##VIDEO ID:DVq7xRc4Yik## e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e sorry good evening everyone Madame Clerk we're up to okay so it's up to you VIN thank you mayor uh first um on for tonight is a private outdoor video security camera registry ordinance this is an ordinance that uh we're seeking to have voluntary registration of cameras throughout the city of private like it'll be a public and private partnership eventually uh uh after registration we we hope that we can have it where they uh may be able to provide a live feed to help us um in our new Command Center um also on tonight is the Johnson Park Sports facility phase three Bond ordinance um hopefully this will be the uh last Bond ordinance that we have to do for this project um but it's uh getting ready to go out to bid and move forward and we just just uh want to make sure all the funding is in place third is a final change order for completed City projects those projects include John Earl build the John Earl building we're closing those out as well as some intersection improvements uh throughout the cting uh last that I have is uh we also have on tonight a cannabis manufacturing ordinance which is a new um title of the ordinance Steve if you want to comment on it yeah just uh sorry just to briefly sort of put on the record what the what we're doing here as everybody knows we now have a successful cannabis uh dispensary known as the hashery we have our first cannabis cultivation facility that I believe has uh received planning board approval and uh I want to say it's like 286 Loi I think is the address and and should be moving forward to actually beginning operations and generating Revenue um so after discussion it was uh believed that um we should allow for two cannabis manufacturing licenses in the same location the industrial part of the city where we are allowing cannabis cultivation we also have at least one cannabus um cultivation license that remains um unclaimed so that's available as well so um you know if this ordinance is approved um there will be um potentially up to two cannabis cultivators and up to two cannabis manufacturers or they can be the same in the same facility the way the ordinance is designed you can have two licenses so theoretically you could uh grow it in one part of the facility and manufacture it in the other part of the facility provided you meet all of the conditions um so uh and obviously um anyone who would come into town would have to you know receive state lure go through a process regarding security and you know ensuring that they're qualified there's a very elaborate process that the state has to be licensed to provide any cannabis um Services um of any class within the city but um you know I'll point out I mean since the hasher is opened at least as far as I'm aware of we've had no concerns no complaints from anybody in the community um we put it in in an appropriate location it seems to be doing successfully we're generating you know quite a bit of tax revenue so um so this would just allow us to expand those operations to a slightly different type of cannabis entity thank you uh last but not least uh CSO storm order and parts update I'll ask that our city engineer Chris Reon come up good evening everybody jumping into our major city projects uh overview uh this list is unchanged since last uh since last meeting um and then we'll get into the individual projects our current uh combined sewer separation project is the Anderson Street drainage area project we are currently uh working between James Street and Barry Street along Railroad Avenue and uh next uh box uh uh manhole um connection chamber to be installed will be at the intersection of Barry and Railroad Avenue we are on schedule for uh completing the sewers installation um later this month so we're really in the home stretch it's a it's a great thing for the residents here and um then we will be completing final restoration um by the end of November in other sewer contracts we are working on the East Kennedy uh Pump Station generator the generator's delivery is uh later in December and the automatic transfer switch won't be arriving until February but we have been getting going with the preparations for the site with electrical conduit and uh the generator pad and catwalk that has been completed uh as as our uh another project that we are uh working on is the Green Street or post di flood Hazard mitigation project again these are some of the lowest areas in the city shown in uh the red area uh this is a supplement to the srf or State uh clean water State revolving fund um funded projects shown in green that the city has been pursuing and continues to pursue um the area outlined in red uh adds about 80 acres of storm water uh separation and and uh um combined sewer separation and storm water projects improvements and we are in the process of uh preparing the preliminary design for the pump station for uh this area as well as finalizing the models to um evaluate the possible addition of South Newman Street area to this project area while we're talking uh sewers and uh and flooding it's just a reminder to the public to check your Backwater valves if you have one on your house um it would only be required if you do have fixtures that are lower than the grade of the uh of the manholes in the street uh so this is something that you should be evaluating and being attentive to maintain uh such a valve uh if your home has one as uh it's really critical when the sewer um may have uh uh surcharge or or backup conditions it'll protect your house um from water entering through your sewer Connection in Parks we are uh still working to wrap up the polyfly Park drainage project we have completed the inlets and piping on site the uh site restoration has been completed at the Hiller school at the top of theill Hill and uh today we uh completed a test pit in polyfly uh to uh confirm the location of uh of utility Crossings here there are a significant number of utilities here there's two uh telephone duct Banks there's gas there's storm water and there's sewer um all that we're trying to to cross to get to our manhole we do have a um we will be able to make this connection but the test pits were necessary as the historic records were uh inconclusive about the specific location of the utilities and so now based with this now now with this information um as a basis we'll uh we'll wrap up our our final design um uh for this connection and uh complete this project in roads and traffic we are currently working on the prospect to pedestrian safety project this is a uh dot funded project it includes a new crosswalk at Atlantic Street and pedestrian Crossing signals at Thompson Street and Atlantic Street as well as Ada ramps um prominent feature is the bump outs um uh they're a little bit hard to see but in the bottom right image of the intersection with uh Prospect and Atlantic uh there will be bump outs for The Pedestrian Crossings which really does significantly um Enhanced Driver's abilities to see pedestrians waiting to cross uh and um and pedestrian safety at at those locations so in this project we um we have started uh just recently we're working the concrete work is uh uh is underway and the signal equipment will be shipping uh later this month and that's what I have if you have any questions on anything that I haven't covered here I I got a question for instance across the city the utility company they are making the Tren to install gas line water lines psng is doing the same who is monitored that when we got a street that was paid maybe two years ago when the utility company they finish are they going to pay curve to curve yes half of the tree or what they do have to pay curb to curb uh that would be uh through our excavation permit program that that gets monitored but who going to be like in chat make sure that going to happen that this company they going to walk away and the three they going to look the way they look right now the the parties that are doing this excavation have to post bonds for the work that's uh that's being performed if they don't uh and and our Consultants do monitor that practice um if they do not perform we have those performance bonds to go back to okay the other thing is what about the P station do we have a maintenance program that we going to go with a program to monitor that the particular program got the sensors and that way they let you know how the pump station they working are we going to go with that kind of program or who is do the maintenance and who is controlling these pump stations uh the the pumping stations are under the control of our licensed operator Ryan Westra um and uh and maintained by DP W Sewer Department that's it and um we but there there are uh number of improvements that uh that have been recommended and and are being implemented one of those is um the reporting of alarms and uh condition of operations at those stations and that's something that uh that our office is uh is uh implementing right now with the help of the it you think that good enough do we think it's good enough MH I I we we need to get into the number of inputs uh and outputs that we want it's it's possible that uh there may be more to the program than what's currently proposed I think it's I think it's it's an EXC it's I think this is an EXC this is something that we've been needing for a while in the city um so it's it's great that this is is getting going and getting underway and uh you know the reporting of uh of data um to our operators and and to be reporting remotely on the condition of those uh of the operations for those stations is is really very important because sometime I find out that physically you have to be there and make sure that the P station is working and that happen in a weekend or in the middle of the night do we need somebody physically to be there to make sure that the pump is working with the with the remote alarms we will have that ability that that decision- making capability um and that's the case presently as well when when we have an alarm condition an assessment gets made to go check out that alarm an operator does typically get called out uh if a station is alarming and uh and we'll determine what the cause of that alarm uh is and I think we had to replace one of the stations in the other corner of the city right by K the street I'm sorry I didn't