We don't we >> are we going ahead and recording this? >> Yes. >> Yeah, sure. Hello. One second. 225 20226 go live.
Streaming stream apologize for streaming. One second here. This meeting is being recorded. >> Thank you. >> So, I call the city council budget
workshop meeting of February 25th to order at uh I don't have the time. >> 7:01. >> 7:01. Thank you. Uh please rise for the pledge of allegiance. Since the flag is in one of the screens then
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of >> America and to the >> to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all.
>> City clerk, please read the statement regarding open public meetings. This budget workshop meeting was called pursuant to the provisions of the open public meetings law. Notices of this meeting was published in the record on February 9th, 2026. In addition, a copy
of the not notice was posted on the city's website, the bulletin board, and the municipal municipal building and filed in the office of the municipal clerk on the aforementioned date. Notice on the bulletin board has remain continuously posted. Please take notice that in accordance with the open public
meetings act NJSA 10 col4-6 at seek and local finance notice 2020-21 establishing standard protocols the city council of the city of Anglewood adopted resolution number 076-02-3-26 authorizing the city of Anglewood
schedule of council budget workshop meetings for 2026 to be held remotely via Zoom. Members of the public who wish to participate in the meeting may do so by calling or clicking on the link below at 7 PM or by dialing 6465588656.
Uh please see the city website for the link. The webinar ID is 9134848-5487 and the passcode is 171501. Individuals will be able to fully participate in the meeting including providing public comment. Public comments may be submitted by 3M on the
date of the meeting either through a written written letter or email to meeting@c cityofanglewood.org. All written comments shall be read during the public portion public forum portion of the meeting and shall be subject to the same time limitations for public speaking. Duplicative comments
shall be noted for the record and summarized. The agenda for the meeting can be found on the city's website at www.c cityofanglewood.org. A separate meeting will be used if close session is required. Proper notice having been given. The municipal clerk is directed to include the statement in
the minutes of this meeting. >> Thank you. And I think C can you uh um put Councilwoman David on the um panel? >> Molly or Asher, please promote Angela to panel. >> Great. Okay, we're all here now. Uh roll
call, please. Uh, Councilwoman David, what want me give her a second? I'll come back. >> Yeah, we'll get Yeah, give her a second, please. >> Okay. Uh, Councilman took >> here. >> I'm sorry. I'm present. Sorry. >> I'm sorry.
>> All right. Thank you. >> Councilman Wilson, >> present. >> Councilwoman Waski >> here. Council President Rosenway >> present.
>> Also present is Mayor Michael Wilds, city manager Robert S. Hoffman, Deputy City Manager John Burkner, and CFO Michael Calfman. >> Okay. So, as I mentioned, um this is the budget the first of the three scheduled
budget workshops. >> Um so, uh Mr. Mr. Hoffman, are you going to be discussing changes this year or should I? >> Yes, Council President. >> Okay. So, I'll hand the mic over to you then. >> All right. Uh, thank you, Council
President. Good good evening, members of the governing body, and good evening, um, all of our residents. Uh, tonight we're going to begin the budget hearings for the city's 2026 city budget. The 2026 budget is not yet
complete. Um the city still has not received several key pieces of information from other levels of government and from other entities. As an example, uh the um the estimated 2026
um Bergen County Utilities uh sanitary sewer charge bill has not been received. Last year that bill was approximately $3 million. So we're um we're we've been informed that it will be arriving sometime next week. And then we are also
uh we are also waiting to receive some some audited pieces of of revenue and um we will be adding that to our budget. So this is uh this is um part of part of the reason why there's some changes in the budget. Uh the state this year has
extended the budget timeline. budgets now have to be introduced by March 30th and then adopted um by the end of May or the the closest meeting after the I'm sorry the end of April or the closest
meeting after the end of April the so we're uh we are following the state guidelines and we are we're waiting for some additional information from from the state. Our goal this year is to introduce the capital budget
ordinance at the March 17th council meeting. Uh that will be discussed at our March 11th budget workshop and then introduce the operating budget on March 30th. And our goal as always is to have
a an effective and efficient uh budget, one that uh comes in at around a 2% increase. Um and we are uh we are looking to um see what we can do to ensure that that happens. Later this week we have a bid opening for EV
charging stations and we anticipate that we will be looking at um some revenue from that but it'll take us a while to to look at the different options that that will be coming in. Um, and we're also looking uh to see if we can um we
can add some anticipated revenue from recreation cannabis. But those are things that that are still being worked out. When you look at our overall budget for 2026, the largest increases that we've had it from over 2025 are health insurance and
our liability insurance. So the the city had been the city as we speak now is part of the state health benefits plan. On March 1st, we will be switching out of the state health benefits plan to a plan provided by EDNA that has the same
coverage for our employees, but it's um less costly for our employees and for the city. If we had stayed with the state health benefits plan, we were looking at a 36.5% increase. this by switching to Etna, we're only looking at
a 25% increase for oursel and for our employees, but that saves $717,000 in our our budget. Uh the the budget once it's introduced has to be advertised for approximately 28 days before we can have our public hearing
and then we can have the public hearing and a vote on it. The uh city city um governing body has received the budget um documents from the departments, their requests as well as the recommendations
for um for adjustments from the city manager and the CFO. The uh and as always our budget is constructed so that we look we look not only for this year but we also look look out three years to make sure that whatever the policies are that are are
going to be implemented in 2026 will be able to be carried on through 2027 2028 and 2029. So, Council President, that's just an overview of the budget and again, we're just looking at the departmental budgets because we're still awaiting information from other other
governmental entities and other other entities as well. Thank you. >> And also, I think this year there'll be there'll be less of um presentation style review and more focus on the actual budgeting. Right.
>> That that is correct, Council President. This is not this is not going to be um we're we're focused on the numbers this year and our departments know that. So um this is this is not going to be you know all all of the the duties and responsibilities of each department and
their their accomplishments as well as goals for next year. We're just focused on the numbers this year. >> Yeah. So we're certain we're certainly proud of our departments and uh the work that they do, but you know we again we wanted to focus on the numbers because as as Mr. Hoffman just went over this is
a challenging budget year. Um so if if we do want to hear about you know specific programs that the library is doing or other departments uh please you know let me know and we can certainly uh have them come back at a a different
time of the year and uh and give them their our full attention to discuss some of the programs they're doing. Uh but right now um you know it seems important to really focus down on the numbers. Okay. So um should we should we get
going? >> Abs. Absolutely. So >> we'll start with a small insignificant little department uh known as police. >> Can you please promote Chief Gley analyst?
>> You want me just to give the numbers? >> Yeah. Why don't Michael? Why don't you give a quick overview? >> Is there a screen to share or we're going to stay on the uh checkerboard? >> Hasn't mentioned. Oh, see. >> Okay. All right. That's fine. >> Um just the salaries from LA. I just
give a brief, you know, just say what the numbers are for police salary and wages last year was 13,865. This year it's 14,662. That's an increase of almost $800,000 which is 5.75%.
