hey more more okay everyone we're about to get started if we can find our seats silence our cell phones as I am doing I greatly appreciate it thank you very much okay good evening everyone we are on the record today is Wednesday the 10th day of January in the year 2024 this is a regular meeting of the Jersey City municipal Council we had it scheduled 6m start the clock of my cell phone is showing 6:02 p.m may we have a roll call for the commencement of this meeting council person Ridley is not here yet council person priner let's just make sure our mics are on council person bajano yeah council person Cay is not here yet council person Solomon here council person Gilmore present council person Dees council person Riva here and council president Waterman we have seven council members in attendance at 602 p.m can we kindly rise for a moment of silence please see on can I say something before we start just read this thank you very much on behalf of council president Warman in accordance with New Jersey public laws of 1975 chapter 231 the open public meetings act also known as the Sunshine Law add qu notice of this meeting has been provided by the posting on the bulletin board of the first floor of City Hall the annual notice which is the schedule of meetings and caucuses of the municipal Council for the calendar 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 disseminated on Friday January 5th 2024 at 2:43 pm to the mayor Municipal Council business administrator 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 council person bajano you wanted to address the council and the public uh I've been receiving call after call and something has to be done about the ice skating ring in Persian field I'm tired of talking about it today another day I received several calls I promis the people I would bring it up before the entire Council and let them know that something has to be done all right one of the answers is maybe we get the Devils I don't know why we allowed it to go into disrepair like it did Michael Young and I were up there three years ago four years ago and nothing has changed but something has to be done because people are really concerned and it's a big issue okay all right so on to our regularly scheduling program pring I see council person Ridley coming in and I'll mark her present at 605 PM so we now have eight council members present at 6:05 hey council members item 3.1 our first reading ordinance ordinance 24-1 just want to confirm with the assistant business administrator that this is being withdrawn assistant ba item 3.1 is being withdrawn correct thank you so we have no first reading ordinances and we're going to go right to our second reading ordinances first second reading ordinances item 4.1 city ordinance 23-18 is an ordinance supplementing chapter 160 fees and charges section one fee schedule established subsection 10 chapter 25 4 Property Maintenance establishing a fee for lead based Hazard inspection of Resident residential units pursuant to panit law 2021 c.1 182 and amending chapter 254 Property Maintenance to include registration of properties for compliance under the lead Hazard control assistance act 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 the public hearing on city ordinance 23- 018 was made by council person Riva may I have a second second by council person priner on the motion to close the public hearing on city ordinance 23- 018 council person Ridley I council person Prince AR council person Bano council person Solomon hi I had a look I'm sorry okay council person I Gilmore whoa you guys are really like council person Dees hi council person Rivera hi and council president Waterman motion carries 80 with council person SLE absent for final consideration and Adoption of city ordinance 23- 018 council person Ridley hi council person Prince AR hi council person Bano council person Solomon hi council person Gilmore I council person Dees council person rera Hi and council president Waterman city ordinance 23- 018 is adopted 80 with council person Cay absent on to our next second reading ordinance item 4.2 city ordinance 23-19 it's an ordinance supplementing chapter 332 vehicles and traffic Article 2 traffic regulations amending section 332-5335 D9 stop intersections to convert Bram Hall Avenue between Van Horn Street and Pacific Avenue into a one-way Street in the westbound Direction and convert bramall Avenue and woodwood Street into an Allway stop intersection as discussed at the caucus council person r um we discussed that we you wanted to table the ordinance prior to conducting a public hearing is that correct correct motion to table prior to public hearing I have a motion to table prior to the conducting a public hearing made by council person Ridley on city ordinance 23-19 may I have a second second by council person priner on the motion to table city ordinance 2 3 -119 prior to conducting a public hearing council person Ridley I council person Prince council person bajano council person CLE I and I will Mark you present at 6:08 PM so we have all nine council members present council person Solomon hi council person Gilmore hi council person Dees council person Rivera I and council president Waterman motion carries 90 for I almost set the final consideration okay so let me just Mark council person Cay present at 608 so we have all nine council members present and council person SLE would you like to cast your vote on res on ordinance excuse me 23- 018 hi thank you so now city ordinance 23- 018 is adopted unanimously 90 okay on to our next second reading ordinance item 4.3 city ordinance 23-1 126 is an ordinance amending and supplementing chapter 160 fees and charges chapter 160 Street sidewalks and public rights of way article one General Provisions duties of property owners and occupants article two closure of the public right of way article three excavations within the public right of way and chapter 345 zoning article four fees deposits and inspections 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 hello uh this is Scott Hansen Scott Hansen yep okay sir uh this is for the uh bike uh feet right for part driving in a bike lane yeah that the parking the fee for parking in the bike lane is in this ordinance great oh thank you um I've been a member or a resident of Jersey City for the past six years uh I bike every day uh and I really appreciate the added infrastructure for bike Lanes um that being said I've seen uh drivers take um advantage of this as extra parking spots uh or waiting zones um I believe it's dangerous when uh cyclists have to mix with traffic and any additional uh chance for uh cars and tra uh cyclists or pedestrians to intermingle is um is is dangerous and I know Jersey city has a vision zero uh vision for no traffic fatalities so I believe that this ordinance would go long way to preventing people from uh abusing bike lanes and um interfering with the right away so thank you thank you this is still a public hearing on city ordinance 23126 any member of the public wishing to be heard please come up to the podium and state your name for the record Hey there Alex Gillette um I would also like to support uh voice support for the ordinance uh incurring fees for parking in the bike lane uh for driving in the bike lane it's a a huge issue here I would expand that uh put up uh ballards on every uh shoulder so that uh folks aren't getting run over uh posted a picture two weeks ago of a Mini Cooper uh approaching the park in the bike lane behind a bicyclist so um that should give you a pretty good indication of just how much disregard folks behind the wheel have for the rules of the road um I would also expand this um I would uh you know in order to improve enforcement I would lean on jcpd to uh meet or exceed quotas for uh issuing citations for folks parked in the bike lane I think um you know going even a step further and improving this would be uh for the city council uniting to call upon the state senate to uh review the use of red light cameras and speed cameras as well uh especially in places like Grand Street where uh a young boy was uh run over you know hit and run um just a few days ago as somebody that's been a resident for five years as somebody that you know still somewhat plans to um raise a family here in Jersey City uh in the next few years uh I'm I'm scared to death every time my wife takes our dog to the park has to cross Grand Street I think uh this ordinance would be a good step in the right direction but it's just a small step I think we need to think bigger like we do in Jersey City and use our influence and come together and call upon the folks uh in Tren to adopt this Statewide and I believe that we also need to uh like I said bring back the use and enforcement via speed and traffic uh automation devices like red light cameras um we can't you know let some fudged uh pardon my language um study done by some scummy state senator in uh Red Bank a few years ago just completely throw all that work away there are numerous Studies by Transportation safety Bureau um you know national highway safety administration that show that these measures work they reduce the chances of collisions and you know hopefully uh helps to avoid folks getting run over in our crosswalks thank you thank you thank you this is still a public hearing come on up if you can just state your name for the record my name is uh Jordan Ley Jordan Jordan Ley L Le a y le e a h y thank you sir I've been a resident of Jersey City City for the past eight years and a homeowner for the past two and a half years like to first thank you guys for putting in the bike infrastructure that you've done over couple years as a homeowner and you know this this bike infrastructure that you guys have put in and the protected Lanes makes Jersey City a family livable City it's I feel that I want this to be my forever home unlike some people who move here start a family and leave don't see that I want to stay here there's a lot of great things both my wife and I have pedal assist EC cargo bikes in the past year I've spent uh I put on over 3,000 miles alone so these good bike lanes that you have right now allow me to take don don to school every day from Exchange Place all the way to Hamilton Park and back the challenge is today I encountered three bike you know three cars in the bike lane and I think we all know that it's pretty Common Sense risk that going in and out of traffic can lead to something that's not very good you know I believe it is in the interest of the city to ensure families who choose to have oh it goes here to have to choose to have a carfree lifestyle can have the confidence that they can explore all the great things Jersey city has and they know that in the future that right is going to be protected so again given I believe that this is a common sense law and given the needs all the cities need to off also offset such tax increases that have frustrated some residents again making the city livable and safe makes us feel a little bit better about our the taxes we pay I also summarized that much of the revenue generated from such a fee would probably come from corporations that do not have any presence in the city such as shipping companies FedEx as I also believe that they probably have already baked into their business model this cost such as New York and as you know you had the idle emissions fee in New York City long time ago so um you want to speak don don okay can you tell them cars should not Park in bike Lanes to sum it up it's a common sense law I think you guys have done a very good job making the city livable it makes me and my family safe and we look forward to a future here and this is just the next step of you know making it more safe for us thank you thank you okay all right all done done done say bye bye good job byebye okay adorable thank you all you're welcome okay this is still a public hearing on city ordinance 23126 and I see our next speaker approaching if you can just state your name for the record Deedra n Deedra Nan yeah thank you drra I start speaking yes let me restart that um I am a 10year resident of Jersey City um I bike every day pretty much all seasons and have you know my whole life and I have had several crashes um a couple of them with motor vehicles that were doing something illegal and um I would like to say that pretty much every time I consider getting on my bike I think am I going to live to get home again honestly um but I get over it and once I'm on my bike I feel very safe then the safety of a protected bike lane whether it's by uh parking protection or Jersey barriers ends and you find people in the bike lane and you can choose between going out in traffic or having to stop and wait and I don't understand why cyclist convenience is um know the that the automobile operators convenience is prioritized and um I would like somebody to tell me why there isn't a law why there's any reason why there shouldn't be a law to keep U Motor Vehicles out of bike lanes and make it safer for all users that belong in a a bike lane um it should be as safe as a pedestrian feels safe on a sidewalk that's how people in bike Lanes should feel um I also feel like a lot of people aren't aware of bike Lanes being just for being on a bike and a lot of the bike Lanes aren't that clear and people are just you know unaware possibly I'd like to give them the benefit of the doubt and I feel like um some kind of public awareness campaign or signage or whatever it takes to make people understand that first of all they shouldn't be in the bike lane and second of all they might get a fine which they would be unhappy to pay uh I guess that's pretty much let me just look oh yeah and another thing is when you do have to go around somebody parked in the bike lane you need to also allow space to not be doored by the person who's parked in the bike lane which means you have to be even farther out in traffic and generally speaking were're not given much leeway to um get around ours in a safe way so yes for children all users people who work on bikes I strongly encourage the council to vote for this fine thank you thank you thank you this is still a public hearing and if you can just state your name for the record sure good evening my name is Carol Harris and I am a lifelong resident of Jersey City and I am a pedestrian and I do believe that we need to enforce traffic uh regulations but it needs to be in both both directions many times when I am walking throughout Jersey City I'm encountered with bicycles on the sidewalk I'm also encoun in I have a seen bicyclists not follow the traffic signs and rules so it is important that the bus the bike Lanes be free of vehicles but it is also important for people who are cycling to follow the rules of the law of the road and also be aware of the rights of pedestrians when I get off of the bus in Journal Square I have to peek out to see if the bike lane is empty because I could easily step out in front of a bicycle and at my age if I get hit by a bike I'm not going to heal too well so we need to be aware of the importance of protecting all of our citizens protecting the rights of people who ride bicycles and protecting the rights of us who are walking in the city because not everyone follows the rules of the law you see people on ebikes on sidewalks regular bikes on sidewalks and it should not be so laws need to be put in place and laws need to be enforced or why are we doing yours thank you thank you this is still the public hearing our next speaker hi my name is Emanuel Morgan I'm a resident of I didn't get your first name I'm sorry my name is Emanuel e m m a n u l l e Morgan m o r g n thank you I'm a resident at 164 Harrison um and I'm a pedestrian and a cyclist and a driver um I think we're all pedestrians first and I um can relate to the speaker before me her frustration um at speeding ebikes on sidewalks but as a cyclist I can also understand why bikes are on sidewalks if the streets are unsafe so I'm here to ask the council to please vote Yes on the ordinance um protecting the bike Lanes from moving motor vehicles and parked motor vehicles um and the enforcement of a $175 fee for violations um just my own personal experience recently I I rode here tonight not all of us you know have a parking spot Downtown parking is difficult people come here in many different ways they take the bus they ride bikes they walk I happened to ride here and I was pushed out into traffic multiple times by cars parked in the bike lane um I'm asking you to vote Yes to prevent this to reduce occurrences so that I can just get here safely um on on uh Sunday June 25th um around 2 p.m I was riding home on my bike with two Piers full of groceries on Marin Boulevard um I was riding South uh back into Jersey City when a car entered the bike line between Observer Highway and 18th Street I break hard I swerved and I fell to avoid impact the driver stopped immediately um but I skitted over the pavement when I had the chance to pull myself up I had road rash all over my body including areas not covered by clothing or covered by clothing perhaps I was not thinking clearly or perhaps the scene was blocking traffic and chaotic so I made the decision to brush myself off repack my bro my groceries and leave the scene I managed to ride one-handed because I had a nonfunctioning I had an injury to the Urgent Care Center where I was treated um including an x-ray Research indicates that the increasing size and height of contemporary automobiles significantly reduced sight lines I don't know whether or not that was a factor but I do know that having a $175 bike lane you know parked in the bike lane fee might reduce occurrences and keep people from and and cause people to think twice before entering the bike lane to get around traffic which was the drive the reason that this driver gave me for entering the bike lane at that time a child in the street in the bike lane um in a driveway or in a parking lot may have been visible to a driver in a 1990s sedan but in a 2024 SUV thank you those Sidelines are significantly compromised thank you thank you thank you our next speaker hello everybody I want to say