the United States of America and to the na invisible liberty and justice for [Music] all adequate notice of this meeting has been given in accordance with the open public meetings act pursuant to public laws 1975 chapter 231 this agenda is complete to the extent known and was sent to the Trenton Times and Trentonian newspapers posted on the first floor Bulletin board in City Hall filed in the city clerk's office and posted on the city of Trenton website formal action will be taken Mr Garcia certainly roll call councilwoman Edwards president vice president Figo kenberg present councilwoman frisbee present councilwoman Gonzalez presente councilman Harrison councilwoman Williams president presented council president Felician present myself Brandon Garcia municipal clerk present legislative Council Mr Ed kogi present present and INF for West Bridges assistant City attorney Scott Miko present thank you and Madame President if you'd like I can read the invocation thank you almighty God who holds the fate of man and Nation we most humbly beseech thee to bless this our city these deliberations and these thy servants that they may act with wisdom and understanding for the good of our community and thy greater glory amen amen and Madam president I believe at this time we have a council recognition if yes thank you you'd like to go right [Music] ahead so tonight I have the pleasure of bringing before Council a very special young man that I have gotten to see grow over the years I've known him since his youth he is a wonderful Shining star academically as well as in the area of basketball and so tonight we will be honoring Michael Duce Jones with special recognition whereas Michael Duce Jones was born in Trenton New Jersey to Michael Jones senior and Crystal Randall and began playing the sport of basketball at a very young age and whereas Michael grew up surrounded by division one hoopers in his family his F Father Michael Jones senior played for Ruckers University and his uncle Gary Jones played for Le University Michael aspired to be the next in line and carry the family Legacy forward with his goal being to reach D1 status and to play at either his dad's or his uncle's Alma mat and whereas Michael's father and Uncle helped with his overall basketball development it was his mother Crystal Randall also a former high school basketball player that got him playing on the courts early at the age of nine while ensuring he's still maintain good academic standing his current GPA is a 3.9 and whereas it was through a lot of hard work dedication sacrifice and commitment that afforded Michael the opportunity to play with Trenton Catholic Academy and then transferred to St Thomas aquinus in New Jersey where he surpassed the Thousand point mark and continued to Showcase his authentic Talent on the courts wowing Scouts friends family fans and Spectators with his basketball prowess and Savvy and whereas Michael has been presented with many prestigious offers to continue his education he will now join the Lal back court next season where he will play where he will play with and accompany his new team the Lal explorers in addition to playing on the courts Michael will also pursue a degree in sports communication now therefore be it resolved by the Council of the city of Trenton County of Mercer state of New Jersey that we recognize Michael du Jones for his outstanding academic performance as well as his tremendous athletic presence on the basketball court and wish him well in his collegate journey and all that he seeks to accomplish presented this 20th day of June 2024 so Michael if you would like you can approach the podium here and press the button if you like to give a few quick words and then we want to get a picture with you uh I just want to say thank you it's an honor to have my city in my back but uh it's a lot more I have to earn and I just want to say thank you [Music] again Council if we could go down we'll grab a picture over in the corner it's [Music] [Music] I knew already [Music] that's when Crystal called me she told me that sure [Music] from [Music] is e e all right Mr Garcia certainly Madam president at this time I believe we have a presentation uh presented by councilwoman frisbee yes uh councilwoman did you want to introduce that presentation no so this is a young lady who I had the distinct pleasure of meeting actually through another young lady whose family I get seamoss from in our Spruce Street Market and she brought this idea to me and I thought it would be absolutely phenomenal and I asked if she would come and present it to council um I'm sure she's going to knock it out the park and I look forward to uh what she has to tell show us so I ask you to sit back and let's hear what medic Quest Academy has to offer thank you just press the the button there one time press that little button that's set all right can you hear me yes all right good yeah it's here thank you good afternoon um council members staff guests my name is Chantel Rogers I am a registered nurse for the past 23 years and I have been a career in technical education teacher for the past 13 years in Middle sex County interested in medicine I teach the medical assistant track um I still work at the hospital as well so I'm there too so I'm like kind of double dipping um the school that I propos is called medquest Academy and it's about empowering Future healthc Care Heroes this came about because there are lots of kids who are underrepresented in healthc care um when I work at the hospital there's not many people that look like me so that's one of the reasons why I went back to high school to teach and um to give back and so now I feel like I could do more by actually opening up a school to serve the underrepresented population so medquest Academy is based on having a shared time program I'm not sure if you guys are familiar with a vocational um education system that we have here in New Jersey and across the country so um my class is called healthtech where I'm at where I'm at now um but I'm actually I have certifications to teach more than just one particular type of of um topic so my proposal for this school is to be a shared time program where the kids who they would do um two hours a day at this medic Quest Academy and their academics would be given at the main high school so Trent High School um what whatever the the two high schools you have in Trenton so and I propos to do this with real world people registered nurses doctors people who are actually in the industry because there's not many people that actually teach that come from the hospital to to teach in a um a high school so I do have my Bachelor of Science and nursing I have a master's of um science and nursing education as well so I chose not to go to the college but to stay in the high school system because I feel like that's the pipeline in how we get the kids to be able to go into healthcare because most of the time you'll see the the students who are there who are minority who are working as text they're working as housekeeping they're working in a cafeteria you don't see many nurses you don't see many doctors and so in the 13 years that I've been in this system I've changed that vastly I have one student who you'll see I have a video of he's an alumni he's going to graduate next year from medical school I have another one that just graduated from NYU um a couple of weeks ago so I'll just go through and tell you and if you guys have any questions at the end please feel free to ask me I'm G try and say on task they told me don't read my friend said just go for it so I'm trying to just go for it um so how are we gonna pick the children I want to focus on the seventh and eighth grade students because I feel like that's where the pipeline is that's where it starts once once they get to high school they kind of already know what they want to do um the issue is they need guidance and the biggest problem is that we don't have somebody that can actually cut the red tape for them I am the red tape cutter for my students I'm the one who actually drives at home to help them to navigate I grew up in Patterson New Jersey so I understand what it is to grow up in a city or population just like Trenton so and I had I had to make different mistakes in order to get to that point where I was able to get my nursing license and everything else that I needed to get so um it starts with the counselors it starts with the parents it starts with the community to know exactly what to do and most parents don't know my mom they she she had no idea she just knew I wanted to be a nurse so no one knew how to do that so I had to figure it out and the best way is with these certification programs because most of the time when they're with me the kids are able to take