Ready to go. I would like to advise all those present that notice meeting has been provided to the public in accordance with the provisions of the open public meeting act. Notice was published in the city website. Copies provided in the Bergen
Record Lisp special ledger jersey journal also placed on a bulletin board in the lobby of city hall. Written objections, if any, should be made to the city clerk. Thank you, Mr. Fina. Call for the pledge.
Alian flag, United States of America, for the stand, one nation under God, indivisible, liberty, and justice for all. Roll call. Mr. Con here. M. Fisher do we
need? Yes. Or here. President present. Cano present. Mr. Ramos present. Mr. Russo present. President Doyle present. So Mr. Fina I think we want to suspend the agenda for a proclamation. Yes.
That's for uh Jason Freeman. Do we do we want to who? That guy. doing the thing. All right. You want to get up? Yeah. What are we doing? Are we making him go over here? Yes, you
should, sir. Fix it, right? Would you Jay, come over here. Hold this for one second. You're the man of the hour. Come on, J. Jay, get over here. Okay, good. Maybe I'll hold something for you. No, I
think I'll be right. You got this. Yeah. So, I I will start. I council members are free to join in or not if you so uh desire. you know, in the in the crowd, we often
you guys sit back and scrutinize all of our actions up at the on the council, but we we actually scrutinize you guys as well. Um, I can remember it was about eight years ago where we were up here for a meeting
and this young couple was sitting in the audience and whom we did not know and we saw, you know, a a young, eager, wet behind the ear, optimistic couple sitting in the audience and I I think I
asked Emily like who who who's who is that? And nobody knew. So lo these eight years later uh we have that it it was guess what a Jason
and now he's still young jaded um he's a he's a parent now and he's got all the responsibilities of the world and he's been serving us very well. the the the directors who are not here um
may very well be thinking, "Wait a minute, Jason got a proclamation yesterday from the mayor." And so we without shame are going to regift the same proclamation to him today, sparing
no expense. Um, and furthermore, uh, I have a pair of candlesticks from my wedding gift that I'd like to give you. Uh, um, but we did, uh, we did, all eight of us got together and chipped in
and got Jason a $18 book. And uh so this is is a it's a gift certificate because the book was not it's at Little City Books and we're supporting a local business. Um and it's a book that we
hope you'll think fondly of us when you get it and read it. Um the title of which is a Confederacy of Dunes. And so um with that um you know with in all seriousness
Jason has evolved and I can't I can't speak for all the council with regard to um what we've what we think of all of your achievements over the years. But I do think I can speak for everyone in saying that you've always been
professional. You've evolved into a very professional uh responsible uh very good sense of humor and we will miss you greatly except Pascalina Anun Ziata who is disappointed that you haven't gotten
her parking spot yet. So anybody else? No, she's not here. Phil President, I suppose I should give you the the proclamation. So, uh, just to briefly follow up, first congratulations to Jason. Uh, I remember when, uh, oh,
she's here. When, uh, when I was first elected to the city council and was running, Steven Marks was the business administrator. And I looked at Stephen as like the wise person who was familiar with municipal finance. And we were coming up on a budget process similar to
where we are at this point. And uh and I said to Stephen, you know, this young guy Jason is he, you know, he's going to be stepping into your role. How's that? He's like, don't worry about it. Jason's going to be great. He's going to be great. He's going to do a great job. And Stephen was right. Steven was right. We
we we were lucky to have had Jason all this time. He's taught us things. He certainly taught me things. and his sense of humor and his good judgment has guided this city really, really well through a lot of very complex issues, a lot of things you cannot really be
prepared for when you jump into this role. And you did it wholeheartedly with all your spirit. I want to thank Rachel and Asher uh for supporting him and all the nights that he spent with us. And thanks for everything, Jason. Good luck with your next role.