thank y'all for listening to me my name is Jermaine Woodard jine if you can just bring the mic up to you and you hear me now yeah my name is Jermaine Woodard Senor I I believe that you should pass the audience about parking in the bike lanes and driving in the bike lanes because in 2015 my son Jermaine Wood Jr was struck and killed in a bike lane on Boswick by Two Brothers speeding down the block beaing down the block we never got no justice for the for the for the tragedy that's why I believe that y'all need to make laws on people driving in the bike lane parking in the bike lane because this could happen to another child another pedestrian in the bike lane during that time the brothers argued on Facebook about the situation and it was shame that Jersey City couldn't make something happen with the case it went three and a half years of us going back and forth with the case and the case got dismissed when they had evidence that my son was in the bik Lan bites the brothers talking about it I know a fine won't bring my son back but like other people said that'll open up people eyes about driving in the bike lane parking in the bike lane because you might hit someone in the bike might kill someone in the bike Lan could be one of y'all family members that could be next in this biking I believe that you should pass this law because myself my family hurt because a child should have been safe in the bike lane that's what we made these bike lanes for for the pedestrians to be safe and he shouldn't have never been hit in the bike think the law should be passed that anyone parked in the bike lane or driving in the bike lane should be fine and it should be a heavy Fund in what $175 I but I want to say thank you everyone listening to me I hope this it'll get pass thank you thank you our next speaker good evening AA Shermer um I first want to start by thanking Germaine for the those extremely important and heartfelt comments um I'm the president of bike JC and board member of Hudson County complete streets these organizations work to make our city and county streets safe for all travel modes on behalf of both of these organizations I want to once again voice full support for this ordinance establishing a fine for driving or parking in a bike lane as I said when I stood before you last month anyone like me who regularly Travels by bicycle will tell you that it is nearly impossible to complete a ride around Jersey City without encountering multiple hazards in the bike Lanes I personally have an entire album on my phone here full of countless photos I've snapped of vehicles obstructing bike lanes and I know I'm not alone in this I've tried time and time again to report these safety infractions via methods like the city's watsapp unfortunately the responses I've received have repeatedly been along the lines of quote we were able to confirm the issue you reported but this issue is not illegal under city state or federal laws and so I think it's pretty clear that we must change the laws on the books I thank the city's infrastructure and transportation planning departments for putting forth this critical measure designed to incentivize positive behavior change and promote a culture of safety I think we all know that if a driver knowingly obstructs a vehicular travel Lane they'll face numerous consequences including a hefty fine obstructing a bike lane which is also a travel Lan should be treated no differently drivers will often tell us that they'll just be there for a minute for X Y or Z reason perhaps they're grabbing a coffee or waiting to pick someone up but the reality is that it takes just one Split Second to put cyclists at grave risk due to a driver choosing their own convenience cars parked in bike lanes for any amount of time are enormous safety hazards that Force cyclist into high-speed traffic in places where drivers are not expecting them we currently dedicate only a tiny portion of Jersey City street space to cycling and other micro Mobility modes so it's imperative that space is not compromised first and foremost we must continue to engineer a city-wide network of highquality protected bike lanes that are physically separated from cars but until that exists regular enforcement remains necessary to keep bike Lanes clear I urge you all to pass this ordinance tonight which is designed to protect our most vulnerable Road users and bring us one step closer to our City's V zero goal thank you thank you next speaker good evening Jimmy Lee president of Safe Streets JC uh I didn't prepare a lot of remarks today for this ordinance because it just seems to make sense right like don't we already have a law for not being able to drive in bike Lanes it's surprising right uh but this is a really important law and in fact New Jersey does not have a law specifically prohibiting parking or driving M Motor Vehicles in the bike lane California has one Massachusetts has one New York City uh specifically prohibits this uh and we need this here in Jersey City as well why have the bike Lanes we're going to just let Motor Vehicles drive all over them or parking them um I just also want to say that um in terms of vision zero uh we got a preview of how good Jersey City can be in 2022 with zero traffic deaths on city streets um last year unfortunately there were five preventable traffic deaths on our city streets and so this law would be enforcement obviously right uh we need to um deter bad behavior uh in our bike Lanes um provide safe ways for cyclist to travel and help the people that are choosing alternative modes that uh are less deadly to others around them to be able to do so safely as well as improve the congestion in our city um the the bikes uh take much less space on our city streets and um if we incur if we deter these families these uh residents of the city from feeling safe in our bike Lanes they will only add to the congestion on our streets um I want to thank uh and the other thing I just want to say real briefly is um while we want enforcement of safe speeds uh of yielding to pedestrians of not parking the bike Lanes I do want to say that enforcement is not an excuse to not continue to improve our infrastructure uh the bike lane improvements um recently have been tremendous and have made our road safer for all rout Road users uh and I just want to thank uh councilman Solomon for all the improvements in 2023 Columbus Drive uh Newark AV um I I personally actually had a crash on nework AV where um I landed in the bike lane the bike was in the roadway and I believe that I was not uh I wasn't further injured and run over by a car because of that protected bike lane so uh let's continue that work I want also to thank um council person Prince Ary for the new bike Lanes on Duncan AB I think those are tremendous they help people cross the street um let's let's continue to support this uh throughout the city thank you thank you our next speaker hello my name is Cameron or from word f i want to thank the council for uh bringing this legislation forward um it's very important to um you know keep every just like everyone's been saying just adding my voice to the importance of um this measure to keep people safe and and um I hope that we can continue to do more um to get um you know more bike Lanes protected bike Lanes um more measures to uh get more cars off the road um and and make it uh easier for people to have other ways of trans getting around the city um because it's you know obviously it's very important for our environment as well asthma rates are really high around high traffic wavs um and these are all important issues for people of Jersey City so um I hope that you'll vote yes thank you for bringing it forward and um hope we can continue to get more uh Transportation options in the city like buses and stuff like that so more buses and more reliable buses thank you bye thank you our next speaker hey guys Happy New Year my name is Tina I'm in war f um I'm so sorry exactly what happened and guys right I definitely agree we definitely need some rules we do have I'm oneing them person might be going past the um bike lane and don't see them I think we need more signs letting us know that where's the bike lane I think we need more education in our community about the bike lane because I know I've been here for a minute I'm from Alabama and I'm used to walking in the dirt roll but I know for us now coming along we are having a lot of bikes in the community we are seeing a lot of people they use that for their jobs because they can't get their license so I think we need to more educate more in our community about it slowing down watch out for the bikes do some commercial do something so we can realize that this is the new generation that the bikes are with the cars and we have to pay attention of the people that's walking and looking both ways so I think that's what we need to educate our community a little bit more at slowing down and new changes is coming along in our community and that's exactly the same thing that happened for um Kim for jump for Jerry so to see that kids are getting hurt from this we definitely need to um put more education out there for our community thank you guys thank you thank you our next speaker that was so lovely Tina thank you so much uh my name is Edward Perkins and I'm in w a and um I love riding my bike especially during spring summer and fall and um Lincoln Park here is my favorite Park to ride to so I get to ride across I guess half of the city or whatever from one W to the next across and um there are many places where even as an adult it's unsafe for me to ride um so definitely um bike lanes and bike safety um I just see that though this is $175 fee for parking bike Lanes so um I'm encouraged I guess if we're looking at like you know how to prosecute it how to keep it safe but we should be looking at other things like our infrastructure across the city right and also too like if you don't have any bright ideas or if you're uneducated about it I would like to see um you all in the public asking us engaging with us about how we feel about bike lanes and and bike infrastructure and stuff that would help to like to see more of a presence of you all you know like asking us about how we feel about everything that affects us B lings included thank you thank you okay our next speaker my name is Karen vop Karen and your last name i n b a n oble p n um I would say where I'm from but I am from here so let's forget where I used to ride my bike I would like to ride my bike right here in safety and I would like to also um be able to tell my friends why don't you ride a bike and for them to be able to say oh yeah that's a good idea instead of what I hear now oh I'm afraid to a friend of mine told me the other day I would like to go to Target but it takes forever to get there I'm like why don't you go by bike You' probably be there in 10 minutes she's like I don't know and and that and that is even with uh the extra infrastructure we have now so I appreciate what's been done already I feel we can do more and for sure uh having uh cars park in the bike lane and then people having to make a split decision on what they're going to do they're going to choose the um to go where the pedestrians are because that seems like the safer route and then you have the issue like the lady that was telling us earlier you know that that there's there's uh bikes for pedestrians uh should be or or might be uh get get in trouble with somebody not making the right decision in a split second and and then when I hear about Germaine Jr these people should be thinking about right now like Career College and and there's they're sitting here now talking about the fact that you know what what had happened and to please not let it happen to other people and it's the same for the pedestrians there was this young kid who uh got run over hit and run and uh people didn't even talk about it too much because he didn't die uh just uh some uh I think his his leg was broken that that by itself is baffling so we can do a lot more we're already doing more and I appreciate it I hope you say yes to this keep the 175 if it is less than or more than double parking I suggest to up double parking seems better than taking the fee down because the only thing that works is for people to be scared and say oh it's not worth it for the coffee to hop in and out thank you for listening is still a public hearing council president um I have a duty to come up here and speak today on public safety and traffic safety um I unfortunately found out this morning that I lost two family members to traffic accidents so I didn't think this um issue was going to be near and dear to my heart but it's I'm I'm I have to add it to the list of the many things that I'm very passionate about um I just want to ask all of you guys I understand having laws on the books um and having expensive fees to try to scare people away and try to um encourage them to do the right thing so they don't get $175 fine but my question is who's going to be there watching who's going to be there handing out to tickets because we don't have enough enforcement we don't have enough police officers um so I'd like to each of you to challenge director Shay and his whole team to figure out how to solve this problem because the response is always we don't have enough enforcement we don't have enough enforcement whenever I call Public Safety Whenever I send emails to Public Safety the response is we can put somebody there temporarily but we need somebody there all the time and we really need to prioritize this I know last year was the year of open space can this year be the year of enforcement because that's the only way people are going to stop when you try to cross Grand Street from Jersey Avenue it's crazy people don't know when to go the E when they think the cars are not coming then there's a bike coming and vice versa it's scary and we're trying to keep up this facade that we're growing and we're going to be like New York but we we're putting the cart before the horse and we need to make sure we have enforcers before we put all these new laws on the books because it's just that's all um I don't want to see any more kids get run over that's broke my heart and I wanted to be able to say I don't even know what that feels like but unfortunately I I do now to have somebody lost um from a traffic accident so um I'm going to make this my mission so you'll be hearing from me more often about this thank you thank you sorry for your loss Al this is still a public hearing on city ordinance 23-1 126 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 the public hearing on city ordinance 23126 was made by council person Cay may I have a second second by council president wman on the motion to close the public hearing on city ordinance 23-1 126 council person Ridley hi council person priner council person bajano council person SLE hi council person Solomon hi council person Gilmore hi council person Dees hi council person rera Hi and council president wman motion carries 90 to close the public hearing on city ordinance 23-1 126 for final consideration and Adoption of city ordinance 23-1 126 council person Ridley I council person priner council person bajano uh yeah I just want to say something uh I get millions of complaints about bicycles riding down the wrong way delivery bikes Running Red Lights uh there has to be some control not only over the motor vehicles but over all the bicycles they should be registered citation should be given for bikers that run red lights uh I see this constantly in fact last week when I left City Hall I almost hit one on the corner here I shot right through the stop sign you got to take away uh a lot of people in the city are complaining they put the bike Lanes in they take away traffic I mean they cause traffic congestion and they take away parking so something there has to be more to this and the other thing is as some people brought up we don't have any enforcement by this police department and it's a shame because we don't have a traffic division we don't have a motorcycle division uh I'll say yes to the ordinance but this has to be followed up on and the bikers have to start obeying the laws and stop running red lights stop driving down the wrong way down oneway streets because I hear the complaints from the residents in Ward SE all the time you council person s just want to thank everyone that came up and spoke um we need to have protected bike lanes and uh in order for them to be effective and for people to use them cars have to stop blocking the protected bike Lanes or else they're not usable and I agree with a lot of what is said here that enforcement is a very big issue in this city and that the city is stretched thin when it comes to that I did want to ask the Law Department if we can look into alternative ways of enforcement whereby we use cameras such as security ballards uh with you know solar powered security ballards with like a camera attached and you'd automatically mail a ticket to someone that is parked there or if we could have User submitted um pictures sent through C- click fix um I know that red light cameras were dismantled by the state but is there a difference between a parking violation versus a moving violation and can we look into implementing this as some other municipalities have done not in New Jersey but elsewhere sure councilman we can bring together all the parties that would be important in it MP Municipal Court Police Department parking division everything like that there is a difference between a parking fine and a moving violation there are some moving violations that might um deal with parking or driving in the bike Lanes as well that we can talk to the municipal court about um but we can bring everybody together and see what we can and can't do okay and uh with that I wanted to vote I okay council person Solomon sure I concur with my colleagues uh call for greater enforcement both the old motorcycle unit and creative methods that councilman brought up and uh agree with the The Proposal that's before us that we need to ensure safe methods of travel and one of the key ways of doing that is