college classes while they're in high school so when most of my kids graduate they already they're already going into the fouryear universities at a junior level so my goal is always to have them have that Allied Health and Science and Math is the biggest portions that's what we're weak on because we don't have the same academics for whatever reason so I feel like middle school right now is like the sweet spot to hit to see like to get them to cross over and to to show them that they can do it because most of the time you'll hear the kids say oh no I'm not going to go to medical school it's going to take too long I'm not going to do this and I'm like in eight years what are you going to be doing you're going to be making $18 an hour working at Amazon or one of the places and then eight years have passed you by and they could be making $350,000 a year so I'm trying to show them the difference in education in order to achieve that not all trades are for college but for mine for healthcare I do encourage the kids to go on to college it is important in order for them to move forward all of these slides you guys have I'm focusing on the clinical medical assistant today um with that certification the kids get so many different skills I teach them how to draw blood so they get photomy certified they can take that as a separate um certification they also um get EKG certified so what that means with my students I actually teach them how to read the cardiac monitor because I am a CC nurse so with the one certification they can do so many different jobs they can be billing coding they can be a EKG tech they could be a cardiac monitor they can be a FLOTUS and they take that one exam and move forward and then while they're senior year once they hit that senior year they go out to work I help them get a job they work for their senior year so when they go on when they graduate from high school tomorrow is our high school graduation when they graduate when they go off to college they they need to find a job in that area working for those last two years of undergrad so that they can go ahead and get you know become nurses or whatever it is that they choose to become um but yes it's a it's a a great field it's something that it's not just putting them out there to work at a place where they're making minimum wage it's giving them the education because they're learning anatomy and physiology I teach on a college level so they have um daa twice a day um sorry twice a week usually I do lectures Mondays Wednesdays on Tuesdays it's all about terminology so they understand the medical lingo and on Thursdays it's clinical all Hands-On skills so the kids are very well-rounded the job outlook for Trenton I think the growth is something like 14% between 2022 and 20 um 32 so it's a fast track they're going to make on average they start out of high school they start senior year with like $20 an hour to start so I mean everybody has to start some place once they pass the certification exam um this let me just say this the certification exam does not become active until they actually have a high school diploma so they can take the exam junior year or senior year and once they have that certification done once they have the the high school diploma it becomes active so but they still can work without the certification exam because some kids don't pass the exam they may say oh it's not that important and they go on to college and you know it's fine they're still able to work with that um curriculum overview so the curriculum for a u certified medical assistant is approximately nine months if you were to take it outside of the school the reason why it's a four-year program and a share time is because they're getting all of the base the basic information they're learning anatomy and physiology they're learning how to really um take this did I hit something that one went out um they're really learning how to understand the science um lingo and the classes and and able to be on the level with the college kids when they get there because if they're lacking from and math classes in their academics they're still able to pick it up from what I'm teaching in my class so I really try to drive home that portion of it so that they understand it but it is physics important is biology important are all those classes important for academics yes do they have to have a certain GPA to enter this program yes they at least need to have a 3.0 because you have to have the skills to want to do it you know I could only do but so much the kids have to want it themselves as well um for admission process I already said we're looking at the seventh to um eighth grade um Mark we're looking at standardized tests where we'll do an interview to see where the kids are is it that their parents want them to do it or is this something that they want to do because parents can't drive home the fact that they want them to do it the kids really have to want to do it um I just want to show you this video uh this is my student Nicole she secretly this is the Tik Tock video we hit like 5.9 million views and she they recorded me of her getting into a Ivy League school and I had no idea and then she actually got into Colombia as well and they open their letters in front of me not even their parents and her mom is a single mom she got accepted into like 48 colleges she had five full rides um she Colombian NYU didn't offer her any money and she's a Latina she's sweet she works at the hospital right now as a tech she's working and she actually chose Ruckers Ruckers gave her a full ride but when they saw the Tik Tock video they gave her full um housing as well so she's going to school for free and she entered um Ruckers with 48 credits so she's actually probably going to graduate like next year so in the other video I might have to click it is that okay this is it this is the last one I'm sorry this is one of my students I told you guys he's going to graduate next year he's going to school for Opthalmology he's from Carteret and he was under the impression that he couldn't go to school and do this and do that and he did very very well this is the class [Music] I can narrate through the kids he's just he came back he was a um AP um assistant in college at Ruckers for the kadav lab I gradu 2017 I went straight to work in my BSN program I graduated in 2021 and currently I work at Overlook Hospital at the 10cb unit which is on M search GI respiratory my has always been a registered nurse I'm very proud of the fact that I was was able to go from high school straight into the BSA program and be able to be a registered right after I was a very shy person like freshman year um in high school and just watching her and her giving me advice and kind of saying that you know you have to do what you had to do if you want to chain being able to be successful in my first year nursing I would say that Heth Tech had a lot to do with it when Elsa I graduated from voltech in 2020 I'm second year at univers she just graduated from NYU a couple of weeks ago she's going on to medical school she was one of the co kids so during NYU the acceptance happened then and they also had trouble accessing it and um that experience really motivated me to pursue a career medicine I miss the community that help and I can s you guys the slideshow I know I'm over my time I apologize today them and it's just found it Happ two of my best friends I've made there one is a nurse the twins one is a nurse and one is um works at M sin doing research anyway um I was talking to I supported them and they supported me a lot because it gets tough if I wasn't in the score in the shop I would not that b yeah I met different people from like different backgrounds that are also interested in healthare and like I thought that was a great support system I feel like my confidence grew a lot do like the exercises and the fs work that we did in swaders it's very generic but I was say believe in yourself and that's really what I loved about this shop was that you know the support that um I received from Miss Rogers that's said go surger live surger especially as minorities not usually seeing people that look like you in the medical field her being a strong black woman like definitely inspired me to be able to move forward and achieve my goals and become a registered nurse and how she carries herself really inspires me as a person you have an interest or you're exploring an interest in healthare they're doing medical terminology we make games so that they'll remember the words we do raps we do everything I don't rap those who are there so pretty much I'm just asking for help if you're interested in getting this program here in Trenton and any [Music] questions thank you um for the for this wonderful