We have uh you know a lot of the officers are their steps are going up and each step is is around between 10 and 15,000. So it adds up. Um overtime we budgeted last year 1.1 million. We
spent 1.275 million. Right now it's at 1.28 million for budgeting and for other expenses. Last year we budgeted 692,000. This year we're at 607,000 which is a
decrease of $84,500 which is a 12.21% decrease. And one of the things when we were going through the second time, me and the city manager and I So this the reason why
there's a $84,000 decrease is it includes No, it doesn't include new cars for this year. And that is the just an overview of the police budget. So the floor I'll give the floor to either the city manager or
the or this chief. Well, yeah, give it to the chief in, you know, so he can speak, but we're we're looking for other alternatives for the cars right now and it's really it's police SUVs. So, we're looking looking at that. And then when
we do look at the numbers, um last year for overtime, there was a fair amount of the overtime was related to um injuries. So with the city the city did have workers compensation reimbursement for
some of that, but um the police when when when a call comes in to dispatch, they don't have the op option of not responding. So there's a there's um there's always going to be officers covering shifts to make sure that the health, welfare, and safety of our
residents are are uh protected and served. So why don't you elevate the chief? >> He's on already. Chief, did you have a presentation to chair share or you're just going to be speaking? >> I'm going to be speaking. So, thank you, Council President. Uh, nice to see
everybody tonight. Um, I'll just jump right into it. So, I'm going to start off uh my presentation just by giving you an update on the the police department table of organization, um, which I believe you have in your packet. So, you'll see that our our staffing uh year to date right now, we have 81 sworn
officers. Um, last year at this time, we had 85 officers. uh in the middle of the year we actually jumped up to 87 which is great but um you know right currently we're at 81 officers. Uh we have um right now we don't have any pending
retirements. I've received no notifications any retirements but uh just looking at our roster we have at least five officers that have their time in that could submit for the retirement. Um this time uh right now we have nine full-time uh public safety
telecommunicators. Uh this time last year we had six. So, we have nine right now. Um, you'll see just just uh you know, you have a copy of the narrative I provided, but that is a little dated. So, I'm going to speak to that here and there, but I'll I'll be giving you the updated information. Um, as far as our
officers throughout the year though, um, you know, we did have uh a total of six officers out at different times, injured on duty uh, for a total of 973 hours. It's about almost 90 days. So, um, you know, it does create issues for us, but the good part is you officers that are
if they are out on workman's comp, uh, you know, we are able to get reimbursed through workman's compensation. Um, as you'll see on the table of organization, you know, we do have some vacancies right now. Uh, we've got four vacancies in our patrol bureau, uh, two in our
juvenile bureau, which we've had before, um, which could be the detectives or I'm I'm always working to try to get school resource officers back in our public schools. That's a work in progress. and uh two vacancies in our in our records bureau. Um it's important just to note those vacancies just because they all do
end up having an impact on our on our overtime. At the end of the day, like Mr. Hoffman said, you know, we're going to answer the the the call for service. We're going to get the job done. Uh but our our manpower, you know, as you all are well aware, has a direct impact on our on our overtime. Um so now I will uh
go into my my narrative. Uh I'm going to jump right down to Um, just to give you an idea real quick, our calls for service, I won't get into numbers too much, but we are up 30% of our calls for service from last year. So, that continues, the activity
continues to to uh to to raise and um, you know, our officers are out there being proactive, doing their jobs, which is which is what we want. As far as our budget, you know, our operating budget for 2025, um there were some uh there were some areas where uh that we
accounted for where we went over. So, I just wanted to touch base on a few of those. Um some of them uh were one-time things, some of them are uh you know, can be explained through other purchases, but um if you you see on our uh budget, you go through a couple
lines. The ones that popped out at me um our office equipment uh service that went up a little more, but that was because of a a 911 annual support charge that we 911 911 um annual support charge that we were uh that we came upon um in
our specialized services. $13,000 went towards our accreditation. Some of that was we were uh reimbursed for uh $2,200 for cannabis uh legal consultation and $7,500 for our police department wellness visits which we are looking to
get reimbursed for. Um our contractual services, we went over u a significant amount in that area. We were faced with a a maintenance fee, a onetime Mars maintenance fee which is done through the county for um um certain resources that were allocated. This was the first
time it was assessed in in quite a few years. So, we had that come upon us. And then just I went back and looked last year in this line contractual services. Last year, we were over by $3,000. Uh some of our costs did go up, but there one was one billing thing that I noticed
that we did inadvertently um charge uh or get renew a contract twice. Uh the billing was a little bit off. They charge us from November to October. So, we inadvertently paid the 2024 um bill and then paid the 2025 later in the
bill. So, um we're up to date with our service for that, but it won't be taken out of our 2026 uh budget. Um in our training budget, we did increase that for last year that did go up. Um there was increase due to our promotional testing as well as um another amount for
our statemandated uh defensive tactics training uh which we completed already included for this year but that's going to be um unfortunately that's that's going to be a yearly that's an unfunded mandate coming from the state. Um but it it is um that's a it's well worth it. Um we did have some increased cost for our
travel allowance in our um in that line for sending an officer to a community engagement conference. Um in our office equipment we we increased there as well because we replaced a bunch of old copier machines. So that impacted us. Um couple other ones in our other in our
other equipment line we ended up uh going over in that but for body armor but we'll be reimbured for that. So that's going to uh you know we'll be able to account for that as well. Um in our telephone line you'll see that we went over um about $7,000. Um this year
we ended up uh purchasing patrol uh cell phones for our officers. They're no longer using their personal cell phone devices. Um it's helped us out in a lot of different ways and it it provides more coverage for the officers instead of using their personal devices for work. Um and then just a couple other
things as far as just increases in detected expenses. And um there's a larger increase in our rent machinery line um which was we'll be getting um a grant reimbursement through from our body war cameras which uh that purchase went into there. Um and then the last
part was uh you know our traffic maintenance signs budget. Uh we went over and that um that just was a matter of us you know that was the first time that line was in our budget. So we were able to um you know get a baseline for how we're going to run that part of our
department. um traffic maintenance. That's going to set us up to do better work around the city. Um as far as our patrol uh overtime, you know, uh manpower shortage uh was an issue. Our supervisor overtime was an issue. We did
make some changes to address that. Um now, since we've made promotions, um we have a full cadra of supervisor uh in all our units. So, that should definitely impact our manpower shortage as far as our supervisors as well as our our manning. Um, in the communications,
you know, as I mentioned, we have nine full-time dispatchers. Uh, several of them are in training, but as I mentioned, having the full-time officers, having that those spots filled is going to decrease the chances of us having more overtime. If we fill our spots, it's going to create less manpower overtime.
Um, next thing in your packet is our salary guide, which includes the base pay, stipens, and our other contractual obligations for all our officers, all of our personnel, sworn and civilian. And, uh, the last part of your packet, I believe, is the budget preparation
sheet, which um, you know, given what the city's facing, as Mr. Hoffman said, with the increased health care costs, I did my best to limit the increases in that budget. Um so there are a couple lines um that remain the same. There are
some that we raised slightly. Um taking into account what we did this year, what we did the previous years. Um also take into account the you know some of the things I just explained as far as reimbursements or other one-time costs that I think we were able to do our best
to keep it um reasonable and again in line with uh what what the city's trying to do um you know as far as dealing with uh these these increased costs. Um, council president, do you have any questions for me?
>> Thank Thank you, Chief. I'll I'll I'll go around the council. Who whoever wants to begin? Everyone everyone will get a chance. Um, Dr. Oski. >> Yeah. I just have one one question. Um you mentioned at this moment you
mentioned there were 81 current um and last year at this time you had 85. Is that right? So I think this is probably a question more for Bob. >> Um Bob is there a plan in 2026
A for lateral transfers and B for new recruits? >> Uh the answer is yes to both. So the um the police um have done a a a very good job of attracting
um candidates for um for sitting for the police for a written police exam. They've gone they've they've gone through f a physical exam now. U so we're working our way through that. But also the the um the department is
looking at um potential opportunities for lateral transfers. not not everybody is a good fit. And so um they they have been looking at the different policemies to see if there there are candidates that would um would match the needs of
the city. >> You're on mute, Dr. Rosski. >> Yes. So So how so what are we looking at? How I mean given that we we're at 81 and we were at 85 last year, how many lateral transfers are we looking at and
at and when and how many new recruits and when do we have any any more detail about that? >> Uh the answer is no. And that would that would be something that we would wind up discussing offline. The um for lateral transfers it's um you know it it's
basically it's a matter of time. the chief and the deputy chief and some of the command staff have done interviews for lateral transfers, but um they they haven't been the right fit. So, we have been we have been successful in past years with lateral transfers and
I'm sure we will be later later this year and and also in the future. But, um you know, that's one that's one track. But the the other track is um the chief and you can you can chime in. When did we how we had what
190 people that signed up for the police written exam? Um and then we had um we had a number that passed and we're we're working our way we're working our way through that. So we will have a list that will be valid for another three years. But I >> Yes. >> Yeah.
>> Yep. >> Yeah. I just don't have all all of those numbers off the top, you know, at the tip of my tongue. >> Okay. Any other questions, uh, Councilwoman Mosski, at this time? All right. Any, uh, I saw Mr. Toer had
his hand up earlier. >> Yeah, I did, but it was more of a numbers question of if we can get access to both what Michael has in terms of his numbers and what the chief has. >> Well, you have that.
>> Uh, I have what Michael has. We we sent it out. We'll we'll c we'll c we'll circle back tomorrow, but um there's um >> my mistake. >> There's the admin there's the edund's history there for you. >> Yeah, I uh I saw it, but I I I couldn't correlate it to Michael's numbers, so I
apologize if my bad. >> No problem. >> All right. Do any other council people have questions? Uh Michael, >> if I may. >> Yeah. >> Thank you. Just um is there any progress
chief or um Mr. Manager in in getting resource from forfeite or other sources or grants from Homeland Security or other initiatives with the county >> just in in general for fun or or if for anything in particular?
