##VIDEO ID:XsXZzaFy7J4## okay everyone we're about to get started if you can find your seats silence your cell phones and if you can close the side doors if they're open I greatly appreciate that as well no security ah okay good evening everyone we are on the record today is Wednesday the 30th day of October in the year 2024 happy Halloween Eve this is a regular the meeting of the Jersey City municipal Council we had a scheduled 600 p.m. start the clock on my cell phone is showing 6:04 p.m. may we have a roll call for the commencement of this meeting council person Ridley hi I mean here well she's ready to vote council person Prince AR here council person bajano I'll say I council person Cay I it's it's for attendance oh yeah counc like to say I appreciate the support council person Gilmore present council person Dees council person Rivera here and council president Waterman we have eight council members in attendance at 6:04 p.m can we kindly rise for a moment of silence please Omar Charlton Jersey City resident Leonor Wright Jersey City resident and Michael Cohen father of offer Cohen who was an employee of the health and human services department thank you very much on behalf of council president wman and the members of the municipal Council in accordance with New Jersey public laws of 1975 chapter 231 the open public meetings act also known as the Sunshine Law adequate notice of this meeting has been provided by the posting on the bulletin board of City Hall on the first floor of City Hall excuse me which is the annual notice of schedule of meetings and caucuses of Municipal Council for the calendar year 2024 and filed in the office of the city clerk on Thursday November 30th 2023 in addition at its time of its preparation the agenda of this meeting was similarly disseminated on Friday October 25th 2024 5:12 p.m. to the mayor Municipal Council business administrator Corporation Council and the local newspapers and post it on the city's website so I can certify as to our total compliance with the Sunshine Law okay on to our first reading ordinances you would just allow me to read them into the record item 3.1 city ordinance 24- 098 is a franchise ordinance granting permission to Emanuel good and his successes and assigns to allow parking in a new concrete driveway partially within the public right of way excuse me adjacent to 309 Chapel Avenue block 27205 Lot 4 item 3.2 city ordinance 24099 is an ordinance granting a temporary easement to New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection in connection with the rebuild by Design Hudson River Project consisting of work work or storm water separation utility relocation pile driving sheet piling and installation of hard structures such as flood walls and Deployable gates at various locations on Jersey Avenue Grove Street Marin Boulevard and 18th Street Council Members I'm going to be taking a vote on introduction for items 3.1 through 3.2 council person Ridley on 3.1 uh we had a lengthy conversation at caucus um and I know that the law department has since that time sent a memo um I just want to walk through uh where we are with 3.1 or what took place um we had the discussion about a driveway and whether it's uh fair for us to pass this for um a resident that is asking for uh franchise ordinance for a driveway within the public right away basically meaning the driveway extends into the sidewalk um we were of course not in favor of that um and the discussion at the Caucus meeting gave the impression or I'm going to say gave me the impression I'm pretty sure that was everyone else's impression that this was a new driveway but this is an illegally constructed driveway that already exists and is already in the public right away that we are now trying to go back and then um give permissions to something that's already done and that and uh no way is anything against the individual that is applying in any ailments that they would have um but I believe that we should do things the right way so I don't know if any penalties or violations or summonses were issued for the construction of that driveway to my knowledge it wasn't um you know after that meeting councilwoman de were by there uh sent me a picture it is a two-car driveway currently constructed um I went back in my email because I remembered the address I received a lot of uh emails from residents and some city workers about that driveway last year um councilman Gilmore mentioned the fact that this property has been sold I went and I pulled up the deed and it was sold in September recorded in October so this person is no longer the owner I don't feel comfortable um passing this under the name of somebody who no longer owns the property um so I know that the advice was that we can't say it's unfair and use that as a reason um so my reasoning is I believe that if we're going to Grant these permissions then it needs to be to the rightful owner and not somebody that doesn't own the property so I'm going to vote no on point1 and I'll vote uh I on 3.2 thank you and just to record council person Solomon present at 6:10 p.m. so we now have all nine council members present council person Prince no on 3.1 uh I on 3.2 thank you council person bajano o on 3.1 and I on 3.2 council person SLE vote I for all um I'm willing to introduce this and hear uh from the lawyer again and um I don't necessarily know if the fact that the person requested this accommodation needs to be the owner of the property and I just would like to get more clarification on that um I don't think so but um I also am concerned about the legal liability to the city uh so that's why I'm voting I for all council person Solomon sure I'm going to vote no on 3.1 yes on 3.2 um on three point briefly um I just would like us to have a much clearer sense of what the these responsibilities are uh not for this one person but for anybody in a similar situation because you know it sort of has the first time this has come to us in seven years so if this my seven years on a council so if this is what's required we want to understand what what does someone need to do to access this what are the policies here as opposed to just some one-off situation and we have the ownership question so not opposed to reintroducing it but I'd like to have a much clearer sense of what what our uh you know what our broader policies are as opposed to the specifics of the situation then yes on 3.2 thank you council person Gilmore um I just want to say on 3.1 I mean I understand the the objective like what they're trying to do I think at some point we have to entertain this because there are a lot of people who have complications because of medical conditions and I understand that um but for me being that the property was just sold um so it kind of by theault based on the statements inside of the legislation it's almost like null and void because they said if the person is no longer occupying the house then it reverts back to its original form um so for that um I'm going to vote no but I think we really need to have a um real conversation about allowing um allowing individuals who have handicapp in capacities um to park closer to their home I'll vote I for introduction on 3.2 thank you council person Dees no on 3.1 yes on 3.2 thank you council person Rea no 3.1 I 3.2 thank you and council president wman no no on 3.1 and I on 3.2 okay item 3.1 is defeated on introduction with one council person voting yes council person CLE and the rest voting no on 3.1 and 3.2 is introduced unanimously 90 okay on to our second reading ordinances item 4. 1 city ordinance 24- 087 is an ordinance amending chapter 188 to establish a local preference for affordable housing units created by local regulations and requirement this is a public hearing on this ordinance any member of the public wishing to be heard please come up to the podium and state your name for the record Le just give me one second sorry okay okay all right L like a little better understanding on this project sure sure so uh I briefly describe it so what it does is it will create a preference for Jersey City residents when they're applying for affordable housing units in the city as as long as those affordable housing units were not created with federal or state funding because federal or state funding you have to open it up to a broader set of folks but if it's just affordable housing and Jersey City either we funded it through the affordable housing trust fund or just created about a th000 units total then when people apply in the lottery they'll have uh basically preference to go to an existing Jersey City resident you introduce this cat Frank and I okay can not right now I need some background that's I'm hous person I would like a little more background sure don't mind I'm happy to give you to m l okay thank you this is still a public hearing on city ordinance 24- 087 any member of the public still wishing to be heard please come up to the podium and state your name for the record motion second motion to close the public hearing on city ordinance 24- 087 was made by council person CLE seconded by council president Waterman on the motion to close the public hearing on city ordinance 24087 council person Ridley hi council person priner Hi council person Bano council person SLE I council person Solomon hi council person Gilmore I council person Dees hi council person rera Hi and council president wman I motion carries 90 to close the public hearing on city ordinance 24087 can I ask um the Law Department a question on this ordinance I just just want to make it clear because I know when we tried to do this before um making sure Jersey City residents are priority we was told that we could not do this so I want to make sure that we can do this because we tried to do this before and I want the public to understand that this was something we tried before and we was advised that we could not do this now you're telling us that we can do it so I just want it clear for the public to know this was something that we've been trying to do to make sure Jersey City residents had first priority we've been trying to do this so now we can so I just want it on the record so the public can know in some circumstances it may be allowable in others it's not I've amended the ordinance to spell out when the local preference would not be in play when it would violate state or federal law and the the language to clarify that also requires Property Owners to talk to their administrative agent before they Implement any local preference thank you okay so council members as discussed at the caucus I will need a motion to amend city ordinance 24- 087 as assistant Corporation counsel John mckenny just explained we're looking to amend the ordinance and if you go to page number two of the ordinance first paragraph number three there's a strike out that says new and it goes to vacant and the second line Jersey City affordability and then there is a paragraph that's being added the residency preference shall not be implemented or available for any units created in furtherance of the city's present need also as a reab rehabilitation obligation as required by the New Jersey fair housing act this residency preference shall not be implemented or available during at any time the city is not designated as a qualified Urban Aid municipality by the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs or other designated state agency all Property Owners shall inquire with the administrative agent employed pursuant to chapter 188 of the municipal code of the city of Jersey City to determine if a local preference can be implemented before finalizing an affirmative marketing plan and then on the bottom of page two it crosses out April and makes it effective July 1st 2025 so with that Amendment Corporation Council and assistant Corporation Council is that a substantial change no they're um they're Clara of thank you so much with that being said council members may I have a motion to amend city ordinance 24- 087 motion motion made by council person Cay may have a second second second by council person Solomon on the motion to amend city ordinance 24087 as I read into the record council person prin uh Ridley sorry I council person priner I council person bajano council person SLE I council person Solomon hi council person Gilmore I council person Dees I council person reera Hi and council president wman motion to amend ordinance carries 90 a final consideration and Adoption of city ordinance 24-87 as amended council person Ridley hi council person priner I council person bajano let's make sure the mics are on council person Cay I council person Solomon yeah um just briefly thank uh Council MC Gilmore I know council president others have been trying to do this for a while and it's really important because we obviously need to make sure that Jersey City is spending its money we zoning to create affordable units that Jersey City residents get Pro prints and uh we were able to to look at a couple of their municipalities that have done this and be able to say look if they're doing it we should be able to do it too um and it's worth fighting for because it's worth fighting do everything in our power to keep folks here so excited to to see this move forward and I vote I council person Gilmore um just want to thank um councilman Salomon thank the legal department for helping us hash this out um I know some time before it did become come excuse me it did come before the council um but I think we all have an obligation to look out for all of Jersey City residents and I think with this local preference um as we see our City development at unprecedented rate um local residents will be able to have feel the immediate impact because they will become priority as it relates to the available housing stock so as long as though said development fall within the parameters um of the legislation um so I proudly vote I for this thank you council person Dees hi council person Riva hi and council president wman city ordinance 24- 087 as amended is adopted unanimously 90 so go Yankees um next item 4.2 city ordinance 24- 089 is an ordinance authorizing the city of Jersey City as a tenant to extend for 2-year lease with 18 an Street reality as a landlord for space located at 46 State Street in Jersey City this is a public hearing on this ordinance any member of the public wishing to be heard please come up up to the podium and state your name for the record motion second oh okay explain the re because this where the boys hold hold on hold on Le hold on all right what's going on here this is freezing for some reason I don't know what's going on hold on one second you ready no can't change the camera oh here we go here we go now it's finally working go ahead Le sorry about that you ready yes I just would like to know how do we get from the Lord landlord at 18 A Street to 46 State Street it used to be where I think the boys club was from as right Kil on wasn't that the old Landmark where the boys club was on as 18 that area oh I'm not that that boy club is way that's a little before your time I'm sorry Peter if you can explain um what's what's going on here it's just uh extending a lease right right this is extending a lease it's been there for a long time it's for the fire department in stored of their items and materials this is basically just a renewal they going to State Street with it now they gon move from Ash to State Street with it no no it's going to be at Ash Street is where the actual unit the storage units look sorry a Street's a realy company yeah they had the landlords yes what kind of material they put in