Irvington township employees distributed Narcan and information about opioid addiction and treatment at a concert in June 2024. The township paid for the concert with national opioid settlement funds. (Photo courtesy of Irvington Township)
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…