Well, if the vehicles are going to be struck from the budget, is there a way to compensate and get that through forfeite actions where you take uh proceeds from illicit criminal activity? >> We we do have access to uh the municipal
escrow account um which there are limitations for what we can and can't do with those funds. Um often police uh equipment does fall under that. Also, we have several uh funds uh through, like you said, seized funds through our officers that have been on operations
with the DEA or Homeland over the years. So, we do have we do have some access to those. Um again, it's it is sometimes is limited what you can utilize them for. Uh but we do have other options, you know, and that's that's our goal is to explore those other options. Um, we
do need to replace vehic vehicles. I'm going to but I'm the terminology I'm going to use is we need need to replace the police SUVs on a regular basis and we can't let that go for extended periods of time. But the chief, the command staff, myself and others are are
looking at ways that we can do it without without um using the budget. So the budget would be the last alternative, not the first alternative. Mayor, any other questions? All right, >> Council Councilman Wilson, I see your
hands raised. >> Thank you. Good evening to all. Um, thank you, Chief, for um, your report. I really feel that uh, it was somewhat comprehensive. Uh, I believe that there
may be one or two loops in there for me that didn't ring out and probably because we're just getting this budget and so I feel that I'm on my heels. cuz I want everyone to know that this is a long and tigerous August report and it's
a lot of details and you guys works on it some all year, a couple weeks, months and for me I don't know about anyone else to get it within the last 24 hours I feel at a
huge disadvantage. So, I will just um reserve to come back to this at a later date as I digest some of this these things, but I just want to get some numbers right, Chief. Um,
you you said that we decreased the budget by 84,000 to lower the budget. Now, what was that for again, please, sir? I believe that was the CFO that had said that that was that and that was for vehicles.
Michael, was that for vehicles? The CFO? >> It was it was $100,000 in the other expenses for uh for ve two. Yeah. For two vehicle for for vehicles in there that they usually buy every year. >> So it wasn't 84, it was 100,000. >> It was 100,000. Yeah.
>> And that was for two vehicles that we're no longer paying for. Is that correct? Yeah, we we buy new cars every year. So to try to >> Don't remind me that's a sore spot for me. Buying cars every single year and it doesn't appear that a lot of those cars
move. But thank you for that. Um and you said chief that uh we gave more personal um police officers to decrease we gave you more police officers to decrease the overtime.
What's your what's your daily um police uh schedule? How many men do we men and women do we need on the street? >> It varies right now by depending on the squads that are working, but in in general um you know we have a minimum of
uh six to seven officers on the road at any given time, but it could go up to uh 14 or 15. >> What would cause it to go up to 14 from seven? What would what would cause it to double from seven to 14?
Uh could depend when the squads are overlapping, could be depend on time off, uh could be depend on sick time, officers out injured. >> So if four officers are out injured, we would still have seven. Is that correct?
Is seven. Are we considering seven your minimum inning? >> Yes, sir. >> Okay. And so I'm trying to figure out why we would go up to 14. Is that overtime? >> No, it's not overtime.
>> Okay. Um, and these are some of the glitches. I don't want to take up the whole night. Um, maybe we can talk off offline in regards in regards to that. um from 7 to 14 being a regular shift
and uh the training budget, you did say that that went up, right? And we we would project that probably that would go up every year cuz that's that's a necessity. >> Yes. Yes, sir. >> Okay. And when we say training,
um what do we currently have? Do we have 84 members? >> 81. >> 81. And that includes everyone, right? For training. >> All right. And how do we how do we handle the people that are sick? How do
they get their how do they get their training when they come back? Do they do they skip to the next year or do they have to make up the training? >> No, they generally have to make up the training. Um, you know, depends on the the nature of the sickness, the uh the amount of time they were out, but generally they would make up that time
sometime during the year. >> Okay. And traffic maintenance is the first time you created that budget. Is that correct? >> Yes, sir. >> Yeah. >> Um, and who had it previously? Was that uh DPW bot?
>> Yes, it was. So, >> any particular reason why we're switching it to PD? Yeah, the uh the major the overwhelming majority of the time of the the the staff members in traffic maintenance, it's um it's related to uh tra traffic signals, it's
related to stop signs, it's related to traffic safety signs. So they're work the majority of their time they're working with the police department and so it made sense for them to be there. Um and they als this is also the group that does the the the painting of the
lines on the streets. So, the crosswalks, thing things of things of that nature. >> So, just so I'm clear, um because I was concerned that our police officers were replacing signs and crossing guards and lights and all that, but they're there
for DBW's protection. They're not doing physical work. They're they're manning the streets to make sure our DBW workers are are good. >> Uh that's probably an accurate statement on busy streets. So, when they're
they're changing a um a a stop sign or a street sign or um or doing something with um with some of the overhead lights. Yes, the the police are there to make sure that it's safe. And the police are also there when they're doing their
um when they're painting the crosswalks with the with the the painter with the thermal im the thermal plastics that they use. >> Okay. And I just have two two last quick questions. Did I hear you say correctly, Mr. city manager. We have 101 signups
for the police exam. >> No, I'm not sure. I I I believe we had more than that. Um I don't have that information handy. Chief, do you recall what what it was? The the number of pe the number of applicants that signed up to take the police exam.
>> Yeah, we had Yes, we had a uh a total of uh 20 264 reg sign up. Um but we only had um let me see we had just double checking my numbers here.
>> And that's for And that's for the test. >> Yeah, that was for the test. Yes. Yep. >> And how do how many do we retain from 264? I believe we had a hundred I I apologize I don't have the numbers right if I am trying to pull it up but I know we sent
uh 88 officers or 88 candidates uh to the physical and we of those 88 um 56 passed. So we brought 56 actually it was 55 for with one withdrawal 55 people were brought back for the uh to start
the interview process. >> 55 to be process. >> Yes sir. >> Okay that's a pretty good number right? >> A great number. >> And when does this list expire? >> Well the list hasn't been certified yet.
So when when it is it'll be for three years. Um but the candidates have to the the 55 have to be interviewed and um uh vetted and ranked and then then we would we'll we would have a we would have a list that we would be able to use for
three years. >> So we're probably four years out. Is that what? Well, the max the processing year and you know if if we were to pull from they'll so total of 55 being
processed. Obviously some will be kicked out um because maybe they may not pass or whatever the procedure may be >> that or they may accept an offer from another another department but yes but we anticipate that the the list will be struck sometime this year. >> Okay. And and that's that's I'm happy to
hear that because um I I keep hearing this thing about lateral transfers and I'm not saying all lateral transfers are bad. We've had some bad um occasions with lateral transfers as we could have from a new recruit. U my concern is from
lateral transfers. I don't think um we're we're getting the information of transparency whether or not we're getting people with um uh attendance issues, whether abuse issues. Um someone can send us someone and not give a full
report. And that's a huge huge concern for mine and that's why I'm against lateral transfers. For one, um I understand it's timely and it saves us money, but we need to protect our citizens with the best process possible. And I want to give you Bob the tools
that you need to ascertain whether or not or your team to ascertain whether or not we have the best candidates uh moving forward. And that's why I believe in um our process of the test and that's why I also believe um that our residents
should get the first nod at this. So once again um Mr. Reley, thank you for your time for the process. Um, I will be talking to you hopefully later and with you, Bob, and so we can button up some of these questions I have. So, thank
you, uh, Council President. >> Uh, thank you, Councilman. And, um, you know, just to address your initial concern, um, our final budget, um, hearing date
will be March 10th. So if any um and you know I had originally scheduled these budget hearings even earlier and Bob asked me to to move them later because of the special challenges this year and you know and with trying to get this
introduced in the next you know before March 30th and also with the limited availability of having all the council people on we were very constrained with the time and dates. Uh but if and this is for any of the council people. Um if
there's anyone you would like to come back for the March 10th final budget hearing, uh please um you know, especially for you know, tonight and tomorrow night, uh please let me and Mr. Hoffman know and
we'll make sure that they're um here for any additional questions during your uh more comprehensive review of the budget over the next two weeks. Um you know, but I I'll I'll need to hear from you that that you want you know, Chief Gley back or or or
um you know, another person back. So um and so you would definitely want to make sure everyone has all the tools they need to to review the budget and make comments on it. Uh, Dr. Watski, before we get back to you, I want >> Thank you, Council President. >> Yeah, I want to ask uh, Councilwoman
David, do you have any questions for the chief? >> Okay, Dr. Waski, I see your hands raised. >> Hey, thank you. Um, Chief,
I I'm very concerned to hear that we're having trouble with our lateral transfers. I had no idea that that this has become an area of difficulty in the police department. Can you expand a little bit about how what kind of
troubles you've been having with our lateral transfers because I'm not sure if if it's been so so problematic. I I don't know why we would be considering it. I'd like to hear more. >> I I think what uh what the council was
referring to is actually the same same concerns we have. So, um, you know, our our candidates go through a very very thorough, uh, process. You know, we we look at this as a very serious investment in the future of our department and our city. You know, we're
looking at a a 30-year multi-million dollar investment. So, um I I like having someone that came on like myself that started that and worked their way up and and uh you know, but um you know, we do get people that uh work in other
jobs and want to try a new department. Um I don't look at that as like the magic uh you know, it's not going to I don't we can't wave a wand and bring in a handful of lateral transfers and and fix all our manpower issues. I certainly don't look at it like that. So, um, any
laterals that go through our process, like any candidates, we vet very seriously. They go through obviously our hiring process, but also very, very intense background process. >> I understand that. I I was under the impression that when you took a lateral, you vetted them. I thought you you were
vetting the lateral transfers. So, my question I understand what you're saying. Obviously, we'd like someone to go through the process, but I also thought it was my understanding that you vetted, you know, you and your department vetted their lateral transfers. Are they not being adequately
vetted? The people that you end up hiring at lateral transfers because you make that determination, we need a lateral transfer, are you having more difficulty with them than you are with the people we bring up bottom up? Are
you are you not is the is the vetting process not adequate? Are you having difficulty with those laterals that you have been hiring in the last couple of years? >> No, I wouldn't say we're having a I wouldn't categorize it as a problem.
