauss tasked his high school friend's company with securing musical acts to perform at the concerts.

Antoine Richardson — a township employee who also goes by his radio name DJ Qua — was paid $368,500 in overdose settlement funds, the report said. The money was paid by the township to Richardson's business.

State investigators said since 2019, Irvington has paid $468,900 in contracts to businesses run by Richardson, his wife, or his son.

Richardson was hired by the township a month after Vauss won his first mayoral race in November 2014. He earns an annual salary of $46,004 and gets full benefits, according to public records.

However, Mayor Vauss said to the OSC investigators that he was not involved in Richardson's hiring for his "low-show job."

Report says "Opioid Awareness Day" focuses on music, not opioid awareness

According to the OSC report, Irvington barely spent the opioid settlement funds on promoting opioid awareness.

Instead of spending any of the money on Narcan kits to distribute to the public, the township instead had a nonprofit donate 50 kits.

The stage also had little to do with raising opioid awareness, the report said. However, there were two large posters of the mayor's face on each side of the stage.

While local officials, including council members, spoke briefly about opioids between sets, the OSC says none of the health vendors spoke.

The report found the tables from health vendors "were afterthoughts and could have happened at any community event,” and that the township didn't need to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on concerts.

Irvington officials defend opioid awareness concerts

In response to the State Comptroller's Office's investigation, Irvington filed a lawsuit that claims the report knowingly misrepresents the situation and defames local officials.

"With all due respect to the OSC, they know nothing about my community and the people within it," Mayor Vauss said.

Vauss said the township didn't do anything wrong and that the concerts were about "bringing people together to eliminate the stigma associated with addiction."

In a written response, the township said they included several documents in their lawsuit to disprove the OSC's claims.

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