there different Fire Equipment materials used for firefighting you know Surplus things like nothing that we got to get stick off right oh this basically hoses um a lot of hoses a lot of the apparatus where ladders and all that stuff thank you hey this is still a public hearing on city ordinance 24- 089 any member of the public still wishing to be heard please come up to the podium and state your name for the record motion who made the motion Danny by council person Rivera may I have a second second second by council person Cay on the motion to close the public hearing on city ordinance 24- 089 council person Ridley hi Council person priner Hi council person bajano council person SLE hi council person Solomon council person Gilmore I council person Dees I council person Rivera I and council president Waterman motion to close the public hearing on city ordinance 24089 carries 90 for final consideration and Adoption of city ordinance 24- 089 council person Ridley I council person priner Hi council person ban council person SLE I council person Solomon hi council person Gilmore I council person Dees council person rera Hi and council president Waterman city ordinance 24- 089 is adopted unanimously 90 on to our next second reading ordinance item 4.3 city ordinance 24- 090 is an ordinance amending chapter 84 alcoholic beverages and cannabis article one planetary planetary retail consumption and distribution licenses this is a public hearing on this ordinance any member of the public wishing to be heard please come up to the podium and state your name for the record hold on just give me one second Danielle good to go Danielle D demo d a n i e l l e d demo d a d a m o thank you good evening Jersey City Council Members Community leaders and residents I'm here to speak about the upcoming vote on ordinance 24-9 which will take place tonight if passed this ordinance would allow nearly 70 new cannabis dispensaries to open in Jersey City given the scale of this expansion is essential that the council approach this decision with datadriven research and strategic planning voting on this ordinance without conducting a thorough study would be arbitrary and cpre I'm proposing that the city conduct a comprehensive assessment of our cannabis retail sector focused on the Market's current size operational costs and sustainable growth potential this study should analyze factors such as the number of dispensaries needed to meet consumer demand as well as a projected profitability and risks of oversaturation this data is essential to ensure a healthy balance that doesn't overwhelm our community or overextend resources one key issue absence from this ordinance is the need for sustainable practices within the Cannabis industry other states have implemented standards that could serve as models here for example Massachusetts requires Canabis dispensaries to implement waste reduction plans including the recycling of cannabis packaging materials in Jersey City we could take this a step further by demanding sustainable practices such as the use of renewable energy sources water efficient cultivation methods and environmentally friendly packaging materials incorporating these practices is vital if we aim to build a responsible eco-conscious cannabis Market another point of concern is the ordinance's omission of enforcement measures which unlicense cannabis storefronts which currently sell unregulated products and pose a risk to the public and licensed operators alike without enforcement these illegal operators will continue to undermine licensed businesses disrupt the legal market and erode consumer trust in conclusion I urge the Jersey C Council to delay voting on ordinance 24-9 until this crucial study is conducted through this research we can establish policies that Foster a balanced sustainable and safe cannabis sector let's ensure Jersey City's growth and this industry is as responsible as it is ambitious thank you for your time and for considering a pathway that prioritizes our community's future Britney could you explain this ordinance sure um even though uh this is not about cannabis um it's in the same chapter this is just talking about the uh plenary retail consumption license for the ous theaters the theater license so that they can sell alcohol so we're not dealing with cannabis tonight just in the same chapter just in the same chapter this about the consumption of alcohol at the State Theater correct yes yes correct and issuing a license for it that's it I think they getting mixed up with because the word cannabis is in there but is under the stain statute the title of the chapter is alcoholic beverages in cannabis but the only thing we're doing is talking about the issuing this new license because the state now allows for any theater company or like right of a certain size to create to obtain a license to sell beer and wine during the course of a performance correct nothing to do with canas correct nothing at all correct go ahead it's very helpful thank you Gina Davidson Ward F uh all I want to say on this issue is that we consider where our liquor licenses are currently distributed in the city and that there are plenty of restaurant owners and existing businesses in McGinley Square for example and other areas that are underserved where we could really Revitalize the restaurant and food business is there and so just to consider where we're Distributing these licenses thank you thank you this is still a public hearing okay yeah Le I got a problem with this because you might got it for one thing but in my hood it'll be used for another thing we already got too many smoke shops cannabis on MLK Ocean Pacific communa near Church and schools and it needs to be controlled more cuz I got too many young people from 10 up 12 are smoking on our streets and they you know we we the police can stand there being as legal and even let people that's under the age of 18 smoke can we put a lemon on them who can smoke this and get a little more control of this because it hurts more in the hood didn't they do in the shurs of downtown I know I roll through downtown here the guy was rolling his weed up right here on Jersey Avenue by the PA station about a week or two ago and that's nice if they grown and they want to do it but how about our young babies what about them we going to let them sit at a table roll up we and go to the Cannabis right here on communal P at Van Horn Street is that okay we you know I grew up in this town a lot of things that man sitting up there kept me straight that retired police up there but but there's nobody out here watching the door no more like that and our babies they losing it and we got to do better please we got to do better I'm 76 and I never seen the stuff I seen in my life that I'm seeing today we can walk by and nobody care there kids out there want jobs and no jobs for them to get I talked to Jerry walk about a training about doing stuff to help like you got to stay on the subject I'm staying on the subject to get these kids off the corner smoking the Cannabis and smoking the weeds we got to have places and things for them to do thank you this is still a public hearing on city ordinance 24090 any member of the public still wishing to be heard please come up to the podium and state your name for the record motion motion to close the public hearing on city ordinance 24090 was made by council person Cay may I have a second second by council president Waterman on the motion to close a public hearing on city ordinance 24090 council person ritley I council person priner Hi council person bajano council person SLE hi council person Solomon council person Gilmore hi council person dejes council person Rivera hi and council president ornament motion to close the public hearing on city ordinance 24090 is approved unanimously 90 a final consideration and Adoption of city ordinance 24- 090 council person Ridley I council person priner Hi council person bajano council person SLE hi council person Solomon hi council person Gilmore hi council person Dees hi council person rera Hi and council president wman Hi city ordinance 24- 090 is adopted unanimously 90 on to our next second reading ordinance item 4.4 city ordinance 24 de 092 is an ordinance supplementing chapter 332 vehicles and traffic Article 2 traffic regulations amending section in the eastbound Direction this is a public hearing on this ordinance any member of the public wishing to be heard please come up to the podium and state your name for the record motion motion to close the public hearing on city ordinance 24- 092 was made by council person SLE seconded by council president Waterman on the motion to close a public hearing on city ordinance 24- 092 council person Ridley I council person Prince AR hi council person Bano council person s i council person Solomon council person Gilmore I council person Dees I council person Reber I and council president wman motion carries 90 to close the public hearing on city ordinance 24- 092 for final consideration and Adoption of city ordinance 24- 092 council person Ridley I council person priner I council person bajano council person I council person Solomon I council person Gilmore I council person Dees I council person Rivera hi and council president wman city ordinance 24- 092 is adopted unanimously 90 on to our next second reading ordinance item 4.5 city ordinance 24- 093 is an ordinance supplementing chapter 332 vehicles and traffic Article 2 traffic regulations amending section 332-94 093 was made by council person Rivera seconded by council person Cay on the motion to close the public hearing on city ordinance 24- 09 three council person Ridley I council person priner I council person budano council person SLE I council person Solomon council person Gilmore hi council person Dees hi council person Rivera hi and council president wman motion carries 90 to close the public hearing on city ordinance 24- 093 the final consideration and Adoption of city ordinance 24- 093 council person Ridley I council person priner I council person budano council person CLE I council person Solomon hi council person Gilmore hi council person Dees hi council person rera Hi and council president Wardman city ordinance 24093 is adopted unanimously 90 on to our next second reading ordinance item 4.6 city ordinance 24- 094 is an supplementing chapter 332 vehicles and traffic Article 2 traffic regulations amending section 332 -9 stop intersections to designate various downtown intersections as multi-way stop controlled intersections this is a public hearing on this ordinance any member of the public wishing to be heard please come up to the podium and state your name for the record motion second motion to close a public hearing on city ordinance 24- 094 was made by council person SLE seconded by council president Waterman on the motion to close the public hearing on city ordinance 24- 094 council person Ridley hi council person priner Hi council person bajano council person Cay hi council person Solomon council person Gilmore hi council person Dees hi council person rera Hi and council president Waterman motion carries 90 to close a public hearing on city ordinance 24094 for final consideration and Adoption of city ordinance 24- 094 council person Ridley I council person priner I council person bajano council person CLE I council person Solomon hi council person Gilmore I council person Dees I council person Reber I and council president wman city ordinance 24- 094 is adopted unanimously 90 on to our next second reading ordinance item 4.7 city ordinance 24- 095 is is an ordinance supplementing chapter 332 vehicles and traffic article 3 parking standing and stopping amending section 332-2439 was made by council person Cay have a second second by council president Waterman on the motion to close the public hearing on city ordinance 24095 council person Ridley I council person priner I council person Bano council person SLE I council person Solomon hi council person Gilmore I council person Dees I council person Rivera I and council president wman motion carries 90 to close the public hearing on city ordinance 2 4- 095 for final consideration and Adoption of city ordinance 24- 095 council person Ridley hi council person priner council person bajano council person SLE hi council person Solomon hi council person Gilmore I council person Dees I council person rera I and council president wman city ordinance 24 day 095 is adopted unanimously 90 on to our next second reading ordinance item 4.8 excuse me city ordinance 24-96 is an ordinance of the Jersey City municipal Council adopted Revis and updated fees for chapter 345 the Land Development ordinance related to zoning review applications and some applications for the Planning and Zoning Board this is a public hearing on this ordinance any member of the public wishing to be heard please come up to the podium and state your name for the record okay you just put the camera on your lever give me one second give me a little go ahead being not do development was just want to get a little better understanding about this you so this is we already updated to the land ordinance this is just squaring the fee schedule to match that which wasn't done correctly because we like to have Unity the two of them so it's just making sure the fee schedule now matches the landlords previously approved by the council thank you this is still a public hearing on city ordinance 24- 096 any member of the public still wishing to be heard please come up to the podium State and name for the record motion second I'm going to give the motion to council president Waterman and the close second to council person CLE on the motion to close the public hearing on city ordinance 24- 096 council person Ridley I council person priner I council person bajano council person SLE I council person Solomon council person Gilmore I council person Dees I council person Rivera hi and council president wman motion carries 90 to close the public hearing on city ordinance 24096 for final consideration and Adoption of city ordinance 24- 096 council person Ridley I council person priner Hi council person Bano council person CLE hi council person Solomon council person Gilmore hi council person Dees hi council person Reber hi and council president Waterman hi city ordinance 24- 096 is adopted unanimously 90 on to our last but not least second reading ordinance item four 4.9 city ordinance 24097 is a franchise ordinance granting permission to Jasco management Corp for a 5 foot 5 1/2 in by 23 foot 5 1/2 in ramp encroachment at lot 20 in Block 20004 also known as 307 Pacific Avenue into the right of way this is a public hearing on this ordinance any member of the public wish should be heard please come up to the podium and state your name for the record oan hold on oh go ahead Le yeah what do you this is where I live at my family got how far out would they be coming will be affecting the our streets right there this is between commun Po and bmall this is for the Jersey City Public Library this is the library we do yes oh good job we GNA bring it out to the curb now we GNA get a B one they break it out that that Library came a long way yes that's my library thank you good job this is still a public hearing on city ordinance 24- 097 any member of the public still wishing to be heard please come up to the podium and state your name for the record motion motion to close the public hearing on city ordinance 24- 097 was made by council person slay seconded by council president Waterman on the motion to close a public hearing on city ordinance 24- 097 council person Ridley