anybody know where Mr DeLuca is I have a bagel of peanut in my purse I'll share with you Mr DeLuca in the house that's like my standard like you know it travels coffee I left it in the car one of my uh God children bought me a mug of closing coun I'd rather you do you want her to photographs of the um people reading or just sure a couple of the if you don't mind Emily by the way know did you already reassign reassign we're gonna probably just take it out unless it leads into okay because there's plenty strictly enforcing three minutes oh yes yes yes absolutely yes will it go up but he has to make it clear yeah he'll make it clear okay pursuant to section five chapter 231 and I got to read this too it's from M hi the scores a okay pursuant to section five chapter 231 1975 this is the state for the record that adequate notice of this meeting has been provided to the public by posting and maintaining the annual notice of regular meetings on the bulletin board of the municipal building by mailing the annual notice of regular meetings for 2024 to the news record and Star Ledger in December of 2023 and by filing said notice in the office of the township is K here Mr daffis present Mr DeLuca here angle here mayor Adams here thank you where chapter 231 public laws of 1975 commonly known as the open public meeting act requires all meetings of Public public bodies be open to the public and whereas section 7A provides that the governing body has a discretion to permit prohibit or regulate the act of participation in the public in any meeting and whereas desire the governing body to comply with the provision this act act same time to conduct its business in an orderly and expeditious manner now therefore be resolved by the township committee Township mwood does hereby prohibit except to set forth in the formal agenda active participation in the deliberations of the governing body by the public and accept as otherwise described by law does limit the public to the observations of the actions and discussions of the governing body at all of its regular and special meetings so moved second scri here yummy yes daffis yes Mr DeLuca yes SLE yes mayor Adams yes thank you good evening everybody and welcome to the first meeting in March which means it's women's History Month meeting I can't thank you all enough for coming out and and celebrating women with me and with us and and just coming out for this annual celebration we started in 2017 I think um so I just want to quickly go through the agenda we will have Proclamation for women's history month and all these fabulous women will be participating we already got number six off the agenda we white for women photo check done so that's good um we have public comment is after that it's after the um Proclamation but that's for agenda items only we have the board of Health meeting after the board of health meeting we have no or ordinances on for final or introduction we have reports from departments we have reports from elected officials Deputy Mayor kpe Committee Member Duca Committee Member daffis Committee Member Engle and then I go last discussion items we have discussion items for Springfield Avenue neighborhood preservation program year three implementation plan we have a code of conduct for municipal facilities Andor municipal events we have amendments to the tree ordinance we have solicitation requests for expression of interest in developing affordable housing in Maplewood and we have the 2024 renewal of local cannabis license for teras send or the Apothic area then we have the consent agenda and then we will have the next the public comment for any subject matter will follow all of that so we oh I skipped something where's the budget stuffff bud before I close oh okay um sorry about that after the resol consent agenda we have two departments doing budget presentations for municipal court and for Community Development and that's when after that is public comment so with that I guess we hook right into the proclamation should we salute the flag first mayor sorry I am patriotic I just will you please rise for the flag I the to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all my apologies and I'll ask people to join it's going to be a little FR are we doing it from there as well do the proclamation that so are you calling people up so we have all the um former and current elected officials who um got my email I would love for you to join me up here for the proclamation um as is customary the last few years we have a a clause for each one of you to read Shea kicks it off but while you're coming up I just want to um let everybody know that congresswoman Mikey Cheryl wanted to be here this evening um but she is in DC trying to get Congress to do something um and so but she does have the 11th congressional district of the great state of New Jersey join s in celebrating women's History Month be it known that the underside member of United States Congress The Honorable Mikey Cheryl of the 11th congressional district of the great state of New Jersey join s celebrating women's History Month in deep gratitude for women's countless contributions to our country and tireless dedication to our communities thank you for bringing us together to recognize this important occasion so thank you oh I think um usually we introduce every Everybody introduces thems before we read this but I'm kind of at a loss for microphones but we could do that when you go up introduce yourself that's what was my next suggestion Sheena here you go you start off Sheena good evening everyone I am Sheena colum and I am South Orange Village president whereas from the first settlers who came to our Shores and those native communities who befriended them men and women have worked together to build this nation too often the women were unsung and their contributions went unnoticed but the leadership courage and strength of the women who built America were as vital as the men whose names we know so well and Kathy leth for Kathy lenthal pass Deputy Mayor whereas the national women's history month's theme for 2024 celebrates women who advocate for Equity diversity and inclusion the theme recognizes women throughout the country who understand that for a positive future we need to eliminate bias and discrimination entirely from our lives and our institutions and assemblywoman Garnet Hall whereas during 2024 we recognize the example of Maplewood and South Orange women who are committed to embracing ing everyone and excluding no one in our common quest for freedom and opportunity they know that our kids need to learn the value of hearing from different voices with different points of view as they grow up and Celia King former deputy mayor Maplewood Township whereas American women of every race class ethnic background and sexual identity have made historic contributions to the growth and strength of our nation in so many ways and women from diverse backgrounds have been at the Forefront of efforts to address systemic inequities and promote a more inclusive society and Ellen Davenport former mayor of Maplewood for first okay whereas American women were particularly important in the establishment of early charitable philanthropic and cultural institutions in our nation and American women of every race class and ethnic background served as early leaders of the social change movement and also served our country courageously in the military and Jen hi Jen Greenberg South Orange trust whereas for the first time in the history of our towns the mayors of Maplewood and South Orange are both female and the governing bodies of both towns are majority female each of these women's stories will shape what will be the history of Maplewood and South Orange as they bring a woman's perspective to govern learning and bring their histories together to craft the kind of world where equality is not a rare occurrence but is the norm and Regina eert Board of Education whereas American women have played a unique role throughout the history by providing the majority of the volunteer labor force American women have played and continue to play critical economic cultural and social roles in every sphere of Life Of The Nation by constituting a significant portion of the labor force working inside and outside of the home and Deborah Davis Ford former Village Trustee of South Orange whereas women history month or rather women's her story month is a time to remember those who fought and many who fought and died to make Freedom as real for our daughters or our sons they are driven by a faith that our Union could extend true equality for every citizen willing to claim it and how you read that's how you do it summer Jones South Orange Village trustee whereas year after year Visionary women met and marched and mobilized to prove what should have been self-evident they created a movement that every that touched every community and took on our highest institutions in decades after oh I'm sorry and after Decades of slow steady progress women have written equal opportunity into the law again and again giving generations of girls a future worthy of their potential and Liz Callahan Board of Education whereas American women have been leaders not only in securing their own rights of equal opportunity but also in the Abolitionist movements the Emancipation movement the industrial labor movement the civil rights movement and more to create a more fair and just Society for all their long-fought movement finally succeeded in 1920 with the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the US Constitution finally giving women the right to vote and whereas just like the I'm sorry Jim main kpe Deputy Mayor Maplewood Township yeah whereas just like the nation the women suffragist movement was fraught with racism and discrimination toward black suffragists particularly when white suffragist leaders were trying to appeal to the leaders of Jim Crow South for Women's National Voting Rights black suffragists persevered and they fought not only for the rights of women to vote but for black men and women to recognize and honor their unparalled commitment in fighting for the rights for all women and whereas oh Deborah angle Maplewood Township committee whereas that Legacy of the change is all around us women are more than half of our population and our nation's Workforce and more than half of our College graduates but even now women still face a pay Gap at work or discrepancies in health insurance or inadequate options for family leave these issues affect all of us and failing to address them holds our country back and Olivia LS Chang South Orange Village trustee whereas medical research while showing some improvements has for decades focused on men ignoring women and particularly women of color in fact medical research in many areas including cardiovascular disease which kills more women than men often excludes women subjects this disparity in research by gender has resulted in Mis diagnosis and incorrect treatment of women causing more women fatalities and could gonna read mil that's okay no that's okay I'm reading from Mila Jai um former assembly woman um whereas too often women continue to e experience sexual discrimination and harassment in the workforce holding prisoners to male power being stepped over for promotions and positions of authority and limiting their ability to advance and thrive in their careers when women do speak up or are strong of opinion they are not given the same respect or validity as their male count counterparts and uh Shannon cuddle um former first li president south or J bed pronouns day them whereas we celebrate and recognize women's history month we include the contributions of women and allies in the lgbtq plus Community who came before us and who have fought for equality like New Jersey trailer beles are Marsha P Johnson and bab zipperstein and those who are making history now we also pause to remember the victims loss def fatal anti-transgender and anti-lgbt violence including Sakia gun who are most mostly black and brown trans women yes Nubia Deval Wilson second VP Board of Education whereas we recognize that women's History Month inclusively extends to individuals whose experiences exist beyond the binary Norms of Womanhood we need to amplify the identities and experiences of transgender women and individuals who are non-binary gend gender non-conforming and recognize the burdens placed upon them in our society and pledge to fight those prejudices and inequities as we continue to fight for equality and opportunity for all and Beth dhy former Board of Education president whereas having finally reached the White House and our vice president kamla Harris women are still not fully or adequately represented at the top tables of organizations corporations and local state and National houses of government and therefore not being heard leaving a woman's important perspective unrepresented when laws and policies are decided at the local state and federal levels and uh India larer a former Township committee woman whereas our history shows that we can stay true to our founding Creed that in America all things should be possible for all people that spirit is what called our mothers and our grandmothers to fight for a world where no wall or ceiling could keep their daughters from their dreams although we still have much to do to make our opportunities brighter we recognize the accomplishments of women who fought for our rights now and in the past and pledge to keep them to and pledge to them to keep advocating for equality andall um Caitlyn whtl Board of Education member whereas we encourage our communities schools and organizations to celebrate the achievements of women and especially those who have championed Equity diversity and inclusion and reaffirm our commitment to advancing these principles in our society let's teach our children about women's accomplishments and honor those who have sacrificed for the rights of all people and Stephanie Lon Muhammad board member 2013 to 2019 whereas South Orange Maplewood Community leaders are working together annually Shine the spotlight on women's History Month with events and promotions of local women-owned businesses and to celebrate women's empowerment and to focus on women in history who fought for our rights and whose lives changed the course of history now therefore on behalf of the rest of the maplehood township committee and South Orange Village president Sheena colum and the South Orange Board of Trustees I Nancy Adams mayor of Township of Maplewood do Proclaim March 2024 as women's History Month in the townships of Maplewood and South Orange could all the elected readers just gather over here for a quick photo just those of us read and thank you all so much this is so special every year makes everybody squish say women or whiskey or lady got it I'm this gotta have these heels on thank you yeah go for it right here right here right now perfect thank you you know sit that close to us please no go back beautiful very nice we wait for that all right guys don't leave yet we have a special announcement very special announcement all right first of all and we haven't done it yet but as mayor Adams has noted when she joined the township committee she was the one who initiated the celebration of women's History Month she brought us all here together today for this tremendous Proclamation so please a round of applause for mayor Nancy Adam and lastly one more announcement to save the date and especially for all the women who are wearing white right now we are doing a special celebration of what we're calling The Unsung shirros in South Orange and Maplewood these incredible women were selected by the elected officials on the township committee and the Board of Trustees save the date for Wednesday March 20th at 700 p.m. in The soac Loft and here are the individuals we are going to be acknowledging it's not on my phone uh I can go through them very quickly for advocacy Barbara Vasquez for the Arts a 92y old artist Judy targan or education Monica Bernett from Sean Hall University or Community Joselyn Ryan who many of you know for public service O jetti Davis in South Orange for the Youth El fredman and for business Kamaya Salasar they're absolutely Sensational so along with honoring them we're having the event CA catered so it's free food it is a cash bar though and then of course along with the women celebrating other women the sponsors of the event are all women businesses in South Orange and Maplewood and I don't have them in front of me right now that's okay we'll promote but we will promote it so just know when you come so can you just everybody what was that date March 20th at what time 7:30 seven 7 o'clock ignore me what location perfect love it happy women's History Month thank you president colum and you all are welcome to stay for our meeting but you also know you can go home thank you women thank you all for coming out should hadrick do you want turn back around this is why I'm putting on weight now I'm gonna go home love it I know don't tell the unions ha into the chips take that uh resolution chicken chili on okay right now we G uh our first public comment period which is for agenda items only so if there's anyone in the public in the in the room here who wants to um speak come up to the microphone put your name say your name and address and you have three minutes to speak and Mr worry will also ask people on Zoom after that that so if is there is there anyone who wants to speak on any agenda items tonight you gotta bring it closer agenda items agenda ite right is there anyone who would like to speak on agenda items only yeah seeing none uh Patrick do you want Mr wary you want on there if any members of the public joining us on Zoom would like to speak in public portion on agenda items only please raise your hand now I'm moving over Rob Howley to panelist Mr howy you're now in public portion you have three minutes to speak on agenda items hi this is uh Rob h mwood resident of mid buard uh looking up the resolution number it's for the uh the roadway Improv contract um I think it's great I hope we hire them quickly and build decisively because our roads are dangerous and multimodal transportation is both you know good for the town good for the it's also good for the environment um is there there a problem with the volume um but either way uh Dynamic traffic I support it I support protected bike Lions I look forward to seeing where this goes thanks thank you anyone else Mr worry if any other members of the public joining us on Zoom would like to speak in public portion on agenda items please raise your hand now I see no hands mayor okay great then we'll move into our next agenda item which is the Board of Health meeting and I will turn it over to Committee Member angel who's president of our Board of Health um thank you mayor pursuant to section 5 chapter 231 pl1 1975 this is to State for the record that adequate notice of this meeting has been provided to the public by posting and maintaining the annual notice of regular meetings on the bulletin board of the municipal building by mailing the annual notice of regular meetings for 2024 to the news record and Star Ledger in December 2023 and by filing said notice in the office of the Township Clerk and minute our clerk will take the roll call M great here Mr daffis pres Mr Duca here mayor Adams here miss angle here where chapter 231 public laws 1975 commonly known as the open public meetings act report rings of public bodies be open to the public and whereas section 7A provides that the board Health has a discretion to permit prohibit or regulate the active participation of the public at any meeting and where is a desire the Maplewood Board of Health to comply with the provision this act same time to conduct its business in an orderly and expeditious manner now therefore be resolved by the Maplewood Board of Health Township of Maplewood does hereby prohibit except to set forth in the formal agenda active participation and deliberations of the Board of Health by the public and accept as otherwise described bylaw does limit the public to observations of the actions and discussions of the Board of Health at all its regular and special meetings so moved second CR yes Mr daffis yes Mr DeLuca yes mayor Adams yes Miss angle yes I move to approve the Board of Health meeting minutes from February 6th 2024 second m c yes Mr daffis yes Mr DeLuca yes mayor Adams yes Sangle yes now I turn it over to our health officer um Candace sta ort thank you good evening everyone what a special occasion this is Happy women's History Month we'll start off with celebrating two of our favorite women in the health department um Martha usach and Dina Pressel attended um the Essex County prosecutor's office Crisis Intervention training um and so there they are right there for the weeklong program they learned a lot and networked with a lot of First Responders in Essex County so kudos to them oop sorry kudos to more of our women in the health department our staff provided hygiene kits um provided by um Jersey cares as well as um girls helping girls period their their um logo is up there uh we provided 10 hygiene kits uh which include shampoo conditioner body wash lotion deodorant toothpaste and toothbrushes TOs and 19 to The Loft the Columbia High School 100 loose of hygiene items like those mentioned to mend for their mend on the Move farmers markets and then over 2,000 feminine hygiene products have gone out to SS MMS The Loft at Columbia High School and mend for their mend on the Move farmers markets so kudos to our staff for doing that and thank you to all of our partners for doing um the great things that they do just want to mention that March is National poison prevention month as well as National po in fren week on March 17th and 23rd we want to bring up that in April we will be going into the universal preas of the S School District uh to teach about lead safety education oh I also want to highlight the poison help number which is 1 800 2221 1222 which everyone should have on their cell phone um it could save a life to have that phone number handy moving on to animal control update we have 680 dog licenses and 70 cat licenses uh applications are still open to renew your dog and cat licenses for 2024 and just want to remind people that there is a leashing ordinance for all dogs in public spaces uh this is on behalf of the mwood police department and the health department we encourage people to keep their dogs on leash the Bloomfield animal uh control reported six animal calls uh for the month of February and moving on to environmental health one of the things that um Township Committee Member Duca had requested was some education on how to report um a foodborn illness and an inspection of a restaurant which led us to think oh we should tell people how to report a concern for all things related to um health and to the Township in general so you can go to the township website and go to the government Tab and you can report a concern to any department but for us in particular you just go to Public Health and Social Services so for for example if someone felt that they um might have gotten sick from eating a contaminated uh food product at a restaurant they can report a concern to us and what we would do is do an inspection of the restaurant and trigger a nursing um investigation to find out more information for the month of February uh we did uh these inspections as you can see these are the kinds of um topics or or reasons why someone might contact us uh for inspections of a daycare School Camp kennel um or a restaurant moving on to our nursing update we are doing a lot of immunization audits it's that time of year where we in um do immunization audits for our child care centers and for our uh schools uh particularly because of the measles outbreak um in southern Jersey and Pennsylvania and Philadelphia in particular we want to really highlight the importance of immunizations and the importance of our immunization audits to make sure that our schools are safe and um free of vaccine preventable diseases moving on to uh Furthermore with our partners at the police department uh they accompanied us to go to the quarterly Health maintenance greetings at the Maywood senior apartments and they brought their mobile drug Dropbox they collected 15 pounds of unused and expired medications from the residents of that building the residents were super happy to get rid of the medication so we also screened our nurses also screened 15 people for blood pressure glucose and cholesterol so that's a great partnership in addition to partnership with our Department of Community Services in s Two Towns for all ages