hear she's coordinating something all right we're good to go ready yep Ready dear city clerk Fen please be advised as Council open I hereby call a special meeting of the governing body VI a virtual conference Zoom call for July 24th 2024 to begin promptly at 7 pm via Zoom for the following purpose special meeting on July 24th 2024 starting at 7M ordinance for introduction of first reading an ordinance amending article 7 chapter 155 specifically section 155-10 other matters will be discussed and acted upon at the virtual Zoom meeting please ensure that the city council members are notified of this special meeting in accordance with applicable law and rules also please publicly notice the special meeting as required by the open public meeting Act njs 10 colon 4-6 very truly yours Jen gtino council president with that we'll call the role Mr con billan he's not there all right Mr Doyle yes Miss fiser yes gtino I mean Mrs Jabor yes M presen xano present Mr Cano present Mr Ramos present Mr Russo president J here can we just take a oh well let's salute the we didn't rise to salute the flag let's do that and then we're going to take a one second a one minute stop to work out Jim's audio okay 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 liberty and justice R all okay give me just I'm going to call Jim and see what's going on Jimmy I don't know if you heard me I'm I'm here all right Jim did you hear that Jerry told him yes yeah okay councilman Doyle is just going to switch to his phone because his Okay computer is not working so let's give him a moment Jerry do you want to just text him the link so he doesn't have to it looks like he's trying I just did oh thank you em I'll set e I'm gonna just call him again I don't know what's going on what does it say oh let me in you will you I don't see him do you see him Ron Rod uh who we looking for Jim uh as far as a second device yeah no I don't oh could this be him I see him in the meeting I got him I found him I found him2 yeah but how it doesn't allow me to promote that to a panelist that's we can just allow him to talk Jim can you comment it still looks like it's muted Jim can you I'm gonna unmute it there we go Jim can you hear us it's muted again now try now talk okay are we at can you hear me yes now we can hear you awesome thank you thank you I was getting ready to give up um all right Jimmy we are ready to begin okay we're ready for this discussion when whoever wants to start well I think I think since first reading you should um read it and we'll vote unless does Emily J Tiffany do you think we should give a brief overview I I have no opinion it's a first reading we don't usually discuss the first reading that's right so that's fine so Jimmy can you just read it yeah an ordinance of the city of Hoboken amending Hoboken city code chapter 155 rank control at various sections and it's uh 155 specifically section 15531 please call the V well it's not limited it's not limited to that it's at various sections but that's one of them but anyway it is what's on the portal right I mean Jen you might just want to read the do you want to just read the one paragraph like what this not not the whole list of a million things but just the one paragraph about what this is meant to do yeah from the summary from the summary yeah let me pull it up just so people know the dynamic uh summary of rent Control Ordinance and provision for onetime intent to increase rent the Hoboken Council has proposed amendments to the rent Control Ordinance that seek to maintain existing tenant protections and address concerns raised by the petitioning committee offering a compromise to avoid the enactment of a potentially less protective initiative referendum these amendments seek to improve registration and compliance with hoboken's rent control laws strength and protections of existing tenants preserve legal and base rent definitions provide additional funding for enforcement of our rent control laws and provide funding to expand hoboken's affordable housing trust fund in exchange the Amendments provided uh in exchange the Amendments provide the amendment provides compliant landlords with a one-time ability to increase rents on vacant units above hoboken's current ordinance in exchange for the passage of this amendment the petitioning committee has has agreed to withdraw its initiative ordinance great all right Mr finina please call the vote Mr con Mr zorl I on first reading Miss fiser yes Mrs javor yes Mr pres Zano hi Mr Cano hi Mr Ramos I Mr Russo I president trino yes okay now we will move to public portion if you are in the uh waiting room and you would like to speak please just change your screen name to your actual name and raise your hand if you'd like to speak Michelle hir Michelle Michelle can you hear us or me all right all right putting them back oh hello finally I got a message on my screen hi everybody good evening good evening H I will take my hand down uh good evening I'm Michelle h a chartered member of the New Jersey tenant organization I stand before you tonight or rather I sit before my screen because this crucial meeting about the future of Hoboken housing is being held vir with last minute access to these proposed changes let me be clear this is not transparency and this is not good governance this is an attempt to speak to sneak through destructive changes to hoboken's rent Control Ordinance under the cover of convenience and confusion but let me tell you something we are fast and we are Vigilant and we are paying attention and we will make sure every resident of Hoboken knows what's happening here tonight this proposal is not just pad policy it's a trojan horse wheeled into the city under the fall Banner of quote affordable housing make no mistake this is the landlord Lobby's dream come true GIF wrapped and presented as a solution to the very problem it will exacerbate let's call this what it is the largest rank control avoidance ordinance perhaps ever created it's a skeleton key for landlords to unlock unprecedented profits at the expense of Hoboken Soul its long-term residence its diversity and its character it's bad enough that vulnerable people who should be protected by rank control are falling through the cracks due to selective enforcement but to give landlords illegal Pathway to jack up rents by 25% 50% and even 100% that's not just misguided it's morally bankrupt this whole attempt is ingenuous it's an effort to trick people just like the petitions into harming themselves and their neighbors anyone who votes for this is not just failing to represent the interest of hoboken's renters they're actively working against them to those council members considering voting for this proposal although you already have I hope it doesn't pass on the second reading I want you to Picture This a single mother working two jobs to make ends meet coming home to an eviction notice because her landlord knows he can double the rent if she leaves an essential worker a nurse perhaps priced out of the very City she serves tirelessly during the pandemic these aren't hypotheticals these are real life consequences of what you're considering make no mistake we're watching The Press is watching your constituents are watching this vote will be remembered reported shared far and wide you're not just voting on an ordinance tonight you're voting on your legacy on which side of History do you want to stand on will you stand with the landlords and their lobbyists or with the people of Hoboken will you protect profits or will you protect this is a defining moment for Hoboken you can either be a city that values its residents that fights for genuine affordability and Community stability or you can be a city that sells out to the highest bidder the choices yours but remember this if you vote to gut ring control tonight you're not just changing an ordinance you're changing lives you're changing Futures you're changing Hoboken itself Hoboken deserves better than the sneaky harmful proposal we deserve leaders who will fight for us not sell us out and if we don't get that tonight rest assured everyone's going to remember we will organize and we will make our voices heard at The Ballot Box and Beyond thank you for your time thank you Miss HS Cheryl phallic hi can you hear me yes good evening Council U bear with me one second I I wrote my remarks down and I have to find them okay I have too many windows opened okay here we go there is nothing positive to say about this fake compromise this proposal is merely window-dressing everything that the real estate developer investor Lobby group wanted and then hands them some more so anyone that votes yes is showing that they don't support their constituents that are renters they don't care about them and they don't support rent control and they will lie about it anyone that votes yes on this obviously we're talking about second reading now on this is providing to every renter in town is proving to every renter in town that you don't support hoboken's dwindling middle income and working class residents and you'll be happy to see each and every one of them displaced as a matter of fact you're probably looking forward to it anyway that anyone that votes yes is an enemy of rent control you can't run You Can't Hide and you certainly can't blame anyone else you will own your anti-rank control ideology you are laying it be for all to see this