presentation so this um kind of reminds me of it's It's shared schooling so it kind of reminds me of what we have with Mercer County votc where some of the kids would go off site and then they would go and and study and stuff so I currently teach at Trenton Central High School um we have a we have different Community small learning communities there we have a medy uh Community which at one time we had a agreement with St Francis Hospital when they were open and moving and stuff and our students were moving that way so I guess you would be looking to to touch those kids right yes because I believe right now you guys have Allied Health you don't offer a certification for the kids so they wouldn't get a medical cert um medical assistance certification they wouldn't I'm interested in bringing the EKG certification cardiac monitor none of those are offered in Tren from what I could see most of the state does not offer it it's only certain schools that offer it and my school has tried it multiple times before I was hired there 13 years ago and they were not able to make it successful nice I'm the secret sauce so what what I could do is um work with councilwoman frisbee to get um to facilitate uh a meeting with our principal principal Mary Courtney at the high school okay um we're getting ready to leave for the school year uh graduation is on Tuesday but we're you know we have conversations and stuff for different programs or Partnerships um within within the high school so we can look to um set something up to arrange for you to to have a conversation with herk an introduction okay thank you for this I think it's great um I'd like your information and stuff um if you could um we don't have your my number is on the back of the um brochure and it's actually at the back of the presentation as well okay all right so I have that so thank you very very much any other Council people councilwoman frisbee so yes thank you council president so one Shantel I want to thank you I knew you would knock it out the park um I love the idea of this um it offers um a variety of avenues any gives our children a major excuse me our young men and women a major leg up I'm getting those certifications and I it blew me away when you said that one of your students is going into college with 48 credits yes only takes 60 to graduate yes so that is absolutely phenomenal so I love the idea of that I I love how you have your success stories and we've been telling folks in Trenton there is a Bedrock of phenomenal students here yes just not given the same opportunities as others and this brings that which is why I wanted you to come here and I thought that your program would be perfect for our uh City so I thank you for your presentation I look forward to us getting this up and running and just not just making sure that we have here what the capital city um deserves yes and your program I believe is capitalistic so thank you awesome thank you madam president Council vice president hi hi thank you so much for presenting um as somebody who's born and raised here in Trenton and went through Trenton Public Schools I know we had certain programs that when I was in school that are not necessarily afforded or not um afforded in the same way today as they were when I was a kid you know and we were afforded opportunities to um get college credits while we were in high school definitely not 48 credits um she worked hard though she did Summers she out credits because I think while you're in high school you pay like $125 and the schools will have if it's a title one school they'll have funding and we would fight to get the money so that those classes were paid for her mom is a secretary in a in a public school system she doesn't make that much money so we did what we had to do but she's just one example there's so many other students of mine that have actually that are all over the state and the country and they're doing awesome right no absolutely and I mean you know face something where some of the credits weren't transferable once we were ready to go to college and we didn't know that you know doing the hard work while in high school and there were programs that we had in place where we can spend um Summers on campus at the College of New Jersey TR State at the time and you know not and take courses um that were College calibrated but we didn't get the credits for them but nonetheless they were motivational for us you know and and gave us the inspiration to want to go to college and you know gave us the opportunity to see groups like ones we did if we chose to go to college so I think this is excellent I really think it's excellent that you guys are starting with eighth grade students as well I think that that's very um PIV that's a sweet spot absolutely different you know um so I I think this is excellent I think you're doing a great job um I do have a couple of really quick questions um one would be why Trenton um being that you're from Patterson and then you know you were in Middle sex so I'm curious why Trenton why you've chosen Trenton and then also I wanted to know how long this program has been in place how many students have gone through the program and what is the success rate so this is a new program because I actually teach in Middle sex County watch Trenton because miss beautiful frisbee reached out through my friend Jada here and um because I had been toying with the idea of actually opening up a school and doing this I wasn't sure how I was going to do it because I'm a teacher I'm a nurse I'm always doing all of these things and that's my husband David he's always sick of me like every time I'm always coming up with some thing that I'm going to do with the kids or whatever so Trenton wherever if I could put it everywhere I will and if Trenton is the start then so be it like I'm happy to do it wherever you know it takes to get our kids to where they need to be well thank you so much andos to you and I wish you nothing but success for our nothing less you know behind ever great woman is an understanding man thank you very much thank you council president getting councilwoman sorry thank I just wanted to just say thank you for the presentation everything was excellent um councilwoman Feliciano basically spoke on what program we had and I just wanted to say that it would be great for you to present to the Board of Education okay um as well as connect with the principal and stuff like that but let the Board of Ed actually see the presentation too awesome yeah thank you so much oh thank you anybody else and good luck oh thank you council president councilwoman William thank you um congratulations first of all it's a very impressive presentation so thank you for bringing it thank you uh I just have two questions first one is what do you see as your top two challenges with getting a program like this up and running in a new town I think um securing a place to do it and funding those would be like the two my two biggest issues because to do the paperwork the curriculum I wrote the curriculum for our school so I'm already vers with that um I'm sure there's going to be things that I'm not going to know but I'm always willing to ask and you know to find out and do the research to figure it out so those would probably be the two biggest things as far as the kids that's easy I'm I'm I'm good with the kids where doesn't matter where they come from all over it doesn't matter I I I can teach anybody anything okay thank you and the other question is is of the uh different I you can't I don't know you wouldn't call them Majors but I guess Specialties uh what are the maybe three or four that are the most popular as far as immediately jumping into the workforce so I would say the most popular ones right now I put the three in the presentation um the certified uh clinical medical assistant certification that's one the um EKG SLC cardiac monitor um certification is two uh Central Sterile Processing is huge huge across the country they don't have enough of them they can't get them um the schools are trying frantically to figure out how to do it but there's no Vocational School bless you there's no Vocational School in New Jersey that has started the program but I have an idea on how to start it because I do work in a hospital and I've been in the hospital between nor Beth Israel and Robert Wood Johnson in New Brunswick for the past 20 something years and I know everybody in their mother so the people who actually work in these um in the O and the people who do this job I plan on tapping them to be teachers and asking them to do alternate root and hiring them the biggest problem with getting Health Care Providers to come into the educational system is the fact that they aren't paid the same and I took a huge pay cut to come