uh they did a health screening at the senior lunch and learn we want to give a big thank you to um The Overlook diabetes center and the um The dietitian Elizabeth aino who gave a great presentation on heart healthy eating choices and likewise you can see Anna there uh we of provided uh screenings for 16 people for again blood pressure glucose and cholesterol so we're really making strides and getting out there and working with our partners this is just a synopsis of what I just spoke about our two um Outreach opportunities here moving on to covid we have um a low covid um except in two counties in New Jersey so we're moving forward if people are interested in getting a covid vaccine we still have the information up there do want to say that because we have highlighted where to get um covid vaccine and we've done such a good job of promoting how important vaccines are want to showcase that Maplewood has the highest percentage of vaccine coverage in Essex County good on us for for doing that stuck in the arm H get stuck in the arm people still want home test kits they're available um through the health department and this is the Highlight that I wanted to to get to which is that um hot off the presses the CDC has updated their isolation guidance and essentially have recommended that people no longer have to um be in a five-day isolation if they've tested positive so this is following new guidance for like we do for flu or any other respiratory disease they're moving forward as as the um number of cases and hospitalizations has decreased significantly and new infections has has caused less severe illness um they say essentially if you are symptom free um for 24 hours you can resume daily activities but do take some precautions as we normally would for anything you know give people some social distancing and uh hygiene and um washing your hands is super important so I do have to say though that New Jersey has not adopted this as of yet so while I'm optimistic that the State Health Department will adopt this and that it's coming um down down shortly I just want to update you of the national recommendation and then um we will officially be able to declare that this is our recommendation for New Jersey once the State Health Department has approved it unfortunately in flu we are still in high transmission again these are based on lab reportable conditions as well as syndromic surveillance in our uh schools and congregate settings so please practice uh respiratory hygiene cover your cough uh get a flu shot and uh wash your hands and stay home if you're sick moving on to Social Services just want to highlight that this Thursday our um esteemed mayor will be speaking at the uh Community Coalition on Races breaking barriers building bonds uh Som networks connect um event we hope that people will take advantage of this program it's a place where you can find out about great resources um and services at both uh from both townships and network with other um residents I will also be there too to talk about health resources so hope everyone can come likewise on Saturday March 9th here at the Woodland parlor from 1: to 3 p.m. this is the second of our series talking about black maternal Health um it'll be a panel discussion to talk about what we can do uh to address this issue and the disparities on maternal Health outcomes uh for black women in America but also in New Jersey and also in Essex County so thank you to our partners um at the partnership for Maternal Child Health and Community Coalition on Race for bringing this together so very apropo for uh women's history month we want to highlight the universal home visiting program uh Essex County is one of five um counties in the state of New Jersey that are rolling out this Universal home visiting program so we really want to be proactive and show people that this works um because U this is just the most important thing that we could do for families is to make sure that the mom and the baby are healthy likewise um our partners at Robert Wood Johnson Barn AB of ring through the colon yes it is it's Wednesday March 20th from 9: to 2:30 you don't want to miss it it's amazing um it is to raise awareness of col rectal cancer awareness month which is also in March if you haven't walked through your colon lately you can do this right here you can walk through that one on April 25th at 11:00 a.m. there's a free virtual Narcan training uh you also receive a free Narcan kit is this uh kind of training can save a life when you know what to do with a ninal spray if someone should overdose um that is near you so this is provided uh through Ruckers and adapt one of the things that we're doing at the health department also is Raising awareness of uh recalls of certain items that might pose um exposure to um contaminated products so for example the um the the toy croquet set has um been recalled for lead in the paint um as well as the Lubricant Eye Drops um are being recalled for a lack of stability Assurance so we want to let people know about that and we're doing that through our social media Outlets if you have any questions about the 10 things you should know about your local Health Department this is a nice um flyer and compendium of the 10 things that we try to focus on at the health department if uh this helps people to know what we do here a lot of is what we talk about here in our presentation and again if you want to dispose of unused or expired medications safely you can just drop it off at our permanent drug Dropbox that's in the lobby of the local police department on Springfield Avenue and it's available 247 just want to highlight this really special thing which is our new uh make the right call Banner as you can see the one difference that I really want to highlight and pay kudos to is our South Essex fire department our Maplewood police or south um South Orange Police and our South Orange Rescue Squad so we pulled together all of the Chiefs and all of our First Responders and they said a resounding yes absolutely people need to know these numbers and when to call them so these will be posted around by next month uh throughout Maplewood and South Orange and we hope people will take a take a gander and uh memorize these three numbers over here with uh the three numbers 911 988 and 211 and again the poison control number all these numbers can save a life and I just want to highlight that our medical equipment laner program is still available and we have a lot of younger residents who are calling to use our our services they use it because they've had an injury with skiing or something else and they're like hey do you have some crutches so uh we do have those and they're free and then we pay it forward um people donate and then we give it to people so you don't have to pay for those or charge it to your insurance and that is it for me thank you very much thank you so much Miss Davenport um do any of my colleagues have any questions for our health officer nope great and then we will open up the public um Mr we will you help initiate public comment for our health officer want start here sorry yeah you want to start with any members of the public here in the room yeah if any members of the public here in the room would like to speak in public portion for the health department please come forward now all right and if any members of the public joining us on Zoom would like to speak uh for the Board of Health meeting please raise your hand now see no hands great then I move to adjourn to our next Board of Health meeting scheduled for Tuesday April 2nd 2024 do I have a second yes Mr daffis yes Mr DeLuca yes mayor Adams yes Miss angle yes thank you back to you mayor thank you thank you Miss Angle now we have uh reports from departments starting with our Administration Mr wary thank you mayor two items for tonight first on the budget we will have two presentations tonight from department heads one Community Development the other the uh shared municipal court and after that we still have to discuss capital recommendations requests for new Personnel uh revenue and our overall budget recommendations I'd ask that the township committee consider a special meeting for Tuesday March 12th at 6m I'd pulled members of the committee and all but one are able to attend that day every okay with having that budget meeting on March 12th yes yeah I will be out of town but you all can proceed without me you sure you don't want to you want to miss a budget meeting I know it's you want us to move it to call a special meeting or just going to do it no we'll just do that's fine so we'll advertise that just advertising that's six right that's at 6 pm and that keeps us on track you know I expect we'll have some follow-up conversations that we can have at the following week's regularly scheduled Township committee meeting and are on track to introduce the budget uh by our April 2nd meeting second item is we are currently looking for CDL drivers with passenger Endor ments to work for our Jitney uh buses so if you or anyone you know is interested in driving Jitney buses in Maplewood you will see the advertisement coming on to our website next week that's my report thank you mayor thank you Mr rary any questions from my colleagues per Administration no okay we'll go over to Township attorney M no report okay great and our Township Clerk Miss Fritz no report M britson has no report no it's so unusual wow okay so we'll move on to reports from elected officials Deputy Mayor k sorry to bust the street I have a little report only two things wed to remind everyone of course that we are kicking off women's history month this month and that there are a lot of events coming up in particular I wanted to point out the women's um the maternal Health outcomes panel we um last earlier last week we watched the screening of U the movie uh of birthing ourselves over at soac and it was very impactful to see how much um misinformation is still out here in the 21st century and um attitudes around taking care of our our black and brown uh mothers during their their times of need so please if you are in that group if you love somebody who happens to be a member represented by the population or you're someone who really just cares and wants to make sure people have correct information please join us on uh the n9th for that over at um at the burgers um second thing would be um keep an eye on Maplewood arts.org sorry Maplewood artsand culture. org where all of the events for women's History Month will be occurring you'll have registrations for some and others is just information so please just go and check it out you'll find so many opportunities plus atomo women.org there's another listing as well finally um on Thursday night for those sports fans out there our middle school is going to be hosting the fourth grade boys versus chadam at 6:00 and our sixth grade boys basketball team against Hillsboro at 7:30 we could really use his community support these kids play hard and they're doing great this is the semi-final so they could pull it off so please come on out and cheer for your local kids and that is my report mayor thank you any questions for Miss K no Committee Member Duca thank you mayor uh we received a number of emails asking us to focus on bike safety and pedestrian safety and I just want to alert everyone and and we heard it from Mr Howley before we have resolution 11 15-24 in which we're entering into a contract with Dynamic traffic to do a study of Parker Avenue and that study will cons consist of doing traffic counts crash analysis they'll do a parking study um and then they're going to come up with two Alternatives one of which maintains parking on the one of which would eliminate parking to facilitate a dedicated bike lane um there'll also be preliminary construction estimates they're also going to be looking at four-way stops at the corner of Parker and Orchard Parker and Burrows Way Parker and Highland so we will get all this um not exactly sure how long it will take but Dynamic is is pretty good at moving these things through so uh hopefully we will all vote for this tonight and we'll get this uh contract and study underway that's it did you also want to mention about the uh circulation Mobility element that we'll be talking about at the engineering Public Works and planning committee you just did there we go okay any questions can I just make a note um the school schedule is a little crazy in March there's spring break and there's a lot of half days so when they're scheduling the traffic study can we just ensure that they're doing it on a day that the high school Clinton the Mas that everything's actually open there's a whole lot of half days and closures this month you know yep yeah it'll take them you convey that to uh Mr kitner and we'll we'll remind them too thank you any other questions hoping that this is successful okay Committee Member Deus I just wanted to dve Tale on Committee Member uh deluca's point about the bike lanes and that we are also going to be uh asking Dynamic traffic we're going to be exploring using Dynamic traffic uh to build for us a new townwide circulation and Mobility element which will include uh bike Lanes pedestrian safety safe routes to school traffic calming throughout the township not just in one location because someone complained about it today but throughout the township we're long overdue to have such an element um and our new plan our new master plan that we adopted back in August strongly urges us to adopt a new circulation of Mobility element and uh that will be happening hopefully this year or later this year that's the only item I have okay any questions for Committee Member de no okay Committee Member EO um I just wanted to acknowledge that we had the MMS um student council executive committee with us tonight for women's History Month Proclamation and photo so um and I also had the opportunity to meet with this huskin student council today so it's really exciting that um student government is alive at well in our school district and we look forward to bringing them um here more so that's my report are they gone yeah they're gone it's late school night it's late yeah it's late any questions for Miss angle no okay and other than going to somw women.org for all the women's history month events including women's History Month author talk at our Hilton Branch library on the 21st um a comedy show at the Woodland on Thursday March 14th and as the deputy mayor mentioned the black maternal Health panel discussion on March 9th this Saturday at the Woodland at 1 o'clock so Som women.org is your source for all that information and unless anyone has any questions for me we can move on okay we'll move on discussion items Mr DeLuca Springfield Avenue neighborhood preservation program thank you mayor uh we are in year three of the neighborhood preservation program at on Springfield Avenue and it is a requirement of the program it's a state funded program it's a requirement that the township committee approve the uh plan and authorize the seeking of the $125,000 grant this year the $125,000 will be used for economic development that's to do facade Grant approvals and signage approvals for the various businesses we will be replacing the three kiosks we have up there the oldfashioned kiosks with digital kiosks uh we'll be doing some physical improvements including a public art project uh on the community center in deart park a mural great and lastly we'll be doing landscaping and maintenance so we have resolution 108-22 on the consent agenda and that will meet our requirements to apply for the $125,000 and we all received your your um documents on this does anyone have any questions for Mr Duca or any discussion points I think it's be it's like a no-brainer for us to approve this so we'll move on to the second um discussion item which is Code of Conduct for municipal facilities and Municipal events Mr daus thanks mayor uh as you're aware we uh have been exploring a an ordinance that would officially establish a code of conduct at all of our uh Recreation programming at our Municipal facilities and at our Municipal events this is to ensure against harassment intimidation bullying and other uh such conduct and to ensure that we remain who we say we are uh for all one family one Community a sanctuary for everyone uh unfortunately we're going to have to carry over this item tonight in terms of voting on the proposed ordinance that's been published because as I Was preparing right before the meeting I noticed that what was published here is not the final version I'm afraid uh Administration and I had talked about um language in the code of conduct that specifically refers to anti-bullying anti-bullying and uh anti-harassment are explicitly defined by njsa and I think it would make a stronger ordinance to include that language um and I think inadvertently as you know as as so happens this uh the former version of the proposed ordinance was included so we will carry this over that's okay with you mayor uh to the next meeting just a couple weeks from now for a vote and I welcome a discussion or any questions if there are any at this time well one thing just in this draft of the ordinance is it's Township Committee of Maplewood not Council um just you know right through out the whole thing so does anyone have any discuss I do have a a question um under the penalties where in C where it talks about suspension or immediate ejection from a facility and it talks about that happening by a Le organization or School official Maplewood Township staff or Maplewood Department of Community services and I was just wondering you know sometimes police get called when there's an incident and do we need to make it explicit that a police officer can eject uh someone because we then go on to section four where talks about uh if that's inconsistent with another law this law would govern and if we have the police enforcing laws and saying this law would was would govern and we don't have police as one of the entities that can ask someone to leave a park it might be a conflict so I just raise that I'm sure our lawyer can can work out the language Council and I'm I'm sure that's fine I don't think that Mike we phone I'm sure we can put in language to um to make it explicit I don't think anyone really thought when we were reviewing you know we just figured that would be a separate item but you're absolutely right commit man that the uh the um the comparison of laws Clause might make that confusing so we'll be happy to make that expl I guess the other thing to look at is it says Maplewood Township staff which is pretty broad because we have like 200 people that work for us full-time yearly so so part of the the issue with that was the wide variety of events that the township would have over the course of the year and trying to Define you know is it a is it a health office uh member who can have someone leave a health event so that's why we made it broad just so that it um because there are so many events and the town is so involved in um interacting with the residents in so many different ways to try to Define everyone got a little unwieldy I feel like there's um my only concern with that is just having I mean suspending an immediate ejection from a town facility sounds like something that somebody with um like a police or I worry about just regular staff having to take that on um I don't know Mr wary you have any thoughts well the first the first there are levels here so there's first a ver a verbal warning and if that doesn't take care of the situation there's a written reprimand uh and then we go to the next level so it wouldn't be an immediate suspension if someone violated the code okay right assistant administrator you did a lot of work on this please enough we discuss mik it depends if it's egregious we discuss that we um have the ability to bypass a warning or a written reprimand and we have the discretion to eject or suspend and I had another question about did this go before Community Services director or Rec advisory because most of it it goes in those facilities I feel like there should be input there no we did not um we discussed it amongst the committee and amongst the administration and legal and it only went through code commit through code committee it only went through code committee right I just think it should go before since most of the places this takes place is you know under the I can bring it to wck yeah UND that' be great yeah so we'll get you the final version okay okay anybody have anything else on this no thank you okay no thank you Mr de uh amendments to the tree ordinance Mr DeLuca thank you mayor so we've been talking about about some changes to the tree ordinance for some time and um circulated some draft changes uh one major change is as you know we have a very difficult time with PS because they never like a tree they like to take them down or shave them and do whatever so we we were advised by our attorney and our director of Community Development that uh state law supersedes our ability to prevent PSG from do from doing that but what we've done here is that we once pscg gives us notice that they're going to be working in an area because the state law does require them to give us notice uh then the director our director of epw gets into action sends the arborus out and then the arborus will provide an alternative to any tree that psng is suggesting to come down for wires or whatever so at least Le it forces the dialogue and maybe some negotiation on replanting of trees um the other thing that clarifies is that any project that gets approval from the planning board or the board of adjustment in which trees are to be removed um requires permits there was some confusion before that if you got a uh planning board approval that you were good to go and you didn't need to get the permit so this makes that clear yeah and then lastly uh there a whole section here about replacement trees and um it says if you're going to take a tree down you have to replace an equal number of trees and that you would get a list and a price annually we would have our DPW director and superintendent of Public Works come up with a tree list the the species that we would want planted to be a variety and also the cost um what we've done because there has been some concerns about the cost cost uh and it being um you know a hardship on folks we did include in the appeals that if you have a requirement to plant a replacement tree then you can make a uh an appeal you can appeal and say hey I really can't afford it is there something else we can talk about blah blah blah so it gives us the opportunity for those who have a hardship to we can work with them but otherwise U it requires the planting of a tree or what we're setting up is a tree fund so that if you let's say you can't plan on your tree because you've made an improvement to your to your property you've expanded something and really can't plant a tree there then you can make a payment to the to the tree fund I think the tree the tree number we're talking about last year was about $325 to $350 to have it bought and planted and and each year now we're going out to the marketplace to find out what the what that cost is so we will have a real verified cost that we'll be able to share with the residents so that's the proposal um see if anyone has any questions if not we can I move it forward Mr Duca is there uh there's exceptions to the tree fun and the replacement tree is there not for if it's a emergent situation where the tree has to come down because it's hazardous I just wanted to make that clear and um a lot of this the impetus for that is also to replenish our tree can which is um quickly shrinking no matter how hard we try to um replace because so many of the trees in town were so old um but anyway so does anyone else have any questions I have a question so um I'm one of the people that was concerns about the um fee um and so when you say that they can appeal and say economic hardship who are they appealing to and what's that process and is there a standard or a policy or something or is it just the person who's hearing the appeals discretion about whether they have an economic right now now the tree ordinance has an appeal process that if you denied a permit you can apply and who you apply to are the two Township committee members of the U sustainable Maplewood committee so there are two people there and that's who so what we did is just expanded that responsibility so they will apply to the two people uh who also meet meets on that is the superintendent of um the DPW and the tree arborist so that's who they'll be talking to uh there's really not a standard some just comes