ordinance gives a gift to every landlord with a rent of ,750 a month or more of $221,000 per year simply for owning the property all they have to do is get the tenant out and mark my word they will if you support this ordinance you are revealing that you want every single renter who has lived in Hoboken for 10 years or more to move out of the way so that the landlord can maximize profits that's what you support profits over people you you hid this ordinance in every bit of the back room discussions that were going on from tenants and supporters of rent control until the 11th Hour giving those of us that actually support strong tenant protections no ability to create awareness of this appalling ordinance zero Outreach by any of you and as best as I can tell most of you are not responding to anyone contacting you with concerns or if you are responding you are lying telling them that this compromises the best thing that tenants for tenants right now when it's equally as bad or worse than the anti-rent control ballot initiative that in and of itself demonstrates your preference to eliminate rent Protections in Hoboken because rather than stand with the tenants and fight against the anti-r control ballot initiative you are forcing the tenants and supporters of rent control to use their time and energy to not only run a campaign to beat an anti-rent control ballot initiative but you were forcing them to First initiate their own referendum and then run a campaign that you will but that you will by your support of this ordinance oppose let that sink in you will be on the same side as the people that want to end rent control and Hoboken that's where you'll be and that's where you'll belong I want to direct my concluding remarks to all the renters in the Hoboken Housing Authority Church Towers Marine VI Clock Tower is applied in every rent controlled unit in town which is most units we can beat them back we represent over 65% of the residents in hobok the way to protect renters is to join with renters and supporters of tenant protections and fight the anti-rent control ballot initiative with every I'm almost done every fiber of our being not pass something worse many of you know me and if you know me you know that I would never do any do or support anything that would undermine tenant Protections in hobok and believe what I say do not believe any council member or the mayor if they support this ordinance the support this ordinance it is it is not the way to protect tenants that would be a lie do not believe them and For Heaven's Sake do not vote for them again and between now and the second reading let them know you won't un you won't unless they vote know and work with hoboken's renters to defeat the anti-rent control ballot initiative which at least gives us a fighting chance we can do it thank you thank you Miss Alec Daniel Feldman hello can you hear me okay yes awesome uh good evening my name is Daniel Feldman and while I don't live in Hoboken I'm here because what's happening in Hoboken is part of a broader assault on tenants rights that affects us all I like metaphors so I'll use one here imagine a school where a group of bullies has been stealing lunch money from the younger kids for years one day they come up with a new scheme they tell the principal that they've had a change of heart and they say okay we'll stop stealing lunch money instead we'll set up a lunch fund we'll put a dollar in every time we take a kid's lunch money so that way everyone wins now would any reasonable person fall for this of course not we see it for what it is a thinly veiled attempt to legitimize and expand their bullying here we are in Hoboken facing a proposal that's no different from those bullies lunch fund this ordinance claims to support aordable housing by allowing landlords to pay $2,500 into a fund in exchange for the right to impose unlimited rent increases when a tenant moves out now to break this down that $2,500 is very very little it's really nothing compared to the potential rent increases we're looking at we're talking about allowing 25% increases for tencies of 2 years 50% for 5 years and a staggering 100% or up to $1,750 per month for Tendencies of 10 years or more in a city where median rent is already over $4,000 these increases could easily DWF that onetime payment in a matter of just months second this creates a perverse incentive just like our bullies would be motivated to take a more lunches to grow their quote unquote fund landlords will be incentivized to push out long-term tenants the longer someone has lived in their home the more valuable their departure becomes to the landlord third this isn't creating affordable housing but rather it's destroying it every time a long-term tenant is pushed out and their rent doubles we lose another unit of relatively affordable housing and for what a token contribution to a fund that cannot possibly offset the damage being done this ordinance as Michelle said is a trojan horse a wolf in sheep's clothing a bully's lunch fund choose your metapher metaphor but the reality is the same it's a cynical attempt to dismantle rent control under the guise of promoting affordability now the proponents of this change might argue that it's necessary to incentiv incentivize landlords to maintain their properties but let's be real in a market where median rents are over $4,000 are we really to believe that landlords can't afford basic maintenance without gouging tenants they might claim it will lead to more Housing Development but if that's the goal why not propose targeted incentives for new construction instead of attacking the protections of exist existing tenants the truth is this ordinance isn't about solving hoboken's housing challenges it's about maximizing profits at the expense of the community's long-term residence and overall affordability to the council members considering this proposal I ask you when you ran for office did you promise to fight for affordable housing or did you promise to help landlords double their rents did you vow to protect long-term residents or to create loopholes for their displacement the choice before you tonight is clear you can stand with the bullies and they are lunch fund or you can stand with the people of Hoboken the teachers the nurses small business owners and the families who make this city what it is remember that the true measure of a community is not the profits it generates for landlords but in its ability to provide stable affordable homes for people from all walks of life vote no on this ordinance protect your rent control and protect your community thank you thank you Mr belman Kevin can you please just state your name because it's not on the screen don't worry I tried to change it I apologize for that it's Kevin Weller thank you good evening as I said I'm Kevin Weller tenants Advocate and chartered member of the New Jersey tenant organization the oldest Statewide tenant organization in the country I'm here to shed light on the dangerous reality behind the osed changes to hoboken's rent Control Ordinance I don't know any of you it's the first time I'm seeing you I didn't have a lot of time to prepare for this because we just found out and this just became uh publicly available very recently so I'm going to be as accurate as I possibly can in my very fast research as best as I can find I believe at least some of you are against this so I'm going to hope that that is the case and that ultimately this is not going to um become um uh approved by this by this uh Council um nevertheless I think while this seems to have been an effort to happen um sort of under the cover of Darkness um I think I can tell you with with confidence that you are likely to become very well known perhaps nationally for what you do here because there is an enormous amount of attention national attention on on rents um manipulations software so I'd like to cover a little bit this petition deceptively framed as supporting affordable housing is nothing more than a calculated attempt to dismantle rent control in Hoboken it's crucial to understand the broader context in which this proposal exists last year I filed one of the largest real estate lawsuits in the history of our country related to The Real Page software the Department of Justice has drafted supporting briefs in this case recognizing the potential Anti-Trust violations and algorithmic price fixing schemes that deprive the marketplace competition while the real page case isn't directly related to tonight's proposal it exemplifies the lengths to which some in the real estate industry will go to maximize profits at the expense of tenants this year my neighbors and I also filed the largest rent control class action to date these are not isolated incidents CNBC recently did an excellent piece on why tenants are suing their landlords I encourage everyone to look it up Carlos Waters was the reporter on that came out this February the reason for these hundreds of millions of dollars in litigation is simple landlords and special interest groups continue to employ tactics like what we're seeing here tonight they're attempting to Chip Away attendant PR protections often through deceptive means let's be clear about what this proposal actually does it allows landlords to pay a one-time fee of $2,500 and the whole concept of the landlords to pay it's not the landlords to pay the landlords are