##VIDEO ID:2cMuQboFMgg## okay go councilwoman thank you everybody Welcome to the uh reorganization meeting for the mayor and Council being held Friday January 3rd 2025 at 6 p.m. I'll call the meeting to order the C council members right now we're going to have um councilman Guzman his wife Janice called to the roster room with their daughters escorted by Council McAn and councilwoman quatron oh Del con I apologize [Applause] yeah now he's is he gonna swear him in Senor gonna swear him in yeah down there Bible um to all the all the FES the United States andth [Applause] now we'll have our new council member John ero and his wife Shannon and children brought to the rostrom by councilwoman quatron and councilman kley [Applause] this there you go hi hi solemly swear Solly swear that I will Faithfully that I will faithfully impartially impartially and justly and per all duties per all as a ACC to the my ability according to of my abil I do further Solly swear I do further swear that I will support the Constitution that I will support United States state I will bear true Fai I will be fa and ALG to the sa Al to and for the government established the United States stes stth [Applause] Council pres uh counc woman would you please acknowledge our dignitaries thank you mayor uh first of all thank you everyone for taking time out of your schedules to be here for our reorganization in the beginning of the good work of the people for the burough of Rutherford uh mayor we would like to acknowledge New Jersey state District 36 state senator Paul sarlo we'd also like to acknowledge and thank for attending Bergen County Commission commer Germaine [Applause] Ortiz mayor in attendance tonight also is police chief John Russo and our Deputy police chief Shan Farrell thank you Miss could you please call the role mayor nzi here C Del con here councilwoman quatron here councilman kley here councilwoman McOwen present councilman ero here thank you if you're willing and able will you please stand for the salute to the flag I'm here too I pledge Ali to the flag of the United States of America to the Republic for it stands one nation under andice Missy could you please do the provisions in compliance with the open public meetings Law chapter 231 public laws of 1975 notice of this meeting was transmitted to the record and Herald news and filed with the bur cler on December 23 2024 and is posted on the Bulet board outside of bur Hall thank you um we'll now have remarks from councilman Guzman thank you very much mayor good evening and happy New Year to all while today is a congratulatory day of taking the oath of office for the newly elected it is most important to understand why we are here we are here as elected officials chosen by the people to represent their interest to the best of our ability to the people of Rutherford I do not take the oath of office without understanding the task of being your councilman I will always cast my vote in your best interest thank you for in trusting in me to my wife Janice and my daughters Emma and Alex thank you for sharing me with the residents of Rutherford and always supporting my efforts in the role of councilman I love [Music] you to my other family members and my friends thank you for your constant support as this journey would not be possible without you by my side to all burrow employees thank you for all you do that keeps this great burrow running on on a daily basis you are the backbone of this government and your efforts do not go unnoticed being a local elected official we must rely on our elected officials that sit at the county and state as they represent the needs of the local municipalities I am honored to know each and every one of you and cannot thank you enough for all you do senator Paul sarlo assemblyman Clinton calibri and assemblyman G share you have proven time and time again that actions speak louder than words thank you for your friendship and for the continued efforts to make Rutherford an amazing place to live Bergen County officials County Executive Tesco Commissioners Germaine Ortiz Steve tanelli Tracy Zur Mary amaroso Dr Joan Voss Rafael Marte Tom Sullivan and Sheriff Sheriff kittan thank you for your constant support and for being there for every every step of the way I'd like to thank our Democratic chair Paul Giuliano Municipal chair Denise Ross Bernard mcferson in the entire Democratic committee for your help and guidance during the past year and general election thank you for believing in me to our local officials I thank our mayor Frank nun for your friendship and Leadership my Council colleagues Stephanie McGaw Matt kley Susan quatrone Christy Del I apprec appreciate each and every one of you last but not certainly not least to my running mate and newest Council colleague John ero today the people of Rutherford Look to You for represent representation as their councilman this past year I had the privilege of getting to know you as an individual and what you bring to the table as a professional I am impressed with you and have no doubt that you will represent all Rutherford residents with dignity and respect that they all deserve I excited to work with you and look forward to your accomplishments congratulations councilman Erica thank you thank you councilman ero thank you mayor and thank you Ray good evening everybody and thank you all for being here tonight I am extremely extremely honored to have been elected as a councilman in Rutherford I first want to thank my wife Shannon uh sitting in the front row here for supporting me throughout this campaign uh I will always feel undeserving of her immense love and support for me um perhaps no better manifestation of that love is the presence here tonight night of James our 5-month-old baby who was born who was born during the middle of our campaign um Shannon's immense patience and compassion are hopefully self-evident in that she tolerated me running for office during this time of our lives I am also very blessed and lucky to be here with our other children Elizabeth and August they give me tremendous joy and purpose in life I want to thank and acknowledge those who ran against Ry and me in our campign aign in this past election I know how difficult it is to run a campaign and I appreciate that all the candidates ran campaigns that I believe were of High character I want to particularly and deeply thank our campaign team and volunteers including Mar nunziato and the entire Council I specifically want to single out for immense thanks our campaign manager Kim beian and our campaign Treasurer and my new colleague Stephanie McGowan without their tremendous efforts I simply would not be here tonight I would also be extremely remiss to not profusely thank and acknowledge my running mate my new colleague and my friend Ray Guzman who taught me essentially everything that I now know about running a campaign and serving Rutherford I see my life is one of profound and immense fortune and being paired with Rey in this process has been the latest in a series of Fortunes for me thank you so much Ry and I am eager to continue learning from you and working with you in thinking about the contributions of these volunteers my friends and colleagues and the many others who helped in this campaign I recall a quote it's from montc an 18th century French political philosopher who wrote that the principle of the Republican form of government that we enjoy is virtue in his eyes virtue means the willingness of individuals to prioritize the common good over individual ambition or greed or personal