and says even now when they appeal u a denial of a tree removal they come and explain why they think it's important to have it done and blah blah blah blah blah so I mean we would we would um probably you know just want someone to come and explain why they can't do it and is there maybe an alternative they can come up with yeah and it's private so it's a group of people it's a few people currently you and Miss Adams are those thank you so much any other questions no I just want to say that I think what we have now this proposal is a stronger tree ordinance um but it remains fair and balanced protecting homeowner rights as well as we also try to protect our tree canopy that is uh going away very quickly in our beautiful town so so thank you for your heavy lifting uh Committee Member Duca we've discussed this in code committee several times at this point glad to be moving it Forward y so um as cdio we get this on for the next you you've you've drafted the finals so we can get this on for our next meeting okay absolutely as introduction thank you okay Mr Dua you're up again with okay now we're gonna shift to affordable housing so um the affordable housing board has been talking about how we can encourage more affordable housing in Maplewood um and we have had a plan that we uh followed in that we were looking to increase home ownership so we had had a plan that looked at um providing two opportunities for someone to buy a home and and me move into so um we were able to do that we we acquired a house on Franklin Terrace fixed it up resold it to a family meeting the affordable housing we actually worked with a developer who then proceeded to buy a condo on Valley fixed it up sold it to a family meeting the affordable housing uh standards so we've actually met technically met our two goal or a goal of two um and then the the board was trying to think about is there a way that we could use as an incentive um our powers with regulations and zoning and also our affordable housing trust fund to U maybe encourage a larger number of units so what we've done is put together um a request for ex expression of Interest which we would send to for-profit and nonprofit developers to see if they're interested in coming to Maplewood working with us to try to talk through and plan through how we might create more affordable um and these would probably be rental units and so that's what this is and um the affordable housing board met last night and are very much in favor of moving forward and recommend to the township committee that we authorize the to go out for an expression of Interest there's nothing uh that was required on our part this is really just to surface developers who might be inter interested in working with us and that's not associated with any project that a developer might be doing correct as opposed to some of our existing development where 20% has to be set aside for affordable separate that's separate yeah yeah that would still continue right I was just clarifying for everybody okay sounds okay sounds good to me should I think we should probably do a motion to because we're going out for you think so I'll move it yeah it's good good form second Mr great yes Mr daffis yes Mr Duca yes Miss angle yes mayor Adams yes thank you thank you Mr DeLuca uh 2024 renewal of local cannabis license for the apothecarium uh Mr Duca and I met with um the apothecarium about their um letter of agreement with the the give back what's it called the give back Community host Community host right so um and they've come we came to an agreement and it's basically the same thing that it's been how Mr D good why don't you yeah it's it's $45,000 that the teron will make a contribution to the township and that will be used for we've we've clarified the language a little bit to be used for individual uh services or programs prevention um for substance abuse Crisis Intervention um things like that so it expands it a little bit but generally the uh the the terms are the same um just to let you know and I sent this along but just to you know we require uh terison which runs the apothecarium to be a good neighbor so when they do hiring they have to notify us they've had local job fairs they've done some Community Education they've also uh made contributions to the chamber the Springfield Avenue partnership s Two Towns mend uh Mayfest uh North Jersey Pride maple Wood stock so they've they've made a lot of uh contributions and um this is all in addition to the sales tax or What's called the transfer tax 2% transfer tax in the last two years we've brought in 1, 41,000 in the transfer tax from Cannabis so when you figure that that's only 2% that represents 2% of what um people are buying that's why we kept it at the existing level of donation um what we what right now is if we're okay with um moving forward with this the mayor will send a letter to terasen saying that you know we support their Renewal by the Cannabis Regulatory Commission and then at our next meeting we'll have the official uh Community host agreement and resolution extending their contract sending their license for a year absolutely any I'm good no concern I'm good n great okay so that letter is on my desk now I can officially sign it so and then we'll get it to them so thank you Mr Duca um with no other discussion items we'll move to the consent agenda may I get a motion I move the consent agenda in full item 16a through 16k a second yes Mr daffis yes Mr DeLuca yes Sangle yes mayor Adams yes yes thank you um a little out of order um but this uh got stuck under my paper so I just wanted to ask for a moment of silence for two retired um Maplewood uh employees uh the first is retired Maplewood firefighter Bernard Moran father of Maplewood DPW employee Scott Moran firefighter Moran uh worked for the town for 30 years and Maplewood from 1959 to 1989 also retired Maplewood DPW automotive mechanic Peter veston worked for the township for 31 years and um both were dedicated Township employees so I ask everyone in the room to please join me for a moment of silence thank you now we'll move to Department budget presentations so we have uh the Municipal Court Mr bankr welcome good evening I'm well how are you and you have quite the audience this evening I know yeah no no audience on Saturday there you go let the people know what the shared Court does um is Mr Cog joining us yes virtually he was on I don't see him anymore you just see our room but he is he is there I can see there he is good evening Mr C good evening mayor okay so good evening good evening how are you I'm well so you ready to you want the short version wow us with no you tell us everything you need to tell us your accomplishments for last year and what you how much money you want from us this year just a brief moment uh March 25th 202 or 2024 marks one year since my mother's passing in honor of uh women's uh History Month I certainly like to salute Mary Patricia bankrupt um just kudos to you Mom uh she's amazing woman uh and uh I get into her story more uh now's not the appropriate time but just wanted to mention that so thank you thank and I want to thank everyone for your support during that time can you move the microphone closer to you I know you can hear me I don't know if everybody else we can hear you on the zoom can't hear you um I've been presenting a theme and there's a lot in my budget that I'm not sure Pat has shared with you or hasn't one of the uh statements he made to me today was you know your budget's quite voluminous uh and there's a reason for that number one um it advise the governing body what's happening with the Municipal Court we don't interact a lot we we are a separate branch of government as you all know it is my one opportunity to address the governing body as to our current state what's occurring what's happening so I do try and take that time not only to update you on what's occurring but also uh for any new governing uh body members we have new T attorney we have a new business administrator there's been a lot of changes um in Maplewood uh and in South Orange I want to make sure that people who are getting it are understanding where we stand I also like to be forthright uh I'd like to be transparent with we're doing great I want to celebrate when we're doing bad I think you need to hear about it um that's why I'm here to kind of update you on that I'll try and limit my highlights to just a few um first and foremost the theme I've had for the last three or four years is turnover uh we lost uh five out of or we've had turnover of 80% of our staff that was five uh total staff members during uh one of the more difficult times in my career in running a shared Municipal Court um and that says a lot I've moved courts I've move buildings we built buildings uh I moved South Orange in the middle of a snowstorm um and we've run a share Court I believe successfully for the past we're now on if you believe this uh 13 years uh which I'm incredibly proud of um everyone deals with turnover the Mets do Giants do we understand that uh governing bodies everyone we all have transition that happens um but during that time to not only lose the people who are the foundation of what you've just created uh also transitioning your entire uh Court as you had to go virtual we went entirely virtual so that was a uh I know it's um I don't want to say sad to say this but so difficult I'm celebrating the fact that we've retain those employees for one year I thank you we did increase uh our entry-level employees uh uh salaries that was a big help we were losing lower level employees so Kudos Su that's a a a huge uh help to us um and uh let me just take that moment to thank our judges prer who's here uh PR deama um she's amazing in our support and what we're attempting to achieve in in the courts and moving cases that's our judges our staff our new staff that we have and our public defenders I can't thank them enough I'm here representing all their hard work just you know I'm just a mouthpiece for everything that they do um next in South Orange we've reduced our judicial appointments we had two we've gone down to one um that was our goal our Mission when we started this was to try and find efficiencies where we could uh that is obviously savings for salary and wages for South Orange but it's also uh savs in time and effort we reduced our uh sessions in South Orange from about eight per month down to about six trying to mimic what uh Maplewood does um in running our sessions in our calendars we think this is acceptable we think it's appropriate um but we are hitting some stumbling blocks uh on the way where we may need to add a session back in the reason being is uh it's great to be efficient and have less sessions but when you have sessions that are running five or six hours on Zoom I don't know if anybody else has done that I'm sure you guys have meetings like that we have um you're exhausted and know what it makes you it makes you want to say you know what I'm guilty let me get out of here that's not what we want the public to feel so there are some ideas and Concepts that we're trying to bring up um which is essentially we know what municipal courts were like in person how can we rethink that in the virtual world um in the last year we've also Incorporated in-person sessions which is required for such matters as domestic violence DW things that are more complex more serious uh things of that nature so um those are are two highlights I want to mention and certainly um we're seeing efficiencies South Orange is benefiting from this they're getting less billing less time less usage so that is returnables back to uh South Orange so I need you to be aware of that moving on in in the next uh highlight I'd like to uh put out there is the FTA project I touched upon this last year it's uh FTA stand for failure to appear um what the state courts did uh or our mandate uh throughout covid was to be sensitive to defendants they turned off the ability to issue warrants issue license suspensions um and also issue failure to appear notices failure to in a nutshell they are sending out notice notices for anybody who has failed to enter a not guilty plea or pay a summons it adds on $10 and says hey here's your nagram please contact the court and get your case either resolved or completed um two things this does number one uh not that this is our mission and it's not at all it is a means where the township can see an initial revenue for that happening secondly is it resolves cases it's driving people back to the court to either pay or plead not guilty what's occurred uh during covid and and postco um if I can say that actually is uh the state courts have not um uh returned to a allowing us to issue warrants on lower level matters parking lower level moving violations um they further have suspended our ability to uh issue license suspensions um and close out cases there's an issue there if we're talking about backlogging municipal courts and we can't close them out by by those means how does the process work there's something missing here in other words if we can't close it out and all we can do is send a late notice it's an invitation there's no consequence there's not not holding anyone accountable now that may be something people want and certainly that's that's above my pay grade but I think the governing body needs to understand that we have talked about the lack of Revenue in municipal courts and what's occurred that's been presented by our CFO and seeing that reduction and one of the questions we have is what's occurring and why is that being caused well this is one of those reasons um we cannot do that we can't close it out so therefore anybody who gets a parking ticket it's an invitation you don't have to pay it there's no consequence we need to rethink about what's happening here at some level what's occurring and this is Statewide this isn't just here but it's impacting revenues throughout the state and backlogs throughout the state so I want the governing body to be aware of that because it's not talked about why would they nobody would want to say well don't go to court but that's actually what's occurring and I think everyone needs to be aware certainly our governing body to speak to uh the legislative branch or the missal courts and saying here maybe we don't need to be sere in in removing licensers warrants but we need to figure out a way to close out and resolve a case if not backlog will just continue to grow and somewhat artificially so um regarding the FTA we have our assembly woman here so hopefully can take that back to the state now now that you've announced it to everyone yeah seriously yeah now no one's gonna pay them yeah I think it's time to stop being hush about this yeah I mean the bottom line is your credit card bills do go away your home payments can go away nothing went away the courts a as a sense in a in an effort I think to be sensitive said here let's stop doing this no one needs the stress or threat of a warrant or a license pension during covid makes sense right but now but the rest of the world didn't stop and I think we need to rethink that we're behind the times as far as that went on and now it's happening we now sending out late notices and people are bringing up court rules and saying well you waited three years too bad so now in light of being sented we didn't do this and we were restricted to do this now when we can people are saying now the Rule's against you it it's difficult you're you're you're I you have problems both ways trying to be sensitive and then trying to come back and Al ultimately trying to return the service and uh the appropriate um judicial efficiencies back to the township that you've demanded of me certainly for the last 22 years I just you we you normally don't have this many people here or watching so let's just be clear that we do not issue tickets to raise revenue correct I made that clear in my statement yeah so we do not because some municipalities they do that sure we do not do that we issue tickets or violations because there's a there somebody broke the law or allegedly broke the law so you're looking for those folks who broke the law to pay up whatever they're supposed to be I I'm not I'm looking to get a resolution and ultimately what we're looking to is with the threat and I or the accountability let's say I don't think he should be a threat I think he should be held accountable and ultimately to drive people back to court to get their matter resolved equitably whether it's dismissal or guilty I have no interest in that right my interest is to be efficient and resolve disputes that's our mission in courts that's one of our our jobs and that's one of our um what we stand to do uh and what you ask us to do but since all we're doing is is moving cases and our backlogs continually increasing what we have begun to do is send send late notices and we have had some effect part of what I've provided for you is uh we ran out of money unfortunately last year and what I was attempting to do in the three or four years prior because prior business administrators certainly yourselves were saying we need to be tight we're having a very difficult time with our budgets I responded to that not only by reducing my operating expenses but to acknowledge the lessening of filings during Co it made sense why ask for money if we're not going to spend it because our filings were down our operating expenses are directly related to filings for instance more tickets more interpreters more tickets more mailings more postage more public defenders but now when we start to come back up that's where I need the help that's where I need the funding and ultimately they did allow us to now issue at least late notices not suspension warrants but late notices we started to do that we were aggressive we got through June and we and we sounded the alarms we realized we were going to be we were going to run out of money um so we had to cease uh issuing those late notices um so I don't mean to skip into my Lems but you'll see a significant increase um not only taking account the backlog fit appears remember we issued 8,500 uh late notices between January and June of 2023 and stopped we still have about 5,500 in the Que in order just to to late notice again that won't close out cases but it a lot of a lot of individuals a lot of defendant will pay or plead not guilty get them back in the court which is what we want we want people to come back to the court to to resolve their case that's our goal not to raise revenue but that does go hand inand if somebody just goes ahead and pays clears it out gets done there's a revenue and we've cleared a case that's a win-win on both sides so I see it as that so I want you to be aware of what's occurring I think it's important for me to to let you know what the status is I think I think our judges are frustrated with that and I think they're looking and asking and I don't think the um jici has provided a solution yet which is something that's needed um this has been public it's been in the newspapers and it's been involved in other joint and uh municipal courts down in South Jersey and how revenue is impacted in supporting that um same investment townships are making down in um it's Atlantic County where they created a cental municipal Corp and they said well this is what what we attempt to bring in this is what it cost but because of the changes in what the Judiciary is doing now they can't afford that and some are backing out now because they're saying they're not seeing the cost it doesn't exist now because our powers have changed so I want you to be aware of that I'm not sure how much that changes or how much that's internal to the courts or legislative but I I at least want you to be aware um so I've I I also showed in here the comparison between the first six months of our collections when we were issuing fgas compared to our second six months and what you'll see is our Revenue has certainly increased there's a difference there and ultimately our job is to run those uh consistently monthly so at some point I'll stop asking for backlogged once we do the the backlogged late notices that we have it's done now we're just working with our our annual filings that we have getting to that point which is I think is important you should be asking the question is how are our filings pre and postco where do we stand I'd say uh we all while we're not back up to where we were pre-co we were around 37 38,000 filings currently we are at 30,000 filings and I'd say between that South Orange issues around 20,000 and South um and Maplewood issues around 10,000 filings at least so you can see where South Orange you could see where our sessions are going to be more stacked we're currently scheduling in May for South Orange Maplewood we're at the end of March you'll see the difference how far out your calendars go and how far out do we want them to go ultimately in order to um clear backlog in the eyes of the courts a matter should open and close within 60 days obviously that's not always positive but that's why your backlog numbers aren't always zero there's different ratings for each of our types of filings um that's basically an overview of last year kind of where the courts stand what's occurring what's going on some of our goals to achieve um we now have consistent employees which is fantastic they're doing an amazing job and uh we need to get them trained one of the problems when you're down bodies in an office it's tough to get that other person out to out to training because you know why you're down bodies how do you how do you cover in an office when you're down bodies it doesn't work so now that we're back up to speed these employees deserve H and rightfully show should go to training it's important it's essential it makes us a better operation um and so that that's certainly what we're looking to do but it's time some classes are six days three days eight days it's a lot of times eight hour days to bring a staff member out of the office it's a sacrifice no cost of the township except that body is not in our office that's the commitment we make to our employees to try and get them trained to help them assist the public and get them up to the standard that we demand and you you demand of us um so I think it's essential um the the this is not my initiative but it's certainly the uh presiding judge um and the Judiciary they want a three-year plan from now to say how are we going to correct our backlog from covid some of it I've just explained to you in in uh in our issuance of ftas and what's occurring in the support we need in order to make sure that happens but also is um how else are we going to dig out of this and you've heard uh Statewide news about Judges judge shortages uh suspension of matrimonial Tri uh hearings different cases throughout this is a problem throughout that's necessarily a judge shortage but it's certainly a CO issue as well I mean let's not let's not mince words here I mean covid certainly had an impact on our ability to do this I would submit that in order to get or submit that plan we need also an ability to resolve or close out cases if not the plan may not hold true because there's no way in order for us to do that compared to pre-co will that happen I think it's it has to be being discussed all you're seeing is backlog numbers incrementally increase constantly um where they're almost becoming artificial at this point there's no way to gauge them based on what reality is is not um so so certainly that's our commitment we need to to start working on that I think we're doing well not only with our sessions with our iners I do want to tip my cap to Maplewood Police Department um we because of uh we used to do all in person three times a week uh Court sessions now that has reduced to one per month we went away from the private security firm that was doing it for us um and we're having uh maplehood police officers man uh the screening portion for a maplehood session maplehood officer stands in court for South Orange South Orange uh officer stands in court that's pursuant to our interlocal agreement that we uh developed again 13 years ago last thing I wanted to touch upon is um obtaining um uh digital um Thompson West or essentially um the statutes the case law we want we want to go digital with our judges ability to obtain that information so it's essentially signing up for it's converting from all the paper books the manuals and everything else and the benefit of it the laws are real time inaccurate and we want our judges to be uh you know on the Forefront of that one of the biggest changes and laws that's evolving right now as we speak is the DWI law won't go too far