[Applause] Um, I'll just expand in a couple of ways on things that have been already said, but we're so grateful for your service because this is a very difficult job. You're in the public eye as much as you are in the eye of this council. And so,
you are uh under scrutiny in every direction in that way. And I think to go into government service um and be in public service in this way is just the ultimate way to support your community. And I know how much you love the city and have done so much for all of us. Um, a couple of the things that I think
should be highlighted is one, you have been such an incredible cheerleader for the people in this building and you stand up for your staff and you have their backs in a way that um, I don't think everybody recognizes all the time because this is a very difficult job um, for lots of reasons. Uh, and I think
it's a testament to you that so many really incredible, dedicated people have stayed here um, over these years. That doesn't happen by accident. Um, and the second thing I'll say is that it takes a special person to be the one to jump into the Easter Bunny suit when it comes to uh an Easter during COVID when we
were thinking about how we could do something special for the community and touch people and bring some joy. And we thought, okay, we have this, you know, pickup truck with the police department. Who can we put in the bunny suit on the back seat to wave at all the kids in Hoboken? And Jason's that guy. He's that
guy. Um, and you know, it didn't matter what time of day, if there was an emergency uh going on in the city, if there was flooding, whatever, there was a storm, I knew I could text Jason because he'd be the one riding around in the car, usually with Chief uh, excuse me, with Director Franty, not in a bunny suit. Um, but he was always on the front
lines. So, I'm really grateful for all of your service and wish you all the best in the next steps. [Applause] So, I wasn't going to speak, but I saw a microphone and I felt like I needed to. Um, so I think first thing is is uh
folks, it's a little inside. Most people don't know this about Jason, but he is an avid uh baseball player, and the real reason why he's leaving city hall is because he's going to be designated hitter on the Israeli national baseball team. Uh, so congratulations uh Jason
for that. Um, but I will definitely be in the room tomorrow. But uh back to the um you know uh the job and I've been probably the person I've been most impressed by uh in my four years serving on the council and I didn't appreciate
the breath and depth and frustration involved with the job has been Jason. Jason um has as much grayer hair as I do but he's 10 years younger than I am. Uh so that's for the text he sent me before. Um but it's true
uh very few people lead more uh in the city of Hoboken or have done more for the city of Hoboken over the past eight years uh without the fanfare than Jason has. He's not the guy uh who is in the newspaper uh with with the allocate
accolades that he got the thing done. although he was there every step of the way. Whether it's any of the parks that we have uh built, any of the pedestrian safety things that we've built, um all the contracts that we've gotten done, he was the guiding force behind every single one of those things. And his and
he's done it with a staff who I can say loves him. And that is a very unique quality to have with somebody who really drives things forward, gets things done, and is universally loved. So Jason, I will miss you. Um, and I know we'll all miss you and I wish you best of luck in
your future endeavors. I I've had the privilege of serving with many business administrators in the city of Hoboken. Um, and on the on that level, Jason absolutely stacks up. He has been uh steadfast in the position. He's always been there for the city of Hoboken. He's
been there for all of us as council people regardless of our political affiliations, where we were, what was going on in that week, and how it changed to the next. But that's not really what I want to talk about because Jason's just so much more than just a
BA, right? He he's an amazing husband. He's a great father and he's become a great friend. Many of those business administrators through the years were great people, but I think Jason stands out in the way that
there has never been one meeting or one committee meeting or one pass in the hall or even a drink out in a bar where we didn't just look at each other and start laughing because there was an inside joke or he cracked a joke or I cracked a joke because it that's really
important, right? We're all professionals up here and we do this on a daily basis, but a lot of times all of you forget that we're all just people, too. And Jason has been uh an amazing person in the city of Hoboken. He's been an amazing friend and like I said, he's
been an amazing husband, an amazing father. So, Jay, thanks for everything. I appreciate it. [Applause] I don't want to repeat what my other colleagues said, but everyone knows that
my commute to work is from 7:00 a.m. to 7:45 a.m. Then from 3:10 uh p.m. to 4:00 p.m. And if you've made that rotation of phone calls, you know, you you means you're doing work for the city and that I relied on you and doing
that work for the city and communicating with the city. I think everyone is in that rotation here on the city council and Jason was in that rotation as well. So, I appreciate you making time for me at 7:00 a.m. to to answer my calls and doing the city's business. So, I appreciate and thank you. Good luck to you, buddy.
[Applause] Now, it's the real roast. I'm just kidding. Uh, I've actually, similar to what Jim was saying, I met Rachel and Jason during the Democratic early days of putting the Democratic committee
together. um young couple very eager to get involved in the community um and made a positive impression on everyone over the years. Not party, but over the years uh kind of our local politics weren't necessarily on the same side. Um
we had a lot of fun text messages between the two of us. Big smile. Um but what I would say is even when we were having a fun banter um whatever I needed on any issue on anything um irrespective
of where we were you know at that time he answered he made resources available to solve issues for my constituents um and just you know he's worked really really hard for the city and as I said to you earlier today you have so much to be proud of here um and I know everyone
here is um just wishing you the best of luck or not luck but just the best of time and and everything in fortune um on your next endeavor. And uh and I'm sure we are going to see you again, but maybe with less gray hair, a little less
wrinkles, a little more relax. It does. It goes in reverse. And I can't wait. Someday that'll happen. But anyway, best of wishes to you and thank you for everything you going. So, uh, I can't I I don't have the personal relationship with Director Freeman that many of my other colleagues
have. I think Director Freeman will be happy when he goes home tonight and he can relax if the budget's not happening and me hammering away on emails. Uh, we we have u exchanged interesting emails back and
forth uh for adhering to protocols and things of the nature that happen behind the scenes. Uh, but you know, anybody that sits in this role, it's not an easy role because you take a pile of and some really bad sandwiches and you have to eat them sometimes and you
have to listen to us when we when we complain or when I complain specifically. So, I wish you best of luck in your new endeavor and u you know, we'll see you around. You're a resident. So, congratulations. [Applause]
um really quickly and and this Thanks, Jim. Um this the staff Yeah, I'm out. Um the staff heard me the other day and I I I thank them a ton. This city is um nothing without them. Seriously, from the guys who pick up the trash to the
mayor and everyone in between, I am so so appreciative and grateful for this staff that we have in the city of Hoboken. They're second to none. Um, similar to what Michael said, and I think it's just important to remember the eight of them back here are people. Also, when you come up and speak at the microphone, remember that they go home.