into the school system my husband is probably like but it was huge to go from being a nurse a registered nurse working in the hospital to work as a teacher and so so it's it was hard but it was something that I needed to do for myself because I wanted to fill that pipeline because our daughter just graduated from nursing school two years ago she went to Ramapo College she's a picku nurse her first two years were rough she's doing great now but you see in her class she had 117 graduates at Ramapo and only three of them were African-American nursing is 85% Caucasian female and there's not many minorities working in the hospital and it's difficult when it's time for our underrepresented population to be able to get that point across or have to work harder and it's no reason for that we should be able to be across the board be equal have everything that's afforded to us as the suburbs the same and I'm the one who's like cutting that right now and stopping that from happening in Middle sex but I need to be able to do it more and I feel like I'm I'm limited where I am and I need to open my own things so that I can grow it how I want to grow it and I can pump more people into the system so we can we can make this happen thank you very much did I answer your question you sure dides you thank you passion thank you councilman Harrison um first of all I gotta say I love your energy you're your energy is like um and I can't wait for you to move to our city that would be great um we're always looking for people to move in our great City uh and and you're giving opportunity to a lot of kids who don't have that yes so those doors you're right the doors are a lot of times are not even there they're not forget about being open they're not there y so for you to create this your energy the sky's the limit because I can see it in you you have it and and uh I'm glad you're going to be here and I know you're going to be successful because everybody on this council could see and feel it from you you're going to touch these kids lives but you're going to touch people all over the city's life yes so thank you and this this is unbelievable so thank you can I just add one thing as well I do once this is going for the kids I do want to do it for the adults as well there you go exactly I have parents that want to do it and but they'll come next I gotta get the kids straight first we build a strong Coalition of everybody in the city yes thank you definitely thank you Council thank you okay councilwoman Ed I might as well hi I just want to say I loved your presentation thank you um nursing was one of the things that my dad like really pushed me to do but it was just not for me it's not for everybody but I take my health seriously and as a mother or two having experienced two natural births God bless and going to doctors that did not look like me I found that they did not take what I was going through seriously absolutely and I suffered through things during both of my pregnancies that I shouldn't have and I say that to say representation matters yes that we are a predominantly black and brown City and it's important for our kids to have access Early Access to this education and not After High School not during high school but when they're in those early stages of eagerness to learn so I appreciate you and thank you for thinking of Trenton thank you thank you guys thank you so much once again I was also thinking about um programs like the Boys and Girls Club of Mercer County I know that um you may also want to have a conversation with the CEO Reggie Coleman and everything out there okay as you're as as you're talking about um spaces and things to do things with um they're really good people I used to work there at one time as a senior team program director so they're was looking to maybe partner and figure figure some things out um and also my mom retired U she's a registered nurse for after 36 and a half years at uh heling F Hospital in hemodialysis so I have a great respect for those in the nursing uh profession and thank you for this and for the opportunity thank you guys for listening I appreciate you all all right thank you Mr Garcia certainly Madam president uh after that presentation we have reached a point of public comment uh I have the public comment cboard here to the Public Public comment will be five minutes for each individual you may address any matter that you wish please understand the council is not obligated to respond first person for public comment is Victor irisari is it on oh thank you uh good evening uh I'm honored to be here again please state your name and address for the record my name is Victor Manuel irav Jr I live in 19 Avenue thank you sir I'm a Puerto Rican American and identify heavily with the African-American Community now to start well I started with that and I'm going say that um I came to know about the the holiday new holiday was four years into a for about the deny or purposely not informing African-Americans of Texas of the the freedom of the South sou Southern slaves uh and um I understand I can see this Flags you know you have Flags amongst yourselves and there many flags that represent the African-American Community especially the one I grew up uh recognizing as a flag U Black Liberation that's the black red and uh uh green and I understand that is under that flag there's many other flags that uh belong to other African communities or countries or people that live in the United States and also in Trent New Jersey uh my issue is that I believe that the African-Americans of 1555 up to the year 1619 that have not been properly recognized uh anywhere uh except only in the Nation of Islam that uh they have not ever been recognized for anything at all other than once the uh the blend in was assimilate with other African people of the planet Earth then they become black people so they are lost in what I call either the lighter side of black or the darker side of black nness in other words they have been uh erased or evaporated so I believe they themselves and only they from the year 1555 to 169 flag and uh fathered in by Cong the US the US Congress that's that's besid I'll put that to the side my issue is here it's always going to be the issue here with me because I'm a victim of a so-called uh War drug war that I involved myself in back in the 70s and uh I recognized that uh the reason for that was that in search of the black Messiah to race up the black nation in righteousness uh J egga huba initiated this so called policy of uh influx in the black communities with drugs hering cocaine with the mafia and cartels and all that so therefore um and then Nixon picked it up 1971 and Ronald Reagan still uh kept kept it going to now my thing that uh President Biden has the power to right now he doesn't necessarily have to write another executive order to stop it he could stop it right now he has that power [Music] um the war drugs right now um my last readings was that uh it cost since then till now about approximately $1 trillion and uh that money could be going to our communities and uh educating our people because right now I understand that uh the thing that is always going to be seems like when it comes to politics and we confront our leadership and I don't mean you because you have a powerful power uh uh uh Council right now we always do have a power of council but I'm dis I'm I'm addressing you uh addressing the council that is uh that there always either there's not enough money we have to educate the people and so forth and you have to fund the police with more and more money to do police work which is only to protect and serve uh leave the military work to the National Guards of the state and uh federal government the FBI and U that money that1 trillion do along with releasing our people of the planet Earth I mean incarceration of the planet Earth uh I think we could do a better job now I'm running out of time uh I like to also say that uh like Jay uh John F Kennedy was say uh ask not so much of your uh government your president your Washington DC what can I do for you see I'm looking to also invest in Trenton what I can maybe come up with $25,000 maybe get five houses so I can renovate and use it what I call to house the slum bombs and that's uh people who are under or less fortunate more less fortunate than uh people in the ghettos and uh if I can get some direction if not a system of Direction how to go about this I'll appre [Music] Robert thank you SM SM thank you thank [Music] you hey do my name is Robert SM I live at um 26 Dean Avenue Trenton New Jersey um I'm here because what happened is I partnered with the city with a boxing program I've been uh training boxers in the city of Trenton for the last 24 years I've owned my own gym here in the