into it but you're you're getting into not only interlock we're getting into someone potentially getting interlock pre-trial and we're getting into and you'll see this this is um Statewide news that there there's an issue on being able to plea bargain possibly DWI which was certainly during my 10e this goes back at least 30 40 years that was never permitted the law just passed uh via the state um that just became effective does permit that so that's big news if anybody wants information on that certainly welcome to see me on that that's some background some updates some highlights um that's what I have does anyone do you want me to go into line items yes please oh wait Mr R yeah we'll look at line items but focusing just on the ones that where there's something notable there or there's a larger than expected increase or decrease give me a moment to I I know already the first one is postage I've explained why that's based on the failure here it is a large increase um we basically took the amount we spent last year divided by 12 we went into our backlog cases that we have divided by that by 63 that's where we got our number and figures so that's where you'll see that from um the other was Professional Services I that may be an increase I'm not sure it was unfunded last year um I I think that was just a blip in in the budgetary process um and I think the issue with that is is again fining is going back up we have to now after I've cut and did the right thing now I'm coming back to you and asking for things because I'm seeing the need for it this is increased um uh interpreters we're spending 3 uh50 3 350 a month just an over the phone interpreting that doesn't include iners uh we have a very large Haitian Creole population um the cost to bring in uh person on uh to interpret for that for two hours minimum it's 350 so and they've made very clear based upon a lawsuit in South Jersey that it cannot be Spanish day Haitian creol day it has to be available every step in the process okay okay there's a cost for that and and so we need to make that available when we do that um I I think those are my the big issues and I I I don't think there's any much that's changing as far as I can see unless you guys have any questions regarding um my line items and that's what I have I've submitted a merit increase I think you're aware of that you've seen that um I'd go into that but normally I think that's done and that's closed so figured yeah thank you so much for always thorough you do an amazing job in in our courts thank you I really appreciate if you guys have any questions about anything I'd love to uh kind of update you let you know what's going on uh I'm happy to do so I think it's important uh I don't mean to come on so strongly regarding what's occurred and what's happening I'm not trying to give an opinion on it just letting you know making you aware of it and often you don't get that right um interchange with us and I want you understand how it's impacting everyone okay um and what's occurring there's a lot of lower level issues that are occurring locally that I think directly impact drivers it's something you talk about every meeting is parking enforcement what's occurring we're issuing all these uh potential tickets violations that's what we want and yet we can't hold people accountable to bring them in yeah and I think up front if you're going to issue it if you're not going to do it on the back end then why are we why are we doing that that's the question I think we need to ask so okay any of my colleagues have a any questions Mr Bank no thank you thank you thank for your time thank you for your presentation thanks for coming in and thank you for your work do we have a director of Community Development oh there she is Mr Palma welcome evening how are you this evening wonderful thank you members of the township committee I will be brief I agree with everything Mr benro little closer microphone to your M I'm done now bring it Closer Closer Closer Closer Closer can't hear you because I wasn't speaking now I'm speaking now we can hear you okay so I'm going to do uh a ex very brief overview of my department talk about a couple of things we've done a couple of thing places we want to go and then please feel free to ask whatever you want so um I'm Anette dep I am the director of Community Development within my department we have five divisions uh we have 11 full-time employees four part-time employees and a couple of other people inspectors who drift in and out so so what are these divisions they are sorry okay we have a zoning division um we have a uh really topnotch zoning officer who reviews first let me just back up for one second so what we do is we pretty much touch every single piece of property at some time or other goes through my department buying we need a certificate of approval before a property can be transferred what does that mean it means an inspector has to go in make sure that um the number of bedrooms bathrooms kitchens Etc that are recorded with the tax assessor is accurate so we get an accurate read on the apartment on the transfer um and that it's also in in good condition so you can't transfer a piece of property until you get what's called a certificate of approval so that's on the buying end then somebody wants to do a renovation on a property they have to first get a zoning approval our zoning officer does uh zoning applications reviewing residential and Commercial very typical residential things could be I want to put a HVAC I want to install solar panels on my roof we've been getting a lot of those um I want to put fence what are the fence requirements so you know he's got to do due diligence we get surveys we get applications Etc that's on the residential side if everything's fine then that application can go right to getting construction permits so we go to the next division he also does applications looking at uses of businesses so someone will come in I want to open up a business at such and such an address um is it a permitted use so he does that zoning review to see whether it's a permitted use if it's in one of our two special Improvement districts then we refer it to the director of the special improvement district again if all is well and it doesn't have to go to a zoning or a planning board then it goes to our Construction Division for the issuance of the appropriate permits if it does need to go to his owning board then it goes to another division in my department the land use administrator uh and we have a t everybody in in our department is really pretty terrific I have to say um and a pleasure to work with anyway if somebody needs to go to the planning board or the zoning board um Adele Lois is our land use administrator she takes applications and helps people assemble collect their data and uh schedules for one of the boards okay yes fire you with me so far yeah okay um then we have that's yeah then we have our Construction Division uh which again it does the permit issuing and we have uh Property Maintenance what does Property Maintenance do well just as the court um just as the police do not issue tickets and the court doesn't enforce them to raise revenue the orientation of our proper our code inspectors is compliance we do sometimes have to issue summonses because we issue notices of violation we give people time to Abate certain conditions and I would like to point out that although um our four uh code inspectors do have you know territories areas of town which uh they've been working in for a long time and it's really good because they've cultivated relationships with business owners with property owners and so they're really kind of part of the fabric of a particular neighborhood we give people time to get something done if it doesn't get done they'll issue a summons even after a summons is issued and it gets into our court there is a cure period you know we're not after the money we're after um compliance we you know we we have Incorporated the township committee has incorporated by reference the New Jersey edition of the International property maintenance code and the uniform construction code I should said before so you know we want properties to be wellmaintained another point I would like to make is about 75% of the uh the issues that are investigated come in from Neighbors I'm a little concerned my next door neighbor in the back has you know XYZ going on can you come and check it out so while there is a kind of a self-generating just by driving around and seeing what's going on we also respond to um you know neighbors who have questions about whether something could be better on an adjacent or neighboring property the last division in our department is fire prevention so PRI fire prevention just joined us and again uh it's in our department it's also kind of another natural fit because it is uh enforcement of the New Jersey fire code so our uh Fire official and fire inspector um are well I mean one of the primary things they do is investigate the causes of fires and uh additionally are fire prevention experts so you know deal with alarm systems and and and you know things like that so that's kind of a broad overview and that addition is working well I understand it is good yeah yeah it's a very it's a very kind of copasetic good bunch of people okay so um our work in 2023 so sort of a big thing that happened in 2023 in terms of Staffing is we uh so let's see what what's the theme our theme is opportunity okay you have a theme we have I have a theme I you know I'm not gonna sing and dance but I do have the theme so what's the opportunity the opportunity is that we have a new construction official and um because of kind of the market and the trend against having a single person act both as the construction official and the zoning officer and that's been happening for the last bunch of years um we now have a a freestanding zoning officer as well um and it makes so much sense to have those be separate individuals in our case we were very lucky because an existing um one of our fire subcodes in fact who is a former Fire Chief and still teaches and has all kinds of licenses uh and had been actually doing much of our residential uh zoning agreed to step into um the role and um he will not mind if I call him a code nerd because um he has really uh helped us change uh our orientation toward looking at zoning um okay yeah okay I I guess I can stop oh no I'm going to say actually one other thing so I also besides supervising all of this stuff um you know I work in Economic Development I work with Mayors meeting with um potential developers uh I have I still do review all the commercial zoning applications because I like to see was coming in and out of town and I I connect Property Owners with prospective uh businesses uh brick-and mortar businesses and I help new businesses finding um you know commercial space and I I spend more time talking on the phone than I care to but I do have a rule about returning on my phone calls within 24 hours so do do that um I'm also the primary or uh sometimes exclusive author of Grant applications um mostly with the do but but um so last year uh I wrote Grant applications that resulted in uh $1.3 million to the township um so that's pretty good that's good yes we appreciate I like doing that um good thing Sarah Lester isn't following you like last week she trumps everyone yes million oh yeah well 8 million I mean that's not a normal availability correct but but no did talk about Grant Queens last time and I think maybe Mr Palmer can get the grant que oh most certainly most certainly um so you know we have a sustainable essics uh sustainable essics Alliance so that is a seven member energy aggregation uh we are the lead Maplewood is the lead agent for that right and we're very proud of that we've had two contracts already uh we've been the lead agent from day one and essentially being the lead agent means that we kind of make all the well we certainly do all the heavy lifting we do most of the decision making and then obviously get consensus uh we have managed to so far have two contracts that have enabled participating residents to uh save some money on their Electrical uh utility costs and we have also uh in our contract has been we've gotten you know Greener energy at about a little over twice the rate that the clean energy act requires so that's pretty good um we have not had a contract for a little over a year because the you know the prices haven't been that good and we are going for cheaper and cleaner but um I think before the township committee very soon we'll be going out to bed we're we just refiled all of our State documents and and all that so stay tuned cuz in five or six weeks you're going to have to make a decision um and yeah and other stuff but you know it's all in there okay does anybody have so opportunity yeah very excited we you know one thing that is really actually very exciting is um our bulk requirements all the stuff that's in our zoning code is you know it's a code and um you know you guys pass laws here and there a lot they go all over the place and it's not always easy for someone to find what they need so if somebody for example says oh what's the you know what is the setback and you know R17 that's like a zone five yards well you have to you know you have to go to the section and you have to look and all this other stuff anyway we have created charts that lay everything out and they will be published within two weeks um you know things like that are are right important very I think because then you could click on a link and send it to somebody they can access it on our website so one of our goals is to make sure that everything is accessible on our website that we get all the documents you know restored and updated uh in our website and the other the the other thing that I would like to get done well you know I wrote I wrote this stuff down but one thing is that uh I realized that our record retention is um not very onerous not very what honorous okay we have to keep things for 10 years unless they are you know important Civic buildings churches hospitals um so we're trying to figure out how much we want to actually retain and how much we want to try to digitize okay but we're going to be moving in that direction because we don't have space downstairs you know in our cage and we we really we don't have storage and a lot of the stuff we don't we don't particularly need um anyway did you want to go through the line items sure my bud is pretty flat looks like there's not much of a change yeah there's no CH items of note right and then we want to go to your Capital too yeah okay items of note let's see okay on line I don't have the number the do you have them okay so it's uh inspector's salaries now I just wanna you know I don't need to go into detail or anything here but um but you know there are two um two possible changes we're going to make it's not a a whole lot that I'm asking in there and I can assure you that it is I've spoken to Mr weary about it and um you know when the time comes that we have to do something it's completely reasonable amount of additional money that I'm looking for here um you know $7,000 for office uh in Publications okay so here's what happened we ran out of money for office supplies we had 2, or 2500 I mean these are tiny amounts of money by the end of the year like oh we can't get you know permit folders or you know something like that and we realized the reason was because we have um the the uh Department of Consumer Affairs requires our code officials to at at some kind of bizarre inter like it's 22 or 28 months and sometimes it's 31 months has to do these registrations and we didn't have a budget item for it so we pulled it out of office supplies and somewhere else so I'm I'm asking for h a line be created for that for 20 and they they're yeah um okay and then Gul pilot license ing cost you know that's our database uh and the only other things are for the cost of moving our fire prevention staff Fire official and inspector um out of the out of their current location which is the firehouse into either my department or the OEM but we're not really sure where okay and um you know we're hoping to get to be and so we need money for furniture because all the stuff that's in the firehouse now is built in so it's not like we're asking for new furniture we just need some things we're going to try to get some stuff from the library um but the it transferring the it might cost some money so I asked money for that too okay capital capital capital first one yes we are requesting um you know I don't have those with me but what is it $155,000 for the whiteboards right okay 15 15,000 so um yeah we costed these out the DCA is requiring um our construction officials now to receive um uh plans electronically and it's going into you know mandatory I'm putting that in quotes you know who really knows but it's it's actually a very good idea anyway um because it's it it's much easier for people who are submitting plans because they're huge uh by uh I think it's June so what we're asking for is two whiteboards we're going to put one in the construction officials office and the other one somewhere else where everyone will have absolute access the other possibility we might put both in the construction official's office and be able to you know and they they cost something like 7200 7,400 or something like that each we've already costed them out okay so that we really need and then you have and then we had for three vehicles so here's the thing for the vehicles so now we have recently gotten a vehicle from where engineering something Public Works somewhere else pickup truck got a vehicle but here's the thing yes so now I'm asking for two vehicles and here's why I'm asking for two vehicles I'm asking for two vehicles because um we have two vehicles which are soon going to probably fall apart our um fire officials driving a I don't remember the year but it's got 153,000 miles on it and by the way this is uh I've had conversations with the township mechanic because what do I know but he knows because he Services the cars 150 156,000 miles on one car probably not going to be able to get a replacement battery so it says that 2007 Chevy Malibu is heavily rusted and the 2008 for escape is not going to last okay there you go all right so just two vehicles though just two vehicles and I I would like we have aost on those two yeah because the to cost on the three was a lot well the cost on the three is not 110,000 that's the cost for the now what are we doing what are we asking for 75 50 no no no that was that was for three now we're asking for two three well it says three that's two I don't think so yeah yeah it's two right in the form request it says to with that CR for that have that one yeah that's for two vehicles but but here's it says three vehicles yeah that's a5000 mistake it's a mistake Okay so we have a for two vehicles we will confirm the price on two we have a we have a number of vehicles that are being requested you're going to come to us with a proposal right yes yeah and and we're gonna we're GNA talk about it again but I would like to I would like to point out I'm not asking to this you know just because like everybody should have a car I obviously don't have one I don't need one right a construction official usually has one yes but is does not want one he would prefer to use his own vehicle and I do have our zoning officer and a code inspector sharing a car okay so I am being you know judicious in my request of course you are anybody have any questions for Mr Palmer how many vehicles is I'm just I guess I back to the grant Queen Question so if the state is requiring things to go electronically are there going to be any grants to help with the cost is it it's an unfunded mandate no no it's possible it's possible possible so I'm assuming you'll she'll go for it yeah thank you anyone else okay Mr Palmer thank you so much you're welcome thank you all right thank you good night May I move we extend the meeting Beyond 9:30 oh did we still have that going any it's first time I had to do that yeah yeah is anyone inclined uh to take minute break yes I was going minute break do the vote first do vote okay yes great yes daffis yes DeLuca yes SLE yes mayor Adams yes and I just say uh as quick as possible please couple minutes two minutes soon as everybody's back we'll start start two minutes we'll be back no I'm just saying hey I just ate a sleeve of girl SC I just ate a sleeve of Girl Scout don't do it don't be one more speaker let me go home let me go 53 I just say to sleeve a Girl [Music] Scout have viability [Music] something I'm getting impatient sorry banging the gab people should welcome back to our meeting we're starting back up we're okay Amari okay great okay this takes us to our last public comment session um we require this is on any subject matter um everyone has three minutes to speak introduce yourself um if there's people waiting we ask that you know you line up against the wall since there's plenty of people here I'm assuming there's people who want to speak so we're going to be kind of strict on the time so everyone gets a chance to to speak and Mr warry will be keeping track okay all right so come on up please state your name and address and then you have three minutes yeah it's on is this working okay yep Andrew Patterson South Orange I introduced myself as Andrew Patterson but I was bidford under the name Aon mamin k a name that in my family was not put on birth certificates as I was born one generation removed from aunts and uncles who were killed as children in the concentration camps camps that my grandparents survive start a new family while forever carrying the trauma of the children they lost a trauma that we all carry from generation to generation but it's up to each generation to figure out what we do with that trauma I tell you this because it's important to me that I stand before you to present the suo collective for Palestine ceasefire resolution not in spite of being Jewish but because I'm Jewish I will now read the resolution supporting the release of all hostages a permanent ceasefire preventing loss of human life an uninterrupted entry of human humanitarian Aid in the Middle East whereas the Maplewood Township committee Works to ensure the safety Health dignity and freedom of people every day we follow the lead of other localities in calling for a ceasefire because what happens internationally impacts our constituents locally we believe in the shared Humanity of all people and affirm it is a common value held by Maplewood residents and whereas Maplewood and South Orange are dedicated to fostering community that Embraces diversity values all life and upholds the principles of equality and human rights and whereas all human life is precious and whereas all and whereas hundreds of thousands of lives are in imminent risk of if a ceasefire is not achieved and humanitarian Aid is not delivered to Gaza without delay and the risk of regional and Global escalation is increasing daily and whereas we recognize the right to self-determination and peaceful safe futures for both Palestinians and israelies and whereas the United States holds immense diplomatic power to save Israeli and Palestinian lives now therefore be it resolved that the Maplewood Township committee one calls upon the US Administration to immediately call for and facilitate deescalation and a permanent ceasefire to end the current violence as well as the immediate release of all hostages two calls upon the US Administration to promptly send humanitarian assistance into Gaza and to facilitate the unimpeded entry of such assistance I will now say a brief statement on my own behalf I'm sure that over the past few months you've heard some hateful things and outright lies about those of us who are presenting this resolution I only ask that you look through the noise to see what this resolution actually is this is not asking you to take up sze amongst your constituents this is not asking you to come up with a solution to Decades of War this is not asking you to debate the meaning of phrases that are used by protesters what this resolution is asking of you is to join the voices in our community and Beyond in sending a message to our government that its support of the ongoing atrocities in Gaza needs to stop our our country's president has publicly stated that Jewish safety everywhere depends on Israel was a Jew I would like to say that killing tens of thousands of Palestinian with American weapons does not make me feel safer blocking aid from reaching those starving in camps does not make me feel safer destroying homes so that survivors