##VIDEO ID:1h-ndSgFn0U## and as we reorganize both our lives and our commitment to you we also commit to continue to do justice love Mercy walk humbly before our God we do so with the grace that comes from our beloved word which reminds us in Christ prayer Our Father who are in heaven Hallowed be thy name like th kingdom come thy will be done on Earth as it is in heaven give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us lead us not into temptation but Deliver Us from Evil for thine is the kingdom the power and the glory forever amen God bless you okay thank you we'll now have the mayor state of the City address [Applause] good evening ladies and gentlemen thank you to everyone joining us here this evening and viewing this uh remotely I want to thank the voters of angt for continuing to place your trust in me as mayor of the city and electing me uh this past November to my fifth uh term the third consecutive since I returned to office in 2019 I have the privilege thank you of being the longest standing mayor the city ever had we Face new challenges each year but it's an honor for me to continue working with our entire community and helping our city rise to meet these challenges I would also like to acknowledge the presence of Horus ragbeer who joins us the uh Democratic Club uh president and Holly and Molly Barry that was here also I didn't acknowledge her before thank you thank you Molly for joining us I want to give special thanks to my wife Amy and my entire family and especially my brother who stayed here as well for their beautiful support and tolerance of what a large component of my life the city of Anglewood government has held so many years I've been through more elections swearing in state of the city addresses than any other mayor but this year hits differently as many of you know my father Leon Wilds Z passed away at the beginning of 2024 he instilled in me much of what drove me to public service in the first place helping others promoting open-minded dialogue and love of community his loss was a significant change for my family and I that made me contemplate whether I should run for yet another term I now know that there is more work to be done and I still have a passion for it having now welcomed my seventh grandchild I know Dad would want me to continue onward to set an example and to the best possible to leave our city and a world better for them and for every Anglewood family to be sworn in by my son Josh who also joined Amy and I at our family law firm was a very special gift it was founded my by my father and a very special occasion to our family to Amy Raquel Josh Lauren Ruth Jacqueline and the entire extended family you give me Resolve and inspiration and I truly thank you for all your support I would like to note the passing of our former dear Congressman Bill pascrell he was a dear friend he would fight for us without any exhibition of hate and wasn't vengeful he stood as an exemplary model as a teacher a mayor and a fiercely loyal friend who had the courage of his convictions and left our nation stronger and a better place than when he started to the city council I would like to welcome our new councilman at large Dan toer I've known Dan for many years and forward to seeing the energy the new ideas that it will bring to the table and I want to thank former council president Charles cob for his many years of service on the council and wish him personal our best in his next Endeavors since 2020 our city has now seen a turnover of all five seats on the city council some of the changes came about with the retirement relocation and some decided by contested primary elections dictating a desire within the community for change regardless every member of the council has been duly elected by our residents and will serve our city regardless of what w they live in their gender religion color of the skin or background we take our Oaths to serve every resident of the city and I trust that each of us will do so to the best of our abilities most of you on the council are not new to public service but beginning today you have an opportunity to write a new chapter in the story of Anglewood government I held the angood book this morning at the firefighters it was penned in 1920 talking about a 100 years before the city history anyone who has viewed our Council meetings over the last years has witnessed far too many instances of unprofessionalism infighting fractionalised progress dividing our community in many issues programmatically when race or religion were introduced as a factor in play it is my prayer that we will all find ways to better communicate with one another maintain focus on the goals and constructively collaborate to the best to serve our city as we have all been sworn to do so we don't all have to agree all the time but we have a choice if we let disagreements like let breakdowns in our civility or instead we maintain our resolve to move forward and accomplish results for our community on the financial front our city begins 2025 on a sound financial footing which is a factor impacting not only our individual wallets but also our ability to provide various services to Residents the city of angood received a great rating upgrade from state ofor to double a previously in 20023 the city's credit rating was AA minus with a positive outlook before that there had not been a credit rating upgrade in several years each rating increase reduces the city's cost of interest payments and capital projects the clean ablea rating is a reflection of the city's long-term policy to make sure its Financial house is in order this includes bringing and building Surplus so that funds are available for emergencies for storm damage and to pay for any tax appeal refunds the city is also exploring several important Progressive opportunities of shared services with other municipalities and we're looking to do that also in our school district on Municipal services our city continues to take proactive steps to improve Municipal services are for more complex than they appear and have a substantial impact on the quality of life our city manager Deputy city manager city engineer DPW and other city employees and directors all deserve recognition for their constant work to improve services for all here are some highlights garbage collection Anglewood is pushing forward to our technological innovations for delivering our City's services this year the city received two electric garbage trucks and installed a heavy duty charging station at the DPW Yard in fact Anglewood is the first municip IP ality in the state of New Jersey to receive Mac electric garbage trucks the truck that was delivered in July was assigned to recycling routes it operates in all four Wards our Packer truck will be put into service in the first two months of the new year and it has it's about to be delivered to the city not too often as a mayor get to stand in front of a truck and welcome a truck to the city the truck in the charging station cost about $1.7 million and were completely Grant funded addition for reasons unknown the city L its garbage transfer station laps now since 2023 we are seeking recertification once back online the transfer station will save the city significant sums of money leaf collection the DPW recently completed the leaf collection we can see that as of Monday November 18th over 60% of the leaves were still on the trees climate control has and climate change and the challenge of dealing with it has great impact financially please again I urge everybody to make efforts to make sure your storm drains are clear the city will be marking all roads to show where the storm drains are located this will help Public Works find them during a storm remembering of course leaves could be placed at least 10t from catch basins and ideally downhill in the fall of 2024 the city began operating a leaf composting facility at a DPW Yard this is less than a 3 Acre facility that will save the city's significant funds the City will be able to send out one trailer of material rather than five again it costs a lot of money to take leaves and to deal with this we have to think of efficiencies and I want to thank our city manager for playing a central role on all of this on flooding which I know is personal and my wife and I know all too often having survived major floods in our own home the leaf collection Solutions are just a small part of the larger Regional strategy to combat the severe flooding we've seen in in several recent instances in the past two and a half years the city committed significant resources to prevent flooding and deal with climate change and storm resilience the EK Creek has had 400 truckloads of material uh that were desilted and Des snagged and all obstructions removed uh from the process I want to thank our late Congressman at my request we got the Armory Corps of engineer and the city engineer myself and others had the privilege of going into town and uh making a plan and then getting permission to remove all these obstructions the city has committed to making stream cleaning and maintenance a 12-month year effort angood is at its lowest elevation a flood Basin if you would for other municipalities including angu Cliffs Leona Bergenfield tck and tenly water just doesn't stop in its own Township therefore a regional solution is required since March of 2024 local municipalities have been working together to clean their streams catch basins and prevent flooding these their hands are tied by outdated state and federal regulations now that our state senator left for the evening let's go find them because without him and the entire team the necessary