extracting this $2,500 via the rent increases this ordinance would allow so it's the tenants that would pay this $2,500 into an affordable housing Fund in exchange for the right to impose these rent increases when a tenant moves out this isn't about creating affordable housing it's about creating a mechanism for landlords to dramatically increase rents while providing a token contribution to affordability again actually paid for by the tenants the $2,500 payment is a smoke screen this money like I said is extracted from tenants through skyrocketing rents while only a fraction goes to the fund The Proposal allow rent increases of 25% for Tendencies of two years 50% for five years and the Staggering 100% or up to $1,750 per month for tencies of 10 years or more this scheme doesn't just affect the tenants directly impacted by these increases this is very important a lot of people I think maybe not understand this but my work related to real page I have I think a unique perspective related to how the markets can be manipulated by allowing such dramatic jumps in rent it will put upward pressure on rents throughout hobok and even for buildings that are not subject to rent control because those buildings will increase rents for those units citing quote unquote market rate and the market rate will be inflated as a result of what this proposal would allow it would rapidly erode our affordable housing stock push out long-term residents and fundamentally alter the diverse character of our community moreover this proposal creates a perverse incentive for landlords to push out long-term tenants the longer a tenant has lived in a unit the more the landlord stand to gain from their departure this could lead to increased tenant harassment and a deterioration of landlord tenant relations across the city I believe this petition is an attempt to trick people just like the way the signatures were captured under the guise of affordable housing by misrepresenting its true nature and impact it's been sold as a way to fund affordable housing but in reality it's a mechanism to extract more money from tenants while providing minimal benefits in affordable housing we must also consider the timing of this proposal why now is it because landlords are struggling no rents and hobooken are record highs this is an opportunistic attempt to weaken tenant protections at a time when they're most needed I have 5 Seconds left for the five minutes so I'll say it's the best we could do on short notice but we'll be back now that we're aware of this we're going to increase awareness and I expect there'll be decent press coverage perhaps nationally watching what you guys do thank you for your time thank you Kevin Nate can you just State your last name for the record uh Nate Hutchinson thank you hey hi uh my name as I said is mate Hutchinson and I have been a resident and rent control tenant in Hoboken for nine years I can confidently say that if not for hoboken's rent control law I would not be able to live in this city so I'm obviously distressed by the possibility that the Miles Square taxpayer association's referendum will severely weaken rent control however these quote unquote compromise amendments concede far too much to the landlords it's no wonder that they are willing to pull the referendum if this passes because you're essentially giving them everything they want the limits imposed on vacancy de control are so high as to not be real limits and while I would welcome better enforcement of the rent Control Ordinance you should be funding that anyway it should not come at the cost of severely weakened rent regulations in addition to these proposed changes being egregiously anti- tenant the process by which we got here has been horrendously anti-democratic the text of this compromise bill was released just this morning to the to be discussed at a special session announced with the bare minimum amount of notice and barely publicized at all and I ask how can we call this a compromise when not a single tenant was consulted a compromise between who exactly why does msta get access to a special back Channel discussions but hoboken's renters your actual constituents do not another question I have is that why do Council why do council members who own rental properties in Hoboken not recuse themselves from this vote I know at least one of you is a landl lord maybe there are others look I had better things to do tonight I do not want to be here talking to you people but the fact that this city council has more respect for Ron simonini a scumbag of the highest owner who does not even live in this County than the renters who make up the majority of this city is so offensive I felt compelled to make an appearance I would much rather take my chances at The Ballot Box in November than take this deal if you have any respect for your constituents you will let us decide on what to do on rent control and vote against these amendments thank you I yield the rest of my time thank you Nate sidar Gupta yes uh can you hear me yes hi uh I this is the first time I'm joining in and I wanted to know whether like this is just uh whe whether someone speaks for five minutes or whether this can be an exchange between people uh there's not an exchange and you can you can speak for five minutes right um so I wanted to ask that there is actually I wanted to say that there is a contract with automot to run a pilot in September I believe uh and this pilot is to use technology to sort of understand uh a couple of uh different things one is uh how we can how can we enforce uh loading unloading zones better how can we uh try to uh do better enforcement and monitoring but there's nothing in the proposal about letting people find easier to park cars in hob open uh assuming like there's like like in W one there's already like two three garages and like I mostly park my car on the street and it's always two plus uh blocks away whenever I move it um so I was wondering if we can figure out uh sort of to change the proposal a little but or maybe amend it uh uh for the pilot specifically in September would we somehow figure out uh how to make parking easier with this uh parking for Street uh for residents on the street uh a little easier with the pilot in September specifically like uh could we there are some examples that I could give for example we could work something into the proposal that says uh hey we can run this test and make available to Residents uh more widely uh how parking is available on different streets so that they can go and park somewhere where they consider was driving around or we could work alternate technology proposals uh to run separately if that's not possible uh to determine that uh I think like running this more sort of holistic uh approaching this more holistically instead of just from a point of view of enforcement of loading and unloading is useful is very important for w one especially because like there's a lot of commercial districts uh commercial like shops here and like on the weekends uh and many week nights also later in the week it's pretty crazy to park out here um we have multiple garages and I've noted that some council members have spoken about how these garages have empty spaces at night hundreds of spaces empty at night uh I think we should be treating parking places uh that are garages and Street spaces as a common resource and allocate them properly instead of uh of just like charging people uh lumps of money for parking in the garages or like trying to figure out running around find parking on the street for free um so I mean I I just want to like see see some kind of better sort of approach to this especially that helps residents Park on street and yield the remainder of my time thank you Ron Batista yes hi good evening everyone um so if it wasn't for rank control I wouldn't be able to afford living in Hoboken and I could say I'm fortunate enough that I have a good salary in the private sector and um in 2020 I was able to move with my family from a one-bedroom apartment to a two-bedroom apartment after my first daughter Sophia had turned two um again this could could only happen because of rent control and that doesn't mean that I'm paying very low rent I'm paying $2,600 a month for for rent I am getting an increase of uh 5% every month and so you know whenever there's rent you know um tax increases the landlord is able to to raise the rent so there is some sort of a balance now with this ordinance really what we're seeing is Corporate landlords wanting to hike up rents by up to 100% in Hoboken and I want to know how many of the council members actually want to let them do that there's a lot of complaints about oh you know this should have been a compromise so that there wouldn't be a referendum but what this kind of compromise does is actually give up on tenants and give corporate landlords whatever they want uh they're they're trying to make it harder for for you for us to actually be part of the Hoboken Community fames seniors young professionals You Name It We all lose with up to 100% rent height and in this time when we see tenants for the past few years especially really fighting for corporate landlords and their rent hikes of $11,000 $2,000 this proposed ordinance actually says that if passed that those elected officials that pass it have actually given up on the tenants and you know and it's really giving up