I council person priner I council person bajano council person Cay hi council person Solomon hi council person Gilmore I council person Dees hi council person Rivera I and council president wman motion carries 90 to close a public hearing on city ordinance 24- 097 for final consideration and Adoption of city ordinance 24- 097 council person Ridley I council person priner I council person Bano council person SLE I council person Solomon hi council person Gilmore I council person Dees hi council person Rivera hi and council president Waterman city ordinance 24- 097 is adopted unanimously 90 that will conclude our second reading ordinances before I move on to the public speakers I just want to confirm if anyone has the meeting up on their phone or if they know someone who's watching at home I'm being I got mixed uh signals that the um video is not being shown but I do believe that was corrected by Our IT department when we first started um if anybody can confirm that where the video was up and running I would greatly appreciate that while we're waiting on that council president go we refer to 10.22 there 99 give me one second so it's 10.22 yeah and also um while on that Sean I can't hear you 10.2 as well 10.22 and 10.2 we're gonna make a compound motion we're going to make a motion to defer to item items sorry 10.2 the best and 10.22 do I have that correct yes excellent on the motion to defer to items 10.2 and 10.22 um may I have a motion motion made by council president Waterman may have a second second second by council person CLE on the motion to defer to item 10.2 and 10.22 council person Ridley I council person priner I council person Bano council person Cay I council person Solomon I council person Gilmore I council person Dees I council person Riva I and council president wman motion to defer to items 10.2 and 10.22 is approved unanimously 90 let me just we'll take them one by one council president okay with that being said we just get to item 10.2 so we'll do them in order yes do them in order item 10.2 City resolution 24- 799 779 is a resolution honoring St John's Baptist Church on their 95th Anniversary mortgage burning so we're just going to take a vote on the resolution on the resolution council person Ridley um I just want to say congratulations this church has been an institution in the community for a very long time um congratulations on your anniversary and congratulations on getting rid of that debt so with that vote on thank you council person priner so congratulations on a momentous anniversary congratulations on the mortgage burning it's great to see churches in our community continue to thrive after so many decades of service um they play a vital role um and to Reverend Dr tibo my former Professor congratulations to you in particular as well I vote I thank you council person Bano congratulations and I'm really proud of that church known him for years your vote I thank you council person SLE congratulations on 95 years can't wait for the big 100 and God willing another hundred um houses of worship and especially you know this church has been uh integral part of the Jersey City community and you guys do so much for the community so congratulations I I saw that you got rid of one .35 million mortgage um that's huge so congratulations on that and many many years centuries more for you and with that I vote I thank you council person Solomon congratulations so exciting welld deserved anniversary and I proudly vote I council person Gilmore yes um I proudly vote I am so happy with the work that uh Dr tal has been doing in that community and then just that church in general when you talk about the rapid development in Jersey City the rated people are using your houses losing their houses and you guys burning this mortgage and celebrating 95 years of service to the wev community um I am extremely thankful for all that you have done and I'm even more thankful for all that you're going to do moving forward I'll probably vote I thank you council person Dees I vote I congratulations thank you for all that you do and I too am looking forward to the big 100 thank you council person Riva an amazing job you guys are amazing you guys are great may God continue to bless you I vot I and council president wman congratulations pastor and uh burning the mortgage I know that's exciting and I want to thank Scott cuz it was Scott who brought this to uh my attention that you was doing 95 years and that you was burning your mortgage well done well done with that I proudly vote I thank you City resolution 24779 is approved unanimously 90 no pressure Pastor okay pastor Pastor say a few oh where you going yeah come and say a few words you're you're used to public speaking so we're gonna put the spotlight on you but if you can just identify yourself for the record from my court reporter I greatly appreciate it okay thank you Francis tabout pastor of St John's Baptist Church actually I should say Francis tabout and I just want to say thank you to the city council for this vote it means a great deal to us to be recognized for the work that we are doing in the community um but I also want to thank some of you individually who have been a part of and supported the things that we've done through the years um I am just becoming the pastor in this three years now um but I know even having grown up in that Church um Reverend wman uh council president wman has been there has supported and so I thank you all for your support over the years and I continue um I look forward to our continued work together as we continue to serve the residents of Jersey City thank you God bless you peace Pastor if y'all can um if y'all can stand by we going to take a picture they're printing out the resolution now so we'll take a picture um so if you give us like five more minutes there's no Bible study tonight right I don't want to hold okay I don't want to listen yeah yes and then have yeah perfect okay so Pastor you cannot leave until we take that picture [Laughter] that all righty and our next item that we defer to is is item 10.22 City resolution 24-7 N9 this is a resolution appointing Mikel sarim I'm hoping I'm not butchering your name I apologize as a part-time judge of the Jersey City Municipal Court let's take a vote first to make sure it gets approved before we stand up and cl on council person Ridley um no pressure on the council the judge is looking right at you um I wrote I and I just want to say um you know assuming that this passes tonight you know welcome to uh the bench and we look forward to you being a great assess to our courts here and um doing good work for the residents of Jersey City so thank you congratulations early thank you council person Prince AR so so I'll say congratulations early even though we're still not halfway through the days um not only do you have a fantastic resume but the amount of support you have from your community I think speaks volumes as to the kind of Judge you will be for our municipal court and service to the residents here so um I proudly vote I thank you council person bajano think I received about a 100 calls from saying I better vote for you righty mod no congratulations you're going to be a great judge and I vote I council person CLE I want to congratulate you um I proudly vote I you are a pillar not just in the legal Community but the entire Community you come from a family of Trailblazers and you've really set the bar uh both you and your family and we're so proud of you this is a win for all of us in the Arab community and I I can't wait to see you at your squaring again proudly vote I council person Solomon echoing my colleague's remarks uh great uh Journey here we're so proud of you and can't wait to see you on the bench I proudly vote I counil person Gilmore um likewise I proudly vote I um I just want to say I mean I'm very critical of this Administration make no mistake but the diversity that we've placed in a municipal court is like Second To None nowhere um this is this is great for Jersey City to have the type of representation we have on the local court system here it is great and congratulations I'm thankful I remember when I first met you never told me you was a judge or you never told me you wanted to be a judge one day or whatever um but I'm proud I'm thankful and I proudly will I thank you council person Dees this a real old lady moment for me because 15 years ago we were on a school bus going to like field of Terror and I was your shaone and you were my my student um but back then you had such a love for your community a love for your family and I've gotten to known your siblings in County prep as well uh political science politics Loc local and National you always had a heart and a passion to help people and to be yourself so I know that you're going to stand true to your values as you progress I love your Tik toks as well they're very very informative great Tik Tok Channel um but I proudly vote I and I'm so proud of you and your entire family you're such a great role model thank you council person R man I mean this is uh this is amazing man a product of downtown OFA man hanging out in Via you know the community hung out with my nephew I mean I am so proud of this appointment and I and I I again I want to say may God continue to bless your journey I mean there there's more to come and um you know you you make your community proud you make us proud here I am so happy to vote I on your appointment thank you and council president wman I want to say congratulations you know when I look back coming into office um there was a challenge to make the city diverse when it comes to the police department when it come to the courts and every time we have an opportunity to put a judge or to do a promotion with police um officers I see the diversity there and to me that's so important because this city really is a diverse City and so in city government the people that are in office should represent that so I I I I I'm proud that you stepping up to the plate not everybody wants to be a judge they really don't because there is a a responsibility you know just being a lawyer there's a responsibility that comes with that but I know you will do it well because you have a community that loves you dearly you have a community that supports you you have a community that you can lean on when there ever is a challenge and in coming in certain professions you definitely need that so may God continue to bless you bless your family and may heaven smile on you and your community with that I proudly vote I City resolution 799 24- 799 is approved unanimously 90 okay F first question I have for you judge did I do okay with your name you did fantastic it's male seraphim thank you excellent so I I I'm I want to congratulate you 31 years ago I started in municipal court so it's so H I'm so happy to see you get appointed it's fantastic and I can't can't believe uh Council personent the G said an old lady moment that would make me an old granddaddy now so anyway judge I don't want to take any Spotlight away from you go right ahead thank you so much good evening honorable mayor Steven phip council president Joyce Waterman and the esteem members of the Jersey City municipal Council I am deeply honored and grateful for the confidence and the trust that you've placed in me with this appointment to serve as judge of the Jersey City Municipal Court as a son of Jersey City having lived here my entire life attend at school here and establish my private practice within this community this appointment is both a great privilege and a profound responsibility this appointment to the bench represents the essence of Jersey City a place of opportunity and justice for all as a first generation immigrant I am humbled to step into the role that reflects the spirit of inclusion and commitment to community that defines our city I'm committed to upholding the principles of Justice with integrity and partial ity and respect for every individual who stands before the court thank you mayor fup council president Waterman and the esteemed Municipal Council for the trust that you have placed in me to Serve and Protect the values that Define our Vibrant Community thank you so much BL Adam boy Sean yeah second judge if you don't mind we're going to take a picture with the entire council with you oh my hold on we gotta do the V over Sean he's the cowboy I'm a oh you just broke my heart judge judge you just bred my heart we still love you though hisory of how old are You2 I appreciate uh High School 2010 yeah 2010 you got to turn around tell IM might retired they need to take you for lunch Rich turn around rich Hur up Let the family in this is everybody's moment there you go stay up there yeah she com we done that yeah wait you got something to say no I thought that would be best okay thank you so much ready pastor Pastor can you come up to the podium pastor Pastor yeah pastor we need you to come up to the podium and take that piure that we promise you oh she coming up got another the pictur oh yeah we going my sound is off to low is an appointment how about now yeah where's the rest of the church everybody said they was coming Sunday told me on Sunday they was coming come on thank you so much Pastor for staying the one thing we do we follow through with our promises take okay we still have an agenda to get through if everybody is exiting please exit as quiet as possible and close the door behind you I greatly appreciate it okay everyone here in attendance please pay close attention to your agenda I will be calling the number and the first name of the speaker our first Speaker 5.1 lever char we can't hear you unless you're on the mic yeah I have a lady has a nonprofit on Ocean and fton that's the big she has no gr money she like me but what's she doing up there in our community on Ocean and Fon between the Dwight in the Lena Edwards building this bag is about worth $50 worth of stuff that she put together and gave the kids to come in to her e school program she does stuff like me and I would love council president if you and some people let go by there been here you have you know what I'm talking about then right so we can try and help uh get her some help I'm going to try some of the people that help me in the community like Greening them I'm giving out almost 300 turkeys these are application for coats that I'm doing about 300 on the 22nd of um excuse me 22nd of uh November the week before uh Thanksgiving I always do but I just would like for you guys to look around and help out where help is needed we Tred to help the needy and not the greedy and I get out food all year twice a month the county gives me a truckload I give different organization food but right now we really need help in our community with housing and with help with our young people like I'm going to get this lady some more help cuz like I said she's using she has a good job and our council president know it her and her husband I came in contact CU somebody told her her husband what I do and they needed some coats for some of the kids I'm going give them 30 coats and when I give a family a coat I give them a turkey so I'm going do that and I'm trying to get some other items to give out in our community cuz it's so well needed and I just thank you guys for what you're doing and working on affordable housing Workforce housing housing period And I wish we can get a developer that really want to do Montgomery Garden in the 10 and down there's enough money out there to rebuild that building we need them units we don't need them gutting down to put some Trails there that everybody can hear