We're hiring good officers that are protecting our city. It's just, you know, like any job, if you take someone that comes from another office or another uh company, you always want to make sure you're not getting someone else's dirty laundry. You want to make someone that's going to help your department, that's going to help make
your business, your your enterprise better, and that's what we're looking for. So, >> right. So, what percentage of the lateral transfers that you've taken in the two years have been quote, you know, someone else's laundry that we've we've had to get rid of? >> Well, I I I think we're getting off the
topic here, but the the the the issue is that >> No, no, I understand the issue. I just want to I understand the issue. I what what I'm trying to understand. I'm I I every I'm I'm hearing >> so the question is chief are we having the people that
you're vetting for lateral transfers over the last couple of years are you are we do are you is it is it you're doing an adequate job vetting them or or are we not doing an adequate job vetting them and we need to look differently
>> well Dr. Was if if I can reframe the question so we don't >> the the answer >> Bob if I can ask the question maybe a different question that >> in the general process of lateral transfers
do you think there's uh times when there's information a part of their record that we don't have access to now clearly if so and so's you know boring uh annoying
you know, that might not be something that's written up. Um, but you know, is there are we not getting their police academy grades? Are we not getting their performance reports? >> You know, is there stuff I wish I had
this information so I could uh to evaluate them and we don't have it. >> No, that is not the case. I can tell you that every every person we brought on, whether it was a lateral hire or even a new hire, our our investigators, we go
through as as as far as we need to or as as far as we can to find out about the individual before they bring it on. As far as an officer, someone worked in another police department, we have access to their reports. We have access to their IIA files. We speak with the
officers at their department. So, um, you know, we don't leave any stone unturned when we're looking to bring someone on that worked in another police department. Any information we can gather to help us make the right decision if this person is going to be right for our city, we're going to look at and evaluate. >> Yeah.
>> Okay. And let me let I'm sorry, >> one last question. So, is this process, Chief, that you want to continue or that you want to discontinue? We need to continue to allow for these candidates to, you know, these officers to be candidates, but it's, you know,
just understand that we don't take it lightly and just because someone was a cop somewhere else doesn't mean that we're automatically going to hire them. They go through a serious vetting process. So, um, I think we'd be foolish to say we're never going to take laterals again. Um, but I also
understand the importance of hiring someone new that's going to go through the academy that we'll be able to mold. So, it's a balancing act. Um, but regardless of who we're hiring, we're doing a complete background investigation and the person that's in front of you at the council meeting is
someone that we vetted through and through and we're 100% uh, you know, satisfied with their hire. I wouldn't I couldn't have it any other way. Okay, Chief, let me ask you a question about a potential lateral transfer, a theoretical person.
One person is coming from city A where they're undergoing a budget crisis and had to let go of 5% of their police force and you're getting a a potential lateral transfer from that city.
City B is a city that has no financial issues, is currently planning to hire more police officers, and this officer wants to laterally transfer out of the city. So, I'm looking at that as a lay person
thinking, well, this person from city A might be a diamond in the rough as just a victim of bad circumstances with the finances of city A, whereas uh the potential transfer from city B might be someone
who, you know, was laundry to to use the phrase. Is that the type of information you're allowed to assess when you uh um you you'd say why is this town that's desperately looking for new officers? Why is this person leaving it? That's a
red flag to me. Is that information you were allowed to use and would use in a process? Yeah, we could absolutely consider their motives for wanting to, you know, look for other opportunities in their career and we would take all that into consideration. You know, absent any
other information that, you know, that's not a lot of information in of itself, but, you know, when you talk about three sets of interviews and a background process, you know, that's the the information is going to start to become a little more clear or at least give us a better idea of whether uh you know, whether they're going to be a good fit
for our city. >> Okay. Um, >> Council President, I just wanted to make one one point. >> The pro the process for lateral transfers, um, the police do a very good
job of looking at the candidates before they're hired. Um, there are a significant number of potential lateral transfers that are not selected to come because of something that's turned up in the interview process or the background
check. So, um, the the police department, you know, is doing a very good job of we of, um, I'm going to use the term weeding out, um, people or, you know, that that might that might have a
have a difficulty in in their in their current employment. So, um, the the pro the process is working and it is very selective and it's it's a good it's a good mix of attempting lateral transfers as well as hiring new new candidates,
but the council needs to know that the police are doing a very good job before before there's an offer of employment. Thank you. >> Okay. Uh, Councilman Wilson, I saw you had your >> Yes. Thank Thank you. Um, and I let let
me make this perfectly clear. The process that we go through or the police department or any other process that we go through, I'm not questioning the process. And in any process, there's always some slippage. There's always things that go through the cracks as
well as this lateral transfer. But there's a saying once you go to the academy and you get training after they release you from the training whatever whatever whatever department
that you go that you go to nine out of 10 times they say well now we're going to show you how we do it and if we will take the council president's um example with city A if in fact that that individual comes from a rigorous
very busy, very aggressive department and then they come to Inglewood and they bring that same mentality over that you can't interview and it happens on a couple different
occasions. That's something we need to we need to be concerned about and it's not just happened on one occasion with with laterals. So if if in fact that this keeps rearing its its head, I I don't know the end all the be all of
how we get to that. I know when we have a new candidate and they go into training and then they come to our department and say the chief and his training staff said now this is how we do it. We don't do it exactly like Bergen County. We have different nuances
on how we promote how we move about our city and how we treat our residents. That's the most imperative thing. How we keep our residents safe, how you interact with our residents. That that's that's huge. And we can't and we can't
ignore our our residents being mistreated because of um of some training they got before they got to us. And that and that's what I'm saying that we need to take a long a
long long look at this. I'm not saying chief that you're not doing a good job vetting these people, but oh my goodness, something's slipping. I don't know what it is. Something's slipping. >> Thank you, council president.
>> You know, one of the other things that the police are also looking at and um it should be brought up just as in is is that we're we're they're also looking at lateral transfer, not just lateral transfers, but alternate routes. So, um you know, there's there's three prongs.
So, it's lateral, it's lateral transfers, it's it's our it's our testing process in our our list. And then when the opportunity presents itself, it's it's alternate route candidates that are, you know, that are already in in a um in an academy. So,
they're um they they they're they have the opportunity to learn at the academy and then and then come come and and be trained. But but >> All right. Thank you. Thank you. Uh uh city manager uh Miss David
>> um I want to say thank you chief. I know it's not easy, but um thank you for keeping our city um safe and thank you. >> All right. And uh and chief, I have a a few questions uh myself. So I feel like I feel like um I ask this every year,
but I mean it's just astonishing to me the number of documented calls and how much they increase year-over-year. It seems like every year um it's a double-digit increase um going on for five years now. So we
we're probably at 68,000 probably way more than double than we were in 2021. I I just don't and and crime is lower flat a tick up. So, it's not as if uh
Jesse James uh and and uh Al Capone and Billy the Kid moved to town and and you know, we're dealing with that. What what what's going on? Why are we having a 30% increase in calls? So, part of it is, you know, part of part of the numbers are some of them are
are proactive uh documentation of what our officers are doing out there. So that in you know we had a significant increase in our number of motor vehicle stops. Um you know overall though it's you know our our city is always growing. We have people coming through our city
more and more are our you know I the traffic all over is always getting worse. So it's the volume it's the it's the increase uh you know our residents. Um it's it's the people going through our town just traveling to and from you know we're we're a hub for our city.
