okay ladies and gentlemen we're about to get started if we can find our seats close the side doors and the back door I greatly appreciate it and silence your cell phones as I am doing please thank you very much good evening everyone we are on the record today is Wednesday the 7th Day of February in the year 2024 this is a regular meeting of the Jersey City municipal Council we had a scheduled 6 PM start the clock on my cell phone is showing 6:02 p.m. may we have a roll call for the commencement of this meeting council person Ridley council person Prince AR here council person Bano here council person SLE here council person Solomon here council person Gilmore present council person Dees here council person Rivera will not be present tonight and council president Waterman we have eight council members in attendance at 6:02 PM can we kindly rise for a moment of silence please we like to dedicate this moment of silence to Confessor rera the uncle of council person at large Daniel Riva thank you very much on behalf of council president wman and the members of the municipal Council in accordance with New Jersey public laws of 1975 chapter 231 the open public meetings act also known as the Sunshine Law adequate notice of this meeting has been provided by the posting on the bulletin Board of the first floor of City Hall which is the annual notice is a schedule of meetings and caucuses of the municipal Council for the cendy year 2024 and filed in the office of the city clerk on Thursday November 30th 2023 in addition at its time of its preparation the agenda of this meeting was similarly deated on Friday February 2nd 2024 at 6m to the mayor Municipal Council business administrative Corporation Council and the local newspapers and posted on the city's website so I can certify as to our total compliance with the Sunshine Law law council members before we go on to our regular scheduling of the agenda there's one item that was discussed at the caucus to add to tonight's agenda and that's item 10.33 resolution 24- 088 it's a resolution authorizing a closed session of the municipal Council on Thursday February 22nd 2024 at 5:00 p.m. to discuss issues related to pending ation may I have a motion to rela um Gilmore I'll good I'm gonna give Gilmore the motion and I'm going to give the close second to council person CLE to be fair to add item 10.33 resolution 24- 088 to the agenda council person Ridley hi council person priner Hi council person Bano hi council person CLE hi council person Solomon hi Council person Gilmore I council person Dees hi and council president wman motion carries 80 would council person Rivera absent to add item 10.33 resolution 24088 to the agenda all right council members going on to our regular scheduling programming on oh I'm so sorry ba needs to just with the Clos session um I just want to note that we will be uh withdrawing the um items for consideration for the settlements so that would be items um 10:30 10:29 10:30 10:31 uh and 10:32 so we'll we'll re approach it when we do the resolutions but just a reminder that we're going to be withdrawn sorry I I didn't mean to be in to rush there ba I appreciate that so we're going to withdraw from 1029 through 10:32 and I'm going to mock the agenda as such and I will will do a reminder when we get to that portion of the agenda all right getting the camera on us all right if you would allow me to read the first readings into the record um item 3.1 city ordinance 24-4 is an ordinance of the municipal Council adopting amendments to the PowerHouse Arch District Redevelopment plan to incorporate Ed educational uses before I move on I believe that council person Solomon wanted to make a change to the actual plan and I don't have access to do that so if you uh would like to read into the record the actual change you would like to suggest council person Sal sure um this is the change that was discussed at caucus of narrowing the def of a the proposal had been to add as a permitted use educational uses and to instead of adding educational uses to add uh the definition of schools um so it just is um item 20 and it's been on the list of permitted uses all the way at the end here at the last page and it it literally just says school instead of Ed educational uses has been deleted and the word school has been put in place and then school is defined in the City Zoning code um as exactly what it means and this is all on the actual plan itself correct this is the uh in the Redevelopment uh plan for the PowerHouse Arts District thank you so much coun so we'll have Tanya produce uh a new attachment for the ordinance for second reading so then um we can update the ordinance all right on to our next first reading ordinance item 3.2 city ordinance 24-5 is an ordinance authorizing the city of Jersey City to execute an extension of a lease with New Jersey schools Development Authority on the real property at block 1102 lot 52 on a city's tax map located at 70 EG Avenue for the purpose purposes of temporary parking for the Vier J JC service item 3.3 city ordinance 24-6 is an ordinance supplementing chapter 332 vehicles and traffic article 3 parking standing stomping amending section 332-22 parking prohibited at all times and section 33227 angle parking on Elm Street West of Kennedy Boulevard council members I'm going to be taking a vote for introduction on items 3.1 through 3.3 council person Ridley I for introduction council person Prince AR I for introduction council person bajano Hi council person SLE hi for introduction council person Solomon hi council person Gilmore I for introduction council person Dees I for introduction and council president wman hi items 3.1 through 3.3 are introduced 80 with council person revera abson on to our second reading ordinance and there's only one second reading ordinance item 4.1 city ordinance 24-3 an ordinance supplementing chapter 332 vehicles and traffic Article 2 traffic regulations amending section section of Westside Avenue and pavon Avenue as a multi-way stop control intersection this is a public hearing on this ordinance any member of the public wishing to be heard please come up to the podium and state your name for the record motion motion to close a public hearing on city ordinance 24- 003 was made by council president wman seconded by council person Cay is a very close second on the motion to close the public hearing on city ordinance 24- 003 council person Ridley I council person priner council person Bano hi council person SLE I council person Solomon hi council person Gilmore I council person Dees Council and council president wman motion carries 80 with council person Riva absent to close the public hearing on city ordinance 24- 003 for final consideration and Adoption of city ordinance 24- 003 council person Ridley I council person priner I council person bajano I council person Cay I council person Solomon I council person Gilmore I council person Dees I and council president Waterman city ordinance 24- 003 is adopted 80 with council person Rivera absent okay ladies and gentlemen and council members and everybody here we are now approaching our public request for a public hearing I am going to be calling the number just let me finish the statement and I'll defer back to you councilman and I'll be calling the number in the first name just housekeeping rules you'll have three minutes and please hold your applause if I I know it's passionate subjects that you may be speaking about but we all want to be respectful to one another and we want to have a very good and quiet and um easy uh public hearing so with that being said I'm gonna turn it over to council person ban all right before we start I'd like to read something to the people because up in Ward SE we have so many issues going on it's unbelievable but in regards to the Persian field ice R been involved with Yousef and Solomon quite a bit on this and would like to update the community on the progress we made in addressing their concerns over the past week I've had several meetings with them and professionals and the administration regarding the state of the ice ring the full extent of the issues for the nearly 30e old system were presented and discussed while we are still waiting on a full report from an expert in response to the community feedback I am optimistic that the administration will have both a shortterm and a long-term solution to Ure to ensure the ice ring is restored to its full use as soon as I have the timeline and all the details of our options I will present everything to the public at this time I can share that there are no plans to move the location of the ring it's not moving from that spot moreover I would like to assure everyone that I will use the full force of my office and the other Council people I'm sure will agree with me to ensure that the children and residents have a viable ice ring as soon as possible thank you okay our first public speaker 5.1 lever on H Street it's been closed for 20 years I've been begging this not this Council but former Council that place been closed and it's a nice location and our part of the city to put a ice ring you know we we need to focus this is one big city around here not everything go in one area of the city that pool been closed for 20 years and we can make it where you come out on commun right cross from Lincoln High School and it's a doable cuz I have asked people 15 20 years ago about this we can put all that money up in the hikes let's put something down there on community peray Avenue it's doable and don't say it ain't doable because it is I asked people 15 20 years ago out doing this they talking about they didn't have the money we got money for everything else but when it comes to Ward f we don't have no money you know there's a lot of things going on that we need to build up in other part of the city these children do not if you're not a resident a p up there by P field you got to pay when my nephew lived up there my grand my grand nephews and they went swimming my kids went if you didn't live there you got to pay am I right councilman that's got that area I'm talking to you you if you're not if you're not a regent in that area you got to pay right I believe everyone has to pay regardless oh now everyone it us should didn't be that way it used to didn't be that way but if you wasn't the red that be $150 $2 am I right for the ice rink I believe is talking about the swimming pool oh swimming pool yes and we we recently removed the fees for the children under 18 and then we bumped up the fees for the adults yeah but it was a fee for the kids too but my my point is you're right this is a big city I know I used to take kids downtown here another private ice cre down here right back us if you don't live there you can't use it but when you go coming up go north where you was that South what do you call your War councilman Southwest or something we don't have nothing like this we don't have this for these children and we need to think about that this is a big city and we got kids from all cult all walks of life we need help please and the second thing is we need some more help with housing please we need help with housing I don't know what happened to the affordable Hing they not building it and what has been built is not enough it's not enough and I need your support for this community and this city thank you and be blessed thank you thank you our next speaker 5.2 Gina evening Council uh is this okay yes I want to thank youall as always uh for your time attention advocacy as usual uh we appreciate your community appreciates you and your service um I'm here again before you concerned about Public Safety and Health and Human Services uh in this city uh today you have agenda 10.12 uh resolution 24- 067 um continuing to look towards providing animal control control and Sheltering to the town of Gutenberg we do not yet have a shelter that is up and running properly you all saw on Monday how we don't even know what the capacity is of our current city run shelter that is being set up and when asked about the capacity numbers y'all were given answers like oh we're still ordering kennels right if we're still in the position of setting up our own shelter why are we trying to jump in and start helping other municipalities with their efforts at Animal Control I'm coming to you as part of a collective of rescue organizations in the city there are people who also give of their time their money I personally had a foster cat all this fall that LHS did not have room for I specifically had gone to LHS multiple times trying to get Services trying to get help for this cat and all of the onus fell on me I spent $2,000 of my own money taking care of a cat that was surrendered to me by a neighbor because they had no other option this city run shelter was promised to us to be better than LHS and the services provided by LHS that's what we were sold and so far not good so far we don't even have a website for our city animal Sheltering services that allow people to sign up to volunteer that allow people to donate and allow people to go and view foster animals that they could potentially either Foster or adopt we don't have any of that why are we looking to other municipalities already and how we can serve them when you hear Paul and his team up here talk to you about we rely on our partners our rescue Partners you're talking about people in this community who have been begging for help for over a decade and so to continue to rely on us doesn't cut it anymore this is our own money our own time that we put on the line because we care about the animals and our neighbors and this community and so we ask you to continue to hold the city accountable for these services that are Contin continuously lacking thank you for your time thank you je our next speaker 5.3 Tina hey guys Justice for drill I want to say um again for nonprofit Community um I wanted to say this is Black History Month W I don't know what's going on with the Martin place like it been empty for years I've been living at 450 Martin Luther King Mar 450 Martin Luther King and you know that Martin place like that's in our community that should be open to have resource like that's our community maybe we can do something to change that right there so maybe we can have a discussion why it's not open maybe you can tell the community maybe you let me know later I would love to know about that and I would love to know why is so many of that purple van in that space why we didn't use that space for nonprofit why we use that for the purple BS that's our community why they didn't ask us we needed some resource for that like I'm still holding off of space I'm still helping the community for free like why why I can't get no help like I'm running around doing everything but I can't get no help I'm not just looking at you because I'm looking at you because I'm cool with you and you understand cuz you in our community but I love all of y'all I I respect all of you but you know that's how I'm able to talk it's like with you um I'm um was in a a situation because of who I love and who I care for um I didn't like that situation I got a phone call I was down south with my father um he was doing surgery for his heart and I got a situation because I liked the picture and I didn't like putting myself in that predicament because I love who I love it's not my fault that people don't know how to change and we don't know how to come together and that's what we should be able to do as grown people we should be able to break the curse as generation and be able to come together because we all went through some type of situation as hurt as generations and we should be able to come together and not continue to suffer as what we doing and I want to tell everybody I'm going to love who I love regardless of what if you in the community and you helping my community out because we go through a lot I'm going to love you so you going to either like me or not regardless of what I keep telling people I was born in alab B my bathroom was outside so you can't um sit up there and just throw stones at me and stuff like that I'm just going to take them stones and eat them Stones up because I'm for the community I'm for nonprofit and I'm for resource and I'm from changes and I need for y'all to come together and forgive and do the right thing and let's help out our community and let's find out what we can do different in war F guys come on like please I know all the wars need help but let's all come together and do a solution let's try to change the game up that's what it's about changing the game thank you Tina thank you our next speaker 5.4 Edward in the spirit of Black History Month I stand here and voke Fanny L HR and we are sick and tired of being sick and tired like Miss L say our community is being underresourced and underserved by this government how can we trust you how can we learn to deal with you when your ears are shut to our cries Tina referred to the purple the purple vans that's the Via service you've allowed the mayor to privatize our public transportation services there are people who can't afford it those rides aren't a$1 60 like the New Jersey Transit buses those rides are $3 of $3 or more you put dirty cars with the fuel that's environmental hazardous for our community we already suffering and many of our people don't get those jobs many black people are not driving the Via so there you have it another example of you turning your back on us but coming into our community stealing our stealing our land and resources and we're not even allowed to benefit from it in the spirit of Martin Luther King war is never the answer militarism is never the answer this body is weak we cannot get a ceasefire and our resolution from this body and that's sad that's more than sad it's immoral it's unacceptable a ceasefire resolution it's not just about Palestinian people it's not just about Israeli people it's about peace it's about all of