everybody's business so I appreciate you guys keep up the good work and you need me I'm right here and may God bless you and keep you and thank you again thank you hey hey our next speaker 5.2 Gina good evening Gina Davidson Ward F first I want to thank councilman Gilmore for attending the Jersey City march to end police brutality councilman we appreciate your support of the people tonight I want to talk about respect when the audience in this room reacts to betrayals by this Council we are often told Council respected you when you spoke now we ask you to be respectful of council I will challenge that there are six members of this Council who do not respect us when we speak if you respected us you would not continue to vote against the interests of the people particularly when the mayor wills it sitting silently and tolerating us is not the same as respecting us on September 2 25th six of you voted to Grant a 30-year tax abatement to the Kushner Real Estate Group y'all gave a $50 million tax break to a bunch of billionaires with a B billionaires 52 Jersey City residents got up to speak on this topic only three of them were in support of this project and those three all admitted to benefiting financially from the project one of the worst offenders is councilman Cay who often closes his eyes while I speak now because he doesn't like what I say that's not very respectful councilman SLE is constantly reminding us that he is the child of immigrants using the status of his family to Shield him from criticism about the way he votes there are plenty of people here who are also children of immigrants and they do not use it as an excuse to act in their own personal interest at the expense of their neighbors since we're telling personal stories in order to justify our Behavior I'll let you know that my granddaddy proudly worked as a tailor at West Point for many decades and was the first black business owner in Gardner New York however for me as one of the whitest presenting members of my family and who has benefited from a lot of privilege I see it as my responsibility to fight on the behalf of others council person SLE you have become an errand boy for a rich white man council president Waterman I've spoken with you personally and I had so much admiration and respect for you but I am now starting to understand why some people are frustrated on September 26 you stood next to the mayor and complained that Council had received a quote whipping in relation to the tax abatement vote how dare you act like a victim in a situation where you hold the power if yall want to start turning around your reputations you can start tonight with item 10.7 where jcpd is act asking for yet more Tomahawk training for the police we don't know what this is for the anti the problems that we're having with the police have not been addressed shame on you and justice for Drew thank you Gina thank you our next speaker 5.3 Tina I don't see Tina not here tonight right and how about Edward no okay say that again not live streaming she said it's not live streaming I just got a bunch of people tell me it was live streaming okay before I call the next speaker just give me one second okay we're just going to double check and I'm going to put this the camera on us so we can see everybody if anybody can hear me that's watching at home it's up it is up maybe you have to refresh okay all right I think we're good to go thank you though for that our next speaker 5.5 Danielle good evening Danielle damoo Ward C resident I'm here today to urge you to permanently implement the Manhattan Avenue and Franklin Street demonstration project before the impending expiration of the 670,000 New Jersey Department of Transportation Bikeway Grant this route is not just another bike path it is a critical East West Corridor that that connects our community's high injury areas links our Parks provides safer routs for our children attending public school number 8 and is the only eastwest Connection in the Heights prioritized for protected bike lane as part of the Jersey City bike master plan this project is not just about cycling it's about safety accessibility and the quality of life for all residents this project will calm traffic and make every intersection on the corridor safer it connects the Heights from east to west increasing opportunities for connectivity to the Hudson S6 Greenway and Hoboken in the future it aligns with our vision zero action plan to reduce Road deaths and serious injuries by 2026 and it allows our complete streets resolution which aims to ensure that all of our roadways are accessible to users of all modes and and abilities and the need for this infrastructure is evidence in the past years there have been 11 motor vehicle crashes on this Corridor seven of which involved pedestrians and cyclists most recently a pedestrian was struck at Franklin and Hancock on September 16th each of these incidents was preventable we must take action to ensure such events do not happen again furthermore this P this project aligns with New Jersey's goal of achieving Net Zero carbon emissions by 2050 it is part of our Collective responsibility to create sustainable infrastructure for future generations and while the demonstration project was in place we saw an 8% increase in Daily bicyclist counts a promising sign that removing the project reversed losing this grant would not only be a loss of much needed funding for infrastructure improvements but would also also represent a missed opportunity in support to support our vision zero and sustainability goals in times when budgetary resources are stretched These funds are vital in achieving safety and sustainability targets therefore I urge you to take Swift action please follow through on the executive order and demonstrate a commitment to Safe Equitable and sustainable transportation in Jersey City by acting now you can make a permanent difference in the safety of Manhattan Avenue and Franklin Street for all residents whether they walk bike or drive thank you for your time and for considering this important matter thank you you our next speaker 5.6 Sarah Sarah here no our next speaker Julie 5.7 is Julie here good evening my name is Julie Kyrie mon I'm a Jersey City native and I'm here today to talk about this year's Palestinian flag raising let's rewind a little bit the last time I was here there was a Suka outside for the first time in all my years in the city someone correct me if I'm mistaken but I just want to understand out of all the times in Jersey City history why we're fulfilling the requests of people who are openly Zionist not Jewish Zionist how much longer are we going to play pretend pretend that it is Holy to bomb four countries simultaneously pretend that Judaism is Zionism pretend that the mayor cares about Jersey City and our community pretend that this is a diverse court and police department in our city let's rewind a little more in 2022 the mayor signed a sister city agreement with Israel's youngest let's be real the terrorist state of Israel is pretty young altogether which is described to be a thriving I wish I could say the same about our city and diverse City diverse City that sounds familiar I wonder how much longer this diverse the most diverse city in the country money-making gentrification game is going to last if you all continue to neglect the majority of your citizens who believe that Palestinians should not endure a holocaust funded by our tax dollars of all the years to host a holocaust Remembrance Day you all signed off on that earlier this year while the same grandchildren of the Holocaust Survivors and former IDF soldiers publicly cheer on and defend a modern-day Holocaust on the Palestinians Philip's father served in the IDF so I can almost comprehend the complete Zionist indoctrination and brainwashing but you councilman Yousef I am truly ashamed of you how can you work under someone who proudly parades their support of the killing of your people of our people I haven't forgotten that you and councilman Gilmore and bajano voted yes on the ceasefire resolution but if that is all you've done this year then that was the bare minimum you have done nothing more to put an end to this modern-day Holocaust and nothing more to make us feel seen or safe how about a Nea Remembrance Day it's recognized by the UN or are we not discussing International Affairs still is this going to be the second annual cancellation of the flag raising how long can we keep pleading for you to view black and brown people as humans when will the performative and selective actions end I am tired of coming here and screamming into the void I am disgusted of how divided we are in this city it's not just our tax dollars and weapons that are responsible for this division it's our unaddressed hatred thank you thank you our next speaker 5.8 Emanuel hi good evening uh my name is Emanuel Morgan and I am a resident in Ward b um here again uh to advocate for the Manhattan Avenue and Franklin Street protected cycle track as there has been update on the status of this project since the last city council meeting I would just like to begin by sharing how my family uses Jersey City's protected cycle Network it is the way that we get to work get groceries go to the doctor and conduct the business of daily life I'm grateful to the councilman of awards C for responding every time I send notes on the state of the Bergen Avenue protected bike lane thank you this protected bike lane and the network has allowed my family to reduce the number of cars in our household from 2 to one I believe the protected bike lane and the heights can do the same for families in the Heights saving families an average of $112,000 a year and reducing traffic for those who choose or need to drive every person on a bicycle is one less single occupant vehicle creating traffic we already know approximately 40% of Jersey City households do not have access to a motor vehicle and this rate will likely increase as residential development continues we need to offer alternative Solutions my family is incredibly grateful to the award-winning Transportation planners of Jersey City who have made this made it possible for us to travel in this way in fact my partner and I met on a bicycle so you could say it is the Jersey City bike lanes that brought us together however we still face serious challenges when cycling anywhere outside the protected bike lane Network between July 1 and September 15th my my partner rode either a bicycle or an es scooter from our home to the Journal Square transit station in order to to receive chemotherapy treatments there is nothing quite like the fear of watching your heart walk out the door or the reassurance that he has a protected bike lane on Bergen Avenue at least part of the way my friend Juan Ramirez who is my neighbor also a resident of Ward B was not so lucky he was returning from work on J in January 2021 when he was hit by a driver on Central Avenue and left lying on the street he was taken to Jersey City Medical Center where he received 19 surgeries on his spine and his face he wanted to be here today but the NJ doot closed a sidewalk on a bridge between Newark and Jersey City stranding him until 6:30 when the path allows bicycles as you can see people walking and biking have slowly over time been deprioritized and devalued in this country and now we have reached all-time highs in traffic deaths and roadway spending and my time is up but thank you thank you our next speaker 5.9 Daniel hello Council my name is Daniel I'm a voter in Ward D I rode my bike here today when I ride home I'm going to have a safer trip through w e than I will through Ward C and D where I'm statistically more likely to be injured or killed on a bike so I'm here tonight asking that you finish the job on the Manhattan Franklin bike lane from what I can tell some of you are worried that the project is unpopular but our only measurable evidence of opposition is a survey from the summer in which a few dozen residents voted against it in that same survey a few dozen residents also voted for it since then nearly 600 people have written each of you in support of the project and over 80% of these supporters live within 15 minutes of Manhattan Avenue in Wards C and D let the record show that the bike lane is widely liked but here's what matters more in every country and city where bike Lanes have been installed uh they've reduced roadway injuries and fatalities they've increased walking and biking improving public health and making travel safer for all ages they've decreased driving reducing noise pollution air pollution and traffic making it better for people who want or need to drive Council when we installed the demo Lane on Manhattan and Franklin more people walked and biked on those streets since we removed it as someone has already said tonight A woman has already been struck by a car on Franklin Council the bike lane is already paid for with money outside the city bu from the perspective of Jersey City taxpayers it's free councilman SLE my councilman I know you can be decisive as you were when you voted to save the pomad do which controversially I agree with and thank you for when it comes to this project you said that if we can put a man on the moon uh we can build a bike lane and uh I agree so build it keep me safe keep my family safe keep my neighbors and my neighbors families safe give us all the freedom to use the roads our taxes pay for whether or not we own a car thank you all for hearing me out tonight and uh councilman slay I hope you'll consider joining the Hudson County uh complete streets advocacy ride on November 9th uh there are a lot of people who would be very happy to see you there thank you thank you our next speaker 5.10 beatus here at the last council meeting and I talked a little bit about my story um and as Daniel mentioned we've had to date 664 people signed the petition in favor of having the bike lane 321 of them are for the from the Heights and 23 of those people live on the corridor and I want to bring their voices here because I know a lot of them want to come but they have children they can't come work reasons so Kaylee says Dear Jersey City Council Members make more bike Lanes in the Heights palate Avenue please Helen says the demonstration reduced traffic and improved safety in the Heights I'm not even a cyclist I liked it because of what it did for cars and pedestrians Beth says I'm emailing the hopes that our elected officials and my representative usus Sal will not squander $670,000 of New Jersey Department of Transportation Bikeway grant that Grant by the way the state bikeways Grant New Jersey state said we need a thousand more miles of protected bike lanes and and I agree and we got this grant let's use it uh back to the letter it is beyond comprehension that Jersey City might not lose might lose this grant the temporary bike lane was something that my family children and neighbors enjoyed for the few weeks it was available residents should not have to beg to be kept safe please do the right thing Elena says Dear Jersey City Council Members as a constituent and resident of w c I'm asking you to please make the heights bike lane on Manhattan and Franklin Avenue permanent in my neighborhood my family does not own a vehicle and I ride my bike every day to commute to Journal Square for work my young daughter bikes to preschool across Franklin Street to Palisade Avenue currently on the sidewalk and accompanied by her dad every day and both my spouse and I use bikes as our primary source of transportation to run errands go to doctor's