city of Trenton for the last eight years in Miller Street I'm I'm 210 Miller Street in North W Trenton that's my boxing gym and I've had boxers from age eight professionals you know but what I'm here now because I partnered with the city to do um a uh boxing event which is going to be our third but the last couple times I've come I didn't get the support from the council because one I didn't come to the council so what I'm asking now is for the support from the city to help you know fund it and support it because I have a few um problem I like to give which I always do when I at all my events this would be my 11th event you know I mean the boxing events that I put on I've had um Golden Glove winners I have Nationals I have one national champion in my gym right now um number one in the country I have a a kid in my kid a kid in my gym who's number seven in the country you know I mean so I am producing you know I have a track record in Trenton you know I mean for business I'm doing for the kids I'm training you know putting them in the right direction and moving them and we have a lot of kids if you stop by my gym on any given day you will see 15 20 maybe 30 kids in there you know that's not home and you know playing video games or in the street doing this that and the third so what I'm asking is you know I mean um the support from the council this time around because I want to do a couple other proclamations for other community groups in the city you know who want to join in put of what I'm doing um father's demen is a community um Outreach um you have Mr Jimmy um Mr Trenton Meat Market who's been in business for over 60 years he needs to be recognized by the city you know and this is a free event everyone in the city is Trenton it's free know can can attend you know so it's always a big event and so what I'm doing right now like I'm saying I'm here to just try to get support from the council um I came to get the support from Recreation two weeks ago and I didn't get it yet but they told me to go ahead and along with my program and so that's why I'm here present it to you guys so we can get it moving you know and you guys can get involved and we can push it together because I have kids and I'm telling you my events are really a big events you know I mean a couple people have stopped by my events they know my track record i' like I said I've been doing this in Trenton for 24 years I've been a trainer in Trenton moving kids around I've had my own gym for the last eight years you know and I've been putting on these boxing shows a lot of them out my own pocket you know the last couple times like I said I did this is my third one with the city so I have to go around to the public you know I mean and get sponsorships you know stuff like that so I've been doing that you know to make it work but I'm here now to ask city council to help me move this thing along you know what I mean um so you guys mostly know me you know um know my track record you know how long I've been doing it and I have proven to be a great coach and my gym has proven to be a good safe haven you can go by there right now I got guys from tck New Jersey in there right now I'm sparring my kids you know they going to the Nationals this month we have NS in December I want to get my kids into that's the number one that's number one in the country you get your recognition I want to get my kids down there in December but these guys are moving their kids this this month they're in my gym right now while I'm here but this still going on you know so that's what I'm doing I want to um if you guys want to see the pro the um my BR some Pro shures I brought the brochure so you guys can know all see what's going on you know what I mean and they want to ask for your help that's all you know like I said I want to give a couple proclamations out to some people who's in the community you know and that's what it's all about one hand was the other both hands watch the face you know so we all got to get together on this community and try try to make it work and I've been doing it for so long I have a track record for you guys to look at you know what I mean if you want to follow me on Facebook Facebook you want to follow my Instagram I'm knuckle game boxing you know I'm 210 Miller Street in Trenton right by hel full Hospital in northward you can stop by there and there kids there every day there a bunch of kids there every day thank [Music] you Leticia Peters please state your name and address for the rec yes I'd like to ask can I have additional minutes because I'm speaking on behalf of a lot of people in Trenton perating to a serious health question that happened yesterday all public all members of the public are given the same amount of time okay Leticia Peters 1462 St a New Jersey I'm here on be good afternoon Madam president and Trenton City Council Members I felt like I have a responsibility to be here tonight after waking up to yesterday to a perent [Music] skin let me see to a strong skunk smell in an entire health and after my aunt called us at 5:20 a.m. stating that she was having problems breathing cuz she smelled the strong skunk smell kind of find out it was very strong as as I went throughout the whole house it was in every room I could not breathe right now they are still homesick and I have swollen feet a skunk does not cause health issues it was either um they were still doing um Construction in the are area we called PSG and the Water Works and they did not take our issue seriously we walked around the neighborhood and found out that other people smell this strong skunk smell and I did some research and the skunks order is actually a chemical called Etho merap that is added to warn of a leaking natur natural gas danger so it is serious when it's a very strong um chemical added and no one should have to do deal with this and many of the people in trining and down on ston Avenue was experiencing the same symptoms of irritation can't breathe respiratory issues breaking out in hives um My Mother was complaining she's 81 years old and she should not have to wake up up to having tightness in her chest and after um several hours later the smell dissipated but it was still there in the area and then another issue I would like to talk about and ask councilwoman Tesa frisbee to come out and walk the West wward especially in the hilltonia section there is trash there are the streets are horrible just the other day my mother picked up soil um diapers no one should have to deal with this especially when they are um paying taxes and you want to raise taxes so again I invite you councilwoman Tesa frisbey to come out and walk west Tron in the hillton the in section to find out what's in your section on you currently running for reelection and you want people's vote you won't get my [Music] vote and the excessive speeding that is still a issue my mother they almost got hit yesterday because someone was just flying and they did not stop so that is a big issue and when will the the last time I spoke when will the budget be be published online will there be more than one budget meeting cuz I like to attend it and will speed traps be brought and will police officers be trained to use speed traps and when will the landlords mean their care because there are still issues with renters in this area and in Trenton and how many people here who are on the current Council are running for reelection because right now I only saw that two people are IID like to know exactly what's happening with the elections in Trenton New Jersey and that's it thank you for your time Madame President that is the end of our public comment uh sure will you can start with whichever council person you wish for civic comment thank you before we do that U Mr Garcia if you can answer Miss Peter's question about how many people are running for reelection um and their Wards in November in the general election there will be four individuals running at least of the council the ward Representatives will be running in that election the at large will remain thank you [Music] go so tonight we'll begin with councilwoman Williams thank you thank you very much council president um so just I have a few brief comments first I like to start off with uh some good news which is uh this evening having Michael douche Jones with us I very much appreciate uh your leading effort to honor him um I am a proud Alum of Lal University so I am excited that he will be attending uh my am moderate 20th and Al and I wish him just all the best particularly in his Endeavors he's obviously a great student as well as a great athlete and I look forward to seeing him play basketball and I hope many many people from Trenton uh go to support him uh because he is going to be taking on an Endeavor that