us and the spirit of black history I say that our community Will Survive we resist who among you will join us who among you has your ears and hearts open to us thank you thank you our next speaker 5.5 Cameron hello my name is Cameron or live in Ward c um and uh guess I I want to Echo um words of people who went before me um it's uh they were saying it's black history month but um you know it's very important that that we have black history month and that we remember the struggles that have gone before and that we respect them and that we continue to build them um because the fight's not over and um um you know black Black History Month it should you know the best way to honor it is to do the things that need to be done to realize full equality um things like what we others have already been talking about um you know lack of access to an un unequal access to housing and equitable equitably funded education and transportation Health Care Mental Health Services we still have a long way to go and so the council needs to I think take the opportunity this month to really put in some extra efforts um we're wa you know I think there's 7,000 evictions or something every month in Jersey City uh um so that the homeless shelters that we have are definitely not enough the non- affordable affordable housing is not enough um and when we don't have the city doesn't have enough resources it needs to fight for them we can't just be happy with or accept what what we what the state or the federal government is providing we have to fight with the community for for what the city needs um but also allocate our own resources better uh over 100,000 million dollars a year for police but you know eight for public um Public Health um and I also want to remember that MLK uh said that the bombs that explode in Vietnam explode at home so are we going to honor his legacy we're going to call for a ceasefire are we going to say that the money that's been going to kill people overseas in Palestine in all over the world but right now there's a big movement in Palestine and it's not at all divisive four 4.2 million union members um 12 and a half million people in cities that have called for ceasefire it's time for Jersey city do the same thank you okay our next speaker 5.6 Richard Richard make sure the mic is can you hear me now you go honorable Council in reference to Jersey Journal opinion section on Friday February 2nd 2024 there was an article about the Hoboken food delivery debate the ebikes and the es scooters uh the Reverend Alexander M santor pastor of the Church of Our Lady of Grace and St Joseph uh he was talking to the uh in his article stating that Hoboken has a zero vision program they reduce the speed limit in Hoboken to 20 M an hour but it doesn't address the E Scooters or the ebikes he went on to talk about that there's a complete disregard from these drivers about red lights stop signs wrong way on one way they do not you stay in the bike Lanes they alternate between the streets in the sidewalks they go over the 20 M hour speed limit They Ride alongside cars and pull in front of them at intersections and they disregard pedestrians wherever they are at the intersections he further stated that one of his parishioners was badly hurt and he was upset and vo's opinion he wants the Hoban police to give more tickets and have more enforcement and rebuttal to that and uh fanti the director of Public Safety and the former Hoboken police chief states that he cannot enforce his way out of this problem he further stated that they gave a 100 tickets out related to this problem in 2023 he said it's hard and dangerous to stop the violators and enforcement alone will not work I think in Jersey City we're a little bit small tomor we can do something different we can get all the stakeholders together community outreach centers the bike and safety organizations the business and Resident organizations they can educate these people who deliver their food who's better to talk to them than they are they're their employer and the city council uh I wouldn't like to get a letter like this about the Jersey City if I was on the council and we should monitor the enactment of Senate Bill s 4132 and see what progress is being made my opinion there should be a canary and a call mine for you on the council thank you thank you okay our next speaker 5.7 Tony good evening Council good evening an interesting thing has occurred to me when I think about the greetings for those who are at War right now and that is both greet each other with peace the thing about peace though is that it's not something you get to claim as a brand or an identity peace is an embodiment it is a place you find inside yourself not a placard that you wear around in public and in private speak a language of violence because in my experience peace does not reside in the same dwelling as hate it is a path of least resistance it is cheap it is accessible but it is also useful and as I reflect on the past two weeks I have never been more in touch with my ability to hate with my ability to exact Revenge with my ability to seek out my pound of Flesh from those that wish us harm and it took some time but as my better Angels continuously called I finally picked up and realized that it is not a place I can operate from and it is not a place that anyone has to operate from but can be a tool a tool to challenge my capacity for love even as satisfying the rush of adrenaline that would surely come from claiming an eye for an eye for those that choose violence I would imagine that waking up every day and thinking the only way forward was to hate me my family and my community is a far greater punishment than I could ever Levy and I have seen firsthand that ultimately the hate that will be cast against my people and my community will tear apart the very fabric that it has woven just as we know that when someone doesn't match the intensity of the hate their Community they are cast aside for not participating at a level deemed necessary by their own steering committee a committee that calls to make lists of Jewish community members with the expressed intent of harassing them including people they have never met never interacted with and do not know and even with all of that what fundamentally speaks to me and what I wish to share with you is a quote from Nelson Mandela no one is born hating another person because of the color of their skin or their background or their religion people must learn to hate and if they can learn to hate they can be taught to love but love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite and I can acknowledge that in times like these it can be very difficult to feel the truth in that but I assure you that he was on to something and that is something that gives me hope and that is something I can find my peace in the people in this room were not born to hate they were taught it they gave it a name and with it an identity but it's not who they are at their core and to bridge the gap and create meaningful peace in our community we must not see each other for the identities that have been created they are an illusion an illusion that allows us to circumvent the basic Humanity in every single one of us so why don't we all take a good look in the mirror and see what it's like to be human for a change good night thank you our next speaker 5.8 Phillip president Joyce V and members of the city council I am Phil carington I'm here to talk about improper policing as we relate to the fire department under the corrupt administration of Steve Phillip as a result of that I have asked repeatedly for an investigation by the FBI or the right governing body and remove and arrest Steve philli in handcuffs from office I didn't just not just saying this I brought with me today uh a full transcript that's not written by this black man it's written by the court so the facts that I'm speaking of or have spoken of is in that transcript anyone get a copy of that additionally I'm also I'm asking for the the discipline of members of the fire department for improper enforcement of the laws from the DCA uh they are well they are in part of a a a document that I submitted and I'm not going to call it a man time just just not for the time however uh repeatedly over and over these characters or actors have done uh Injustice to me and to the black community as well additionally I'm asking for the right governing body is it the attorney general or the court to sanction and or punish members of the law department for their continuously operating in bad faith and unethical Behavior Uh they knly continuously submit willfully false statement to the court again I'm not saying what I want say without documents I have a transcript anyone can get a copy of it to them they know that the witness lied repeatedly over and over on the oath and they certifi that as fact additionally I'm calling also for the unethical behavior of just Christine verett who know knew over and over that the witness lied not mistaken lied repeatedly over and over she upheld that St those statements and say that she she R her decision based upon the credible tell um testimony of the witness let me just give you a short notice of how Preposterous that behavior was and I questioned Miss Watson did you testify to the court that I did have the second form of regress it was made of the wood for her her answer is it is not code compliant let me go a little further Miss Watson let me ask I hear that you're saying it I just want to Simply ask a question thank you Phil so with all due respect I submit a letter asking for additional 30 seconds thank no Phil oh we have 80 speakers sorry thank you your time is up very well all due respect our next speaker 5.9 Evelyn is Evelyn here not here 5.10 Amory good evening council members and good evening Community sorry you're behind me but I address you as well I'd like to take the first portion of my time for silence so please join me the quiet that we just heard is to honor in this Black History Month the Washington family who lost Drew on a August 27th 2023 just this past August and that silence that we all listen to is also the silence that counselors Solomon Gilmore and Rivera and the community members who are sitting down together and communicating through email to plan a special gold standard program for those those who are mentally challenged or addiction challenged in Jersey City that silence is honoring this work and it's also echoing the silence that we're hearing from our mayor over all these months and we could even say years now the word from the mayor has been silence this does not help move a program forward the behavioral health team that we want can only come about by the efforts of President Waterman who appointed the three counselors I named and has community members sitting at the table and working together but we need other departments and I respect that it's hard to orchestrate the meeting times of so many departments but we must move forward so I leave you only with this question and I know it's not directed directly at you my question is this are you with us mayor FIP are you with us mayor FIP thank you thank you am our next speaker 5.11 MO hello again fifth time's a charm huh well you already know my stance on calling for a ceasefire by now but my purpose today is to speak to you as a father of a 2-year-old boy and a baby girl on the way my wife who's standing right behind me here is seven months pregnant and we can't wait to meet our baby girl so in honor of my pregnant wife and my future baby girl I'd like to focus this speech on the pregnant women of Gaza so I'm going to start off with one of the most horrific stories that happened just last week an Israeli tank ran over a pregnant Palestinian woman back and forth and back and forth until the fetus came out of her body do you do I need to repeat this again for you do you think I enjoy telling the story hell no but do you need to hear it absolutely why because I'd like you to tell me how this act of Pure Evil is Def Israel defending itself how this act of Pure Evil is targeting or thwarting Hamas imagine being a father that Witnesses this happened to your wife and unborn child would you as a father sit there ID for the rest of your life doing nothing or join a resistance against the oppression of barbaric murder of your people this is just one of the thousands and thousands of stories there are 50,000 pregnant women in the Gaza Strip according to the United Nations population fund and more than 180 births taking place every day the complete breakdown of the healthc care system coupled with the lack of food clean water and proper sanitation means that 50,000 pregnant women and 68,000 breastfeeding mothers in Gaza are facing the risk of preclampsia anemia bleeding infections and death and even when they give birth there isn't enough fuel to keep incubators running which results in deaths of many newborns premature births have also increased by 30% as stressed and traumatized pregnant women face many challenges such as walking long distances in search of safety running away from bombs and being crowded in unsafe shelters and there's now a significant increase in miscarriages congenital abnormalities still births mental health disorders and maternal deaths and now there is no space left for newborns and not enough medical staff to care for them thus resulting in newborns being grouped together and being abandoned for hours on end and just a couple days ago the Israeli occupation forces arrested and detained a pregnant woman as a hostage with no charges which they do regularly and speaking of hostages you're about to hear a group of dehumanizing Hypocrites that are here today asking for the release of their hostages without a mention of the over 10,000 Palestinian hostages being held a majority of which are held without charge or due process I'm standing here right now as a father and a husband to a pregnant wife looking you directly in the eye asking you to Simply make a statement as a city as human beings saying that this needs to stop permanently if you're unable to do this simple gesture because of pressure from a group of people that think Palestinians are subhuman specifically those that contribute to some of your campaigns then you are a failure of a human being and are simply heartless so in the spirit of newborns and babies here's a little nursery rhyme I wrote for you guys it's time for you to swallow your pride and push these lying zionists aside because now you can no longer hide it's time for you to take the side of human beings that have had their rights denied it's time for you to call for an end to this genocide thank you thank you our next speaker okay all right all right all right go ahead Sean our next speaker 5.12 Mary Mary here no okay thank you next 5.13 MEA good evening good evening $1 million a day of our tax dollars have been going towards guns bombs and chemical weapons used to slaughter tens of thousands of innocent civilians in Gaza including 12,000 children they have been used to kill innocent civilians in the West Bank by the IDF and armed settlers they've been used to kill Israeli hostages by quote unquote Friendly Fire why is this a local issue our tax dollars are contributing to the horror that has been unfolding for over a 100 days in Kaza that 10 million a day could instead be used towards infrastructure or social services in our cities Jersey City is in dire Financial Straits despite our taxes having been raised by 30% over the last few years this is also a local issue because thousands of our residents have been directly impacted by the war crimes that are being committed by us by our complicity our mil military attacks are now targeting Iraq Syria and Lebanon the escalation of this violence will beget more violence which will affect all of us and make none of us safe this is a local issue because it is a humanitarian and moral issue that affects every citizen of the United States it is not a complicated issue just like slavery in the United States or apartheid in South Africa were not complicated issues the word complicated is used by people who benefit politically or financially from the oppression of others the oppression and genocide of the Palestinian people is not complicated supporting a permanent ceasefire at our local level will help alleviate some of the grief Jersey City residents are feeling and it will help amplify our voices at the federal level 80% of Democrats are demanding a permanent ceasefire and Biden and the Democratic officials who do not support this are in danger of losing the election over this issue 70 cities in the United States including San Francisco Seattle and Chicago have signed ceasefire resolutions and that number keeps growing Union City just passed a ceasefire resolution last night come November yeah come November we will remember the elected officials who stood on the side of humanity and those who chose to ignore the massive suffering of their fellow human beings in your possession is a proposal for a cease fire resolution which was drafted by members of the ceasefire now New Jersey Coalition made up of hundreds thank you so much thank you our next speaker 5.14 Maya hello again um first I would like to say in solidarity with Drew and those advocating for mental health services I agree with what they're pushing for used to live in Denver after the murder of Elijah McCain we had a program where you could have mental health response instead of police it was fantastic I encourage you to check it out uh the second reason I'm here like I said last time is I'm Jewish my family's Israeli and I'm begging you to pass the ceasefire resolution um for a ceasefire in Gaza since I came for the first time because of moving here last the last city council meeting hundreds of Palestinians have been killed possibly more of the hostages are dead more people have been detained without trial and been actively