Um, we have a lot of very intense and challenging conversations sometimes, but it's done with respect and it's done with an understanding that we all want to see what is best for this city and and move in that direction. And despite not always agreeing, there is a level of respect. And I think that's um it's
really important and I've learned a lot about that. and from all of you. Um, and I'm really appreciative of that. And and lastly, Rachel, thank you. Um, it has been almost eight years of um, a lot of late meetings um, every other Wednesday
here with all my good friends. Um, and you put up with it and you took care of Asher and you took care of dinner and all that stuff. And I am, um, I have eight years to now make dinners every other Wednesday night now. Um, but really thank you Jimmy, Jerry,
thank you Caleb, Jen. I wish you guys the best of luck. You're going to be fantastic. You are smarter and better than I am in this role and and the city is very very lucky to have you. So, thank you. Um, and I really really appreciate, guys. Thank you.
[Applause] Okay. [Music] Police. [Applause] call. Uh, yeah. What I'm saying, it's uh All right. Pull the chair out of the Don't
do that. That would be bad. Google. Okay, Jerry, you're going to help me with uh All right. So, a little bit of housekeeping here for second second readings. Uh the first one
B 752 is being carried and B757 is is actually going back and it's going to be amended for first reading at the next meeting. Um is that it for that? Okay, that's it
for uh the modifications. Uh, we have an ordinance for introduction, an ordinance to exceed the municipal budget appropriation limits and to establish a cap bank NJSA4A 4-45.14.
Aren't we having the budget presentation before we talk about the CAT bank? Before we vote on the CAT bank, thank you. I didn't hear. No, they're not. We're not voting on the introduction, but can't they give the presentation on the budget before we vote on the cap bank?
That's fine. Pardon? That's That's fine. All right, then we will suspend the agenda to move to Director Freeman's. Yeah, you guys had all those nice last budget presentation. I got a lot of
questions. Yeah, for for workshops. Another inside joke. Ask questions on this. This This is We get to ask questions. This is the stuff that we don't see in the workshops. Jason wants to know if you're good to go. Oh, I'm sorry. Yes, we're good.
Thank you. Um All right. This marks the fifth municipal budget I've introduced as the city's business administrator. Over the years, I've taken different approaches to explain the city's finances, but this year's approach will be the most direct. So, tonight, if you
take nothing else away, take this. Hoboken's budget is and has been structurally underfunded. Our recurring revenues do not meet recurring expenses. And before this narrative starts spinning about overspending or fiscal mismanagement, let me stop that right
now. It simply isn't true, no matter how hard you try to make it stick. What is true is that for years we've used creative mechanisms to soften the blow on taxpayers. But those mechanisms are nearly gone and what come and what comes next will hit abruptly if we don't shift
course. This problem wasn't created overnight. It's the result of many years of short-term thinking. And in all likelihood, someone sitting in here tonight will be the next mayor. You can either inherit this or continue the cycle or use this and continue the cycle
or use this moment to reset how we budget and how we govern. Um, every year we go through a basic overview um a year-over-year comparison. This is the topline snapshot. Um, you've seen this before. It's no different than last year and
meant to show the overall movement in key budget categories. We have total appropriations minus libraries and grants and you get the city's full appropriations. And then below that, it's the municipal levy year-over-year increase, the municipal purpose tax rate, and the rental pin per of
$100,000. I can break it down a little bit more simply. Pensions are down, our pension obligations down about 3% year-over-year. Debt service is up 5% largely due to the acquisition of the current DP DPW site. Group health
insurance jumped 15% and liability and workers comps costs went up 41%. Our trash contract includes a 5% annual increase and this is year two of that contract. Pilot payments to outside agencies increased by 10%. This includes
the obligations to the county and year two of our agreement with the public schools. Utilities rose 3% and salaries are up because of labor contracts previously approved by this council including the PBA, fire superiors and security guards. Our capital
improvements line jumped 78%. This is mostly reflecting the bond that was approved for Sinatra Drive and every other operating expense is down very very very slightly about 0.06%. Um the next slide is a breakdown by department. We've showed this last
year. It's very similar and it's just a reminder that nearly 75% of the city's salary and wages are tied to public safety. That's not a criticism. It's just a fact of how the money breaks down. Now let's talk about how we got here. I know this is small, but it's it
breaks it down. Back in 2010, when the state of New Jersey and fiscal monitor Judy Trapot were in charge, they set our tax levy at 61.4 million. Based on our liabilities, trends, and future costs, the state of New Jersey said we needed to be taxing to a levy of $61.4
million. 15 years later, our levy has only increased 10% total. It's simply not sustainable. On the right side of this chart, we show what would have happened if the city had applied a modest 2% annual levy increase starting in 2010 annually. We'd be sitting at an
over $81 million levy, not 66.7. That's over $200 million in loss revenue. Revenue that could have been used for labor contracts, infrastructure investment, recreation, and public safety investments. Instead, we cut the
budget and hope for the best. Now, in 2019, the city contracted with NW Financial to put together a financial forecast, and they went, this is what they projected. They projected that we would be at an $82 million levy by 2024.
