Phillipsburg's Town Council voted against two routine-looking bills at its Oct. 27 meeting, withholding a combined $2,150 that included a $2,000 reimbursement for Mayor Randy Piazza Jr. and a $150 payment owed to a local cupcake baker who had already delivered the desserts. The move set off a pointed back-and-forth about conflicts of interest, paperwork and whether a small-business owner should be caught in the middle of town hall's internal disputes.
According to lehighvalleylive.com, the council's vote to withhold the payments was 3-2. A separate account from TAPinto describes the vote as failing 2-3, with council members Josh Wanisko, Lee Clark and Keith Kennedy voting against the two payments while Ed Saultz and Bernie Fey voted in favor. The two outlets differ on the exact tally, but both agree the bills did not pass that night.
The larger of the two bills, $2,000, was sought by Piazza as reimbursement tied to a band payment. Piazza said he paid the band out of his own pocket so the group wouldn't have to wait to be paid on the day of the town's American 250 celebration, per the station's report. The smaller bill, $150, was owed to Atheena Amann, owner of For the Love of Cupcakes, for desserts she supplied at three downtown Urban Enterprise Zone ribbon-cutting events.
Wanisko Presses on Conflicts and Paperwork
Councilman Josh Wanisko raised questions about potential conflicts of interest and what he called possible self-dealing connected to the mayor's reimbursement request, according to the same report. Council President Keith Kennedy said the bills would be paid once everyone's questions were answered, rather than framing the holds as a rejection of either claim.
The scrutiny arrives as Phillipsburg reshapes how it runs economic development and its Urban Enterprise Zone program. The town still had no UEZ coordinator at the time of the meeting, the outlet reported, even though Phillipsburg received $300,000 in state funding the previous year specifically to revitalize the UEZ effort. The town's Department of Economic and Community Development has also been in flux, with Ordinance 2026-16, posted on the Town of Phillipsburg's website, identified as a first-reading measure amending the chapter governing that department.
A Baker Caught in the Middle
For Amann, the dispute is not abstract. Her shop, For the Love of Cupcakes, opened at 35 Sitgreaves Street in June 2025 after she first went into business in 2023 sharing space with Bake House on Main, according to The Morning Call. The bakery has become known locally for rotating a lineup of 60 to 70 cupcake and cake flavors each week, the paper reported.
WFMZ has described Amann as a widowed mother of five who opened the bakery after encouragement from her late husband, and reported that her official grand opening sold out quickly. The $150 at issue covers desserts she provided for town ribbon-cutting ceremonies and other community events tied to the UEZ program.
What Happens Next
Both bills are set to come back before the council at its next meeting, scheduled for Nov. 10 at 6 p.m. at the Phillipsburg Housing Authority Envision Center community room on Fisher Avenue. Under the town's payment process, council approval is required before checks can actually be issued, which is why both the mayor's reimbursement and the baker's invoice remain in limbo until the council revisits them.
Whether either payment will ultimately be approved, and which of the two reported vote tallies is accurate, remains unresolved pending that meeting. For now, Amann's invoice and Piazza's reimbursement request sit in the same uncertain holding pattern that has become a flashpoint in the town's broader fight over how its economic-development arm is run.