tortured and more people have died of starvation and dehydration I just came today from um doing some civil disobedience in New York City uh to call attention to President Biden and beg him for a ceasefire and then I came here and on the path I was thinking what are the magic words that I can say that will reach into you guys' hearts and motivate you to pass this ceasefire resolution and it made me very sad that I was thinking that because the reason I'm thinking what is a magic word what is a magic word is because I'm just one person right all of us are just random people coming together in a community begging for this and I'm thinking every day what can I do for there to be peace you have a position of power you can join 70 cities and towns Across America who are exerting upward pressure on our government for a ceasefire for a return of the hostages for a return of the prisoners for an end occup a you can join them and exert that power you have that position since the last time I got up here I've heard Horror Story upon Horror Story I don't even want to go into the mall because I know that you've heard them I don't know what the magic word is is it six-year-old hin who I listen to on a phone trapped in a car every other person her family in the car had been killed and then the Rescue Services that came to save her from from Israeli tank shelling went missing we don't know where she is for six days a six-year-old girl H the only Survivor of her family I don't know what more stories it will take hostages we've learned a fifth of them are dead whether killed by Hamas friendly fire or by the bombings themselves or starvation or lack of water I don't know we can't go another day like this at the end of the day when I go home tonight I can look at myself in the mirror and say today you did what you could you were just one person but you did what ever you could for peace can you say the same when you go home tonight can you say the same did you do everything that you could to stop these atrocities thank you thank you our next speaker 5.15 Justin four months of showing up to meeting after meeting demanding a ceasefire resolution imploring you to show solidarity and to show your Humanity only to be met with a watered down and weak resolution that will still turn down and then face with what has felt like plan ignoring from this Council on this issue we have marched rallied called and protested for Palestine against the hyperviolet Zionist regime against our corrupt government's participation in general genocide and against the killing and holding hostage of innocent civilians there is no patience for cowardice and complicity with genocide and you must all be held accountable for your Injustice there's been plenty of misguided anger and disappointment with Jersey City wondering why this city many of us are so proud of has done nothing but what is true is that we the people have done our part and we continue to do our part we do that in spite of a president who has funded a genocide in service of this country's bloodthirst and Colonial interests here in our own State a governor that has remained silent about Gaza while Representatives like Josh gottheimer of District 5 an 870,000 APAC beneficiary works hard to silence students on campuses State officials Express support for Israel's so-called defense giving the thumbs up to more aid for weapons while pro-israel lobbyists line their pockets and manipulate our system of governance Senator Corey Booker with over 750,00 th000 from APAC focuses on Hamas and Israeli hostages totally ignoring the many thousands of Palestinians being held prisoner by Israel Senator Menendez our resident crook has accumulated over $2.5 million in APAC campaign funds in his career and currently faces charges of corruption and bribery his son Rob Junior our house representative has racked up over 141 contributions withth over $35,000 from APAC in just one term I guess spending blood money is why he won't return the cause of his constituents when it comes to Palestine and here in Jersey City we reckon with our mayor step Phillip who has also chosen to ignore the Palestinian catastrophe instead commenting on supposed increases in anti-Semitism while the frequency of islamophobia increases in Jersey City and across our nation Stephen we will remember this in your run for governor without you without your approval we know what we fight for we fight for a permanent end of Israeli presence in Palestine we fight for an end to the siege we fight for the Palestinian right to return to their rightful land all of it we fight for a release of all the imprisoned and we fight for the Palestinian right to self-determination and a reminder to our Zionist in the crowd that from The River To The Sea Palestine will be free settlers will be banished from Palestine and long live the in father thank you our next speaker 5.16 Aron good evening Council good evening did you know that a fire happened to block away from here just two weeks ago did you know that this fire left several of your neighbors displaced did you know we've hardly received an apology from the restaurant where this started and the management company who owns the building my neighbors my partner and I are mentally and emotionally drained from this fire this will forever be a traumatizing incident to recall I am not here at the city council meeting asking for your pity or your sympathy as a resident of Jersey City I am here to seek some answers this process has revealed that in the event of an emergency it's too hard to figure out who is the right person to speak to fire prevention told us to file an opera request with the office of the city clerk the resident Response Center told us to submit a c click fix report countless phone calls and emails have been sent to the Code Compliance and landlord tenant relations departments with little to no response no one has been able to give me a straight answer or help I am looking for a single source of truth that says if you have been affected by a fire here is what you should do fellow tenants and I have been more than understanding that this was an unforeseen event getting answers requires time and patience but knowing the situation could have been worse makes me sick this probably is not the first fire where the fire escape was blocked and fortunately it will not be the last this community deserves safe infrastructure this community deserves a safe means of exiting a burning building this community deserves to have a clear understanding of what to do in a crisis for the rest of my fellow residents of Jersey City listening I urge you to check your fire escapes and ensure they are up to code I urge you to ensure that all of your building fires safety and prevention measures are in place most importantly your smoke and carbon monoxide detectors and to this city council I ask again for a resource that gives clear guidance on what to do in the event of a fire emergency after 911 who do I call just a minute go ahead J Aron if I could I could speak to you after while the comments are going because I know the area that you're in and I can walk you through what we can do and how to help you get answers sorry that you haven't gotten them already right greatly appreciated thank you you're welcome our next speaker 5.17 Julie good evening I want to start by saying that using our hard-earned tax dollars to supply nuclear weapons to Israel to relentlessly cpet bomb and build illegal settlements on Stolen land and the graves of thousands of innocent civilians will never under any circumstances be considered holy the first time I attended a pro Palestinian rally in Jersey City was on May 18th 2021 this is where I first met councilman Yousef on October 15 2023 I contacted Yousef to check on his family when he mentioned that the Palestinian flag raising announcement would be postponed to avoid upsetting certain members of our community now why would the cultural celebration of the Palestinian Heritage upset anyone more importantly what does the genocide have in common with local politics and decisions both want to dishonor and erase Palestinians their history and Heritage just six weeks after stating that we should not mention Foreign Affairs and that the word genocide was offensive what does the city do establish a holocaust Remembrance Day essentially honoring and remembering another their foreign genocide then the very next day have an Egyptian flag raising the hypocrisy and audacity to even mention Egypt and pretend to celebrate us when you have proven over the last four months that you have no regard for Arabs or Humanity whatsoever while humanitarian Aid trucks rot at the Raa border and after failing to pass a ceasefire resolution that would end the genocide in Gaza Egypt's nextdoor neighbor and and the killing of our Palestinian brothers and sisters some of who are and Friends of many members of our community I lived in Egypt throughout the entirety of the Revolution that was so deeply tied to Palestinian Liberation having the flag raising and not doing the Palestinian one was deeply disrespectful and toned deaf I just want to remind you that many of us are keeping score and we will make it our life's mission to make sure that those who haven't have a detailed list of every time you failed to express Humanity when we March we chant for peace freedom equal human rights return of hostages and plead for this genocide to end and we have been met with nothing but hate harassment and new levels of islamophobia if you think we hate Jews because we love Palestinians and fight for their Humanity then what are you what then what you are implying is that killing and ethnically cleansing Palestinians is such a big part of your identity that when we defend their dignity you think we are disrespecting you that is not anti-Semitism that is genocidal narcissism when members of our community publicly State we are thrilled and grateful that the ceasefire resolution did not succeed while we audition for your Humanity that should tell you all you need to know there will never be peace until there is Justice and until Palestine is free long live the resistance thank you our next speaker 5.8 M mmud here okay our next speaker 5.19 Jessica good evening council members my name is Jess casan I'm a former software engineer and current technology teacher in the west side I'm a Catholic a member of pox Christie and aplant with the Sisters of St Joseph of Peace you may be familiar with the csjp in Jersey City including York Street project and St Joseph School for the blind today I here with you as a person of conscience to implore that this Council supports an immediate and permanent ceasefire which would ensure the release of all hostages in Gaza and a restart in the peace process I gratefully commend and thank councilman sa Gilmore and bajano for voting in favor of the previous resolution calling for the permanent ceasefire during this city ceasefire vote opposition stated that it is not the city's business to involve itself in international Affairs however the US is actively funding the state of Israel with billions of taxpayer dollars every year from the genocide in Palestine to Global Climate Devastation let us remember that Global problems are local concerns acting locally is misinformed without Global Perspective Skeptics also question the impact of city city resolution would have on such a conflict hundreds of millions of ordinary people around the world have been mobilizing to call for a ceasefire in London Tokyo Stockholm Johannesburg Milan Washington DC and more a resolution from Jersey City calling for a permanent ceasefire would add to the collective pressure on a global scale humanity is crying out and we are witnessing it right now alive genocide finally the fear of causing divisiveness within the community was another concern raised by JC city council members who had stamed from or missed the vote but this divisiveness already existed whether acknowledg or not openly discussing the issue is essential for fostering understanding and ultimately unity and true peace as Martin Luther King Jr once said true peace is not merely the absence of tension it is the presence of Justice un workers academics and journalists have been murdered including people like Renown Palestinian psychologist fedel ubu hen and literature professor raat aler and I want to share rat's poem If I must die if I must die you must live to tell my story to sell my things to buy a piece of cloth and some strings make it white with a long tail so that a child somewhere in Gaza while looking heaven in the eye awaiting his dad who left in the Blaze and bid no one farewell thank you thank you let it bring hope our next speaker 5.20 relle roelle here next speaker 5.21 Mary Mary here next speaker 5.22 AA I may mispronounce that last name is B AIG G sorry hi um dear respected Council Members Only in a dystopian world would people have to plead elected officials to join their calls to stop a genocide and convince others why they should care I'm not here to recount the countless human rights violations Israel has committed by weaponizing the grief of Jewish people for that you can watch South Africa's case at the icj instead I'm here to talk about why we as residents of Jersey City need to pass a ceasefire resolution due to not despite of its symbolic nature in 2022 mayor fulop signed a sister city agreement with Israel's youngest City in other words most recently Stolen City from the Palestinians B shimes it was initiated by the New Jersey Israel commission and meant to lead Urban revitalization and immigration and integration of Israelis into our society in other words this agreement serves to promote the settler Colonial process in Jersey City known as gentrification those of us who have lived here for over a decade have witnessed the changing landscape of this city accelerating under mayor fulop's Direction with Renovations and Redevelopment of neighborhoods increased property values and rental prices and the resulting increasing inequities impacting low and middle inome families Mr Chris gadston a formal councilman in Ward B said there have been concerns about development in the poorer neighborhoods with many African Americans and Hispanic people being displaced as a parallel a staggering 1.9 million Palestinian in Gaza more than 80% of the population have been internally displaced due to Israel's bombardment with Hellfire missiles rendering the strip completely uninhabitable it is insane that despite all this we still have a sister city agreement with the occupier one that does not bring any tangible benefits to the working class and only serves to strengthen Israel's influence on New Jersey's domestic policies as you can see this CI resolution is more than just that it symbolizes our rejection of Jersey City's role in supporting the Zionist settler colonialist project that depends on forced displacement of millions of Palestinians this issue hitting closer to home than one might initially think in Jersey City a growing Gap has formed between residents in the newer development and those who've lived here for decades only to face skyrocketing rents and an increased cost of living meanwhile nearly 20% of residents here are languishing in poverty and the cost of living continues to increase this divide exposed by a Hurricane Sandy in 2012 and black residents in Wards F and a were trapped at home without power or running water leading them to demonstrate here at City Hall and rightfully so the resolution also acknowledges the unimaginable pain of Palestinian Americans in New Jersey who have collectively had over 1,000 members of their families killed and US backed Israel's genocidal Rampage finally if your safety depends on the subjugation Massacre and suppression of 2.3 million Gins then you need to look within and examine your own hateful biases that blind you to the humanity of people in a concentration camp that are being Mass Ed with utter impunity thank Youk you our next speaker 5.23 Stephen good evening good evening Stephen Marlo from New Jersey peace action I am here today to add our voices to those calling on the city council to reconsider the resolution ution calling for a permanent and Lasting ceasefire in Gaza as one of the most diverse cities in the country it is not too late for Jersey City to add its voice to the growing number of cities across the country and around New Jersey who have led the way forward from San Francisco and Chicago to Patterson and Union City because the thinging is true all politics are local what you do here does have an impact on federal legislators and on the White House just as doing nothing has an impact but this should not be political it should be a humanitarian decision to end the killing of innocent civilians to allow Aid and food through to reopen and Supply hospitals to rebuild homes and infrastructure so that the millions who have fled can return home this is so far beyond any claims of self defense that the international court of justice is seriously considering Israel's actions as genocide yes amas should be condemned for their heinous crimes on October 6th and yes the hostages should be returned the way to get them home is with a ceasefire not with more killing and destruction we keep track of the days the number of those killed the buildings bombed the hospitals that are no longer operational all those who have been injured but there's one number you need to remember since October 7th the Israeli Defense Forces have freed one hostage one hostage in all those Dead all those Bombs all that killing their indiscriminate shooting LED them to shoot and kill three others during the temporary ceasefire in November 109 hostages were freed so please reconsider passing a permanent ceasefire resolution and then consider what you as the leaders of this city can do to heal this fractured Community once this ends because it will end and the Jersey City Community