hear that with that we're going to replace the pump station by keny Street generator no they got to repay the pump too there there is there is a need to to work on the pumps there yes mhm that's got to go out the bid mil and a half yeah a big job how many how many pumps are in there three three three and two two one needs to be overhauled other needs okay all right okay thank you anybody else want to have a question for Chris no thank you Chris thank you that's all I have okay that I need a motion to open to the public please offer second all in favor I I None opposed anyone from the public who' like to speak now please come forward good evening mayor and the count City Council of hackin saac um my name is Michael torelli I am the union representative for ibw local 1158 ibw 1158 represents both the police and fire dispatchers SLU safety telecommunicators for the city of hackensac first we want to take a moment to thank the city manager Vincent Caruso and his staff for working to achieve a fair and balanced negotiation you should know that city manager Caruso was fair and honest in his dealings with ibw and the negotiating committee the reason I'm I'm before you is because the result of those negotiations has stalled on June 25th 2024 according to resolution number 23824 the city council approved the Collective bwing Agreement between the city and ibw local 1158 since that date there has been constant communication via email and phone calls to execute the contract but as of today's date the contract remains unresolved in the meantime the implementation of the 12-hour Pitman schedule for both fire and police dispatchers has commenced the dispatchers are working with vastly new schedule however the annual salary increases adjustments and retroactive payments have not occurred we are respectfully requesting that the mayor and the city council intervene so that this contract can be finalized and that our members your employees who have been working tirelessly for the citizens of hackensac can receive their raises and retroactive pay we would further request that since we are now more than 3ars of the way through the year that the retray be issued in a separate check so that the members can realize some of the fruits of their labor without being overly taxed as will happen if this retro and salary adjustments are lumped together in one check thank you for your time stay safe and stay well thank you Michael any comments on that need um I've been we there there is a stall right now and the the what we're working on is I'm working with the CFO um there's some contract contract language that needs to be fixed um postou um and there's also some uh discrepancies with the um the what is it vacation uh the way the vacation is written out and also the salary guides right the steps me if you if you don't mind yeah briefly the um the mayor and Council uh ratified the contract several meetings ago part of the ratification was anou a memorandum of understanding attached to theou that you passed was a salary guide okay uh we took that salary guide and we calculated all the uh salary increases in the Retros according to that guide when we got a copy of the contract which is supposed to mean near the the salary guide was different um we brought that to the attention of the Union uh they sent us a corrected version the corrected version is also different than the mou um and that's why we haven't settled it yet um but it's uh city manager and I just talked about this this morning uh send an email to the labor attorney he's asked for a meeting tomorrow internally for us to put the salary issue to bed so yeah can we expedite this and and what about the question of separating the checks is that possible Well everybody's under direct deposit you know do checks anymore there are no more paper checks everything is is done via direct deposit okay may Mike want to say something go ahead Mike uh mayor I'm sorry um real um we have been shown in the past that regardless of paper check direct deposit that direct deposit can be done in two separate deposits as well right um so even if um someone's getting direct deposit there should be two different transfers one of their regular pay and one of the Retro is that possible can we do that no we could we can definitely look into itk do our best thank you appr thanks thank you thank you very [Music] much anyone else in the public seeing none motion to close offer second all in favor I I okay we have to late o clock you can close both the executive and the C all right Steve you want to speak first yes in uh closed executive session as usual we did talk about uh ongoing litigation including um the Ramirez case the ongoing affordable housing litigation the Donell Prince litigation um and the ongoing litigation longstanding involving police chief zesa I believe that's it thank you motion to close the executive session offer second all in favor I I None opposed motion to oppose the council to hold offering second all in favor I I None opposed okay see everybody at8 e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e Beth I just heard the door give him a minute just he's right there give him a minut good evening everybody Madam clerk this meeting is being held in accordance with the open public meeting act nj10 col 4-6 at SEC notice of which was sent to the record in the Star Ledger and was posted on the municipal bulleon board roll call council member Von rudenberg here Deputy Mayor krino here council member baglia here council member car here mayor lebros here would everybody please rise for the flag salute I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all thank you okay okay I do have one proclamation to read before we start our new business this evening Office of the mayor of the city of hackin saac whereas breast cancer affects hundreds of thousands of women and thousands of men annually whereas breast cancer is typically detected either during a screening examination before symptoms have developed or after symptoms have developed when a man or woman feels a lump and whereas breast cancer is about 100 times more common in women than men and women are increased risk as they get older and whereas breast cancer is often hereditary in individuals whose family history puts them at increased risk for breast cancer should discuss with their doctor or qualified health professional the proper prevention and early diagnosis strategies and whereas since the early 1990s the pink ribbon handed out and spread by the Susan G Coman Foundation has been the symbol for the fight against breast caner breast cancer and whereas October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month an opportunity to increase awareness of the disease and to encourage individuals to have a plan to detect the disease in its early stages and whereas it is vital that those affected by cancer have access to quality affordable care and that research of all forms of breast cancer continue to be vigorously supported now therefore I John P Bross Jr mayor of the city of hackensac along with members of the city council do hereby recognize the month of October as Breast Cancer Awareness Month in the city of hackensac thank you okay there's no minutes to approve so we'll go right to the city manager's report thank you mayor the city of hackin sack pumpkin carving contest is back to enter submit a photo of your carving the pumpkin and a photo of the Finish carving to contest at hackensack.org along with your name age address and phone number all pumpkins will be posted on social media for residents to vote on submission deadline is October 31st winners will be announced November 1st the slam dunk the junk event will take place in Atlantic Street park on October 26th from 9:00 a.m to 1 p.m. to register visit hackensack.org slam no registrations will be taken on site the city of hackensac will be holding the free annual children's Halloween party from 12:00 p.m. to 2: p.m. on October 26th at the Eminem building the recreation center featuring a variety show and the annual costume parade around the neighborhood hackensac Junior wrestling registration is open the deadline to register is November 1st the last day to register to vote before the November general election is October 15th 2024 you can register to vote online or by PayPal applications which are available outside the clerk's office early voting will be held on October 26th through November 3rd at One Bergen County Plaza that's it mayor thank you start with new business you ready dab y resolution 34124 this is a resolution for final adoption of ordinance number 37224 an ordinance to amend chapter 170 of the code of the city of hackensac vehicles and traffic to add no parking on Park Street at Barry Street this ordinance has been published according to law now calls for public hearing need a motion to open to the public oh second all in favor I I None opposed anybody who' like to speak to the this ordinance and this ordinance only please come forward seeing no members of the public motion to close offer second all in favor I I motion to adopt the ordinance offer second all in favor I I None opposed be resolved by the city council the city of Hain County of berg state of New Jersey that ordinance number 37224 has pass a second fin reading and is hereby adopted thank you resolution 3 42-24 this is a resolution for the final adoption of ordinance number 38-22 24 an ordinance to amend chapter 170 of the code of the city of hackensac vehicles and traffic to add a new handicap parking space in section 49.2 parking for the handicap Ross Avenue this ordinance has been published according to law and now calls for a public hearing need a motion to open to the public offer second all in favor I I I None opposed anyone who' like to speak to this ordinance in this ordinance only please come forward seeing no members from the public motion to close offer second all in favor I I None opposed motion to adopt the ordinance offer second all in favor I I None opposed be resolved by the city council of the city of hackin County of Bergen state of New Jersey that ordinance number 38-22 24 has passed a second and final reading and is hereby adopted thank you resolution 3 43-24 this is a resolution for final adoption of ordinance 39224 an ordinance to amend an update chapter 32 of the code of the city of hackin police department to establish the