It's it's it's a great thing, but it's definitely impacting our infrastructure. Uh whether it's the pack, our hospitals, our downtown, you know, we have people coming here like, you know, and it just seems like more and more in ways I haven't seen in a long time. So, it's it's a great thing, but it's it impacts
our our operations. >> Well, I'm going to The Pack didn't have 30% more shows last year. You know, we don't have 30% more traffic. I mean, sometimes it seems that way, but but we didn't.
>> Um, so that that doesn't completely add up. Let let me ask you another question. Um, >> uh, if um, so let's say with the snowstorm uh, over the past weekend, if someone calls the
police and says, "Oh, what time do I have to get my car off the road by?" And the officer says, "99 p.m." and they say, "Thank you." Click. That's a call. No, >> that's not a call. >> No, that that's that would not that would not be documented. That just a
anformational call to the dispatch. That would be not >> No, would not. So So I'm going to get back to the first thing you said. So, so maybe a lot of these documented calls are are police officers in the field
calling in to document a specific traffic stop or or some sort of routine work. >> Yes. >> Yeah, that's part of it. >> Okay. Do you think that's the majority part of it? >> Uh, I don't know if it's a majority of
it. A it's probably a good part of it because it's our officers are out there being proactive and documenting what they're doing. That's definitely part of it. Um but uh I I I don't know exactly what percentage of that would be. >> All right.
Okay. Um well, we're pretty much at the end of the hour here. Dan, is that your hand raised or just a pens of uh stare? Oh, uh Mayor, looks like you have a >> Yeah, thank you. Thank you, Council President. And I just as we wrap up,
Chief, I I want you to know um it's a noticeable positive change the policing of our city in so many immeasurable ways. I want to remind everybody who was a participant in now part of the governing body how there were major
shootings, stabbings, and significant physical violent activity. We had a murder every year. We have been miles away from that kind of conduct and activity. Greater proactivity with residents. The emails that I get, the
communications that I send in have never been more professionally answered. And the internal affair audit of their own conduct is really professionally done. um so that the residents understand when something happened why it happened if
they feel that there's an aggression of some sort. So I just want to thank you chief on behalf of the residents because it's not an easy job and if you're trying to do new things by getting laterals so that we don't have to go through certain costs and then you're
learning best practices from this. Good. Keep it up. keep pushing to get the best candidates. I swore in several officers for the first time. One was Korean, several on Qurans. The ang is changing
and it's changing stronger and better. It was only a few years ago that the Bergen County prosecutor had to take a failed department and run it for over a year. So kudos to you and the deputy chief for what you're doing. Do more of this and keep us posted.
All right, Mr. Wilson, is that your hand raised? >> You're on mute, >> Mr. Wilson. You're muted. >> Thank you. Um, thank you, chief, for what you do and and the processes that you go through to keep to keep us safe,
to let us sleep at night, um, knowing that we're well protected. But I I've seen this process play out for the last, I don't know, five, six years, however long, we've started this lateral thing. And so what I would like my um esteemed
colleagues to remember that we've had a pretty safe um town city for for for decades with no major murders, killings, shooting, and that's largely because of how the police
patrol our city. So, I for one agree that the process worked very well prior to laterals. Now that we have our hands um on management and we're looking at people
before they retire or the people that are eligible to retire and we start administering tests, we're probably giving tests now at a rapid rate probably most more than ever before. So now that we have a a handle on that,
>> besides saving money, and I'm not saying saving money is not a bad idea, besides that process, I would love to see the process continue on how it's played out through our own court that we continue to give these
tests in a timely fashion so we can get the men and women that we need from our process. Now, the mayor mentioned something about um the county taking over from from a failed process. I don't I don't agree with that. Um
there was some internal program problems where our personnel weren't working together the way they should have been and I think that had been corrected prior to the county coming in. So, and then the county comes in and they want to bring their people in and that means
laterals. So, they're they're they're is um straight and narrow, rigid, um not used to our citizens and and I got to go back to um the way our citizens are treated. That's the most important thing. That's why a lot of people move
to Inguid to feel safe and that's the police department's job and when they call not to appear like a victim. So I believe the the process works. We just have to work the process. you know, everyone was jumping to this lateral lateral lateral. Prior to the county
coming in, we weren't talking about laterals. Our our procedures worked. So, thank you, Council President. That's all I'm going to say on the matter tonight. Thank you.
>> Thanks, Chief. Thank you so much. I'm very proud to work with you and thank you for all you do for the city. I just want to also thank you, Chief. Thank you for running a great department and everything you do and keeping us safe. I really appreciate it.
>> Thank you. >> All right. Um, so can we promote uh Mr. Kersh for uh OEM? I see him on. >> Thank you. >> Jim, please unmute. >> Jim, do you have your picture available?
He's rushing. He's changing from his pajamas to a shirt. If not, that's okay. You let us know either way. >> Okay. Well, he's Well, he's getting set up. Um, uh, Mr. Hoffman, do you want to
>> You're muted. >> Uh, thank you, Council President. Yes. Um our our OEM director Jim Kersh will be with us momentarily, but I want to I want to commend Mr. Kersh uh to the council. Uh he has been very active
since he was appointed. Recently the governing body adopted a resolution uh that was recommended by um by our OEM director and this puts us in line to for reimbursement for FEMA funds in the future. If that if that uh resolution
hadn't hadn't been brought forward, um we would have missed a deadline and um there's there's now the opportunity for since there was a state of emergency this weekend because of the snow um we we now have the opportunity for for
potentially receiving reimbursement from the state or from the federal government. So um Mr. Kersh has also been um has been a great great asset. The governing body received training, mandatory training that uh that he
organized and um we now have C members um that um will be able to assist the city with whatever whatever comes up whether it's Englewood night or uh some some kind of um uh storm storm related
emergency they will be able to step in and assist. they've received training and he's also organized some training for this Saturday um that will that will help the city. So, we're we're grateful for his efforts. >> And Mr. Kersh, are you ready to speak?
>> I'll just say that their budget is Yeah. >> a very small It's a $13,000 budget. So, >> LA last year was 10. It went up uh you know, $3,000. is 13,000 now. >> And a lot of that had to do with radio upgrades for um for communication, you
know, so that they could um they they could communicate from from the field wherever they are. >> So So Bob, where when when we need to activate OEM, where where do they set up? Uh right now
they set up in the fire department, but the OEM the OEM office is going to be in the old evac building. So that's where that's where um that's where their office will be. >> Is is that still our um future dispatch hub?
>> It is. So the um the OE the o OEM needs to be near dispatch because when you have an emergency you need that information real time and um you need to be able to hear what's happening. You need to be able to look at the screens and um you know and
see what's going on. So the answer is yes. >> For those that may not know, Mr. City Manager, can you inform them the importance of OEM during uh the state of emergency while we're waiting? >> Sure. um if there is a state of
emergency or there or there's uh some um some action that needs to take place that is that is deemed an emergency, the OEM coordinator uh becomes the person that is basically in charge of of the of
the disaster or the um the the the weather event. So they would um it's usually an OEM office is usually activated um in the 13th hour of a of a an emergency. Um you know our our police
and fire are responsible in the beginning but then uh OEM takes over to help arrange for safe transport out of the air out of a out of an area of emergency. um they they coordinate
supplies um with um you know to to um you know whether whether it's it's meals to feed people or um uh water CS things of that nature and one of the things that we have is our current OEM
locations whether it's the fire department or the older evac building on South Van Brunt they're in a low-lying area and Um, thanks to um, Mr. Kersh's efforts, we were able to secure a backup
location for the OEM center, which is at the Dwight Englewood School. So that's that's on higher ground. And so in an emergency um, if our OEM primary location um, you know, becomes unusable,
we have we now have a backup location. So we, you know, we we have been able to continually think think ahead and see what what has to happen, but >> Okay. So, Mr. Hoffman, um, so Mr. Kersh, are you able to come on? It looks like you're having some
technical difficulty. >> If not, we can reschedu them. >> Yeah. Or, um, again, it's a pretty small budget. Are there any specific questions that anyone on the council can address to Mr. Hoffman and then he he can get
back to us on questions about OEM's budget to us. Okay. So, um we'll let Mr. Kersh go just it looks like he's having some difficulties uh with the with the connection tonight. Um and we'll move on
to the health department. >> I think Mr. Wilson has his hand up. >> Oh, sorry. I didn't see that. So, what what questions do you have for Mr. Hoffman regarding OEM's budget? >> Um, thank you, Council President. Just just
real quick, um, the budget went from 10 to 13. Um, usually you'll never hear me say this. Um, I'm I'm not sure that he's asking for all that he needs. And this is such an
intricral part of our everyday lives. Um especially with a few dead spots in our city with repeaters and repeaters are what makes our radios work. So I I would just like to see in that budget that we have
the proper communications no matter where our police and fire or even slash DPW as they deal with these floods go that we have constant communication. That's my main concern about OEM and I think OEM um operating emergency
management is that that's their process. And could you just real quick uh Mr. Hoffman share with the people that may be out there in regards to how OEM gets our um emergency calls slash evacuation?