preventing uh vehicles from being stopped uh uh in the bike Lanes which really make it unsafe and and keep bicyclists uh off the roads either because they're afraid or moving onto the sidewalks uh so I will vote I council person Gilmore um this this right here is this this requires us to really take a deep look just at our infrastructure as we are growing city um because the number one thing is education how do we educate the people that's driving the people that's walking the people that's riding bikes um as to these are shared roadways you don't own the roadway because you in a car or because you in a bike you have to add her to the rules and regulation um and I really think we do everybody a disservice when we just install Bike Lanes without completely involving as many people from the community as possible because sometimes you'll just wake up in a bike lane or just be there um so part of part of that is people not being informed of the new bike lane then they not even informed of the rules it is extremely important that we protect everybody pedestrians bikers everybody and if we can't even get someone to get a speeding ticket for running a red light who going to give somebody in a bike lane that's double Park a ticket we we really need to stop kidding ourself with just pushing stuff that look good and sound good without no no real enforcement behind it you know what would really work would stop people from parking and bike Lanes if they get the ticket we can pass it tonight and if you go home you'll see somebody parked in a bike lane good luck getting them a ticket right so I've learned right that you have to have enforcement let me tell you what they did on 440 every morning you ride on that shoulder by the new um what's that coffee place Starbucks you ride on that shoulder by the Starbucks you gonna buy yourself a pair of sirens they've done it so consistently and so much that when I ride by on weekends people are obeying the law because they know that they're out there enforcement is a huge deal we want everybody to be saved but I'm not in the business of playing with people and just signing on to things just for the sake of signing on to things because it look good at what point are we going to get for Real about business and enforcing the laws that's on the books well I don't think we have a traffic division right now that hand out citations we don't have so we having these meetings about talking about bite infrastructure bring up enforcement ask how it's going to be enforc ask these questions with that AO I I just really hope that we can become just recognize that we are a growing City I don't care what the census say we're in a proximity of 300,000 people we are there so we need to plan as such it's no longer mom and pop Jersey City of the 90s it's no longer than that it's no longer that we have the most people per square mile in the state that's the reality so we need enforcement I they can put the horses the motorcycles cameras I don't care what it is we need some form of enforcement and I guarantee you when people start getting them tickets the words going to spread fast and people gonna start to behave as they should council person deice Hi council person Rivera so um man a lot of council people here you know hit a lot of main topics uh protecting everyone is is key here and uh we need to really understand that so I live not too far from Marin Boulevard right that that whole uh area there from uh Christopher Columbus all the way down to Sixth Street got a road diet right and I'm actually uh was happy that they did that protecting the bike Lanes however listen uh this is a this this is where it bothers me at times because yes the People Park in them corners and it frustrates me because you know it's it's you're really actually uh impeding on the safety of those bicyclists I see them I see the bicyclist going around the cars I see them daily almost getting not hit but destroyed by cars these someone is going to get seriously hurt there uh but I think that that crucial Street there has 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 nine it is a crucial Road for nine fire TR trucks and it is the main road if a person gets sick in any of those highrises in any of the senior buildings south of that if someone gets hurt the traffic at that gets formed in that in that Gap from Christopher Columbus to six Street someone is going to die because the firefighters the ambulance can't get to where their destination is because of the traffic there and it's been like that ever since the road diet right I am 100% for this ordinance but yes like councilman Gilmore said fines should be given out to everybody bicyclists cars everybody should get a fine so Motor Vehicles obviously you know if if if we pass this ordinance uh you know yes they're going to get their their their tickets their summons but from the bike Community there's got to be some sort of an education let let the bicycle bicyclist know stop at the red light stop at the stop sign don't go the wrong don't go the wrong way there is hundreds of bikes with all these businesses that get these Uber Eats these guys are on sidewalks on my block last summer a six-year-old girl got ran over by an ebite with her father holding her hand that's unacceptable unacceptable we have 24 motorcycles hidden away in some area in Jersey City because we don't have a traffic division we passed the ordinance here for horses and motorcycles and we have not seen none of them and we passed this ordinance four years ago this is the time to bring those motorcycles back 100% bring the horses back you think people are going to see people are going to see a big animal and a and a cop mounted on it or a motorcycle you think they're going to park in the corner no like they said if you get a summons you're not going to do that you know but you know I I want like like I said before I agree with this with this uh ordinance but we all have to be sympathetic to the seniors to the people all these highrises going up emergency vehicles are not getting to these people on time I've actually seen ladder fire trucks pumper trucks rescue units going down one way down Second Street because the traffic is so bad that they need to get to their emergency ASAP I really really want everybody here pedestrians bicyclists and Motor Vehicle drivers we need to understand that it's just not a a a card blanch just for bicyclists we are all in this bowl together and we just need to come up with a solution with that vote I council president Waterman I city ordinance 23-1 26 is adopted unanimously 90 next second reading ordinance item 4.4 city ordinance 23-1 127 is an ordinance supplementing chapter 332 vehicles and traffic article 9 parking for the disabled of the Jersey city code designated to reserve parking space at various locations throughout the city 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 second motion to close the public hearing on city ordinance 23-1 127 was made by council president Waterman seconded by council person SLE on the motion to close the public hearing council person Ridley hi council person Prince council person Bano council person CLE hi council person Solomon hi council person Gilmore I council person Dees I council person Reber I and council president Waterman motion carries 90 to close a public hearing on city ordinance 23-1 127 for final consideration and Adoption of city ordinance 23-1 127 council person Ridley I Council person priner council person bajano council person CLE hi council person Solomon hi council person Gilmore I council person thees I council person Rivera I and council president wman city ordinance 23-1 127 is adopted unanimously 90 on to our last second reading ordinance item 4.5 city ordinance 23-1 128 is an or revising the street names in the Bayfront Redevelopment site 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 hi Erica Walker um I just want to take this opportunity while we're talking about new streets for new communities um I would like to challenge the um City to be more creative and think outside the box being that we have a bunch more I don't know how many acres left in Bay to name streets after but if we could get some good old Jersey City activists from the last 30 years um honored or recognized in the new area or some uh great um uh blackowned businesses that or minority owned businesses or small um business owners that have been in Jersey City for you know decades um if we could honor some more of our own um as opposed to continuing to use these 100 year old names um I appreciate it thank you Erica reach out to planning because there is a list of names that they select for people who lived in Jersey City it's already there and okay the person that was selected tonight has to do with lived in Jersey City Once right Den correct the names that are on here they're all Jersey City people all Jersey City okay I don't want to say Legends but people in the community that have done things through the years but I'll get you that list yeah if they can make that a part of the agenda because these are things that we should be proud of and it should be mentioned while we have an opportunity to speak to the public because these are recorded they're go on YouTube and it's nice to hear those stories thank you and and you know what before before you come down just not on you Erica uh just so I can you know be on the record that this uh um Germain your kids's name should be on one of those streets because you we saw that picture there of him with his football uniform and we would never know his Heights so he should be honored by that so I'm advocating for that okay this is still a public hearing on the ordinance our next speaker uh good evening again my name is Edward Perkins and I was here when this ordinance passed the place was packed if I'm correct this is the 8,000 unit it's going to be built 35% affordable housing it's supposed to be historic for the region for the nation everything and I I got up I came up like I'm here now and I had something to say just about affordable housing Mayor Stephen FIP posted on his Twitter which I'm actually blocked from but it's a it's a personal privilege social media type of thing so it's all interesting but um about real affordability true affordability so oh uh I agree with Erica um you know let's get some Community Based names some historic names let's have it be diverse too you know um but also too let's just make sure the bay front Redevelopment site with its 35% affordable housing like promises are really truly met right because um you know my experience is true affordability under your leadership isn't really affordable for me and many of us like there are two different realities in this city where we stand now in war e people here on average earn like close to $100,000 or more a year and Ward F and W A the opposite side of town many of us earn $50,000 or less $440,000 or less a year we are living different Dynamics from day to day and affordability is going to be different based off your income but we need your help we're being priced out every new affordable housing it's unaffordable for many of us so you want to make Jersey City more like New York City and now we have a problem with traffic New York City has Subways you want to invite everybody in and then you all want to say oh well there's there's there's lack of enforcement so whose responsibility is it is it do you have any Authority on this body or is it the the uh the head pimp of the whouse the mayor now Mr Perkins this was concerning the name of bay front the streets that's all that that was it's all relative man it it's it's all relative although we're naming the streets the Bayfront the Redevelopment site it should be affordable I mean I'm here is okay thank name the street walk all over me price me out gentrification this is important I decided to take this time to speak and thank you you're welcome you're welcome s still a public hearing our next speaker hello I'm Cameron or again from w c I don't know if I misspoke before from w c um so yeah I just uh wanted to Echo what uh Mr Perkins was saying people talk about you know this is with the name stay on top of on the topic okay oh I thought we were on the public hearing portion I'm no no no no this is the public hearing on the ordinance the ordinance that's why that's what this is it's about the name name well yeah I wanted I guess I'll e echo on the uh Mr Burkin is saying about the U um the development project we need uh we need full you know full affordability um 100% affordability and we need to make sh that affordability is defined by the by the incomes that people are actually making in the area Cameron this is just for the names of the streets in the area okay this is still a public hearing on this ordinance our next speaker I just wanted to say my name is Tina I just wanted to feedback of about to say e Erica um I believe what she said is what y'all said if y' do have a list that is very good because I actually stay in the Web building that's missb she's not here right now and we definitely need to know who's been doing good in our community and I think that was good of you um Danny for saying for Jermaine for his son that was good to of recognize of what going you know on that's his child and what happened and stuff so I think them are the names that we should come upon of you know people who's doing good in the community and if something happened even though we shouldn't go off a tragedy but something happened we should recognize because Jersey City is getting bigger as e said and we should know the history would go on and how they was able to get here in Jersey City so thank you guys you're welcome thank you Tina this is still a public hearing on city ordinance 23-1 128 128 if there's any other member of the public wish to be heard please come up to the podium and state your name for the record motion motion to close the public hearing on city ordinance 23-1 128 was made by council person CLE seconded by Council person bajano yes on the motion to close the public hearing on city ordinance 23-1 128 council person Ridley council person priner council person buano council person SLE hi council person Solomon hi council person Gilmore hi council person Dees council person rera Hi and council president Waterman motion carries 90 the close of public hearing on city ordinance 23-1 128 for final consideration and Adoption of city ordinance 23-1 128 council person Ridley I council person priner Hi council person Bano council person SLE hi council person Solomon hi council person Gilmore sure I just want to say um I want to nominate myself to be put on the list of names um so people can remember me and my suit in the future can I can I make an amendment when when the Jets win the Super Bowl we'll we'll do it I vot I I I the Jets haven't seen the Super Bowl since the man touch the moon let's that was the point that was the point uh council person de hi council person Rivera hi and council president wman city ordinance 23-1 128 is finally adopted unanimously 90 okay we are approaching our public speaking portion of the meeting is director Patel still here yeah she's okay so the council president would like to bring up director Patel to address the city council before we move on to our public speaking portion of the meeting thank you Sean hi council president hello members of the council um I'm here to provide some information on questions that came up at Monday's caucus uh this was an item that was presented by the finance department not by my department but there were questions about the use of previous grant funding for the paving of MLK Drive which were brought up by you councilman Gilmore yes um and since then there was an assertion that you had requested more information and hadn't received it I'm not sure who you spoke to but I did send an email um to you and the council president which Sean forwarded to the rest of the council with information about the grant so to summarize the city applied um prior to 2016 through City engineering uh for money to resurface the entirety of MLK Drive this was a project that was initiated by City staff based on the poor condition of the pavement on that Corridor the city was awarded a grant through Municipal Aid in the amount of $900,000 in change uh which was below the engineer's estimate for what that project would entail City staff then went on to apply for additional grant funding and was awarded that grant funding through a highly competitive program called the local Aid infrastructure fund which is laif um the combination of those two grants added up to $1.8 million and change and the city then bid out the project it was awarded to the lowest responsible bidder at the time for an amount of $1.4 million um and I just want to State for the record the entirety of MLK Drive from McAdoo Avenue to communa Avenue was repaved through that grant funding and the project also included reconstruction of curb ramps at all of those intersections recasting and resettings drainage improvements signage improvements and Signal improvements and then after that work was completed by City engineering the city was reimbursed the entirety of the 1.4 million through both Grant programs the final payment of which was received in 2022 and the final payment voucher is is one of the attachments that I've sent over in that email update um so that is just a clarification on the work that was done the money that was received and the entirety of the project that was completed entirely through grant funding as well as the money that was received back from the city so I know there was a question on the amount itself and that's something that probably finance department can answer for you but I I did want to just clarify that the work was completed um I think I mean I I've read over some of the documents you uh sent um it's actually worse than I thought because according to your assessment um 8 $839 was not slated to be sent back correct because you said we got 1.8 all together and we use 1.4 correct but in the resolution it said that 839 was going back right so I think you know that's a half a million