position of chief of police in the departmental table of organization this or this ordinance has been published according to law and now calls for a public hearing need a motion please offer second all in favor I I we have one abstain we need a roll call my bad sorry j it's okay okay so council member Von rudenberg I Deputy Mayor Canino I council member Paglia I council member carolain m Ross I okay motion to open the public offer motion to motion to adopt the ordinance motion to close wait a minute wait a minute we're got totally lost the motion that we just did was the motion to open to the public okay so now you need if anybody want anybody from the public would like to speak to this ordinance and this ordinance only please come forward seeing nobody motion to close to the public offer second all in favor noer council member Von rudenberg I Deputy Mayor Cino I council member Paglia I council member Carol stay May AB Rost I my bad now you need a motion to adop motion to adopt the ordinance offer second council member Von rudenberg hi Deputy Mayor krino hi council member Paglia hi council member carolain May Le BR hi be resolved by the city council of the city of hackensac County Bergen and state of New Jersey that ordinance number 39224 has passed his second and final reading and is hereby adopted thank you resolution 34424 this is a resolution for introduction of ordinance number 40-22 and ordinance amending chapter 32 of the code of the city of hackin act Police Department to establish a new article entitled private outdoor video surveillance security camera register need a motion offer second roll call council member Von rudenberg hi Deputy Mayor krino hi council member baglia I council member Carol stain mayor Le Bros hi be resolved that the above ordinance being ordinance 40-22 24 as introduced is now passed on first reading and the set ordinance shall be considered for final passage at a meeting to be held on October 22nd 2024 at 8:00 p.m. or as soon thereafter as the matter can be reached at the regular meeting place of the city council and at such time and place a person's interest to be given an opportunity to be heard concerning set ordinance and that the city clerk being she is hereby authorized and directed to publish set ordinance according to law with a notice if it's introduction and passage on first reading and of the time and place when and where said ordinance will be further considered for final passage thank you resolution 345-2425 excuse me hackin saac in the county of Bergen state of New Jersey appropriating $88,500 th000 therefore including federal funds received from the American Rescue plan Act of 2021 in the amount of $2,375 and including funds available in the city's cash Reserve in the amount of $2 million and authorizing the issuance of $ 3,932 th000 in bonds or notes of the city to finance part of the cost thereof need a motion please second roll call council member Von rudenberg hi Deputy Mayor canestrino hi council member vaglia hi council member Carol no May Le bruss I be resolved that the above ordinance being ordinance 41-22 is introduced is now pass on first reading and that said ORD should be considered final passage at a meeting to be held on October 22nd at 8:00 P p.m or as soon thereafter as the matter can be reached at the regular meeting place of the city council and at such time in place all persons interest to be given an opportunity to be heard concerning said ordinance and that the city clerk B and she is hereby authorized and directed to publish said ordinance according to law with the notice of its introduction and passage on first reading and of the time and place when and where set ordinance will be further considered for final passage thank you resolution 34624 a resolution for the introduction of ordinance number 42-22 24 and ordinance to amend chapter 175 zoning of the code of the city of hackin act to allow for two Class 2 cannabis manufacturing licenses pursuant to the New Jersey cannabis regulatory enforcement assistance and Marketplace modernization act need a motion please aesome second all in favor I Iain we have one abstain so I need a roll call council member Von rudenberg hi Deputy Mayor krino hi council member Paglia a council member Carol I may AB BR I be it resolved at the above ordinance being ordinance 42 -224 is introduced as now pass on first reading and that said ORD shall be considered for final passage at a meeting to be held on October 22nd 2024 at 8:00 p.m. or as soon thereafter as the matter can be reached at the regular meeting place of the city council and at such time and place all persons interested be given an opportunity to be heard concerning set ordinance and that the city clerk being she is hereby authorized and directed to publish set ordinance according to law with a notice of its introduction and passage on first reading and of the time of place one and where a set ordinance will be further considered for final passage thank you resolution 34724 this is a resolution authorizing the award of State contract for enhanced fluid Recovery Services for monitoring Wells located at fire headquarters need a motion motion second all in favor I I None opposed resolution 34824 a resolution awarding change order number one which is final to G Meyer group for 216 Union Street renovation project need a motion pleas offering second roll call council member Von rudenberg hi Deputy Mayor krino hi council member baglia hi council member Carol hi mayor Le bruss hi resolution 349241t new Prince construct Concrete Construction for intersection improvements at Summit Avenue Pake Street First Street Beach Street and First Street in Central Avenue okay any motion please offer second all in favor I I None opposed 350-2 24 say resolution authorizing the cancellation of stale and outstanding checks need a motion please offer second all in favor I I un opposed resolution 35124 it's a resolution authorization for cancellation of federal and state grant grant balances need a motion please offer second all in favor I I I None opposed resolution 352-243-6676 a motion offer second all in favor I I None opposed resolution 35424 a resolution authorizing payment of bills any a motion offer second roll call council member Von wenberg hi Deputy Mayor Cino hi council member baglia hi council member Carol hi May bruss hi I'm sorry I abstained the uh resolution anybody have any conflicts on the consent agenda none gentlemen none okay continue the following items are considered to be routine in nature and will be enacted in one motion any items requiring expenditure are supported by a certification of availability of funds any item requiring discussion will be removed from the consent agenda and consent agenda items will be will be reflected in full in the minutes including any exceptions Andor additions consists of resolution 355- 24 through 36 6 4-24 35524 is a resolution authorizing release of escro funds for Overlook First Street and Anderson Street resolution 35624 is a resolution authorizing release of performance bond for 103 Johnson resolution 35724 is a resolution authorizing memorandum of understanding for childhood Le exposure prevention project between Bergen County department of health services in the city of hackensac resolution resolution authorizing memorandum of understanding between Bergen County department of health services and the City of hackensac for a period of July 1 2024 to June 30th of 2025 resolution 359-2436 d24 is a resolution authorizing raffle licenses for Holy Trinity Church and the 300 Club resolution 36124 is a resolution approved Ming the recreation and open space inventory for filing with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Green Acres Program resolution 36224 is a resolution authorizing the settlement of the workers compensation matter filed for Ronaldo Rivera pending in the New Jersey Division of workers compensation case number 2022 d357 resolution 363-2497 resolution [Music] 364-2424 forward give your name to the clerk you will have three minutes we have a big crowd here so I'm going to hold everybody to the three minutes you can say it in the mic you could just speak to the mic sir I can start with I'm ready is it on I would hope so just tap on it see if y it's working app uh Sean holder coacher hackin saac good evening council members and hackin saac Community I'm here today to address a series of incidents involving one of our council members uh I wrote it up I wrote it up pretty nice but I like talking like that so I'm just going to explain to you my experiences with the councilman bagal over the last few weeks on September 12th the councilman tried to have my Royals Club removed from a field that we had the legal right to use the situation escalated to the point where the police had to intervene and after a thorough review the police determined that we were in the right to actually be able to continue our practice on that field we then moved to a moved to a second facility in order to complete our second practice and to our surprise the councilman actually followed us to another field in an attempt to continue to harass my staff and my players um a couple days later following that incident actually excuse me the second time when he followed us I had to call the police to get him removed so we had police intervention for two times on that day on September 12th as if that was not enough on September 16th that same councilman attended one of our high school soccer games to slander and berate not only me but my players as well on that day he referred to me using a term that negro remark that deeply offended me a deeply something I find unacceptable um he made further comments about my team he made comments about the skill and the appearance of my team his remarks towards me on September 16th was something he did in front of my comets friends and family that come to support our games those two incidents have been my recent experience with councilman baglia and I can only believe that his actions towards me are as a result of the color of my skin and the kids that I coach um I share this I I really didn't even want to come up but I share this because I I really do mean this I've managed to get to places and do things that a lot of people thought wasn't possible um I've had the opportunity to be in rooms that people thought I didn't belong in my days