or political interests it means valuing honest Y self-restraint and promoting Civic mindedness and volunteerism one reason Shannon and I chose to make Rutherford our home and to raise our children here is because I see that virtue in our people in the many many volunteers that we have many of whom are in this room today in our fantastic burough employees in our public servants and our honored guests tonight including senator Paul Paul sarlo and our County Commissioner and in people like Kim Frank Stephanie chrisy Susan Matt Maria and Ry I finally want to thank the citizens of Rutherford who have entrusted me with what I consider a tremendous responsibility I want to challenge all who are listening to this to think about ways in which we can all embody virtue in our lives as Citizens friends colleagues and co-workers and as parents and members of a family I want to challenge everyone to consider how we can make things better whether that's in the world in our state in our community in our workplace or in our friendships or our families virtue bubbles up it bubbles up from the smallest crevices in our lives from the smallest deeds and kindnesses in our lives and it combines with the virtue of others to make a tremendous impact thank you so much thank you Catman I'd like to now invite up Senator sarlo to say a few words [Applause] I think so evening everybodyy to have young blood young families coming forward that's how organizations build that's how communities continue to grow andle all of you uh are doing it the right way and continuing to grow as a body and grow as a community than great just a drive down Park here tonight so beautiful so festive the town looks amazing and my small part I'm glad I have the opportunity to help bring back necessary funds here but more importantly just work with each and every one of you to deliver servic to people so you're all very fortunate to have this group of official great God bless happy thank you Senator I would like to now invite up commissioner Ortiz enjoy working with everyone congratulations again to to council like to present in honor than you [Applause] Senator can we get a picture with you as well before you guys sit down thank you we're now going to open up for the hearing of citizens uh anyone from the public wishing to speak please step forward to the microphone keep your comments a five minutes or less um state your name and address anyone wishing to speak from the public thank you going to close it to the public now I'll now open the um this up for um a request for nominations for the president of the council mayor I'd like to nominate my colleague that represents the people every single day that she's on the Das and Beyond when today she's not and Advocates every single day for the better quality of life for all citizens here in Rutherford I'd like to nominate my Council colleague Stephanie mcowan I have a nomination uh may have a second second second by councilman quatron Miss he Council Del con yes councilman quatron yes councilman kley yes Council mwan abstain councilman ero yes councilman Guzman yes congratulations council president again I believe you've requested that uh commissioner Ortiz SAR you in yeah Jeff you got to get up so now raise your right hand I state your name I Stephanie doly swear that I will Faithfully that I will faithfully and partially and partially and justly perform and justly perform all the duties all the duties counil toil ACC to theil I do furtherly swear that I will support the constition that I will support the Constitution of the United States of the United States and the Constitution and the constitution of the state of New Jersey of the state of New Jersey and that I will bear true faith and algi and I will bear true faith and allegiance to the Saints to the Saints and to the government's established and to the government's established in the united states in the United States and in this St and in this state under the authority of the people under the authority of the people so help me God so [Applause] congratul for thank you next up we have our Employee Service Awards if you are present could you please step forward John bwick house 15 years of service to the Bur of [Applause] Rutherford you have to go down there [Applause] conat thank you congratulations next up we have years service [Applause] [Applause] service [Applause] [Applause] I don't really want a picture you could just give [Applause] [Music] [Applause] 2 [Applause] police chief John R 25 [Applause] years [Applause] [Applause] back 45 years [Applause] that's [Applause] everybody we is Betty in did youty shell oh yeah she didn't come up I was wondering who that woman was over there [Applause] president of the council once again you're just doing the item number 16 right now thank you mayor I'd like to move resolution number one adoption of the 2025 bylaws motion I have a motion by the council president may have a second second second by councilman Guzman any questions or comments by the council see none may have roll call Council dely con yes Council quone yes councilman kley yes Council mwan yes councilman ero yes councilman Guzman yes you're G do yeah you want to do the ask for one motion after they're done the buildings and grounds Public Utilities councilman ericco second councilman Guzman police councilman Guzman second councilman M council president I apologize myself Sports and Exposition Chamber of Commerce councilman quatron Board of Health historic preservation actually board Board of Health historic preservation Recreation stigma free and volunteer councilman kley Arts committee rent board shade tree Miss Finance keep going we main uh main assignments Finance councilwoman mcgaan I'm sorry council president mcgaan councilman goley Public Works councilwoman Del re con councilman ero C Council MC Gowan uh Kip Senter councilman Gall fire no no I'm sorry Council councilwoman quatron fire second councilman Del re con Recreation councilman kley second councilman quatron accept I now ask for a motion to accept motion motion by councilman dely con may have a second second second by council president any questions or comments by the council see n every roll call councilman D con yes councilman Clon yes councilman kley yes Council Macwan yes cman Erico yes cman Guzman yes thank you uh the following is the boards and commissions um I'd like to have a council I'd ask for a motion for the um accepting ones on the agenda accepting the ones that are here on the agenda motion anyone motion motion by council president May a second second second by councilman Guzman any questions or comments by the council seeing none may a roll call Council Del con yes Council katron yes councilman kley yes counc mwan yes Council ero yes councilman Gman yes thank you consent agenda council president thank you mayor all items with an asri will be enacted by one motion as the these items are routine in nature a consent item may be removed from the agenda by a member of the governing body prior to the motion at this time I'm prepared to move the consent agenda motion I have a motion by the council president may have a second second second by Council and quad Throne any questions or comments by the council seeing none may roll call councilwoman Del con yes councilwoman Kone yes councilman kley yes Council mcowan yes councilman ero yes councilman Gman yes yeah I would now accept the motion to adjourn this meeting motion I have a motion by councilman Del col I have a second second all in favor I have a great night and congratulations