is very big which is division one basketball and we're all rooting for him uh also tomorrow uh we have for the pride of there two Pride events this weekend we have a flag raisin for pride flag at 4M uh please join the celebration tomorrow particularly if you know others uh the pride Center of Trenton and Department of Human natural resources have been working hard on these events to make sure that they're successful uh so please come out and support and then also on Saturday there'll be a pride festival between 2 pm and 7 pm on South Warren Street between East State Street and Lafayette good chance to come out U meet a lot of your neighbors uh friends residents of the city and also support some of our businesses downtown so hope you uh see a lot of Trenton residents out there uh and finally just uh regarding one issue that Miss uh Licia peders brought up uh regarding traffic enforcement I know that's something that our city is looking to uh do more of in the future particularly I know the Police director would like to but of course uh it comes down to having resources and having enough police Personnel to be able to uh have a traffic division which is something we very much hope to have in our city again so with that I just wish everyone a great weekend uh please be safe out there and I hope you can come to our next meeting thank you thank you councilman Harrison um I would like to start off um saying that we have an event tomorrow I mean sorry not tomorrow Saturday um it's at the Trenton VFW 12 165 honoring Service uh strengthening the community together with Council Gonzalez and myself Pastor sea Triumph Life Church uh from 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. uh the be giving out things at the church It's 301 uket Avenue it's the parking lot there so if you're in the neighborhood and you want to come out please come out um also tonight um it's wonderful to hear about this this event this uh helping kids move their move forward is a wonderful thing so anything we can do to help the great kids of this city move forward is a is a blessing um so it's good to see the you know all of us up here on this Council doing our parts with the administ ation um like we're going to be working on the budget soon that's going to be coming up so it'll be partnership between us the administration and the DCA so and the community so if the community has their issues like regarding speeding that's reason I think why we have so many of the speed pumps in the city because we don't have the funding to have um a traffic division which we I think everybody up here would love to see us have uh you know and um it's good to see uh people in the community come up here talking about um walking around in the community um if councilwoman frisbee if you would like I'm always available I'm always willing to help so if you know like I said I'm always like to see all of us do in community and to address when people come up there to speak to see that we really truly do care and we want to see the city move forward and uh keep keep succeeding so please know that all of us up here truly do care and we're grateful that you come up here and speak from your heart and you tell us what you want us to see us address so thank you with that and have a blessed evening thank you councilwoman Gonzalez thank you council president good evening everyone thank you for being present here today I want to First say congratulations to uh Michael Duce Jones um it is very hard to be a student athlete and for him to be excelling the way he is we just want to say we are proud of you and congratulations and best of luck in the future also a shout out and congratulations to all of the graduates from trans Central High School um who will be graduating on Tuesday and all of the graduates because we as we know um if you ride past the arena everyone's having graduations now so shout out to everyone who is graduating from high school or college um thank you for those who are present and actually spoke up on some of the issues as uh councilman Harrison was saying we sometimes don't know what is going on and for you to experience so miss Peters I you know I am sad to hear that you had to actually endure some odor and hopefully if it was a chemical spill that we can be that can be addressed you know if someone can go out and check on it so thank you for bringing that to our attention because some things we may not know that is going on in the city so we want to just say thank you for that um we are trying to work hard and we try to address every concern that comes before us so thank you for bringing that to our attention um also to Mr SM I believe he left out but I had attended one of these events and it is a positive thing for our kids to be involved and engaged and I always try to be an advocate for us always saying we want our kids to do better we have to offer them the opportunity so I hope that um he can be successful with the recreation department and making that happen um I believe that's all a couple announcement Mr uh Harrison just said on um Saturday we'll be at on uket Avenue doing a community giveaway with plenty of household items cleaning supplies and other things for those may need some also tomorrow councilwoman Frisbee and I are partnering with the Special Olympics and the TR BFW to have an event for anyone who is abled and wants to come out and just have a good time so if you have any children that you want to bring by please bring them by for some free food some music and some fun activities that would be 6:00 p pm. to 8:00 pm at the YMCA on Pennington Avenue um I believe that's all for this evening thank you all for being present thank you councilwoman frisbee thank you council president so I wanted to say to Mr Victor I want to thank you for coming out this evening and appreciate your passion that you have for our community um it is greatly appreciated um coach Mark um he did leave out and I have been to his program um upstairs in the program watching his children for a while and just seeing the great things that they're doing in the community and what he is doing with the community with those children our children is absolutely incredible I've had the opportunity to go to a couple of his events as well and I just commend him so I look forward to partnering with him and supporting him um Miss Leticia peers um thank you for coming out this evening I love it when our community um constituents come out and I like being informed um I do walk my streets I walk B fact I walk cyers and Cat waler Park almost every night um if you want to invite me out to your area I'm glad to do just that um I try to be in my community as much as possible and when folks call me out and invite me I absolutely do come I welcome that so um and the best way if you haven't been if you're not able to get me directly if you email me at any time I respond to every email within 48 hours so thank you for that and I thank you for coming out and I will continue to walk C Avenue I'll make sure to be in the 46 62 area as well regarding the skunk actually I also have endured the skunk smell for probably about two two years right around the corner off of ston Avenue my family has um we have called Animal Control about that and we are not even allowed to um harm the skunk my neighbor literally has trapped two of them in the yard and they have come and gotten them and let them go but they come right back there is literally a family of skunks in our neighborhood that I know of because I have experienced them and I have seen five or five of them walking across my lawn so just you know that's been my experience that might be not what you were spelling but I'm letting you know that's what I have um experienced so thank you for that thank you ma'am um then to miss Chantel um I wanted to just tell her thank you I know she had to leave the the presentation was absolutely wonderful and I believe it'll be a great opportunity for this community and I love that it is she's not limiting it to just the students but she's also expanding it to the adult as well and it gives us an edge up and I'm so grateful for that um I want to say um congratulations to Mr Michael Duce Jones um I I love when our children are celebrated and I thank um council president for bringing him um here and recognizing him uh today I have the opportunity to speak as a keynote speaker along with um one of my uh good friends Miss Regina Jenkins Thompson um Regina on today we were at par par school and I wore Orange today because orange is a color that talks about brings about gun talks about gun violence prevention and today we were at Parker school because today would have been the moving up ceremony for seoa bacon Jones and her mom was there while we were there we got an