consist of long efforts to open doors and opportunities for kids in our soccer Community I thankful every day that my coaches my parents my players put their trust in me to do the right thing and going forward I really do hope that Hack and Sack can make us stand together in saying that this type of behavior is never okay um it's okay it's time to stop being comfortable that type of hatred and the man has beening me the man's been harassing me and I think it's time to we make that stand and I hope that the councilman can look me in the face and apologize to me tonight thank you very much thank you for the time thank [Applause] you next person please give your name to the clerk please hello my name is Nelissa zerella I um am here for the same concern I witnessed the foul language used by councilman baglia on September 16th where he has gone forward and search for our high school and Royal player parents to speak ill of Coach sea um I had wrote in I had rolled out that at pems high school I saw councilman bagia making derogatory comments about our goalkeeper on the hackin saac high school team during the second half with 15 minutes remaining on in the game Mr pagle approached the parent of a player on the hackin saac high school team in Spanish he began saying the coach Mr holder is blind and the goalkeeper from the team should be at least 5' 11 or at least have skills he continued and stated in Spanish a derogatory term that I do not want to repeat referencing his complexion um and that he then stated that he does not know what he is doing and doesn't have what it takes takes to make it as far as the top five for the district I addressed him stting he should not be making these racial comments towards Mr holder or speaking so negative negatively about the hackin sack students on the field I asked our city counselor why do you even attend games if you have no children who play at the high school level he stated that we are not in hackin sack that this is paramis and he is free to be at the game and say what he wants I'm in shock that an elected City official shows up to games to speak in such a derogatory manner about the children of the city he serves and show No Remorse when I called him a racist regarding the comments he made about Mr holder he did not try to apologize spoke about the color of his skin his lack of skill as a coach and his height his family was in attendance and at one point his grandson stood next to him while he defended his words and actions his son and councilman bala's wife sat in the SS and only moved off once the councilman exited the campus of the gates his family did not try to approach me or defend him and it is such a shame to hear this coming from an elected City official who should be in attendance supporting the children of the city he was elected to serve that is all thank [Applause] you good evening everyone I'm Dr Suzanne mullings I'm here on behalf of the Bergen County Black Caucus and I'm also here in support of councilman Carol whether he knows it or not uh the issue that was brought forth earlier um is very troubling not only in hacken sack but neighboring communities because this incident requires remediation at the very least the coach deserves an apology and rather than Mr Carol being removed from a slate that he shouldn't even want to be on you know you should be removed pending investigation because the council has to take action in a way that is suitable for the community and as the young lady before me said they deserve better and if this type of uh behavior is continued tolerated and deemed acceptable then I don't think that Hackensack or any other community will move forward because it is unacceptable you know what what happened you know it will be continue to be addressed until there's some resolution it won't be swept under the rug and taking him off the Slate is actually a good thing because I don't think anyone would want to support a slate that is going to Harbor someone who is demonstrating this type of behavior without without any dialogue repercussion or type of resolv so that the community can heal and move on thank you thank you next person please Bridget when I get a call from young people about a council person using derogatory language towards them that is very disturbing to me I'm a parent I'm a grandparent I wouldn't want anyone calling my family members out of their name but Leo you need to understand two things you don't own these Parks you don't own the recreation department you don't own it it belongs to these people right who pay taxes now you live here and you pay your fair share of taxes I hope but the narrative is you got to stop thinking that you own stuff you own nothing you were elected by these people but guess what instead of removing Mr Carol they should be removing you but when next May comes 1 2 3 4 you're not going to be sitting there it's going to be a whole new Council and this town is going to be so different and includ inclusive and we're going to listen to the people of the community but like I said you don't owe nothing but if you want to be on that next train like the ex Senator Menendez I can get you on that train trust me private investigation is a beautiful thing so just know you need to apologize to that coach and those kids and you need to do it tonight [Applause] good evening everyone my name is Billy Mercedes thank you for having me apart from being a parent and having my son sitting in the front row I am a licensed professional counselor meaning that I run a mental health agency here in hackin saac covering all of Bergen County dealing with mental health meaning I deal with people and kids that want to hurt themselves that are being abused that are being disrespected that are being targeted for their skin color maybe their accent I've been in homes with these fellow officers where we had to deal with kids and take them to Bergen Regional and I have to sit at practice and hear you berate our coaches to the point where I try to step in and these great coaches tell me no I don't we don't want parents stepping in so what do I do I back away but today the people are speaking today I wrote a letter to all of you that I want to share here today Mr Caruso thank you very much for responding to me right away that man right there coach Carol I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for that man right there I have my masters I have my licensed professional counselor I have all my degrees thanks to that man right there and many others coach Whiting right how many of you know coach Whiting H so I want to take this please don't bow your head please look at me this is very serious I take mental health very seriously and seeing you bop your eyebrows are keys that I notice it was very disrespectful you don't belong there they all know it every single one of them knows it you hear that silence feel that feel that I'm going to read what I wrote dear council members I'm writing to bring to your immediate attention a disturbing situation involving councilman Leonardo baglia and the Royals youth program on September 12 2024 his recent conduct has not only been disrespectful but profoundly unacceptable and damaging to our community there has been alarming reports of councilman bagli harassing the team manager and unleashing racial and Prejudice slurs directed out our head coach someone who's been raising my son to be confident to be successful to be a leader this kind of behavior from an elected official is disgraceful embarrassing and has no place in our community it sends a clear message that bigotry and disrespect are tolerated which is in absolutely contrary to the values we strive to uphold am I right or am I wrong right furthermore his attempt to remove the children from the Middle School soccer field are not only overreach of authority but an attack on the very Spirit of Youth Sports which are essential for building confidence teamwork and resilience to our young people and I will not allow you to do that to my son or to my kids I have a one-year-old right there who's going to be a Royals I implore the council to take Swift decisive action regarding this matter it's not just an apology that's enabling Behavior we don't enable one of my biggest things as a counselor as you know professional counselor is we cannot enable behavior and apology is not enough we need to show something am I right mayor Leos I'll speak afterwards you you'll hear my P thank you everyone for your time thank you [Applause] good evening Reverend Carolyn Davis I was at the last city council meeting when mayor you made a statement that you had assumed that Gerard Carol was coming to call you a racist he made a statement that never mentioned that but you made that assumption based on what you said you heard and you said that Deputy Mayor canestrino would never lie to you will somebody lie to you I had that email okay I've had it since it first came out I'm I'm speaking the truth I have my three minut call as a liar I didn't call you a liar I said somebody probably called you a liar now you're also calling the I said somebody excuse me I did not say that Mrs I did not say that I said somebody lied lied to you I said somebody lied I didn't call any name I told you who told me that night I said but I said somebody everybody wasn't there we're going to word salad go ahead finish your three minutes so stop the clock cuz you interrupted me all right so I'm going back to what I said somebody lied I'm right and he's sitting right there you want to go over the conversation of that night mrz I can tell you stop the I can tell you 10 seconds on the and what we said to the City attorney talking to right now well I'm talking to you because you are calling me aive this is my time you are calling me you're going to have a lot of people to talk to so keep interrupting stop officers I want everyone sitting down number one please I'm asking you to please sit all right now you said that you had known Mr Carol for a long time yes I have and if that was a friend you should have picked P up the phone and called him and asked him about that conversation instead of saying you assumed I have the right to say what I'm saying go ahead that's what you should have done if he had been a friend for a long time you haven't said one thing that's true yet instead have you said I'm having my time go ahead you have your time later