appointments Etc a protected bike lane would greatly improve our safety and encourage more sustainable active transportation across the heights I additionally there are hundreds of delivery workers in the Heights who rely on ebikes and would benefit from this bike lane yet their voices are not being heard this lanane would not only make streets safer for families like mine but also for these essential workers who are keep our community running AOS says Dear Jersey City Council Members I live on Congress I own a condo I own a car a parking spot and two bikes I also take mass transit I want this bike lane nego says I'm sure you've all received multiple petitions following the same template list the benefits of this project instead I will appeal on a more personal level as a resident of Franklin Street I'm not a cyclist my main form of moving around is by car however as much as I can I try to avoid driving around town and rely on walking or public transport some distances such as our very own downtown force me to take my car but those could easily be substituted with a bike share ride except that's not realistic in any meaningful way in the Heights lack of City bite docks and completely hostile roads make this a non-starter I'm running out of time next time I'll read more but these are these you have all these letters in your email thank you our next speaker 5.11 Natalie Natalie here no next speaker 5.12 Brian good evening uh my name is is Brian R I'm a ward C resident and I am asking the council to approve the proposed Manhattan Avenue in Franklin Street Bike Lane you got to come a little bit closer to the mic there you go sorry um I moved to Jersey City a few years back and uh my primary mode of transportation within Jersey City and into Hoboken in that time um is a bike in large part because of all of the protected bike lanes that make it safe and convenient for me to do so um I feel that this has given me a rich understanding of the area that I would be missing if I was in a car or even a train um but I am not really familiar with the heights even though I live right next door in Jal square and I think that's largely because of the lack of protected bike infrastructure in the Heights um it's just not a safe or convenient place for me to bike as opposed to downtown or other areas um the demonstration for the bike lane received overwhelming support from people who bike and Scoot um and those residents were largely asking for safety issues um it's they wanted it to be safer for them as opposed to the people that were opposed to it who are largely asking for convenience um they didn't like the one-way streets they didn't like the perceived um traffic backup and um it you know it doesn't seem fair to balance somebody's safety versus somebody having to spend a little more time driving um protected bike Lanes make streets safer for all users all Road users um including pedestrians and even those drivers that um you don't like the inconvenience um taking people off of the street to use a bike rather than driving benefits them uh slowing down traffic makes it safer for them um as well as for people protected by the bike lane uh when we implemented the demonstration we saw an increase as others have pointed out we saw an increase of 8% for cyclists which was um which was decreased by 8% almost immediately when the demonstration ended which suggests that people want to bike if it's convenient and safe for them and this is a great way to do that um so I ask the council to please implement the protected bike lane and don't let this $670,000 NJ do Bikeway Grant be lost thank you thank you our next speaker 5.13 Kevin hello today I am understand director Richardson has put forward a new communication since he did so just before this council meeting there was simply no time for our legal team to evaluate its contents such that they could provide any legal guidance to any of us therefore we have no ability to react or comment on it until the next city council meeting I hope his communication aligns with the law and I hope it moves us closer to a legal outcome if it does thank you if it does not I'm sure our legal team will respond soon now we will continue based on what we knew as of yesterday if you track recent developments at Portside Towers you might think you're watching a tragic episode of The Twilight Zone as we all know by now on September 19 director Richardson personally inspected our buildings he photographed empty walls where certificates should be he saw a redirect to the truth and renting guide which he noted was not the certificate of registration which is what is supposed to be posted in plain view he informed our landlord of their non-compliance he even heard our property managers offer to pay fines and comment about whether the director intends her to become a Kinkos I know this because I was there I understand Richardson also has many years of our leases I assume dating back to at least 2016 if so you can also verify very easily confirm each cannot have an up-to-date certificate of registration or the required information given the old expired certificate he saw on September 19th continues to have people listed who have not worked for our landlord since at least 2014 I've never seen a lease at Portside towers with the required certificate of registration that somehow that same inspection resulted in a written certification of full compliance with 263 J perhaps his new letter will clarify I hope so last week commissioner oday and assembly woman Stato conducted their own inspection I was one of several observers and none of us had any control over how they conducted their investigation they found precisely what tenants have been documenting and writing for over two years blatant violations of ordinance 263 J the same violations councilman Gilmore and others previously verified multiple times in person over the last two years the same violations director Richardson himself observed the law is clear provide the truth and renting guide and post and provide the certificate of registration with clearly defined required information not have a sign about the guide rather than post and provide the certificate and all of its updates within the timeline clearly outlined in the truth and renting guide last Thursday I testified in Trenton going to run out of time about how this non- enforcement is helping to facilitate price fixing hopefully this will get fixed soon thank you thank you our next speaker 5.14 Brandon good evening Council in The Wizard of in The Wizard of Oz Dorothy discovered the truth behind the current a small man pulling levers to maintain the Grand Illusion of the city of Oz here in Jersey City we're witnessing our own version of this lovely fantasy tale though it's more of a nightmare last week in Trenton former Governor McGee pulled back the curtain on how non- enforcement of rank control and abl algorithmic price fixing hours later our esteemed mayor fup claimed into the press that we have the strictest rent control rules in New Jersey but like the Wizards Illusions these words vanish once exposed to reality here's what's happening behind the curtains in Jersey C real Pages pricing outs can't function effectively in buildings where real where rent control is properly enforced but when officials certify compliance despite obvious and comically clear violations they claim due diligence while ignoring years and maybe even decades and backlogs of complaints they create the perfect environment for these algorithms to operate unchecked while they profit the numbers tell the story Jersey city has become America's most expensive rental market we've finally be in New York at someing couldn't have been anything better not because we have the strictest rules but because these rules only exist on paper for select large La landlords while algorithm pricing runs wild everywhere else even real Page's own legal council appeared in Trenton last week unable to defend the practices Beyond calling the allegations patently false as they are battling them in federal with feder Federal officials as well this isn't just about numbers on a spreadsheets about the families facing impossible choices workers in our building who can't afford to live in our city or near our city a community being priced out by algorithms operating behind a curtain of official indifference the New Jersey assembly is now acting to protect this from these algorithms because our local officials can't won't or can't offic commissioner OD is Comm is Seeking a DCA oversight because our local officials are continue to be unable to enforce existing laws the currs being back but not by those sworn to protect us it's time for this for the council to stop accepting Illusions and start demanding answers the wizard has been exposed his name is stepen fup the real question is what are you going to do about it our next speaker 5.15 Suzanne good evening Council since November 22 2022 not a single council meeting has passed without testimony about housing law violations and selective enforcement not one hundreds of written complaints hundreds of inperson testimonies a perfect record of Civic engagement met with a perfect record of selective non-enforcement and deliberate inaction by mayor Steven Phillip special just for our landlord and perhaps one or two other large landlords the record shows something remarkable every time tenants show up they were right when they said the buildings were rent controlled the rent leveling board unanimously agreed when they reported landlord identity law violations commissioner OD and assemblywoman stamato confirmed them long before the Department of Justice launched its investigation tenants were documenting how non-enforcement enables illegal rent collection yet the FIP administration's response just last week a spokesperson claimed they've done due diligence and need to follow time frames director Richardson certifies comp cents after photographing violations himself the mayor tells the Press we've done everything to do the right thing by the tenants while his administration continues to enable illegal rent collection let's be Crystal Clear there is no time frame in the ordinance for providing legally legally required information either it's provided or it isn't the rent leveling board unanimously determined these buildings have always been subject to rent control there's no process that changes this fact the law is the law the public record also shows something else $220,000 in donations to Filip linked political groups from a law firm his administration then tried to hire that firm representing the city attempted to prevent tenants from defending their rights the same Administration that claims it's doing everything for tenants sought to spend $80,000 of public money on this effort every council meeting every week for over two years years the record of tenant testimony stands unbroken but so does the record of this administration's protection of Select large landlords history will remember who stood silent in the face of systemic Injustice so with my time left I'd like to ask again about the investigation that should have been started is there any comment on the investigation as to why the wrongdoing continues president Waterman any comment I urge you to please investigate what the hell is going on because I've never had a certificate of registration given to me it is not in our building we do not qualify for any rent increase please do something our next speaker 5.16 Tara evening Council let me draw a picture that's becoming clear every day start with a DOT a property manager joking about being Kinkos when director Richardson asked about legal requirements connect it to another director Richardson photographing violations but certifying compliance add another a city spokesperson misdirecting attention to unrelated DCA investigation timelines while ignoring the ordinance's clear consequences for non-compliance with truth in renting requirements now draw line to Trenton where state legislators recognize what we've been saying all along connected to the FBI raid in Georgia investigating related practices draw another line to the Department of Justice's investigation join by eight states the picture gets clear when you add mayor Steven Phillip's quote from last week we've done everything to do the right thing by the tenants connect that to his administration's attempt to spend $80,000 on a firm that tried blocking tenants from defending their own interests connected to his Claim about having the strictest rent control rules while refusing to enforce them for select large landlords what emerges isn't just a pattern it's a blueprint a blueprint for using selective non- enforcement to enable algorithmic price fixing a blueprint for transferring America's strongest rent control laws into meaningless words on paper a blueprint that is made Jersey City most Jersey City America's most expensive rental market this isn't about connecting dots anymore it's about following the money from algorithmic price fixing to pack donations from refused enforcement to political Ambitions from tenant suffering to record profits commissioner OD day and Assembly women tomato didn't need complex diagrams to see violations they just needed to look the assembly didn't need elaborate explanations to vote for protections they just needed to listen to testimony the Department of Justice didn't need local permission to investigate they just needed to follow the evidence the picture is compl nobody can pretend they don't see it anymore thank you thank you our next speaker 5.17 Sylvia good evening one year ago we thought the end of our misery would be close we had just had a historic win at the rent leveling board Equity would have to pay we were proven right all would be good and yet I'm still illegally charged more than $1,000 each month by Equity as if it wasn't enough the building still seems unsafe as we hear fire alarms get water shutdowns and get weekly visits from the fire department sometimes it is several times a week not to mention in case of emergency we have no security guard no supper on site which is a complete violation of state laws what kind of luxury building is that there is nothing luxurious about port side Towers only the reception areas are kept well everything else is trash we have rats in the courtyard broken garbage shoots cockroaches in the hallways cracks in the walls water infiltration literally everywhere non-working Vents and in many Department serious mold issues this past two weeks we had visits of State inspectors and the list of non-compliances they have to report does not fit in a whole page how long are you going to let this happen director Richardson came last month to our building two days in a row and was faced with evidence that the building was not compliant with the New Jersey landlord identity law he nevertheless shockingly concluded with a determination that everything was all right how is that even possible like is this real is this part of a social experiment on how powerful can a coalition between politicians and multi-billion companies become or on how much corruption is too much corruption both seem Limitless in Jersey City sky is the limit we are a family with two kids who will go to go to university and aging parents we are two working parents parents both with Master degrees and good positions and yet we still struggle with basic expenses we have projects on hold because almost 50% of our income goes into our rent illegally this has been going on for so long and we're not getting younger we need Justice and we have been