Mayor Ted Gamble

Hey Bloomfield today is Election Day! Polls are open until 8pm.

Yesterday we honored the life of Natasha Bellott with a memorial bench in Pulaski Park and a proclamation. Thankfully it was a beautiful day for the family who came together to celebrate Natasha’s life that was cut short due to a reckless driving accident in 2015. She was an aspiring singer who had just successfully auditioned for American Idol. Her mother Jonine Tolentino asks that the community to perform random acts of kindness in her daughter’s memory because she was such a good person who cared for her friends, family and even strangers.

WHEREAS: Natasha Bellott was a 20 yr old Bloomfield resident and an aspiring singer in 2015 when her young life was cut short; and

WHEREAS: Natasha’s passion for music and her beautiful voice had led her to successfully audition for American Idol in Philadelphia. She had the winning ticket in her pocket when she died in a single car accident on I-95; and

WHEREAS: Natasha was a passenger in a Jeep Liberty carrying six young people traveling back to North Jersey when the driver lost control at a high speed while passing on the shoulder. All passenger sustained injuries, and the official cause of the crash was deemed careless passing or lane change, affected by physical condition, driver was distracted, driving too fast for conditions; and

WHEREAS: Jonine Tolentino has worked to raise awareness of the dangers of distracted and reckless driving. In 2022 alone, distracted driving was involved in 3,308 deaths and nearly 290,000 injuries. Tolentino asks all to commit to driving safely and distraction free; and

WHEREAS: Tolentino has also asked the community to perform random acts of kindness to honor her daughter’s memory; and

WHEREAS: Natasha’s mother has shared that “She was such a good person. I want her honored, I never want her forgotten.”

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Ted Gamble, Mayor of the City of Bloomfield, along with Members of the Township Council, do hereby proclaim on Saturday, November 2nd, that we dedicate a memorial bench to remember the life of Natasha Bellott, a vibrant youth in the Township of Bloomfield. We urge all residents who sit at this bench to remember that Natasha’s life mattered, her beautiful voice will live on forever and her spirit will fly high as the notes she hit.