will need your leadership to heal and come together because that's what great leaders do wage peace not war award thank you our next speaker 5.24 Laura hello my name is Laura del and I am here to speak about Jersey City's delay in having a Palestinian flag raising it was scheduled for last fall and has been indefinitely put off despite it occurring in 2022 and 2021 making 2023 the third annual raising That was supposed to happen what could possibly be a valid reason to delay this event what it appears to be is succumbing to political pressure to not appear sighing with the Palestinian cause during a time when Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank are being ruthlessly killed starved and displaced what could be the justification for raising flags for other events and remembrances while simultaneously so actively avoiding the raising of arguably the most important flag right now in the city we are watching a decimation of a people every day live on our screens and Jersey City can't even raise their flag to honor the hurting Palestinian community of Jersey City to honor the Palestinian businesses we frequent every day to honor the contributions of the this group of residents who have to somehow live every day while their kin are slain overseas over and over and over again at a rate unseen in the modern world for the last four months I find that disgraceful I am imploring the council to schedule the flag raising as soon as possible not distant months from now but this month the month of February there is no approval needed from anyone to do this it is not controversial unfortunately asking for a ceasefire was too much to ask of several of the council members but what is the objection to raising a flag by the end of this month because the flag is too attach to a group of people who are currently begging for the basic human right of safety from indiscriminate bombing if so again I find that disgraceful raising the Palestinian flag is the least I repeat the least this count Council should be pushing for I applaud the other residents here tonight who continue to push for a ceasefire resolution and show up every day for the Dignity of all those suffering in Palestine and Israel right now including the hostages being held in Gaza and the thousands of those in Israeli prison prisons we are lucky to count them as our neighbors and friends and through their advocacy we are all learning what it means to stand up for what is right and necessary in a cruel and an unjust world I hope this Council takes heed thank you thank you next speaker 5.25 alen alen Eileen Eileen not here okay next 5.26 Dania did I get that right daa pretty close okay very good okay good evening Council I have brought myself before you tonight to request that you pass a resolution that calls for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza I'm going to keep this very straight to the point I'm not sure who you all really are outside of this job or what personal biases you yourself have but to not call for a permanent ceasefire at this point is something that I hope to never understand I I hope to never be tied to an understanding outside of my wish for equality for all people I've learned that I've recently moved into a city where it's okay to be islamophobic and racist because of your religion being tied into supremacist beliefs it seems that city council follows through to protect them and only them during this time and where once again it seems that the people who were voted in by the people just don't care to listen at all to the people it's been disheartening to have moved into a city where once again classism and racism are praised and rewarded who will be next am I protected here as a black person the next time that I am under threat and Seeking Justice should my community feel safe here in Jersey City when you openly ignore other marginalized communities who are begging you to care about their flights and begging for representation towards their cause innocent people have been dying for months and will continue to because we live in a corrupted world world where all people who have the power seem to lack Humanity they lie to our faces for years promise they will do all of these things and then when it hits the fan everyone turns a blind eye and forgets the votes They begged the people for I'm a workingclass woman the fact I have to come down here after work to present a plea to stop the slaughter of innocent civilians is beyond me and highly disturbing you have racists who are probably sitting in here right now saying I am a m supporter and support terrorism I want to close out this message to all those who are that Disturbed that could loudly and proudly advocate for the continuous Slaughter of the Palestinians or any people at that the problem is that you don't see yourselves in any of these people because the people that you hate because that's what racism islamophobia and anti-Semitism does and that's what the city council has been uplifting and rewarding we've been calling for a permanent ceasefire for months we want all hostages political prisoners and ending the blockade and apartheid system in Israel as a black woman I hope that we can be seen and heard along with the Palestinian people because we want peace and we want freedom and we want equality and we want our belief in the system to be restored Lord thank you thank you our next speaker 5.27 Bruth hi um I passed out a longer more detailed version of my statement to you earlier so you have that um I am Jewish and I have a number of relatives who live in Israel I care what happens to them and I want the hostages to be returned my grandparents lost many family members to the Nazis in Eastern Europe during World War II I was taught as a child that it was wrong for Germans to sit by while Nazis kill Jews the implication for today is that it is wrong for US citizens to sit by while our country funds the destruction of the Palestinian people for this reason and others I'm calling for a ceasefire in Gaza I'm particularly directing my comments to anyone who feels that voting for a ceasefire is hurting Jews or being anti-semitic on the contrary you will be doing Jews and Israelis a favor there is not one monolithic Jewish vote or Viewpoint I wanted to look at who is getting what they want from this war and who is getting hurt um the ones that are getting what they want the US arms producers the US rightwing politicians the turmoil in the Democratic party and the the and they is helping them and they are reshaping our campuses to be to turn into really conservative places most importantly the Israeli right-wing politicians and settlers are getting what they want many have publicly stated repeatedly that they want Israel to include all the territory in Greater Israel Palestine from The River To The Sea this is what lud wants the right-wing um Israeli party um I do not believe this is a war about self-defense Colombia Professor Jeffrey saaks who is Jewish has written an article called saving Israel by ending its war in Gaza he argues that the October 7th attack by Hamas quote did not reflect a new superability of Hamas to invade Israel but rather a shocking failure of Israeli security I believe this war is about territorial expansion which had already been going on at a rapid Pace in the West Bank The Wall Street Journal reported on February 4th an incre quote an increasing portion of Israelis especially on the rights instead view the October 7th attack as a chance to chart a new course for Israel by resettling the battle scarred Enclave benav laid out his own plan for Gaza which would repopulate the devastated Coastal strip with Israeli settlements while Palestinians would be offered Financial incentives to leave thank you our next speaker 5 points1 28 Albert good evening council members evening I don't have a written speech I've just been listening and thinking about what the people of Jersey City need and want a few minutes ago Erin got up here and expressed that she had an issue and council member Solomon got up and helped her immediately that's what you're here for okay I am not claiming that I was beat up by somebody else I am not claiming that I use my media to intimidate other people I do not use graffiti to dirty this city I just come here and I ask you to do what you can for the residents of Jersey City to bring us together okay after October 8th we need to be brought together by this Council we do not need to be divided by the council thank you thank you you our next speaker 5.29 Jenny good evening I'm here to speak out against anti-Semitism which grows increasingly loud and aggressive Rive in our city I'm sitting here listening to demands for a ceasefire and I actually believe most people who are calling for a ceasefire are coming from a place of empathy with a concern for victims of war in Gaza yet the rhetoric dangerously crosses the line as a threat to Jews here in this room in this city and everywhere I'm Jewish and I'm a so on the political left I've always been and I've participated in many social justice movements I'll briefly list some just for context to know my perspective better I volunteered in refugee camps in Greece and Serbia three times when millions of syrians were displaced by War in Jersey City I co-founded a Grassroots group helping refugees from Syria Afghanistan and Beyond I went to protest against two executive Muslim bands in 2017 I currently volunteer teaching English to refugees who fled war in Ukraine I joined black lives matter protests when videos of police brutality and racism surfaced I view these movements as turning points where historically silenced voices gained visibility and out of compassion I stood in solidarity it pains me to come here tonight for the fourth time pleading with the council and with those on the left whom I'm always aligned with to understand what anti-Semitism looks like I plead with you to see anti-Semitism as legitimate I implore you to recognize it as ingrained Prejudice that anyone could be complicit in there should be a process of legal accountability for anti-semitic statements in our city on social media with graffiti and stickers on our streets and especially in this room where it has been applauded furthermore the council should be responsible for removing anti-semitic vandalism recognize the following statements as anti-semitic as they violate each aspect of the official definition of anti-semitism actually calling for a ceasefire is not merely a message of Peace it implies granting terrorist organization Hamas the freedom to carry out their mission to Target Jews and to destroy the Jewish State long live the inata is a called a harm to kill harm and kill Jewish civilians in the name of an extremist ideology the term Zionism is Terrorism denies Jews the right to self-determination and threaten security Jewish security and Liberation we need to recognize the meaning behind this double speak and the potentially dangerous consequences just one person saying this can maybe make a difference thank you for your consideration of these specific requests thank you thank you thank you our next speaker 5.30 Carol good evening my name is Carol McNichol and I'm the founder of companion animal trust a Jersey City nonprofit animal rescue for context I have 20 years experience in Animal Welfare including Sheltering rescue um the P shabang um I speak tonight on two related issues Guttenberg and the Jersey City animal shelter policies first I respectfully ask that you withdraw or at least table for 6 months resolution 24- 067 for shared Guttenberg shelter services for the capacity reasons given to you in my email for which I'll repeat here the anticipated Jersey City monthly animal intake is about 166 animals a month annually that comes to 2,000 the building that that we're using may only hold about a 100 cages Liberty Humane did not have any more space than we're going to have so cage wise I don't think there's going to be much difference therefore it will not have a needed cage capacity to handle the expected intake that Jersey City animals will require that's going to be a big challenge for our shelter and for the staff we will be watching we want to help we want to navigate this with you we want to advise and get consent with the proper policies so far we have not gotten any invitation to be in consultation with the health department on this they're acting Al loan as for the current shelter policies the following are detrimental and will set the shelter up to fail um and certainly it will never achieve no kill our shelter is closed to the public period end the story it's closed you can't get in there um and by the way the state law requires shelters to be open a minimum of two hours a day right I don't know why they don't know that right Health Department doesn't know that the laws are there the the legal department isn't is helping guide this the shelter has to be open minimum two hours a day um and the preferably for no kill shelter it should be six hours or more every day requiring adopters to apply online and make an appointment is another another deficiency that's not going to work I Googled adopting a pet in Jersey City or pet adoption Jersey City nothing came up for the city shelter the city thank you thank you that fast all right thank you we'll be in touch I'm gonna call every one of you we're gonna get Mee our next speaker 5.31 Jasmine hello in 2007 I met my best friend we were in sixth grade we were attached at the hip and then the summer after she told me she had to move back home to Jordan I was confused as I remember her birthplace being Navas Palestine of course as a 12-year-old I didn't know much about anything back then but she had already dealt with not being allowed back into her Homeland land due to Israeli occupation at 13 years old currently there are 19 prisons put in place by the Israeli occupation at least 7,000 Palestinians are incarcerated 2,000 of them held without any charge 13,000 Palestinians have been arrested since 2000 all between the age of 12 and 15 did you know throwing a stone is met with 20 years in prison do you think that makes sense don't let people fool you in into thinking that it all started on October 7th don't let people fool you into thinking that this isn't a local issue either we are all connected the way that you handle this speaks volumes on how you will handle the issues of all marginalized peoples I am a self-employed artist I grind to survive it's tax season and my money is going into this mindless genocide when it could be going into education Mental Health Resources or enriching Ward F which I don't see a lot of that happening there are members of this community being threatened daily on both sides they don't deserve this hateful treatment all I see is a bloodthirsty prime minister Whose actions have erased and traumatized generations of people and yet the US won't budge on their support not even Jersey City the most diverse city in the country will budge apparently why do we remain in a system so corrupt that we are scared to even an utter ceasefire I don't know what else to say to you I really don't know what else to say to you that will make a difference to you or to anyone who thinks calling for ceasefire has genocidal intent when an actual genocide is occurring thank you thank you thank you our next speaker 5.32 God dear I'm sorry good evening my name is Hassan I've been a Jersey City resident for over a decade I'm a mother wife a physician who serves this community but today I'm speaking to you as a Palestinian all Palestinians can tell you a story of displacement and dispossession to be brief my family is originally from Yas yaffa and in 1948 during the NECA they were forcibly displaced by Zionist militias and were never allowed to return home my mother grew up under a brutal occupation in the West Bank and my father grew up in a refugee camp in Jordan now I am here able to speak to you lucky to be a privileged member of the Palestinian diaspora but the generational trauma that my family has endured is etched into my DNA and for millions of Palestinians the cycle continues collectively no matter where we are as Palestinians we mourn the loss of our homeland while trying to preserve a rich history and unique culture that Zionism has tried to systematically erase we are people who have remained resilient our spirit unbreakable our narratives indestructible always demanding Justice while having to endure Decades of Zionist oppression from settler colonialism occupation and apartheid and that is what our flag has come to represent and that is why it is being raised by people around the world in support of our Liberation as well as their own and anyone who comes here to say otherwise to weaponize words they do not understand to deny our Collective experiences and villainize us is the oppressor and prefers that we die quietly our city that Praises itself for diversity has postponed our grating and has shown no acknowledgement of our grief but most importantly has failed to call for a ceasefire to stop the genocide deem plausible by the highest court in the world a genocide that is being funded by our tax dollars and why is that why won't our city F in the footsteps of countless others that are standing on the right side of History it has been said that such actions would cause Division and alienate certain members in the city ask yourselves why why does wanting to end the Mass Slaughter of children make someone who is privileged to be living here feel unsafe how many dead children will it take to keep them safe our community deserves to live just like any other and when will you finally realize that your silence has been violent how many more children need to become orphaned or lose limbs or starve to death there is no voice no platform no politician who is exempt from their obligation to reject genocide anything else is an as an acceptance if not an endorsement so while you