We're at 66 million. It is not a coincidence that an independent financial analysis found that the levy should be at $82 million, just as what was shown on the previous slide if we had adopted at a modest 2% levy increase going back to 2010. Now, let's talk
about what that means in real terms. In 2010, our levey's purchasing power was $91 million in today's dollars. But in 2024, that same levy has the purchasing power of just $47 million in 2010. It's a 30 30% less value than it was back
then. We are expected to do more with less year after year after year, and it's simply not sustainable. Now, let's look at a few of the key expense categories. Have they changed over the last 15 years? And we can compare that to how much revenue has grown over that same period. Pension obligations have
increased 83%. Debt service is up 98%. And health insurance costs have risen 72%. These aren't operational expenses. These are recurring structural costs that we're legally contractually obligated to fund. Costs that go up
every year regardless of how we budget. Now, let's look at how those revenues have kept pace, or rather how they haven't. Our tax levy has grown just 16% over that same period, assuming the increase proposed in this year's introduced budget is adopted, and ratables have only grown have grown only
11% since the reval in 2014. When our expenses are growing at 70, 80, or 90% and revenues are creeping along in the teens, we create a structural imbalance. That's not politics, that's math. And we've reached a point where the math no
longer works unless something changes. So, let me walk you through the pattern that we have all been going on for as long as I've been here using last year's budget as an example. My office and the finance team meet with the mayor and go through some different scenarios. And we
recommended last year an 8.4% levy increase. Ultimately, after several meetings, the mayor introduced at a 5.6% 6% increase and the council adopted at 3.3%. But here's the important part. The levy wasn't lower by lowered by cutting
recurring expenses. It was lowered by using more surplus, tapping parking and water utilities, underfunding health insurance, and over the last four years, we have used $2 million more in surplus than what was introduced. We've taken $3 million more from the utilities than
what was introduced. We have underfunded health care costs by over a million dollars, leaving us with a self- insurance fund that is now well below the threshold for best practice. We have taken funds set aside for the actual rainy days and have been using them irrespective of the weather and next
year there will not be anywhere near the surplus you are accustomed to being available to an when an actual rainy day comes. So this next slide is last year the last year's budget introduction. This was the last slide we showed. We
projected a $10 million gap. Now, if you look at the column on the far right, these were the actuals. Some lines are up and down versus the estimates, but ultimately $10 million. Exactly. We told you what was coming and what the impact could have been. Now,
let's look at what next year's going to look like. This budget uses more surplus than we generated last year, which contradicts the practice the practice we put in place to avoid using more surplus than we generated from the year prior. By doing this, we anticipate a reduction
nearly $6 million in surplus available available to be used or regenerated next year. If garage B or Midtown Garage go offline, HPU revenues drop. Group health will likely rise again. Debt service is already locked in next year. Pension
costs are likely to increase. and we still have multiple labor contracts pending. We're looking at a potential larger deficit than this year and we don't have the tools left to plug it. This final slide shows an overview of the city surplus balance over the
last several years. And I show you this to underscore reality that you know that we no longer can afford to ignore. Our surplus is declining year-over-year. And there are two primary reasons why. First, we are using more surplus than we
are generating from the prior calendar year. We've relied on this practice to avoid tough conversations and hard choices. But each time we do it, we weaken our ability to weather unexpected costs and emergencies in the future. Second, because we continue to budget
right up to the margins, we're leaving almost no room to build surplus organically. We're spending nearly every available dollar, which means we aren't allowing for a fund balance to regenerate. If we keep going down this road, the choices will get harder, not
easier. As I close out this presentation, I want to take a step back and just recap the and not just recap the numbers, but to talk to you about what it all really means. Because this isn't a time, this isn't just about line items or tax rates. It's about how we
choose to govern, how we plan for the future, and how honest we're willing to be with ourselves and with the people we serve. For years, we've told ourselves that Hoboken is fine, that we can make it work, that if we just push this problem off another year, maybe the situation will improve, or the hard
decisions will be someone else's responsibility. But the truth is, we've run out of next year's and we've run out of someone else's. We are not here because of reckless spending. I want to be very, very clear about that. The city council has final approval over every dollar spent and every year we are held
to strict limits by the state of New Jerseys budget cap law. 3 and a half% at most. And guess what? We usually don't even hit it. So all the comments about out of control spending or political spin about the challenges we are facing due to overspending are simply not true.