dollar mistake right I I just want to say I'm responsible for the work that's done through my department and so these are all of the backup documents that we have for this project that was done and the payments that were received to us which I've sent over what I mean this we have to all be on the same page and I not raised questions we just gave away a half a million dollars I'm sorry had I not raised questions about this grant there's almost a half a million dollars that's unaccounted for so where's that money not directed towards you because you're not in finance but the issue is that there's 500,000 unaccounted for nearly I I don't think it's 500,000 it's 470 something it's okay it's close to $400,000 for 400 for the sake of August which is which is the amount that we did not end up using and when that money was left over in that Grant the city then tried to go back to the state and say we have this amount left over can we use it for other purposes since we've already been awarded it we were denied that request and so we couldn't use that fund I understand the question that you're asking about the amount that was reported in that resolution I understand the administration is going to um I don't know either withdraw that resolution or take another look at the amounts to see if there's a discrepancy in how they were classified which can happen so for example when we were awarded this grant we had to bond for a certain amount and so it's possible that money was classified to a capital account as opposed to a grant account all of these questions are something that I'm sure people in finance can provide to you I just I just think it's important for the council members and the public to know that the work did in fact happen the grant funding was used for it and the city was reimbursed for the entire amount that the project cost I mean uh it's going to be uh table but I I still have outside of that I still have more questions as it relates to when it was done what was the exact time frame from start to finish what was all included in the grant um I'm under the impression that there could have been other things done outside of the pavement of the grant as well I understand that and I've included that information in my summary so essentially because laif is discretionary funding from the state um it is up to them what we can use the money for and it's highly competitive so once we put in a project application saying the grant that we already received for MLK is not enough and we need additional funding and this is what we're going to use it for they awarded us the grant for that purpose when at the end of the project we said we estimated it was going to be 1.8 million we got a low bid and we're required to award it to the low bidder for 1.4 million can we now use that extra money for additional costs and we stretched it out as much as we could we build design costs for the project to the grant we build testing to the grant all of which wasn't originally anticipated but we maximized it as much as we could beyond that when we tried to cover utility upgrades and other things through the grant we were denied the request because there's a very specific scope that the state will allow us to use money for at which point we had to close out the project so if you would like like a more itemized list of the concrete the asphalt the contractor we need everything we have all of that prepared I've sent you the grant agreements for both grants which includes all of that information and you know I am available to you to all of you to help answer questions so please use me and reach out to me if you have a question in the future um I was here at caucus I'll continue to be available um and happy to answer any additional questions reach out thank you you're saying that the project was done on time and under budget yes okay that's not typical for government but thank you it's not but we aim for the best thank you thank you thank you okay Sean hard to believe I understand I don't think I can top that all right so on to our public speaking portion of the meeting I'm going to be calling the number and the first name of the individual with that name being said please pay close attention to the agenda first Speaker 5.1 leverne I don't see are here tonight next speaker 5.2 Edward this is my final opportunity to address you all tonight the one I signed up for I didn't anticipate coming up during ordinances but anyway um it is a happy New Year and that's just not a formality and um I want to see things change around here I am so grateful to have councilman Gilmore's leadership and I would even though you all are individuals I would like to see all of you follow and his like like even just a little bit so for example he does his community caucus before the caucus many of us in Jersey City are uneducated we have no idea what's going on down here and it should be on you herward to educate us like to spend your time with us that that's what I really want to see here so I'm going to be down here pushing that more like what are you guys doing to inform the public because all of this is first order of business and it's all of our business you understand what I'm saying so like every ordinance every resolution you should spend time educating the public more because we all need to be more educated on what's Happening down here and empowered to come and speak and to be able to deal with all these issues really and we ended last year on a good note and we begin this year on a good note with um Trenton's passing our state legislature passing their support for the ccrb finally and now the Advisory board for the pilot program in with mental health Crisis Intervention funding now I'll have you know that I'm upset about what's happening with Jersey City together because they are formal leaders here speaking with many on the council or designated members on the council and if you say that you are going to entrust us with we're we're going to entrust you with the leadership and you're going to include us then include us one member by that's spitting on our face one person from the community in a sense being a liazon bringing you back information on what our entire Community wants so what you do in response to what I'm saying now is say Edward oh we're going to do a town hall virtual or in person you start coming out to our communities to see what mental health what we think a community board should look like really involve us I've spent my time doing this because really all my time but that's really what this is about Community involvement and we need to see you engaging with us more so you lead how we want you to lead a reflection of us this body thank you next speaker 5.3 Gina Gina here not here next speaker 5.4 Cameron hello I'm Cameron again um so yeah I wanted to uh basically Echo yeah what Mr Perkins is saying I think it's wonderful what Gilmore is doing with um having these Community caucuses that's something any of the council members could do um and I think it's the a great way for um you all to make sure you're you know actually hearing what people want and people know what's going can tell you what's going on in the community as well as learning about you know what's going on here um and I hope that you'll take that to heart um the uh just want I wanted to say more on the whole like bicycle lane thing because yeah like I started saying before you know this idea Jersey City we're becoming a big city like new New York City but New York City has Subways so um you know if you want to become a growing city you got to you got to prepare for that um and uh other for instance um I mean and I feel pretty sure that when these deals we make for developers that want people who can pay these high rents I'm sure those people are I I would be willing to bet those people are driving a lot of cars Journal Square has its own parking garage for example I mean anyway um and uh on the uh earlier we mentioned affordable housing 35% is not enough we really need to um fight for 100% and fully affordable and I also hope that soon you know um that the council will take initiative to start the rights of counsil program I hope it's already uh being looked at um to be established ahead of time because people are being evicted now um and also create the city could create its own affordable housing with the with these um you know the money that's being collected from the developer fees the the city could create much more affordable housing if it um created its own instead of you know paying developers with a lot of profit built in um and uh also on the Mental Health crisis program um just having one person from one organization is not engagement you got to you got to in involve everybody um in talking about what that Mental Health crisis program is going to look like um I want to say again I hope uh it's extremely important um that we get this coun that this Council passes a resolution for a ceasefire the murders are still going on every day um and every day Israel is becoming Bolder and Bolder about its fascist statements and genocidal statements openly saying it wants to remove everyone from Gaza it's far past time to pass a ceasefire resolution and we've talked a lot about a lot of the needs that the city has remember 1.4 trillion dollar in our budget federally is going to war violent policing deportations imagine all the money that could be going through people helping programs maybe we could get a resolution to the federal government going on on that thank you that's it our next speaker 5.5 Tina hey guys um as just just wanted to say justice for Drew me and E was just talking about drw when we was coming up here so e was like thank God they passed the law and I'm like yeah so he was like what else we going to be doing for drw so I was just letting him know we will always have the memories of drw whatever we do in the community we we'll always have him on our page on our shirts whatever because mental health is really in our community in Warf I want to thank y'all for fixing our building at the Web building but we still need help in our area even though we put the homeless out of our building now they outside in the street sleeping we have a bus I don't know if y'all noticed that but we have a bus that come every morning on Forest at Martin Luther King to drop off the homeless and then they come back to pick them up again at 7:30 that is the reason why our Corners is so packed on Oak and Martin Luther King and Forest they also stand right in front of That Daycare where them kids at I was also a teacher there and I volunteer in there they should not be standing around it I don't know why the Bus drop them off they say they go to that Center over there no they don't go to Center they need some other direction of just coming here and dropping them off because after they leave our community look a mess and War F I want to talk about the nonprofits it's so many nonprofits out here in the community as myself Community Treasures do not get no fund do not get no help for our um leaders or for our mayor or whoever's in charge of the budget I believe in the budget it should be something in there for nonprofits and we should come together to help out nonprofit it's no way that they should still be going into their pockets of helping out I do a lot for my community not only for me and my family but other families also at the hospitals I'm running back and forth for the moms to be for cares and Pampa I don't judge them because I was one of them paren at the Goodwill trying to get something and I couldn't afford it so that is the reason why I continue to be out in the community I wish y would get in our shoes and come out in the community and see exactly what we do education of Gilmore was just at my spot today dropping off he actually see exactly what go on in the community we definitely need more resource and Warf we definitely need more housing forget about housing we need to own our house we need the own house we need some classes as helping people to buy a first home not go through your credit and this and that we need more resource of doing it it's no way that people should be having a hard time living in Jersey City and War F because everyone know everyone and we should be able to come together and help each other and I would love to sit down with all of y'all to just talk about our community maybe you don't be in our community community in war F and see exactly what go on but I really would need to talk to all of y'all and just for y'all to see exactly what go on so we can change it this year I don't want to have to keep coming here on Wednesday I want to stay in my community and continue to work in my community thank you next speaker 5.6 Diego Diego here no next speaker 5.7 Daniel uh Happy New Year to all the council members uh thank you again for voting down the ordinance for Wayne Street and I just wanted to come up here ask if there was any update from the traffic and Engineering on on that ordinance Mr Solomon just briefly they um they did confirm that the signs placed on the north side of the street were improperly done and so there's been a work order done to remove them and they're in the process of reviewing the proposals from members of the community Mr darbari and they're supposed to get back to us in the next week or two uh based on their review thank you sure you're welcome thank you let me know hey thank you our next speaker 5.8 Carrie Carrie broo no next speaker Callos 5.9 is Callos here no next 5.10 William Williams not here 5.11 Sam not here next speaker 5.12 B arjal I don't I don't know if pronouncing that correct no next 5.13 Natasha thank you 5.14 Dante 5.5 Zary and 5.16 Phillip thank you sir president members of the city council and Phil car in your hands are an exhibit the exhibit shows according to the requests of the Department of Community Affairs you must have two forms of egress it is is clear as daylight I had an inspector came the inspector says yes it is there no it is there we been to court the inspector season inspector swear that it is there yes no it is not there I challenge that in court the Lord Department swear that no it does not exist and that is James lamba that was followed also by livma Bean it was also followed by Philip Adelman three lawyers either lied on the on the oath or operating in bad faith the judge Christine vnet upheld the LIE saying it does not exist if you doubt the picture anyone can ask council president W where my building is you can come and see for yourself that it does exist we we went to the appell court they're lied and still keep saying it does not exist I'm not asking you to answer me but look at that picture and ask them how on Earth they can swear that it does not exist it cannot be a yes and a no answer to a simple question that's Elementary it's either yes or it is no and they're swearing no so I'm challenging this matter in in the Supreme Court I mean that's how bad things really are anyone who understand how to look at the ecourt you can go into ecourt docket number L 2491 D20 or appell Court 827 d22 the lie just got to stop you just cannot continue to lie I'm going put that to rest but if they continue to challenge that way everybody's name who's on that I'm going sue them that's me every last one of the lawyers uh crooked Phil Steve Phillip and everyone else whose name appear and I'm not saying that you know exactly I say I do exactly what I said I'm going to do you cannot have a yes and a no answer in 2024 to a simple question I need to go on a little further extremely important we need to deal with this Palestinian situation you cannot you cannot be a two-faced hypocrite you can't come and say that children are dying every day in Palestine and who are the victims at that time the Arabs are are victims but in D four the Arabs are the oppressor and they're more ruthless than the white Jews there are more children dead or being killed or being displaced in daur than in Palestine or anywhere this is a fact for four there's only 1.9 million Palestinians have been displaced 4 4.8 million thank you Phil Phil thank you Phil our next speaker 5.17 Jeffrey think he's here 5.8 Amory good evening and the best of this new year and hopefully peace in this new year I have three points that I'd like to go over tonight and stay within my time firstly and foremost thank you so much because this Council has shown that you make a commitment to a true Crisis Intervention team program for mentally challenged and drug addicted individuals in our community and you followed through on that you want to build a gold standard program we know that because you heard the six to8 points that we've recited here you've had meetings with us and you kept your word and you held an in-person meeting to start fashioning an RFP for a gold standard program program we had meeting one and you had Community Voices at the table and I profoundly on behalf of Jersey City together and many other community members we thank you for that in that meeting that was meeting one we all decided we have to schedule our next meeting and we'd like to do that rather rapidly so we're awaiting word about when the next meeting and the subsequent meetings to really bring the program to fruition and my third point is we have the state of New Jersey with eyes on Jersey City they didn't just pass an act this week allocating 12 million do to six counties and we're one of them they passed the act that they call the seab Brooks Washington community-led crisis response Act they hear us they see us they have honored Drew Washington the way we have done at so many of these meetings so we're grateful for the state and our point to this council is is there not some of that 2 million that will go to Hudson County that can augment what we want to do with our gold standard Crisis Intervention team program thank you thank you so much and the community for always showing up and being supportive of all these efforts thank you our next speaker 5.19 Chris is Chris here next 5.20 Jordan believe he left next 5.21 Emanuel okay thank you next by point 22 to Edward hey what's up everybody I'm Edward reap from Hoboken though I