like you said I'm going to have my time right when you're done talking this is this is enough is enough enough is enough Mr bagle you do not own the fields and if you made racist comments that we heard in that email I read the email he never mentioned you mayor he never mentioned Deputy Mayor he mentioned only councilman Baca I have the original email I've had it for two weeks and for two weeks you have not three weeks addressed it at all that's a shame and a disgrace that's not true you'd rather you I was at the meeting you never said anything you never address it here but I addressed it with Coach holder you did not address it publicly it should have been addressed publicly because it went out public because it was an investigation stared and we were waiting for the in investigation to finish and I had said that to coach holder that it was going to be investigated talk to the city manager stop the clock stop the clock stop the clock and finish my statement I will finish when when you're done it bothers me that you think more of being called a racist than a councilman making children and a coach feel under pressure of being make racist comments so it bothers you more that you felt councilman uh Carol called you a racist than this repeated behavior of Mr Paglia that's what should have been addressed not making him leave the ticket if anyone should have made councilman bagle need the ticket but I know this much you always want a black person on the ticket to get the black vote I think any black person who would run this ticket better think again cuz if you allow that behavior it's terrible thank you [Music] so I'm going to I'm going to interrupt the flow right here sorry Mr gains so here's what transpired I want everybody to know and this is fact and I have our City attorney all right who by law is not going to sit here and lie all right Deputy Mayor Kathy kis Reno received a phone call from councilman Carol uh excuse me people speaking from the audience will be asked to leave all right if you're not if you don't leave you'll be escorted out by our Police Department all right it's going to be that simple we're going to respect each other I respect all of you coach holder I respect you you and I exchanged an email exchange correct okay so to say didn't react is totally misinformation okay the deputy mayor was called by councilman Carol um th on Thursday morning I'm going to let her speak right now thank you received a phone call from councilman Carol on Thursday morning so his statements that within hours a news article was written is not true because he called me Thursday morning and the news article came out Monday afternoon so let's just start fact by fact right my conversation with councilman Carol he was very concerned about what happened as was I right all of this is very disturbing to everyone that's sitting here on this day as tonight um his conversation with me continued that he was coming to this council meeting and we were all going to be very unhappy because he was going to say the entire Council are racist Now Jerry let's ref that's exactly what you said and you repeated it to our City attorney that is true I'm sorry Julie I I heard it too I was on the phone with him and I partic I will finish I actually begged him to reconsider and call out the individual that he is concerned about that made such statements not the rest of this Council that had nothing to do with this issue we went over this repeatedly and I asked him to do what was correct and not to call this entire Council racist but to refer to the incident that happened this conversation lasted for quite some time all right Jerry I'll remind you of what you said to me I'm tired of Defending you and John now I can call you racist because I have information to do so I can tell you word for word because I made notes about that conversation he called out Stephanie v rudenberg he with no basis of information after this occurred of course I was concerned because it also put not only all of us who had nothing to do with us but also put the city in a bad position so I asked our City attorney to please call Mr Carol and ask the same questions can I ask you Steve to please say what happened in your conversation I I spoke with councilman Carol at length I believe it was on the Friday before the weekend I will say I thought councilman Carol was forthright with his concerns and and and I think he was anguished over uh the circumstances that we find oursel in but I will make clear that councilman Carol made clear to me that he his dispute was not specifically with councilman baglia but with the entire Council and we did discuss this at length and I certainly told him repeatedly I said you have every right to feel the way that you feel um but make no mistake his concern and his dispute and and his issue was not with what happened but he expressed to me concerns that were br than that and I have accurately relayed that to the governing body because that is what happened correct that's correct and if and if I may add um when the city found out when I found out personally because folks in my neighborhood came to talk to me about the fact that the game was disrupted and all you wanted to do was have peace and have your games at the middle school and not disrupt the the the sporting activities of the young people of this town I reached out to Allison and her herself and myself worked that entire day to make sure that the lights were there and that the team could practice in peace not have to go back and forth between the two parks and start immediately at their next practice with the lighting in that field and get back to the way the the the game should or the practices excuse me should have been run so the city tried to react immediately to to to diffuse the situation while we investigated that activity and those actions are exactly what happened um the issue is if Mr Carol felt that this entire Council sitting here are racist which is what he told me repeatedly repeatedly in that conversation then he shouldn't want to be running with us either we certainly can't have that there's no actions by myself the mayor Stephanie any of us that have would put us in that situation we were not at those games we had nothing to do with any of this and it was a very disturbing information and I'm happy to see that that conversation was repeated I'm glad I called the city attorney so that he also begged him to not do that to focus on the issue not on everyone that's sitting here and that is the truth so I've said my piece and that's exactly what happened so okay um we are we are we are investigating it we are we are if you if you saw if you read the news articles you saw what was stated our our position going forward just included the three of us that are sitting here until we do an investigation and make decisions it wasn't isolated or identified only to councilman Carol it was just to support our investigation into the issues that's exactly what happened and you can distort it you can claim what you said didn't say I'm so happy you repeated those same words to our City attorney and it was very very very discouraging to have to hear that all right um You Heard Deputy counsel and you also heard the City attorney and I agree to what the City attorney said but as of what the deputy mayor said absolutely not I never said that in those words so she can call me all the names she want I have no problem accepting that but I did not say that I did not say what she stated in those words yes I did say by what was going on makes the council look racist that's what I said because and but not I was not at all and by saying that and by saying that that it makes the council look racist I'm quite sure that I would was part of the council you know even though they may not see me as part of the council but by me making that statement makes that Council looks racist it also includes me and that was my concern also I did not want this issue to be pushed under the carpet like many other issues that have been pushed under the carpet so if so if if the deputy mayor wants to sit back there and say what she wants to say and and come up with this and feed the mayor you know what you know she feels she needs to feel um say fine that's all um Dandy with me but I did not say that and for those of you who know me you know you know what's going on Yes I protected in the um past all the racist um when people came up there and they said their racist stuff and I fought for them and said they were not and I and I went to battle for them I sure did and that's all I got to say at this point speak one more time I mean I I was not there obviously for what the conversation was between the deputy mayor and councilman Carol but to the extent that there is any question about the conversation that we had you know I discussed multiple times with councilman Carol and I said you know look um obvious ly and I wasn't there I don't know what happened with respect to councilman baglia or or that incident and as I said I truly believe councilman Carol was anguished by the whole situation but he 100% made clear conversations they said you know are we going to focus on what happened with councilman Bagley and addressing this issue and councilman Carol made clear to me that that was not his intention that his intention was speak against the entire governing body and how he felt uh they had handled this matter and I suppose other matters as well that is what happened that is the conversation that we had it was not specific to councilman baglia broader than that and uh and that's what I accurately reported to the governing body um when they asked me if I had spoken with C Carol and that's what he told me okay Mr Gaines you're up sorry for the delay it's your show how are you I'm okay good um pardon me I want to uh just ask for a brief Amendment with something that um councilman Carol said he said the deputy mayor can call me every name in the book might not be the right thing to say because we know some of the names in the book that some of the council people like to use that are sitting up there now I it is crazy to me as I walk in and see a bunch of kids here people who are parents people who are employed by the hackin sack public schools that it seems like the only victim here as always is you mayor lebros or deputy mayor canestrino when people start to applaud you gavl when