improvements will not be made as we react to climate change our city manager engineer and their colleagues are to be commended for developing and implementing pilot programs to reduce flooding throughout our city on Parks and Recreation in January of 2025 the city will receive a recreation master plan from Rutter University this 16-month long project looks at all of our City's parks and playgrounds it will be used as a blueprint for investment in the capital budget Recreation assets I can't express to you enough my disappointment with the comments made at the last council meeting on Denning Park on December 17 where we had a meeting for its Grant application and improvements to the park I applaud the council members for still voting to submit the Grant application however not one resident during the the public hearing spoke in favor of improving the park the facts are if the city does not accept the award Grant of funding for Denning Park then 100% of the cost of renovation will be borne by the taxpayers of Anglewood if the city doesn't renovate Denning Park then Green Acres Program has the reserve the right to withhold future grant funding to improve any park within the city limits furthermore the city may be required to return Grant funds previously received due to the poor condition of Denning Park resulting from the failure of the city to properly maintain this asset over the last 2 and a half years the city has made significant investments in its Parks playgrounds and we must continue to do so the city of angood through its DPW Recreation Department Recreation committee and outside contractors will continue this ongoing method uh effort on McKay Park the city has two underutilized Jewels at McKay park that is the ice rink the jont t r Arena uh and the swimming pool the ice rink should become a 12mon a year facility this requires that the sliding walls be developed and installed so the rink can operate during spring and summer months don't kid yourself during covid and a lot of the private meetings we were ahead of other communities because we had an outside device that would allow us in Co to actually have something that could bring the community together and our job on this day is is to continually find ways to bring people together the city secured a grant to install new piping from the pool filtration system looking to the future the city's residents deserve an Olympic siiz swimming pool and I'll give you a few reasons why first it'll provide an opportunity for our high schools to have swim teams it will allow for 12 months a year a robic classes and other opportunities that will help improve the health and wellness of our residents and my mother-in-law wouldn't have to go to The JCC she can come to the city of Anglewood the fire department will also be able to practice water rescues an activity for which they now must travel distances to practice this we have a stellar Department anything that we can add would be a welcome the mayor's Wellness campaign our health department and several other activities have been designed to promote healthy lifestyle for our residents so that the mayor's Wellness campaign can teach our residents about healthy lifestyle options during the 2024 Police Department 13 Anglewood residents passed the written Police Department exam only one of the 13 passed the physical fitness requirements and will soon be sworn in as a police officer this highlights a weakness in Healthy Living that needs to be addressed our long-term goal should be a healthy lifestyle for all residents local business promotion I may be the ribbon cutting mayor this past July however we had an extraordinary event as we regaled our City's 125th celebration of Anglewood night it was brought back and I want to thank Katherine Melendez who played a significant role in this wonderful Chronicle of of our city it was a tremendous success over 5200 people attended this should become an annual event a fun time was had by all and it pulled our city together in 2025 Anglewood night will take place on the west side of Palisade Avenue the city will alternate this event between east east and west so that all of our Merchants will be able to Showcase their establishments while allowing residents and visitors to discover the unique benefits of shopping and visiting downtime that's what we did 20 years ago when we fixed both sides of Route four and the west side of Palisade Avenue where we brought people literally crossing a track to get to know one another and it worked great there's no more Blockbuster there's no more sleepies in masassa and everybody's buying things online in a post Amazon world we have to create new ways of bringing people together and being age friendly on Public Safety our city continues to see the merits of investment and support for our police fire and other Public Safety and public health personnel it is a Testament to our city manager Mr Hoffman as well as our entire city council that we continue to prioritize proper Staffing levels leadership structure training and equipment to allow these dedicated Public Safety professionals to safely and effectively do their jobs protecting our families in our city the OEM is a significant job that we need to add more life to when it comes to the emergency services and preparedness we literally can write the book on a pandemic thank you to our police chief Tom gy our fire chief Jeff and every member of our Public Safety family for your car and commitment to our city during the past several years much has been made about the makeup of the police department the city has made significant strides in improving the diversity of the department it started of course when the Bergen County uh prosecutor's office took over but the efforts were codified by not just the prosecutor's office it should be noted that 55% of our entire police department is made up of individuals are considered minorities our police Department truly reflects the diversity of our city it's noteworthy that our city also has on the books a provision for new applicants or police and fire departments who can prove at least one year of consecutive residence in our city this led to more than a dozen hires of City residents to these important posts and also places in a a a commitment in our schools churches and businesses to increase the number of local applicants as well as for the required examinations with these success and having exhausted the current pool of residents I recently vetoed a proposed ordinance to change the requirement from one year to 3 years for priority status there was no apparent need and the information available indicated the change would make it more difficult for residents to attain priority status while also impeding the hiring of veterans recent college graduates and other categories of qualified residents based solely on bureaucratic red tape we remain committed to anguid residents for all of these posts whenever possible I have zero doubt that any of our police and firefighters wherever they sleep at night would hesitate for a second to enter a burning building or rush to the defense of one resident in danger I hope everyone will join me in showing our support and appreciation for all public safety Professionals in our city with the master plan we recently passed one which lay the ground work for important actions that will allow our city to keep Pace with the rapidly changing circumstances in the next 10 years and Beyond this document provides new strategies for historic preservation comprehensive recycling smart growth principles enhanced public Arts programming modernized transportation and more and I want to thank Mr burn for his leadership in this role I remind everyone that this document sets everything in and yet very little in stone but rather offers a host of recommendations from which our city council can choose to move based on a current needs and service circumstances a key component in climate resilience and sustainability assessing flood risks addressing storm Warner Management in addition to forward thinking measures such as green infrastructure and renewable energy usage we have also included plans to utilize emerging Technologies for improved Communications parking systems and other smart uh City initiatives a major accomplishment of this master plan is the advancement of our social equity and inclusion in our city we can plan for every situation that might arise but enhance Community engagement processes and equitable distribution of resources across all four WS will ensure every one of our residents has a voice and that no neighborhood is overlooked again I say that to MERS no neighborhood will be overlooked this document does not dictate affordable housing as a court supervised settlement the netfront was reached in 2023 but it does offer expanded affordable housing strategies that are in line with the mandate to keep angood affordable for as many families as possible it was necessary to approve this document for the city to retain its zoning rights and protect interests of our residents particularly vulnerable areas in the fourth ward some nonetheless sought to delay this action just as they did with the legally required Court supervised actions regarded affordable housing in 2023 which would have similarly led to loss of zoning oversight for the city and potential for develop us to run rampant with was known as Builders remedies which would punish the City by allowing broad variances outside of the normal zoning regulations I'm proud that we stood strong against his special interests and followed the law to protect our city while still enacting a forward thinking and Equitable plan