wanted to talk about Jersey City today so I'm coming over uh one town over with to hopefully uh speak about something important because um you know we're all very interconnected here in Hudson County and the topic I want to speak about is something that I think very few people wish to speak about because it's was very traumatic and it's been a long time and that's the whole situation that still is going on with the lingering um policies and practices related to the covid pandemic which should be over right now I think it's it's over as far as I think most people are concerned covid has evolved into um what's essentially a common cold before covid-19 happened there were plenty of common colds that were caused by Corona viruses now covid has um evolved into being another one of those common colds caused by Corona viruses and the problem with the situation we have is that there are certain pockets of our society in which some of the extra um extra measures that were taken during the covid pandemic refus to go away and as a conservative I believe it's the the uh a responsibility and duty of government to tell private businesses and people what they can and can't do when in doing so they are in service of you know something important for our social cohesion and our tradition and the fact is that there are a lot of hospitals in the state of New Jersey and throughout the country that have brought back mask mandates before the covid pandemic we had some masking in hospital certainly surgery certain certainly with certain diseases like tuberculosis you had masking it it was a practice but it wasn't a common widespread practice this but what we're seeing now is a fundamental change to how our society works at least in the medical sphere but it could spill over it there could be a slippery slope but we're seeing a practice where um hospitals have basically in many cases said that at least whether all the time or at least for a large portion of the winter they're going to mandate that everyone wears masks now a lot of people think this isn't a big deal but I think that we should uh pause there because I I think it can be a big deal for many patients being in a Hospital's a very stressful situation or you know could be scary or whatever and in those cases probably one of the big upsides they could have is a positive interaction with someone else whether that's staff another patient um and you know a lot of those human interactions would be premised on Smiles on human seeing the human face and you're probably making life very unpleasant for those folks and I think we have to really consider that so I think Jersey City should ban hospitals from being able to have mask mandates I think it's a proper role of government to tell private businesses and organizations what they can and can't do and we should tell them they can't do that thank you he our next speaker Jermaine believe he left yep next speaker 5.24 Michelle good evening even last Tuesday I live streamed the council's reorg meeting and I felt for you councilman Rivera I could relate to how you were feeling set aside by your colleagues because much of what you explained parallels Port Siders feeling snubbed and disappointed by the council's in action for the last 13 months your most emotionally Laden words like family honor being judged by your character and word is word bond is Bond are exactly what we to expected from our elected council members instead we've been told by president wman that the council has done everything that it could possibly do to not only assist us Port Siders but to also ensure the city's Administration including its office of landlord tenant relations was and is enforcing the laws that it is required to enforce respectfully president Wardman I disagree with you the more accurate thing to have told us would have been that the council has done all it could as directed by fli in his Corporation Council over the last 13 months in this chamber I've witnessed many citizen attempts at movements there was the contingent to remove councilwoman degees after she committed a hit and run against a bicyclist while driving her UV there were the city's 911 emergency dispatch employees Jersey City minority union workers displaced by non- city workers and so on while they've come and gone we continue to defy the city's expectation that we too will lose Steam and fade away I'm here to tell you that if you believe we are like the others you are gravely mistaken Madam president this is a new term for you you recently announced your run for mayor Stakes are higher now for you than ever before and as you'll hear in speeches that follow Port Siders are more serious than ever because the city's administrators continue to neglect their duties tonight you'll hear more on how Peter Baker's Corporation Council continues to work the landlord tenant office from behind to stall the enforcement of the rent leveling board's determination bad behavior by the city's lawyers and Baker is rewarded with a nomination for a judgeship do you really want to be associated with something so shameful council members the Faulkner act requires that you investigate the multiple documented complaints that we've brought before you long before we initiated litigation in New Jersey Superior Court act like the separate arm of municipal government as you are charged to do and stop allowing yourselves to be under the thumb of fli and his attorneys there may will be time for you to get things right before we are forced to do so thank you thank you our next speaker Anna H good evening Council um thank you for having us earlier today um I believe councilman Gilmore said a rule that just sounds good is worth nothing we have to have enforcement he was talking about bike Lanes but this absolutely applies to 260 what you have to understand is this is not just one building and it's not just downtowners and it's not just this small group of people behind me it is a huge movement not only within the building but within all of Jersey City when the rent leveling board made their determination back in October it was amazing it was a sign that what we did was working um we saw where Equity did not follow the law and we really thought that Justice was being served we came up and thanked you and it made a huge difference you know I've told you before I'm a solo parent um I have multiple jobs and dealing with rent that is so incredibly High um and sort of gambling on staying here because I assumed that the rent level ing board determination would stand is is a challenge the bureau isn't following the ordinance and there should be an investigation as to why the council here is the only entity with this fuler act investigation responsibility likewise the mayor has the ordinance enforcement responsibility yet rent control continues to be not enforced even after our win this too should be investigated and I think as you've heard things that we brought up are not just about rent control and not just about port side earlier today a gentleman was talking about how he got blocked by fup on Twitter people laughed but mayor fup is doing this all the time about any complaints or any issues that um that he doesn't agree with he has a certain group of cronies who are allowed to comment on his Instagram um while other people are not allowed to which obviously is not fair um so you know I really I know we've been here for the last 13 months um and I really hope that you continue to listen to us um because what we're saying is important um and we're not leaving and we we will prevail thank you thank you you our next speaker Lucy so I lived in the East Tower and West Tower and um I've been in Port for my whole life and my mom had to keep on the rent wasn't a difference and my mom had to spend a lot of money just for living in this house that only was for rent we um we will not stop arguing till we know that the rent will go low um um and don't even and um I just I'm very annoyed of coming here because I have to keep on telling you that I just want this to stop thank you thank [Music] you I don't know how anybody else is going to top that next 5.27 Mark oh no chance on topping that hi um new topic today not the one about security this time but in October the rent leveling board determined that Portside had always been rank controlled and ruled for six-year roll back uh from the dates of the first petitions that would mean a roll back to 2016 on November the 27th Jonah no wrote a letter representing the office of landlord tenant relations the bureau uh that attempted to enforce only a look back to 2018 because the bureau is unable to count after an extensive response from our legal team we received a correction from Jonah no extending the look back to 2017 by miscounting yet again look I'm happy to teach a remedial arithmetic class to the whole Bureau focusing on Counting as far as six I think they should be capable of that if we train them um Jonah uh Carol Noel was also the city employee who changed the official City form to remove requirements Equity residential didn't meet related to our case this was done on January the 3D last year not this year just after we found out the Portside Tower's initial mortgage loan only had a 4-year duration which would limit any exemption Portside had to September 1992 Carol modified the official City form to remove the mortgage reporting requirement the office of landlord tenant relations should be renamed to the office of landlord support and tenant suppression the bureau is not following the ordinance and there should be an investigation as to why this council is the entity with with the forner ACT investigation responsibility and this Council has a legal duty to investigate under that act perhaps you're so used to helping developers that you don't have any idea how to follow the law why not use your poers investigate what harm could it do to know the truth Equity is flouting the law when will Jersey City do something about it a few days ago on December the 28th I received an offer for a new lease from Portside that was a 9% increase the next day I talk to equity reminded them this was a rent control building they revised it to 6% still far above any amount allowed Equity is flouting the law when will Jersey City do something about it we all tired of this as I'm sure you are and we just want what's rightfully ours however we're in this for the Long Haul and we'll have here at each we'll be here at each council meeting and we'll take action in the courts and if this isn't solved very soon I doubt that many of you will have a chance in the 2025 local election and there'll be no chance whatever in the race for mayor Equity is flouting the law when will Jersey City do something about it our next speaker 5.28 Sylvia dear council members uh I had a whole speech written and I had to throw it in the garbage because I read something that really upset me tonight so sorry if it's not very well written I will start by saying that Equity residential my landlord it's net worth is$ 23 billion tonight I was informed that on January 5th the Bureau of rent leveling sent a communication trying to give my landlord Equity a credit for an extra year beyond the rent leveling board determination why like seriously why is the Bureau helping our landlord a corporation which 2022 Revenue was above 2.7 billion dollars and allowing it to ignore the binding board determination do you know how many families won't be able to keep their home if they wait another year before enforcing rent control why is there so much effort to help a multibillion dollars I repeat 23 billion dollar instead of your own constituents why are you not investigating each month as a community we we are overcharged over $1 million this is $1 million per month stolen from hard working families who are just trying to have a decent living in Jersey City to make a company of $23 billion and yes I'm going to keep repeating this even richer don't you think they have enough money to start following the low just now really what is going on thank you our next speaker 5.29 Barbara thank you council president Waterman congratulations on your recent reinstatement as a voting taxpaying resident of your city I have an urgent request which is backed up by some facts my urgent request please investigate why by three months after the ren leveling board ruled in October 2023 at Portside Towers at 155 Washington Street is rent controlled that very ruling is being ignored my landlord Equity residential is continuing to renew tenant leases beyond the legally permissible limit please investigate why that ruling which confirms the building is rent controlled is not being enforced here are the facts that back up this urgent request fact leading up to the October 2023 the tenants of pork side Towers spent more than a year pleading with the city council to uphold the laws of Jersey City specifically ordinance 260 no filing no exemption from rent control fact the city council failed to act fact in our desperate attempt to get some Jersey City official to uphold the city's laws or side Towers residents took our pleas to the rent leveling board fact rent leveling board in October 2023 ruled that 155 Washington is indeed rent controlled fact the ruling that is now three months old is being ignored by Jersey City officials three months after the ruling the city is still failing to enforce it fact I am asking the city council to investigate why the rent leveling board ruling is not being enforced fact I am asking the city council to bear in mind its responsibility to the voters of the city many many of whom are renters not landlords in fact I am asking the city council to bear in mind the vulner ACT thank you thank you please our next speaker 5.30 Jessica not here thank you our next speaker 5.31 Suzanne not here okay next by Point 32 Carol um good evening Council I'm feeling frustrated with the city as I'm sure some of you may also feel frustrated with us I want to believe that each of you occupies your position out of a genuine desire to contribute to the well-being of the people of Jersey City and to Champion what is lawful and simply right I have to believe that otherwise I can't imagine that this is all a pleasant experience listening to the maror challenges complain scripes and concerns of our community I understand that getting things right might not happen on the first attempt we all learn and go through grow through each experience I recall one of the city's lawyers after a victory at the rent leveling board saying quote we've never done this before unquote while concerning there's a first time for everything and I can appreciate the openness to new challenges and working as a team to solve them but asking the city to uphold the law is not something I thought we'd have to ask for it concerns me that the consistently supports our landlords in defiance of the law the board ruled for a six-year look back from the dates of the first petitions yet on November 27th 2023 the bureau attempted to enforce only a look back to 2018 after an extensive response from our legal team we received an updated extension to 2017 which is still incorrect more concerning is a bureau's attempt to give Equity Credit for the rent rules never deemed filed this is not in accordance with the ordinance and enables the extraction of Maximum additional illegal rents from Portside Tower tenants it raises serious questions about the bureau's adherence to the law warranting an investigation which brings me to another crucial point the council vested with the fauler ACT investigation responsibilities must investigate the bureau's actions likewise the mayor who is responsible for ordinance enforcement should investigate why rent control remains unenforced even after our win we as a group are committed to our fight and remain undeterred legal actions are in progress with each appearance here adding to the counts related to multiple legal issues all captured on publicly available video the absence of action cannot be overlooked and we are committed to ensuring accountability I implore the council to address these issues uphold the law and fulfill the responsibilities entrusted to you ignoring legal obligations is a grave oversight and we will continue to follow through holding those who choose to remain remain silent accountable thank you for your time and let us collectively strive to build a city that does stand true to the principles of justice and fairness for all its residence thank you thank you our next speaker 5.33 Joel members of the city council happy New Year and I hope it indeed it is a new New Year more than a year ago we asked for an investigation into the actions of the office of landlord tenant relations which according to the Jersey City website enforces the city's rent control ordinance in particular we were concerned that an office that had repeatedly informed residents of Jersey City that the Portside Tower Apartments were subject to rent control yet in a written determination that same office bent over backwards to find some murky way to exempt those same apartments from the city's rent Control Ordinance thus we tenants have been subjected to Illegal rent increases and our only recourse was to appeal to the rent leveling board step one told One Thing official result completely different president Waterman prior to the decision of the rent loving board made it clear that she believed the board would get it right indeed she invited us to come back to this body if it if they failed to do so it looked like the city through the rent leveling board did get it right we were relieved when they issued its oral decision on October 19th that our homes were never exempt from the city's rent Control ordinances we came back to this body to express our relief with the board's oral decision but we made it clear that we were watching to see what followed What followed suggests that it may have been all a setup the initial appearance of a wind soon became murky Corporation Council the office that had been providing legal guidance to the landlord relations all along transformed clear language in the RB's oral decision and obfuscated the board's