No matter how many how you try to spin it or how many times you choose to tweet about it. That's important because it tells this. It tells us this isn't a story about outofc control government. It's a story about underfunded government, about services growing, expectations growing, obligations
growing, while revenues have remained mostly flat. It's a math problem that has been years in the making. And despite that math, despite all the warnings, this year's budget continues that same pattern. We are using more surplus than we generated last year.
Have little path to generating more next year. We are drawing down savings, stretching utility revenues, and underfunding health insurance. Again, I'm not trying to scare anyone. This isn't about panic. But I do want to be real because this isn't a five figure problem that can be solved with a
canceled contract or trimming a few thousand here or there or cutting the funding to the mayor's chief of staff. This is an 8 figure structural problem. And those quick fixes, they might feel good in the moment, but they do not come close to solving this problem. The
decisions we make this year, right now, are going to define what options are available next year and the year after that. And for whoever ends up as the next mayor, this will be your starting point. You will either inherit a city with a plan to fix its financial imbalance or a city that's moving closer
and closer to a fiscal cliff. Now, none of this should come as a surprise as I have been communicating to this to you in different memos, budget presentations, and committee meetings that we are heading down a treacherous path. The budget is not just a spreadsheet. It's a reflection of our values. I say that every year, of what
we choose to prioritize, of what we believe is worth investing in, of whether we're willing to be honest about what it takes to keep this city running the way we expect it to. So tonight, I'm asking all of you, not just as the business administrator, but as someone who also lives here, is choosing to
raise my family here, and deeply cares about the future of this community, to do something different. The celebration of the city's low taxes has been done by smoke and mirrors, and there is no more smoke. And the only thing left will be the mirror we have to fa we h we each have to face when we look back and ask
whether we listen to the warning signs that were shared by the state fiscal monitor when the state took over or Steven Marks when he implemented a layoff plan to cut costs and now me as I'm trying to deliver as straightforward a message as possible. This isn't any one person's fault. It is years and
years of decisions that cannot be undone in one year, but we can certainly decide to pivot and begin making the fiscally responsible decisions this year. With tonight's budget introduction completed, I urge you to take the next minimum 28 days to think about what I have shared
and make the amendments that you feel are fiscally responsible, not just politically convenient. I'm not saying it is easy, but I'm saying that we are at a point where convenient is no longer viable. A wise man once told me that no mayor in New Jersey has ever raised
taxes because the budget is amended and adopted and the levy is set by the city council. Our budget workshops that will be run by the chair of the finance administration subcommittee are going to
be over two days. Um May 22nd and May 27th. They will be nixled out tomorrow morning. Um they're going to be on Zoom. Um the order will be administration, finance and corporation council, parks and wreck and transportation will be on
the 22nd. May 27th we'll have community development, climate action, innovation, and public safety. Um we're trying to condense them down into two days to try to be cognizant of everyone's time. Um I hope you all join. I hope the public joins and asks um questions that are
going to help us move this process along. So thank you very much. Thank you, director. Can I say something? Councilwoman Fischer, would you like to um So, a couple things. One, thank you for
being through. Um I definitely am appreciative of it this year. Um, you know, the only thing I would say is although I appreciate that we get the budget and we amend
it, you know, th this is there there's so much that goes into, you know, our annual budgets and our forecasts, um, including
major decisions, right? We um there's a lot of contributing factors is is what I would say. I will defend the actions of all of my council colleagues who for the last since I've
been on the council, every single one of them has endeavored at at certain times to try and rein in spending, right? in spending. We see uh you know we see
through a budget process, but it also comes through um you know when we're out there promoting giant projects and unlimited spending and we put you know wonderful parks in front of people with lots of great features that never have
dollars attached to it and all of that's catching up to us now. Um, and so it all I would say is I mean clearly this is a big deal and this is something I think we all need to take in consideration as we look at all the spending all the things that are on the
agenda tonight and that are going to be coming before us. Um, but this this is this is not the council's fault. This is a uh this is the result of a lot of decisions that have been made not just
by this mayor, the previous mayor. Um really just not having visibility on the financial impacts of a lot of the choices we've made. So we have wonderful parks. We've made incredible investments in our infrastructure. We're playing catch-up. You know, we've invested and had to fix some of our parking. We have
a lot of deferred maintenance. you know, we've done that, but we've spent the last eight years kind of around and not getting any of expanding our ratables locally, right? We don't have more people contributing into um into our ratable base to help um share the
burden of this. You know, I'm reminded of way back when when we approved the acquisition of the BASF site, you know, Councilman um Russo was like, "We're spending $30 million, whatever it was, and we're not generating any revenues." Like when you think about all of the