opportunity to speak about um gun violence prevention to those students and it hit me today that although graduations are a time of celebration for so many we forget it is also a somber Mo for some other parents who've lost their children there was an empty seat today where sooya should have sat but due to gun violence she wasn't in that seat hearing her her peers talk about her not being there missing her lets me know that the work that we do City levels National level state level all of that it's worth it but we have to still do more so congratulations to all those who graduating and moving up um I got an opportunity to see our young scholars today as well um our preschool our babies graduating and they were absolutely wonderful um so congratulations again to everyone that is um graduating I wanted to reiterate what councilman Gonzalez says we are having our 609 day for those who are differently abled which I have a child who is differently abled um and then we're also inviting our senors to come out as well and that's going to be at the Capital Area YMCA on Pennington Avenue we have ask you to come out tomorrow from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. it will be indoors it will be air and there'll be lots of food and fun on that I read you a portion of our the city's mission statement which is recognizing that the people of Trenton have made us Guardians of the public trust we are committed to govern with integrity and fiscal responsibility to seek excellence in the city's operations and to serve all the city's people with respect and compassion I thank each and every one of you for coming out and I hope you'll come back out again thank you thank you councilwoman Edwards good evening everyone um thank you all for being here I want to first start off by saying um I definitely support knuckle game boxing uh I wish coach Rob was still here he coached me when I attended Goss and Goss as a boxer I originally wanted to go pro I actually was amateur to him and Barry Goss and elate both Vladimir senior were my coaches and I learned a lot and I will say that in that boxing program a lot of teenagers were kept off of the streets a lot of those teenagers that attended the boxing gym were in gangs and that was their place of refuge and Safe Haven and Coach Rob I I visit the gym over there on Miller Street all the time and it's always packed the girls and boys and this is a very impactful boxing program that I pray that the city can get behind I was a little disappointed as I walked in with coach today when he told me that he attempted to apply for the American Rescue plan act funds to support this program um because I had recommended that to him and um maybe I misunderstood what the requirements were but hopefully we can try to get him through that process maybe he just needs to understand it a little bit better but I'm hoping that someone in the administration can assist him with that or help him to find some type of Grant somewhere to support this boxing program for the children I wanted to touch on um Miss Leticia your comments about the potential gas leak in your area um I I did some digging and uh and in my capacity outside of council I'm a congressional staffer so these types of things I triage a lot and um know something like you did maybe a skunk or rotten egg or even sulur type of smells you should call 911 immediately that does not fall under the Trent and Water Works Department and also you can call PNG to report the gas leak or you could report it online but the first thing you want to do is call 911 they're going to take it serious and they're going to bring the appropriate people out I'm sorry that you didn't get anywhere with psng you did mention that they didn't take it serious um but I think that's pretty serious so so next time and hopefully there won't be a next time please please please call 911 because that could be a dangerous outcome for the entire area um and for PNG the correct number to call if you smell a potential gas leak is 1 800 880 psng or 7734 so yes so hopefully you know in the future these things would be taken seriously but if you don't get anywhere with them please call 911 to avoid any type of health conditions or even death in the worst case scenario so um I don't really have any other comments but I I definitely concur with a lot of my colleagues with their sentiments that we we do a lot here and um it's a lot of ground to cover in this city and I think that you know we just need to allow each other some Grace sometimes and be respectful to one another um we represent a lot of people in this city and it's not an easy job and sometimes things cannot happen overnight but we're here for you and if you reach out we will be and your your westw representative is not the only one we have three at large up here and I will gladly walk with you around Hiltonia and everywhere else you need so please reach out to myself and put my other two colleagues out here too I host Community cleanups I haven't done one in a while but I would gladly assist with your issues in that area and with the councilwomen Frisbee as well so thank you and have a good night everyone thank you Council vice president Figo kenberg thank you um good evening I'll be very short um I don't really like to be redundant and repeat things that my colleagues have said and they usually cover all ground before it gets to me um but with regard Miss Peter just been talking about the speed humps that are necessary it's it's been crazy how many um residents throughout the city and I'll speak to my South board specifically who have requested speed humps and having been born and raised in Trenton and and learning how to drive on Trenton streets and knowing that people are constantly speeding I don't remember there being advocates for Speed bumps as much as there are now um so we are putting in those um requests we are asking the residents um who are requesting speed HPS we're asking for them to Rally their neighbors where they want speed humps um and and get the neighbors to sign petitions stating that this is what they are requesting and they would like to see done and then allow the city to do its assessment to see if they could be put into place and again as councilman Harrison said you know budget allowing but there are many requests throughout the city for this at this time so thank you for bringing that to our attention as I'm as I'm dealing with we're all dealing with it throughout the city of Trenton so thank you um other than that I just wanted to again congratulate uh Michael Duce Jones you know being a Trent High Alum always want to honor those that came out of Trenton high for whatever greatness that they are achieving um and on that note yes Tren High's graduation is um J uh June 25th coming up at the arena beginning at 10:00 a.m. to 12 um I am the President of the Trenton Central High Schools Alumni Association um and we are seeking volunteers for the 25th um anybody willing to come out between 7:30 a.m. and 12 12:30 pm. to assist in different tasks um for the high school at the graduation are warmly welcom so please um go to my Facebook page or contact me or contact me via um my Council website I mean um Council email address um and also any graduating classes ending in the number four this year if you'd like to come out as well contact me um you are welcome to marching the procession in honor of class of 2024 it's it's fun it's awesome um you know to be there and to represent the class um and be a part of that so thank you all again and have a wonderful evening thank you good evening everyone thank you for being here with us thank you for staying thank you for speaking and voicing your concern um your words do not fall on deaf ears we do take in everything that you do say to us and within our capacity as council members we do act accordingly um again within our capacity to miss Peters I just want to say to you um regarding the speed trap status that's interesting we can actually have a conversation with the administration to talk to um the Police director to find out you asked about training or whatever is going on so we can look into that and see what's going on with that you also mentioned about landlord meetings uh when are meetings going to occur I know that um councilwoman Gonzalez and Edwards were looking towards the rent stabilization board to be re um revitalized reenacted here in the city and that is so so we actually had appointees um but we're waiting to get some more documentation and have them come before us before we can actually appoint them to the board but that will be up and moving sooner rather than later also um you spoke about the smell my colleagues have addressed that I'm sorry so from my standpoint I'm sorry that you were brushed