have nothing left but their own trauma does not make me feel safer I ask that you consider this resolution on its own merits because based on its own merits I truly believe that is something that all of us should feel a moral obligation to back thank you thank you very much good evening state your name address and then you have three minutes thank you good evening um seil abud Maplewood resident um I want peace I value all lives equally I don't dehumanize anyone life I count them all the same the Hamas Netanyahu lud Reign is over their coexistence has led to complete corruption and destruction they all need to be removed from Power they are just as terrible and dangerous as each other and all need to be replaced permanently and immediately one would suggest that or would one suggest that in order to remove Netanyahu and his lud thugs would you destroy all of Israel and starve all of its people to death of course not that's Psychopathic as one of the first leading organizers and advocates for ceasefire we've all spent many months countless hours countless meetings countless ceasefire vigils and rallies trying to humanize Palestinians we had meetings with the leaders of s Township we had Interfaith group meetings teachin private events public events at times I admit we were wrong in our approach we use words and phrases in well-intended ways that were misrepresented we thought there could have been an educational opportunity to teach and learn directly from Arab Neighbors in this beautiful Community who speak the language and know the culture and know the intent the real history not the islamophobic propaganda that we've all been choking on since 911 but we learned that when one has hate and bias so deeply embedded in their being there is no way they can humanize Arab people Arab culture or Arab language even if they live in this Progressive Soma instead they resort to harassment doxing threats of gun violence and death threats I've stated repeatedly and will continue to repeat that this is not an Arab Muslim versus Jew is issue The Sisterhood of Salam Shalom an organization of Jewish and Muslim women of which I am a member calls for a ceasefire and the release of hostages in their mission statement it's one of the first things you see on their website they value it is not controversial to Value all lives equally Som action hosted an event that I attended with standing together where the message was resoundingly seize Fire release hostages save civilians get rid of Netanyahu get rid of Hamas let's coexist without apartheid Deb angle hosted an event that I attended with the parent Circle where the message was resoundingly let's have dialogue let's move forward together seize Fire release the hostages save civilians let's coexist without apartheid and they said something there that I won't forget they said you can save free Palestine and the occupation and end the apartheid and still have love for Israel benai keset and benai jarun in New York city hosted a land for all event that I attended where the message was resoundingly let's have dialogue let's move forward together seize Fire release a hostages save civilians and let's coexist without aarth and in honor of women's health I'd like to point uh Women's Health Women's uh month I'd like to point out that in each of those discussions each of those movements each of those events please allow me to speak a little bit more women were the event organizers and the event leads women are taking a lead in finding peaceful Solutions organizing these movements organizing these protests organizing these petitions we allow men to work with us they do it in the background but we women are at the Forefront of leading these efforts and that is what liberal Progressive people and politics look like when you're talking about Israel Palestine it's not but hassing the entire issue and every talking point and spewing Fox Five Netanyahu Trump esque language it is not doxing your neighbors who who see innocence in civilians because you fail to see innocence or Humanity it is not verbally attacking your neighbor and making physical and gun threats online because they care about people you so deeply hate liberal Progressive people who support movements that we do right here in s sound like this we are informed open-minded liberal understanding compassionate we are a town that is made of diversity shoot um uh in our races religions sexual orientations professions this is what makes Soma attractive to new families some concern conservative rightwing people are attempting to destroy gay marriage they don't see gay people they don't see gay rights they don't want lgbtq they beat an innocent teenager to death in a high school bathroom some conservative right-wing people are attempting to destroy women's Reproductive Rights prohibit abortions Force women to carry regardless of the circumstances they want us to believe that embryos are considered children some conservative right-wing people heard black lives matter and thought Oh my God God black people want to kill me no no no no it's all lives matter they Overlook the fact that in 2020 we were and still are fighting the Civil Rights Movement for Black America some conservative right-wing people want to dismantle Dei because it threatens their privilege and equates their white superiority with what they consider to be inferior minorities we are a community that has a track record for standing on the right side of History advocating For Life equality inclusivity our Justice and minority subcommunities here in s have come together on this resolution we as a community are calling on the Maplewood Township committee to stand up you have boldly declared solidarity in permanent paint on our streets boldly stand up with the more than 70 other cities in this nation with Cala and call for the ceasefire with us so that one day when this is all over when the world is different and when we look back at this moment we reflect on History you don't feel ashamed that you lack the courage to document your humanity and maplewood's Humanity in the history books thank you thank you good evening my name is Mindy Greenspan and I'm not as articulate as seil but I'm going to make a a brief statement um I'm a Jewish Maplewood resident and I have lived here for 25 years and like many transplants I chose this community for its diversity and Progressive values I'm speaking tonight in support of the ceasefire resolution that has been presented to the Town Council the resolution calls for a permanent ceasefire release of all hostages and the facilitation of uninterrupted humanitarian Aid to the people of Gaza these are not radical demands at this point this is where the vast majority of Americans are at after watching a genocide take place in front of our eyes with no red lines being drawn by our leaders or an end in sight I want to share briefly about my Jewish identity because it's important for Maplewood to know that not all Jews stand with Israel's intolerable actions my grandparents fled the violent anti-semitic prgrams in Eastern Europe in the early 20th century and settled into life in the US my father fought Nazi FAS fascism in Europe during World War II and when he came home he was very attuned to recognizing Injustice and oppression here in the US he joined a long tradition of fighting against oppression of all people and the right of all people to live in peace and dignity which formed my values and identity as a proud Jew I'm also a healthc care worker having had a 34-year career as a physical therapist primarily a pediatric physical therapist and have seen the tremendous struggle of people rehabilitating from trauma children with amputations excuse me head injuries and other de devastating lifechanging injuries that are being sustained by survivors of this military industrialized terror is both horrifying and unimaginable Maple would passed a resolution standing with Israel in the wake of October 7th without speaking to the crucial context of Decades of ongoing oppression against Palestinian people the fact that this town has allowed far right extremist views disguised as speaking for all Jews to dictate our policies and moral stances is quite honestly liberal hypocrisy of the highest order in this way Maplewood cannot claim to be the progressive Beacon that we wanted to be your silence is shameful and you'll be remembered as such if you cannot find the moral courage to call for a ceas fire my tax dollars did not contribute to the killing of Israeli citizens or hostage taking on octo on October 7th but my tax dollars I'm almost done and my name are being used to perpetrate the most unwish actions imaginable the brutal Massacre of over 30,000 Palestinian men women and children the violent displacement of two million people because of their ethnicity and intentionally inflicting disease and starvation on the Palestinian people in Gaza I cannot tolerate being silent as silent is complicity in these atrocities it is time to put an end to this madness it is time for Maplewood to take a stand on the right side of history and it is time for the Town Council to pass this resolution calling for an immediate and permanent ceasefire thank you for your time thank you good evening my name is pry Canal I'm a Maplewood resident of 5 years 71 cities in the US have passed a ceasefire resolution today I extend my hand and invite you to meet this historical moment and join them I also speak on behalf of my friend Courtney Greenwald a Maplewood resident who couldn't be here today Courtney and I wrote this speech together like many members of the community we are advocating for the indiscriminate violence on gazin to stop for Palestinians to have access to life saving giving Aid and for all hostages to be released we however feel that Israel as the owner of a military and an official state bear a large responsibility for halting that violence allowing for hostage release and permitting the access of unimpeded humanitarian Aid to Palestinian civilians we can all agree that the lives lost is far too many in only six months since October more than 30,000 Palestinian people neither associated with the military or Hamas have been killed as a result of this conflict this needs to stop we need a permanent ceasefire to protect the lives in the region what happened last October is a tragedy so is what has happened in the months following 30,000 Palestinians including more than 13,000 children is not the price to be paid for the October 7th attack As Americans we know all too well that quickly planned and poorly thought out ground invasions following violent attacks do not make the world a safer rep place or eliminate the lives of those or eliminate the groups that perpetrated them a ceasefire is needed to identify a better solution and save the lives of those who simply live in Gaza they should not be held accountable for what happened on October 7th Israel has a formal military with an extremely well-funded artillery that is being used against Palestinian humans this is a direct attack on men women and children not associated with Hamas but who simply are Palestinian and deserve the right to live as a nation recognized by the UN and NATO Israel is meant to adhere to certain provisions of war that include taking each and every means possible to reduce the loss of civilian life abstaining from targeting crucial civilian infrastructures such as hospitals schools and drinking water nation states are supposed to uphold higher standards of morality and restraint when sitting at the helm of high powerered arsenals we need to implore Israel to do the same the first step in ensuring health and safety and health for the families currently experiencing extreme forced famine lack of medical care and Military bombardment is to enact a ceasefire as a reminder the largest number of hostages held by Hamas was released during a ceasefire in fact Israel military action has killed a number of hostages that alone shows us that a permanent ceasefire is the most efficient tactic to preserve human life and reunite families the Progressive values in Maplewood once filled me with hope they were a beacon that at least within my community we rallied for human rights we saw a path for a more compassionate Humanity focused future but I don't know what that progressivism means here anymore I don't know how to understand it when these values don't extend to Palestinians it feels dishonest thank you thank you good evening all sayun South Orange I have three minutes to speak for the humanity of 30,000 killed people please bear with me that's really short about six milliseconds per person killed in Gala in five months I pondered whether to talk tonight what else can I say that has not been said already what discuss discussion angle will make my towns pass a ceasefire resolution is it sharing indisputable facts about this at Devastation done already the number of dead babies brought up before you many times the bombing of civilians even in refugee camps and breadlines you've you've heard about it the inhumanity of thirst and starvation of blocked a trucks of C-sections without anesthetic on women's History Month of thousands of mothers without children and children without mothers if all of this doesn't bring so much to add to the long list of US Cities calling for an immediate is fire and releasee of all hostages alongside the UN Amnesty International Oxfam Doctors Without Borders black lives matter National lgbtq task force an everyday growing contingent of elected Democrats Israeli recognized human rights organization such as bets slim teachers and postal worker unions and I'm missing so many more if this all doesn't do it what will what does it come down to it comes down to morality and core principles there are more many lives very few moments where we are confronted to decision to be made where the sum of our moral values need to be greater than anything else in the balance we picked to very intentionally it is where me an immigrant Arab and Muslim woman and my husband an Iranian American men want to raise our children this is the place we believe they'll be not only tolerated but celebrated where their Heritage won't be seen as threatening or Associated to hollyood caricatural depictions but rather upheld for the richness the culture and the true diversity they bring to the S table the resolution calls for release of all hostages ceasefire and uninterrupted Aid if we are against this then what are we for what does it say to my children who share looks and names with killed babies how can my children be loved here if children who look just like them can't be humanized in this moment in time it is about our value I value your time and mine and I wouldn't be here if I didn't think you could not uphold these values in this difficult moment and I acknowledge that let me end with this I have a hard time sleeping since October and I appetize with every mother that lost a child I stay awake wondering how I can do more how I can save one more baby from the darkness of the rubbles I don't sleep well but I know that in this moment in my choice standing by this resolution I fully align to my core principle and morality and when this is all over because no war no Injustice lasts for forever I will sleep again the question is will you all evening hi good evening my name is Kathy carliner I live in Maplewood and I've lived here since 1991 um in all those years I've never stood up to do anything political truthfully certainly not come to a meeting like this so why on Earth did I do that um because I don't see it as a political issue I see it as an how can you not look it in the eye humanitarian issue a couple of months ago when I learned about this group through my son who's involved in it I started wearing this scarf through you know in my normal day-to-day when it was appropriate and you know I was scared I was scared to death I was embarrassed I was potentially embarrassed and I say that with all due respect to my friends in the room here today why I was afraid that my neighbors would see me and think poorly of me I was afraid that my friends many of whom are Jewish many of whom are not Jewish would see me they might think especially those who didn't know me well like my neighbors in an apartment building where you share that elevator every day hey maybe she's Pro Hamas maybe she thinks what Hamas did was the right thing to do oh maybe she's anti-semitic why else would she be wearing the scarf well I'm not any of those things and that's why why I'm wearing the scarf at all I'm wearing it because every day I wake up you said you can't sleep I wake up every single morning terrified to look at the New York Times on my phone the only other time in my adult life that I felt that way was on September 11th and for the two weeks that followed after that I wake up worse these mornings because I'm afraid you know why because I'm not anti-semitic or proom I'm just a lady who's lived in Maplewood for a long time and I think holy cow aren't there 23,000 residents in Maplewood something like that right and um how many people were killed in Gaza and then I think roughly the same throw in some people from South oron I think well they're exactly like us so what if you took every single person in this Hall and tomorrow every one of our schools every one of our daycare centers everywhere hospitals you name it in s and you killed them you dro bombs on them well we wouldn't have deserved that how would you feel if that was your mother and your sister and worse like I said that's Maplewood let's make South Orange people starve to death slowly agonizingly with no infrastructure so I don't mean to be graphic and extreme I literally wake up and I think like that and I got to do something so um I raised two boys here in town um both are queer and imagine my pride no pun intended when that crosswalk went in right and imagine theirs it was unbelievable they brought a boyfriend to see it we bring family to see it it's just like a sign of our town and our values and everything that we stand for and to wrap up in case my bell rings I think I thought then and I think now for sure well like why wouldn't you do that like why wouldn't we be Pro lgbtq Plus well tonight I beg you and I've never said done anything like this let alone begged for this resolution we permanent ceasefire in the other two points mentioned so that we're doing something not picking sides we're stopping uh genocide we're stopping a massacre of regular old people just like us and my kids said to come here and say it um for them too um PS they're both half Jewish so I say this ecumenically um and um I really hope that you guys will pass what I think is a very straightforward thing thank you very much thank you hi Maplewood Township committee my name is Miles dimner I'm a Jewish Columbia High School student and a member of the agac committee the Jewish Student Union at CHS who has lived in this town my whole life I've been impacted by this war tremendously my camp counselor gilee was killed by Hamas terrorists during the Nova musical festival and I have family in Israel who are scared for their lives every day because of Hamas this proposal is as wrong as it is redundant while I applaud the resolution for demanding a release for the of the hostages calling for a permanent ceasefire is the wrong approach given the fact that Hamas broke the ceasefire on October 7th and a permanent ceasefire would leave Hamas still in power in the Gaza Strip which would cause more pain and suffering for Israelis and Palestinians alike the only moral approach is letting Israel carry out its mission to defeat Hamas and rescue the hostages this resolution does not even mention Hamas I don't want a ceasefire I want a permanent end to this conflict and the only way that could happen is by defeating Hamas if Hamas is not defeated there will never be a two-state solution while some claim this war is genocide Israel has provided access to humanitarian Aid through both the Rafa and kamam Shalom Crossings recently opened Maritime Aid and has repeatedly allowed aird drops while keeping the civilian casualty rate well below the rate for the normal well below the normal rate of 9.1 uh of nine civilians to to one military casualties in urban conflict is show it's about I think two and a half to one maybe yeah CU it's like 30,000 and then around 12,000 hosn um I urge this committee not to vote on this resolution thank you to the mapa Township committee for letting me speak and thank you mayor Adams thank you hi everybody I'm Alison Zord I'm a almost 30-year resident of Som I really didn't prepare any word tonight but I wanted to come down and speak because I I noticed there's a lot of people here in support of this resolution I want to say that a fundamentally don't think it's a good use of the township committee's time with all the important Town business that you have on your agenda to be passing a resolution on International matters I think it's honestly just a waste of time I also don't think it's appropriate for members of the township committee to be virtue signaling by wearing political statements or displaying them on the de I want to say that I also would love peace I would love to see a two-state solution I would love to see all of the hostages released but that will never happen with a genocidal terrorist organization running Gaza who explicitly in writing and in their public speaking has pledged to destroy the state of Israel and all Jews around the world it is naive to preach for a permanent ceasefire from the privileged place of Maplewood New Jersey under those conditions I know two people personally who lost family members at the Nova Festival I personally met with several October 7th survivors last week and heard their stories I moved to Maplewood because I wanted to live in a community where I did not have anti-Semitism that I experienced as a child and I didn't want my child children to experience it either and for many years I felt like I picked the right Community now I avoid going to Maplewood Village I'm disgusted by the statements that I hear the ceasefire as side proclaiming at these rallies on the weekends um praising HTI Rebels calling for globalizing the inata do people understand what these statements really mean I'm going to cut it short but I would urge you to not votee in favor of this resolution thank you I am Amy pight a 20-year resident of Soma first I applaud that high school student for standing up because it's really nerve-wrecking to get in front of a room so I was gonna say that hudos to you young man uh a ceasefire resolution has no place being discussed at a Township committee meeting our local government has exactly zero influence in foreign policy by considering passing a ceasefire resolution all that will be accomplished is further dividing this community and the potential for hurt harm and alienation of one segment of our community or another I hope you will affirm the values of this community and affirm the rights of all people to live in Safety and Security and not weigh in on something that will be divisive hurtful and will ultimately not change anything on the international front and since this is women's history month I would like to acknowledge the statement by stand with us a nonprofit organization that fights anti-Semitism and supports Israel around the world we refused to stand by idly we refuse to stand idly by as the women who were raped and violated by Hamas terrorists on and since October 7th are silenced by the world the global Community has failed these women but we will do everything we can to give them back their voices thank you and I hope you will not entertain this ridiculous resolution thank you hi there I wish I could say I had uh something prepared but I actually saw this on the screen at home and I saw that you were going to talk about ceasefire and I saw your Cafe up here and I thought you know I'm not sure there's going to be a biased or unbiased uh reception in here and I wanted to share thoughts on topic I don't want to interrupt you but could you put the record for the minutes name and my name is I am a 20-year resident of Maplewood uh I am Jewish I am not opposed to a ceasefire I don't think anyone is I think um I am for a ceasefire that acknowledges that Hamas must surrender to do that um and there is the Jewish Community here has actually proposed an alternative to the one before you that includes Hamas and the context that there are two parties at play here and two parties including one which Sparks the War uh that need to come to the table and deal with the ceasefire resolution tion so I'm not here to convince you of that but I am here to to Bear witness to