direction to the office of landlord tenant relations this obfuscation was apparent in their request for proofs issued by the hearing in landlord tenant officer Jon o noell what was a six-year look back for damage is based on illegal rents in 2016 and based on legal rents in 2016 appears to be turning into a search for the illegal rents charged in 2018 is the base rent step two told One Thing official result completely different that is what appears to be the city's modus operandi tell constituents and even councilman Rivera one thing but deliver something else completely different can we trust the council in the city to do the right thing apparently not therefore I filed an action in lie of prerogative RIT to have the courts provide the oversight that this Council has failed to to say that I'm disappointed in this board is a Hu in this body is a huge understatement I have to thank you all for sharing your strong support for enforcing the laws earlier you have a rent leveling office that is supposed to enforce the laws and it fails repeatedly to do so thank you our next speaker 5.34 Judith Judith Fury Rogers senior citizen 100 Montgomery apartment 3A I predict in approximately two years there will be multiple lawsuits as well as Jersey city workers investigated again but this time 100 Montgomery will be involved what time type of lawsuits wrongful death from mold exposure harassment tenants right to funding providing clean living environment civil rights violations and of course illegal rent increase also misusing covid funding unlicensed workers demolishing and rebuilding the new market renters units cutting pipes and electrical wires knocking down retaining walls how why I have complained publicly about my apartment 3A black mold exposure asbest exposure inspectors turning away from violations I asked cried please help me as a senior citizen with severe asthma nothing thank you councilman Solomon for trying to help me in my opinion there is Major corruption between 100 mon gy and Jersey City it is so obvious why why would a 23 story 308 unit apartment house hire a man with a van plus or minus five workers to go into individual Apartments using shopping carts to carry debris away why by the way the same group of workers is now installing the new vents I'm sure at a great price why didn't Jersey City help me as I was looking for help with 3A I found the reason I discovered and my problem is no longer an issue to me I discovered they are still affordable housing not listed anywhere the new tenants pay a little more but they are affordable renters 100 Montgomery is not listed on the Jersey City of aordable housing site there's no income requirements no email you must go in person why physical only application in person I will not rest until someone from the state investigates the 100 Montgomery discrimination against African-Americans and Hispanics going into the affordable housing new units New Image new downtown image they deciding who belongs they cannot do that 2024 it's not allowed our next speaker 5.35 Aaron good evening council members I'm eron Kent uh first of all I want to let you know that Kevin wishes he could be here he really misses you um and you know I always like to start with a quote uh a rule that sounds good is worth nothing we have to enforce it um that is from Jersey City council member Frank Gilmore I'm sorry you weren't here before when somebody started with that and you walked right into it I apologize just a little levity uh but I'm not terribly good at math I never have been in fact it was always my worst subject but somehow now far beyond my school years I find myself constantly dealing with strange numbers cpis rent control limits look backs Etc the Plus is I've realized that I do remember some of the basics the negative I've realized some of the other parties involved may need to go back to school as we all know the board ruled for a six-year look back from the dates of the first petitions which as we all know took place in 2022 2022 minus 6 equals 2016 even in equity's federal complaint they discussed the 20164 damage period yet on November 27th 2023 the office of tenant landlord relation attempted to enforce only a look back to 2018 by counting it this way year 1 2023 year 2 2022 and so on after an extensive response from our legal team we received a correction extending to 2017 by counting this way year one 20122 which is when the first petition occurred mind you not one year rolled back so year 2 2021 year 3 2020 and so on 2022 minus 6 is 2016 not 20 17 the math as they say isn't mathing someone in our group brought up a very good point everyone here at some point turned one year old and they weren't one year old on the day they were born it took 365 days okay so let's do this again year one is 2021 a 365-day roll back or period of one year from 2022 year 2 Is 2020 year 3 2019 year 4 2018 year 5 2017 year 6 20 2016 some other math we won in October November 527 illegal rent colle collections December 527 illegal rent collections January 527 that's 1,581 illegal collections this year there are over 40 illegal rent increases some over 60% we are overcharging the millions every month I guess it goes to follow if certain entities aren't following the law then why should they follow the rules of math council members I ask you to help us make this math make sense on the most basic level I don't want to think about this anymore this math though simple makes my head hurt I imagine hearing these speeches and pleas over and over again since 2022 and now entering into a third calendar year of 2024 happy New Year by the way are likely hurting your head too thank you thank you next speaker 5.36 denillo good evening um on October 11 23 the rent leveling board voted anonymously to reject landlord's appeal of the rent regulations officer determination that the property is subject to the rent Control Ordinance not withstanding the above the city has been made aware the landlord continues to disregard the determination of the board therefore please accept this correspondence to the city's final not to refrain from charging rent in excess of the amounts provided by the rent Control Ordinance failure to comply will result in the landlord being subject to fines as much as $660,000 if the landlord continues to operate as if it was exempt such action will be taken without further notice to the landlord this letter that uh should could have been what the city uh chy City rent leveling Bureau should have written to equity by now but it is paraphrased a quote from the letter sent by Raman I Rivera board Council of Hoboken on the Avalon matter I'm asking you president Waterman where is such a l letter from our city to equity to enforce the port side ruling what is the city corpor ation Council doing in fact where's Peter Baker he's missing election for at least the last last four or five City Council meetings why is equity allowed to disregard the ruling especially in the light of what you president Waterman said when you introduced Congressman Andy Kim on January 5 you emphasized quote the need for people in government who really care about their communities do you really care we know you don't have to answer we also know you choose to answer when you see fit your silence speaks volumes do let me remind you once more that Jersey City is a forner act City therefore we demand an investigation in the misconduct of the rent leveling Bureau and mayor full up by not enforcing the ordinance we also demand an investigation in landl tenant officer Noel who apparently helps Equity to limit damages by giving credit to rent roads that were never filed by applying maximum potential increases without legal Merit and by altering official forms and removing reporting criteria president Waterman will you investigate I take that as a yes okay thank you and just let me remind you non-action really is not a solution it's your legal responsibility to investigate thank you our next speaker Sonia good evening I'm Sonia kishna happy New Year happy New Year next Monday we celebrate Dr Martin Luther King I've mentioned it here before he became a role model of mine in sixth grade back in Germany when we read his famous speech I have a dream in English class it was one year ago when I mentioned that since this date in 1963 a lot has changed in the United States many things for the better on the other hand many things seem to go dramatically backwards just a few days ago the news were full of a look back to the N to the January 6 events of 2021 another speech by Dr King 5 years later in 1968 comes to mind he famously said the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends towards Justice at the National Cathedral just four days before he was assassinated Dr King had to die for his belief in Justice and equality he could not watch his dream come true we to today know that it did come true at least to some degree we bow to him for his persistence in standing up over and over again for the rights of people and for making the universe bent when we think about something that's bending an unvoluntary forceful and unnatural movement comes to mind a shelf giving in to a heavy load a Smith forming a hot iron former corporate bosses bending backwards and out of accountability even torture benches of the Middle Ages I save you the details the actual definition to of to bend is to constrain or strain to tension by curving to force from a proper shape to forth back on an original straight or even condition fourth one side of the Ark we keep asking you till this day who and what constraints you and forced you out of the proper shave of an elected representative who would naturally help their constituents no answers you stay in the weird unnatural shape someone very powerful must have forced you into fourth on the other side of the Ark we have been showing up in full force here for almost two years we've been offering you our help to get back into an original straight or even condition the Ark of the moral universe is long but it bends towards Justice we know that Justice will win with us is National national press that will reach over 1 million viewers in the next few days the city's own rent leveling board over 50 previous press coverages the fogner ACT mayors of cities that you can actually walk to a team of experts and lawyers and much more we are an immensely forceful team but we have zero fun in making the universe bent it is unnatural that we have to do so so you do itk you thank you next speaker by. 38 maram uh my name is maram I'm Kara and I'm a Pakistani American Muslim and a Jersey City resident I'm here in my personal capacity today to ask our city council members to reintroduce a ceasefire resolution I want to thank councilman S Gilmore and bajano for supporting the initial resolution but for the rest of you who did not you have heard from countless Jersey City residents over the last three years three months asking you to support a ceasefire resolution you have a civic responsibility to answer our calls as elected officials what we do in city councils and rooms like this across New Jersey and across the country will build a Grassroots momentum that can change policy and save lives there will come a point when it is too late to act but it's not too late right now this past Sunday I woke up to the news that Palestinian journalist while ehud's eldest son Hamza was killed in an Israeli air strike in Gaza in October while lost his wife two children and Grandson also to Israeli air strikes US Secretary of State blinkin responded quote I can't begin to imagine the horror that he's experienced not once but now twice end quote what happened on October 7th was horrific I mourn the loss of all innocent Israeli civilian lives and condemn all attacks against civilians I pray that the victim's family members find some peace and for the safe release and return of all the hostages but today we are over 90 days into this war every day the current crisis in the Middle East continues as another day that poses an imminent threat to the lives of countless innocent Palestinian civilians and the remaining hostages I watched my Jewish Palestinian Arab Christian Muslim loved ones mourn the growing death toll in Gaza over the last 3 months journalist hin shared on December 28th quot I do not feel like this is going to end anymore I feel that we are stuck and the only way out is being killed by an Israeli war plane or an Israeli tank end quote journalist ban shared on January 6th quote my role and the role of the rest of the journalists in Gaza is to document our stories and the stories of our people and your role is to put an end to this genocide do not despair be stronger and demand a cease fire you are our only hope end quote my New Year's resolution this year is to be brave and I'm demanding it be yours as well please reintroduce a ceasefire resolution thank you Sean before you call someone else um I want the Law Department to address their concerns because explain it to us because the decision was made by the rent leveling board the board and what is the process after that I um we need to know this now everyone needs to hear this sure uh right now they think that we don't care which is not true so explain it to us now right now after the board's decision uh the Portside Equity matter is now the subject of two separate lawsuits one was filed by Equity residential and the federal court and one has been filed um by the tenants in state court so it is active and pending litigation ation we always advise the council to not comment publicly about active or pending litigation uh if you have any questions about what is going on with the litigation we can answer those questions offline but as of right now the board's decision it's not stayed it is active the building is subject to rent control so if there are continuing issues um the tenant should file legal rent petitions um if they are continuing to get illegal rent petitions they do have Council can bring those issues to council as well but there is pending litigation right now as to the board's decision as to whether not um you know each side disagrees with a portion of it but right now the the um decision is not stayed so it is active and the rent leveling Bureau should be working towards um actively getting the new rents calculated at any refunds so how long could that take for them to get it calculated because the board has to get that calculated correct said correct it has to be calculated um and they are dealing with requests for certain documents and um trying to come up with it as best as they can it is Complicated by the fact that they're now is litigation pending from both sides um so we can update you we can ask uh director Richardson where the process is at and give you guys an update on that but that should still be continuing those calculations while the litigation is pending so Brittney let me ask Michelle Britney Michelle don't yell out okay all right let me ask you this um so all right the litigation appe pills and all that is is one thing my concern is that we rendered a decision via the rent leveling board right and you're basically saying that that decision stands correct correct so how in the world can they be getting rent hikes three months after we rended a decision and like I said they should not be the building is subject to rent control so if something is above 4% they need to file an illegal rent position if it's above what percent you said four if okay so wait so they can receive a rent increase that's what you're saying but if it's above 4% then something should be filed correct because the board's determination was that it's subject to rent control oh so it can't be above anything that rent control would allow now now when they file that paperwork at some point all of that have to be retroactive at some point if they they're getting these illegal rent increases at some point they have to be able to recuperate that money after these petitions are filed correct that's part of the calculation my only concern concern is what happened if they get an increase they can't pay well they would have have to see counts file the illegal rent petition see Council and they have by then they might not have nowhere to stay what happens to a regular landlord when when they do like a rent hike and they do illegal rent petition uh what other enforcement mechanism outside of like decision is there for the city to say Hey you have to make sure that your rent is within the parameters of our you know chapter 260 rent Control Ordinance like what happens I as a landlord I can increase the rent however much I want and they file a legal rent petition and then um let's say they the tenant wins you know before the rent leveling board like what happens to me as an individual like landlord um normally it's just based on either the um bureau's decision or if it goes up to the board they calculate if something was um illegally charged there's a refund you have to pay it back or if there's a capital Improvement that you know what happens if I don't pay what happens if I don't refund the money or if I don't abide by the decision that the city has administered I'm not sure I would have to ask and see what happens yeah let's uh normally they follow up or you know if you're were talking about special civil court I'd have to look into it and see what would happen but normally it's you know because I know we make these decisions but you know we're not dealing with a actor that's you know doing things in good faith and I I think what most most prudent since a lot of the council asked questions is have the Law Department to put Amendment together for you that way you'll know the entire process through ordinance state law and various applications awesome thank you but part of our concern is Peter they they come to every um council meeting and I I'm hearing what they're saying and we did make a decision they went through that process so in their minds they're thinking that we're not doing anything but based on what you're telling me that both parties file the lawsuit but that shouldn't stop the process of them uh receiving I guess a a refund or calculations