people come out for for the police the police are the enemy but when people are on your team whether they be Leo baglia whether they be Francis Celia you stand by them and say I'm John lebros my name is on the top of the ticket I get to do whatever I want that's what you think that's really what you think now we should be talking about a bunch of kids here that had to Bear witness to one of your teammates using a racial epitet about a black person that starts with an N agre that's what we should be talking about but instead we're getting into the nuances of telephone calls about councilman Carol who has every outrage to hear that one of his teammates is using racial epitet in front of children there is no apology to those kids and I appreciate that you've reached out to the coach but there were kids that were there watching everyone be silent and having you make the situation about yourself I don't know what else says that there's a problem with race when you say councilman Carol was going to bring up an issue with race so I'm going to run for re-election with all the white people on my team and get rid of everyone else everyone else and not Leo because of his words but because of a potential health issue not because of his words but because of a potential health issue that is what the article said and so the article to me was not an article it was a casting call because the game that we play on the lebros team is the black Chiller where people get to come out and audition in front of you to debase themselves and have to apologize for your actions and they're in it for love but we know it's only going to last a season now that is the problem with the way that we do government here everyone should be held to the same standard the same standard and it should be a high standard especially when we were talking about actions in front of kids thank you [Applause] next please good evening everybody uh May Le Bross and members of the council I had the pleasure of working with you professionally and in the civic interest of our community I particularly recognize the efforts of both the mayor lebros and Council M Carroll uh as your leaders I work with most often in the service of hack and sacks residents um however there's a situation we're facing today and this calls for reflection while there have been defenses made on behalf of the council as a whole it's important to acknowledge that the concerns raise focuses on the alleged actions of a specific member to everyone here this isn't about politics or personal differences it's about basic human decency and doing what's right I believe hack and sack's greatest strength is its diversity but we risk weakening it by allowing disrespect and division to take root respect is a foundation of our community and is essential to its future we all make mistakes but certain moments demand reflection and personal accountability this could be a chance for leadership to reassess any desensitization in their approach and over time return to service with a renewed alignment to hack and sax values lastly leadership that is aligned with the values of growth of our community must essentially pay respect to all of us that's all IID like to say thank you guys thank [Applause] you Donna West hackin Sack I'm here as an educator in the hackin saac school system I did want to uh address the young people I was not fully aware of the problem um and so I do want to say that it's a shame when adults will tell you to do to do to to not do what they do and to not do what they say and then expect you to somehow not follow what they're doing so hopefully we'll set a better example for you I stand here as one in uh as one who works in one of the schools Nelly Kay Parker and we're overcrowded I spoke to one of your trustees I won't put the person on blast and I asked the person do you think that any of all of this Redevelopment has any impact on the schools the person said to me no the children are not coming from those buildings hacken sack actually needs to do a residency check that's what those were the words residency check or not I am one who works in a school that is overcrowded and yet I don't see any of you you have children you moved your grandchildren just in time your wife your grandchild and uh grandchildren right they're in these schools you know it's overcrowded you have the nerve to have a building built next to the middle school which was already crowded and there's no sense of how do we work together with the Board of Ed to figure this out now I just left the Board of Ed Forum or whatever so we're going to see but this ongoing feud between the city council and the Board of Ed affects guess who them who are in overcrowded classrooms who are with teachers who can barely meet the needs of what these children need and then the explanation last month from the deputy mayor was when people ask well why are they not you know giving back like Hoboken Jersey City all of that and I believe if I'm quoting you incorrectly please let me know but they give money to the fireworks display so if hackin sack can be bought and sold for hackin sack for for fireworks display then shame on you for sitting there you did say it last thing for the life of me if you know that we are redeveloping and developing and there's increased traffic and there's more people can you explain to me why construction has to take place at 8:00 in the morning when people are trying to get to school and to work you know that the city is already dealing with these issues thank you thank you next person please I'm Natasha Taylor I'm a lifelong resident of hackin saac uh my father my uncles my godfather my father's friends myself my siblings my friends we all played Sports here in hackin sack um and the one thing that I tell other parents and and people that are not even from hackin saac is the one thing that I learned here in hackin saac that I don't think other people learn other places is how to work together with people that look and don't look like you to win so if we we're learning that in sports that's what the kids are still learning so when somebody shows up to a game and makes comments that they had to hear that day we are not teaching them how to learn how to win with people that look and don't look like them it's disgusting it's embarrassing and it needs to be addressed immediately and the same way that it was loud and disrespectful that those days that were done it needs to be loud and clear in front of everybody to apologize to these kids apologize to the community that's not meant for here this is not meant for hackin sack it's not meant for hackin sack at all and if that's how you feel it's not where you [Applause] belong Deborah Keeling gettis hackin sack um I'm going to try to get just put down some notes but I think the council handled this situation terribly um I think because you knew that this was going to be a big issue that a press release if you said that an investigation was getting ready to H was happening you should have made a a press release um and maybe you know it could have some of this wouldn't have been so uh contentious um I've Mr Carol I've sat in the chair that where you you're sitting we're sitting now um a lot of us myself and a lot of us um worked hard to get this Council on in 2013 when they were citizens for change um one thing led to another and we had different ideas of how things should go and we got off the same page we weren't friends anymore um I got elected in 2015 when Rose greeman um stepped down um there was an issue with a black employee of the city um who was the the the elevation was highly celebrated and publicized and then it was taken away a lot of people in the black community asked me why okay um in my thinking the council wanted to just make it go away but I was the one that was being bombarded with the questions and I made a statement in the paper um of course that wasn't taken well um but also I'm not surprised at how this was handled because like in 2015 when Rose greeman was still on the council um the meetings were out of control they were out of control it was a circus uh there were residents here white residents who were here um who were uh very uh mean to miss greeman a Jewish lady and [Music] um they they was just a circus I mean they they they strutted around everything and not once was were they threatened with being removed by the police not once myself and Tony hty got up to make comments the council didn't like what I said the police were called to us two black women Regina Pasa she's not black she's Italian I guess she was another outspoken person the police were escorted her out so I'm just saying I'm not surprised I'm just not surprised um but Mr Carol don't you dare step down from your seat okay you stay there till July 2025 okay you're going to be ostracized hey it's okay it's all right it's all right you know but um that's all I have to say thank you thank [Applause] you Mark mcart I've been a resident of hackin saac now for close to 30 years I've stood in front of this Council and I've thanked you for the work you've done with Rec and providing fields for soccer and I don't think I've ever come here as upset as I am tonight when this is not about politics this is about morality this is about decency and you're judged by The Company You Keep and when a man I really respect who's also been a citizen of hacken sack for I believe your entire life who dedicates a huge amount of his time to helping kids is treated the way he was treated in a city that I stay in because of the diversity that I I was I I talk about it about what a different city we are that we we're just accepting of everyone uh you know when we when when there was the black lives matter marches the police marched with us you know that's how hackin saac was different and when a councilman speaks to somebody that like I said I respect so much the way I'm literally saddened and I'm ashamed and and I really want to know what are you going to do are you going to stand up for what's right are you going to when the the one woman mentioned Menendez when when he was caught out on his Shenanigans we asked them to step down we separated ourselves from them we said we don't want that are you going to do that are you going to stand up for what's right here and are you going to condemn what was done because we know it happened there's no question of