coming here to ask you for it so please keep helping us or start doing it if you're not yet on board our fight will help other communities in Jersey in Jersey City and Beyond we need to know that you're with us fighting corruption and speaking up for the people who chose you not for the companies who pay so you can become their exclusive servants thank you our next speaker 5.18 drew our next speaker 5.19 Shannon good evening Council Bill a 4872 was discussed in Trenton last week several people spoke both for and against and in the end there was Forward Motion the measure passed this is a bill that forbids landlords from using software and algorithms which artificially inflate rents it's collusion and collusion is wrong it's cheating Real Page and software like it is one step closer to being outlawed in our state and everybody knows that conducting business like list this is unethical but because corporations like Equity are so big and greedy citizens and renters have to shout until our voices are sore just to try to get them to stop playing dirty we all know it don't we this feels like games we're playing games of chicken to see who's going to last longer and Equity continues to violate and violate confident that nobody is going to hold them accountable they stall and they heal meanwhile Our Lives continue to get crushed under the stress now we won our case last year in October the law is on our side and I believe the wrongs will be writed one way or another and that I need to be patient but the bitterness of paying my rent to this bad actor while I'm being patient can you imagine that bitterness gets stronger every month please try somebody to explain to us why we continue to be charge rents that have been found to be illegal calculated was software that's so unethical it's about to be outlawed and rents I pay to a landlord who can't be bothered to supply us with required safety information that can be the difference between life and death you know actually the more I reflect on these truths the more it Spurs me on to keep coming here every other week it's so blatant I'm so angry about the obvious Injustice that it just feels Fels me more I won't give up we won't give up and we won't relent our unshakable valuable item our voice thank you our next speaker 5.20 Anna it's um hello um it is 7:51 p.m. um my daughter is in dance class it ends at 8:15 they're supposed to show off their dance skills at 8:05 and I'm not going to make it I'm not going to make it because I had to decide to come here and she understands because she has seen all of you either pay attention or not pay attention um I have to say councilman Gilmore you are like a superhero to her seeing you show up at the Halloween parade last week her being able to introduce you to her friends say like this is this is my friend like that means so much and then we see some Council people not listening and not realizing that we aren't coming here because it's fun or because it's you know our Wednesday night Social Hour we're coming here because we want to see change and I do get upset because this is our lives as one of my um neighbors said we are spending thousands of dollars in illegal rent I am living in a one-bedroom apartment paying $3600 a month my daughter and I share one bedroom um last night she woke up at 4:00 a.m. and she's like Mom you're typing too loud the reason why I'm typing too loud I need to do extra work to afford this rent um so that's where I'm coming from and that's why I'm not as upbeat because while I like being surrounded by my neighbors and yay democracy and I do appreciate that you're listening it's hard to feel like it's really really resonating and um one of the things that I wanted to talk about too is that last Thursday in Trenton state legislators work to protect tenants mayor Steven philli demonstrated his masterful misdirection in the New Jersey monitor he claimed their dispute lies with the city's rent leveling board this is astonishing deception the rent leveling board unanimously found these buildings have always been subject to rent control the tenants are in complete agreement with that the real issue is that this ruling means the Bureau of rent leveling must enforce every provision of the rent Control Ordinance and that's what m Phillip is desperately trying obscure from the press and public this isn't just about certificates on walls anymore this is about a systematic effort to Shield certain landlords from the very laws the mayor claims to support that's why the assembly in trenchant is acting that's why commissioner day is seeking DCA oversight and that's why the Department of Justice is investigating and that is why I'm showing up every night 7:53 I've got 17 minutes to get back to Hamilton Park thank you for listening our next speaker 5.21 Aon not here okay thanks next 5.22 Liv good evening Council 700 that's how many public comments about housing law violations have been delivered in this chamber since November 2022 700 voices 700 testimonies 700 pieces of evidence yet last week after commissioner OD day and assemblywoman Stato verified these violations yet again the city spokesperson claimed they're doing due diligence and following the proper time frames really what's the proper time frame for violations reported over 700 times over two years the math here isn't complicated when director Richardson certified compliance despite photographing violations himself he wasn't just ignoring 700 public comments he was ignoring Council councilman Gilmore's verification ignoring his own observations ignoring state law truth shouldn't be a process here's more math Jersey City is now America's most expensive rental market not coincidentally we're also a market where enforcement failures enable algorithmic pricing to flourish unchecked where officials certify compliance while violations persist where strictest rent control rules exist only in press statements or only for regular landlords as has been said in this Hall by a member of this Council the numbers tell a story of a systematic failure two years of documented violations 700 public comments zero effective enforcement for just some of us one unanimous rent leveling board decision being ignored two officials one from the county and one from the state having to step in to verify whatever everyone can see a verification which thankfully has been memorialized in the Press but numbers also tell a story of Hope 4 to two that's how the assembly housing committee voted to advance protections against algorithmic pricing eight states joining the Department of Justice to investigate these practices two State officials willing to document the truth the numbers don't lie but when officials do when they certify fiction as fact when they claim due diligence while ignoring violations they don't just fail us they enable the very practices destroying housing affordability in our city the truth is getting out I guess it's just a process our next speaker 5. 23 Joel good evening council members mayor Steven Flip's Administration appears to live on half-truths and deflections to create false public Impressions these Hal truths and deflections do not stand up to scrutiny we have reported numerous instances of selective quoting of laws ordinances numerous examples of partial statements press presented as statements for example in response to testimony before the New Jersey State Assembly by former Governor Jim McGreevy and our own Kevin Weller the mayor told the New Jersey monitor that our dispute lies with the city's rent leveling board what a deflection the rent leveling board's decision is the only action by this Administration that is consistent with New Jersey Law and New Jersey city ordinances we have joined Federal litigation to support this key finding of the board that both Powers Portside Towers buildings have always been subject to rent control in addition in the same monitor article the mayor claims quote Jersey city has the most strictest rent controls allowed in New Jersey end quote this is a Hal truth while Jersey City may have strict rent controls it fails to uniformly enforce them it has blatantly failed to enforce significant portions of the laws and ordinances governing rent control in Jersey City further he claims quote we have done everything in this instance to do the right thing by the tenants from a legal standpoint and our track record and documentation are very clear end quote from my perspective there is no independent evidence to support this we have repeatedly pointed out that in every instance other than the rent leveling board's decision the administration sides not with the tenants but with the corporate Mega landlords Outsiders who apparently are filling his campaign coffers with millions of dollars council members five of you have solidly voted with the mayor and or failed to provide provide us support two of you two of you have followed your conscience and have repeatedly opposed the mayor's efforts on behalf of billionaire landlords and developers and or supported us in our struggle and two of you have fallen somewhere in the middle you all know who you are please reconsider and support your constituents instead of the corporate Mega landlords who continuously steal exorb perent rents and siphon money out of Jersey City to Chicago and investors worldwide we would much prefer spending those dollars on local businesses such as restaurants and groceries Child Care elder care to name but a few help us keep our money in the local economy and begin your investigation on the lack of enforcement thank you thank you our next speaker 5.24 Doug my daughter and son-in-law are residents of Portside Towers owned by Equity residential I have been carefully following the efforts of Portside Towers residents to establish fair and Equitable rents under existing state laws and the Jersey City rent Control Ordinance since the very beginning watching every posted video and attending every rent leveling board meeting and city council meeting whenever I have been here effectively Portside Towers is a test case for rent control and the rule of law and may well have National implications when I was here in June I had the opportunity to talk extensively with council president Waterman who may recall that I expressed the hope that the situation would be resolved by the time I returned in in the fall yet here we are nothing substantive has changed Equity residential is still implementing unconscionable rent increases in defiance of the rent leveling board decision of a year ago and to date the city is not stopping them here's what I've seen as your constituents try to get the elected officials of Jersey City to First recognize and then enforce the laws and ordinances that apply of rent controlled buildings spring 2022 Equity residential increases some rents by as much as 35 to 40% tenants inquire of the office of landlord tenant relations whether Portside Towers was subject to rent control the director Dena henden responded that they were May June 2022 tenants file illegal rent petitions with the city September 2022 director henden inexplicably reverses her earlier determination and now says that the Portside towers are not rent controlled the tenants appeal to the rent leveling board M henden suddenly returns to private life as it turns out Miss henon and the city never took into account that the tenants are highly educated and particularly determined October 2023 over a year later the rent leveling board affirms what had been obvious is all along exemptions from rent control had not been filed board issues a unanimous decision that Portside towers are in fact rent controlled once the rent leveling board had made its determination it has been up to the city to enforce its own laws we are after all a nation of laws citizens have the completely reasonable expectation that laws will be enforced even-handedly and yet another year has passed and the city Administration has failed miserably at all levels to fulfill its duty to enforce the law our next speaker 5.25 David good evening Council good evening happy Halloween um I was reading an article recently very recently about this uh legislation that's been discussed in Trenton that has to do with real page and uh with this illegal use of algorithms to calculate rent increases which my building uh at Portside Towers has used to come up with these colossal rents that we are here talking to you about at every meeting so so in the article somebody said oh well we don't need a new law to deal with this because we already have laws to deal with this and so my first thought was that's disingenuous and my second thought though was that's the same situation that we're in we already have laws that apply here but they're just not being enforced uh the rent leveling board decided a year ago that the building had always been subject to rent control and that rents had to be recalculated to a legal level so that was a year ago so tenants from the building had to come push over and over and over again to get a recalculation completed and then when it was completed it wasn't done correctly it didn't achieve results that were going to be IL legal rent and so we're still nowhere so this law hasn't protected us because it hasn't been enforced and again the landlord identity Reg registration statement um is not in a visible place in my building at 155 Washington um it was never provided to me as part of a lease and now that's been confirmed by you know director Richardson uh assembly one Stato uh commissioner day uh Council MC Gilmore I apologize if I'm leaving anybody out a lot of people have seen this by now um nevertheless you know director Richardson certified that it was in compliance that the building was in compliance and this is especially important because it's going to be used as a pretext to claim that Equity residential has the right to raise rents in accordance with rent control increases which it's not because it hasn't fulfilled the requirements so again the law is there the law is great the law is not being enforced so you can take action to make sure that the city's laws are enforced and ask that you please do so thank you thank you our next speaker 5.26 Daniel last Thursday mayor step Phillip in response to my fellow tenant Kevin Weller's criticism of Jersey City's deliberate failure to enforce existing rent control laws told the New Jersey monitor quote Jersey city has the strictest rent control rules allowed in Jersey City and we've done everything in this particular instance to do the right thing by the tenants from a legal standpoint and our track record and documentation are very clear end quote strictest rent control rules allowed in New Jersey let's go through a few facts October 19th 2023 the rent leveling Board of Jersey City determined unanimously that both 155 Washington Street and 100 Warren Street were subject to rent control they also made a legally binding determination that rents must be rolled back to the legal 2016 rate so 6 years before the first illegal rent petition in 2022 and the determination had no stay so any current litigation is irrelevant in enforcing this and yet not only have the rents not been reduced to the legal 2016 rates we've all received rent increases since then every single one of us and all of us have been forced to sign a lease that says quote we hereby notif you notify you that the premises and the community are exempt from the provisions of any rent Control ordinances instituted by Jersey City or West New York as the case may be and said premises in community will be exempt from any future rent control