off or your concerns were not taken seriously by the people who you did contact however councilwoman Edwards did refer to 911 right if we smell something that's the route that we're going to go because they certainly will take it um seriously lastly when it comes to helping out when concerns are are had if you recall I'm sure you do uh Council vice president figuro kber and I answered your um inquiry in the beginning of the year where you gave us a voluminous list of questions and we made our way through about 29 um of them so we are here to help the entire Council will jump in when and where we can to certainly address um our constituents right but again if you address me directly then I'm going I'm going to come right at you directly as well so I just wanted to say we are all here to help and serve to everyone here just know that we're about to jump on our summer schedule when it comes to our Council meetings we will have one meeting in July one meeting in August right so if you check our website for our meetings um you will know that it one will be on July the 11th and then on August the 1 they will be combined meetings so we will have the conference and the vote on those nights just so you know that speed bumps so again everybody is looking for Speed bumps if your road is considered an emergency route they will not put speed bumps on it will just not happen because of emergency vehicles and then you know the snow and all this other kind of stuff if ambulances police fire trucks have to come through and it's a designated emergency route you will not be allowed to have speed bumps on um you know again so I would I would encourage you to contact transportation to find out you can contact one of us here and it is on the website as well if you kind of fish around and look they have like roadways emergency ways I was playing around a whole lot of stuff that's on our City website um for everyone to see that being said I encourage everyone to come out and participate in the various events that are taking place uh throughout the city this weekend you've heard about the pride events that are happening you've heard about the 609 day you've heard about the give back on Saturday uet Avenue anytime There's an opportunity to participate and be a part of something good I encourage everyone that can to come out and do it we are experiencing some very hot weather for those that have animals please do not leave your animals outside um they should not there's there's certain advisories that are put out about even the heat of the asphalt walking animals right your dog and everything you should be careful with that and make the best accommodations possible and if you just find that you are not a suitable animal caregiver then you don't need to have an animal so I would just ask that everyone just take that into consideration please look out for our senior citizens especially also during this time um many of them we want to make sure check in on your loved ones make sure that they're hydrated make sure that they have adequate air that they are okay just do a check-in just to make sure sometimes we take people for granted and things for granted and sometimes people are just too stuck in their ways to ask for help when they need help so please I just ask that you would just think about that and if you know someone to reach out and touch them that being said thank you all for coming out have a wonderful wonderful night and a safe weekend Mr Garcia Madam President we reached the point of the doc um for old business we have ordinances uh prior to that if you want to ask for a motion to approve Communications and petitions yes may have a motion to approve Communications and petitions move second roll call councilwoman Edwards yes vice president Figo kenberg yes councilwoman frisbee yes councilwoman gonzale yes councilman Harrison yes councilwoman Williams yes council president Felician yes motion carried and moving on into ordinances for second reading ordinance 24-42 an ordinance to revise certain positions fixing the salary ranges therefore and setting certain regulations for the implementation of same construction official are there any members of the public that wish to speak to this ordinance at this time seeing none Madam president if you want to ask for a motion to approve I have a motion to approve so move second roll call councilwoman Edwards yes vice president Figaro kenberg yes councilwoman frisbee yes councilwoman Gonzalez yes councilwoman Harrison yes councilwoman Williams yes council president Feliciano yes motion carried ordinance 24-44 an ordinance authorizing the honorary Street naming of kirkbride Avenue to Trane way are there any members of the public that wish to speak to this ordinance at this time seeing none madam president if you want to ask motion to approve may have a motion to approve so moved second thank you roll call councilwoman Edwards yes vice president figuro kenberg yes councilwoman Frisby wholeheartedly yes councilwoman Gonzalez yes councilwoman Harrison yes councilwoman Williams yes and council president Feliciano yes motion Carri moving on to a consent agenda uh Madame President if you want to ask for a motion to approve the consent agenda prepared from Tuesday yes may I have a motion to approve the consent agenda consisting of resolutions 24 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 and 26 Eight Second just to inter thank you for the motion in the second uh just a note to the public if anybody is looking on with the agenda number 2 resolution number 256 was voted and approved on Tuesday so that is omitted from the consent agenda with the motion in the second I'll call the role councilwoman Edwards yes vice president Figaro kenberg yes councilwoman frisbee yes councilwoman Gonzalez yes councilman Harrison yes yes councilwoman Williams yes council president Feliciano yes carried and Madame President is my understanding we have a walk-on resolution yes uh that you wish to have roll called and I'll read the title of that resolution [Music] momentarily walk on resolutions which we will sign a number two resolution awarding contract to Shi International Corp for the purchase of license with gov pilot for software use and support awarded through New Jersey Cooperative Alliance CK 04 subcontract number 24-38 for the Department of administration and an amount not to exceed 22,26 526 if I could have um either um ba Cruz or um assistant ba col chair just come at me briefly just tell the council uh why we are doing this walk on tonight thank you uh yes thank you uh good evening uh Madame President and uh Council Adam Cruz business administrator um the reason of uh that we're coming to you tonight uh for the resolution is because um the contract the previous contract expired um a couple of days ago really uh unfortunately the way some of these companies work they want to put pressure on you when the contract expire and the next day the uh the services were cut to the city unfortunately um Gulf pilot is used by the gentleman he see here uh sitting to my left uh uses that for Opera request uh it is also used at HD for other purposes as well um I know the city is exploring and in fact is moving forward with uh with another we're going to implement a new system for uh op requests correct and so the um um Mr Garcia is working on that new software but we need to do a parallel uh run uh until the system is fully implemented and is then passed on to the public so uh the other reason was that if we didn't bring this up to you today um this uh the company graciously would allow us to continue to use the software but uh we had to sign a fiveyear agreement if we had to wait until the month of July or August um for us to actually uh submit this request to you um because we are looking at other Alternatives it is in the best interest of the city actually to come to you today to ask for your vote and um um uh and of course save the city um headaches and money time thank you thank you may have a motion to approve soov second very quickly I apologize that was moved by thank you in the second harison I'm sorry thank you roll call councilwoman Edwards yes vice president Figaro kenberg yes councilwoman frisbee yes councilwoman Gonzalez yes councilman Harrison yes councilwoman Williams yes council president felano yes motion carried thank you and Madame President uh I believe with the last ordinance tabled from Tuesday that is the end of our agenda this uh agend of this evening have a motion to adjourn I'll move second roll call councilwoman Edwards yes vice president Figo kber yes councilwoman frisbee yes councilwoman Gonzalez yes councilwoman Harrison yes councilwoman Williams yes council president Feliciano yes motion carried meeting adjourned thank you all thank you