bring back and pass a ceasefire resolution or will you continue to silently bear witness to the eradication of the people of Gazza thank you thank you our next speaker 5.33 Kevin so again my name is Kevin Weller I live in a rent controlled building in Jersey City our hearing was in October our written determination was the first week of November in December January and now February we are still being charged illegal rents and tenants are continuing to receive brand new illegal increases after the board ordered decreases we asked what um last time you asked what the maximum increase could be under rent control and you received an answer from Miss Murray 4% or the CPI whichever is less section three of the rent Control Ordinance is titled allowable increases and it has paragraphs a through J not just paragraph a when authorized yes rent control allows for a maximum increase of 4% or the CPI whichever is less section two comes before section three and it says in B any rental increase in excess of that authorized by the provisions of this chapter shall be void and 2 C no rental increases shall be herein after demanded paid accepted except as provided in this chapter 2D any rent increase to the extent that such increase is in excess of that which is permitted by this chapter is hereby declared to be null and void and such excess rent shall be refunded or credited by the landlord forth with what is being done is a manipulation it's super easy to fix please ask Corporation Council for clarifications this is not about our case this is a question about the ordinance and this Council can and must for all tenants in the city get these answers what does the ordinance mean when it says the landlord shall register the rent roll with the rent leveling Bureau in order to qualify for any rental increase what does it mean when the ordinance says the landlord shall provide to each tenant a copy of the truth and renting statement and subsequent amendments to said statement and be in full compliance with the landlord identity disclosure provision contained within that statement in order to qualify for any rental increase what does it mean when the ordinance says any rental increase in excess of that authorized by the provisions of the chapter shall be void what does it mean when the ordinance says no rental increases shall be here and after d de demanded paid or accepted except as provided in this chapter what does it mean when the ordinance says any rental increase to the extent that such increase is in excess of which of that which is permitted by this chapter is hereby declared to be null and void and such excess rent shall be refunded or credited by the landlord forth with thank you Kevin thank you our next speaker 5.34 Jessica good evening city council um as you know on October 19th the r leveling board issued its ruling that both of our buildings Portside East and Portside West have always been subject to rent control in their ruling the board ordered a six-year look back from our first petitions in 2022 so what's happened in the over 110 days since the board's ruling not much has changed for us instead tenants in both buildings are still overpaying to the sum of nearly a million dollars a month tenants are still receiving renewal notices at illegal rates tenants have not received roll back rebates or um rates the base rate determination the landlord tenant office or I'll call it the lto for time is still not doing what they're supposed to be doing the lto has hasn't even replied to two letters from our attorneys that seek to correct the six-year math the tenants maintain 2022 - 6 = 26 I think we can agree and even equity in their lawsuit against the city acknowledges 2016 so why haven't we seen a correction issued from the landlord tenant office we haven't even heard from them since early January why haven't they even asked for 2016 leases from Equity so that damages can be calculated they haven't even started but it's all pretty simple to fix all we need to do to figure this out is the base rent per unit rents paid by the unit in each year starting in 2016 to present a calculator a pencil or Excel if you prefer and the ability to perform basic arithmetic operations like addition subtraction and multiplication but since nothing is happening I thought maybe I would help the lto by providing an example I always found those useful in math classes kind of like training wheels help me learn how to ride a bike so let's try it together what was the base rent for my unit well we know from equity's 1998 SEC filing the price per square foot which sets the base rent for my unit as 2629 $2,629 taking the difference between That Base rent and the rent we've paid since we lived at Portside which is coming up on three years we can calculate our overpayments but let's talk some real numbers in 2021 we overpaid by at least $177,000 2022 was $32,000 overpayment 2023 $45,000 overpayment and 2024 second month 2024 we've already overpaid by at least 8,000 unless you act now we'll likely overpay from likely 50,000 or more this year just my unit when I calculated these numbers I cried because we've literally been red of at least $94,000 already while we would never willingly pay that much and we were deceived and charged an illegal rate once we found out we filed illegal rent petitions and we're asking you to help us stick it out you have to have faith in the process but real action it requires action in a timely manner Equity is trying to force us out by illegally raising rent thank you thank you next speaker 5.35 Anna hello thank you so much um always good to see you um this is I love our every other Wednesday nights together um you know I think that we all know that this is a complex situation I know that you're hearing from a lot of my neighbors and colleague and friends and I know that sometimes you say that you are limited in what you can do one thing that I think that you can do is really help us understand director shyron rich Richardson and what he is doing in the office of landlord tenant relations we last year on February 8th he invited us to submit new petitions he still not responded this is a $100,000 aear job that he was appointed in by mayor Phillip um he still has not asked for documents from our landlord to implement the board determination what is he doing he's been absent what criteria according to the law of Jersey City must be met for this $100,000 a year role as per um 268 Bureau of rent leveling ordinance number 9752 there's established within the Department of Housing Economic Development and commerce a bureau of rent leveling the head of which shall be the rent leveling administrator the rent leveling administrator shall possess all the qualifications necessary to administer this chapter and the Bureau of rent leveling but shall not function as a hearing officer what are these qualifications ask I want to know if the Law Department of Jersey City can respond to this question and really clarify what the qualifications are and whether um Pastor Richardson has met them I know he's done a lot for the community I know he's a pastor in the community but I looked at his resume and I don't see any um any law background any um public housing background and I really think it's important not just for e um not just for our building but for everyone here this is important because we're counting on director Richardson to follow the ordinance in our case and so far it seems that nothing is happening the way it's supposed to so I I think that that's something that the council can do is look into that and we would I think all of us um would be interested in that response thank you so much thank you thank you our next speaker 5. 36 Lucy um so today I'm here to talk about how whenever you say we're going to help you with rent we're happy but then a couple weeks later you just forget you forget that you forget that we didn't get the money that we were paying for every single year I'm just trying to remind you that we we need help because we were paying so much money and we're and no one's really and we're just still coming here and are you guys getting bored that we're complaining about rent control every time I mean I think we just need a bit of help here thank you Lucy I don't know how you're gonna follow that up all right next 5.37 priia she here uh next speaker 5.38 Joseph evening council members my name is Joseph D vitorio I'm a tenant at Portside towers and I spoke at the last council meeting I'm back again to speak because I believe you need to continue to hear and witness the desire for Port of Portside residents to be treated in accordance with the law and the determination of the rent leveling board at the last meeting I and several of my neighbors commented at some length about the letter from our landlord's lawyer Derek re read addressed to all of you in which they describe how much Equity residents residential cares about us you have also heard at length from us that their actions are not consistent with that statement the day after the last council meeting I and other residents received an email from the general manager of Portside Towers Jack Newton stating quote we believe that the 155 Washington Tower should not be subject to any rent control until after 2027 and the federal court will agree with us she's got great powers of prognostication this person that that said as a sign of equity residentials commitment to our ongoing relationship with you and while reserving All rights we will be limiting your rent increase for your upcoming renewal to the increased amount permitted under the local rent control audience while the matter is pending in court Kevin just described to you what the allowable rent increase is why would an upcoming rental renewal be an increased amount the board ruled for a tenant recalculation to the legal rates as of 2016 a significant rent decrease her email also reminded me of another statement that Mr Reid made in his letter to you of January 19th since the outset we have expressed our client intent to comply with the bureau requests and desire to pursue paths where the city and Equity residential May reach agreements to facilitate the Swift efficient and reasonable resolution of the pending re litigation and bring Clarity to all involved what would actually provide for the Swift efficient and reasonable resolution of the pending litigation and bring Clarity for all involved in including you the city council would be for Equity residential to follow the law and the rent leveling board's ruling his offer to assist the board with the rent calculations puts me in mind of the proverbial fox in the hen house professions of good faith by Equity are the kinds of statements that are necessary in Civic communication it helped keep these kinds of disagreements civil and professional however it doesn't require you to believe them thank you than you thank you Joseph speaker 5.39 Sylvia good evening tonight I'll be reading the speech of one of my um neighbor at Portside Towers his name is uh Dr David Mason he was supposed to give his first speach tonight but he's sick so here we go um tonight I asked this fundamental question why is this hard let's use a simple analogy someone's going around Jersey City taking other people's cars turn out we all know who they are so a group of us who've had our cars taken bring them in front of a deciding body and make the case that not only would we like for them to stop we'd also like our cars back they argue they were allowed to take our cars because no one told them not to the deciding body concludes the cars should be given back and they should be made without delay to stop taking anymore the guy taking the cars walks out and just says Nah I think I'll just keep it up why is this hard the guy taking the cars is free as is everyone in our society to Avail himself of the full spectrum of legal tools to try to debate the decision and be allowed to keep taking people cars or get someone else to pay for the cost of returning the cars or whatever else it is they are trying to do but if the original decision was proferred to be upheld without delay no legal state to the ruling it seems simple enough the cars that have been already taken must be returned now so again why is this hard the decision came nearly 4 months ago my neighbors have been telling you for months that no one has made them give a metaphorical cars back no one has seen a single dime of our stolen monies returned no one has seen a single rent correction why is this hard folks people are breaking the law right in front of your faces in this country criminality is criminality and as we're seeing in political news this fundamental Truth by Design stretches all the way from the labor to the president the law is the law and it's your job to uphold it failing to expeditiously address broken laws is itself breaking the law why is this hard I grant that this is an unreasonable evocation but it was recently International Holocaust trem brants day both of my grandparents were survivors my grandmother was very special to me and had a lasting impact on who I am in the stories she told what broke her heart most was the complicity the reluctance of those seeing something to stop it negligence is complicity stolen money is an entirely unbalanced comp comparison to the ousness of that period but four months with no change no remor thank you thank you speaker 5.40 brenon hello all this is my my name is Brendon this is my second time coming to speak with you about Portside I'm a recent Resident and I've been and like everyone we're supposed to get our rent lowered last time I was here I spoke to you about L about what we could do with this how the city would profit from our rent being lowered and the money going into our economy now I'm here to point out a simple fact the city needs to repair persing field if only there was a way we could get some funding for it like I don't know actually finding the landlord for not upholding not being in compliance with city laws they are our building is a luxury building yet our elevators constantly break our city is our this is a luxury building where I sleep with four blankets some nights to stay warm this building is often not habitable and has had frequent pest issues and yet there's been no fines and no issues I know one tenant had to report their report having water leaking in their home to on click fix just to get someone get port side to respond to the maintenance request they put in two months ago so what could you do I don't know actually start finding them for day for all their daily negligence and oh restrict their permits to repair things until they actually work with the city board and become in compliance that's one of the possible tools the city offer the city has multiple ordinances to deal with bad landlords that are breaking the law yet you aren't using any of them I hope we could change that thank you thank you thank you uh next speaker 5.41 Daniel good evening council members this is my first appearance before the council and let me start by thanking you all for working with us tenants to get the rent leveling board's decision enforced now I moved to Jersey City in 2021 and it was actually my first time moving out from my parents home besides College um my first and only residence in Jersey City has been at Portside towers and not long after moving my girlfriend and now wife moved in with me at Portside now the rent at the time it felt High especially considering you know this was my first apartment but it was manageable and together my my wife and I we were able to start saving money for my wife who was a first generation immigrant from Colombia to obtain higher education here in the United States um with the hopes that she could pursue her dream to become a clinical psychiatrist hoping to help others with their mental health struggles while pursuing her dreams here in the United States the land of opportunity unfortunately those dreams were put on hold uh because in 2022 we were faced with a rent increase of nearly 30% making it impossible for us to save her education and despite my pleading to the management at Equity to make some sort of compromise they wouldn't budge putting an immense Financial strain on both myself and my wife the fact is that despite the rent leveling board's binding decision Equity residential has demonstrated an unwillingness to follow their lawful obligations and has made it clear where their priorities lie in fact us tenants received an email a couple of weeks ago as my neighbor Joseph mentioned from the general uh manager at Portside making it clear she does not intend to abide by the rent leveling board's buying decision indicating in her email that rent increase will be limited for our upcoming renewals which as we all know does not abide by the rent leveling board's actual decision to roll back rents to 2016 rates in addition residents renewing their leases are receiving them with an addendum indicating that the building is not subject to rent control when of course as we all know by now it is again giving equities unwillingness to abide by the law I thank you again council members for helping us tenants to ensure that the rent level Ling board's decision is enforced thank you thank you speaker 5.42 Sonia good evening council members my name is Sonia kishna on this day 10 years ago my husband and I came to this country excited full of positive outlooks it was me to be for 3 years what can I say we're still here we made this our second home we chose this city we love Jersey City but every story has two sides little did we know that we would have to speak in front of our City's Council week after week little did we know how true the term everything is legal in Jersey is little did we know that we would face lie after lie and betrayal after betrayal by our landlord and never ever did we imagine that the laws aren't worth the paper that they are written on in this city I