on our community because it's not we're not talking about a commodity we're talking about people's livelihoods we're talking about my mother who's also in rank control who you know is is a retired senior she can't afford Big R hikes and you bet that there are landlords that try to push tenants out so my call to action for the city council members is to vote no on this ordinance to actually not complain about that there is going to be a referendum but instead the ref referendum is the chance to unite a community to protect tenants to protect these R hikes that have been ridiculous unconscionable that have brought legal cases that we're in the struggle to even have the local tenant Advocate because he has so many cases that now we're seeing we have cities like Jersey City that you know it affects people from all incomes these kind of rent hikes so it's not just one Community it's the whole community and it affects all of us because we all know somebody that would be affected by something like this thank you thank you Ron and I'm not I just want to say one thing for clarity and I apologize if people already understand this but this does not affect the current tenant um I just wasn't sure if anyone understood that so if you are a current tenant your landlord has to follow the current rent control laws with you Mary Andrea yes good evening and I assuming you can hear me yes I was struck by I was struck by the article in the paper today because I didn't know the specifics of this deal or this uh attempt to try and um get Beyond a referendum vote in November that the figures for the prices on the uh onetime increase on vacancy were uh biased toward the older tenants uh 10 years and more there's a pretty fair amount of us still left here I'm not dead yet I think I still have a few more years I I don't think you know I'm on death store that we have to worry about me dropping dead but um I am amazed that this $1,750 is is aund it's a it's a large amount bigger than the to five which is that 25% increase this is a 100% increase for the older tenants that have been in town now I think as a group of people you would find that somebody that has made this their home that they are people that are have vested interest in an interest in living in the town yet I know I'm not going to be I'm I'm safe here in the sense that I've been here but I and I have a good landlord but we have to look at the people that this is very tempting for people 11 years 12 years 13 that have been here that just doesn't mean because we've been here so long that our rents are so cheap that's not true true um many of the rents are no longer cheap and the to see the $4,000 average rent or I I I I'm Blown Away by that figure I had no idea it didn't increase that much I I know it was 3,000 which was so I think that uh I don't know what you as a this town as a group of people in charge want to happen to people that choose to live here because it making it scary for us people that have been here a long time because it would behoove any landlord to try rid of us if they wanted to I don't think there should have been a separation of fees that I don't know who came up with that I don't know how they came up with the $1,750 per month but that's a lot of money and I don't think that's fair at all and I will ask that you do not vote this in you are dealing with people's lives here and you you know you always try to be such good and kiss people's asses but man don't don't cause this kind of horror to befall people like me no I don't say mind me personally but it could be I I find this shocking that there's this Prejudice for somebody that's been in town for a long time and that's what this Rea prejudiced so I kindly ask you not to pass this thank you Jen you're on M mute thank you Anthony spirito um hi can you hear me yes okay um I don't have any prepared remarks I I think it sounds like like a lot of people who have already spoken um I found out about this uh extremely last minute um and like a lot of the other people who have already spoken um rent control is one of the primary reasons that I am able to live in Hoboken um the current 5% yearly increase in my rent is already more than what my raise is going to be at the end of the year and I'm lucky enough to have even a small raise that I can rely on yearly um and 5% is more than inflation is going to be um so it is a it is me losing income on a yearly basis ultimately while my landlord gets a raise which I think is already unjust uh but any uh any talk of a compromise uh on rent control is honestly terrifying um because it means that people in Hoboken who already are going to be struggling to stay in Hoboken in few years time potentially um are just going to be forced out uh especially people uh like my wife and I who are starting a family soon uh and when we move to Hoboken we got a one bedroom because that's all we need uh now that we're starting a family we'll need more than one bedroom uh and lo and behold that will uh that relies on a vacancy in a two or three bedroom and we will be creating a vacancy in our one-bedroom uh and any even outside of people like my wife and I um any allowance for essentially an unregulated uh price hike during a vacancy even if it's a one-time price hike uh just incentivizes landlords to force tenants out and find like find ways to force them out um and I think the last thing that I want to say uh is that I strongly believe that this is a zero sum game there is no such thing as a compromise between tenants and landlords um a any win for landlords is a loss for tenants and any loss or any win for is a loss for landlords um and it becomes in it'll become incredibly evident how this goes uh whether City Council Members side with tenants or side with landlords um and I think that's all I have to say Dan you're on Dan you're on mute Manny Rivera Soler thank you all thank you council president good evening man rera Soler council president council members members of the public thank you very much for taking out of your um busy schedules this evening a beautiful um July night um we are talking here about something that is going to affect as um other members of the public said um persons who have been here for many many years even though council president has just said that those of us or those people who are here in rent control are not going to be affected but if persons should desire to move from from one part of town to the other they may be affected because I guess they're going to go into a different unit so that that is what everybody's concern is here tonight um so I as a person um that has lived give or take 40 years in the exact place where I went to high school and I am an old man lived here my sister my mother and now by myself so luckily that I had landlords that at that time were people who had hearts and people who knew hardship and gave people breaks but currently um no currently it's different you have to have rent increases you have to have a million different things and that is because um the codes and such things that you change constantly they favor the person who has the most money and the most influence the reason I say this and I'm going to say this in the next meeting is because we are losing either rent control even affordable housing even though they PR bring some back because I am in the planning board and zoning board meeting but I tell you as Miss phallic said every time they tear down they demolish they deconstruct a building that had people in with rent control had people in their lifetimes that building gets changed due to whatever the code is and they get back in there and it's either a mansion with a pool on a top or it is a a condos where no one no regular hokan knite whether whether living here in 50 years or whether trying to move here for the first time are going to be able to live so council president and C this has to be thought out better I understand that you want to stem a A or stop a a referendum but then it has to be negotiated from strength and not from weakness you have the strength you are the council you're the city council and the people who spoke before have the strength because they could negotiate let's do a better deal if it's going to be a deal or let it go to what it's going to be but we need to protect more not make it weaker and honestly I couldn't read the whole thing it was so much I mean and you know that I would come back and ask you questions because it's it's really too much to wear as and that fund for the affordable housing that's and pardon me I mean no disrespect but it's almost laughable when that is not an actual office with with with many people attending the public and lawyers and stuff like that that is what we would need that is what you should have if you're going to build a fund but anyway council president I know the time is limited I wanted to say that I also wanted to say that I do respect the Mom and Pop um landlords that are here and again centuries old buildings that they own they need help too let's try to also compromise and do something for them and not just the big developers that constantly constantly do this to our city we are we are going to be unrecognizable trust me when I tell you so council president I thank you for your time I thank everybody who attended council president um also a little sidebar since this is just public comment I I would urge council members