We recently posted an update detailing how Millville Vice-Mayor Joe Sooy and City Solicitor Brock Russell reached out to our Executive Director Sean Thom to discuss us selling our building for Reese’s House to private real estate investors. Earlier this week, our attorneys sent a letter (pictured below) to the city stating that these two individuals must immediately recuse themselves from any proceedings regarding the zoning of our property. To put it more specifically, we have asked them to recuse themselves from the upcoming hearing that the city scheduled for August 22 to potentially hear the late appeal against our zoning because of a disqualifying ethical conflict of interest.
We received notice soon after that both the Vice Mayor and City Attorney will not be recusing themselves. They deemed the conversations about selling our property to someone they know and renting a space another space directly from the city as “exploratory in nature, non-specific and in no way coercive.” We have our own opinions about the conversations and do not agree with this assessment and will be pursuing further legal action if needed after the hearing.
We’re not sure why, but it looks increasingly evident that the city is not supportive of a community center opening in the middle of Millville; however, this is a fight that we are not going to stop. We will continue to need your support, so please consider making a donation to our legal defense fund to help us in this process. If you are free on August 22nd, please join us at Millville City Hall for this hearing to show your support. The more people we have to stand with us, the stronger the message that is sent to our elected officials.
If you have any questions, please send an email to contact@ourfuturefirst.org.