investments that we've made, they're quality of life improvements that we love, but we've we've doubled our debt over and we're all we've all approved it, right? Because they're things that the community wants. We get caught up in election cycles. We don't have discipline around that type of investment and here we are and this is
going to be a year of difficult decisions and next year is going to be, you know, worse. So, um, I'm I want to both start and end by saying, uh, you know, this cander this year is probably, you know, I value it. Um, I'm appreciative that that's your like
goodbye to us on your way out the door. Um, but, uh, you know, I do want to make sure that, you know, this is a joint effort, uh, that got us to this point and it's going to hopefully be a joint effort that's going to help navigate how we get through this this year and the
coming year. So, thank you, Councilwoman. Thank you, Council President. So, this is Jason's last meeting, so I'm not going to go too too hard. But let's talk about and and if you
don't mind, could we put that that graphic back up on the screen of the uh budgets year-over-year where it was the fiscal monitor, Mayor Zimmer, so on and so forth. Yeah, that one. If you look at I thought you'll see in
2005 it was $21 million per tax levy and then it jumped to 26 and then 30 and then it started a little bit higher, right? It went up to
52. Those were those were not based just on votes by the council. and that $66 million tax levy and now a $71 million tax levy.
That's not based on a vote by the council. That's based on a number of things that we always like to gloss over. Let's start from the beginning with a cap bank. A cap bank by by
definition allows the city to spend more in the next year than is allowed by state law. We get to bank that percentage potentially use for the next year. Some years we use it, some years we don't. But it allows the city to do
that. It allows the city to spend more in the next year when we vote on a cap bank increase. Let's talk about the structure of the city of Hoboken. It's an administrative
decision to set the salary of those in the city of Hoboken. There is a range that's set by this council and the mayor picks within that range. Because the range goes up to $200 or
$300,000 does not mean that we have to pay that individual in that title the max range. Let's talk about the number of departments. Those are decisions made by
the administration and then brought before the council to restructure the city government. That is not a vote on a budget. Let's talk about our structural deficit. If you don't mind, go to that other
slide where we have revenues and expenses. That one right there, you see these two little ones here, the blue municipal levy and ratables. In 16
years, we haven't done a thing to increase our ratables. That's why it's so small. That's how you pay for those wants. That's how you pay for those
needs by increasing ratables. When we have a new business opportunity to come into the city in the form of cannabis, that could potentially be millions of dollars in revenue. Now, might not have panned out the way we
originally thought it was. But we went back and we changed that again to decrease those ratable th those revenues. Every decision we make affects the
budget. Every bond we vote on increases our biggest expense, debt service. That is where on day one of each budget cycle, we have to come up with that $17
million. Why? Cuz we put it on the credit card. Those are the things that affect the budget. I do agree with Jason in saying it needs to be done differently. He's
right. We need to increase our revenues. We need to increase our ratables. We need to find alternative sources of funding at the same time as we cut whatever expenses we possibly can. That's how we get our
budget under control. Unfortunately, we are at a point where it won't change in a year, but I think it could change drastically over the next few. And I think there's a specific plan that
needs to be put in place, a zerobased budget that needs to be started to know exactly what our spending should be. And not based on last year's spending, not based on the things that
we thought we needed, not based on that $130 million park that we could have gotten for 0 if we just increased our ratables by allowing two eightstory
buildings. That's the history of the city. Those are the things I've been railing against for 20 years on this council. And I understand I'm only one vote, but ultimately th those decisions
come from the administration and they come from every decision this council makes at every moment with every contract, with every bond, with every discussion about a new business, with every new redevelopment project in the city of Hoboken. Each and every one of
those things affects our budget. We cannot pretend that we did everything in our power to keep our budget under control because my contention is we did almost nothing to keep our budget under
control. Thank you, Council President. Thank you, Councilman. Councilman Ramos. Thank you, Council. Thank you, Council President. Uh I know some way somehow uh I think myself and probably some other council colleagues present and
past somehow we've gotten the the reputation of being like pro-development progrowth but more so prodevelopment prodevelopment being a bad thing. And while that may be true what I really am is pro
math. I am promath because those developments help bring in tax ratables to make try and blunt that imbalanced number that imbalanced chart that we just saw. I
think we go back to the fiscal monitor chart again and in balancing administrations. There were three directors back then, three departments back then. Now we have six. There were no assistant directors back then. Now we
have assistant directors, assistant to the assistant director. So we've really created almost an inefficient government that leads to that number. But we also has to ask ourselves why that number jumped from the 28 million $29 million number to the
$58 million number. And that's because we weren't able to adopt a budget as a council. A budget was presented to us and it wasn't adopted. And when a fiscal monitor comes in and tax bills don't go
out for two quarters, they raise whatever revenue they can to say we had a 98% tax collecting rate. At that time it went down to 60%. So they has collected that tax rate that was missing that gap and