to check their emails um usually um members of the public um try to communicate because they might or may need assistance or some type of guidance from someone so I appreciate you once again good evening thank you and thank everyone who attended counc President good evening thank you Manny Patricia waiters thank thank you Jen I was getting ready to say I know you see my name p waiters 15 Church Towers good evening everybody thank you so much Jerry again if it wasn't for you I wouldn't be on here um I'm I'm coming Bittersweet on both ways because my family lived here since 1962 and this is for every person that serve Council before then and after shame on all of y'all because tonight none of y'all can't tell me when was the last affordable houseing bill none of you can't give me that answer tonight everybody ready to attack landlords but if we had some affordable housing being built when our coun to people running for office saying the first thing we're gonna bring affordable housing we're gonna bring parking we gonna bring a rabbit out of a hat y'all don't do it so now we on this phone years later and affordable housing have not been built since I could remember and in 1997 Jean Dron from the NAACP was getting ready to Sue I wonder what happened to that lawsuit no affordable housing since Frank Ray with 1118 Adams with that being said I understand a lot of people shaking in their boots tonight and worried about this legislation this is when you Council people should stick your chest out and take a stand it's a no-brainer no neither side is going to win really because no matter how much money you say you put in an affordable housing fund people are going to be affected okay now what I want to say is my new councilman I have confidence faith and Allegiance in in I've gotten an opportunity to stay in Hoboken I recently moved in church towers know it was in the buy off know it wasn't a bribe I followed a process with legislation connected to it and state laws that must be adhered to by the state which is her okay so I want you to know how important it is when you quit the past legislation okay read and make sure it's not affecting 50 and 60 year old tenants that's been here forever now I heard applied housing HHA church towers and section8 okay I want to know if we GNA be victimized because if we are I got to buy a bigger pair of boxing gloves because I'm ready I'm here to protect me and my tenant it's not right to be shaking in your boots not knowing when you're going to get the last key to your door and you're going to be facing eviction so I heard you say earlier Jen but I'm you again for clarification purposes I'm asking you again could you just be a little more specific as to where we stand people that got State legistlation behind them and HUD legistlation behind them okay so I'm just saying as Lieutenant I want to thank my land I want to thank my landlord definitely too and I want to thank my councilmen okay and I hope he have our back from here to the end because I would hate to move out of my place and appli for 23 years and move here and have to be affective by this legislation you guys voting on tonight okay thank you thank you thank you David Mason sure can you hear me yes good evening I'm here to address a dangerous misconception the idea that this proposal won't affect current tenants nothing could be further from the truth this ordinance is a direct threat to every every tenant in hoben and here's why first and foremost this proposal creates an unprecedented Financial incentive for landlords to remove long-term tenants let's be clear about what that means harassment tenants especially those who've lived in their homes for years will face increased pressure to leave this could manifest as neglected replayers constant inspections quote unquote or other forms of subtle intimidation abuse of legal CES we can expect to see a surge in frivolous eviction attempts even if these fail they create stress instability and legal costs for tenants buyout pressures tenants will face aggressive buyout offers while these might seem tempting they they often leave tenants unable to afford to stay in their Community but the impacts go beyond direct Beyond direct pressure to leave current tenants will suffer in other ways deteriorating conditions why would a landlord invest in maintaining a unit when they can make more money by letting it deteriorate and pushing the tenant out loss of community as neighbors are forced out current tenants lose their support networks local businesses they rely on and the Very fabric of their Community Market pressure as vacated units de massive rent hikes it puts upward pressure on all tenants in the area this affects current tenants when they face their annual increases reduced Mobility tenants will feel trapped in their current units unable to move within Hoboken without facing massive rent hikes psychological toll the constant threat of displacement creat Stress and Anxiety affecting tenants mental health and quality of life power imbalance this ordinance shifts more power to landlords in all tenant landlord negotiations affecting everything from repairs to lease renewals long-term uncertainty even if a tenant can stay now the looming threat of future displacement hangs over them affecting major life decisions to council members who claim this doesn't affect current tenants I ask have you really thought this through have you considered the day-to-day reality of living under this sword of Dem of democ this isn't about numbers on a spreadsheet it's about people's lives their homes their communities it's about the teachers who've lived here for 15 years suddenly realizing their landlord could double the rent if she leaves it's about the elderly couple whove who've called hobok and home for decades now living in fear of of every knock on their door you cannot protect affordable housing by incentivizing its destruction you cannot support tenants by putting a price tag on their displacement if you pass this ordinance you're not just changing a law you're changing the lives of every tenant in Hoboken you're telling them their homes their communities their very presence in the city is contingent is contingent on their landlord's profit margins I urge you for the sake of every current tenant in Hoboken to vote no on this proposal protect your residents protect their homes protect the Hoboken they know and love thank you thank you Brendan cogin Brandon sorry I forgot to I had pressed my mute button on my computer hello I'm Brandon I'm worried about these changes to hoboken's rent control laws this new rule isn't what it seems it says it's aable housing but it's not it will make rents go up not down just like every other law we've passed in this country we name it the exact opposite of what it's going to do here's what it really does it lets landlords pay a small fee they extract from the renters to raise rents a lot when someone moves out this means we'll want to we'll want people to move out more that's going to destroy your neighborhoods if you would like proof please look outside at your neighboring cities and find out what happens when neighborhoods get blown up by developers this means landord will want people to move out more long-term residents will be at risk of losing their homes those who are who have some protection will just be told to deal with it until they get thrown out because the landlord wants a new Lamborghini rents will go for everyone not just in the apartments with raised rents because this will alter the M Market which is the point the landlords are offering a small token that's going to be worthless I can give you a Chuck-E-Cheese coin it's going to actually do more than what the landlords have conceded the people behind us aren't thinking about us they're thinking about money we need real solutions for affordable housing this isn't one please vote no on this change keep whole v a place where we want to Own live not just a rich thank you for listening I look forward to coming back to Y when you when you have your next reading goodbye ni Sonia kersner hello can you hear me yeah can you hear me okay wonderful good evening tonight I would like to talk about the Ripple effects of this proposed change to rent control and how it impacts every current tenant in hobo even those who think they are safe first let's address the elephant in the room the way signatures were gathered for this proposal by misrepresenting as it as as a as a boost for affordable housing is nothing short of manipulative it's a tactic that undermines the very Foundation of democratic decision making in our community now let's consider how this effect and how this affects current tenants picture H broken as has an ecosystem each tenant each landlord each housing unit is part of this delicate balance what this proposal does is introduce an invasive species into this ecosystem the promise of unlimited rent increases here's how it plays out for current tenants first economic pressure as units around them see massive rent hikes local businesses adjust their prices to match the new market rate market rate in parentheses as you can imagine suddenly even tenants in rent control units find their cost of living spiraling social disruption as neighbors are pushed out the support networks that tenants rely on Frey the family that watched your kids in a pinch gone the elderly neighbor you