the anti-Semitism that has uh Arisen in this town since this happened you spoke about being scared the Jews in this town are scared we are tired of being attacked publicly in the streets you say people don't chant Yemen Yemen make us proud turn another ship around it's on video we can send it to you there are people in here that say that I've had them say genocidal things to my face I've heard them shout hold hold a sign asking for a ceasefire and Shout into there is only one solution in Revolution how can you be in favor of a ceasefire and Shout for Ina military Uprising so I'm just here to say to you whatever you want to do with the ceasefire obviously read as much as you can trying to find unbiased information but please listen to the Jewish community in this town who have been caught up in a lot of anti-Semitic uh violent hate speech that has come about because of this I don't think you can resolve the Middle East peace crisis I don't think anyone here could do that all we ask is that you recognize there are two communities here that are hurting and two communities seeking peace and we ask you listen to them both equally thank you thank you hello everyone my name is ran chogle I'm a 14-year-old with a hearing disability but just because I am deaf however does not mean that I am deaf to the atrocities in Gaza I am here to ask you how do you as fully capable upstanding members of society not hear the screams and plea of the people of Gazza how do you not see the death and genocide of the people how do you not feel deep within your heart empathy for the people of Gaza do you ignore them do you choose to tune out their noise like another Tuesday do you not see them do you not hear why why choose ignorance why choose to go down this path of Silence why choose to purposely make yourself deaf to the sounds of the helpless in Gaza I ask one more time do you not see them do you not hear them see ceas fire now and free Palestine I yield my time thank you hi good evening um my name is Joy I am a resident in East Brunswick and I haven't prepared anything to speak with you so this is just me talking um so as a lesbian Arab I really appreciate and I'm enlightened by your advocacy and representation that I see here today I love this and I just want to say it's those same groups in Palestine that are marginalized that our beloved sisters and brothers that we should be caring about and I think it's important to point out that we learn history so that we wouldn't repeat it in the future and we wouldn't repeat those mistakes that we make and what I've seen is we use um we use a distraction to justify atrocities that we commit to marginalized people like an example that I could use is um in America black people were lynched because they said that black men were rapists and framed them using white women tears and I just want to say that is the same exact thing that we're seeing right now with Israel pointing fingers all fingers to Hamas and not acknowledging anything else and they using that to justify a civilian extermination campaign that's all thank you so much thank you hi mayor Adam of the township committee my name is Ariel dier I've lived in Maplewood for 24 and a half years my five kids have all attended the South Orange Maplewood schools I have three right now at Columbia High School one of whom has already faced some anti-Semitism since October 7 for a few years I served on the Zoning Board of adjustment where I was vice chair I love my town and I do really appreciate having done some Public Service the time each of you put in to make our town a better place to live I really wish we didn't have to be here tonight uh 150 days ago as you know Hamas launched a brutal attack against Southern Israel over 130 Israelis are still held hostage and some Americans are still held hostage Hamas is a designated terrorist group by both the United States government and the European Union the United Nations has reported that Hamas used rape and sexual violence on a mass scale against Israeli women including Israeli hostages um I oppose this resolution for a few reasons one most importantly really is the challenging committee is not the appropriate body to hear these resolutions uh we have a federal government that's supposed to handle Foreign Affairs and our federal Representatives uh are the appropriate officials to hear these issues uh Second and two the the proposed resolution says nothing about Hamas doesn't the name homas does not appear there a ceasefire that leaves Hamas in power means that this will happen again and again Hamas had said so over and over they do not want peace they do not want a two-state solution they want like uh this shirt at least seems to show of this woman over here a Palestine from The River To The Sea and from rushan to a lot in other words all of Israel in Arabic the chant is not from the river to the Sea Palestine will be free the chant is uh from The River To The Sea Palestine will be Arab as we celebrate women's History Month uh we should not be passing a resolution that leaves Hamas in power Hamas believes in using rape as a weapon of war and it's unconscionable that after such a moving ceremony like we had here today where we had all these women elected officials who are Trailblazers uh that we then go and pass a resolution that leaves a regime in power that uses rape as a weapon of War um I urge the township committee to focus on continuing to make Maplewood livable for all avoid resolutions in foreign relations uh let's focus on affordable housing community development tree ordinances municipal courts Public Health bike safety Road contracts and cannabis licensing and let's leave the foreign policy to Congress the state department and President Biden if you pass a resolution I urge you to pass a resolution that calls for freeing all hostages and supporting the state of Israel in its efforts to dismantle and Destroy Kamas thank you very much thank you my name is Paul surel I live at 101 Plymouth Avenue Maplewood I'm the chair of South Mountain peace action and I'm here to express our support for the propo proposed ceasefire resolution on October 17th in response to the Hamas attack on Israel excuse me on October 17th in response to the Hamas attack on October 7th this body passed a resolution had called for one Israel to avoid civilian casualties and two for our Congress and President to create a humanitarian Corridor in Gaza to assure delivery of water food and Medicine tragically we know that these goals of your resolution were ignored and trampled on by Israeli bombs and what Human Rights Watch reported in December as starvation being used as a weapon in war among the many medical Horrors in Gaza today UNICEF tells us that at least 90% of children under the age of five are affected by one or more for infectious diseases my opinion the most effective way to reaffirm your two goals of avoiding civilian casualties and assuring a humanitarian Corridor would be to adopt the proposed resolution which also calls for the return of the hostages good news on Sunday vice president Harris said said quote people in Gaza are starving the conditions are inhumane and our common Humanity compels us to act end quote she called for quote an immediate ceasefire or at least the next six weeks this would allow us to build something more enduring to ensure Israel is more secure and to respect the right of the Palestinian people through dignity freedom and self-determination yes to me at least six weeks sounds like an open-ended ceasefire and something more enduring sounds like a transition to a permanent ceasefire ais's reference to Palestinian self-determination suggests Palestinian State and a two-state solution for these reasons in substance vice president paris's call for an immediate ceasefire is consistent with and supportive of the proposed resolution before you I hope you will renew your commitment to the goals of avoiding Civ civilian casualties and the guarantee of a human Corridor in Gaza by adopting the proposed resolution I have 20 more seconds okay what is happening in Gaza is our responsibility our tax dollars are paying for it in my handout which I'll give to miss fritzen I have included a ceasefire statement by 35 Israeli organizations that work for human rights civil rights and peace they include the Israeli partners of the ACLU and amnesty interational as well as the bereaved Family Circle which partnered with this Township ship Committee in January in its webinar on reconciliation a ceasefire is pro-israel as well as Pro Palestinian thank you thank you my name is Chris black I'm resident of South Orange I grew up in South Orange raised my family in South Orange and I have deep appreciation and respect for the governments of both of our towns and their respect for um diverse views on a lot of things and the issue before us tonight obviously is one of those very divisive issues and so I thank you for respectfully listening to everyone I'm speaking in favor of the uh seafire resolution before this board tonight and I'd like to quote Reverend Dr Martin Luther King Jr the day we become silent about thing Our Lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter this town committee has a long tradition speaking out on things that matter the use of our tax dollars to fund the slaughter of innocence is something that matters our national leadership is paralyzed on this issue as thousands are killed I implore this body to use your voice to speak up for us on this crucial issue thank you thank you evening good evening everyone my name is farha chle I am a resident of Maplewood New Jersey I'm going to start the follow following uh sorry I'm going to start again I'm going to start with the following prayer in the Quran when Moses may peace be upon him was sent on a mission to go and meet the pharaoh my Lord relax for me my chest with assurance and ease for me my task and untie the knot from my tongue that they may understand my speech I know I'm certainly in no way Moses and you are not pharaoh but it feels the circumstances are relatable I was wondering what to say to you other than thousands of pleading arguments videos images that you have seen heard over the past five months of ethnic cleansing what else to say to convince you to believe in humanity again and have some conscience for the past 151 days we are sickened every day to witness young kids babies getting Mass murdered by getting shot at Starved crushed explode we are watching a genocide unfolding right in front of our eyes we feel sick and this is just us watching just imagine the suffering of the Palestinians who are going through this day in and day out all we are asking for all we are asking for is for all of this to stop not for a day 6 weeks 6 months but for as long as we live I don't want me or my future generations to ever witness anything like this ever again perhaps Maple Ro Township committee adopting the ceasefire resolution will not change the situation on ground in Gaza but at the minimum it will give us an assurance that there is little bit of humanity left in our politicians who represent us calling for a ceasefire is the minimum we are asking you to do the least decent thing we can hope for you to accomplish here today because the day will come when your life will flash by you and you will regret not being on the right side of History if you are a sort of person who believes in God and the day that you will face him you will be asked I gave gave you a platform of power to be just and what did you do that day you you will be Tongue Tied because lies and excuse but Hamas won't work there a few more seconds I mean who the f says no to a ceasefire looking at all the zionists here today even if Moses and Jesus came back to stop the war and request to ceasefire they will be crucified with what aboutism remember this I may be exhausted but I'm not tired and I will be back here over and over and over again till the rest of this life and Hereafter finally I request 10 seconds of Silence of my time to remember Aaron Bushnell who is the only American at this point loved everywhere in the rest of the world may his soul rest in peace and may God fulfill his last will for his Ashes to be scattered in a free Palestine see PE fire now hi um my name is Rachel aarau I live in Maplewood um uh gosh okay um yeah so Israel is a place where I have a lot of family and friends um it's a place I care a lot about I want it to be safe A friends of friends were kidnapped on October 7th they not all released um killed as well um people living in the kibot seam um along Gaza um yeah and I've been uh terrified since then pretty much like um there's been a lot of really just extreme um extremist kind of dialogue in this town online and also and in protests that have happened um in this room as well um I would just urge um I wrote all this stuff and I'm just like what did I even write I would just I would urge people in the town committee to really you know to speak with with just speak with people who have a variety of different views and experiences um when it comes to this um I like I'm very concerned about things like yeah like about people in Gaza making sure they don't starve I'm concerned about that too but so it's like you can you can actually care about both places so you hear people who are saying that like painting Al zionists as extremists that's that's false that's a lie so so just it means you care about the Israel and you want it to be safe that's what it means you you can be leftwing you can be rightwing and I also want to say in terms of this uh resolution um I just I just don't want to see the town passing resolutions about foreign policy I guess that's just in general I mean I think there's so much division right now I think holds dialogue groups between people in in town people have extreme views people are fighting I mean and holds like dialogue groups where people people can really can speak their mind there's no like you know censorship just whoever they are just so they can speak about you know how they feel and try to like bring people together that way um I I just I don't like I'm just really I just don't really yeah just I mean I think in general not just with I'll stop in a second I just think in general not just in terms of this issue I don't really yeah I just don't really like I I I'm not I just don't really like the idea of the town passing um this resolution so anyway thank you thank you hi uh my name's Jacob I'm a Maplewood resident of eight years I'm here to speak uh in favor of the resolution um and I also want to talk to you all about the community that has been coming out every week for 13 weeks calling for a ceasefire in South Orange and in Maplewood and what we've built um I first got involved uh during the Great March of return uh we had a small action in rolta and I was I was terrified to show up because we thought we'd get run out of town this is back in 2018 I believe uh it was the courage of community members in Maplewood who uh pushed me to stand true to my values and to be courageous and to be able to say that murdering Palestinians is wrong and to take a stance um and since then we've had 13 ceasefire Sundays uh plus an action in November um again when we first started we were scared that if we stood up for Palestine and acknowledged the humanity of Palestinians that we would be attacked we' be intimidated that we would be doxed all of this but we came together first in small groups found each other and began organizing together to say no we are with Palestine we are in solidarity with them and we are going to stand tall together and it has honestly been the most courageous organizing I've ever been a part of uh I'm incredibly proud of our community here in Maplewood and South Orange but also in West Orange and East Orange and throughout the state because every every week people come from out the state to stand with Palestine in spite of the intimidation in spite of the lies um there's also been a number of attacks on teachers and students which has been remained unresolved uh uh in this town that needs to end as well oftentimes this overlaps with uh anti-black uh uh intimidation for teachers that stand up uh in solidarity with Palestine um I want to uh speak directly to the community who's listening if you have not come out yet uh on Sunday I truly encourage you to uh it is a beautiful community that is is is going to continue to organize uh ceasefire and Beyond uh for a free pal if you are scared to show up and you are intimidated you are going to be welcomed into a community that will defend you uh and that will do whatever it takes to make sure that you are safe and protected uh again this is the most uh courageous organiz I've ever been a part of and I know that the attacks are going to keep coming and we will continue to uh work together and I and and to defend each other because that's really what we have as our community here uh and that goes for anybody who hasn't come out who hasn't has spoken up I truly encourage you to uh anyone in South orang Maplewood uh come out stand with us we'll be there with you for a free Palestine thank you thank you hi my name's Daniel gosink I live in Maplewood uh I'm a somma resident of 11 years uh lifelong resident of Essex County um in this moment I choose to be on the side of Truth the side of Truth is objectively and unequivocally with the people in the land of Palestine in this moment there is no moral middle we must all call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in this month of March in a few short weeks many of us especially all of us Irish folks will celebrate St Patrick's Day and like the Irish of the mid 19th century those who were said to have died as a result of a blight a natural occurrence we now know that in fact it was a genocide the genocide committed by the colonial occupation like the Irish the people of Gaza are not starving they are being starved food security which so many the nice liberals here in Maplewood seem to be concerned with is being weaponized against some of the most food insecure populations in the world Gaza Yemen and Beyond food Aid and a permanent ceasefire are absolutely necessary and reasonable I ask you to do what is right what is moral and what is just rather than what serves your own political interests and your hope for political Futures use your voice use your platform to call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire net thank thank you thank you this is being fil yeah you could film you could film with her thank you for having me today um could you state your name and and then get real close to the microphone yes uh given safety reasons and as you know we have lists of Jews being shared I'd like to not State my name um but I am a local resident and I work in this town as well um so I do care about the town and what happens in this town um and it affects us as Jews everywhere so what happens in Maple it affects stge it affects Livingston it affects all of us um and as we see the people that come to Maplewood are also coming to Livingston and to Monclair this Friday and to different locations so um we feel that we need to speak on our behalf of the majority of the Jewish Community who feel um scared and feel that we are being silenced um we are being intimidated and we're being bullied the a ceasefire resolution does not bring security not to Israelis and not to Palestinians and it does not solve especially does not solve the rise in anti-Semitism and it'll probably just amplify it a feast fire does not demand that Hamas put its weapons down surrender release the hostages and just never come back their ceasefire does not hold Hamas responsible for the murder rape torture of Israelis of children women and men innocent civilians young young civilians who are at a Peace festival and when I say Israelis that does include Muslims that does include Christ Christians it includes Drews cobs they target all Israelis we have multiple religions peacefully living in Israel you do not see Muslims in Israel Uprising and terrorizing because they're have equal rights they have jobs they have freedom their women can go to school they have an education and most of them the majority of them are peaceful and want to live peacefully in Israel and Hamas is doing the opposite for everybody they brainwash the Palestinians they take advantage of them not giving them a proper education and that is why we have this issue and nobody wants to call them out that is the problem now we have a resolution of our own um that we have about thousand signatures on i' happy to share with you all and I I will read it on behalf of everyone that signed it the resolution is to Maplewood Township and South Orange Board of Trustees the comination of terrorist activities and support for peace whereas the Maplewood Township committee at South Orange Board of Trustees is committed to upholding the safety Health dignity and freedom of all individuals within our community on a daily basis whereas the United States possesses significant diplomatic influence capable of safeguarding the lives of both Israelis and Palestinians whereas hundreds of thousands of lives are currently at grave risk due to the actions of a designated terrorist organization Hamas recognized as such by numerous Nations including the United States the European Union Israel and others now therefore be it resolved that the Maplewood Township committee South Orange Board of Trustees we call upon you to one Kamas to immediately surrender two the immediate release of all hostages held by Kamas and other Gaz and terrorist organ organizations an end number three an end to hamas's abuse and US unjust treatment of Palestinians and the cessation of actions that endanger their lives four the halting of the theft of humanitarian Aid by Hamas intended for the people of Gaza five the complete withdrawal of Hamas and all terrorist organizations and their Affiliates from Gaza with a commitment to never return furthermore we reaffirm our support for the right to self-determination and peace for the Jew Jewish people in their ancestral homeland of Israel furthermore we emphasize that without the Fulfillment of the affir mention condition there can be no viable ceasefire agreement in place thank you thank you thank you [Music] 5050 I'm fine with that if that's um we want to hear from the people who are watching at home as well right we want to give the people online an opportunity as well y hi my name is uh Joanna Berg I will not be uh stating my address for safety reasons I'd like to share with everyone what happened to me here in Maplewood on Sunday February 4th at around 4:30 p.m. on Maplewood Avenue I was standing in front of the Maplewood Cinema observing the pro Palestinian rally and was the victim of an anti-semitic hate bias crime by one of the protesters in the rally there was a person who used hate language aimed at the Jewish observers yelling swasa swasa an anti-Semitic reference to German Nazis he then used hate speech threat you should be sent to the gas Chambers while looking me and the person standing next to me directly in the eye to the Jews in the crowd as well reference to the murder of juice at the gas Chambers during the Holocaust the hate speech threat was overheard by the protesters and police and I have a video clip of the events just after at around 4:32 p.m. where a bystander can be heard reacting to it with the statement did he just say gas Chambers inciting genocide and murder of Jews for their ethnicity as above is hate speech this was anti-semitic threat was overheard by others in the crowd and in fact overheard by a police officer with long braided hair in a bun we have video footage and photos of the asant and the officer in addition this same rally crowd which propo proposed to be promoting peaceful chanting they they also chanted there is only one solution and toat a resolution this is a chant calling for the violent Uprising and terrorism which is traumatizing to Jews in the community as it directly refers to the brutal murder of Jews it is an act of call to violence against Jews and has no place being shouted at a residence in a town that promotes to a safe place for all religions and ethnicities a lot of you are here promoting ceasefire but out of but out in your town rallies you are inciting VI violence and murder of Jews for their ethnicity what I described happened to me is hate speech what qualify what qualification does this Council have to entertain a discussion of international business why is Israel the only country in the world that needs to defend itself for defending itself no ceasefire until Hamas surrenders and all the hostages are released thank you