providing for so many needs of our city the Liberty school ladies and gentlemen in planning for our City's future development the lingering uncertainties still exists with the eventual fate of the Liberty school property over a decade ago the city purchased to Liberty school from the Board of Education since its purchase it has been used for various functions but has not been maintained there is no long-term strategic vision during 2025 it should be one of our goals to utilize the studies Community discussions and Define the appropriate use I thank everyone who played a role in this important master plan and the public input the professionalism of our city staff the thousands of people that offered comments were interviewed uh this was a massive project and our city is better off for all of these efforts in conclusion as you can see there are always numerous moving Parts in the functioning of a city such as ours but with robust efforts to be both proactive and re and reactive we're well positioned to deal with the many challenges at hand I'm proud of the professionalism of city employees in identifying our issues formulating action plans and equally proud of the residents uh for their care and motivation and providing valuable input to those complex processes to ensure that our city will continue moving in that right direction I want to thank Miss Jensen Alita and a lot of other wonderful people who joined me nearly five years every Friday at 11 o'clock hour on coffee with the mayor is something that I decided to do in person at Starbucks and then we went remote when the when Co happened and I haven't missed by a handful of Fridays in these Last 5 Years I thank you all for joining us tonight and looking forward to continuing to work with you for the betterment of our city and every one of our residents I have long said that public service is a public trust and believe and I believe that to this day this city uh has been made better by all of the efforts of our residents and our leaders I thank you for bestowing that trust in me for the next four years may God bless you may God bless the city of Anglewood thank you [Applause] um congratulations mayor on your reelection thank you congrats um Dan toaya on your election and I look forward to um continuing working not only in a third W but with all Wards and working with you as well um and that's [Laughter] it all right coun hi thank you and good evening uh Happy New Year everyone and uh my uh heart and condolences go out to uh the victims of the attack in New Orleans and to uh the heal of the city there uh to that great City uh congratulations mayor Wild on on your historic fifth term uh to Mr toer welcome to the council I look forward to working with you uh to Dr Lisa wiski on um uh becoming council president so we're now in the 26th year of the 21st century and this is only the 25th not 26th no 2000 if you count 2025 is the 26th year um and this is is only the second time a second ward council person has been made council president so uh long overdue for representation from from the second ward up there and I thank you uh my colleagues for your trust and and uh electing me president proem I'm very much looking forward to 2025 um as the mayor alluded to one of our biggest challenges will be uh passing uh the new affordable housing mandate with regard to the fourth round of affordable housing and and people ask us why do we do this why why are we even addressing affordable housing um because the state forces us to the state doesn't Force us to put up a Christmas tree or have a Memorial Day Parade because we like doing that it's very difficult and challenging to address affordable housing which is why it's a mandate a constitutional mandate by the state and we have to address it uh there's been a lot of misinformation out there about affordable housing so I just want to address some of that tonight right uh we've been told they're going to be 5,000 new units in Anglewood and and obviously that can't happen the town's fully developed there's nowhere to put 5,000 new units where could we possibly put them all and you know we passed the overlay Zone back in 2022 so we're well into the third year of the existence of the overlay Zone and there hasn't been a single uh project built so the for 5,000 we're at zero right now um and there are no applications coming up so it's clear this is not going to happen it's just it's just been a scare tactic and even if project uh uh housing's built you're going to have to tear down old housing to put up new housing so the example I've used before is Tut Hall which is down the block for me on the corner of uh angle and Booth uh there's currently 86 units at tutor it is in the overlay zone so for that to be redeveloped someone would have to buy all the units in T Hall you know I don't know how much that would cost you could look on Zillow or another website probably $40 million tear it all down and then build 75 units so they replace 86 with 75 and 20% of that would have to be affordable housing so it's yeah that's not going to happen who's who's building something smaller it'd be so that might that 75 you know counts in the 4,000 but it actually be a net decrease of 10 to 11 units so it just shows you the math doesn't make any sense and it's just a scare tactic when you hear 4,000 new units oh my goodness uh then we're going to tear down the library uh to build Apartments there come on come on yeah that's clearly not going to happen uh through the efforts of my wife so actually I'm glad there's at least one Rosen sad getting things done in town um uh the library secured a $2.5 million Grant you can see the plans for the renovation if you go into the libraries Lobby uh the library's already received I think $625,000 of it we're investing in the library we're not tearing it down it's going to be it's already an amazing facility and it's going to be even more amazing uh with plans so if God forbid we have another pandemic uh the library will be more usable for the community then you've heard we're developing in flood zones and of course this picture comes up you know a child waking up putting their coming out of bed and you know they have three inches of water chronically in their home you know the truth is there is already full development in the flood zone Anglewood is in a flood zone a huge percentage of the town is in a flood zone and these buildings have existed in some cases for over a 100 years so there's nothing new here so any work that's being done will have to follow very strict D guidelines so it will be an improvement so the perfect example of this is 111 West Street uh in my ward um the tibs home for senior citizens so that was devastated hurricane Ida so that is in a flood zone and it's being uh rebuilt from its uh from its loss back uh in in 2021 um and it's going to be enormously improved the housing on the ground floor has been moved up the generators are outside uh on on uh at a at a height so if there's any flooding they will not be affected it's going to become as flood proof as they can possibly make it it's a huge investment that is development in a flood zone and it's an an enormous Improvement so this is a good thing if we improve things that are already built in flood zones and you know uh Domingo was here dingo sende was here a few uh weeks ago to to tell us what's going on no one said hey how come you're you're building in a flood zone there so if you oppose flood zones you oppose you oppose the rehabilitation of 111 West and you want those uh the residents there to never return home which which I think was would be a horrible outcome the only mistake Anglewood could make is not producing a plan and as the mayor alluded to uh we would fall into something called Builder remedy and again that's a very complicated process it seems confusing but I ask everyone to go onto their uh Google or whatever internet browser and put in Anglewood Cliff's Builder remedy and a number of Articles will pop up about how devastating it's been to that town to lose their zoning how many millions of dollars it's cost them in legal fees to try to get uh their zoning under some control and you can see what happens when you uh ignore the state mandate and you you go into Builder's remedy and it' be catastrophic and that's when we might see a 12-story highrise in our backyard that is impossible to happen right now there's no mechanism for that to happen but it could happen with Builder's remedy if we don't produce a plan so please uh you know pay attention as the affordable housing process goes through this year and I thank you all for your uh support thank you councilman toer thank you uh if I would list all the people I needed to thank uh who helped me got me here who helped get me here today I think uh Michael wild speech would be 5 Seconds compared to uh all the people I have to thank um to Lisa Ken and everybody who is here and not here and uh probably home including my kids I thank everybody for all the work that they've done uh to help get me here today um I drove to the hospital two weeks ago to visit my father who was sick with Alzheimer's for the first time he didn't recognize who I was for any of us who have a relative living with Dementia or Alzheimer's we know just how precious life is and how finite our time is on this Good Earth with my finite time here as your council at large I have only one Mission and I will abide by this one rule does my vote or decision benefit all all what is the meaning of benefit all in a nutshell there are three actions that I use to define all first of all first off all means aligning interests we must think of Anglewood as one