do understand that we are talking about big topics here that can have the tendency to feel too abstract I also understand in you that in your de briefs you might still come to the conclusion that a small group of very stubborn entitled rich people are just whining a bit and that they will eventually go away that's why today I want to share a story of a neighbor from our buildings who cannot be here tonight a mother of three watch one of which depends on a wheelchair obviously this neighbor cannot spend her nights here that's why we are here for her and the tens of thousands of people in this city we share this sad reality with to make this easy I just quote from a conversation we had the day before yesterday in our group chat here is the mother's post huge elevator issues in East Tower waited for 25 minutes with my son in the we wheelchair begging his school bus to wait he missed his first therapy session and my other son missed his breakfast no notification from main office and later it's not only today when we have had issues to get my son to school there have been 20 to 30 such mornings during the past three and a half years we have lived here he has missed a lot of therapies because of equity residential if we received a simple notific ation we could prepare accordingly and carry him down but they don't even bother notifying us how does this go together with equity's lawyer Derek Reed's letter to this city council stating I quote Equity residential cares deeply about the its tenants relationships it disgusts me how Equity treats people it makes me very sad that you've been letting this happen for such a long time and it's still happening to this day 10 years ago I would have never thought that this was even a possibility in the United States of America I've learned a lot thank you thank you next speaker 5.43 rhan thank you good evening council members my name is Ranna MAOI and I'm speaking to you for the second time this is a classic David and Goliath story most folks are familiar with the adversarial scenario between the imbalanced competing interests in this case 527 individual and family units at Portside Towers an equity residential the $22 billion Corporation who is held bent on squashing the efforts of these folks behind me the original owner of Portside Towers did not file a claim of exemption therefore Equity purchased two rent controlled properties this was the unanimous ruling by the rent leveling board at our Hearing in October 2023 the board ordered the bureau to obtain all documents in order to recalculate the rates and damages we're now in February and this still hasn't happened the day after I last spoke about acting in good faith versus bad faith we received an email from the building management that said and I quote as a sign of equity residential's commitment to our ongoing relationship with you and while reserving All rights we will be limiting your rent increase for the upcoming renewal to the increased amount permitted under the local rent Control Ordinance while the matter is pending in court we expect that you understand that if slash once we Prevail in court your subsequent increases will be based on the market as they have been in the past clearly the management is confident in their deep deep pool of resources that we will eventually beat down the Grassroots movement that seeks to put some Equity into Equity residential since I last spoke we have been featured in national press in one CNBC article it's reported that the Attorney General of the District of Colombia office has filed a complaint on anti-rust grounds against landlords including Equity residential who share competitively sensitive data through real page which sets artificially High rents on a key slice of the local rental market he described it as a housing cartel so instead of taking a human approach to tenants we're treated like robots and told the algorithm determines the rent and there's nothing that can be done and now the Management's latest email confirms that that is indeed their plan please let me repeat their latest statement we expect that you understand that if slash once we Prevail in court your subsequent increases will be based on the market as they have been in the past clearly Equity has no intention of truly acting in good faith and abiding by the rent leveling board's decision I urge you council members to take action thank you for your time and attention thank you speaker 5.44 David okay David isn't here we'll we'll move to 5.45 Suzanne good evening Council I just paid my legal rent for February sitting here should I have in October the tenants won their fight since October we have yet to see legal rent recalculations the board ruled that the bureau must obtain the documents needed for the legal calculation to happen as of today this has not happened they have only asked for leases back to 201 17 not 2016 as we all know given the leases have not been requested there is no way a legal recalculation can happen ATT tenants however have supplied rent roles from 1997 forward and recalculations should be based on the recalculation on what we supplied every meeting we seem to come here with no answer only more questions from the council and vague responses from City administrators why is it taking five months for us to receive our recalculated rents this is not difficult furthermore to this day we have had no response to our legal rent petition submitted to director Richardson what job is this man doing other than sitting at his desk like a Sitting Duck who collects $100,000 of our taxpayers money does he meet the qualifications necessary to be the director of the ltro at this point he should be removed from office as he has not taken care of Jersey City tenants nor following the duties that he committed to at the same time Equity claims claims that Equity residential has been and remains committed to its residence and compliance with Jersey city laws and our client will Cap all rent increases in accordance with the Jersey City rent Control Ordinance voluntarily clearly this is a joke who are we trying to kid here I am sure you are aware of or watch the CNBC video that has now had over 300,000 views additional press continues to reach out to Kevin and our legal team daily the attention on this city this Council mayor f and the lack of enforcement is heating up is this the kind of attention the council and administration wants I doubt it I would like to present a scenario that would I am sure Garner much attention given equity in the city doesn't want to comply with ordinance 260 and our determination or decides to continue their pre-calculated delay how about all units in port side just don't pay rent next month or until we are given legal roll backs why should we would this city and Equity finally agree to follow the law and the determination ruled in our favor what would happen if we all decided to do this what legal recourse would the city or Equity have I have 20 seconds if the legal team would like to respond since is it would be quite a situation for the news to cover if 527 units decided not to pay rent next month or ongoing thank you thank you next speaker 5.46 Drew good evening council members I'm back for a second time to show my ongoing support for myself and all other Portside tenants what Equity is doing to us your constituents is unlawful that's why we're here yet again because we need your help and push pushing the Bureau of rent leveling to follow the rent leveling board's ruling a look back to 2016 a recalculation of what the legal rent should have been from 2016 forward and rebates based on what we have been overcharge since 2016 as per a letter from equities lawyer drick Reed to the city I quote moreover we hope the council will understand that regardless of the current dispute and litigation Equity residential has been and remains committed to its residence and compliance with Jersey City's laws end quote Jersey City's laws that means the rent Control Ordinance but are they committed do they actually care are they agreeing to follow the rent leveling board's decision and the ordinance the answer is no illegal rents are still in effect as well as brand new illegal increases we were encouraged when you spoke out at the January 10th council meeting please follow through now equity's lawyer is justifying new increases because of your public conversation with Corporation Council at that January 10th meeting it is clear what he is doing please don't allow your words to be manipulated like that nothing in that conversation justifies new illegal increases yet that is what is happening as if you endorse illegal increases obviously that is not what happened this needs to be called out and addressed the council and the Law Department need to correct this immediately please no increases until the rents are lowered to the to the legal 2016 rates and then not again until or unless all ordinance prerequisites are met for new increases it is very obvious what equity's lawyer is attempting he is trying to make it look like the ordinance isn't clear when it couldn't be clearer nobody is falling for it just since the last city council meeting Portside towers and our battle has been mentioned in several articles and news stories a CNBC article was published and a video posted to YouTube racked up over 300,000 views alone there will be more local and national press there is significant interest in these Council meetings and your actions this coverage will continue no matter what you ultimately decide to do let's create some good news together we can really do that thank you for your time thank you speaker 5.47 Aaron good evening council members I'm Erin Kent and tonight I'm going to read you some bedtime stories uh okay is everybody cozy all good okay scores of New York public housing workers is charged in record corruption case Manhattan's Federal prosecutor said the number of bribery charges 70 in all amounted to a single day record for the Justice Department Federal prosecutors in Manhattan unsealed bribery and extortion charges on Tuesday against 70 current and former employees of the New York City Housing Authority a sweeping accusation of malfeasance in a troubled organization end quote that was a little lullaby from The New York Times published just yesterday another cute little story from the New York Times published on January 30th the kudin of Rivington Street as his apartment on the Lower East Side crumbled that sounds familiar a former Club kid resented the moneyed Millennials who filled his building then he let them in on a secret that transformed their lives I wanted them to know that whatever they were paying they were being ripped off he said leaning against the glass countertop he installed a fly trap dangling from the ceiling above his neighbors rent was really supposed to be a few hundred a month closer to what he paid end quote so what was the secret rent stabilization that was the secret also that their landlord Conway Capital was hiding that critical piece of information from most of its tenants and if I had time I'd read you the entire story that went live on Saturday on CNBC and read you all the comments all 1,64 of them on a YouTube video that now has 311,000 views a number that's growing each and every hour I guess at this point unfortunately stories in the New York Times and CNBC and let's not forget the Wall Street Journal nj.com and the Hoboken girl I mean she's big enough around here are not the fairy tales of our youth that kind you want to lull you into a peaceful sleep these are very very real kind of nightmare inducing in fact especially that first one words like malfeasance two weeks ago I talked about a phenomenon called The Tipping Point coined by author Malcolm Gladwell I will provide the definition again it's when an idea Trend or social behavior crosses a threshold tips and spreads like wildfire I asked you council members what would be the Tipping Point for you to finally realize the weight of this situation truly feel its gravity and move forward with the force necessary to put out the spark before it catches that was before I even knew the CNBC story would come out with over 311,000 views and 1,600 comments on YouTube and before the New York Times came out with two very damning stories about predatory real estate and Rental practices in our neighboring state of New York I'm not sure how many views those stories have combined but it's the New York Times so I imagine it's quite a few and we have even more press to come I think it's safe to say tenants Across America regular workingclass people have passed their Tipping Point the Wildfire as Gladwell would say has started I think it's time to recognize the smoke signals and get out before you get burned thank you thank you speaker 5.48 Joel Joelle Joel Joel he Joel sorry all right um I didn't have the paper so I didn't even know when it what my number was so um thank you all for again for listening to us and spending time with us and we spending time with you um the rent leveling board's written determination of November 2023 has not been stayed chapter 260 is very clear Equity residential has never had the authority to increase rent since 1998 when it took possession of our buildings at the last city council meeting you received printed copies of the specific sections of the rent Control ordinances that it has never complied with including to section 26-2 B which states quote any rental increase at a time other than at the expiration of a lease or the termination of a periodic lease shall be void any rental increase in excess of that authorized by the pro provisions of this chapter shall be void please listen carefully while I repeat the second sentence any rental increase in excess of that authorized by the provisions of this chapter shall be void we all know that the word shall means that that provision is not optional it must be followed the word void is defined in Black's dictionary Black's legal dictionary as having no legal effect or binding effect the ordinance is clear any rental increase imposed by equities residential that are in excess of that authorized by the provisions of chapter 260 are void they have no binding effect as the board determined that the buildings at Portside Towers have always been subject to rent control the hearing officer needs only to make two determinations what was the rent charge for each unit in 1998 and did the landlord ever fully comply with all provisions of chapter 260 to qualify for any rent increase there is no evidence that our landlord has ever fully complied with all Provisions therefore it has never qualified for any rent increase and any rent increase that it is imposed has no binding effect thus the matter becomes even simpler the hearing officer need only correction can only make one lawful determination effect fact what was the rent charge in 1998 then it's simple what was the actual rent for a person who was in a in a unit in 2016 what did that person pay from 2016 to today what was Equity authorized to charge for that unit based on the 1998 subtracted two and that's the amount that that individual is due back if you can't get guidance like that from corporate counsel Corporation counsel get independent legal advice thank you thank you speaker 5.49 Barbara good evening City Council Members evening I assume you all saw the recent National media coverage of unfair rents in JY city that was broadcast on CNBC and if you didn't there's a QR code that will get you to that story it was a story that I found both heartbreaking and yet somehow hopeful it was heartbreaking to hear former Portside Towers tenant Rita Bello tell the world how landlord Equity residential iked her rent so steeply and suddenly that it was essentially an eviction notice that rent hike like many others of Portside Towers forced her out of her home was also extremely damaging to her sense of stability support and self-esteem all the mental health benefits that come from feeling you are part of a neighborhood in Rita's words quote we lost we not only lost our apartment we lost our community we lost everything end quote I also found that story somehow so hope ful and here's why the illegal rent hikes that Jersey City landlords seem to feel confident the city council will simply ignore are also victimizing tenants in Washington DC but the difference here is that an elected official in Washington DC City Attorney General Ryan schwall is actually doing the job that voters elected him to do and he is upholding the laws of his City he's fighting for tenants in court where he filed lawsuits over the landlord's illegal actions in Brian's words quote it's not only illegal and unlawful in this day and age it's just immoral and wrong end quote Ryan Schwab is fighting for tenants in his City whose landlords have broken laws I found it incredibly hopeful to see an elected official do what voters elected him to do and uphold the laws of his City imagine that thank you speaker 5.50 Carol Carol's here no okay we'll move to the next speaker 5.51 shanon good evening Council um I got a ticket the other day my vehicle registration had expired and so to resolve the ticket I had to go down to the DMV stand in line pay a fine and renew my registration pain in the neck right but I broke the rules and I had to follow the regulations to correct my error did it matter that I didn't do it on purpose did it matter that I didn't get the piece of mail reminding me to renew no did it matter that the ticket was taking away money I wanted to use for something else or that I wanted to be doing anything besides being at the DMV no laws exist independent of our feelings about them that's how a society runs it seems though that the rules are different for Equity residential a legal process with regulations that have been in place for ages apparently can be blatantly ignored by them them we want to know why and I have some ideas that primarily it's because