Ghassali claims to have allies in promised action on more affordable goods — Pascack Press & Northern Valley Press

MONTVALE – A growing coalition of nearly 40 towns in four counties has expressed interest in joining Montvale Mayor Mike Ghassali’s efforts to file a lawsuit – first in state court and then in federal court – to challenge the state’s affordable housing building obligations. The lawsuit aims to compel the 62 New Jersey towns currently exempt from affordable housing building obligations to do their “fair share.”

Ghassali told us that his efforts to unite cities across the state behind an initiative that would distribute affordable housing obligations evenly among all New Jersey cities are gaining momentum. The next key step is to hire a special affordable housing attorney to represent the cities this week.

Montvale posted an offer on the State League of Municipalities website in mid-June to hire a special affordable housing attorney to help file the lawsuit. Applications must be submitted to the city by Tuesday, July 2, the mayor said.

Ghassali hopes to involve at least 62 cities in the process – the more the better. He stresses that public finance obligations should be “shared” by all cities in New Jersey.

He explained that there are 62 “urban development communities” that are exempt from the affordable housing requirement, including cities like Hoboken, Jersey City, and Hackensack. He expressed confusion as to why these cities do not have an affordable housing requirement, and noted that he may not be able to afford to live in some cities that are currently exempt from the requirement.

Other exempted Bergen County cities include Ridgefield, Cliffside Park, Garfield and Lodi. Ghassali posted the full list of “urban relief communities” on his mayoral Facebook page.

“Our obligations (regarding affordable housing) would be lower if the others also had obligations,” Ghassali said, referring to the 62 cities that are not required to provide affordable housing.

In mid-June, Ghassali posted on Facebook: “The coalition of New Jersey cities advocating for an equitable distribution of the obligation to provide affordable housing among all cities in the state continues to grow. So far, cities from four counties have committed to this.”

He continued, “This will be a coalition of 62 cities going to federal court. Each city is committing to contribute $10,000 this year and $10,000 next year, for a total budget of $1.2 million.”

Ghassali noted, “We are asking that the 62 cities that do not have an obligation to build affordable housing be included as well, so that the overall obligation for the rest of us is reduced. We want every city in the state to receive its fair share of the obligation to build affordable housing.”

While 40 or more cities have expressed interest and support, Ghassali noted that only about a half-dozen cities seemed committed to funding the lawsuit. He said hiring a special counsel should help persuade more cities to pledge funds, and noted that a model resolution for a city council to endorse and join the lawsuit will soon be released.

Ghassali, a three-term mayor and former candidate for the 5th Congressional District in 2019, had previously boasted that he managed to settle Montvale’s affordable housing obligations in early 2017, avoiding lengthy, expensive and unsuccessful litigation over affordable housing like those in Englewood Cliffs and Park Ridge.

“All we want is our fair share commitment,” Ghassali told us. “The state wants us to build over 200,000 affordable housing units across the country in the next 10 years. Currently, about 500 cities will receive (affordable) housing commitments and 62 will not. We want the housing to be shared among all cities.”

Ghassali said feedback from mayors and public officials on the lawsuit has been “100 percent positive,” with “some even asking me where they should send the check.” He plans to meet with a group of Morris County mayors to ask them to participate.

“A number of cities have already committed to joining us, and more are in discussion, even in Central and South Jersey,” the mayor told us. He urged any mayors and aldermen interested in joining Montvale’s future lawsuit to contact him at his district email address, [email protected].

The mayor said the plan is to file a lawsuit in the next few months, but he stressed that Montvale will continue to meet the required state deadlines to implement the new affordable housing law rather than risk a developer remedy lawsuit that could allow a developer to build a large multifamily complex to meet the county’s unmet affordable housing obligations.

Officials with the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs said they plan to provide all cities with figures on municipal affordable housing obligations by Oct. 20, as required by the new affordable housing law signed into law by Governor Phil Murphy in March.