city for all rather than four individual separate WS all also means leading from the front we city council must set a good example for all not only with our decisions but also in the collaborative path we talk we take to come to those decisions all has yet a third meeting all means leaving a long-term impact on our entire Community to ask one question that leaders on both sides of the aisle have asked for decades past have I left all of my constituents in a better place than when I began my term to together with my colleagues on the council and all of our community residents at large I hope that we will all look back to this day Thursday January 2nd 2025 at some future moment and see that indeed we have more alignments of interests that we have strong leadership that sets a Clear Vision and a bold direction for our town while leaving a long-term positive impact for all in closing I vow to help lead the way to make Anglewood an even better place for all to live safer place for our children and community in which our kids will raise their kids for generations to come thank you councilman Wilson thank you council president first giving honor to God uh without God it wouldn't be possible for me to be here he's the head of my life um congratulations to the mayor being reelected um there's a rumor going on about him that he's the longest elected mayor um so I'm I'm tending to believe it so congratulations um to Lisa our council president thank you for just continued service and um we look forward to working together with you and to Ken BR Pro Tim congratulations and to Dan uh welcome to the crew I'm sure you're fitting nicely so congratulations um and to all happy New Year uh as we Embark Upon A New Year it's imperative that we continue to strive for a better plan and for those of you who have been in the trenches with us thank you for not giving up on us uh we need your input it's so important we're here at the pleasure of you guys we are supposed to be sitting here being your voice so if in fact that we fall short I ask that you help us help you we can't get this thing done without you and so in saying that we have a a punch list um some of our punch lists are the same uh some of them are more Innovative than others and some haven't come to fruition as of yet we embark on the parks our infrastructure DPW police taxes budget fire department a roads a cooling stations um and it was mentioned earlier about the OEM I would like to see that as along with the cooling stations you know we don't think of it now at this particular juncture of the season but I would also like for us to look forward to looking at heating stations um for those that may be suffering from some shortage of maybe their fault or no fault of their own um the future of ingwood should be all inclusive we can't get through this thing without being with being divisive uh we were charged to represent and we will have difference of opinion uh as we move forward my prayer is that we're able to sit down and recognize that there will be difference of opinion from the public and the people on theas but with that being said that there has to be some demeanor of respect as we move forward uh people have families individual lives kids parents grandkids and it's effective when we work together and when we dismiss that other people have feelings in family it's destructive so as we move forward in 2025 one of my prayers are that we recognize that we are here as servants for you guys and that sometimes we may fall short of the glory but continue to show up to participate don't be discouraged um because this is a place for all of us and name calling should never be permitted to keeping somebody from showing up to a meeting that is unacceptable we need to do better as we learn better so I will end with this that it takes a village to raise a community and each one should teach one so if you see something please say something and be healthy and prosperous in the new New Year thank you council president thank you good evening congratulations to Mayor Michael wilds and council at large Dan toer on being sworn in this evening congratulations to councilman Rosen swag on his election to council protm I am grateful to my colleagues on the council for your vote of confidence and installing me as council president for the 2025 year thank you to the public who came out tonight to support the council during our reorganization and those that are watching at home via YouTube we are entering 2025 from a position of strength and I am optimistic about all that we can accomplish working together for the betterment of Anglewood our strengths we have a strong city manager and Mr Robert Hoffman who has been with Anglewood since August of 2022 is that right August 22 after many years of Rapid turnover and part-time interim managers it was councilman Rosen swag who made it his mission in 2022 when he was council president to ensure that the city had competent management at the highest level Katherine melendes behind the scenes ensures that that the important items get done and our city kiry has done an excellent job making sure that we are up to dat in compliant with Oprah opma and other statutory requirements our stress under the leadership of fire chief Jeff Kaplan police chief Tom gy and Deputy police chief Mata Rosa the fire and police departments are exemplary it was with great pride that I attended the swearing in ceremony today at the fire department by the end of the month the fire department will have a full roster of at 62 the most firefighters at the city of Anglewood has ever had in October I had the privilege of attending the valy Awards where members of our Anglewood Police Department were applauded for their heroism courage and Service as as the fire this week on Grand and Tracy and the stories of heroism that were shared at the police award ceremony remind us we owe a Deb of gratitude to our Anglewood First Responders and are appreciative of the leadership in these departments our strengths we have a new Anglewood Recreation director Tashan Warren that is rebuilding the department I recently attended the recreation holiday party at the John T ride Arena McKay ice rink and was thrilled to see the entire Anglewood Community come together to celebrate the holiday season Mr waren a volunteer Anglewood football and track coach who grew up here understands the importance of recreation in the lives of our children and adults and the importance of bringing together the Anglewood community Through Recreation our strengths our library which recently received over a $2 million Grant and is undergoing renovation and our and our outstanding Department of Health which ensures the public health of our residents and that the most vulnerable are cared for I have also gotten lots of positive feedback from residents on the responsiveness of Mr Ray Romney our new DPW director we have a dedicated city engineer France Mr France VY and we must continue to provide him with back up support our strength the network of excellent nonprofit organizations that call hangle Wood home the community chest Flat Rock Brook Bergen Family Center Rotary Club women's rights information center the Women's Club age-friendly Anglewood Vantage Health Center for food action office of concern food pantry uh Burgan pack Arts Horizon Community promoting reading Encounters in Black tradition Anglewood Health Anglewood neighborhood Pantry pop program Westside infit and teens program and all the houses of worship that we have throughout the entire city and our biggest strength the Anglewood residents families that have lived here for multiple generations and those that more recently moved here all call Anglewood home we have many challenges ahead of us this year such as flooding storm water management is my first priority and we must continue our efforts in mitigating the impacts of flooding affordable housing deadlines in relation to the fourth round of affordable housing are quickly approaching at the and at the end of 2024 we did not discuss our obligations if we do not meet our deadlines we are in danger of losing our zoning affordable housing will be on our agenda during January and we have already planned an affordable housing Symposium on Monday Mond April 28th for the public so please save the day Monday April 28th 7:30 p.m. in this room pedestrian and traffic safety the traffic safety advisory committee has not met in two years but quarterly meetings will be reinstituted improvements have been taking place with improved striping and cour walks throughout the city new signage and traffic lights and the city will continue to focus on this area area Recreation and a community center although I have only been on the council for two years I have heard talk about the need of a community center for decades in my home Library I have a book titled to it and Anglewood Community Center that was presented to the city council back in November of 2007 it is time that we create a realistic time frame for a community center decide where to build it and how to fund it we have to find funding mechanisms including grants so that a burden is not placed on angle with taxpayers in the meantime we must build the foundational pillars to create a community center this includes significant improvements of our current recreational facilities and our parks and playgrounds it means developing a robust Recreation Department that addresses the needs of the younger and older bringing the together the entire Anglewood Community using our strengths and working with my colleagues on the council professionals volunteers and members of the public I am optimistic that we will