welcome to the reorganization meeting for the mayor and Council held on Friday January 5th 2024 at 5:30 p.m. I will now invite councilman Guzman to to escort Mar elect anun and his wife Perry to the roster everyone please rise okay I will now invite senator sarlo to swear in mayel nzy invite Senator calaby to swear in music when you guys were walking down the aisle uh right hand on the Bible right right on the Bible okay here we go um I state your name Frank N zato do solemnly swear do solemnly swear that I will faithfully and partially and justly that I will faithfully and partially just and justly perform perform all the duties as mayor perform all the duties as mayor according to the best of my ability according to the best of my ability I do further solemnly swear I do further solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the constitution of the state of New Jersey and the constitution of the state of New Jersey and that I will bear true faith and allegiance that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same to the same and to the governments established in the United States and to the governments established in the United States and in this state in this state under the authority of the people and in the state under the authority of the people so help me God so help me God [Applause] congratulations thank you everybody I'm actually used to be on the other side of the Bible thing um I would now ask councilman quat to escort uh Council Le Stephanie mcgau and her husband Jeff and family to the rustom yeah I would now ask Senator Charlo please come forward there you're going to turn this way how do I hold it this way perfectly that's perfect I need to turn a little bit right hand left hand left hand right handbody got their cameras ready got it okay please repeat after me I state your name I Stephanie McAllen Solly swear solemnly swear that I will Faithfully that I will faithfully and partially and partially and justly perform and justly perform all the duties all the duties as a councilwoman as a councilwoman according to the best of my ability according to the best of my ability I do further solemnly swear I do further solemly swear that I will support that I will support the Constitution of the United States the Constitution of the United States and the constitution of the state of New Jersey and the constitution of the state of New Jersey and that I will bear true faith and that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the sa and allegiance to the same and to the governments established and to the governments established in the united states in the United States and in this state and in this state under the authority of the people under the authority of the people so help me God so help me God congratulations I will now ask Council M Del R con to escort uh councilman kley and his family in I I I Matthew I Matthew Copley you solemnly swear you solemnly swear that I will Faithfully that I will Faithfully partially and partially and justly perform all the duties of and justly perform all the duties of councilman Accord to the best of my ability according to the best of my ability I do F uh further solemnly swear I do further solemly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States and I will support the Constitution of the United States and the constitution of the state of New Jersey and the constitution of the state of New Jersey that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same and I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same and to the government and to the governments established in the united states in the United States and in this state and in this state under the authority of the people under the authority of the people so help me God so help me God [Applause] congratulations councilwoman we can all have a seat thank you thank you mayor this evening on behalf of the mayor and Council we'd like to welcome to the burrow and in celebration of our event this evening from New Jersey State uh District 36 senator Paul sarlo New Jersey state assemblyman for District 36 Clinton calibri Bergen County Sheriff Anthony Kuran Bergen County Commissioner rapael [Applause] Marte a representative from the Bergen County Democratic committee chairman Paul Giuliano former Bergen County Commissioner former mayor of Rutherford and District 36 democratic chairwoman bernardet mcferson Rutherford Democratic Municipal chairwoman and former councilwoman Denise Ross in transit at the moment is the United States Congressman representing the Ninth District Bill pascrell former Rutherford mayor Glenn Elliot former for acting mayor and councilman Mark goldsack former Rutherford councilman Tommy Malley from Bon second ward councilwoman Jacqueline wymer and representing weedo of Bergen County the first vice president na belerian I hope I got everybody May CA if anyone was left off thank you Council woman uh at this point we'll have anybody wants to do any presentations or make any remarks Senator at this at this time mayor I'd like to invite up uh senator Paul sarlo I just did I didn't hear you I'm sorry thank you uh thank you mayor and honorable councel and congratulations to all those who have been reelected here today uh Rutherford is a very special place as we all know uh and by this great turnout um as you all know I've had the opportunity to serve Rutherford now in the last 20 little almost almost 