checked in on displaced I'm a psychologist myself so psychological impact is really important to me living under constant threat of displacement takes a toll on people anxiety depression even physical health problems can result from housing insecurity reduced Public Services is the next topic as the demographic of Hoboken shifts to higher income residents public resources may be reallocated the public services that current tenants rely on could be cut or changed then cultural erosion as long-term residents are pushed out Hoboken loses its storytellers it's history Keepers the cultural fabric of the community unravels remember the words of Jane Jacobs cities have the capability of providing something for everybody only because and only when they are created by everybody this proposal moves us away from a Hoboken created by everybody towards one created and created by and for the highest bidder council members you have a choice tonight will you protect the ecosystem of Hoboken or will you introduce this invasive species that threatens to overthrow the balance the decision you make tonight doesn't just affect those who might face rent increases it affects every tenant every resident every part of this Urban ecosystem we call home vote now this is about your constituents preserve the Hoboken we know protect the Hoboken we love thank you for listening Jen on mute sorry I said thank you for your time Miss kersner danillo can you please State your last name for the record yes hi good evening my name is Danilo kishna um first a simple question why ask why change something that that works that that is made to protect tenants that's made to protect low income families and um with that change we would not only take away the money from people that don't have it already we take it away from the community where they cannot spend the rest of the income that they don't have to spend on rent and we put it in the pockets of billionaire companies who already make billions of dollars in Revenue every year that's the financial aspect but there is also the aspect of Rights of Human Rights the right of a stable home to be part of a community to live without fear of displacement this proposal marked as an affordable housing solution strips away these rights for every current tenant in Hobo let's be clear Gathering signatures under the guise of promoting affordable housing when in reality you are dismantling rent control it isn't just misleading it's a betrayal of public trust in my eyes this is fraud now let's talk about this how this affects Uh current tenants imagine you're playing a game of musical chairs but every round not only a chair is removed the remaining chairs gets more small and more expensive that is what this proposal does to the Hoboken housing market every long-term tenant is pushed out and their rent doubles we lose a chair a unit of affordable housing the remaining chairs the unit still under rent control become more pressur pressures more fought over the pressure on these tenants intensifies stay in your chair at all costs because if you leave you might not F find another one to afford and as a side note in the last years in particular we have seen in the housing that is exempt from rent control what happens if R landlords the big Mega landlords can do what they want we have seen 20 30 40 60% increases put on families this cannot happen again and that's why it's not hypothetical studies also show that what happens and how eviction rates go up um and this intensive push to push out long-term tenants becomes too great uh for many landlords to resist and as I said we have seen it and with the words of Martin Luther King The Arc of the moral University universe is long but it bends towards Justice this proposal does the opposite it bends away from Justice away from Equity away from a diverse vibrant hobok can we know and love to the council I say this you have the power to keep the art bending towards Justice vote no on this proposal protect your tenant's rights protect their homes protect the soul of Hope oen thank you thank you Suzanne de hi can you hear me yes um good evening everyone um I'm here shine a light on what this proposed ordinance really means for Hoboken let's cut through the noise and look at the cold hard numbers this proposal isn't about affordable housing it's about math simple brutal math a landlord pays $2500 once in return they can raise rent by 25% after two years 50% after 5 years or 100% after 10 years in a city where median rent exceeds $4,000 let's do the calculation for a 10-year tenant paying $3,000 their rent could jump to $6,000 that's an extra $36,000 a year for the landlord and the affordable housing fund it's got only $2500 so where is the incentive here this isn't an affordable housing plan it's an exponential profit plan for landlords with a rounding error tossed at affordability but the cost isn't just Financial it's human it's societal every long-term tenant pushed out is a thread pulled from the fabric of this community it's a family uprooted a a local business losing customers a neighborhood losing its identity we've seen this play out in cities Across America San Francisco Seattle New York once diverse communities transformed into homogeneous enclaves for the wealthy is that the future you envisioned for Hoboken this hordin ordinance creates a ticking clock on every tency the longer you've lived here the bigger the Target on your back it turns out it turns uh housing stability really into a liability it weapons time against tenants proponents might argue this will incentivize property Improvement but let's be real and a market this hot are landlords really struggling to maintain their properties this isn't about improvements it's about extraction to the council members weighing this decision you're not just voting on an ordinance you're voting on hoboken's future on whether the city will remain a vibrant diverse Community or become just another cautionary tale of runaway gentrification you have a choice will you stand with the people who make Hoboken pulse with life the small business owners the artists the families who've called this place home for Generations or will you side with those who see this as nothing more than sells on a spreadsheet the eyes on of your constituents are on you the Press is watching and frankly there are a lot more voters who are not landlords who will you know be looking at this this this vote from you guys um history is watching and they will remember this moment I mean you have vote no on this proposal reject this false promise of affordability that only delivers profitability um I'd also like to add that the increases in rents are you know gigantically impacting uh inflation across the country I mean this will only inflate prices in Hoboken and make it you know more expensive for your constituents to live in Hoboken it may push out small businesses small you know restaurants that have been there for a long time because rent may go up for their own ability to rent their space um I'm sorry I don't know if someone interrupted me but um but again uh please V vote no on this proposal stand firm and projecting protecting sorry Hoboken and not just its buildings but its people its character and its Soul um once you open the door you can't close it and once you let this Genie out of the bottle you can't put it back so the hobok and you know the hobok and you love will be gone thank you thank you Miss de Ron simoncini thank you council president I think that what's missed here uh on behalf of the uh tenant Advocates many of whom you've heard speak tonight from outside of Hoboken and who have a professional interest in the outcome of this discussion but many of whom were Hoboken people that we've seen in your Council meetings forever and whose opinions uh we have to take to heart I think my experience here in negotiating with the council over this has been Guided by an incredible interest in protecting existing tenants and every form of the discussions that we've had have been to assure that people who are in their homes now stay in their homes because that's what rent control was designed to do rent control creates an affordable unit for someone who moves in that unit stays affordable to them while they are a resident you've protected that within this discussion from the property owner point of view there's a lot here that we don't love either but that's what a negotiation is um those who are saying that these uh apartments that are going to increase by $1,750 a month most of those rents that we're talking about are in the 8900 range is that person supposed to be able to improve and maintain their apartment with a three with a 25% increase once every three years and we know that incomes are rising faster than uh rents are nationally so we're looking at a situation here where there has to be a balancing act and of course uh many of the people who've spoken tonight while I've been an opponent of theirs and argued against them for many years I consider people I want to be cared for and I know you do too as a council I think the outcome here is that the market desperately needs an adjustment that allows people who have aging homes to be able to improve those homes and to make those homes fit for a future resident so the idea that there's going to be this wave of harassment in order to do that it hasn't occurred with the 25% increases