make significant strides in 2025 although the city has a war system I want the public to be reassured that everyone who sits here on the dayis represents the entire city of Anglewood we are only successful if we all move forward together if anyone from the public would like to reach out to me I am easily accessible my contact information is on the City calendar that was recently mailed out and on the city website thank you for coming this evening I want to wish everyone a prosperous year ahead full of good health and happiness okay so where am I now resolutions okay okay thank you does anybody from the council want to remove anything from the consent agenda yes councilman Wilson uh council president 024 d 01-02 d25 resolution authorizing Bergen County Law Enforcement Mutual Aid that is correct okay we'll remove that from the consent agenda is there anything else that wants anyone wants to remove from the consent agenda okay can I have a motion to approve the consent of agenda everything except for resolution 024 so moved may I have a second second okay may I have a roll call any discuss seeing that there is no discussion may I have a roll call please councilwoman David yes councilman Rosen yes councilman toer yes councilman Wilson yes council president wasowski yes okay um now we have resolution authorizing Bergen County Law Enforcement Mutual Aid that's 04-01 0225 live can I have a motion to introduce that resolution so moved may I have a second I'll seconded it um discussion councilman Wilson do you want to uh discuss it uh yes thank you council president um I I I I think that it's important first and foremost that when our officers are calling for assistance that they get it as swiftly as possible uh we have diligent uh officers in charge Chief and deputy chief that make decisions um we've had a few disturbing incidents and it's it's a real tuche subject on when we bring in mutual Aid and how we tell them to arrive in our town um I I don't know how we spell it out but I didn't see it in this where we get to to dictate or suggest how officers come in our town in the in the past they have arrived at mental health situations with long guns and I don't think that's acceptable and that's just my personal opinion um and I don't know how we how how we speak to that council president um does anyone else on the council uh want to have say anything about the mutual Aid resolution okay mayor no I Think Mutual Aid has to deal with us depending on neighboring communities when we uh are in Jeopardy and US depending similarly um and they on us frankly if we don't put forward um the best foot that the community needs the county then we won't be able to get support from neighboring communities as well um also protocol when it came to long arms the use of firearms the kinds of Rules of Engagement uh both the chief and the deputy chief had given us public assurances that they comply with all sorts of conventions uh and protocols and that despite what other communities may find um their protocol the city of Anglewood will not give up its Authority if it decides to to to do differently so you know again Mutual Aid is a function of need more communities ask us to help them than we've had to help uh needed the help ourselves but I want to caution everybody when we had this most recent flood we only had one truck with uh and it was worthless uh when it came to uh the property on Broad Avenue by um I forget what it's called cheffield Avenue yeah but on the corner of that apartment complex my kids live there cross cross creek yeah where they couldn't even get a truck there and we had one boat and we needed neighboring communities to come to our Aid if we don't sign up as I understand it Mr Hoffman then we won't get the help either where it's impactful uh to us so that's the only reason and I think it's important for this to be unanimous on principle for that reason Mr Hoffman yeah yeah as a as a point of information um what uh what councilman Wilson addressed or or mentioned is something that the city took to heart and we have a program arrive together where we have um where we have a mental health professional or social services professional that is working with the police department so they started out with 40 hours a week and now it's uh the program has expanded but this was something that helps to address um residents that are in distress and may have a mental health issue and it's uh it's worked extremely well and our Police Department uh and and Alex one of the Professionals for arrived together they won an A A County award for uh for the work that they did to um basically to diffuse a very tense situation and that was that was something that the city took to heart and our Police Department went out and was act able to actively find this service and it was grf funded but now other police departments in Bergen County and the state are following following the model so I believe that addresses your concern but Mutual Aid is something that's all inclusive and uh it's something that we we do need for help with our Police Department if if if a situation comes into comes into fruition that that requires outside assistance you know whether it's um or with us helping with a with uh Regional rescue or SWAT teams or something of that nature but to your point we're we're looking at continuously making improvements to how we respond and how we help our our sister communities respond and the arriv together program is is an example and I want to commend the council for for assisting the police department in implementing that if I may may council president and thank you mayor and city manager for addressing that um and the reason why I bring this up is because I I know the importance of um natural emergencies floods hurricanes earthquakes major storms Etc um as it's listed here in the resolution um and and for me that goes without saying um what I want want us to be mindful and since the chief and the deputy chief are in the room thank you for attending guys is is the part that says civil unrest and Civil Disobedience um th those are the issues that I don't want our chief our deputy chief to lose command of individuals that may or may not be familiar with our town that come in excited because sometimes that's what Mutual Aid people do in the use of long guns where a situation may not be warranted so I just want us to be mindful as we move forward in this resolution council president um you know you guys are aware of the situation that that happened before and and by the grace that it was diffused without incident um so I've set my peace on that I I know it's important to have that and I would never vote against Mutual Aid I I just don't want us to be subject to Cowboys and cowg girls coming into Inglewood all right thank you council president okay does anyone else on the council or mayor have any more comments no yansy can we have a roll call please councilwoman David yes councilman Rosen yes councilman to yes councilman Wilson yes council president wasi yes council president just to acknowledge the presence of Robert lein our HR Director also I was remiss and noting his presence thank you so I'm I'm now going to open the meeting to the public I'll ask members of the public to uh who want to speak Anglewood residents first to step up to the microphone um you can give your name you don't have to give your address anymore you can just say the city or state your name city and state you'll only have 3 minutes to speak and at 3 minutes um the microphone will be cut off and this way it'll be fair to everybody so please go ahead thank you Madame councilwoman president Chris ardi Ango New Jersey this is the citizens response to the mayor city of State address the year 2024 for me was the word transformative and it was transformative for all the significant reasons but the most important I believe was the words that always put the mayor up in Prestige Public Service I would not be remissed if I did not make mention of another man who we lost this week because of his public service to the world he was a man from Georgia who served his country in the military at first but had to give it up to work at a Peanut Farm in his family's Farm then became the 39th president of the United States from Georgia a one-term president but in the process made us have a clear Consciousness about crisis and it is here that after his time in office that he became a Statesman of the people around the world and he did so much for This World by trying to free people from hostile countries trying to promote peace through Egypt and Israel as his time as president with the Camp David Accord and so much more so much honors and accolades of this man that is's just too numerous to count and just in the short time he recently turned 100 and he voted for a woman to become president of the United States although that the outcome was different his legacy is indestructible I speak about the one and only Jimmy Carter who we lost this past week I would not be remissed if the council and others paused to honor his legacy with sincere silence in appreciation and to pass a resolution to be transmitted to his family on the day of his interment as a sign of significant respect and absolute highest acclamation for his life's work that's the connection I feel that mayor Wilds myself and so many here have because of the work of people regular people like Jimmy Carter a no a no pseudonym person who was nothing who had become a statement of the people as a representative of people with special needs I also must say this we're taking big steps to make angle it better I hold in my hand this envelope it isn't just any envelope it's