22 years uh in in the state senate uh and I will say this to you I also serve as the mayor of the bar Woodridge uh what these folks do behind me there's no better way of serving uh whether it's in legislature or Congress or any other elected office the folks behind me are the ones who can make decisions that impact the the Resonance of Rutherford's lives immediately there's instant gratification to improve the quality of life to protect them to provide for their seniors and provide for their Recreation a students so you're blessed here in Rutherford you really are blessed with a great group of elected officials led by mayor nunziato um I'm blessed to be able to work with them we're going to continue to work together um and in Municipal halls around not just the state of New Jersey but around this country over the last few days uh people have spoken and now it's time to govern and governing is Led right here at the local level by by your local elected officials so you're blessed I'm blessed to be able to work with them uh happy healthy New Year and to each and every one of you know I stand ready to work work with you uh and continue to support all the causes that you stand for God bless thank you Senator mayor mayor next we'd like to invite up assemblyman Clinton [Applause] calibri [Laughter] a mayor next I'd like to invite up Sheriff Curtin Sheriff happy New Year first and foremost happy New Year right and now just moment of privilege as I can can you give an Applause for these so it's always a honor and a pleasure to come down to Rutherford I know in years past I compare Rutherford to Inglewood of course I'm going be biased to Engle because I live there but as far as the governance um brother for I'm very impressed and I like to come here and I made relationships along the line here and okay you do have the best governance in count [Laughter] I just want to congrat congratulate those here I got check tax I don't want not tonight again the best the sheriff's off we're there I want to again always give credit to your chief chief Russo great guy he works Cooper [Applause] working together to uh give the people what they deserve and I want to thank you and I have certificates for you if you please join me if uh I um uh just want to congratulate all the uh all those that was thror in and uh I want to congratulate and uh want to thank the mayor and Council here uh I come from burfield I am from burfield it's called The Friendly town but guess what I found another friendly town every time I come here I come out different is the vibe I feel the vibe the the energy uh during the campaigning time of the year that's when I got to learn and and U uh meet all these wonderful uh uh elected officials here and and people here in town so I want to thank you all for welcoming me all the time and uh uh congratulations to you all it's a great time also have also have certificates uh for each one on behalf of uh uh the burg Commissioners and the uh County second thank you thank you very much is I waiting for me over there thank you I'm the easy one thank you you have to go I see thank you sir and then we'll get a great picture thank you so much thank you oh my goodness that's wonderful e believe you have one more Steph I do believe that I would like to invite there she is I'd like to invite up from weo of Burton County the first vice president n valaran thank you all for your time um you pronounced my name so beautifully Stephanie because we know each other uh I am from WeDo WeDo stands for women empowered Democratic organization of Bergen County we uh we recruit and mentor and provide resources for women who are interested in stepping up and serving uh and how fortunate we are to have a nice mix on this St on this stas um Applause to the rord voters thank you so I'd like to present a certificate of achievement to uh councilwoman Stephanie Macwan uh she could probably recite the oath without the senator having to prompt her what to say because this is her fourth time uh her fourth term and Rutherford is fortunate to have Representatives like uh Stephanie because no job is too great or too small and look at that smile a consistent smile so on behalf of we do thank you for all that you do um for the town of Rutherford and for the weo organization thank you Stephanie congratulations and this is a little yeah can we just take a picture together let's just take a quick pi e [Applause] seeing that there's no further presentations we're going to move on to the start of the meeting Missy could you please read the role mayor nzi here counc B robertonson here councilman Guzman here Council Del con here Council quatron here councilman kley here councilman mwan presid uh before we do the uh now we'll um if you're willing and able please stand for the solute flag to flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for it stands one nation under God indivisible with libery and justice for all Missy could you do the provisions please in compliance with the open public meetings Law chapter 231 public laws 1975 notice of this meeting was transmitted to the record in Herald news and filed with burough clerk on December 26 2023 and is posted on the bulletin board outside of burrow Hall thank you um Reverend a you please Comm for the invocation good evening everyone I'm Reverend Annie Allen from the Rutherford Congregational Church if you so desire I invite you to pray with