MONTVALE—Mayor Michael Ghassali announced plans to introduce a legal team on July 26 that will represent a coalition of towns filing a lawsuit to compel 62 municipalities—now “exempt” from affordable housing obligations—to construct their “fair share” of low-income housing.
Ghassali told Pascack Press on July 22 that a special council meeting would be held at 10 a.m., Friday, July 26, on Zoom to appoint the new counsel.
Ghassali emphasized that including the 62 exempt towns in building affordable housing units would help distribute affordable housing obligations more evenly, thereby reducing the burden on towns like Montvale, which have already met their required affordable housing quotas over three previous rounds of obligations.
At the July 26 meeting, the Borough Council is asked to vote on hiring the law firm of King, Moench & Collins, LLP, based in Red Bank, as special affordable housing counsel to represent the coalition of towns planning to sue the state over these obligations.
Borough Administrator Joseph Voytus informed Pascack Press that a link to the special Zoom council meeting on Friday was posted on the town website.
“We have a strategy, but we don’t want to disclose it just yet,” Ghassali told Pascack Press. He noted that the law firm being hired has “extensive experience” with affordable housing cases.
Recently, Ghassali sent a letter to the state’s 565 towns, inviting them to join a coalition to legally challenge the exemption status of the 62 “urban aid” towns. The letter requested a $20,000 contribution over two years from each town joining the coalition.
According to the borough’s website, the agenda for this meeting includes a Closed Executive Session: Attorney-Client Privilege–Potential Litigation–Affordable Housing, followed by the Appointment of Special Affordable Housing Litigation Counsel.
Since late June, Ghassali’s efforts to rally more communities for the lawsuit have received an overwhelmingly enthusiastic response. He expressed hope that hiring an experienced law firm would attract additional communities to join the legal challenge.
A highlighted box on the King, Moench & Collins LLP website states, “Recognized by New Jersey statewide media as a ‘politically influential law firm,’ King Moench & Collins LLP provides full-service legal representation across the Garden State and beyond. We represent numerous public entities, ranging from counties and municipalities to school boards. We use this unique experience to benefit our private sector clients in their interactions with government, including through our courts, administrative agencies, and land use boards.”
Initially, Ghassali aimed to attract at least 62 towns with affordable housing obligations to challenge the 62 currently exempt towns, hoping to raise $1.2 million for the legal challenge.
The “urban aid” towns in question include municipalities such as Hoboken, Weehawken, Jersey City, Bloomfield, Montclair, Neptune, and Nutley, along with 57 other communities.
Ghassali declined to disclose the current number of towns that have committed $20,000 ($10,000 in 2024 and $10,000 in 2025) to the lawsuit. His letter to the 565 towns had set Aug. 14 as the deadline to pass a resolution and commit funds to the affordable housing lawsuit. Recently, the Township of Washington and Hillsdale committed to funding the lawsuit.