a blue envelope that was beginning by Ridgewood police but angua took up the initiative because they saw the story may I add for a little more thank you okay now all right thank you for your comments okay hi hello yes good Diane Jansen 589 Ridgeland Terris Anglewood New Jersey I'd like to congratulate everyone and give a special uh shout out uh to the mayor uh serving his fifth term um and many many know uh that the mayor and I have not always agreed so people say well how come you are so close to the mayor and I said because he listens and he hears and guess what I listen in here too and guess what we change our minds and we come to places where there's the word called compromise compromise doesn't necessarily mean you agree but you agree on on an issue but you agree to move forward in a certain way that is most beneficial for all and so I'm proud to be an active resident here and I would continue to do that and I'd like to congratulate Lisa with ssky Ken Rosen SW and also our newly elected Dan toer and I have a card for you because I'm going to be calling you a lot since you're uh you're the councilman at large uh just the way I did with uh councilman uh Charles Cobb and I look forward to working with you I also want to say there's this quote and I was a strategic planner and I worked with the State Department of Health in New York and the public health Council and their state hospital review and planning Council and the quote is attributed to Mark Twain but it's really not him there are lies damn lies and statistics so what's the point the point is you can make things look the way you want them to look there are two sides to every story there are two sides to every coin and so I would like to say there were things that were said tonight that I don't believe uh the other side of the coin was shared uh but in the interest of time and in the interest of Celebration I will save them to the next city council meeting thank you thank you good evening Harris rag 511 Hamilton Avenue Englewood New Jersey congratulations Lisa congratulations Ken Mayor Michael ws and dant to um first I would like to acknowledge um the awesome job of our fire department and police department did with their toy drive I took a lot of man man hours to put this together and put a lot of smiles on on children's faces which was really good I spent all the afternoon with them so I know what what they had to do it was a little disappointing that not one member from our governing body showed up even to take a a picture for one minute that's disappointing I wasn't going to come up here and talk about anything but something that Ken said I want to address it we have developers remedy because we did not do our job in the two pass master plans affordable housing was addressed in the 2014 master plan and the 2004 master plan so that put us in where we have developers remedy using to the hall as a reference a $40 million home no a developer will not look at that what developers are looking at is my neighborhood Hamilton Avenue why would I spend 40 million when I could buy 20 homes for 20 million and have more space to build so they're not looking uphill they're looking downhill that's where the problem exists my issue is and you could put your numbers together however you want to put the numbers I have my way of putting numbers together based on what our past criteria that we didn't never met and our current that is coming up 2025 which is according to City documents says 547 more so that's how people come up with the 5,000 number if that represents 15 or 20% to be built that's how they came up with that number but no nobody will buy the East Hill they will come down into the neighborhoods of the where we live and try to buy those properties every week I get two telephone calls two text messages I want to buy your house I praise you at home so they were out there they're working on it whether they they they're working at a slow pace but they're working on it so don't feel that to the hall in comparison to downhill it's two different things we talking about don't you Tut hle as a reference nobody is going to buy tutor hole all right um another thing um you know what I'll leave that for another time to just like her congratulations to everyone thank thank you for your comments Amy Bullock Englewood New Jersey congratulations to all um I just want to piggyback on what horrus said they're not going to buy tutor Hall but I get text messages and postcards in the mail on a regular basis looking to buy my house we know that wide's corner is being looked at to increase um the building Heights and in order to do that you've got to tear down and rebuild what's there so it's not the east side of town that they're looking at it's the west side where the properties are undervalued and they look specifically for people who may have have passed on and their kids are looking to sell and this is what's happening on our side of town um that was just an add-on what I really came to the mic to say is that council president Lisa wasi you and I had a conversation and you said you support a community center and I asked you to tell everybody that not just me and you did that tonight so I want to thank you for that um it is important that the public understands where each of you stand on these positions and having conversations with us one off is great and wonderful but you have to be an advocate for yourself also and it means more when it comes directly from you so thank you thank you I just want to say good evening to everybody and congratulations to everybody I'm juel shears and I just basically want to make a statement and I heard the mayor when he's basically mentioned that you know about the land over problem I still have not heard anything in reference to what's going on with Denny Park you know what was found there you know what are they plan to do you know how much contamination is back there you know supposedly they were supposed to shut that building down now we're being told that they may be open up and decide to build so how can they build if that area is still contaminated back there and like I said you know and I can talk later at another time thank you does anyone else from the public wish to speak okay I wasn't going to come to the mic but me and councilman Wilson had a really great conversation the other day um after our church service um first and foremost council president shaim um engood New Jersey Council president Lisa wasowski I heard everything you said and I as somebody who believes in public service I charge you with getting all of those things done I know it's not going to be easy but I appreciate you having a full Ros things that need to get done in the city and I appreciate you with taking those things to task and I hope that your leadership will be one that actually can transform the city to accomplish all those things so you know the community is rooting for you whatever you do is a success for our community um but me and councilman was uh councilman Wilson had a really long conversation the other day and I thought I felt very compelled to address this um a member on this Das called me a word that was just so utterly inappro appropriate knowing it wasn't true um to R up his community R up his base to get folks to be my enemy um I don't come to this mic holding no grudges against anyone me and councilwoman wasas have had differen opinion me and councilman Wilson has had a difference opinion plenty of times and we get back to table but the mayor said in a public meeting not once but twice that I was anti-semitic and it truly hurt me because I have Jewish friends one of my my closest friends is Jewish what happened on October 7th was a a travesty and the mayor knows time and time again when folks in our community have said inappropriate things to Mayor particularly anti-semitic things the May and I have have had amazing conversations about how to get across those lines when when folks have come up here and called councilwoman wasoski inappropriate names she knows I have dis to her because we cannot live in a city where folks are anti- one another but for the mayor and his positioning to say it not once but twice to R up his b it really compelled me to say what is your plan here why are you calling Young Folks and and anyone who doesn't look like your a name that you know is not true I know I'm not going to get an apology I don't expect apology but in 2025 I just ask members of this Council and I think councilman Wilson said it best we have to lead the city more unified we cannot continue to do what we did in 2024 this city only can be more fractured if folks on this Di don't take the charge to be better for our community members and be better for our city and so I I'm charging the council president who I hope is going to do a great job she's laid out a great platform and a great plan to make sure the city come together and I I hope the mayor truly truly truly stops using language like that but actually gets our community together and under your leadership you are the longest Serv mayor you know every five corners of this city actually come together and build a city that's unified and just and everyone can live here in the future thank you anybody else from the public who like to speak okay I'm now going to close the public session we're now going to have Mr M Mr Dey um pant is going to lead the God Bless America God bless us America land that I love stand beside her and guide her with the light from the night from above from the oceans to the Prairies to sorry from to the oceans white with foam God bless all [Music] America my home sweet home sorry about that thank you that