me God of all creation we thank you for these leaders and citizens who gather here tonight we thank you for those who have stepped up to offer their gifts and talents in service to our burrow we ask that your spirit fill this room and into every heart mind and soul present tonight may this meeting be filled with your peace wisdom and Grace bless those who serve our community and a special blessing for mayor nun Council persons GA mcgaan and kley they have demonstrated their commitment to public service and may they continue to serve with knowledge and sight may they lead us into the future we all desire and always serve for the common good we give thanks for this Democratic process that allows us residents to have a voice and a say in the administration of our community may God bless all who serve and all who are present tonight amen now we're going to move on to uh some remarks from myself Council will M and Council M cley and then whoever wants to sneak out of here we'll give you five minutes usually I'm not one for uh reading but my wife would kill me uh Bob would kill me Missy would kill me would kill me so I've actually written down some some points first I want to thank you all for coming to tonight's uh ceremony Senator charl assum him in share calibri it was truly an honor to be on a ticket with you and appreciate your men's support so right we truly thank you for that chairman Juliano we are grateful for your continued support of Rutherford and to all the dignitaries that are here and that have supported us we are very grateful and appreciate all of you that you've done for us I'm grateful and very appreciative especially to my wife Perry again for tolerating me during the election season um to my friends Pat dun John D Filippo Mark Meyers Tommy Hurley Anthony nicodemo Kim Mogan Mark goldsack Tommy Malley was a huge asset to us um I can't begin to express my gratitude for your support friendship not just during the election but always so thank you for that to my running mates Stephanie and Matt we're a hell of a team I couldn't be proud of the campaign we ran the work we've done and the work we will continue to do I'm excited to continue to work with all of our colleagues sitting here up on the DI is it Das or dis I never got that right Das we do do the work every day to ensure Rutherford Mains inclusive inviting for everyone we do the work to ensure that we honor Rutherford's past and embrace Rutherford's future some say that ruford is changing as a lifelong brother fory and I can say we are simply continuing to grow the growth we see is made possible when government works with and engage with our community it builds on relationships that are grown over time it is my PL to continue to build those relationships and keep brother for growing strong thank you all for being here tonight I look forward to working with everyone for the next four years thank you very [Applause] much Council woman thank you mayor good evening and thank you all for joining us for our reorganization meeting congratulations to my friend and colleague mayor Frank nunziato and councilman Matt kley on your re-elections and continued service to our borrow and I am so proud as well mayor for the campaign that we ran but most importantly for the work that we're committed to do I also want to thank senator starlo for swearing me in today thank you so much for your incredible support of this burrow and that that is extended to assemblymen caliber re and assemblyman share who because of the Sabbath is unable to be with us this evening we have an incredible relationship with our District 36 team and it was indeed an honor to be on the ballot with you all in 2015 I sat on this day as for the first time after being sworn in by a good friend and our good friend Congressman Bill pascrell and I shared my thoughts about why Rutherford meant so much to me and my family I talked about how this community raised both both my husband and I and now was the very place that we chose to raise our family I talked about its beauty its charm its diversity and how that made this burrow shine like the jewel of South barain County mostly I remember the magnitude of the moment realizing the formidable responsibility and journey that I was about to embark on I also remember thinking how important it was for representation on the deas and today I now serve as one of four women elect Ed to Rutherford so well done Rutherford now tonight I can't believe I'm saying this I am beginning my fourth elected term as councilwoman for the burrow I love I am filled with the same optimism and belief that Rutherford is an extraordinary place because of the people that make up the fabric of this community Elanor Rosevelt once said the future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams as I look across this day I said my colleagues that quote summarizes how we have embraced this opportunity to serve to preserve what makes our home uniquely Rutherford and to dream of all she can be moving forward I'm also sitting here with great pride in all we've accomplished together already over the past nine years we have launched and embraced being an acceptable and accessible community that believes every resident all residents are valued they are seen and they're celebrated even during a pandemic Rutherford rallied together and championed our First Responders found innovative ways to celebrate community Through