Bloomfield Sent Subpeona After Councilman Arrested: Court Wants Property Sales Info

Bloomfield, NJ - What information is the state of New Jersey seeking from Bloomfield?

In the wake of bribery charges against one of Bloomfield’s township council members, the Superior Court of New Jersey has issued the municipality a subpoena seeking a broad range of data related to property sales and purchases in the municipality.

The subpoena – issued by the state grand jury and received by the township on Nov. 24 – came a week after Bloomfield 1st Ward Councilman Elias N. Chalet, 53, was charged with soliciting and accepting a $15,000 bribe from a local business owner.

According to authorities, Chalet allegedly met with a local business owner on Oct. 8 in front of Chalet’s real estate office on Broad Street in Bloomfield. At the meeting, Chalet allegedly told the business owner that the township’s planned purchase of his commercial property would only go through if the owner gave Chalet $15,000 in cash.

• See related article: Bloomfield Councilman Charged With Taking $15K Bribe

According to the text of the subpoena, Bloomfield’s custodian of records was ordered to present a range of documents and data to a Mercer County grand jury on Dec. 4.

The subpoena, which seeks data from Jan. 1, 2011 to the present date, reads:

“You are-directed to produce any and all information, documents, council meeting minutes, council meeting minutes for both public and closed sessions, council meeting votes, council meeting attendance for all meetings and/or votes, letters of recusal, letters of support, letters of abstention, contracts, resolutions, planning board meeting minutes (regular and special), zoning board meeting minutes (regular and special), voting documents from council meetings (whether planning board, zoning board, or regular/special council meetings), files, notes, faxes, e-mails, other written materials, and including, but not limited to, any other related correspondence, that in any way refer, reflect, or relate to, all property sales or purchases made by the Township of Bloomfield.”

Bloomfield Township Administrator Matthew Watkins emphasized to Patch that the subpoena was a matter of public record.

“We’re transparent,” Watkins said. “There’s nothing to hide. Although I wasn’t here at the time, we will be happy to comply with any kind of records that the state wants.”

• See related article: Meet the Candidate: Elias Chalet

File photo: Elias Chalet