that's where you see that big spike in the number. So that is accurate, but it's also a truth that needs to be told of how that number got that big when that number could have gone from the 29 million to the 34 million. And in that period in time, we didn't have to raise
taxes because the ratables were catching up every single year up until that point in time where and that was just a bill coming in. Back then we had our fiscal year budgets went from uh July 1st to June 30th. But as we know now when we
get our our bills from the insurance companies or the pension that comes in in January, February and March when you're doing a fiscal year that at that time that calendar the way the fiscal year calendar works you're getting it 9
10 months into the into the fiscal year that that extra bill then you have that make make that adjustment. We received a huge jump in that bill at that time and then we didn't make the adjustment with the city council when it was brought we have to make extra appropriations here for the budget and that was voted down
at that time and that's what brought us that huge spike as far as you know wants and needs. I'll give you an example of uh Council Russo saying and my discipline structure, right? We all want to give
everyone what they want all the time, right? One of my priorities was redoing the multi-ervice center. I think it's a priority for many people here as well. We put that into the budget one year to try and do a study and see how how much that's going to cost through the multi-ervice center. That project is
going to cost between 80 and $100 million. All right. No help from the state of New Jersey to do it. No help from the state of the federal government to do it. No help from the county to do it. It's just going to be us, the taxpayer, putting that entire bill. And knowing what we experienced with the
Northwest Resilency Park and that's why we see that spike again, another spike because we bonded for that amount, I had to say, you know what, as much as I want this, we can't have it right now because the math isn't mathing. We have to hold
back on this. As much as I want to see our kids have a great facility to play in, as much as I want to see our adults have a great facility to play in, we have to hold back on that, right? So that and that requires fiscal discipline. I can't go in my house every single day and say we you want this, we spend money on this, spend money on
that. We have to have some self-control. And I think a lot of times I've try to utilize that self-control because at the end of the day, we're responsible to the taxpayer. And yeah, we may want to have a 8% tax increase every year, but that impacts that person at home that can't afford that 8% tax increase every year,
year-over-year. So that's why we say, okay, we have to lower it for 3%. If the math is the math and everyone could afford it, let's make it 15%, 20%. Why not? That'll cover all the expenses. But can the person living at 323 Willow afford that 10% expense? That's what we
have to be cognizant of. It's not just about us. It's about the taxpayers at home. And we have to be cognizant of that fact and keeping as minimal as we can however we can make sure our government's efficient working properly for them the best we can and saving them money as best we can as well because
they are living you know we don't know what their expenses are. We have to be empathetic to what their expenses may be. Thank you council president. Thank you councilman. I won't be council president zano. Thank you. Nice things cost
money. So before I got up here, I watched us building parks left and right. And one thing that was missing every time we talked about a park was a maintenance schedule. I have the fortune to have a couple tomato plants and a cucumber
plants off the back of my uh my house. Those take me 30 minutes a day to take care of, and that's four little plants. When we add up the 37 parks that we have and the maintenance that has to be taken care of them, that's an afterthought when we bond for something. So that's a very difficult
thing to say. We can build all these nice things and we can people attracted here. We're bursting at the seams, all that other fun stuff, but at the end of the day, nice things cost money. And I want to remind my council colleagues up here that everybody up here talks about Hobokim and
affordability. Well, based on what Director Freeman just told us, Hobok, it's not going to be affordable anymore because if we have to talk about these 8 n% increases, talk about contracts. Landlords are going to pass this on to our
tenants. And so, people living under rent control paying 1,500 in a couple years, that's not 1,500 anymore. That's 2,300. So, we have to figure somewhere, sharpen our pencils and dig deep because I think
there are things that are in this budget that can be cut, but people are afraid to do it. And I'm hoping this year because everybody's running for mayor up
here except a few of us. Uh that really understand that there are some things we just don't need or we need to cut. As the director said, the costs are going up, but a lot of it was insurance and things like that. We haven't even
talked about the maintenance of the 37 parks. I just want to remind you that. And there was one other thing that that disturbed me. One of the things that disturbed me is maintenance is something that doesn't seem or hasn't been talked about ever. We have a situation where
one that added to the 100% of bonding was a waterfront the bulkhead. We ignored it. We didn't inspect it in 10 12 years. That cost a bomb. Would have been a lot cheaper if we did inspection. So, we also have to hold accountability to the
administration and the next administration that they're going to do their jobs and do their due diligence and things. One last one, this is the one that really burns me in the Northwest Park. We put a sprinkler system in and a
year later it breaks for n and we have to pay $951,000 to fix it. It's one year old. I am I haven't pushed this, but we should be suing that contractor. We need
to start making decisions where we're recouping our money for a mistake that either we didn't or that somebody made doing something because we're accountable to you. And if we're not doing that, we're just going to be spending money. We got saved on that because of ARP funds. Those are gone. Those are gone.