rent stabilization or rent leveling ordinance instituted by these municipalities for a period of 30 years following the completion of construction at the community end quote that's fraud we're being forced to sign a lease that says our building is not subject to rent control when a legally binding determination was put in place over a year ago that our building is subject to rent control but yeah step FIP if you're watching this High Jersey city has the strictest rent control rules allowed in New Jersey and port side is not in compliance with the New Jersey landlord identity law which is required to be in compliance with Section 26-3 J of the city ordinance Portside Towers isn't in compliance with the Jersey city ordinance and thus they cannot legally increase rents and yet they've been allowed to continue to raise rents illegally does it sound like stepen pullup has done everything in this particular instance to do the right thing for us tenants from a legal standpoint does it sound like Jersey city has the strictest rent control rules in New Jersey Steven FIP is a liar he has allowed this to happen to us because he is corrupt and doesn't care about tenant rights I believe that there is a financial incentive for him to allow Equity residential to continue to raise rents illegally again step fup is a liar he has allowed this to happen because he is corrupt and doesn't care about tenant rights Steven fup is a liar he has allowed this to happen because he is corrupt he doesn't care about tenant rights stepen FIP is a liar he has allowed this to happen because he is corrupt and he doesn't care about tenant rights our next speaker 5.27 Jessica city council I was really hoping my dad wouldn't have to come speak but thank you um as you know I'm here to ask for your help in enforcing ordinance 260 the rent leveling board decision that our buildings are subject to rent control and ensure that the rent recalculations are delivered without delay I am here as I've been for nearly two years and over a year after the rent leveling board decision just to be clear enforcing ongoing rent control violations immediately that they stop is something you can and should do we''ve all received received illegal increases as was pointed out since the decision that shouldn't be permitted speaking of help I have wondered for nearly two years why the current mayor of Jersey City has never been here in these Chambers on our behalf when others in the city and the county have been at the beginning of this fight I thought surely he would hear our pleas and would address such an important issue that affects many of his renter constituents now I know what captures his attention last week mayor FIP broke his typical silence on the issue after Kevin spoke in Trenton about rental price fixing clearly the mayor is concerned about the Statewide and National implications of ignoring us but instead of helping us he attempted to Cloud the very simple issues at hand mayor Philip said our dispute lies with the city's leveling board something you've heard before and that this Hal truth ignores the fact that we wholeheartedly agree with the board's decision about that our buildings are subject to rent control where we differ is the base rent determination and the look back period but importantly our current and pressing issue is that the city is not enforcing rent control violations they're not stopping them from happening every day mayor FIP also stated Jersey city has the strictest rent control rules allowed in New Jersey for anyone following our fight this statement is uh a misdirection we've seen the city selectively enforce these rules only for certain landlords or for landlords of a certain size I watched the r leveling Board hearing of about three weeks ago it three weeks ago they knew what the right thing to do was Pastor shyon Richardson spoke on behalf of the ordinance and they were able to enforce with that landlord but that unit that building was about 20 units in a small landlord it's new to the city so hm interesting next FIP stated we've done everything in this particular instance to do the right thing the right thing there were so many steps along the way where your Administration mayor FIP only did the right thing when we forced you to do so the right thing would mean that I today wouldn't be paying yet another illegal increase since July your constituents are not confused by your careful language to the press and we know exactly where to look for an explanation of the ongoing delays in enforcement thank you our next speaker 5.28 Sylvia Sylvia H here okay and 5.29 Michelle good evening mayor fulli who fantasizes about being Governor claims Jersey city has the strictest rank control laws in New Jersey each word is a mockery of the tenants his administration has abandoned especially those of us living in buildings owned by billions dollar corporations like Equity residential telling at the January 10th 2024 meeting council meeting here councilman CLE asked what enforcement mechanisms exist for regular landlords who violate chapter 260 and just a few sentences later he put it perfectly when he noted regarding our Mega corporate landlord we're not dealing with an actor that's doing things in good faith it was obvious that he was highlighting the disparity in enforcement between how the city handles smaller independent regular landlords versus large corporate entities like Equity fips Administration and that includes every single one of you continues to look the other way quite literally right now you look the other way while large corporate entities like Equity seem to operate under different rules with less scrutiny or consequence is then regular landlords recently Philip claimed to be 100% against rent rent setting algorithms this from a man whose deliberate non- enforcement created a paradise for corporate landlords and he who finds time to accommodate billion dooll real estate interests case in point two unnecessary pilot agreements to enrich Kushner most insulting is Philip's attempt to blame the rent leveling board for our current troubles with it listen fli you lied to the Press our dispute isn't with the board we're thankful the board acted properly as the independent body it was created to be in addition to equity our beef is with you you've watched silently as two of downtown's largest sources of affordable housing have been methodically destroyed by the very corporations you protect your strict laws are as empty as your promises your enforcement as selective as your Ambitions your legacy is one of protecting corporate interests over tenant rights you're all about calculated favoritism and because of you I'll be paying another illegally inflated rent tomorrow to my not regular landlord listen all of you sitting on the deis you're waiting for us to ride it out in court you're silent you look bored you're staring off into space it's really in Consulting where is your public service moral compass being a leader means having to take or do difficult things sometimes you should step up blow a whistle and come to our defense we're paying millions of dollars in payment enough our next speaker 530 Erica good evening City Council Members thank you in advance for your time and attention to the following matter first shouts out to port side towers and enforce 260 tonight though I'm speaking um as a Jersey City WF resident to address the growing call from our community for transparency and accountability within our Public Safety department specifically there is an overwhelming demand for public access to observe training sessions to ensure that they align with our shared goals of safety professionalism and deescalation too often residents feel out of the loop when it comes to understanding how our officers are being prepared to protect and serve and this lack of transparency Only widens The Divide between our police force and the public as we look at item 10.7 tonight resolution 24784 which is up for vote I urge you to consider the importance of involving a commu the community in decisions that allocate significant resources to our Public Safety department this resolution seeks to allocate additional funds for ongoing tactical training through Tomahawk strategic Solutions a tenness based Corporation before such funds are granted our community deserves a clear understanding of how this training is conducted what standards are being enforced and how this aligns with our commitment to safety mental health sensitivity and deescalation training we know that training is essential for a skilled and responsive Force however allocating more taxpayer dollars without first establishing public oversight risks leaving our residents feeling unheard and unrepresented I ask the council to call for greater transparency and public engagement in these processes before approving additional funding I Echo councilman Boo's call for a written strategy from director Shay to outline these and other efforts to increase and enhance enforcement in Jersey City to date or I should say three years to date we've been in office three years now director Shay has never responded to requests made by the WTH Council Office so good luck with that councilman boano bye I sincerely hope placing this request on record tonight helps we know that training is essential and another area of concern is our community and the ineffective another area of concern for our community is the ineffective use of standing posts as a public safety tactic these posts are widely seen as wasteful and inefficient not only have they failed to address underlining issues but they have also led to troubling instances where officers have been observed smoking relaxing and even sleeping while on duty it's shameful and has understandably led to frustration and mistrust among residents our neighborhoods need a more proactive and dynamic approach to safety one that moves away from static post to active responsive thank you thank you our next speaker 5.31 Haruki right good evening Council um imagine house has broken locks you reported repeatedly for two years the security company sends an inspector for photographs broken locks gr they broken even here property on a joke about not fixing them then the same inspector certifies and writing that your locks are perfectly fine shortly before someone walks right into your home in the middle of the night to hurt from me that's basically what's happening at poite Towers but with state law and city ordinance violations instead of broken locks now last week in a matter of just 30 minutes commissioner o and Assembly women Stato did what the city has failed to do for years they looked at the facts and acknowledg the truths they found the same violations tenants have reported hundreds of times the same violation counil G verified multiple times last year and this year the same director Richardson himself photographed from September 19th yet the Press is told by the city spokesperson that due diligence has been done that there are time frames to fix issues this might sound reasonable if this one exact same violations reported continuously since at least mid 2022 the same violations documented in hundreds of public comments Before You In This Very Hall the same viations that persist while legal rents pile up uh when Guardians become Gatekeepers when officials certify compliance despite obvious viations they don't just fail their Duty they actively enable harm every day these violations continue is another day residents lack critical emergency information another day unauthorized rents are corrected another day algorithm push housing CL fire the contast couldn't be cater two officials one from the count and one from the state spend 30 minutes and found what this Administration has ignored for years this isn't about paperwork anymore it's about trust safety and accountability so you know in summary what what I'm asking for is appropriate enforcement right so the city has ordinances the state has Law it has to be enforced we're asking for help to compel the competent officials competent officials to enforce these ordinances so that you know we can live under the the the the right circumstances you know the what the law was intended to do and what the audiences were made to do so that's that's that's what we're asking for here you know to to help us live in peace and you know live the get the get the rights that we want and you know because that's that's what we supposed to do right like to to to help us via you know comparing the officials to do their jobs right so please please oh okay thank you thank you thank you our next speaker 5.32 Phillip evening council president W members of the city council the blacks have lost a great proportion of wealth under the Ste Philip Administration and now he's moving on to the state level so he can continue to Ravish black folks let me give you some figures you see figures don't lie Liars do figure on Philip Administration blacks have lost approximately 208% of the property ownership black when he came to power blacks used to own M poop stores and marel the King Drive that number is down to zero black us to own longer mats that number is down to zero black African-Americans used to own liquor stores and num down zero there's no black own restaurants camaret fruit stands and a black man this black man's mother people wanted to have a black cultural event on the streets of Marther King I own six partal property I was prohibited from doing that and they been into court lying and they do everything to prohibit that we're still in court two years over that but white people who runs the rock the block can have the same kind of event the same year and the next year which is 2023 and this year they own no property on M King Drive they not only run that or operate if you will they receive a grant which you approve bador of course they run a c to business they're getting a grant you hold all kinds of hearing for them where I'm concerned again I'm fighting you over a simple cultural business and everyone is quiet it is unfair and unreasonable you know that it's very hurting time will tell I'mma leave that to you it is just unfair goodday good night our next speaker 5.33 Diego hello my name is Diego I'm speaking in support of the bike lane on Manhattan Franklin um I'm 25 years old I do not have a car I work in Jersey City uh bike is biking is the main way I get to and from work I work all over the city as I work in construction um I have been biking all over the city for several years now and I find most of the time when there is no bike lane my life is constantly a threat uh I've constantly had cars honking at me for just existing on the road and cutting me off um and just in generally imposing harm on me whenever I want to keep myself safe my only option is to go on the sidewalk and if I go on the sidewalk I'm then threatening the pedestrians on the sidewalk not necessarily because I'm going any faster but just because I'm changing the area where I'm biking I still have to get to work and um I just want to do safely but I don't like choosing between my own safety or and those of others I want to start a family here I've grown to love the city very much and I just want to see it improved I I have feared for my life on multiple occasions just making a left because I thought I've made contact or made eye contact with a driver and they suddenly Veer almost hitting me or just going along and a driver near just rushes by me inches away from me just as I'm biking by doing nothing I feel like this will help me and my future family stay safe my partner refuses to bike at