car parades and competitions hosted through our rec department and more importantly we demonstrated true care and compassion for our neighbors we have witnessed the relaunch of the Rutherford Chamber of Commerce and now reap the benefits of a thriving business district that has received local state and National recognition I I love when folks compare walking down Park Avenue to that of a Hallmark movie they enjoy the decor they also love seeing the faces of the veterans that line our streets they're Our Heroes true to Eleanor Roosevelt's words the future does indeed belong to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams what makes this journey even more incredible is when those around you believe in you and they support you to live that dream thank you to our burrow employees our department heads our amazing Police Department our amazing fire department our amazing first aid Squad and all those who volunteer on every single committee and board thank you to my elected colleagues for your generous and continued support throughout this election and across the years of service and great work we have done and we will do thank you to my family most of whom are present to my sister Karen my brother-in-law Richie my nieces is Alysa my nephew Dany my niece Lauren and Matt who's not with us thank you to my friends who are my lifeline who supported the MW especially this year as we continue to navigate our own personal journey to my husband Jeff my partner my Confidant you have endured great sacrifice for me to serve this town and you have always allowed me this space to live my passion and I love you and to Amelia and Jeffrey you were babies when we started this journey and you have always and will always be my North Star and you give me the courage of conviction to change the world and the strength to fight like hell and I promise you and all the residents of this burrow that I will continue to Champion opportunities for inclusive housing meaningful employment opportunities and developing communities that Embrace every resident living their most independent and productive lives because you and every resident regardless of their ability deserve that right finally thank you Rutherford I am so honored I am so humbled to serve as your councilwoman and I look forward to believing in the beauty of all that our burrow can be together thank you and happy New [Applause] Year Council M cley your remarks thank you sir um I'll try and keep this brief as I can see my kids are twitching in their seats and want to get out of here um first and foremost I want to thank my Rockstar wife Carissa without whom none of this this as possible thank you for being my rock my Confidant thank you for allowing being the sounding board I need when things were chaotic during the campaign I truly appreciate you and love you thank you to my children Emma Kira and Riley for being my purpose and inspiration I do this work because I love being here and I want to make this town a great place for you if you ever leave to come back to right I love it uh to my parents for laying the foundation for which I build this work off of Bill and Beth thank you very much to my in-laws Josie and Eric who are here this evening for your unwavering support I I cherish it more than you could ever know to Pat Jonathan Mark Connor and Kim who were one of the most incredible campaign teams I I've ever seen not that I had of a lot of experience my first campaign was during covid so we were incredibly Limited in to what was possible uh thank you for showing me the way to Tommy and Mark for your tutelage and wisdom during our time together on the council and during the campaign and I know we're going to be friends and colleagues for years to come thank you both to the dignitaries in the room who I've had the pleasure of meeting over these last few years thank you for your support being at our fundraisers being at events like this to my running mates Senator sarlo assemblyman calabri and assemblyman Sher thank you again for the same to Frank thank you for being a big brother like we always discuss I truly appreciate this opportunity when you brought me in four years ago it's a privilege I cannot thank you enough for Stephanie your wisdom your knowledge your friendship your guidance our lunches our drinks I cannot our phone calls I cannot thank you enough for bestowing upon me your kindness and everything that comes along with that to my Council colleagues I Echo the same thank you for your support thank you for being open-minded and thank you for continuing to work alongside me and entertain some of my wild this thoughts to Missy thank you for your support and endless education uh Bob keski if there he is over there behind thank you Bob for your endless support and again toig and wisdom thank you to everyone in this room my friends my poker buddies I cannot thank you guys enough for being here it really means the world to me and know that I am serving on your behalf because I love you and I love this place thank you thank you okay now we're going to open it up to the hearing of citizens anybody wishing to make any remarks please step up the microphone keep your comments of five minutes or less uh should you choose not to want to give your address you can write it in the book anyone wishing to speak seeing none now I'm going to close it to the public and open it up for any Council comments Council