It's now your pocket. We're in the business of parking. We can't take anything offline. Parking made $24 million last year in parking. 7 million went to the to the kitty. Next year, according to the budget, looks like they're trying to say
eight. So, yeah, there's going to be some tough decisions, but we have to also cut costs. There has never been that discussion up here, cutting costs. We all cut costs at home. When the price
of meat went too high, we changed. We went to chicken. When the avocados went high, we went to a different vegetable. Make sure my vegetarian friends are included in the conversation. So there there are things
we do at home and we should expect our government to do the same thing. So, I'm looking forward to seeing where we can cut some here, but also prepare for the future when we do see some of these increases and that we're in a better position from
that standpoint. Thank you, Council President. Thank you, Council President. Yes, Councilman. Thank you. Uh there was an announcement made tonight about the uh special budget workshops May 22nd from 6:00 to 9:00. It's going to be
on Zoom. administration and finance, city clerk and corporation council, parks and recreation and public works and transportation and parking. There'll be a nixel that'll go out tomorrow. People will be alerted to that. Uh and then the day after Memorial Day, Tuesday the 27th from 6:00 to 9:00, community
development, climate action and innovation and water utility and public safety. Just one comment, you know, first I want to thank Director Freeman for his presentation. Uh clearly he has no political agenda. he's leaving and he
delivered uh a thoughtful and important presentation and you know politics have already started but I just think it's clear that what he's saying is important and the important message is that we need to be responsible in our budgetary practices and too long the city of
Hoboken hasn't been and one of the things that wasn't mentioned before the fiscal monitor came on the scene and increased taxes by about 73% % was that there was a reluctance to raise taxes in that era. And the way that the city
balanced its budget was by oneshot fiscal uh gimmicks by selling off schools, selling off public lands to uh avoid making hard choices back then. Uh and now we we are living with
the consequences of having condos where schools used to be. Uh and and how much would our public school system like to have those buildings back? And what a shortsighted decision that was by those
administrations that failed our community because they did not want to face the fiscal truth that you have to raise taxes to balance your budget. And it's politically undesirable to do that. And because of that, we got the fiscal
monitor and we got the enormous tax hike when the fiscal monitor came on the scene. This council and and and in prior mayor administrations and I think the current one as well has relied too heavily on
surplus and the surplus is not the magic bullet as as a business administrator laid out. If we think that by by sapping our surplus as a rainy day fund that somehow we're insulating ourselves and protecting our taxpayers, it's like a
sugar high or something. It's not. It is not real. That money you're just taking money from the taxpayers and future taxpayers are going to get hit with the bill for that reckless behavior. We talked about the risk to our credit rating last year. Uh we did come back
with a with a high credit rating this year, but it was based on the numbers at the end of 23. The hit that we did to our by depleting our surplus that's that you saw that our fiscal monitor demonstrated on the slide. Could you could you pull up the slide on the the
decrease surplus? Which way to I don't think that's that's the one with the arrows at the show what the balance was on the on the this one. No. Okay. I think they had I think their surplus was only two
years. Yeah. Yeah. If you look at what the starting surplus is and what what it changed to surplus starting in 24 17.6 starting surplus at 14.8. So this this is what we're doing folks. I mean, we're
basically robbing from our surplus, which is our which is not going to be re be able to regenerate. We can't continue to go down this path. So, I look forward to having honest discussions uh uh and coming up with with proposals, but they
need to be based in reality and based in responsible practices that are going to protect the taxpayers uh and not be politicizing this, pointing fingers. Thank you, Council President. Thank you, Councilman. Council President, just two two quick points. Um, one, it's just
facts that that I think were misspoken. Uh, the city of Hoboken has never sold a school to fill any uh budget gap. Uh, that's the board of education. That's not a fact. Um, and then second, that's an opinion. And then second, the school that was sold that is now a building
full of condos was done in the 1980s. Okay. Thank you, