Irvington used opioid settlement money as ‘slush fund’ for concerts, watchdog says

by Dana DiFilippo, New Jersey Monitor
July 8, 2025

Irvington officials took $632,000 in funds meant to help people struggling with addiction and spent it instead on two “opioid awareness” concerts, steering the bulk of the money to a township employee who’s a DJ, a state watchdog said in a new report released Tuesday.

The township blew more than $14,000 on popcorn, cotton candy carts, shaved ice, and other food, almost $13,000 on luxury VIP trailers for performers, and more than $205,000 to promote the summer concerts, which were held in 2023 and 2024, investigators from the state comptroller’s office found.

“These funds are supposed to be lifelines for communities overwhelmed by the opioid epidemic — not a slush fund to host concerts and throw parties,” acting State Comptroller Kevin Walsh said in a statement. “Irvington wasted hundreds of thousands of dollars that should have been used to save lives and help people recover from addiction.”

Irvington Mayor Tony Vauss denied the report’s findings, released a 36-page response, and vowed to proceed with a defamation lawsuit officials filed against Walsh’s office in April.

“We’ve been definitely going back and forth with the comptroller’s office over these issues for a while now, and we actually had to file a lawsuit because we totally, totally disagree with what they’re saying,” Vauss told the New Jersey Monitor. “I mean, there’s no basis in law. They’re coming up with theories. We’re just like, how are you coming to these conclusions?”

The $632,000 was part of more than $1 million Irvington has received in national opioid settlement funds, which pharmaceutical companies are paying to atone for their role in the deadly opioid crisis.

Towns and counties across New Jersey, as well as the state itself, are expected to receive more than $1.1 billion by 2038 and began receiving the funds in 2022. But a state council tasked with advising public officials on the best use of the funds didn’t issue guidance until last month.

That’s one reason why Walsh’s scrutiny isn’t fair, said attorney Christopher Kinum, who represents Irvington.

“Every municipality is using the funds for a different reason. These funds were disbursed before there was guidance. All there was, was some term — ‘evidence-based.’ ‘Proven evidence-based methods to combat the opioid crisis,’” Kinum said.

Irvington officials have been fighting the comptroller’s probe for months, asking courts to block the office from releasing its findings. Lower courts initially sided with Irvington, forbidding the office from releasing its report and even extending that injunction to Gov. Phil Murphy, Senate President Nicholas Scutari, and Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin, who received early copies for review.

But an appellate judge last month ordered the injunction lifted, saying Irvington had a chance to respond to a draft report and the issue was moot anyway because the report was already partially released. He stayed the report’s release until the state Supreme Court decided whether to hear Irvington’s appeal.

That court on Tuesday declined to hear the case, clearing the way for Walsh to release his report — which his office did, within minutes.

The report is blistering, blasting township officials for deciding to hold the concerts with no input from community groups, residents on the frontlines of the opioid crisis, or even the township’s own health and public safety officials.

Entertainment companies tied to Antoine “DJ Qua” Richardson, a township employee, received $368,500 to secure performers, with officials failing to seek competitive bids in violation of procurement law, investigators said. Officials spent no money on Narcan, although they said they did distribute doses of the overdose-reversing drug at both concerts. Most concert materials promoted the performers, the mayor, and the concerts, rather than educating residents about addiction or offering information about treatment, according to the report.

Officials failed to track metrics to evaluate the concerts’ success, as required by the settlement agreements, and yet proceeded with a second concert anyway against the advice of the comptroller’s office, the report says.

Walsh’s office made 28 recommendations, including urging the state Department of Human Services to bolster oversight and issue detailed guidance to local public officials on acceptable use of opioid settlement funds. The office also referred their findings to various agencies for further action.

“Local governments are asking for direction, and DHS is the agency with that expertise,” Walsh said. “A passive approach by state government risks setting local governments up to fail and may invite more waste.”

Irvington did not hold an opioid awareness concert this year, but Kinum said the concerts are not off the table in the future. The township still has close to a half million dollars in unspent opioid settlement funds.

“We are exploring it,” Kinum said. “This is an evidence-based proper use of funds. We’ll take a look at it, and we potentially want to bounce ideas off that board (the state advisory council).”

Kinum cited an April letter a Rutgers Health manager sent Irvington expressing support for their concerts and the concerts’ role in emphasizing “cultural competence and community engagement.”

But opioid-awareness concerts are not something the New Jersey Harm Reduction Council recommends.

Jenna Mellor heads that council and also sits on the state advisory council that issued June’s guidance.

That guidance was shaped by 15 months of data research and input from experts and residents who have firsthand experience with addiction, Mellor noted. The council’s five-year strategic plan prioritizes expanding access to medication-assisted treatment, harm reduction supplies and services, and wraparound supports, including affordable housing and legal aid.

“Public education is good. Reducing stigma is good. No one is disputing that. But it’s not what turns the tide on any of this,” Mellor told the New Jersey Monitor.

“These are precious dollars,” she added. “We are facing federal budget cuts. We are always in a struggle to have a state budget every year that meets the basic needs of residents. Our recommendations are really what is smart use of this money, because they immediately, in real time, save people’s lives.”

Mellor and other members of the state advisory council were fighting their own battle Tuesday.

They sent an open letter to Murphy and legislative leaders, calling on lawmakers to return $45 million they diverted in opioid settlement funds (the money is going to four hospitals to offset federal Medicaid cuts). At least two of the hospitals are led by Murphy allies.

Harm reduction advocates protested and held a die-in in the Statehouse in Trenton last week, in an effort to persuade legislators to reject the diversion. Lawmakers approved the budget anyway.

In Tuesday’s letter, six members of the 11-member council urged lawmakers to “reverse the raid of opioid settlement funds” and establish “lockbox protections” around how the funds can be used.

“We are deeply alarmed by this decision and what it means for the future of New Jersey’s overdose prevention efforts,” they wrote. “Raiding the opioid settlement fund completely undermines the role of our Council, which exists to ensure these funds are used for overdose prevention initiatives that are effective, evidence-based, and rooted in community need.”

Elected officials should consider their legacy and their accountability to their constituents in deciding whether to heed the council’s call to reverse the cuts, Mellor added.

“My dad says it’s OK to be wrong, but don’t be wrong long,” Mellor said. “There’s part of leadership that requires finding solutions and not accepting the status quo. If our lawmakers wanted to fix this, they can. I’m hopeful that they will do the right thing.”

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