ORANGE — The City Council on Oct. 20 voted down a $123,000 opioid prevention contract after a councilwoman said the company's owner is a member of the city's school board and accused colleagues of steering contracts to friends and family.

The resolution would have hired Clearview Counseling LLC, also listed as Crown Work Inc., to provide what the measure described as evidence-based opioid prevention services from Oct. 1, 2026, through Sept. 30, 2027. It failed with one vote in favor, five against and one abstention, according to the clerk's tally.

Councilwoman Quantavia Hilbert raised the concerns during the council's discussion of the agenda. She first asked Council President Clifford R. Ross whether he knew who owned the company.

"Yes, I do," Ross said.

Hilbert then said her own research showed the company's owner is Fatimah Turner, who she said has been listed as its chief executive since 2022 and runs it from a residential address in Orange.

"This individual is a current board member of our school district," Hilbert said. She cited the state School Ethics Act, which bars school officials from using their positions to secure unwarranted advantages.

The Orange Public Schools website lists Fatimah Turner, Ph.D., as vice president of the Board of Education. Crown Work Inc.'s website names Turner as the organization's founder and describes her as "a licensed clinical social worker, educator, and award-winning scholar."

Turner, Ross and the city clerk's office did not respond to emailed requests for comment from The New Jersey Tide by publication time.

Hilbert also asked whether the city sets any requirements for the space where contracted services are offered. "This is not a facility, this is not a storefront," she said of the address.

She complained that no ownership information came with the resolution. "If somebody's being granted a contract or an award of grant funding, we need to have their business information here," she said.

Business Administrator Chris Hartwight said the administration had prepared a complete packet with the company's corporate documents and ownership disclosure, and that it may have reached the clerk's office late. He offered to share it. Hilbert declined, saying she already knew where she stood.

When the resolution came up for a vote, Hilbert repeated her objections.

"I do believe that we need to step away from nepotism and giving our friends and family members contracts," she said. "I believe that we need to go back and reevaluate or search to see who else can provide these services in our community."

No other council member spoke on the measure before the roll call.

Second provider gets youth contract

Later in the meeting, the council voted 7-0 to award a $90,000 contract to Greater Essex Counseling Services LLC to provide opioid prevention for city youth from Sept. 2, 2026, through June 18, 2027.

The council also voted 7-0 to rescind a $30,000 contract with Greater Essex for youth opioid prevention that it approved Aug. 5. Asked by Councilman James H. Ward III why the council would undo a contract it had just passed, Hilbert said, "Because we're increasing."

Greater Essex co-owner Chris Voss presented the company's work to the council at the start of the meeting. He said the company runs outpatient mental health and substance abuse programs in Newark and Union City and has worked in Orange for about three years.

Hilbert pressed Voss on a resident she said she referred to the program who was denied transportation. Voss said the company provides free rides to Orange residents and would look into it.

During public comment, resident Gloria Bozeman questioned why the city had two providers competing for opioid services.