I just want to congratulate my colleagues congratulations mayor um we've come a long way and I'm so excited for this year serving with you Stephanie fourth year can can you guys hear me yeah okay Stephanie fourth term on the council what an example to all the young women and all the women in this town young and old um but thank you thank you for all the work that you do and I'm very excited to see the year to come and Matt um I'm so excited to see the work that we'll do together okay so thank you thank you councilwoman it's been an honor to be with you anybody else councilman thank you mayor I'm not sure if this is working it is thank you I'd like to congratulate uh you mayor this evening as well as my Council colleagues councilman kley councilman women woman Macwan I can't wait to uh get started once again and continues on a path of a lot of the amazing work that we've have done and continue to uh need to get done for the people of Rutherford it's a pleasure working alongside of you and I'm so happy that I get to do it again at least for the next year with you um but uh congratulations and uh once again it's always a pleasure thank you thank you councilman thank you m nope oh there it is just keeps us on our toes every time I love it so much um I just wanted to congratulate my colleagues on um a successful election and another term I'm trying to remember if it's from Hamilton where it says winning is easy governing is harder um that's certainly true but but winning isn't easy um winning isn't easy locally it isn't easy on the state level it's not easy nationally um and I think no matter I thought it was hard because I had never done it before it turns out it's just really hard so um I think that it's good to reflect on the hard work that gets our Co my colleagues here to work even harder um that there's not a lot of jobs that's like that where you work extra hard to get somewhere where you work even harder so um I just want to congratulate you all I'm looking forward um to for me at least a couple more years of of hard work together and um I wish you the best in your new terms thank you councilwoman thanks mayor I I just want to thank and congratulate all my colleagues for their re-elections and for all the hard work and dedication over the years it's it's really been inspiring to witness and I want to say say a personal note I didn't expect when I joined the council last year the amount of like the overwhelming amount of friendly support and advice and just Goodwill that I experienced from my colleagues it really felt like a team right away and I didn't expect it to given you know the election so I just want to thank all of you for that I want to thank you councilwoman Macwan for being a wonderful council president for your brilliance your wisdom your expertise which I'm going to learn from forever and I just think you're doing a wonderful job and even more important importantly I feel like you're such a good friend and you're such your support for me in a difficult year for me personally has been so authentic thank you so much for that you'll never know how much it means to me Council councilman kley you were the friendliest to me when before I was part of the team when I reached out to you and I was a resident and I wanted some to happen with Willi Center you were you were there you were open you were accessible you made things happen you were incredible I'll never forget it and I really hope we get to work together even more this year on our shared projects so I'm so so wonderful that you're still in office and last but not least mayor thank you so much for your you're you're such an you you lead by example your example is inspiring and powerful and I I Look to it every day and you're just so dedicated to this town that it's not lost on me or anyone else in this room or in this town so thank you so much for that and thank you for your authentic genuine kindness towards me I really look forward to working with you and all of you this year thank you Susan um all right this is it last chance to escape okay oh I'll I'll now take uh nominations for council president may or may may or may I may or may I yes sir with great pleasure I'd like to nominate our colleague that has always served the people of Rutherford with her heart and experience and I believe will continue to do so in no different matter I'd like to nominate tonight for council president councilwoman Stephanie mwan I have a nomination by councilman guz mom have have a second second second by councilman Roberson any questions or comments by the council seeing none may roll call counc beg Roberson yes councilman Gman yes coun Del Co yes councilman quatron yes councilman kley yes coun obain you're just lucky I don't get the [Applause] vote now ask the councilwoman council president to come before the day and commissioner you going to swear in commissioner morte thank you and I'd like to invite up my sister Karen and my nieces Alyssa Lauren and my nephew Danny going to do great hold it try left hand down okay so you stand on this side there you go I don't bite I'm just gonna move this out the way okay okay repeat after me I I Stephanie I Stephanie do solemnly swear do solemnly swear that I will Faithfully that I will faithfully impartially and justly impartially and and justly perform all the duties as council president perform all of the duties as council president according to the