and if you're saying that because there's a difference between a 25% increase and someone who's rented to the same tenant for 10 years or more and there are plenty of 20 uh to Mary andreus Point 20 year and 30-year residents those apartments need to be updated and improved there is no way that a landlord can do that with the CPI increase that the landlord is able to get every year now now I'm not saying that there should be more than a CPI increase for existing tenants because we've already been through that discussion and the Equitable aspects of that have been argued to death however when that apartment is vacated the city's interest is for the city to do exactly what it's doing now the city's interest is to assure the viability of that housing that the property owner who owns that housing has an ability to improve that housing and welcome the next tenant that does not affect existing tenants and if there's a harassment issue and we've talked about this many times before around the msta campfire none of us want to see harassment because that is going to defeat the ability of a landlord to get a fair shake from this Council and the rent control board and if you want to impose the strictest most devastating harassment measures in the country or the world for harassment to get a vacancy we support it that's not what this is about and so conflating what's happening here as a needed generational ccal adjustment that is only available for one year and then everybody falls under the existing rent Control Ordinance is to really overstate this case now I know and out of respect for the council I've asked our members to not speak tonight to leave us with one speaker to make the one note that has to be struck here which is that this was a long negotiation that wasn't just about this referendum question it started decades ago there needed to be an equilibrium adjustment that is happening now in a way that doesn't affect an existing tenant and that will protect every new tenant who comes into Hoboken under the rent control regime so I appreciate your time tonight and letting mst's views on this matter be discussed and we are doing something Prof found we're withdrawing our right to referendum so that requires that we all give and take and I think that that I've been impressed by the determination of the council to assure existing tenants are protected thank you thank you Mr Simon cinii Drew kinelski yes hi can you hear me yes um good evening um so I'm here to urge you to vote no but before I get into what I wanted to speak about I am a little confused by our the last speaker Ron's uh statement that salaries are being raised faster than um rents that's not true for me I don't imagine that's true for many of you I don't believe that's true for many people across the country um that information um it sounds like a bit of cognitive dissonance but um tonight you stay and at the crossroads not just for Hoboken but for your own legacies um you have a choice um those choices consequences um and then there's weight of knowledge um so let's start with the hard truth the process that brought this proposal before you was not just deceptive it was evil I would say evil and those are strong words I know but what else do you call a campaign that is going to deliberately mislead your people who voted for you that exploits their desire for for affordable housing to then destroy it um this wasn't just a mistake or a misunderstanding it was a calculated effort um and it was used to trick the very people that you've sworn to protect um and you know I don't think you should be voting against them so I do understand that you know perhaps before tonight you didn't know the full extent of the deception and you didn't realize how deep this proposal would cut into the fabric of our community but now you know and in the words of my Angelo do the best you can until you know better then when you know better do better so you know better now so what will you do this proposal isn't just a bad policy it's a time bomb planted in the heart of Hoboken and make no mistake I mean it will eventually go off maybe not tomorrow or not next month but eventually and inevitably it will most likely explode taking with it the homes of security and the very lives of the Hoboken residents that like I said you're sworn to protect um picture of this you got a single mother working two three or more jobs comes home to find a notti and her rents doubled and that's because her neighbor of 20 years finally moved out and now the landlord can you know cash that in and she has 30 days to either somehow double her income take 30 40 I don't even know how many jobs she would need to pay that but she will have to leave the community that she's called home for decades and move not just herself but her children um or take into consideration the elderly couple that lives with a fixed income Social Security and they've been in that apartment for 30 years model tenant never lay on rent suddenly their landlord sees them not as valued members of their own Community but as an obstacle for their own massive payday and this accidental maintenance oversights begin the routine inspections become weekly occurrences the message is clear leave or we will make you leave these aren't hypotheticals these are the stories you'll be reading in the press the faces you'll see at protest the voices that will haunt your next election campaign if you vote Yes tonight but let me be clear this vote will follow you you will make sure of it every time a family is displaced every time a local business closes closes because its customer base has been priced out every time Hoboken loses a piece of its soul to this Insidious policy we will remind everyone who made it possible you have a chance right now to be heroes to stand up against corporate greed and say not in our city not on our watch or you can be the cautionary tales examples of what happens when elected officials forget who they're meant to ser serve those are your constituents the choice is yours but remember this neutrality is the face of Injustice is not neutrality at all it's all complicity as Desmond Tutu said if you are neutral in situations of Injustice you have chosen the side of the oppressor don't be on the wrong side of History don't be on the wrong side of Hoboken vote no on this proposal be the leaders we elected you to be be the heroes Hoboken needs right now because in the end you're not just voting no on an ordinance you're voting on who you are what you stand for what kind of Hoboken you want to leave future generations with so please Choose Wisely because all of us are watching thank you thank you drew sorry I know I had someone there that was signed up and they disappeared Joel rothfus hello can you hear me yes um as a quick Counterpoint to Mr Simon cinii um you know he mentioned that many of the folks on the call are not in Hoboken neither is he he represents many large L institutions that have no connection to Hoboken if you are intending to protect local businesses that's one thing if you are intending to protect corporate Mega landlords who are exploiting tenants through the use of software and algorithms that create unnegotiable non-negotiable lease allegedly negotiations it's a false comparison it is critical to allow tenants to be safe in their homes if Mr Simon cinii said well there are penalties for landlords um abusing tenants or threatening or whatever when is the last time Hoboken had a case in which a landlord was held accountable for doing such a thing especially sophisticated landlords such as those using Real Page and other algorithms to set r Hoboken has at its focus should have at its focus the administration should be focused on maintaining community and stability in those communities the fact that corporate landlords in Atlanta Cal New York San Francisco Chicago have at their bottom line the heart of their investors first and foremost should not allow you to be mistaken and confused by folks such as Mr Simon cinii Hoboken must support and defend its residents for its stability and what makes Hoboken special diverting excessive funds out of Hoboken into corporate coffers and investors pocketbooks takes it away from the local community nannies local restaurants teachers Etc please do not be taken in by this Trojan Horse thank you thank you Mr Rus Elizabeth Mato hi there hello good evening I come before you tonight not just as an individual but as a voice for every tenant every family every small business owner in Hoboken who can't be there to speak for themselves because make no mistake this proposal affects all of them whether they know it yet or not so let's start with the question what makes a city is it the buildings the streets or is it the people who live there who work there who build their lives and communities there I argue it's the latter and this proposal it's nothing less than a full-scale assault on the people who made hobok and what it is now I know what some of you may be thinking it doesn't affect our current tenants it only applies when someone moves out if that's what you believe I urge you to think deeper to see the forest for the trees imagine you're playing a game of Jenga each block is a tenant a family a piece of hoboken's community this proposal doesn't just remove a block here and there it takes a sledgehammer to the entire Tower because once you create an