all because every time she's out on the road she constantly fears for her life and she is terrified so yes please uh please support the Bike Line especially if there's such a large grant for it that's all I have thank you our next speaker 5.34 Tom is Tom here no okay and last but not least 5.35 Alia hey sorry it's okay I get every every interpretation they're all they're all fine by me all right good evening uh AA Shermer president of bike JC which is an advocate y organization working towards a safe and bike friendly Jersey City I'd like to take my time tonight to read just one of the 600 and something odd letters that you all have received so far in support of permanently implementing the Manhattan and Frankland protected bike lanes and I will note that this letter comes from a Heights resident who is around 70 years old and I I point that out just because I kind of imagine that that is perhaps not the typical vision of the folks who are writing in these emails to you but there are more like this one as well so dear council members I'm a driver cyclist pedestrian and Transit Rider I experienced the Manhattan Avenue and Franklin Street demonstration bike Pro uh bike lane as a person in all four of these groups I ask you to make it permanent here's why while much has been made of inconveniences to drivers and buses as a driver and as a number 87 bus rider I found traffic was no worse or slower than it was before the demonstration as a driver I had to go one block over to detour around the bike lanane I survived this treacherous Journey my sister and I dined at the green pair restaurant on Franklin recommended and sat in the outdoor dining parklet which was in the bike lane on a Saturday we started counting bikes while waiting for our food and tallied an average of 15 bikes in just 10 minutes minutes Riders varied from delivery people to parents and kids to recreational Riders I can only imagine how many kids would use it as safe passage to ps8 during the week this bike lane should be restored to before approach before the approaching expiration of the njt Bikeway Grant allowing Jersey City to lose $670,000 in state funding for badly needed safety infrastructure would be a shameful waste using the state money to make it permanent would be a big win for a neighborhood being increasingly affected by more traffic and cut through traffic I live in a city because I don't have to use a car all the time I primarily have one just because it is a job requirement I take the bus Jitney walk and bike when I can but it is tough being a cyclist and a pedestrian out there new developments are being constructed with reduced car parking and more bike parking spaces which is a good thing but what good is it if riding is so unsafe that people are afraid to do it I say this as someone who was hit while riding my bike by a driver who left the scene my injuries were minor but there are people who've been killed on bikes in the Heights including one at Palisade and Congress protected separated bike Lanes make cycling better and safer using State money instead of making the infrastructure Department scr for funds from an already strapped City budget is a win for taxpayers and I'm out of time so I'll skip the last part and just say signed a 24e city resident and registered voter thank you thank you okay that concludes our public speaking portion when you get a chance again I want to ask uh Peter or the law Department a question okay we get resolutions now uh 10.7 based on what they presented they said the training should be based on each client specific organization needs that's what it says in there right and when I'm looking at their you know Personnel list it says that you know they have special people trained and special operation Security Experts and it goes on and one thing caught my attention in there it says medical professions too all right so now I would like to know okay with Tomah Hawk what is the medical training that they do for our police officers you may don't have that answer now we can come back to this resolution we could bring it back because the reason why I'm asking is because if they supposed to train based on each organizational needs times has changed I know they have their tactic training that's part of it but then there's a mental portion of it that you know that I believe our police officers need to be training also so now since they put it in their contract to say that they have medical professions all right I would like to know how are they training the police office police officers medically I I I just want to know because um you know they they're the experts right absolutely president so the training will provide four instructors those instructors train on a variety of issues the train is primarily about uh Close Quarter entry and deescalation so the medical will incorporate partly how to psychologically talk to inds try to deescalate the situation before a potential breach or prefer any attentional entry into the premises as well as first aid training for the responding officers who are first on scene Trias things like that so it comp compensates two things one is the actual medical first aid response and one is the psychological deescalation how to talk to individuals before any potential breach would Ur Peter I would I'm very familiar with Tomah Hawk and their training is excellent I was a cop for 36 years believe me they're a good organization so do they can train our police officers how to deal with people mentally they would talk call different contracts of the city this one in particular there would be a mental component to it as far as this one will be a mental compon corre there's the escalation component as far as the training goes so but I would like to know exactly how is that training done done but they share that in some form or fashion because they said based on the client needs now we know based on what we've been going through that there's a need now for mental health training the need change from the time we started with them three years ago yes they have good training I'm not saying they don't but since the needs have changed and they supposed to adjust to each organization all right I'm just I mean that's a fair that's a fair question because time needs have changed that's Mr council president I just want to make two quick points one they part of that through role playing so they will actually have instructors on site that experienced these situations that have been trained by professionals these situations and they'll role play throughout the day with the different officers involved to try to roleplay that and provide the necessary guess instructions as well as real- time situations that they might be dealing with on top of that uh the training is already set up for November so if we do push it off we'd have to reschedule things um I'm just worried if that would disrupt any potential police organization scheduling that kind of stuff um so I just want to advise the counil of that November what Peter November 3 is there there e 4th 4th through the eth so I don't think we'd have time if we push it off I don't think the next council meeting would occur before that why would they put it so um I'm I'm just so sick of public so I I do have a question and this probably would have been better raised in caucus but since we're discussing it here now um knowing that some of the training that they've done in the past at different um buildings different um educational facilities and the like there has been an opportunity for the public to participate in uh the various different roles that they have within that if if that is something that because that's part of what is being asked for right now is they want to understand the train they want to be able to see the training they've opened it up to the public in the past so I would just ask that for this training in November um that there is that same opportunity I mean I I've had friends that have participated in some of the trainings at NJCU as um you know as part of the actual process whether they they play somebody who has been you know shot somebody who is part of a hostage situation and the like so I mean I think that opening that up to the public would be a positive thing here as well boy I just want to say um Peter I vot I'm vote on Public Safety but with regards to the uh the bike lanes that the council is not voting on it right we don't we're not yeah we no K so that is in reference to a grant that the administration applied for the grant doesn't expire till December the administration is committed to asking for an extension you need an extension in order to apply the grant so that one's not before us today we're not voting on today and the administration is committed to working with us to get the extension okay and also I just want to say first I want to commend ports uh you guys literally been coming to every council meeting since I've been on the council um but I will say I'm it's I'm really pulled in a unfamiliar territory in a sense that I have to rely on like I don't know the like I know the law but it it's so much great area with the law so for me it's extremely hard to say hey I mean I know that I went I didn't see what's supposed to be there but for me when I'm talking about the law is like I don't know how can I explain I don't know like how do because there at one one point I'm hearing well everything's in litigation so whatever we bring forward it's almost it's it's almost going to go nowhere because the courts still have to decide whether they're supposed to be subject to rent control but in another side like the advocacy part of me is like I'm frustrated too because to be paying a rent that we're not supposed to be paying for all of these years and you know people are taking second jobs people were missing out spending on time with their children so I extremely sympathize with that and I do feel bad and I'm not saying this like because I'm siding with the administration I'm just saying from a legal perspective like if the Law Department tell me something I almost have to take it on face value because I'm not an attorney I'm not an attorney and all my experience with the law is there so much gray area in the law that's why you have to go to court it's so much gray area like I get it I'm not like I'm I feel because like like I said you guys have been here meeting after meeting after meeting after Mee if it was up to me I'm sing a viol I see it with my own eyes I don't see it let's go it's almost 9 o' come on I don't see it but I'm just saying like it is just like it's it's it's really hard for me again because I'm just not an attorney and I don't have the I'm not afforded the time to like you know look in to see what the actual look because there's so many other things going on around the entire W so I just wanted to say say that on that behalf but I also want to say like I'm going to still do everything in my power to ensure that Justice Prevail just know that I'm going to do that so I just wanted to say that in light of all of that you ready Rich no no he didn't have nothing to say did you no I he didn't have nothing to say I told him let you speak okay all right on to petitions and Communications any questions or comments on item 6.1 through 6.39 hearing none any questions or comments on office communication 7.1 through 7.13 hearing none any questions or comments on reported directors 8.1 through 8.2 on to our claims and addendum number one council members are going to be taking to vote on claims and addendum number one council person Ridley I council person priner Hi council person bajano Hi council person Cay hi council person Solomon hi council person Gilmore council person Dees council person Riva hi and council president wman Hi claims and addendum number one are approved unanimously 90 on to our resolutions I believe that um 10.3 council person Rea yeah we could just move that to the next uh council meeting representative is not here today okay so the Administration has no problem withdrawing the resolution correct absolutely no problem okay so we'll withdraw that for tonight and bring it back at the November 14th meeting with that being said council members are going to be taking a vote on items 10.1 through 10.11 with the exception of 10.2 which was approved earlier and 10.3 which has been withdrawn council person Ridley I council person priner Hi for all council person Bano hi council person CLE hi council person Solomon hi council person Gilmore gonna obstain on um 10.7 I I for the rest okay council person Hi council person r hi and council president wman on on 10.7 I I do have a concern reason why because our needs change that's why okay so now you tell me the class is I thought November 3rd but it's November 4th so um I'm going tostain on this one because I think as we grow as a city if our needs change and if we're hiring um people to train our officers that must be included now because uh mental health is a challenge now and so you want to make sure that the police officers are receiving that because based on these um trainers experience that the minimum is 15 years experience they have so if they have the minimum is 15 years to me it seem like now I mean with all that's going on with mental health this is a a thing throughout the whole country it seem like somebody on there should be able to give us more our police officers more Mental Health Training that should just be a part of it we shouldn't really even have to really keep writing for grants that should really just be a part of it because the needs are changed so on that one I'm just going to abstain but the rest yes simple okay uh items 10. 1 and two are approved uh unanimously 90 10.3 was withdrawn 10.4 through 10.6 approved 90 10.7 is approved 702 would Council persons Gilmore and council president wman abstaining and items 10.8 through 10.11 are approved 90 on to our next set of resolutions items 10.12 through 10.21 10 12 through 10.21 council person Ridley hi council person priner Hi council person bajano Hi council person SLE hi council person Solomon hi council person Gilmore hi council person thees Hi council person rera Hi and council president wman Hi items 10.12 through 10.21 are approved unanimously 90 for the balance of our resolutions 10.22 10.28 with the exception of 10.22 which was approved earlier council person Ridley I council person Prince AR hi for all council person bajano Hi council person SLE hi council person Solomon no on 1024 I on the rest thank you council person Gilmore I council person Dees I council person rer Hi and council president wman okay items 10.2 through2 through 10.23 are approved 90 item 10.24 is approved 81 with council person Solomon voting no and items 10.25 through 10.28 wait Sean I have to abstain from 10.9 I'm sorry say that again I have to abstain from 10.9 10.9 okay so 10.25 through 10.28 or is approved 990 getting back to 10.9 yeah canab no problem let me just get to it so 10.9 you're going to abstain as well so just to recap 10.9 vote will be 801 would Council P president Waterman abstaining with that being said do I have the magic my hear motion at 8:46 p.m. the motion was made I Believe by council person Rivera seconded by council person priner Ridley sorry about that without mic's on I can't really hear this thing um on the motion to adjourn at 8:46 p.m. all council members present by acclamation please say I we are out of here at 8:46 p.m. thank you so much everyone in person and everyone watching at home remember teamwork Mak the dream work have a great night stay safe go Yankees they Up 3 nothing or nothing