was beautiful de wasn't feeling well and he came and he sat this whole meeting through what a wonderful gentleman thank you okay and now for the closing benediction I'm going to call up Rabbi Mark Wilds from the Manhattan Jewish experience and the mayor's brother uh Happy New Year everyone um just a closing benediction uh for this really uh momentous occasion in the city of Anglewood uh almighty God uh bless my brother Mayor Michael wilds and all of the distinguished members of government of this great city of Anglewood that they may do their work in a spirit of wisdom kindness compromise and Justice help them use their authority to serve faithfully and to promote the general welfare Mayor Michael may your leadership serve as an elevation of the soul of our beloved father Leon Wilds whose first anniversary of his passing we just commemorated thank you our father loved this country and was extremely proud of you both as for your work as an attorney as an immigration lawyer in The Firm that he established and of your leadership and your service fifth time now as mayor here in Anglewood may God bless all of you with many years of strength to continue your work on behalf of the city and in do doing so bring great honor to our father's memory thank you God bless you all thank you do any the loc call to adjourn to okay can I have a motion to adjourn the meeting so move second okay roll call please I all in favor okay oh listen um the very important announcement on our next council meeting is on on Tuesday coming up just in a few days the public session is going to start at 8 pm we're going to have a close session at 7 p.m. and I'm just going to ask all the council members to please be on time we're going to have professionals there we need to start promptly at 7 no we need to we need to start promptly at 7 and then the public session we will start the public session promptly at 8 that's for the whole year and that's for the whole year thank you --------- ##VIDEO ID:OuKaFHLjAx0## good evening good evening and happy New Year to all uh my name is Kevin Wilson council president protim I will be sitting in officiating for the time being until we do our reor meeting and at this particular time we're going to call up our police chief Mr Tom gy and he will lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance good evening Chief evening to honor America I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all thank you Chief and at this particular um segment in the program it gives me great honor to um bestow upon us Mr pad he's going to lead us through the National Anthem with his beautiful voice please rise oh say can you see by the dawn's early light what so proudly we hail at the Twilight last gleaming who's brought stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight all the ramp parts we watch were so gallantly streaming and the rocket red glare the bombs bursting in air gave proof through the night that our flag was still there oh s does that star spangled bner yet with over the land of the free and the home of the [Music] [Applause] bra thank you Miss massan um every time I hear it it sounds like it's the first time great job we appreciate that um and I would like to have the rabbi to our invocation uh a v block of Caso Community synagogue good evening sir members of the city council fellow residents of Englewood Mr Mayor ladies and gentlemen it is my distinct honor to offer an invocation and a prayer this evening at our reorganization meeting on behalf of the public servants who sit before us who dedicate their time and effort on all of our behalf and in particular particular in honor of my dear friend Dan toer who was sworn in this evening as englewood's newest council member I had the privilege of offering a prayer at these meetings before for members of our community but before Dan was my councilman before he was even my congregant he was my friend I've known Dan toer for as long as I've been alive growing up in the same neighborhood on Long Island and attending the same Jewish Day School he spent many many sabbaths at our home I've known all along what so many others have come to know and as he takes his seat here as a servant of the community what so many more here in Englewood will soon Know Dan is a good friend a trusted Confidant and an altogether excellent neighbor he and I are also both part of a very exclusive Club we're both sons of rabbis Dan father was an Air Force chaplain serving in Japan served with distinction and actually returned to Japan after his service for many years as the only Rabbi in that entire country Dan has already helped me a great deal both personally and professionally always there with his Sage advice and his Steady Hand he is a shining example of everything a public servant should be I have every confidence that he will conduct his work with the kind of Grace wisdom and commitment to others that are an inspiration to all who cross his path and despite the adversity and pressure that come with the role I know he will manage to do it all with his trademark warmth good humor and infectious smile as Dan's Rabbi I've been privileged to see all these qualities brought to bear in the service of our synagogue community and its members in the very same ways that they will now be for the residents of Englewood as a whole and we are all the better for it simply put Dan Dan and his family deserve every conceivable blessing I am lucky to call him a friend and as all of you will soon learn you are lucky to call him your councilman a rebone father in Heaven master of the universe bestow strength wisdom and courage on my friend Dan toer and all the members of this Council may they perform their tasks with wisdom strength and courage may they be models and Shining examples for us all of what it means to be kind caring and compassionate may they almighty God love their Community as you do and may the work they do bring the city of Englewood closer together in love and in mutual respect as we say in a passage in our Sabbath morning prayers which though centuries old could have been written for just such an occasion those who Faithfully occup occupy themselves with the needs of the community may almighty God grant them reward may he remove from them all illness may he grant them healing may he forgive their sins and may He bestow blessing and success upon all of their handiwork together with all of their Brethren and let us all say Amen thank you Rabbi ker for your for your heartfelt comments for our new councilman and large and at this moment in the program we will have our illustrious mayor no I have to do the statement first I have I have to read the statement first okay hold on one second Mr W there okay right okay if the city clerk if you would please read into public records thank you yansy this meeting is called pursuant to the provisions of the open public meetings law notice of this meeting was included in a notice sent to the record and the Star Ledger and advertis and said newspapers on December 26 2024 posted on the bulletin board in municipal building and has remained continuously posted as the required notices under the statute a copy of this notice isn't has been available to the public and is on file in the office of the municipal clerk proper notice having been given the municipal clerk is directed to include the statement in the minutes of this meeting thank you thank you Anie and now mayor he would administrate the oath of office to uh a newly elected councilman at large Mr Tokyo I swore in or promoted today several firefighters and it's kind of awkward to be on the recipient of this um councilman Wilson I'm going to be sworn now and then we'll have our Senator us swearing Mr to I'm G to ask my son Josh Wilds to step forward somebody I look up to for obvious reasons and this is his daughter Abby and I'll ask my wife Amy to come forward also this is the Kish the Bible that was in my grandfather's home um my my son Josh carries his Hebrew name and it's a big honor for us to have this here okay I be hold my put this front Okay it close to me I Michael Wilds I Michael Wilds do hereby affirm do hereby affirm 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 and I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same 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 of the city of Anglewood of the city of Anglewood further I do affirm further I do affirm that I will faithfully impartially and justly that I will faithfully impartially and justly perform all duties perform all duties of the position of the position of Mayor of the city of Anglewood of Mayor of the city of Anglewood according to the best of my ability according to the best of my ability so help me God so help me God congratulations thank you good okay thank you go you want come with come with me okay he's next yes and please forgive me anytime I see administration of oath uh mayor W has been doing it for so long I'm just used to him doing it but this time he didn't have to swear himself in so thank you Josh for I'm helping us out there and uh so next we have councilman at large elect Dan tokia and he will be sworn in by our New Jersey senator Mr Gordon Johnson [Applause] for me yeah m we have to set this up you just you to stand over here because left hand's on the yeah you need a microphone like that that good wait wait you need a mic I need a microne someone want to hold the micophone I I I can talk loud it's okay okay ready I state your name I Dan toer do do hereby affirm do hereby affirm that I'll support the Constitution that I'll support the Constitution of the United States of the United States and the Constitution and the