incentive for landlords to push out long-term tenants you've fundamentally changed the entire landlord tenant dynamic in the city every tenant becomes a Target every lease renewal becomes a negotiation with a gun to the tenant's head don't like the new terms fine leave we'll make more money with the new tenant anyway that's the reality you're creating with this vote but let's talk about you council members and your legacy about how this vote will echo through time right now you may think you can vote Yes and it'll just blow over that people will forget let me assure you we will not forget the Press will not forget history will not forget every single time a beloved local business closes because its customer base has been priced out will'll remember who voted for this every time a family that's lived in Hoboken for Generations is forced to leave will remember who made it possible every single time Hoboken loses a piece of its character its diversity its soul will remember who signed its death warrant you see this vote isn't just about policy it's about who you are it's about what you stand for are you here to serve the people of Hoboken or are you here to serve the interests of landlords and developers who see our city as nothing more than a profit Center remember the words of Martin Luther King Jr the ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience but where he stands at times of Challenge and controversy this is your time of Challenge and controversy this is your moment to be measured will you stand with the people who elected you will you stand with those who will turn Hoboken into a playground for The Wealthy a place where Working Families and long-term residents are nothing more than obstacles to be removed the Eyes of Hope spoken are upon you the eyes of the media are upon you and let me assure you the eyes of History are upon you you have a choice to make tonight you can be remembered as the council that stood up for the people of Hoboken that protected its residence and ensured this city remained a vibrant diverse Community for generations to come or you can be remembered as the council that sold hoboken's soul to the highest bidder that put profits over people that took a wrecking ball to everything that makes this city so special the choice is yours but remember this long after the landlords have cashed their checks long after the developers have moved on to their next project you still have to look at your constituents in the eye you know you have still have to walk these streets you still have to live with the consequences of your decision so I ask you when you look back on this night what do you want to see a moment of Courage where you stood up for what's right or a moment of weakness where you gave into pressure and greed please vote no on this proposal be the leaders we need in this moment be the heroes Hoboken deserves because in the end it's not just about run control it's about who we are as a city as a community and as human beings the world is watching Hoboken is watching and history is watching what will they see you do thank you for your time thank you for your time Tony sores hello can you hear me hi Tony Sor I'm calling tonight at I wasn't going to speak tonight but I'm an actual resident of Hoboken I'm not not a lobbyist but I live here I've lived here since 1991 I've been a homeowner but I'm actually a renter right now and I know all of you and I know the people behind the petition I'm one of them and I just want to say something because there's a lot of what I you know basically generic tropes that are being thrown out tonight and I don't want to attack anybody but I want to say something like the idea that the world is watching well let's talk about some of the resident some of the people who are homeowners land owners in this town that signed the petition or that is are behind the petition we have senior citizens like Jim Vance and Rose Markle who are who are petitioners they own homes in hoken that they bought a long time ago that they were hit with $50,000 to put a fire escape on the back of their house when that had to be updated or when the law the code changes or some of them who have to give up the ground floor Apartments cuz flood levels have changed in town and now if they want to renovate they have to decommission an apartment or two there's pressures on owning these buildings they pass along the the legitimate increases they file every year and when then that tenant moves out hopefully they can then you know bring it up to a closer to Market rent there most landlords that I know and I'm as a real estate person don't want to get rid of a good tenant even if they're paying less money they they they like their tenants Miss Andrea said it earlier she's got a great landlord um I'm sure every activist who actually lives in Hoboken who spoke tonight probably likes their landlord and their landlord likes them so let's like stop with the worlds of the eyes are watching and that businesses are going to close the businesses that are in town if you're a rank if you're a tenant who lives in an apartment that's $6 or $700 a month and your income is not much you know is that all you can afford most of the stores in Hoboken are probably not going to close if you move out and I'm not saying that in a in a condesending way but let's remember something else there are also people who are living in rent control departments that are two and three bedrooms and they're a single person and then those young families that are looking for a two or three-bedroom apartment that want to stay in Hoboken can't get in that apartment because people are not moving up and out of their Apartments when their income increases because they have a good rent deal and let's talk about the other situation that's happening we have Airbnb in Hoboken happening everywhere and a lot of people we all know who own like a brownstone or a small build building their ground floor Apartments their their little basement apartments they're renting out on Airbnb which isn't even legal I know it's not illegal but that is the way people are getting around rent control and let's talk about the other elephant in the room if one of a small landlord doesn't want to uh deal with rent control anymore they will sell their building the buildings then get converted into Condominiums but most of the time it's happening because a 4unit building once they're sold and tenants leave and move move out or you know and there's no cases on file maybe two or three maybe in the past 10 years that I've seen in Hoboken where a tenant felt like they were being pressured illegally by their landlord there you know this idea that buildings are going to be set on fire is is just a scare tactic and let me go back to to to buildings being demolished as this Council has sat here you have seen several buildings getting demolished and they're not being replaced a 4un building with a 4-unit building it's a 4unit building with a 2unit duplex that averages about two and a half to $3 million and matter of fact there was a building that was converted from 4unit res uh rental to four condos to and the owner wanted to make them rentals but because he couldn't bring it up to the market rate after investing all this money to a building that was falling down he decided to sell them as condos so that we're losing inventory Miss waiter said earlier about not building affordable housing it's true but you're also not building market rate housing we have this scare tactic of density and capacity studies you know what that is any any good planner will tell you you want to build more affordable housing you need to build more housing we need to have more inventory and we're not adding to our inventory either so the that puts the pressure on on bad landlords to scare their tenants out but this is not scaring the tenants out this you know you could go to referendum and see what happens but I have a feeling either if you go to referendum I think you're all going to find out and I think people in in's Council have neighbors that would vote Yes for the referendum which is not going to be as Equitable as this deal so I think this is the way to go and um and then listen but again listen to the residents and you know what I was voted out of office when I was on the council because I voted against a major pilot and the m and and the W Hotel Financial arrangement I lost the election that developer came out against me I'll say this it's not okay it's okay to lose if you're doing the right thing and remember landlords are also residents in this town nobody nobody in this referendum is a major billionaire I heard that word several times tonight but you know and those were very excellent scripts many of those people speaking I've heard at other in Jersey City at that those meetings too and other public meetings around the state so let let's remember you know let's think about the Hoboken residents who are in favor of this as well thank you than it's like the comment of the night um we have no other members of the public signed up to speak motion to close public portion second all in favor new M to close CL second hold on Jerry's know when is the second and final reading do we have a date because August 5th August 5th okay at what time at what time uh 7 PM 7M okay I'm gonna advertise thank you motion to close second all in favor thank you everyone thank you