>> Yeah. No, we're so we're focusing on the numbers tonight so we can maybe bring Mr. Kersh back for Okay. >> for another meeting. Um, so but uh Bob, you know, so when you have a chance to speak to Jim, just let him know that if there's anything he
left off the budget that he thinks is essential for the safety of the city to to bring it back to the council and we can see if we if it's something we can fit into the with the numbers. >> Sure. And council president, there there are other things. This is just the operating budget, but there are we're
looking at through the capital budget just to um that that dovetail with the needs of the police and the fire as well as the OEM. >> Okay, great. Okay, so I think I saw Mr. Fedor go on if we can promote him to
discuss the department of health. Asha, if you can also make uh Jim back to an attendee. Jim, is it just you tonight on? >> No. Also on here we have Alisa Smith. We have the board president Stephanie Davis,
finance committee member Dr. Alisa Solomon, and also Susan Rubin is on the finance committee as well. And thank you uh
council president for promoting me. >> Um you you well you have an actual promotion right in terms of the county your county role too. Mr. Kaufman you want to give uh some of the numbers? >> Sure. So the salary and wages went up
$116,000. That's uh due mainly due to the increase the the addition of a last year we didn't have a we didn't have a super a director in in the budget. This year we're we're adding in a director for the budget for uh
three quarters of the year and then uh the contract got settled so there were a couple of uh added numbers for that. Um, other expenses went from 79,000 to $93,000.
That's an increase of $14,000. And I'll let uh Jim talk about that. >> Thank you, Michael. >> Um, one of the other parts that uh I want to mention as well is that the
health department does receive an income. We have roughly I say about $250,000 and this is from our retail food licenses, our birth and death certificates and any fines or penalties that we collect. So the health
department last year was 287 or $286,000. I like to say it's about 1/4 of the budget that comes in for from fees and and licenses.
Also on the call, I I thank uh our board president Stephanie Davis and Dr. Solh Solomon and Mrs. Rubin for helping out with the financial budget. So, we went through several revisions and I think we came up with a good number here that
will satisfy the needs of the health department and um we'll be within budget for the Inglewood the city of Inglewood. >> All right. Thank you. Are there any questions for Mr. Pedero regarding the budget?
Everyone's shy can Oh, okay. Dr. Wasadski. >> Hi, good evening. Nice to see you. >> Good to see you, Dr. Waski. >> Um, I'm just looking at your organizational chart. >> Yes. >> Um
Um and there there are some vacancies on it. is youration to fill these vacancies >> and >> I would say the most pressing order of business for the Ingwood Health Department is to hire a director/halth
officer. So that would be our first order of business. Uh we also have a vacancy for the uh health inspector and I think the director the person who comes in as the
director should make the decision on who they want to hire. So the I don't think that uh myself or the board should do the hiring of a of a health inspector. I think that should be done by the director. So that is correct. We have those vacancies
and I think they should be filled by the next person coming in. And in the narrative that we have that we were given um it said something about the board the board of Mid Bergen Regional Health Commission requested a significant increase in the amount of the services
of the health officer. Um I'm just reading that paragraph. and then they requested a certain fee and then um the board's finance committee was coming back with another with with a I guess a negotiate negotiation. Um but you're
what you're saying is that this negotiated fee is there is there a deadline on it at what point um are you staying on until they find to to the board? I am uh when I say I I mean Midburgen Regional Health Commission.
I'm the health officer for the Mid Bergen Regional Health Commission. And so um we will stay and helping the city of Englewood until you guys find a director or a health officer. Our fee
right now is $900 per month for the mid for uh the services that we provide. Um my board president thought that that number was too low and we were um looking to increase that. >> Okay. Thank you.
>> So right now we're on a month-to-month contract. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Well, that's how it's been for the last year or so. >> Right. All right. Thank you for the clarification. >> Thank you. >> Any other questions for Mr. Federco?
Um then then I have one. So, where where are we currently in the process of uh posting, interviewing, and um potentially hiring a health officer? >> Uh the board members, the board personnel committee for the city of
Inglewood, they interviewed one candidate and um they're they're looking for other other candidates as well. So, there's there's some there's some movement there and that's a good sign. There's movement there.
What's the typical time to to hire, would you say? >> Well, there's movement, but I should say the movement is slow. Uh, there aren't that many candidates out there for the health officer position that have that
health officer's license, so the pickings are slim. >> All right. I was worried you were going to say that. Uh, Councilwoman David, >> thank you, Council President. Um, yes. My question is, I knew there was a health officer who was bilingual there
and she left. Um, could you tell me and explain is there a high turnover with that position and maybe it's due to the salary? Thank you. >> Uh, Miss Davis, the the past >> Miss Davis, sorry. Mhm.
>> Uh the past health officer for the health department was a man and u he wasn't um if fluid in Spanish. >> The one prior was the one prior.
>> The one before that was me. >> And I'm not uh wasn't me. Okay. >> And then the one before that was uh Nelson Cruz. And yes, he was >> he was I was in the city of Inglewood for about nine years. >> Mhm.
>> So I took this job with Midburg and Regional Health Commission. So that u that turnover nine years is a pretty good run. >> Okay. Okay. >> I think Mr. Cruz was hired in 2008 if I remember. So that's >> it was a while ago. >> It was a while ago. >> Yeah.
>> Thank you. Thank you, sir. Dr. >> Rosen. Yeah. Please, mayor. So, we've had some really provocative challenges, including a bear walking through parts of our city a couple of years ago and a
recent onslaught of bats. Um, you haven't had any issues as far as educating our community or meeting these challenges uh with the current team that you have, do you, Jim? >> I'm familiar with those bats in the the
city, and that's quite unusual. I've never seen that before. Uh, Mid Bergen manages 17 towns and I did see the see increases in in bats in homes and the only thing I could think of is the
because of the the the bad weather that we've been having. >> Maybe they're coming in through the chimneys. However, the good news on the bats are that none of them tested positive for rabies. So, that's the good news. And and the the big piece with bat
education is that you save the bat so that it could be tested for rabies. The thing you don't want to do is let it loose into the wild and then you don't know if it had rabies or not. >> Right. And this again underscores why having a health department in Anglewood is so important because by the time we
get statistics from the health department in the county, we wouldn't see a trend like we would be seeing. And I can tell you when it comes to the marriages that I perform and the lensure and the professionalism of the office, it's really unparalleled. So kudos to you and the entire department as well as
the weekly reports for six years. I have not missed getting a weekly report on the COVID surveillance systems that you have um from uh from Deep Taji. So >> Oh, she's good. >> Yeah. Please convey my also my kudos to
her as well. Thank you. Thank you for that, Mayor. >> Right, Miss David, I still see your hands up, but I assume um that's from before. >> Oh, yes. I'm sorry. I put it down. Thank you. >> Um any other questions for Mr. Federko?
All right, Jim, thank you so much and thank you for your service to the city. I know it's it's really above and beyond and and we've asked so much of you and you've always you've been so giving to us and it's it's really deeply appreciated. I I uh I want to I want I
want you to know that we you and I don't speak too often but I know of all the great work you're doing. So so really thank you. >> Thank it's >> and and the whole team but but you know and but you're you're the one who who who leads the charge. Yeah. >> Thanks. It's fun to be back and and good to work with the board. Thank you.