it are you going to publicly condemn what happened are you going to ask him to step down because he doesn't belong on that de I'm sorry ha can SE better I will be brief my name is blanch Stewart most people know me as candy um in the course of those years that the lebros ticket has been here there have been three members who have been ostracized kicked off their ticket and I'll name those Mr Carol Mr Sims and Miss Ken gtis that speaks a lot [Applause] I can speak how you doing guys you I'm not here to talk about politics can you just identify yourself who said that me my name is Elijah Covington I am uh I'm the last hackers sack wrestling team to win the state championship in hackers sack all right the last track team to win my year so I've been in here I've been in hack of sack all my life I done won I done lost and Mr Lee over there we not going to stop until you get out that seat I'm going to make it my job I'm bigger than what you may think I am Sean is bigger than what you may think it is you're wrong and it ain't going to stop I have no problem with nobody else I don't not into politics but you sir time to retire [Applause] good evening good evening uh you could list me as the conclusion because I believe I'm going to be the last person to talk in here on the matter I didn't write a speech I'm sorry did you give your name to the clerk uh yeah my name is Mark Edwards thank you I'm Sean holder's older brother I don't ever announce that I'm his older brother cuz I don't need to he doesn't stand in my shadow he stands in his own someone mentioned to me that I usually only come out when something bad is happening and something bad happened I don't write words I speak from the heart so understand where I'm coming from and I mean no disrespect but I think you all disrespected your seat by allowing that to even go on and there's been two weeks that passed when you speedily let someone go based off of certain remarks that might not have been true Mr attorney you looked a little bit under pressure this is my insight not saying that you were by the deputy mayor wanted you to say something that you might not believe was true that's me well might not be true but that's me and and to be clear I said what I said yes sir I believe councilman Carol affirmed what I said yeah I like sound that I like let's be clear about that I appreciate that I appreciate it cuz it's your truth I can't denounce that it's our truth it's our truth and I'll take that right because I'm part of hackin sack yes now two weeks ago I was invited here and I didn't know exactly what I was coming for but I saw and I heard a lot and I came back tonight and I saw and I heard a lot so I don't have to really say anything that's redundant but I think the one word that was missed was bully kids don't become a bully this is what you look like it's not it's not a representation of hacken sack when I came two weeks ago I happened to send a text out to a friend and I said this doesn't not look like what Hack and Sack is and I heard you guys were going to let someone go to make a stronger ticket I'm going to tell you all to enjoy your time in the seats I'm wearing my glasses so I can't I'm not wearing my glasses so I can't see your reactions but I wanted you to see my face and it's not a threat but take it as what you ever want enjoy your seeds while you have them because the one thing that's going on with the city of hackin and it's been mentioned the overwhelming population the city is no longer being seen and it's more so now the egos are coming out I thought the bench had a little bit more temperament but I saw the reaction fuses are short bombs go off but the city will get rebuilt right I'll stand on it [Applause] was that the last speaker for the evening was the conclusion that was the conclusion but there's other people here who might not who might have something else to say anyone else would like to speak publicly okay motion to close to the public offering all in favor I I None opposed Stephanie good evening everyone thank you for coming I appreciate everyone's present and presence and concern tonight um and I believe that anytime someone uses racist derogatory or bias terms or words can you hear me sorry can you hear me now okay um I believe that anytime someone uses racist derogatory or bias terms or words it's wrong and there's no place in our community for it I've listened to everyone and understand um how you feel however press is common really resonated because they were not divisive or more inflammatory but instead truthful and on point I still believe many of us decide to publicly serve and come to these meetings and voice our opinions to make a difference and we want to make life better for our fellow citizens however I've also come to realize over the past few years that some will stop at nothing to benefit themselves I've also realized that some are fueled by such hate towards others and certain groups of people that they will stop at nothing including lying making threats and intimidating others to take them out and unfortunately the ones that simply want to serve to make things better sometime don't have the stamina or will to keep going in this vicious cycle I've been consistent in my beliefs of doing what is right even when it's easier to do wrong giving credit where to do and always having the best person for the job in its place I regularly have recognized teachers in the district for their exemplary service I've sent emails to administrators make recommendations for the Governor's excellence awards wrote letters and recommendations for jobs and coaching positions support bard of Ed candidates who I believe will put students first support coaches and volunteers donate to families in need and I've even coached in rent programs um myself and served children and families of all backgrounds and don't base that on Race while Everyone's entitled to their opinions and politics should open the lines of communications to disagree and share our differences when the dangerous inflammatory lies are made that affect families is difficult to stay quiet um Mr holder brother mentioned a very important word bully that was left out and I can relate as my own children have faced bullying and treated differently based on their race in the schools so I need everybody to understand that right now as we sit here and our emotions are high and things that were said are completely wrong um again you know bias and bigotry doesn't belong anywhere here but we have to understand how we treat each other on a day-to-day basis because it it happens a lot more than this isolated incident that we're referring to we really have to come together as a community um and treat each other with respect and stop and stop basing things on Race because I feel like a lot of times it comes back to always race we have to treat each other with respect and with caring and it sounds so cliche but love you know all our kids are in the same schools together we all coach together we all work together and we really have to just stand back and just say what is our what is our main mission here what's our bottom line we want to make sure our students and our children are brought up in a community where they're accepting of everybody and that's how I always felt Hack and Sack to be it's very diverse it's one of the most diverse districts in northern New Jersey and in Bergen County and that's important and somebody mentioned that earlier today too we really have to just hold the breaks realize what we're saying what we're doing and especially in front of children um we take everything very seriously any you know any instances like this that happened um you know we appreciate everybody coming out here tonight but again this is you know a bigger conversation we really have to you know take a step back and and look at everything that's going on um and and supporting each other and and not just this isolated incident but it's not a minute sir sir I'm talking about can't speak now sorry the in the incident that you are all here for yeah but we've all been disc we're going to go back and forth the meeting over everybody Happ in the public had a chance no no no no no I'm saying everybody that's here for something that just happened you're more than welcome to with the councilwoman after the meeting about this okay um so um again I appreciate everybody being out here we we take everyone's concerns um seriously and you know again the lines of communication have to be open um and working together to to solve a problem so I appreciate it thank you [Applause] step again a lot of feelings tonight a lot of concern I Echo those feelings and that concern there is certainly no room in this city in any City in any school in any playground in any game for derogatory comments to be made especially comments of a type that imply a racial have a racial implication 100% agree that that is not to be tolerated and that is something that should not and should never happen in in our city or any City let's let me just take you there are two issues here tonight and I'm going to talk about the most important issue which is what happened in the soccer games or the soccer practice and the second issue is someone that basically called me a liar tonight which I will not I'm sorry those are the two issues that those were the two issues and I will not and cannot tolerate I'm a woman compar ly to Prejudice compar ly toal Sor you're not allowed to speak audience I'm sorry she has be REM I have a right to speak she has a right to speak okay you don't have to agree with her please sir you don't don't have to agree with her the the most important issue is what happened tonight what happened during the soccer issues you you don't want to hear what I have to [Applause] say for those I'll give you a moment to leave for those that wish to stay I would like to I would like the opportunity to at least tell you the story as I know it when I when I received the the visit from my neighbors about what happened this is before the racial issue had happened let clear out I got to go home and study anyway thank you for those who stayed the incidents as I recall was I was away for the weekend when I returned home neighbors came to my house to talk to me about what happened at the at the practice at um the Middle School field where there was an incident and there was a lot of confusion and um the children were B basically very upset by what happened the children at that point were having to play at the middle school and then be transported over and play at Johnson Park and none of these things seem to be working right my first incident my first decision at that point was what can we do quickly so we can dissipate or or put an end to um what happened that day at the field and allow the children to get back to the sport they love and play in enjoyment and Allison helped me in between the two of us we were able to get the portable lights installed at the middle school and that have that Middle School field dedicated solely to the team here that had the permit for it it was not until a day or so later when whenever this incident happened at the other field that I became or was made aware of um words that were spoken that had racial implications that next morning I received the call from Mr Carol as I'm not going to go through that in agonizing detail um I know what was said there's no reason that I would make anything up that's ridiculous um we had a discussion I asked the City attorney to please intervene which he did he received basically the same story that it was not going to be cast or dispersed onto just the person individual involved but it was going to be that the entire Council were racists and that of course is something that I know is not true and I know there is no evidence of that or nothing to support that statement and I stand by that 100% I hope everyone can move forward as a community together from this um the investigation that took place and what Mr bagle is going to say here tonight I have no control over and no one on the council does either um do I believe believe firmly that that there should be an apology for what happened I agree with everyone here 100% on that whatever the circumstance was I believe an apology is absolutely due not only and I'm sorry that they left not only to the coach that it was said to but to all of the children that witnessed it because that is not what hackin sack is about that's not the hackin sack that I've lived here for 52 years in the same house that I know and I believe that hackin is about I'm I am personally sorry for what happened happened I hope that we never have anything like this happen again and as neighbors that came to my house to ask for help I welcome anyone who wishes to do the same and I will do whatever I can to expedite and put the situation back on track thank you for those who stay to listen Leo first of all I want to make very clear that I would never intention not make any kind a racial statement about any person I have been very involved with the recreation programs in the city for many years I will never intentionally make any negative statements about anyone race that the only thing I had to say and I reset my comment to the end of the investigation and I want to prove to you that there's a bunch of Lies thank you for hearing okay Mr Carol good evening at the last city council meeting I wanted to be transparent to the public about the alleged racial incident involving a city council member the night before the meeting a news article was published removing me from the council upcoming election ticket today North jersey.com published an article titled hacket Comm hack Council drama contribute to racial comments at a high school soccer game this article helps to explain why I want it to be transparent to the public about the alleged comments made by that council member again I like to thank everyone who sent emails texts and messages and phone calls Express ing their concerns about this situation please when you find time please read that article and that will explain everything that transpired i' like to thank everyone who has attended this meeting physically and remotely take care and God bless thank you for your comments Council so I wish the kids were still here because that's who the first ones I wanted to speak to but they're gone so and they deserve an apology as well as coach as well as any parent who was there that night Leo I that's my personal opinion but you should have apologized a long time ago um couple things were said tonight I'm going to go back and forth in different directions here um comment was made about some council members that were removed so David Sims was yes he wasn't asked to run with us again 100% true but David Sims also brought a covid infected patient into this city hall knowing that person had covid all right that's not the kind of and anybody involved in politics and I know we got a lot sitting here in front no offense we're politicians you guys have run for politics all right everybody knows what's going to happen to that person all right when when election comes out and and not only that person what it's going to do to anybody running so if you wanted to run and win you're certainly not going to keep that person on the ticket it's just common sense guys it's politics it's politics you've done it in the board of AD you've done it in in in different situations um Deborah keing I don't remember moving removing her from the ticket she was on her ticket she wasn't on her ticket she was she was we just ran with somebody else it wasn't she wasn't on our ticket to begin with she wasn't coun sheing people coming I'm not talking about removing from here I'm talking about taking them off the ticket comment was made about Council people removed as far as the other stuff I'd have to go back and see what reason was okay and who was the other person was Mr car all right um people say politics don't come into play this is politics guys a lot of it's politics and we know you know people that have run against this there's probably 10 of them here tonight okay so that tells me something every time I see you guys no offense I know it's it's what we call and you call Silly Season all right upcoming so let's not fool each other on that right let's have the respect look each other in the face say hey we're coming for you we understand that all right and that's okay that's politics I understand it um C Mr gains I appreciate some of your comments I appreciate your theatrics you're one of the best speakers I've ever seen at that Podium right do a great job don't agree with everything you said don't disagree with everything you said um but let's get down to what happened here okay we have a situation where this council member to me you know I had people come to my house I had Parents coming to my house soccer player parents coming right to my house right that's never happened I'm up here for 11 years sorry this is off I'm up here for 11 years that's never happened where somebody's come to my house with an issue like this so I took it seriously and they were neighbors they lived actually lived down the block near uh Deputy Mayor and I listen to everything they had to say and I was very concerned I gave them my apologies uh at that time the incident with C with Coach holder had not happened at pamis High School uh that was days later I believe on a probably three or four days later um when that incident happened I did write there was an email that went out to the city council I did write back to coach holder saying it's inappropriate uh and nobody should be have to go through that and uh in this day and age where we live especially a city like hackin where proud of our diversity uh it's unacceptable all right and it made it clear to him that it's unacceptable and I told him there'll be an investigation with that there was comments made or conversation with the city manager about investigating the situation which he did and uh I won't say the outcome of that investigation right now but uh that's that's where that was but my biggest concern is all this happened in front of the kids and you know what's even just as bad even having the kids here tonight was rough on the kids cuz they probably a lot of these younger ones don't understand it some of the older ones do the teenagers do uh but some of the younger ones these five six seven year olds they it's confusing for them they see what happened on the field and then they're brought here and they see that person who was on the field and they see this situation it to me it's sad to even see that um the good part of that is it's good for the older kids to be involved in a civil issue like this because it teaches them a lot I think um so moving forward uh I agree with some of the comments that were made before you know we're better than this we've got to get through this uh you know it it's this isn't hacken sack I know Natasha you you had you nailed it when you said you know you were talking about what we have here and the way we are in hackin saac you nailed it I remember having a comment with you once uh on Main Street won't say where about what what is the demographic in the buildings all right you worked in one the buildings I don't know if you're still there and it was important to me to know that and your comment was and it was the happiest comment I could have heard was it's just like hackin saac and I that's to me meant a lot because all we hear is all negative stuff about all these buildings but the people in these buildings are just like you and us they're all different colors they're all different diversities there it's it's ethnicities it's wonderful it's great yeah it's hacken sack expanded absolutely and and I got to tell you I take it to heart when I see a lot of people on social media hating on the new residents that to me is Despicable these are human beings just like us and people are hating on them because they're not true hack and saakian I'm like you be kidding me we all came from somewhere guys come on that's not right so that's not Hack and Sack either when I hear that stuff all right it's not Hack and Sack so I'm going to ask us all to take a step back you know assess the situation um I want to welcome members of the PBA here who I know were actively against us on social media that's okay that's politics too get it we get it um with that everybody get home safely uh probably see you in a couple meetings or the next next meeting um actually I'll be gone for the next meeting I'll be on vacation unfortunately but uh get home safely enjoy the rest of the evening and let's reflect I'm sorry it's time for a comment if you want to talk to me afterwards and more than happy all right thanks motion to close