of what you know is due to them since it's now rent control that this is what I'm trying to understand here yep absolutely and we can reach out to director Richardson and see where they're at in the process because my concern is that what Authority can we take as a councel at this point well there is no Authority we could take because they're in the courts because they have a lawyer too correct have an attorney yes they have an attorney and I guess the landlord has a attorney they have several yep so this is this is a also a battle in the courts also I just want to make sure that we are doing what we supposed to do based on what this governing body should do because they saying we we don't care we don't do anything and um I know everybody on the council do care and they do care about people a lot so when they say that we don't care no when they say we don't care you got to understand we we're taking legal advice too and they saying what we can and cannot do okay that's why I'm having this open you know so the public can hear exactly what's going on CU we are doing what we can do as a council you keep saying there's more we can do but I'm opening this up publicly so our corporate councel can tell us publicly what this body can and cannot do and based on what she's saying that in the department right now director Richardson is doing the process of calculation or whatever based on what I'm hearing correct correct okay that's what she saying now they can't see it cuz the three Monon Gap I know that's what they saying and they done calculated this that's what they're saying so I don't know what the holdup is okay but I just think we need to get moving as as much as possible I know some of this in the courts and we don't have the authority over the courts like that to say what case is being heard but I think what we should do on out and is get moving as quickly as possible uh with this situation sure absolutely I'm GNA reach out to the director to reach out please so I'm not sure if if if Mr Richardson can have because it's litigation then can he have open dialogue with them because of this litigation not at the moment I mean he can discuss with them anything in terms of the um the calculations and back and forth the office has had communication with their attorney about the calculations so it's SE separate and apart I'm I'm just confused we have a law the law has to be followed if it's not followed we can't do n is basically what you're saying we can't can we do something but the thing is we've told them to go through the process and let the process play out and then they've let the process play out they won and then now 90 days they're forget the fact that they didn't receive back pay but they're continue to see incre that's what we have to be able to do something based on what you said Britney they could still increase their rent at least 4% if it's over that then it's more correct they need to file a problem if it's more than 4% correct if they're not following it they need to file an illegal rent petition again so so my next question is along with councilman cay was asking what are the ramifications as it relates to them continue to disobey the is there fees attached to the retray is there something that will essentially deter bad landlords for acting in the manner in which they're acting because I if if if it's like that just they'll just play the waiting game they know they got the money to pay them back play the waiting game there could be and right now since there is litigation pending um we're a little I don't what we can do but we're going to look through what we can do and provide memo yeah just there is a state Consumer Fraud statute that can basically the landlord has to pay triple damages if they overcharge rent and given there's an active ruling it it um uh strikes me that the landlord is creating significant liability for itself but to the points made by my colleagues I do think that we should find how we can clearly state right the the ruling is active you've St it clearly it's not stayed it's not stayed you know we have someone just flagrantly violating the law in the city so yes active litigation but but there should be a a clear role for the council to be able to say you follow the law that's not that's not litigation that's just follow the law right and if that is happening that information needs to be provided to the rent leveling Bureau so that they're aware of it I know it's been said but if they have documentation if they have leases if they have things like that they need to file an illegal rent petition or go through their Council that's had conversations again for many months on this so that they're aware can we extend and what we did for the Airbnb legislation which is you know we said that anyone that's in violation of it essentially couldn't Avail themselves of any permits or the license to do the Airbnb until the matter was adjudicated can we extend it to other matters such as this where you know Equity residential can't Avail themselves of a permit or any other City service until they've abided by the um the edict that was given sure we can look into it because anybody with outstanding violations or things like that um can be prohibited from getting permits or like we should extend the whole umbrella over for all of this so it's just safe to say that Equity is just completely violating you know everything there are two lawsuits pending and all I can says the bureau is doing what it can we'll get you an update all right Council we're going to go back to our public speakers we are at speaker number 5.39 and that would be Brian apologize to you Brian taking up your time evening Council um about a week ago my 5-year-old son was struck by a hid and run driver just a few blocks from here he just bring bring the mic up a little bit to you it's okay he was crossing the street in a crosswalk with the walk signal um the driver was making left turn through the same crosswalk hurrying to beat the oncoming traffic as the light changed they struck him knocking him to the pavement and drove off as a result Jacob has a broken leg several shattered teeth and lots of scrapes and bruises so why am I here I feel compelled to speak because this could have happened to anyone because it does happen too often and because there are still more things that our city can do to help solve the problem of traffic violence I could speak at length about the many incidents I've personally witnessed but I think everyone here is already aware the threat of traffic violence is a constant inescapable burden in our city we all feel feel it so I'll get to the point council members I urge you to prioritize further improvements to the design of our streets and the enforcement of our existing laws as is the theme of the evening specifically a simple change that would have helped my son would be giving The Pedestrian Crossing signal some lead time before the green light for vehicles the city already uses this solution at some intersections like a Columbus Drive but not where he was struck why can't we have a leading pedestrian as the default throughout Jersey City there are lots of other things we could do as well but I trust that our council members are already aware and educated and if not I'm happy to speak for more than three minutes about all the things you can do for traffic coming I also think that there is a place for further enforcement of our existing laws I'm aware that asking for increased policing comes with a cost and that our options for automated enforcement are restricted so I would like to suggest some other Creative Solutions for enforcement New York City allows the public to record idling vehicle violations and noise violations for businesses with compensation to the reporting individual for their efforts Jersey City could consider doing similar but for violations like parking in bike Lanes double parking running red lights or stop signs and so on I also believe it's already possible for individuals to file summons in person at the police department for these sorts of violations especially if they have video evidence we could make such reporting be more simple and streamlined finally I want to acknowledge and appreciate that our city has taken many steps to improve our streets I have lived here since 2010 and there are many more miles of bike Lanes more one-way streets and lots more daylighting of intersections but we can still go further and I hope to see further change thank Youk you our next speaker 5.40 Emily Emily here no next 5.41 Scott Scott's not here next 5.42 Jenny good evening my name is Jenny brover thank you for your consideration I would like to address a surge in anti-Semitism in Jersey City following the events of October 7th in Israel the deadliest Massacre of the Jewish people since the Holocaust first I want to clarify my intentions I ultimately stand for peace in Israel and Palestine I hold the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the immense loss of innocent Palestinian lives in my thoughts at the same time I won't tolerate rhetoric that solely blames Israel or scapegoats Jews without holding other nations or factions accountable I won't downplay the exential threat to Israel from Hamas or from surrounding Arab Nations my intention tonight is to raise awareness about anti-Semitism and request action be taken discriminatory discriminatory stickers are being plastered around the city prompting Jewish community members to personally remove them given time constraints I can't counter each sticker but they incite viol with calls for intifa promote dangerous stereotypes and deny Jews right to self-determination now here are some of the stickers Israel buys American Pol politicians it is right to Rebel Israel go to hell Zionism is Terrorism abolish Israel long live the inada Israel equals imperialism settler colonialism racism AP paride ethnic cleansing and land theft paid for by your tax dollars moreover numerous Jewish local businesses have been attacked online a female-owned business specializing in Jewish baked goods became the target of a boycott solely because the owner is Jewish the council should take these incidents seriously I suggest the following action of steps number one have a website or call center to report bias like anti-semitic incidents two delegate the removal of stickers and graffiti to the city three hold businesses accountable for speech harming Jewish owned businesses four establish an Ethics commission promoting Unity among diverse groups including Jewish and Muslim five priority youth education as a means to combat discrimination and anti-semitism six the Jersey City office of diversity is aware of anti-Semitic incidents and includes Jewish and Ally members I'm Jewish and I'm here tonight to lend my support I strongly believe in fostering Unity between marginalized groups and avoiding divisiveness thank you our next speaker 5.43 Kathleen hello thank you council members for having me my name is Kathleen Ali I am a longtime resident of Jersey City and a member of the volunteer animal welfare Community here in Jersey City I'm here to talk about resolution 24-31 um asking that you please vote no on this resolution that would have Jersey City provide animal control and animal shelter services to the town of guttenburg the Jersey City City animal shelter has been in operation for just a little more than a week exactly 10 days this is day 10 and it won't even be conducting regular business hours until January 15th it's much too soon to know how well the new management will handle the influx and outcomes of animals from Jersey City alone our shelter has only 100 cages and based on Liberty Humane statistics once the new shelter is fully up and running we can expect about 200 intake per month or about 2500 per year just from Jersey City let's give the new management time to show their competence in Striking the very tricky balance between intakes adoptions returns to owners and setbacks such as ringworm outbreaks or handling hoarder situations before the city considers taking on animals from Other M municipalities thank you for your consideration our next speaker 5.44 Carol evening everyone uh I'm Carol McNichol um 20e resident Homeowner of Jersey City yay um I started a nonprofit uh 20 years ago called Companion Animal trust and I committed myself to the last 20 years helping animals in Jersey City and the people who have pets and who also want to help the animals so my Legacy Legacy is long and full um so we got word that resolution 2431 has been withdrawn and someone confirm that no comment what was the number uh I'm sorry uh 2431 it's the one that authorizes this the City Health Department to uh share services with Guttenberg nothing has been done with that yet is it still on the agenda tonight it's still on the agenda and what will occur tonight with that vote uh so it's up for a vote okay but you can still withdraw it if the coun prior to them prior to the council voting yes okay so let me proceed before my time Runs Out Jesus okay um I'm also a member of a newly formed Coalition called The Jersey City animal welfare Coalition we we're a group of likewise people who have nonprofits and support and rescue animals and cats and dogs and whatever our mission is to support this the new shelter while educating the council and the community about what no kill no kill is and how to achieve it um more to come on that regarding the resolution Animal Welfare is not transactional uh everything about it should be focused on life saving we need to think first will this benefit the lost and homeless animals of Jersey City so does taking on another shelter uh situation taking in animals will it benefit our animals um I think when you're thinking dollars and cents that gets lost in the conversation and that's why I'm here and I will always be here we're going to move forward with this and support the shelter but we need to make we have to be real um part of the problem of that uh resolution would be as Kathleen mentioned the shelter has not been running long um we have no proof that the shelter manager is up to the task of running a no kill shelter I'll be honest okay um the shelter has a cage deficit uh with under a 100 cages for cats and dogs total combined um and I'll I'll correct Kathleen U it's estimated 2000 I'll start another time thank you but you get the message guys I'll be in touch hey our next speaker 5.45 noren good evening uh I'm also here to talk about Animal Welfare stuff in Jersey City um basically it's a thre part Focus one a request for information about what's going on what the new shelter what their policies are what their Vision are is because as a community active animalists I I've lived here 24 years we got no information whatsoever and people were relying on the internet and relying on Instagram to give us information about were their dogs left were they going to be euthanized before the transition on January 1st all this stuff stuff and everyone kept asking and there were no straight answers we are all on the same page everyone here wants to have vulnerable animals taken care of and and and stop animal abuse so we all want to see success together but the community needs a town hall so that we can hear who's in charge what's their Vision what's the intake policy is it a no kill shelter is it a euthanized when NE we need to know what they're going to do and we also need to know how they're going to effectuate this additionally enforcement we need enforcement of the current animal control laws because they're not being and I've had friends contact me because the police won't take an animal control complaint when someone abandoned their dog and Liberty was giving it back without investigating Liberty lost their contract for a lot of reason reasons but the goal for us here is that we don't repeat the same mistakes and just like thoughts and prayers don't help gun violence good intentions don't save animals we need to have a hard facts and based on what we know to be true in our area and lastly at some point we need to look at one of the sources of this problem and that is unregulated backyard breeding I know for a fact that a lot of the dogs that end up in the shelters are dumped dogs they're the mother dog who couldn't give any more litters they're dogs that was given to somebody else and they don't like it and they dump it on the street and the community is having to absorb all this we want a partner with the shelter but it cannot be the community's responsibility always to be trying to rehome I donate a lot of money to a lot of organizations and I am actively involved in rehoming but I want to have a partner in government I don't want to have this just fall on The Good Will of citizens and I know we all agree about this we need some clarity and I think as a good clean New Year Movement we have a town hall on Animal Control what the vision is how we can get involved and how we can volunteer thank you our next speaker 5.46 Albert good evening council members even I stand before you today with a heavy heart as we confront the troubling issue within our beloved Jersey City it is the alarming rise of anti-Semitism it is disheartening to witness prejudice and discrimination targeting A specific group of our fellow residents Jersey city has thrived on its diversity but recent incidents of anti-Semitism remind us that we must remain Vigilant against hatred we cannot allow our community to be tarnished by bigotry and intolerance it is our Collective responsibility to forcer an environment where everyone feels safe regardless of their background let us promote education understanding dialogue by standing together against anti-Semitism we can ensure that Jersey City remains a beacon of inclusivity acceptance and respect for all its residents together we can build a community that celebrates diversity and rejects the darkness of prejudice thank you thank you our next speaker 5.47 Ela council members I'm standing here before you because I'm experiencing continuous bigotry in our city and I'd like your help in making it stop part of the reason I decided to move here five years ago is because