Breakdancing resident derails Cranford town meeting to talk taxes
William Thilly's dance moves earlier this week have gone viral.
Sometimes, you just have to dance like no one's watching - even when protesting property taxes during a public meeting.
Cranford resident William Thilly's walk to the podium during the Sept. 2 Township Committee started with "the robot," then progressed to a backspin before he made some brief comments and moonwalked back to his seat. His moves have since gone viral as the video makes its rounds on various social media platforms.
Thilly, who is running as an Independent for a seat on the Township Committee, has made multiple appearances at town meetings to discuss local issues. Earlier this week, he decided to "break it down" a bit differently for elected officials and meeting attendees, many of whom sat watching stoically, slightly amused or with confusion.
It all unfolded during the public comment portion of the televised meeting at town hall Tuesday. When Thilly finally started speaking, he asked the attendees about their weekend, spoke about his recent trip to Mexico and asked if anyone was afraid of flying. Had there been any crickets in the meeting room, their chirps would've been deafening as the audience sat in complete silence. And then, another dancing interlude.
"Did you know I can do the backspin? Anyone wanna see me do the backspin," Thilly asked.
Undeterred by the lack of response, he again decided to bust a move, doing a backspin before getting up and going back to the podium. Then came the actual comments about taxes.
"Why did our taxes go up so much," Thilly asked the committee members. "We were told the referendum was gonna bring it up, for an average household about $400 bucks and mine went up about $900 bucks."
He also asked what other expenses were incurred by the schools that residents weren't told about before they voted for the recent referendum.
After he concluded his statements, Thilly moonwalked back to his seat, as Mayor Terrence Curran thanked him for his "interpretive dance."
According to his campaign website, Thilly has been outspoken on various issues, specifically tax exemptions given to local developers.
News 12 has reached out to Thilly for comment and we are awaiting a response.
