Mount Holly Mayor Calls for Resignation of Main Street Officials in light of troubling allegations
Mount Holly Mayor Calls for Resignation of Main Street Officials in light of troubling allegations
(Mount Holly)- Mount Holly Mayor Jason Jones has called for the resignation of the top two officials of the Main Street Mount Holly organization, President Joe Lamberti and Vice President Kent Pipes, after news broke that they misspent federal COVID funds for personal gain while violating federal regulations.
The New Jersey Globe reported that Main Street Mount Holly (MSMH) paid the wife of MSMH President Joe Lamberti, Christine Lamberti $7,000 to administer a COVID relief grant designed to help struggling local businesses despite it being prohibited by grant regulations. Vice President Kent Pipes signed the grant agreement on behalf of the organization acknowledging these requirements and then Main Street ignored them.
“Taking money meant to help our struggling business community during a pandemic and redirecting it for personal profit is disgraceful and has no place here in Mount Holly” stated Mayor Jason Jones. “All those that were involved in this scandal need to resign immediately. If they do not resign then I call on the remaining board members to remove them to show that they do not tolerate this unethical behavior. If the board does not act, then Mount Holly Township can only assume they approve of their actions and are complicit in this unethical behavior” Jones continued.
Mayor Jones wrote to the DCA today asking them to investigate the allegations laid out in the New Jersey Globe report. “I call on the Department of Community Affairs to investigate the actions of Joe Lamberti and Kent Pipes. If these allegations are proven to be true, they need to be barred from future involvement in all DCA grants and programs as well as reimburse the taxpayers.” said Mayor Jason Jones
This is not the first time Kent Pipes or his company has been involved in questionable dealings in our community. Pipes has failed to pay tens of thousands of dollars owed to the township of Mount Holly, failed to maintain properties in the township and was sued for sexually harassing his employees. “enough is enough, Kent Pipes record of unethical behavior and poor judgement has gone on for far too long” stated Mayor Jones.
Mount Holly Township officials want to make it clear that Main Street Mount Holly, is an independent organization and that Mount Holly Township had no control over their actions. It is sad that a small group of individuals out for personal gain have sullied the reputation of our entire town. When Main Street Mount Holly replaces its current leadership, we hope that trust in the organization by our community can be restored.
