Union City’s Federal Audit Raises Bigger Questions Nobody Wants to Answer

The recent federal audit involving Union City should concern every taxpayer and resident. City officials may try to downplay it and call it paperwork mistakes or technical issues, but many people are looking at this and asking a much bigger question:

How many times can there be problems before people stop calling them mistakes?

The federal audit reviewed two Union City police technology grants funded through the U.S. Department of Justice and examined how taxpayer money was being used and managed. Auditors found problems involving procurement procedures, missing documentation, oversight failures, and compliance issues that resulted in nearly $1.7 million in questioned or unsupported costs. The review also found concerns involving policies, reporting practices, and issues affecting certain police surveillance equipment funded through the grants.

That should not be brushed aside.

For years, many people throughout Hudson County have questioned how politics operates in Union City. Critics have raised concerns about political favoritism, insider relationships, and a system where power seems heavily controlled by a small circle around Mayor Brian Stack.

Again and again, people hear the same complaints:

The same people stay in control.

The same people seem connected.

The same questions keep coming up.

And the same answers never seem to come.

Residents are left wondering whether this federal audit only looked at one small piece of a much larger picture.

Many people now believe investigators should have expanded their review into other areas of city operations. Because when concerns continue surfacing over the years, people naturally start asking whether there are deeper problems underneath the surface.

People begin asking questions like:

Who gets special treatment?

Who gets opportunities?

Who gets protected?

Who is benefiting?

And who is actually watching the people in charge?

people are tired of hearing officials dismiss every concern as politics, misunderstandings, or minor mistakes.

At some point, residents stop seeing isolated incidents.

They start seeing patterns.

And when people start seeing patterns, trust disappears.

Union City residents deserve transparency, accountability, and honest answers. Public officials work for the people — not the other way around.

The federal audit may be finished.

But many residents feel the real investigation should have just begun.