the city is walkable it's friendly and it's the most diverse city in the country it reminded me a lot of Tel Aviv though um if you could build a Sandy Beach that would be a little bit better but other than that it's really the same but the joy of the city is lost on me every time I walk down the street I'm reminded that every culture is welcome in the most diverse city in the country but mine every country in the world is somehow involved in some conflict but in our city there are hundreds on hundreds of stickers put out every day with messages like abolish Israel and globalize the intifa just to be clear these messages directly mean that me and my family back in Israel should be harmed abolish Israel is not just a benign saying it's a call for Action the intifada isn't just an uprising it's an armed Uprising against civilians Jewish civilians even if that not what the person who put them up meant and I sincerely hope nobody meant that and they were just ignorant it still means that to me and to my community if hundreds of bigoted stickers were made about any other nationality religion or people there would be an outrage and you would do something about it you would decry it you would make sure city workers help take them down you would do your best to identify who where's the hates coming from so this is what I came here for today I want to hear your voice I want you to say this is unacceptable bigotry I want to see action I want you take down this and I want help in working together to show that in spite of conflict anywhere diversity means different people can coexist peacefully in this city thank you thank you next speaker 5.48 Aya hello again AA Shermer president of bike JC first I want to sincerely thank all of you who voted for agenda item 4.3 earlier this is a much needed change and represents great progress towards our City's Collective Street safety goals but as the saying goes progress is often two steps forward and one step back and I feel that unfortunately Rings true in this present moment Jersey City is suffering from a pedestrian safety crisis and specifically a hit and run crisis every few days our street safety advocacy organizations are made aware of another hit and run in Jersey City and these are just the ones we find out about there are undoubtedly more just yesterday we learned of a new hit and run that took place in the Heights which resulted in two broken ribs bruising and lacerations in 2023 there were nearly three times as many Serious injury crashes in Jersey City than in 2022 also 100% of Jersey City pedestrian fatalities in 2023 occurred on City controlled streets not state or County roads over which the city has less control these statistics are harrowing and are trending quickly in the very wrong direction we must look inward to learn why these crashes are happening and take Swift action to Buck these distressing friends it cannot go unsaid that traffic violence is Gravely affecting our smallest res and most vulnerable residents our children earlier tonight we heard from two different parents of small children who have become innocent victims in these terrible hit and run crashes One 8 years old and one five years old one life cut tragically and inexplicably short another life altered with physical and mental scars these are kids we should all take this extremely personally I know I do I want to sincerely thank both Germaine and Brian for their courage to speak about how traffic violence has affected their families and for bringing human faces to what can otherwise be meaningless crash statistics last week's crash that sent 5-year-old Jacob to the hospital occurred just two blocks from where we all are tonight at the corner of Grove and Grand streets what actions are we taking to redesign that intersection such that a crash never occurs there again I assure you that the advocacy Community has lots of great ideas let's start with hardening the intersection by converting the existing painted curb extensions to concrete curb extensions let's create a leading pedestrian interval that allows pedestrians to establish their presence in the crosswalk before Vehicles can let's explore the broader issue of Turnpike cut through traffic via the terrible Jersey AV Bridge which dumps thousands of impatient drivers onto Grand Street and the list goes on please talk to us we're here to help um we just we can't do nothing these are the most precious lives in our city and we need to take action thank you you our next speaker 5.49 Julia for many of the people um sorry for many of the people in this room the chaos of the ceasefire resolution went away after the vote for everyone who joined me today and for the other people who are texting us while we're in the room that was just the beginning every day we wake up to a constant barrage of harassment and anti-Semitism and I'm here to ask you today what are you going to do about it we begged you not to bring forward resolution and instead to work with us on how we can together with the Muslim Community and hatred in our in our city we wanted to bring forward a resolution that halts the fraction we are seeing between our communities that have lived side by side peacefully and instead that resolution was shoved forward at all cost despite our efforts to work on the language we appreciate those who voted to abstain on the resolution but I'm here honestly full of anger that you have remained silent at the consequences that you have caused to the Jewish community and the Pandora's box of hate that you have opened every day I walk to work and see stickers lining nework Avenue calling for intifa Vi against Jews I take my children to the park and there are Stiers calling for the genocide of Jews I go to dinner and I have to explain to my daughter who just started to read why all the stickers around us want to murder their family why they want to murder my family every day as an Israeli parent in the city it has become a question of how to explain why people hate us and want to murder us because of who I am and where I come from every single day so again my question to you is where are you on this issue none of you have spoken up none of you have even come close to saying this is unacceptable in our community and I have to wonder why are you so scared to speak out for Jews even tonight I heard countless conspiracy theories Elders of Zion that it's because of the Jews that there isn't affordable housing in the city and you sit here and you listen to it like it's normal I'm here to tell you that we are not the weak Jews of the 1930s and I will not sit around and let my children grow up in a place where people openly hate us and it isn't checked the Holocaust started with harassment and bullying of Jews the Jews in this city and Jews now are not going to sit around and let it happen again I won't be silent and we will be here over and over and over until you do something about it thank you and our last speaker 550 Lorenzo good evening Council and happy New Year to you um I first want to talk about um an issue that has been plaguing this city for some time um recently I had to replace my shocks my struts my lower control arms sway bar lengths and the bushings on my vehicle the reason for that is because of the condition of the roads in Jersey City if you look at the work that doing currently right now on Ocean Avenue they dug up the street in the middle of the street but the way they put it back it's not even and they do that with a lot of projects whether it's psng or some of these other contractors that needs to be addressed because it's a major major problem Martin Luther King Drive still hasn't been addressed and I saw uh councilman uh Gilmore's uh post about you know the funding for that um I there are potholes that literally your tire dip into and come out that creates major problems and that could also create accidents um I know this was not your jurisdiction but you need to talk to the county about JFK Boulevard on the Greenville side near um the church near the Bayon border very bad and we collect well you the city municipality you collect $350 million real dollars from the property owners some of that more of that must go to fixing up the streets after Public Safety and because that is a part of Public Safety um and can you not have construction during pickup and drop off during school it is an absolute tra Esty that goes on in the streets when all these construction projects are going on and all of them are not being posted the last thing I want to say and maybe I should have brought some of my parts I was going to bring it up but because of the construction I didn't bring them but I was going to show you the parts that were replaced but I also want to speak against uh resolutions um see 24029 which is uh 1027 and 1028 related to the Cannabis um as you know cannabis places should not be near any schools any daycare centers any places of residents or churches and you need to really deal with that issue uh I also want to say finally that the resolution you're doing is too late in terms of the funding for prek because people have already started laying people off since last year that's tied to the Biden money right council members that concludes our public speaking portion so with that being said do we have yes before we uh go Sean in light of um all the fee back we've been getting as it relates to this 1020 1029 um I do think we um should hold off on it just to give ourself a chance to open to see how our operation will be looking um I don't want to say I'm totally against it but it was some great concerns raised so I want a motion to uh to table uh 1029 to the next meeting so councilman I believe um our assistant business administrator is going to address the council oh okay yes so so we're withdrawing a few things tonight we're withdrawing 10.3 10.5 and we're also going to recommend withdrawing 10.29 um I know a couple of the council had questions about this we just want to make sure you have time to get feedback on before you actually to vote on it so that's G to 1029 um is going to be withdrawing correct what numers he said again said 10 so I I'll get them again it's 10.3 10.5 and 10.29 okay all right okay council members any questions or comments on hold on Sean wait so still conducting business um ladies and gentlemen we're still conducting business if you want to have conversations if you can have them in the hallway we greatly appreciate it just trying to be respectful of the rest of the meeting thank you yes councilman oh um no that was an ordinance go ahead Sean okay was three point um yeah three go Ahad Sean okay all right any questions or comments on petitions Comm Communications 6.1 through 6.30 hearing none there are no officer Communications any questions or comments on report of directors 8.1 through 8.4 hearing none on to our claims and addendum number one again I'm be taking a vote on the claims and addendum number one council person Ridley hi council person Prince Ary hi council person bajano council person CLE I council person Solomon hi council person Gilmore I council person Dees council person Rivera hi and council president wman claims and addendum number one are approved unanimously 90 on to our resolutions okay council members I'm going to be taking a vote on items 10.1 through 10.14 with the exception of 10.3 and 10.5 which have been withdrawn council person Ridley where are we going to Sean 10.1 through 10.14 with the exception of 10.3 and five which have been withdrawn I thank you council person Prince AR council person bajano council person CLE hi council person Solomon um I just wanted to make a quick statement on the nominations to the MUA um so taxpayer dollars should never be used to Grant outrageous lavish or illegal benefits in all governments the tax and charge of residents must abide by the law including the MUA and I'm glad to say that in advance of tonight's meeting uh We've secured written commitments from both the nominees before us that they're going to bring all mua contracts in line with state laws and saving taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars um this is based on Research that we conducted that identified specific contracts that were not in clients with specific State statutes on sick and vacation day payouts uh that could cost taxpayers again tens of thousands of dollars and so I'm happy to vote to confirm both nominees but we'll uh follow up in the coming months to ensure those contracts are formally amended so with that I vote I for all thank you council person Gilmore I council person dece council person Rivera and council president wman items 10.1 through 10.14 with the exception of 10.3 and five which have been withdrawn are approved unanimously 90 on to our next set of resolutions and that would be items 10.15 through 10.24 again that's 10.15 through 10.24 council person Ridley hi council person priner Hi council person bajano council person SLE I council person Solomon I council person Gilmore I council person Dees I council person Riva hi and council president wman items 10.15 through 10.24 are approved unanimously 90 and for the balance of our resolutions items 10.25 through 10.30 with the exception of 10.29 which have been withdrawn council person Ridley hi council person Prince AR council person bajano I just want to say something on 10.29 uh I love animals I will I'm going to serve on the board as a member I I've been getting calls about Guttenberg Guttenberg is going to pay the city $111,000 a year and they're going to give us about 50 animals I want all the animals to be taken care of and none will be euthanized that was brought up tonight by some speaker I know that Jersey City Animal Control under director Flanigan will be taken care of uh there's been a lot of information going around about this a lot of false information but we got to get this shelter going we have to open it up and we have to take care of the animals as I said I'm an animal lover and uh I want to see this thing done properly I vot I uh I'm going to abstain on 2029 course I think it should have been it was withdrawn council person by Jan no it's withdrawn but I would have abstained on it I mean uh I would have voted for it okay so you're voting I yes okay council person S I want to agree with what councilman boano said in terms of the animal shelter that is being run by the city definitely cannot be a kill shelter and we have to ensure that Jersey city has the capacity to take care of these animals um both shortterm and longterm and to have a plan that makes sure that these animals are not killed absolutely cannot happen but I will vote I and I do will ask my Council colleagues to think about proposing legislation to make sure Jersey City is a has no kill shelters um I for all thank you council person Solomon hi for all council person Gilmore hi council person Dees council person rera Hi and council president wman I can't hear you I'll abstain from 10.27 and 10.28 oh that's right thetis one oh I screwed up got to there councilman so just before councilman Bano corrects himself uh council president wman youve abstaining on 10.27 10.28 and I on all the rest correct okay councilman uh Bano I'll come back voting no on 27 and 28 I just want to say the councilman was for pot before he was against it I also do want to listen I live people you don't know what you're asking for before we adjourn I'd like to I got to recap the vote hold on if you don't mind first council person s so on items 10.25 and 10.26 they were approved unanimously 90 item 10.27 is approved 711 with council person bajano voting no and Council P council president wman abstaining item 10.28 is approved 71 one with council person bajano voting no and council president wman abstaining and item 10.29 was withdrawn 10.30 is approved unanimously 90 okay council person SLE just want to say um I didn't want to leave without us mentioning the you know allegations of anti-Semitism that have been happening around Jersey City I want you to know that we do take it seriously that every time that it is reported or put on social media that we do send it to both the police and the director of uh the parks James Jackson and I want you to know that no matter what it is there have been several incidents both anti-semitic and islamophobic and we don't stand for any of it and we're going to make sure that you know it gets removed with haste and I don't know if you want to say anything councilman or Ju Just gu briefly every time it is reported it is imately brought to the attention of City staff and um I can speak for myself but I sure many of the colleagues we have had conversations uh to make sure that uh any any type of Incident That's brought to our attention is investigated and we've had both in the last couple of weeks islamophobic and anti-semitic incidents brought to our attention and there there's a lot of work that happens internally um and we're always happy to talk to folks about it too um and I would also say that just from a personal note um reaching out to me via email and and phone and my office is a much better communication system than social media we we do our best on social media but we're not always on it not always monitoring so I just wanted to state that publicly for folks to know the best way to get in touch and we try not to amplify these voices because there have been you know graffiti or stuff especially at Van vce Park um and we're not trying to amplify any of these voices we see it we we're reporting it we're working with the authorities and we don't don't stand for any defacing of public property and with that I motion to adjourn we have a motion to adjourn at 910 pm. by council person Cay may I have a second second by council president Warman on the motion to adjourn at 9:10 p.m council person Ridley council person priner council person Bano council person Cay council person Solomon council person Gilmore council person Dees council person Rivera and council president Waterman motion carries 90 to adjourn at 9:10 p.m. thank you so much everyone present and everyone watching at home remember Teamwork Makes the DreamWork have a great night and stay safe as always