Thank you, board. >> Okay. You're very welcome. >> Um, do you want to bring in the library? >> We have a library in town. I didn't know that. Okay, great. >> Uh, Asher Molly, can you please make
everyone an attendee and bring in I think there's one that says Anglewood Library. And council president, while we're doing that, I I just think a a point of order. Um, you may have mentioned that our budget hearing is March 10th, but I think
>> Yeah. Oh, yeah. Thank you. Yeah. >> March 11th. >> Yeah. Excuse me. Sorry. >> Uh, so, um, our final budget hearing will be March 11th. And if there are any other, you know, especially from tonight's meeting and tomorrow night's
meeting, any lingering issues that we need to bring people back, uh, let us know and and we can, uh, we we can certainly, uh, get that done. But thank you for correcting me. >> Asher Molly, are you bringing in
Anglewood Library? Anglewood Library and Miss >> They have to be they have to accept my promotion. >> Oh, can you please accept the promotion? Anglewood Library and also the chair Miss Nassie. Hi Nasi. >> Who? >> And Nassie. >> Nassie.
>> Nassie. >> And yeah. And >> Nassie. >> Hi Kate. >> Good evening everyone. >> Whatever you want is yours. Oh wait. Stacy can't hear me. No. Never mind. >> I was gonna say, does she is she off
camera? >> Just off camera. >> What's that gun? Put that gun down. >> Hi, Kate. How are you? >> Hi. Good. Good evening, everyone. Um, mayor, council, um, pardon, I'm losing my voice. I'm, you know, working with the public and children. I'm, uh, not
getting a chance to get over any of this, so pardon this. And if I have any cough during it. Um, was Nina of it made available as well? >> Yeah, she's she's she's on now. >> Okay, good. um cuz nasi our board president. Um so I hope that this is
your easiest budget to reconcile um over the years in my time here since 2022. Um to my knowledge, we have always worked within our budget and we're thankful for any increases that we may receive. We're still actively serving
our patrons seven days a week um despite our many major renovations happening that started this past May. Um, we have had minimal closures and disruption of service. Um, despite the renovations, portions of our collection being in
storage, and the bankruptcy of our book jobber, Baker and Taylor, um, which limited our book orders coming in um, in late 2025. The circulation of our materials was only down about 5,000 items. Um, coming on the heels of 2024,
which we had the highest circulation year on record. So, I think we're in good um shape in spite of it and know that we will bounce back once our renovations are complete and able to serve our public even better than we
have before. Um I'm sure you have our our budget that was sent out to you. Um again, we always work within our means. Our union contract is valid through 2028, so those increases have been accounted for. Uh staff is stable. will
only be seeking staff when a vacancy occurs. Um, also to mention, staff is very thankful for the money-saving efforts uh done by switching our healthcare to Etna. Um, we have talked about that at length. Um, so
that benefits all of us and um, we're always thankful for your support always. Um I know um uh that um we're excited to see where this
all goes and um I don't know if Michael had any numbers that he had wanted to go over. I kind of jumped jumped right in. >> It's okay. It'll take it's it's so the library as uh most of you know it's
statutory. It's a It's called a third of a mill. So last year we were at 2,239,431 and this year it's 2,326,247. So that's stat statutory. It's also like it's it's considered separate than the uh from the city rate.
>> Yeah. >> And and that's a state law, correct? >> Yeah. Correct. >> Yeah. Similar to like the lot the uh the school we collect the money. >> Yeah. >> We we just the only difference is is that we pay their salary. We collect it and pay the expenditures.
>> Thank you by the way. >> Yes. >> Um does anyone have any questions? >> Yeah. So um I'll I'll start off just it's very exciting about the renovations. Do you and we're not going to go over that tonight as you know we're sticking to the numbers. Do you
see any need for changes in staffing or you know how the department is set up once the renovation is done? >> Not yet. Uh nothing has made itself apparent. Um it is a topic that the board and I have discussed in different
capacities. Um but we have not seen um any vacancies yet, but if something is then become apparent, uh we'll then discuss it once once that comes up. Okay. So, you you would think there would be vacancies because of the
>> No, no, no, no. Uh just if there were if there happened to be a vacancy like you know that's what where staff is stable right now. Um and unless someone was to leave, we don't need to um hire anyone additional just yet. Well, I meant even
more like, you know, now that there are, you know, really great meeting rooms that the public will use, will you need will you need to reassign someone as meeting room coordinator? Right. >> Will you need software to help schedule that? Right. >> So, I'm just I'm just wondering if there
any anticipate just any I'm not even say stuff that might cost more money, but just a reappropriation of money. >> Appreciate that. We've um like I said, we've discussed it at board meetings and again it's kind of a a guess being prepared is always the best, but it's kind of a wait and see because we're not
sure how everything will shake out once we're back up and fully running at capacity. So, and we plan to make a policy about different, you know, utilizations of the different rooms
>> um which the board will approve. And just in terms of the vacancy, um what what does pages mean? I'm not famili We're actually when this is when our budgets had to be submitted the um the flowchart. Uh >> oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. It's supposed to be page
seven. And >> no, no, no, no. Pages. Pages are uh it's it's a term. Uh they're they're um people who put books away, put materials away. >> Unprofessional library staff. >> That's a professional term. A page. Okay. >> But it's an unprofessional person. Yes.
>> And then it looks like you have currently three part-time >> librarians and looking to hire a fourth >> possibly. >> Yes. So is that is that typically a retired librarian who comes back? >> Yeah, it's a part-time, you know, or we
have people who um two of the people on staff also that are part-time librarians um work at other libraries and they're come on, you know, they work part-time in different places. It's not a full-time position. And and I saw you you anticipated zero
overtime. >> We never we don't have overtime. >> Okay. Well, no. And so who's responsible if we need to use a library as a cooling center or warming center? Does library staff stay or do do police or other
>> in we have um there was one time where it was the um the rains had flooded and people had to be rescued from their cars and some staff did stay and the city granted um them overtime. They they uh paid them
overtime for staying for that time. But as for um heating and cooling to we have not a after hours because we're open 9 to9 um after hours we haven't encountered that yet but to my knowledge
that through OEM uh it was someone with them and you know uh would be able to cover that whether it be here since we are the heating and cooling center or at another location if it was for an extended amount of time.
>> Right. Does anyone on the council have questions for Kate? Yeah, Mr. Mayor. >> Just um appreciate your patience. I know that there's one vacancy on the board that I'll have to fill and I'm actively looking for people uh to fill that role.
And kudos to you for hosting me the last years that you've been there. And I feel like I really know you and I've seen a tremendous change in the health of the library. The demography of Enwood is also changing. Do you feel that you have
all the resource and support that this changing city uh needs? Um we I I have to say yes, we do feel very supported and anytime that a um gap
so to say or you know a deficit is found somewhere we always try our best to um fill it with whatever it may be whether it be materials or um we have a great grant for our ESL classes which have been wonderful. Um we're always looking
for better ways to serve the public and um for example we have even had as I mentioned on coffee with the mayor uh this year we've brought in AARP um and they're doing taxes for people for free. They don't have to be a member of ARP and they do not need to be of a AARP
age. Um you just have to make an appointment with me and you come in and you get your taxes done in one day for free. So anywhere there's a need we try to fill. >> Thank you. And a pet project of mine was to see if we could ever get Anguin cliffs back. Although
Fort Lee has done a wonderful job of having a big inventory of Korean um written literary works for the community. It's something that I've developed a nice relationship with the current mayor of Angory Cliffs just to
put in the back of your head if we want to make another go of it. >> Noted. I'll mention mention to the board. >> Please do and keep up the wonderful work. >> Thank you. >> I'll shut up now. >> All right, Mr. Wilson. >> Yes. Good evening, ladies. Thank you for
what you do. Um, being literal scholars that you are, we appreciate what you do. I just got two quick questions. Um and I know this is expenditures and looking into the future. Have you
thought about um budgeting for um mobileness for mobile libraries? >> Um I know it was something that was discussed prior to me being director. Uh there is a lot that comes with it. I know that there um you know had always
been talk of something of that capacity of whether it be a mobile book truck or cart or an offsite mini library somewhere. With that of course comes um uh vehicle insurance
uh staffing um material budget. So there is you know that is a would be a great increase to our budget. Not it's not something we're against. It's just something that would have to be um discussed, worked out financially and uh
where in the city if it was a physical place um uh where it would be. >> Thank you. >> Like like a branch. >> Thank you. I'd like to come in sometime in the near future to possibly um brainstorm in regards to that.