constitution of the state of New Jersey of the state of New Jersey and that I will bear true faith and I will bear truth faith and Allegiance and allegiance to the same to the same to the governments established to the governments EST 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 of the city of Englewood the city of Anglewood further further I do affirm I do affirm I will Faithfully I will faithfully impartially impartially and justly and justly perform all the duties perform all the duties of the position of the position of councilman at large councilman at large for the city of Inglewood for the city of Englewood according to according to the best of my the best of my ability so help me guide so help me guide congratulations good job guys the photo e thank you Senator we appreciate you taking time out to come back home again and swearing our new council president and congratulations to our new council president and to uh reelection of the mayor congratulations at this point um this is where we will do the elections for our new uh council president and oh theer ah clerk will you please call the RO please councilwoman David councilman Rosen here councilman toer here councilman Wilson present councilwoman wiski present also present is Mayor Michael wild city manager Robert S Hoffman Deputy city manager John Berkner City attorney Bill Bailey CFO Michael calman and city engineer France FY amongst others thank you yansy so now at this point the mayor will conduct the elections of the council president for 2025 I don't okay I will in a second all right musical chairs is over uh ladies and gentlemen I first would like to acknowledge uh some of our more special uh dignitaries and guests today of course our City's first lady my wife Amy thank you sweetheart for joining us uh my son Josh and his wife uh Vicky uh my little one here Abby my granddaughter and her brother Charlie and my in-laws the messers thank you Mom and Dad for joining us um to our to our hold the Clapping if you don't mind usually people don't clap for motherin-law so Rec um I also want to acknowledge the presence of my dear brother Rabbi Mark Wilds uh who joins us from uh the island of Manhattan um to those that I'm sitting here with the councilman toer uh Dr raski uh to miss David to Mr Wilson to Dr rosenke I look forward to working with you and to your families that join us as well Mr Hoffman our city manager John Berkner our Deputy manager to our police chief Tom gley and our Deputy Chief Matt L Roa thank you gentlemen for joining us Jeff Kaplan our fire chief Michael cman uh calman our CFO to Scott redina a former counsel Bill Bailey our attorney thank you Mr Bailey Gill larte and David Bernell two leaders not just from our library but from the Spanish part of our community Doug burn a former councilman and a freeloader a Freeholder uh and a dear friend uh France saly our city engineer who joins us and those representatives of the municipal committee Dey pant Peter Jansen Vicky Barnett and Walter Young to Stacy rosenke from our Library Amy bulock thank you for your service also this past two years as my representative uh to uh Adam Brown from the board of adjustment thank you Adam for joining us to John Bang from the Democratic chair of the District 37 a dear friend and colleague to Mr Lita frel who is really the mayor of the city before and after me who just about held every important station from the Women's Club the rotary and so forth Ralph Shermer who works dutifully with our Senator Senator of course we're honored by your presence and of course the pastors that join us Pastor Beach and Rabbi block to Dr Josh gly who's been very helpful to securing Homeland Security funds for many of our houses of worship to his lovely wife um who joins us every week uh at our planning board members and is formerly the chair of my uh environmental commission Chelsea to Alan lurman a member of the uh planning board and Chris Gagliardi uh who is a fixture not just in coffee with the mayor every Friday with his colleague Diane Jansen of course who joins us for the last five years every Friday at 11 o'clock on the library and of course to Shan Warren the director of our Recreation Department each of you are to be regaled because this is a special moment for you you've made 2024 shine and as we go forward in the year 2025 we can't do this without you we thank you for your presence that spelled ENT during the year and ennce this evening thank you um at this time I would like to take nominations uh for council president 2025 I nominate Dr Lisa wasi one nomination for Dr wski I second and a second for Dr wski are there any other nominations there being no other nominations I close the nominations and I ask a call of the vote someone make a motion another motion I move that Dr Lisa wasoski be appointed council president for the year 2025 there being a motion on the floor is there a second I second Mr toare Seconds the motion before we cast the rooll we will be taking a break after this ladies and gentlemen um and I would urge everybody if you wanted to stay for the state of the city address to do so uh at your own uh choice of course yansy councilwoman David yes councilman Rosen yes councilman toer yes councilman Wilson yes councilwoman wasi yes congratulations [Applause] uh Dr rotski will now be sworn in by her daughter also an attorney I don't know where we going but congratulations TR again iisa wasi iisa wasi do hereby swear do hereby affirm or affirm that I will support that I will support the Constitution the Constitution of the United States of the United States and the Constitution and the constitution of the state of New Jersey of the state of New Jersey and that I will bear true faith and that I will bear true faith and Allegiance and allegiance to the same to the same and to the government and to the government established in the United States established in the United States and in this state and in this state Under The Authority Under the authority of the people of the people of the city of engelwood of the city of Anglewood further further I do affirm I do affirm that I will Faithfully that I will faithfully impartially impartially and justly and justly perform all the duties perform all the duties of the position of the position of council president of council president according to the best of my ability according to the best of my ability [Applause] she thank you leave some bottles got it okay I will now receive motion to elect the president pro 10 nominations first oh sorry I will now accept the nomination for president protm I nominate Ken Rosen I'll second Dr Rosen swag are there any other nominations okay can I have a motion to elect Dr Ken Rosen swag as president proem I need a motion motion motion okay can I have a second second thank you roll call yansy councilwoman David yes councilman roseno yes councilman to yes councilman Wilson yes councilwoman wasi yes [Applause] that he's getting a lot of work today no I don't think this we just affir okay I state your name I Kenneth Rosen swag to hereby affirm to hereby affirm that I will support the Constitution that I will support the Constitution of the United States of the United States and the Constitution and the constitution of the state of New Jersey of the state of New Jersey and that I will bear true faith and that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same and allegiance to the same and to the governments and to the governments lished in the United States established in the United States and in this state and in this state Under The Authority Under the authority of the people of the people of the city of Anglewood of the city of Anglewood further I do affirm further I do affirm that I will Faithfully that I will faithfully impartially impartially and justly perform and justly perform all the duties all the duties of the position of of the position of council president protm council president protm according to the best of my ability ACC according to the best of my abilities so help me God so help me God congratulations thank you [Applause] o okay congratulations i' I now like to ask any elected officials or D dignitaries that would like to make of some remarks to to just uh come to the microphone such as the senator I guess I have to face them have to face them good evening everyone and uh Happy New Year I've only lived in Englewood for about 70 years so I've been around for a long time uh police officer and uh sheriff and Military and and now in the legislature but uh uh this is an important day as all swearing is Orbin but in this case this is an opportunity to have uh the council really work together to make Englewood a better place to be and the people uh here who have a quality of life now for the most part but that can be improved so working together uh we will uh achieve that and I say we we at the state will be helping you the county will be helping you always work together to serve our our towns in a 37th District um and for Dan uh I've made contact with a few uh ministers already uh from churches in town they've agreed to have sit down and have some meetings I know you want to do that so we we'll continue doing that we'll meet together and uh continue to uh hear get their input what's important to them and you can bring it back here to the council so council president congratulations to you and U I'll close with that so thank [Applause] you all right any other elected officials or dignitaries that would like to make a remark otherwise we'll call a recess should we take a 15 10 we'll take a 10 minute recess their refr their Refreshments in the back and um and we'll reconvene in 10 minutes