next hi am Ena Len and I'm a local resident um I just wanted to say a few words I've heard many people speak but nobody who is speaking for ceasefire condemns Hamas I think if I think everybody should be condemning Kamas it's a terrorist organization when things happened on 9/11 in this country it was a terrorist organization that did that everybody understood that nobody argued it now because it's not on the US ground it's all of a sudden questionable no and also no other country in the world is asked to cease fire there's a war in Ukraine for two years right now nobody asked Ukraine to seize fire Ukraine is fighting for its land for its people and many people are dying unfortunately nobody nobody here not any side wants anybody body to Die the ceased fire without any kind of structure in place with any kind of uh agreement to release the hostages it's not going to be a ceasefire it's going to be more Bloodshed for on both sides nobody in Israel wants innocent Palestinians dead nobody IDF tries their best not to shoot anybody who's innocent or destroy anything they go out of their way and this is documented and this could be easily found everywhere unfortunately uses Palestinian people as human Shields and that's really unfortunate it is sad and many people in Gaza are dying every day and I know this and I know that there's a humanitarian crisis but we need to blame Hamas we don't we can't blame Israel we can't blame anybody else blame Hamas it's a terrorist organization I have not heard anybody condemn Hamas who here is for ceasefire nobody wants War nobody here wants War I understand that so first release the hostages dis man Hamas and then there's going to be peace thank you thank you hi hi um Esther I've been a Maplewood resident for probably about 25 years now um I didn't really prepare any statements but um I do feel it's important to speak out because I am Jewish and a lot of people here are framing this as a Jewish versus Arab issue an anti-Semitism issue um this is not a Jewish versus Arab issue it is a humanitarian issue and many many Jews in this town and I know that you folks have heard from other Jewish folks here um uh are horrified by the events that are occurring in Gaza um and by sort of lumping Jews together um as you know taking a particular side is in my opinion anti-semitic um so anyway what I really want to say is that one of the most important values um I grew up with as a Jew is not to be silent and that's why I sat here I didn't come with prepared statements but I really feel like I have to speak out um and it's really value is not to be silent in the face of Injustice so um I'm asking you to pass resolution it's very important for our elected officials to speak out um and not be silent as well um and please think deeply about what's happening in Gaza and the 30,000 civilians many of them children and please do not be silent thank you thank you good evening and thank you mayor Adams and the rest of you for staying this late and listening to all of these remarks I I came here to support this resolution for a ceasefire uh my name is Bob brius I live at 45 Maplewood Avenue here in town um I'm I'm a retired journalist I spent most of my life writing about the Middle East one way or another I've traveled there I've interviewed hundreds probably thousands of people from the region over all of these years um I wanted to start by talking a little bit about our country and what happened uh 23 years ago after 911 um we suffered a horrible tragedy um many people in this town and the surrounding areas had personal losses from people who they knew who died uh in New York or elsewhere I'm sure M um unfortunately we kind of lost our Collective Minds after that and we embarked on a series of wars that left probably a million people dead in in all of these various countries that we uh that we went into we had a massive overreaction and unfortunately there was nobody in the world who was strong enough or powerful enough tell us that what we were doing was wrong so we went and did it and we're still paying that cost now what happened in Israel on October 7th was equally horrible and tragic and I don't think anybody here is here defending Hamas but what's important about this resolution is that Israel cannot restrain itself Israel has gone down the same path that the United States went 23 years ago and it's an Engaged in a orgy of Carnage in Gaza that really boggles the mind I don't have to tell you that virtually every other country in the world virtually every international organization from Doctors Without Borders to various un agencies to Human Rights organizations and so on are not only horrified by what's happening there but are calling for a ceasefire but really don't have the power to do anything about it the United States has that power what's important about this resolution is that we have the power in the United States starting in Maplewood to tell talk sense to the Israelis we can save Israel we can save Israel from its worst instincts because what it's doing now is not only isolating Israel and driving any allies or friends it might have into the opposition camp but it's going down a path where it is simply not capable of restraining itself I read in the Washington Post today that a poll in Israel showed that 68% of Israelis oppos the delivery of food or water to the Palestinians in Gaza 68% that's a vast majority that to me is inexplicable and that's why I say we have to save Israel from itself because the Israelis and its extremist government we all know that it's the most extreme government they've ever had cannot save itself so it's time for the United States to do something and that starts with groups like this calling for a ceasefire in this in this war thank you thank you I make a statement but I don't think there's been any disruption has there oh okay thank you so just uh reminding everyone to be respectful of anyone is speaking um this evening and even if I can't necessarily hear it I'm hearing that that uh there's some booing in comments so everyone please be respectful of each other thank you yes good evening everyone my name is Minella and I've been a resident of SoMo for eight years now um and I'm speaking to you tonight as I'm pretty sure the only genocide Survivor in this room I speak to you not as a grownup woman I am right now as a as a child who from age 8 to 11 have survived and lived through the atrocities that children of Gaza live from last five months as that child I had nobody to speak for me world watched while we've been we been killed for three and a half years until genocide happened I lost three members of my family two of them being my paternal grandparents I've been shot by sniper I've been stared to almost death my father almost died he was shot twice just because he belonged to a certain group of people so I've been in therapy ever since I'm 40 years old right now and the trauma that I live through still lives with me and I'm being heavily heavily triggered with everything that's happening there so I'm speak to you today as a child because I had nobody to speak for me and beg you to pass this I know we think like we can't do anything on local level but trust me yes when people speak up and demand I'm speaking for children children that have been killed and that will probably be killed in the coming days and months so thank you that's all thank you very much hello my name is Ezra I am a resident of Montclair I am in s quite frequently just for activities hanging out being part of this community I have family in Israel I was first notified about the uh the events of October 7th through my family and checking in and making sure they are safe I have felt their trauma I have seen what they are going through and they are not doing well and none of this none of their trauma eliminates the trauma of the Palestinians they are also suffering the horrors that happened on October 7th do not negate the horrors that have continued to happen every single day since then to the Palestinians I know that my family is suffering because I am able to call them because I have connection and communication with them the amount of people I know who have family in Palestine who they have not been able to get in touch with because there is no cell signal because there is no service the differences are shocking the fact that Israeli trauma happened does not negate the trauma of Palestinians what's more the unilateral bombing of Gaza that we are seeing will not eliminate Hamas anti- terrorist terrorism experts have analyzed the situation and all that is happening right now is creating a further ideology to support the refoundation of Hamas in the future you cannot bomb out an ideology it does not end well we have so many years and Decades of experience knowing this I am when I look at what to do in the future I am paying attention to the families of hostages who are calling for a Seas fire I'm paying attention to standing stand with with us and I'm paying attention to betum Israeli Palestinian organizations who are calling for a ceasefire I am looking at the other cities in America who have called for a ceasefire who are looking for a way forward in peace I am looking to the Palestinians who are not just crying out for a ceasefire but who are asking for food for water for the ability to sleep safely at night these are things that are basic human rights that are being denied to them and it is unconscionable that we are not able to lend our voices to giving other people human rights I will say in terms of anti-Semitism in this community I have always been publicly proudly and openly Jewish and I have experienced nothing but warmth and Interfaith Connection in my experience with those in s calling for a ceasefire the rise in anti-Semitism is real and it is very prevalent and it goes hand in hand with the rise in islamophobia which is also worth mentioning the both of those hatreds work to together in Tandem and we are only going to experience safety collectively if we work together for a future peace the same is true in Palestine and in Israel The Way Forward must be in peace and peace internationally creates peace in our community thank you thank you all right two people oh so we cut off the line who was the last person on the line when we cut off gentleman with the beard sorry it yeah we have people online as well and we don't you're good yeah yeah hi my name is yval Brockman I live in South Orange at 191 Charlton Avenue um I wrote some remarks early that I wanted to share but I feel it's my responsibility to correct some of the things that you heard today uh I have an undergraduate degree in Islamic Middle Eastern studies so I studied this in Hebrew in Arabic and in English I studied the Quran I studied the Old Testament and the New Testament one there's no genocide in Gaza right now the population since 2000 has jumped from 1 million to 2.2 million you heard that 66% of Israelis are against delivering food to gazin yet it continues uninterrupted along with Jordanian and American help it was not mentioned that 84% of Palestinians agree or strongly support the attacks of October 7th that is a pole that came out of Ral and not an Israeli pole yes 30,000 gsin have died but 13,000 of them are Hamas Fighters as the young gentleman from high school alluded to it's absolutely awful what's happening in Gaza but Hamas has played so many people here for f for fools they hide hostages in hospitals they shoot Rockets from schools that's why those buildings are being destroyed I'll tell you who says no to a ceasefire Hamas did today why because Israel demanded a list of all the hostages who are currently alive I heard one gentleman quote uh our vice president Harris what he left out was the end of her quote which says there is a deal on the table Kamas just has to accept it I've heard people say all these things that we who are opposed to this resolution are right-wing I'm a Democrat I've always been a Democrat and I'm amazed at what I heard tonight invoking Martin Luther King who was a staunch Zionist invoking people's sexual identities to align with with the gazen people take out your phones and Google the gay capital the world you'll see Tel Aviv comes up Google what happens to the lgbtq community in Gaza and you'll see that their families are required to Stone them in public I'm I'm I'm just baffled by this but none of this matters the resolution has no place being discussed at a town council meeting it's not that your job and I don't believe you envisioned it to be your job to opine on International matters there's no there's no resolution here on the issues of Taiwan or Ukraine or China no one's brought a resolution here calling us colonizers having stolen this land from the Native Americans who populated it before us no resolution criticizing the Saudi Arabian government over its treatment of women or the Iranian government over its treatment of the gay community things and and values that we hold staunchly dear here no resolution denouncing Hamas no resolution denouncing its leaders which has 10 billion doll amongst the four most senior Kamas leaders sitting happy in Qatar there is a real issue here and that is the issue of hate speech I've heard people from the ceasefire Community calling for a globalizing of the intifa now Israel and Kamas don't agree on much but they do agree on the definition of the antifa which is hearkening back to the 2000s when people strap bombs to themselves and blew themselves UPS in pizzerias and cafeterias just to kill as many Jews as possible that's what they're calling for in this town I urge you to speak up against that issue and not opine on an issue that we have no business intervening in thank thank you thank you hello hello my name is Alex gold I am from West Orange I want to start by saying that every life is important and every death is tragic there was a ceasefire on October 6 but Hamas broke that by slaughtering 1,00 people people of all faiths taking with them 250 plus hostages amongst them citizens from 19 countries many of them citizens of the United States of America our people where's the call for releasing our citizens our people from the United States of America should that not be front and center for all of our local towns should that not be the headline the name of our resolution is to bring our Americans people home why does your resolution not exclusively call for the release of the hostages from all the countries the source of the war is the is the hostages this will undoubtedly lead to a resolution of hostilities if we can get our people home the policy of our nation the United States of America has been for the past 50 plus years that we do not negotiate with terrorists Hamas elected leaders of the Palestinian people in Gaza they are the terrorists not only of the Jewish people in Israel but also the terrorists of the Palestinian people in their self-governed land in Gaza they have used billions and billions of dollars to build a a terrorist underground city and we in Jersey know that one tunnel from New York to New Jersey cost 13 billion dollars at one point we had Bridgegate or some something in our history not too long ago I think was Chris Christie but I digress our resolution before the surrender of Hamas return the hostages to stop Hamas from brutalizing the Palestinian people stealing the international humanitarian Aid being shipped in we've all seen those videos to stop threatening the people from evacuating to Safe spaces there is no army in the world that warns people where to go away from and what building is going to be hit there is no army in the world that does that except the IDF a ceasefire assumes that change will happen who is representing the Palestinian people those that swear to make it happen again cancer needs to be removed any oncologist will tell you that good tissue will be destroyed but the goal is to rid yourself of the cancer Hamas is the cancer we all mourn the loss of good but the goal is that everyone both sides survive together in peace so we can build a peace for the future lastly I wonder what the power of our communities together would look like if we focused on larger issues not just this terrible tragedy that is going on there are over 1 million Wagers today in concentration camps and as Jew as a Jewish person as a survivor of a grandchild of survivors all four grandparents I know what a concentration camp looked like I was told firsthand 617,000 women and children were murdered by Bashir Assad Russia is invading a Sovereign Nation 17 million women and children are being starved in North Korea and thin so leader of the Junta in Myanmar is openly roasting human beings on spit to keep his 56 million people under control while starving them imagine the massive number of people if our resolution could include all of them how many more people we could save every life the traged is lost all I have to say thank you my name is Mandel bam milski resident of Maplewood from 1972 and on I Live Now in Milburn my parents still live here in town however my mother is a holocaust Survivor um didn't think to speak but just shocking how people can make up their own stories make up their own facts and I get it that so many people are feel terrible and as do I as does any normal person seeing war war is terrible and some of us have grandparents who fought in World War II and many many people died in every war on both sides and the question is what's good and what's evil but people can't tell the difference that's a big problem as a governing body here in the United States we have American citizens that are still hostages there's nobody talking about them that should be on the table there should be a resolution calling for the freeing of those American citizens that should be the worry of every I you can take a position any side you want you know whose fault who started it who's continuing it but as we speak there are American citizens who are hostages this governing body should be worried about that and feed that up the food chain why is nobody talking about that people are talking about genocide they making up their own words making up their own genocide is when you take a people because of who they are simply because of who they are and want to kill them this group here wanted to be in the festival the music festival if they would have been in the music festival they would have been slaughtered raped beheaded and baked in ovens doesn't matter how many ceasefire signs they're holding up the Hamas terrorists and yes the Kamas Palestinian civilians because anybody who reads the papers knows about 3,000 people came across the border that day between Gaza and Israel about 1500 wereas soldiers whatever that that means about 1500 were just plain civilians that's why they don't know who the hostages are and how many are still alive because half the hostages are being held by civilians anybody who reads the paper knows that anybody here holding a ceasefire sign you can hold it up as high as you want could have it printed on both sides printed on six sides stamped on your forehead doesn't make a difference you would have been there on October 7th you would have been slaughtered you would have been murdered because you're Jewish that's the definition of genocide genocide is if me as a Jew if I walk into area a or area b or area C of the West Bank anybody reads the papers knows what that means I would be killed my guts would be taken out I would be burned and I would be thrown off at that and people would then be handing out candies as they did in Gaza when Americans were killed on 911 so when people come here and say they want to seize fire because they can't understand what's happening you got you got to read the papers read the papers understand what's happening and then come and ask for a seized fire and as a a body of of elected officials I really hope and pray that somewhere in your resolution any resolution that you pass FS about the American hostages and that they should be freed immediately and if Hamas in fact would do that and I'm sure you also saw also the fact that they're Kamas is stealing the aid coming into the country coming into Gaza it was just a riot where 100 people people got killed stampeding trying to find a truck because Hamas was stealing that Aid instead of giving it to their own people these are the people who want to ceasefire I say let's ask the elected officials in the only Democratic country in the Middle East Israel what should be done let's ask the 20% of the Arabs Muslims mostly Arabs living in Israel who are free who are elected who are sitting on the Supreme Court some of them who are doctors who are lawyers let's ask them what they want and they there Israel is democracy doesn't behoove another democracy to come and tell a democracy what to do okay especially when you have a dictatorship going the other way thank you thank you members of the public joining us on Zoom who would like to speak in public portion please raise your hand now I am moving over Brett Robertson Mr Robertson you're now in public portion you may unmute yourself you have three minutes to speak can you hear me yes good evening my name is Brett Robertson I'm a resident of South Orange I'm here tonight to express my deep disgust towards the leadership of both Maplewood and my hometown of South Orange I believe that the members of these Town councils fully understand what is going on in Gaza you are all educated people who read the news and follow current events for five months you have seen mounting evidence of the atrocities being committed in Gaza Rising death counts intentional starving of civilians and bombing of hospitals and for 5 months you have done nothing I am a father of three in Gaza Israel is killing 100 children every day over the last five months my conscience has been shocked in ways I no longer thought possible by the systematic Slaughter of children I have spent hundreds of hours of my free time fighting for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza because what is happening there sickens me members of This Town Council May object that they do not set foreign policy for the United States and yet cities such as San Francisco Oakland Detroit St Louis and Chicago and New Jersey cities and towns such as paladon Patterson Prospect Park Union City and we Hawkin have recognized their obligation to speak against genocide and have passed ceasefire resolution the elected representatives in Maplewood and South Orange or I'm sorry in the towns that I just mentioned understand that silence equals complicity in the ongoing genocide in Gaza I hope that the members of This Town Council Nancy Adams Jamaine kpe Dean daffis Victor Duca and Deborah Engel can find the courage to take a stand and sign a straight forward resolution urging an end to us complicity in the industrial Slaughter of men women and children in Gaza when you look back at this moment in the future I hope that you can look back with pride for finding the courage to stand with Gaza instead of looking back with sorrow over your failure to be brave when it mattered the most thank you thank you now promoting Jen grindberg two panelist Miss grinberg you're now in public portion you may unmute yourself and you have three minutes to speak hi apologies can you hear me we can yes thanks my name is Jennifer um I am am resident actually of West Orange and to address somebody who who spoke just before me me um we had a meeting very similar to this not but about 3 weeks ago and in that meeting it brought about such an incredible amount of hate and in the end the resolution did not pass and it did not go through and the Town Council realized that bringing something like that into those meetings had a really negative impact and did not choose to move forward the people that have spoke before for me have so eloquently expressed why this is a bad idea and why they believe they shouldn't this shouldn't be passed as well I'm sorry I'm struggling from moment please passing the ceasefire resolution does not help anyone at the moment without the unconditional release of the hostages and without the surrender of Hamas as so many eloquently put it before me that is a terrorist organization and and until there is a better ruling body that is in place it has to end nobody wants to see the death of civilians Israel is doing all it can to avoid that and that is very clearly documented the atrocities of October 7th are also very clearly documented we all or most of the Jewish Community especially the people I've heard spoke tonight that are speaking like me we all support a ceasefire but we support a ceasefire with the conditions that the hostages are released and that Kamas surrenders