they're a huge multibillion dollar uh Corporation they don't want to follow the rules because they want to use their money 2.87 billion profits last year they want to use that money for something else they don't want to follow the rules because they don't like them is this the world we want to live in are we really going to roll over and let this happen to let the proverbial schoolyard bully win even though by every single measure they are wrong I've heard people ask me why don't you just move again I don't want to live in that kind of society where I'm I'm bullied by big money that it's fine if the person doing the wrong doing is Rich enough we don't want to live like this not not me not this group those of us who have worked so hard and we're not working for special privileges but for adherence to rules that are already in place we have learned that sometimes rules are only followed if good people speak up loudly enough I'm not the type to back away from a fight I'm on my second successful career and I'm out from under the real hard place of an abusive marriage I'm an award-winning nurse and I am a marathon runner I am as stubborn as they come I've succeeded at these things because I know where to target my energy and my energy is focused on not being bullied by big money right is right and the law is the law I theorize that the second reason Equity is getting away with this um is that ordinance 260 is not being enforced this is where the city council can help be an example of governing a society where money doesn't rule everything do the job I hope you are honored to be in the position to do and enforce 260 please thank you speaker 5.52 John hello again uh last time we were here we were talking about how grateful we all were uh to all of you following your public dialogue with your legal team after the previous meeting on January 10th where you were asking what could be done to make sure Equity residential follows the city's laws as you know a few days later equ responded claiming they're in fact complying with the city's laws and they car deeply about their relationships with their residents everybody in this room as we've said time and time again knows that is not true you've been hearing from us for the last 18 months countless stories of living conditions and lack of services which make equity's tagline live remarkably laughable you've already heard more of them tonight you've heard again and again about how equity and others continue to violate Jersey City's ordinances thanks to evidence provided by the tireless working diligence of Kevin Michelle and the rest of their team you've also heard evidence of how the city has helped them to do this now not just Jersey City not just New Jersey but the whole nation is hearing about these thanks to recent and future coverage by Major news and media networks the bureau is required to ensure landlords follow the city's ordinances its failure to do so is surely in itself a violation of the city's laws when will the city's Administration finally put the interests and well-being of its con constituents first as they promised to do and as they were elected to do city council your conversations following that meeting on January the 10th demonstrated that you do indeed care about what is happening to us this gave us hope that you can help us in this situation it's as simple as ensuring ordinance are followed ordinances are followed please can we rely on your help to finally ensure that this happens thank you thank you speaker 5.53 Mel no okay I'm sorry if I say this name wrong but 5.40 danelo good evening that was close my name is Danilo um Equity residential is still able to keep charging illegal rents we heard it they also increase them even further as they just did for our apartment and we heard from Daniel earlier just one example what hardship these increases CA interestingly after you kindly addressed Us in the council meeting four weeks ago Equity felt the need to let their lawyer send a letter in response we talked about it unfortunately your Council Miss Murray got it wrong when you ask her what the law says yes under end control increases 4% of CPI whichever is lower if the landlord met the prerequisites stipulated in sections 263h 9e and 3j of the ordinance which include registering rent roles and complying with the landlord disclosure Provisions which Equity did not thus no increase allowed of course this mistake was exploited by equity's lawyer Mr read in his letter to you but two wrongs don't make one right what makes me really angry is the following statement despite a small group of vocal residents may feel differently Equity residential cares deeply about the tenant relationships and invests in those yes we are vocal but that is the only truth in that statement we are not only receiving rent increases in our luxury apartment we also receive a constant decrease in the quality in living in our apartment we have water intrustion constantly since 19 our floor currently looks like this we have unwanted tenants on a regular basis V not functioning no hot water in the kitchen and washing machine constant draw of cold air Terrace not usable sliding doors that do not slide and much more you think that's the problems of the the buildings no that is just our apartment does that look like deeply caring to you what hipocrates and Jersey City lets it happen for years which brings me back to the beginning of my speech and our meeting four weeks ago Miss Waterman four weeks ago you answered a clear yes to my question if you will investigate the criminal activities of equity and why the bureau hasn't issues a correct related to the leases they asked for what happened since did you start the investigation let me remind you once more this is a hogner city knowing about criminal activity is not and not doing anything about it is a criminal offense in itself as syvia said you watch our cars get stolen speaker 5.55 Michelle good evening since the last city council meeting Equity residential via attorney Derek Reid has remained steadfast in its quest to violate the law and the city still fails to stand up to enforce its laws in this past Friday's response to our cease and desist letter reed claims our accusations against Equity residential are quote unfair and untrue yet Reed fails to substantiate his claim with any proof that what we've been saying is untruthful certainly we're not the ones who submitted two unlawful annual landlord registration statements for 155 Washington under penalty to the city last year we're not the ones who lied to tenants during lease negotiations citing an untrue 40-year exemption or that Portside was exempt from rent control because it sits in a Redevelopment Zone in the January 19th letter you received Reed declares that Equity cares deeply uh about and invests in long-standing relationships with us the photos in front of you are but a small sample that our tenant associations have assembled depicting that Equity does not care about our health and safety despite what Reed says Equity does not provide adequate upkeep of our homes we live with water intrusion and nonfunctional vents that have caused black mold and unsafe buckling of our floors we suffer with rodents and again this week continued non-functioning elevators with no notification to tenants these issues have been substantiated by various Departments of Jersey City tenants are not comforted by De Derek Reed falsely telling you that Equity acts in good faith when it still is illegally raising rents it's of zero comfort that Equity may be assisting the city in recalculations related to our cases and it's also of zero comfort that Jonah noell still hasn't sent a correction acknowledging that a six-year look back from 2022 is 2016 it's already been a quarter of a year since the rent leveling board's written determination for goodness sake help us ports siters have always come before you telling the truth backed by facts yet we suffer Equity continues to defy the law and the city's administrators in the landlord tenant office and Corporation Council whose appointments you approved via the Faulkner act are stalling this process we can only ask you so many times no more delays do do it tonight set the date to investigate then start issuing notices of violation for the constant non-compliance of your ordinance thank you next speaker 5.56 nor okay we'll move on to the next speaker 5.57 Rebecca I don't understand this why did go what's your name uh Rebecca Rebecca okay thank you hi um okay so firstly I'm here to ask you guys to please call for a ceasefire in Palestine um the recent ruling by the international court of justice on January 26 declared that Israel is plausible for committing genocide and that Israel is obligated to prevent genocide yet in the weak sense we have witnessed over over a thousand civilian deaths bombing of schools and now attacks on Rafa which is the most southern part of Gaza and is now currently housing over a million refugees there have been reports of Tanks bulldozing civilians and can yunas and we have witnessed The Disappearance of hind a child who the red crescent lost Communications with after her family was killed by IDF members on top of all of that Aid trucks have been specifically targeted by IDF forces despite Gaza housing 95% of the entire world's starving population these are blatant war crimes and mly Israel is failing to prevent genocide and so this demands immediate action calling for a ceasefire and facilitating Aid into Gaza is imperative secondly I would also like to shift our attention to Congo uh last week the M23 is backed by Rwanda and the United States bombed GMA which is one of the largest internal displacement camps for the congales civilians over 7 million congales civilians have been killed since the onset of this genocide with over 13 million currently internally displaced a GMA the US Embassy the UN and multiple human right organizations have declared that Rwanda and the us-backed m23sbs of violence in the region which means we have a responsibility to stop flowing money into this Onslaught um the in 2006 the Obama Administration proposed and passed Bill s 2125 yet none of the outlin laws and commitments have been enforced the bombing of GMA fragrantly violates this legislation necessitating immediate action from the American government to safeguard the congales people and help the genocide in Congo and Palestine fund the people here and stop funding Bombs over there thank you okay thank you we're on to 5.58 X good evening Council my name is X braithway and I'm the environmental justice organizer for clean water action in my role I research air toxins and environmental hazards I identify where they are in communities most vulnerable to them and then I use laws to create advocacy plans that help them Empower their communities um I want to first thank the council for accepting the dg3 resolution 24- 060 um and especially council president Waterman councilman boiano and councilman Solomon among others for your support in being Advocates to bring this issue to light for the past four decades dg3 has operated in Jersey City while cons consistently receiving non-compliance violations set by the D the missions the machines they all silently poison the thousands of residents that visit that Ward on a daily basis it's 0.8 miles from Liberty State Park and 0.3 miles from Camp Liberty some of the fumes that they admit include DG monal ether ethylene glycol and xylene all of which that can contribute to or directly cause certain types of cancers damage to the central nervous system among a myriad of other health disparities so when dg3 indiscriminately releases 34 tons of volatile organic compounds into the very spaces that residents recreate and no one knows there's a problem the the friends of Liberty State Park as well as sustainable Jersey city has both um agreed for the resolution to be passed unanimously because it's not a issue of the permit being approved more so the community having a say and how that permit is executed over the next 5 years the question here is are we willing to sentence Jersey City residents to premature health conditions or death for the sake of a few pieces of of paper dg3 produces billions of paper products a a day yet the only thing not populated when I was searching for their public notice was the obituaries of four dg3 workers this is a case-by casee basis in which the D has an obligation to the community they submitted their permit application 19 days before the most Progressive environmental justice law in the country was passed it would allow the P to reject their permit if they can prove that they have a negative impact on the community that doesn't apply to them so we're saying that if it's true that only two people were in their permit meeting and both of them were not Jersey City residents then there needs to be an information intervention in this case thank you thank you X speaker 5.59 Gracie good evening my name is Gracie jolly and I live in Portside Towers East I appreciate your time tonight so my speech tonight is brief the rent leveling board's written determination was issued more than three months ago it's been a quarter of a year and there has been no movement on the recalculation of our lease roll backs or our rebates there is no rational reason for such a delay chapter 260 is clear when a landlord fails to comply with all the ordinances Provisions it is not authorized to raise rents my landlord has never been in compliance with all of chapter 260s Provisions even CPI calculated increases are not in compli liance with the law please ensure that the law is enforced so that my neighbors and I receive the justice that we deserve thank you thank you thank you uh we're on to speaker 5.60 Kathleen good evening council members and thank you for having me my name is Kathleen om Ali I'm a Jersey City resident an animal welfare professional and a member of the Jersey City animal welfare Coalition I'm asking you to vote no on resolution 24- 067 that would have Jersey City take on animal control and Sheltering services for Guttenberg the shelter is just not ready to expand its service area earlier tonight my colleague Carol McNichol detailed some of the reasons to put this resolution on hold I share her concerns the poor adoption rate for one with an expected monthly intake that exceeds the shelter's capacity it's crucial for the shelter to have effective adoption protocols in place but the the current adoption process seems designed to discourage potential adopters it's bureaucratic slow and intimidating and for what research shows that this approach with its overly long application form that's full of gotcha questions does not ensure happy lasting adoptions this approach this approach is however effective in excluding any nice caring potential adopters who are put off by the unbending bureaucracy of the progress process those people will go elsewhere for their pets meanwhile our healthy adoptable shelter animals are put at increased risk of being killed to make room for new intakes surely that's not our shelter's goal but it is a consequence of putting up barriers to adoption our shelter is still new let's please focus on best practices in adoptions and in all other areas such as the Humane management of stray and feral Community cats which is my professional area of expertise there's a huge knowledge bace of animal Sheltering research out there that our shelter can tap into let's get our shelter on the right track before we expand its service area my rescue colleagues and I are ready and willing to help make that happen but this is not a good time for our shelter to be taking on extra animals thank you thank you thank you speaker 5.61 Daniela okay we'll move on to the next speaker 5.62 Renee no okay 5.63 we have Daniela again a 5.64 Kara 5.65 eal good evening Council good evening you should make it clear that you do not intend to pass a resolution about the Israel Hamas conflict one it's not helping the Palestinians two it's harming our local community three it's shifting Focus From the business that you are running first it's not helping because the resolution in Chicago didn't help the force Hamas to return American hostage from Bergen County and it didn't make the Israeli government that I have not a lot of love for didn't make them reconsider their actions Atlanta didn't stop the war neither did Oakland we all heard that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing again and again and expecting different results so I urge you to make it known that we're not going to do the same thing again and again second not only that it's not helping it's hurting us for once it breeds hate in our city couple weeks ago I stood before you to tell you about the constant anti-semitic stickers posted around town they aren't about peace and purposefully or not they generate fear in the Jewish Community the potential of a resolution is emboldening and creating violent and antisemitic voices some of them we heard today when you he hear calls before you calling fortif I truly expect you to please say something because if somebody was before you and say something like that they would support any other bigoted organization I don't want to name any so nobody on record will say I support them you would say do we have a clan supporter here what is that we disagree with that you would decry it lastly I want to say that not only is it not helping Palestinians hurting our community but frankly I think it's not even close to the biggest issue in our city we have 21 square miles 800 streets over 3,000 employees so many different department contractors we have Road Safety police reform sanitation I don't envy your responsibilities you have so much to do I'm sure we can walk and true bubble gum but we can't resolve the Middle East and our City Sanitation so to sum up I don't think the proposed solution will do anything thank you thank you uh speaker 5.66 