>> Please do. My office is always open. >> And thank you guys for for what you do. How's the roof holding up in all the snow? >> Um, it's I'm I'm knocking on all the wood. Um, we're doing pretty good since DPW has, you know, prior to um the
winter, they had come in the fall twice to clear the drains and the roof for us since we have a very unique roof. Um, and I know that myself, um, city engineer France Folsy and, um, Mr. Robert Hoffman have a meeting this Friday to go over uh the possibility of
what else could be done this year to solidify our roof to make sure all of this work that has been done on the inside lasts. >> Yeah, I'd like to have the meeting up on the roof on Friday. >> I'll I'll I'll I'll yell up through the
You know, you know what? It means that much to me that I would try to be very brave and go up there. Maybe just stand on the ladder, not out. But >> Bob has been on the roof a number of times. He the roof intimately >> and he and he knows I'm afraid of heights. So >> was that a drift? That's a drifter song.
Up on the roof, right? >> So So thank thank you Kate and your staff for all that you do for educate for educating our future. Um I don't take it lightly. You're a big part of our community. So thank you. >> Thank you. Appreciate it. >> Thanks Kate.
>> All right. Anyone else on the council have questions uh for Kate? Yeah, I mean you're a third of a mill. Unfortunately, you can't get more this year, so it's not a whole whole ton to to >> We appreciate it. And like I said, the staff really does appreciate all the
hard work that went into the negotiation of um adequate but cheaper health care just because, you know, we're all we're all feeling it. So, um we're very thankful for that and um appreciate your time and efforts everyone. >> All right. Thank you.
>> Thank you. >> All right. So, if we can uh All right. Great. All right. So, that uh concludes the budget workshop agenda items and now we're going to move to uh public session. So any member of the public wishing to speak is asked to raise their
hand uh and to be placed in queue to be called upon to speak. Speakers are requested to give their name and municipality and have three minutes to speak. >> Uh let me just set up the timer real quick. >> Okay. Uh first person with their hand
raised is Diane Jansen. and Asher if you can please uh allow allow her to talk please >> Diane go ahead and unmute >> hi Jansen thank you very much uh thank you very much I would like to thank you especially uh Dr. Rosen slide for asking
that the presentations be focused on numbers. We have not been focusing our presentation on numbers in past years and I like the movement in this way. Those are the types of uh budgets I'm used to. Uh especially going back to a
common employer that we uh both had at one time, Mount Sinai. Um and I was in the finance department. Uh I wanted to comment uh on uh I'm going to use this as an example. I really think we need to start looking at indicators when we talk
about numbers. For instance, um I am very used to the city of New Rochelle, New York, and I've shared that budget with many people on how they use indicators. And I'm going to give you some indicators for us. We uh at 30 at
80 police officers we are uh staffing at 26.7 police officers per 10,000 population. As you know we have a population of 30. That is the same or uh and then if we go
to the full staffing of 84 police officers we're staffing at 28 officers per 10,000 population. Do you know that's more than Patterson? That's more than Trenton.
It's a little under Jersey City. Newark is at 33. So, you know, these are the kinds of questions that I'm used to when we talk about numbers and indicators. What are the standards? Where do we fit in? you know, when we
see increases of x percent, well, what does that mean in terms of uh you know, community, state, uh, and standards for populations like ours? So, I just use the police. I I don't mean to pick on,
uh, Chief Gley, but I just use that as an example since he was first. Um, also OEM, uh, I can't believe that we're in a city that floods and the budget is so small. Where is the contingency for an
emergency? We should, even if we don't use it, we should budget for it. And also then lastly, my last comment for today would be I didn't hear the overview, but I think we're in a turnaround situation
uh given the increases that we're seeing in liability insurance, health insurance, and the like lawsuits. And we really need to do something quickly, let alone what we have to do for our
infrastructure. So to me, those are the priorities. Thank you. >> Thank you very much. City clerk, is there anyone else who uh >> uh yes, one other person has their hand raised. Um Asher, if you can allow John
B to speak, please. >> Please unmute. Okay. Good evening, council members. Hey, go ahead. We can hear you. >> Great. Great. Thanks for having me in here. Um about three or four questions or
actually three questions on this comment. Um, number one, um, I was wondering where we have the, uh, department budget worksheets posted on the city website, so those who are digitally, um,
able or capable can at least review those um, so they can see what's being submitted. Um, second question. I'm just curious, uh, how, and, this is, I guess, for the city council, uh, president, uh,
Councilman Rosenwag. Um, how are the renovations at the library, um, you know, related to or correlated or impacting staffing needs? I'm curious about that. Does it have to do with software or otherwise? And the third one is for Mr.
Kaufman. What is the Can you explain to us what the county taxes and the budget? >> All right. So, we we'll get to the questions when the public session's done. You said you also had a a comment. >> Oh, well, um, yeah, we're we're we're constantly, I guess, year over year
doing insurance shopping, whether it be a umbrella, property and liability, health insurance, so on and so forth. So, just keep insurance shopping. Okay. >> All right. And we'll get to all these questions once the once the public has
had the chance. >> Are you done, Mr. Beth? >> Okay. >> Okay. No one else has their hand raised. >> Okay. Uh so I will close the public session now. Um so uh Mr. Hoffman, if you can address some of these questions.
Um for example, are there any indicators that you use department by department? >> Uh the the answer is yes. Uh there are there are indicators. One of the things is um every month we look at the variance report from um where
where where what percentage of the budget have we used depending on the on the time of the year. Um other other indicators are uh we we try and track the unfunded state mandates that we have and look um look to see how uh we can
incorporate them into other items that are um that are that are budgeted for um and we we we look at we look at different trends. You've you talked about the amount of calls that are that come in. We so we look at the amount of
calls that come in to 911. We look we look at the um uh the calls that the fire department goes out goes out on. What are what calls are in the city? What calls are mutual aid? Uh thing things of that nature. Um and then um we
look we look to see um how how how so how software can can help us improve our our our service to our residents or how how can they um how can we use them to reduce error rates in certain areas. So those are those are
some of the issues that we look at we look at for trends you know as well as with with insurance we're always looking at trends in insurance. Uh one of Mr. Bab had a question about department budgets, whether they're posted on the website. The answer is no. This is uh this is deliberative
information right now. We will be posting our our information on the website once we have all of the all of the items that um from the other levels of government and the other entities that that we're um that that we rely on. Uh then there was a question about how
are the renovations at the library affecting staffing? Uh that's difficult to answer. um you know, our our library director talked about um you know, they will get into the space and they will look at it. There's going to be there's going to be more public usage of rooms
and then they'll they'll monitor it. And then there was a question about county taxes. Can we explain county taxes in the in the the city budget? Uh the county executive is speaking next week. I believe it's next Wednesday. He will talk about the county budget next
week. And then sometime in April, we anticipate that the county will strike the tax rate and that has a direct impact on uh the school the school how um how we we calculate the taxes for the school district or collect them as well as for the city.
So and we can give a more exact for formula um we can u we we can take a look and and post that at a later date. And I think u Miss Jansen had one more question um which I think you had alluded to but it went by pretty
quickly. Um so the OEM budget is fairly small >> but that we said was just an operating budget >> and that um um uh that they have other items uh
elsewhere in the in the entire city's budget. >> That that is correct. And you know and that's a good point. Thank you for bringing that up and that was a good question from Miss Jansen. So, one of the things that the OEM has access to is we have the we have a reserve for storm
emergencies. So, that is that is something that that's available to to the to the DPW, the OEM, you know, and some of our other emergency services when we do have when we do have a a storm. And so, that's that's some of the funds. And then there's some funds in
that are in other capital accounts for the OEM. >> Okay. Thank you. All right then. So, thank you for the public for those great questions. Uh, do I have a motion to adjourn the meeting? >> I make a motion to the meeting. >> Okay. >> Second.
>> All in favor? I. >> I. >> Okay. So, we'll see everyone tomorrow night. We're very time limited tomorrow 6 o'clock with a hard stop at 7:20 so that the mayor and Councilman Wilson can get to the planning board meeting. Uh
thank you for doing double duty uh tomorrow and March 11th for the final budget hearing with a couple council meetings sprinkled in between there. Okay, good night everyone. >> Good night. Thanks. >> Okay. Hey Dan, thank you.
>> Have a good night. >> Thanks. You too. Aster, you can go ahead and shut the