best of my ability according to the best of my ability do and I do and I further solemnly swear and I furtherly swe and I will support the Constitution of the state of e of the United States and I will support the Constitution of the United States and the constitution of the state of New Jersey and the constitution of the state of New Jersey and will and that will that I will bear true faith and that I will bear true faith in allegiance to the Saint in allegiance to the Saint and to the government established and to the governments established in the united states in the United States and in the state of under the authority of the and in the state of New Jersey under the authority of the people so help me God so help me God congratulations thank [Applause] you we're going to move on now to Service Awards um I'm going to I'll read your names anybody that's here could you please come before the Das Susan Fuji Kevin scannel Tom twist Rich Russo Joyce St sorry stampton Stan um Mike merley Tommy Lewis Julian Andrews Moren bigley Al Anderson Steve Vel Barbara Gardner Greg gumas Margaret Flynn maryan I'm sorry P cars Craig capano Matt Simon Stewarts Tori I'm sorry Steven sator and amarie Campbell I would now ask the council to join us at the day in front of the Das for a photo please and a presentation conratulations thank you congratulations are you good okay congratulations everybody [Applause] thank you thank you very much much appreciate that council president thank you mayor uh I'd like to move resolution number one adoption of the 2024 bylaws motion I have a motion by the counc president may have a second second second by councilman Guzman questions or comments by the council seeing none have roll call councilman beg robertonson yes councilman Gman yes councilman de con yes councilman quatron yes councilman kley yes C mwan yes thank you um before we do our appointments we're going to be moving one Council assignment U shade tree from councilwoman Del re con liaison to councilman kley with that I ask for a motion to accept that Council assignment for the 2024 as noted on the agenda motion motion by Council Roberson May a second second second by council president any questions or comments by the council seeing none Mo a roll call counc beg Roberson yes councilman Gman yes coun Del con yes counc Clon yes councilman kley yes Council McAn yes thank you and now we'll be doing the council assignments um buildings grounds and Public Utilities councilman quatron police councilman Guzman uh Sports Exposition Authority myself um Library board qur uh Council quatrone um I'm sorry I'm off here a little bit councilman K's fire it just as noted on the agenda all is listed except for the change that youve mentioned before so everything on the agenda is as was V okay so then I now ask for Council consent motion motion by Council pres may have a second second second by councilman Guzman any questions or comments by the council seeing n Roll Call Council Roberton yes councilman Gman yes counc Del con yes councilman quatron yes councilman kley yes councilman McOwen yes thank you okay now we're going to move on for the boards and commissions um the only amendment we're going to have is we're going to be removing the appointments of Nick cerillo and Bobby Fagan from the rent board with that I ask for Council consent motion motion by council president may have a second second second by Council woman Del Conan questions or comments by the council seeing M roll call counc B Roberson yes councilman Gman yes counc de con yes Council Clon yes Council M cley yes Council mwan yes the following are the Committees which do not need Council consent Arts committee Green Team Municipal line streetscape TBO airport and volunteer council president consent the agenda thank you mayor all items listed with an will be enacted by one motion and these items are routine in nature a consent item may be removed from the agenda by a member of the governing body prior to the motion motion I have a motion by the council president I have a second second second by councilman Robertson any questions or comments by the council seeing none may a roll call Council B Roberson yes councilman Gman yesc Del con yes counc quatron yes councilman kley yes Council McAn yes thank you we now have the benediction Annie everybody's getting ansy we're close to the end when you see me you know it's almost time to go home please pray with me Holy One we ask you to bless assist and Enlighten our mayor council members officers directors and all of those who serve our community of Rutherford New Jersey give them courage to stand even when it's not popular give them wisdom and insights to make fair and just decisions give them Vision to see all that we can be as a community give them hearts of compassion to remember those who are the least of these May their leadership and efforts maintain and improve the rich quality of life we enjoy here here in Rutherford and may their and may Prosperity extend to all of our residents as we leave this place tonight and enter into a New Year may God's spirit provide traveling mercies grant us health peace and prosperity in the year ahead for all that is good true and just we pray amen amen amen thank you I would not thank you any thank you very very much Pastor okay I would now ask for a motion to adjourn motion motion by council president all in favor I have a great night everybody