Danielle it's a popular name tonight okay 5.67 Janelle janelli no okay 5.68 scha okay 5.69 Eugene 5.70 Gita 5.71 lyanna 5.72 Holly 5.73 Tani no good evening Town Council Members my name is Tani Taylor and I am the zero emissions and Warehouse organizer for clean water action and I would like to express my support for the dg3 Diversified Global Graphics group resolution that my colleague that was speaking before me um presented on behalf of the Jersey City Community it it's important for this resolution to be enforced and supported by you all because it is a known fact that dg3 is a major source of volatile organic compounds also known as voc's and area Source hazardous air pollutants also known as haps furthermore do bg3 has had multiple compliance standards violations year after year and has even cost the lives of former employees also mentioned by my colleague allowing dg3 to continue their business as usual would be a huge diservice to the Jersey City Community as the zero emissions and Warehouse organizer for clean water action hearing cases like these are critical as it often mirrors much of my own priorities of the campaign work that I do which is about advocating for environmental justice and overburdened communities that're being directly impacted by the air pollution coming from New Jersey's growing Port operations and Warehouse development advocating for all fright and transport trucks that are moving in and out of our ports warehouses and nearby communities to be Electric in order to reduce emissions doing that work is what will actually benefit Environmental Justice and overburdened communities fright and goods movement workers all throughout the state that same thinking and intention is what dg3 is missing and the Jersey City Community has a right to engage further in their operations thank you and please support the dg3 resolution thank you speaker 5.74 Christina okay okay 5.75 Esme 5.76 Ethan 5.77 Lisa 5.78 debah thank you and good evening folks it's been a while it's nice to see you all I wanted to come here tonight to thank you for taking this up and um you know putting together this resolution which I think is excellent just requesting that the de holds dg3 more accountable and to put some process in place where there's more Community engagement I think it's really important I wasn't aware of this issue X and clean water action brought it to my attention two days before the permit hearing there was no real and I'm not you know privy to the mechanics of this but there appeared to be no real notification process both for the public hearing uh for the permit and also for the public comment period so there didn't seem to be a whole lot of diligence by the D considering the level of public health hazard this was so I don't understand that um so I think that your resolution maybe would go very far and it's very comprehensive it's terrific and having DP be responsive um one thing that I think um could go a long way given you know the expansive impact of this it's over by LSP people are recreating there you have Camp Liberty it's a five minute drive to where a lot of us live where there is schools public housing folks are being affected by this not even to mention the workers on site four of whom I understand have passed can't make that linkage exactly but it makes you wonder right that's pretty ironic so um you know as you're aware and I've coined this phrase asthma alley in Jersey City you know we have the highest rate of asthma prevalence in Hudson County you're also aware that we had gotten this EPA Grant award to monitor air quality in Jersey City SJC has partnered with Health and Human Services on that we're actually the project manager for that three-year long project one of our responsibilities is to educate the public and keep them aware when there are issues like this so we were taken by surprise um we're building a community dashboard to have this be more transparent and if we can mandate dg3 to be more transpar or the D can do that for example what about offering reporting to the steering committee for that Grant that's monitoring air quality in Jersey City I'd be happy to welcome them to report to that steering committee Health and Human Services SJC couple of community groups a number of community stakeholders are on that steering committee that might be the way to go again thank you so much for taking this up thank you speaker 5.79 Jim good evening Council first of all I would like to call for a Justice PW and I would like to honor black history months and talk about the relationship to the Palestinian people both the africanamerican community and the Palestinians have been described as animals and subhuman and today the government of Israel still calls the Palestinian people subhumans and relates to them as animals so this is a big issue and before I talk about may may FIP I want to say I worked on his first campaign council person Ed my skills in Portuguese french and Spanish to talk to the different communities I also worked on his first mayoral campaign I've worked with the volunteers until 6 o'clock when the volunteers left I worked with his mother until 9:00 and after mayor fit's mother left I kept working until 11:00 and today whenever I meet mayor fit's mother and father they hug me so what I have to tell you about the elephant in the room unfortunately mayor FIP is a racist he does not like Palestinian people and this is why we don't have a flag raising okay so let's just get that straight secondly with respect to my Jewish neighbors and Zionist neighbors I'd like to quote Rabbi Israel David Weiss who is part of an organization with the description quote Jews in total opposition to the Zionist state of Israel so you can be a Jew you can even be a rabbi an observant hidic Jew and not be supporting Zionism so being anti-zionist is not anti-semitic they're different things I have numerous Jewish friends I don't happen to be a Zionist and this brings me to what my brother Edward Perkins was talking about earlier in terms of morality those of you who profess to be Christians uh if Jesus were here today wouldn't he be in Gaza protecting those children what happened to Mosaic law for those of you who were Jews and Christians remember the tablet that says Thou shalt not kill it doesn't say thou shalt not kill unless they happen to be Palestinians this is pretty blank statement Thou shalt not kill so if you're pretending to be a Jew or Christian I'm saying you you're obliged to respect Mosaic law thank you very much thank you and our last speaker of the night 5.80 ran no I just wanted to say something that's okay regarding the palace in flag raising the flyer was given was sent to my office October 6th and October 7th happened and it wasn't Stephen Phillips call to postpone it it was mine he is not a racist we he has actually shown a great deal of empathy and support for me personally which I can attest to as my family has had I'd say four members killed in the West Bank one of them on Al jazer um 15 have been administratively detained um I don't say I don't like to speak about this but the flag raising was postponed for a variety of reasons and one of them was a essentially October 7th the other was safety for any attendees that would come as you know we had a Palestinian American that was killed 6 years old stabbed within the first week 26 times um so safety is very important now when we do events we don't you know change the date for when they're supposed to happen it was supposed to happen in November because that's when Palestinian independence day was okay and I've worked I'm working with the administration to have it happen again this year unfortunately the date passed but I am working with the administration and with other people that want to organize it it's going to happen okay I'm Palestinian I'm Palestinian American Born raised in Jersey City no one feels this as much as I I do and I I just want you to know that there was no ill will towards it it wasn't just not to hurt you know Jewish Americans feelings it was also safety of the Palestinian Community safety of the attendees that would come to this event and that's why it was postponed but I I didn't I'm not going to move the date up you know to make it some some imaginary date I want to have it on appropriate date I want to have it planned out properly and I was planning it out the years prior the two years before that it happened and I'm so happy that there's so much interest I would like for people to help plan this with me and the council office and that that's all I have to say about that in Holocaust Remembrance Day the Proclamation was given to them the week that Holocaust Remembrance Day was supposed to happen and it's a un recognized day of observance and we work together with the community I represent everyone everyone here on this day represents everyone and I know that my colleagues are very sympathetic to the Palestinian cause as well okay they're sympathetic to the Israelis that have gotten killed and captured it's a no- win situation and we're doing our best up here we love everybody we might not always agree as a community but we're trying we we hear you okay the Palestinian flag raising will happen this year we celebrate all cultures okay and we have a duty to represent everyone and make sure everyone feels heard and represented and that's all I have to say and stepen Philip has not been racist with me I can say that he he and I have known each other for a long time and it's an interesting friendship and relationship that we have um but I can say he was even warmer to me after everything that has happened and he's been very brotherly to me so that's all I have to say um oh we G close the public first all right go Sean I'll go okay all right so we're moving on to our petitions and Communications any questions or comment comments on items 6.1 through 6 .31 hearing none on to our office communication 7.1 through 7.2 any questions or comments and then we have our reported directors 8.1 through 8.11 any questions or comments hearing none right on to our claims and addendums number one and number two so council members are going to be taking a vote on claims and addendums number one and number two council person Ridley hi council person Prince Ary hi council person bajano council person SLE hi council person Solomon hi council person Gilmore I council person Dees and council president wman I claims and addendums number one and number two are approves 80 with council person Rivera absent he Sean before I do just want to ask um Corporation Council I know there was a handout given out there's a lot of questions on here but um if we can just get an understanding this is literally taking me to law school trying to understand this um 260 chapter um just irregardless of the law suit and all that stuff um is it true that the landlord shall register the rent rle with the rent level in Bard borrow in order to qualify for any increases is is that true Council it just puts me in a difficult position since there is litigation pending um and it goes towards the ongoing litigation in the federal and state lawsuits so we can have a discussion about um it offline but I can't comment public on it can can I counil can can I make a a request then instead of a question um understanding what you're saying is so can I just request that um and we have outside Council working on this matter you know can outside Council address in in some Forum uh you know the use of the council conversation on January 10th um in in his letter or in the equity lawyer letter because I think you know the concern a lot of folks have is right is that that's being you know taken out of context and um you know we don't want to be sorry as one of the speakers was saying you know we don't want to have us given the impression that that's what our position may be sure absolutely we do have outside Council on it and he will be responding um to Mr Reed's letter Sean also um I want to make a motion to um to Wolf draw 1012 um I just I just think that while the intent on the surface seems like a good idea to partner with neighbor municipalities to help out with animal care I just think that given that we just took back over we just gaining full leadership and control of the the animal shelter and just based on the responses from Paul and the doctor that was here this just a a level of uncertainty and I really want to make sure we're getting ahead of taking care of the animals within the jurisdiction of Jersey City before we go into contract um with anyone else it is extremely problematic at least for me um for me to ask questions as it relates to um them the the service being from a percentage standpoint how much of our spaces are we going to be allocating for to them and the the the the answers that I'm receiving is just like they're just conf they're just not confident it's a it's a lot of lack of uncertainty so just given all that I I want to make a motion to withdraw this to really see how we operate at least on a 180 day basis give us at least six months to to get this back under control and then we can uh revisit this um at another late uh at a later date okay Council memb so we have a motion to withdraw item 10.12 resolution 24- 067 by council person Gilmore may have a second second I'm gonna say the second came from Solomon first but it was very close all right on the motion to withdraw item 10.12 resolution 24- 067 council person Ridley I council person priner council person bajano I'm gonna abstain because I'm on the board council person SLE I council person Solomon just just briefly as my colleague counil M Gilmore said I I appreciated you know starting a conversation with our new team uh from the director of Health and Human Services down to the the new directors um um but I would like to have a little more sense that that we we've really got our um operation up and running and effective before we're we're establishing the relationship with other municipalities and that could be in a month it could be in six months but we really want to have that that full confidence that um you know we the whole purpose of doing this was we're going to do a better job than LHS did so let's prove that before we're expanding out the services so that I vote I council person Gilmore I council person de sorry I will abstain I'm on the board but I uh promised to communicate with this Council after our first meeting uh what the intentions are what the services um will include and if we could possibly have some language in there that we takeing animals up to a certain amount that we don't interfere with our own City's um day-to-day relationships okay and council president wman okay motion carries 602 with council members bajano and Dej abstaining and council person Rivera absent to withdraw item 10.12 resolution 24- 067 all right so taking a vote on resolutions first set of resolutions are items 10.1 through 10.11 again that's 10.1 through 10.11 council person Ridley uh on 10.5 I'd like to thank uh X for reaching out to the council and uh putting this issue on our radar and I vote I for all you council person priner so for 10.5x I know we had to move our meeting a couple times but very aware and invested in this that I vote I and I forall being with you council person Bano council person SLE I for all council person Solomon again thank you to X for bringing this issue to our attention you know I wasn't aware of it until um X reached out and uh please keep us up to date uh if the EP does extend the permit period and and what more we can do to establish you know tighter regulations on uh this plant that is emitting a number of very uh dangerous materials so with that I vote I for all council person Gilmore I vote I for all um regards to 10.5 I do want to thank X and all the people who work with her um for several reasons um it's extremely important that we make sure we taking care of our environment and too for the fact that you're young and you're seen the importance in doing something that will benefit the whole community that is a that is a huge deal so thank everyone who participated I vote IED as well thank you and council person Dees I all and council president wman um X thank you for bringing that to our attention and I know Deborah I don't know if she's still here but I know Deborah has always been on a Forefront of sustainability and so I'll make sure we connect with Deborah to make sure that they definitely can um report to um few of the boards that Deborah name it's really important thank you with that I vote ey items 10.1 through 10.11 are approved 80 with council person Rivera absent on to our next set of resolutions item 10.12 has been withdrawn so we're going to be taking a vote on items 10.13 through 10.22 again that's 10.13 through 10.22 council person Ridley hi council person Prince AR hi for all council person Bano council person CLE hi for all council person Solomon hi council person Gilmore I council person Dees I for all and council president wman I items 10.13 through 10.22 are approved 80 with council person Rivera absent on to the balance of our resolutions items 10.23 through 10.33 with the exception of 10.29 30 31 and 32 which all have been withdrawn council person Ridley I council person priner hi council person Bano council person CLE I for all council person Solomon hi council person Gilmore I council person Dees I for all and council president Warman I items 10.23 through 10.27 are approved 80 with council person Riva absent and item 10.33 is approved 80 with Council Rivera absent may I have a motion to ad at 908 p.m. made that motion youf thank you council person s may I have a second second by council person priner on the motion to adjourn at 9:08 PM all council members present by acclamation please say I I we are out of here at 9:08 pm thank you so much everyone present and everyone watching at home remember Teamwork Makes the DreamWork have a great night stay safe that