and that is so so important to remember I really thank you for your time tonight I am a little bit too flustered from hearing some of the prior comments so I'm going to resend my time thank you thank you now promoting Andrea bramfeld to panelist Miss bromfeld you're now in public portion you may unmute yourself you have three minutes to speak hi um I live in South Orange um I'd like to respond to the S Collective for Palestine I'd like to say that you are not peaceful your opposers your Liars your haters you cannot look solely at your resolution without looking at your frequently asked questions and the other actions that your group presents including justifying the acts of October 7th and not supporting Israel as a Jewish State you don't want to ceasefire you want to eradicate Israel as a Jewish State any group that justifies rape gang rape burning families alive in their homes and then celebrating for any reason is not a group that should be setting cultural norms teaching our children or are representing our communities your agenda is not Progressive it is barbaric you ask who says no to a ceasefire Hamas says no to a ceasefire the Town Council needs to focus on local issues including the hate that Som Collective for Palestine is spreading in our community I ask that the Town Council refrain from acting on the proposed resolution and look beyond the fog and smoke to the true nature of this group thank you thank I'm now promoting Gabe Gordon to panelist Mr Gordon you're now in public portion you may unmute yourself we have three ministers hi thank you uh Town committee hi mayor Adams hi everyone um I'm here uh in Brooklyn New York but grew up in Maplewood uh CL class of 2007 in Columbia and I'm representing the fog and smoke but really I'm proud of everyone tonight who has spoken for Palestinian Liberation for rejecting Zionist propaganda and for calling on our Township to reject sending our tax dollars to the Israeli occupation I'm adding my voice to call for the town committee to join many many towns cities countries the vast majority of the world in calling for a ceasefire I also want to express my Pride as an alum in the high school students who have shown bravery in activism through walkouts through joining ceasefire Sundays they are speaking up for justice they are on the right side of history and truly asking for a ceasefire is so utterly Baseline of what's needed at this point and see seeing my community toil over that decision or even to reject it is gross and embarrassing this is like not about politics or hate speech or anti-Semitism or any of the talking points meant to distract us from 100-year settler Colonial genocide happening with our dollars and our government support so I urge you as Town leaders find the moral courage to stand in support of humanity and Justice please call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire thank you thank you Miss Sturm you're now in public portion you may unmute yourself and have three minutes to speak thank you hi my name is Jen I'm a proud Jewish resident of Maplewood and a proud grandchild of Holocaust Survivors my grandmother in fact lost 11 siblings her parents and her entire Community I know what genocide looks like as do you even if you're a genocide denier or Worse perhaps though I'm not sure which is worse a genocide supporter as you probably already know today is super Tuesday last week Michigan held their presidential primary 100,000 people decided to vote uncommitted Michigan has a very large population of Arab and Muslim voters 145,000 people decided they Mar was the margin between Biden and Trump uh in 2020 um I have thought so much about why people would why the Arab and Muslim population in in Mich would vote against their own self-interest it seems right because who wants to go back to the days of the Muslim ban and yet under Biden we have lost the right to the National right to abortion we have lost lgbtq uh rights in States across a country all of these obviously were underway before him but you know as someone said to me it's not like we don't I mean at least with Trump we know what to expect right why am I bringing this up I'm bringing this up because we need towns like Maplewood we need cities like uh um Minneapolis we need places across the country to be exerting upward pressure on Joe Biden to take a stand on a ceasefire now and a strong stand because we know the United States has that capacity and we know what is at risk right despite these devastating losses that we have faced in the past four years we need to have a Democrat and office in 2024 we need Andy Kim to win if you support Andy Kim maybe you don't but we need that we need that to to happen and we're not going to have that if people sit out the vote this year and they're going to sit out the vote if we do not have Biden standing for a ceasefire it is seriously the one thing that has driven this level of protest votes across this country I cannot think of a single other thing that has got Democrats voting for uncommitted or no preference uh or or you know whatever else so I encourage Maplewood to take the moral and the right stance and uh um yeah that's all thank you thank you Mr word I'm now promoting Lena Smith to panelist that was the last buzzer Miss Smith you're now in public portion you may unmute yourself you have five minutes to speak EXC hi you have three minutes to speak hi thank you so much for listening and for staying late um I'm compelled to address the gloring hypocrisy and misinformation that often surrounds the discussion about Israel and Gaza it is deeply troubling to witness individuals pointing fingers at Israel without acknowledging the realities on the ground the accus ation that Israel is an apartheid state is not only factually incorrect but also a gross misrepresentation of the situation in stark contrast Israel is a vibrant democracy that ensures equal rights for all its citizens regardless of ethnicity or religion with over 2 million Arab citizens Israel is a diverse and inclusive Society where individuals different with different backgrounds coexist coexist harmoniously Arabs Jews and Christians attend the same schools get treated at the same hospitals have government positions and serve in the IDF the reality in Gaza paints historically different picture the Hamas controlled territory imposes several restrictions on the rights and freedoms of its citizens Hamas spent billions of dollarss on ter tunnels and their own safety and haven't built a single shelter for its civilians Hamas hides behind its civilians putting them In Harm's Way where is the outrage where is the outrage from all the people that spoke for the gazin today where is the outage of what Hamas is doing to them Jews are forbidden from entering Gaza under threat of violence and death making it abundantly clear that Gaza is not an open or tolerant Society what kind of a state does that make Gaza since people like to say Israel is an apti State why don't we turn around and look what kind of state would that make Gaza war is ugly it's painful it's unfortunate but terrorism has consequences especially when the terror group vouches to come back and do the same thing over and over and over again for the People speaking out I want to ask why are you silent on the Sudan genocide over 300 Arabs killed no marches no ceasefire resolution only silence Iran murders thousands of Arabs no marches no ceasefire resolutions only silence Syria murders over 500,000 Arabs no marches no ceasefire resolution only silence conflict in Yemen over 350,000 Arabs killed no marches no ceasefire resolution only silence Egypt is not letting any Palestinians refugees in no kids no women why don't we have protests for that why not create a a resolution to call on Egypt to let these innocent Palestinians in thank you thank you okay Mr troll you're now in public portion you may unmute yourself you have three minutes to speak thank you can you hear me okay can't hear you we we you're unmuted but you're low if you speak a little closer to your microphone yep sure let me see what I can do here that's better okay I will lean in thank you uh to the Town Council thank you for uh hosting this and hearing us um I'll apologize in advance for the jumbl nature of the comments I didn't prepare remarks I jotted down a few thoughts but hearing what I did tonight I thought it was important to at least speak uh my name is David troll I'm a resident of your neighbor over Milburn Short Hills I've been here for 24 years many friends and uh close acquaintances in Maplewood and South Orange um the pattern here is really the same uh the ceasefire Advocates describe the horrors of War which are terrible the incredible Devastation in Gaza and then they claim the moral High ground with absolute certainty they know they are right and everyone else is wrong and in their comments are a series of assertions that sound very compelling but continue to disregard facts sometimes it's ignorance sometimes it's willful and malicious uh one speaker said AP partti over and over despite as we've mentioned many times Israel being the only multiethnic Democratic state in the region in which 2 million Arabs are full citizens one speaker called everyone who disagrees with her a far-right extremist despite obviously that not being the population of any of the towns around here several referen the genocide that according to the icj is factually not happening uh the global media reported on Israel bombing hospitals that were self-inflicted by Islamic Jihad or Hamas or places where Hamas set up shop which is the actual definition of a war crime using civilian infrastructure a young speaker referenced her queer status something that would get her murdered by any of these groups and I hear this routine claims of famine despite the fact that 170 pounds of food per person has been delivered into Gaza since October if there's a reason these people are starving it's Hamas every time someone makes these Sensational claims my heart breaks innocent people dying displaced starving it's horrible and I I truly wish it would stop as others have said who wouldn't want a ceasefire sometimes I fact check the claims and I wonder if the speakers have been deceived or if they're just trying to deceive us I I've been in meetings locally here in maplehood South Orange in Milbourne in Livingston and seen complete misrepresentations by some of the groups that are organizing that resolution s Justice and mapso Freedom School in nj11 for Palestine and care I was at the Livingston Board of Ed meeting recently where superintendent BL gave a powerful report on his trip to the region describing the pain on both sides and his desire to find ways to heal and bridge the gap and immediately anti-israel speakers said to his face he never mentioned Palestinians and online those groups posted about the violence of the pro-israel crowd it didn't happen I was there I witnessed it and then they asked Livingston Board of Ed to stop October 7th survivors from telling their stories at a voluntary event the following night trying to keep what facts firsthand facts from getting in the way of your narrative this is the Playbook of Hamas the God and health Ministry the local groups backing them including unra pulling in people who are motivated by love and kindness who uncritically accept their narrative and then they feed them lies and those useful idiots parot the lies with sincerity so how can there be a ceasefire in which both Palestinians and Israelis are ongoing safe that's what I think we all can agree on despite some return the hostages remove Hamas sir yes ma'am we need um we're holding everybody to three minutes because it's the hour is late and we've I'm sorry I didn't realize I was out of time can I have 20 seconds to finish yeah you can have a couple seconds to finish yeah thank you so much um uh uh in summary if the Palestinians need to be protected they should be free they should have self-determination so should the Israelis if the Maplewood Town Council feels the need to take a position on This Global situation 9,000 mil away it needs to do so with open eyes and an honest assessment of the realistic root cause of the problem and the possibility of peace is no Hamas thank you very much for your time thank you Mr wor Mr wor how many more do we have hands raised more people two more that would be that all finish Mr Goldberg you're now in public portion you may unmute yourself you have three minutes to speak thank you can you hear me can you hear me I can yes okay great thank you um Mr troll uh who spoke before me that was fantastic um it's tough act to follow but thank you David troll um so my name is Michael Mr Goldberg you're coming through a bit garbled if you'd speak clear or possibly closer to your microphone okay is this any better can you hear me now that is better I i' recommend just speaking a bit slowly okay I've got a headset on so my name is Michael Goldberg I live in South Orange uh thank you very much for the time um so once again much in misinformation has been paraded through Maplewood tonight as it has been each Sunday afternoon for the past several weeks let's be clear everyone wants peace and for war to end everyone however Hamas started a war on October 6 7 with the rape and murder of over 1200 people and The Taking of over 250 hostages including many Americans Israel is in the process of fighting Hamas and there can be no peace until the hostages are released and Hamas surrenders or is eliminated this proposed resolution makes absolutely no mention of Hamas supporting such a such a ceasefire without the elimination of Hamas will only allow the terrorists to regroup and rearm and will lead to the loss of tens of thousands of more lives in the future just as no ceasefire was called for in World War II until the Nazis were defeated no ceasefire was called for after 911 in Afghanistan and in until Al Qaeda Was Defeated no ceasefire can be called here until Hamas surrenders or is defeated that said according to the news there is a temporary ceasefire deal on the table which Israel has already agreed to and the world is waiting for Hamas to respond do you really think they're waiting to they're really waiting to hear from Maplewood before doing so war is horrible and all civilian loss is a tragedy but at the local level we need our local officials to focus on local issues allowing yourselves to be a pawn of extremists who put out an FAQ on their website where they've been unable to condemn the acts of October 7th or have been unable to recognize Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state would be a huge mistake and would alienate Jewish residents of Maplewood and around the region and drive further divisions in the community please remain focused on local issues and do not entertain this resolution that's been proposed tonight do not allow yourselves to be a political Pawn I thank you for your service and for your time thank you Miss Pia you're now in public portion you may unmute yourself you have three minutes to speak hi um I am really concerned about the fact that this is even being entertained um I I don't think that a Town Council is the proper or really has any authority over any of this um and it's really not the job of a Town Council to be taking a stand on something that is an international issue your job is to take care of the township um to take care of garbage collection um making sure that the streets are clean Public Safety um you know basic daytoday things like that it is not your job to take a stand on an international issue and I urge the Town Council to focus on what they have been elected elected to do which is not to take a stand on an international issue please focus on on taking care of the citizens of Maplewood and South Orange um and leave the international issues to the people who are in the federal government and international positions thank you thank you [Music] yes hello my name is my name is Maran I'm a mlid resident um I just wanted to address a point that was raised uh previously um that the Town Council should not uh weigh on international issues which I appreciate the sentiment but the Town Council has done that previously many times H including obviously what uh occurred on October 7th and I applaud that they passed that resolution um so I'm not sure if that is a point that the Town Council should consider at this point it would be strange morally to take that position now that the Town Council had already issued several statements about Israel Palestine about Ukraine previously um as far as our elected officials which you all are I'm not sure if you're aware but the latest polls show that 86% of Democrats support a ceasefire 76% of Americans support a ceasefire 52% of Americans support stopping all arm sales to Israel as well as all military aid to Israel that's from today um so this is not an exceptionally radical position to take right now it's not even a progressive just like the mainstream position that um unfortunately our Administration is not listening to um so we are hoping that you will as our elected officials in order to start to put pressure on our Administration to take the position that most Americans believe in thank you thank you thank you for everyone who spoke tonight this is obviously a very emotional issue and that's why we wanted to give everybody a chance to speak to the extent that we could does the township committee have any other com any comments or anything they'd like to say okay I'd look for a motion to adjourn I actually I have a you do I do okay you know um L we SP we we sat here for two hours and heard a lot of stuff I and and I appreciate everybody coming out and um and those on TV who spoke um I I just I just feel I have I I have to say some stuff um first on This Global statement you know I've been here long enough to know that when you agree with the resolution you tell us to come and say it and when you disagree with the resolution you come and say we have no business saying it but let's talk about the the honest truth is that we speak out we spoke out 20 years ago against the the Iraq you are you timing me me at least three minutes we spoke when when we invaded Iraq we spoke out against it three to two here we took a vote we were the first governing body in the state of New Jersey to do that that gentleman was referring to that before so we we have a history of it we spoke out for immigration reform we spoke out for LGBT rights we spoke out for women's rights we speak out nationally and that's what we're elected we're elected to be leaders you tell us that we have to lead did not remain silent and that's what we're going to do um on on oh let me let me finish before you start claing you might not agree with so I just I have to say something to the person who came on who who said something about Biden and Trump oh yes that was awesome said her friend said that what's the difference are you kidding me seriously yeah come on you mentioned the law of row you mentioned the LGBT rights being taken away well who did that it was Trump's Supreme Court correct took away voting rights took away women's rights took away civil rights and they're continuing to do it so there's no equation there between Trump at least we know what we got with Trump absolutely we know what we got with Trump and we're still feeling it every day we get let me talk about the resolution I am not supporting the resolution I think that the argument for a permanent ceasefire is one-sided but it doesn't mean that I want War I want the war to stop and and and I have to say I'm disappointed in the in the language that the resolution does not call out Hamas for what Hamas did yes the back sheet and the frequently asked questions almost almost justify yeah what Hamas did it is on at best it minimizes the impact of what Hamas did and at worse it justifies it as a righteous Rebellion group when they're really a terrorist group now I'll tell you where I stand I stand with vice president Harris and I know somebody mentioned I won't mention his name but he mentioned he he talked about Harris's comments and and I agree with her she talked about the people in Gaza are starving and talked about it as talked about she talked about an immediate ceasefire a temporary ceasefire she talked about the hostage deal being have to be to be made she talked about pushing for ceasefire and a hostage deal she spoke she spoke about the immense scale of suffering in Gaza and there should be a six week cease fire she said that's what's on the table and that's what can be achieved and the hostages can start coming home and she said and it's true every day we see what we see in Gaza is devastating families eating leaves and animal feed children dying from malnutrition and dehydration too many innocent Palestinians have been killed and I agree with her she said it's inhumane andh humanitarian catastrophe and who would not agree to that it is but she also said and and and she said that the borders should be open to allow Aid to come in and they should but she also said that Hamas has shown no regard for innocent lives including the innocent lives of the people of Gaza and that the threat of Hamas poses that the threat to that Hamas poses to the people of Israel must be eliminated for Advocates who are saying that we need to cease fire if we don't address the problem of Hamas we don't get anywhere so let's get to ceasefire let's support what Biden and Harris are doing right now in trying to bring about a temporary ceasefire get some hostages home get some Aid in there and try to build that temporary into a more permanent situation but to call for a permanent ceasefire right now and in this resolution I have to tell you that the release of the hostages is almost an afterthought it's a comma behind the main thrust I will not support the resolution okay I'm G to say something too all right thank you Mr jca I was gonna just say since we don't have a resolution on the table I'm just gonna say a few words okay very few because it's late the hour is late it's late but these people waited to hear from us yeah but but I the reason I'm saying that is because we don't have a resolution on for approval or discussion by this Township committee tonight so I'd like to limit the conver ation as much as possible right so we weren't going to take a vote on a resolution because we don't have a resolution on the agenda officially sure and I agree with that I just want to Echo what uh Committee Member Duca said I want to seize fire too certainly we cannot go on like this I'm a human rights Advocate I'm from a marginalized Community I'm a Grassroots organizer I remain someone who uh many people across the country in our nation are trying to legislate to erase and to take us back so of course my heart goes out and of course I have a conscience to what is happening that the pain and the horror that the people of Gaza are experiencing I work for the state of New Jersey I work with the most marginalized vulnerable communities in housing assistance in New Jersey of course I'm not blind nor discounting the tremendous displacement of innocent people but I take issue and Paul surl who's still with us tonight I think said it best we already did call for the end of violence in our second resolution we worked with a few Advocates I'm staring at right now a more intimate circle of reasonably minded passionate eloquent people who came to us and said you've got to be more balanced in your approach and you need to be more humanitarian and so we did that we called for the end of this war of this violence we called for peace we called for humanitarian quarter and by the way our congresswoman Mikey Cheryl just reported on WNYC the other day that she was there she was there and she witnessed the what she called in her words and I quote arbitrary and capricious unquote distribution of the aid it makes no sense refrigerators aren't getting to hospitals and food isn't getting to people and that shouldn't be the case and of course none of us want that to be the case but this resolution as organized by the Som Collective for Palestine is troublesome for the reasons Committee Member Duca mentioned and in particular because of the FAQs the second FAQ in there and I'm not going to read it and cause more harm and go on longer tonight but it really does nearly justify what happened on October 7th so if we're really sincere about peace for all humanity and we're really sincere about being humanitarians we can't possibly possibly agree to that and no resolution written in the way this one is will I vote for thank you okay okay thank you Miss Ango okay okay okay I move to adjourn second thank you right daffis yes Luc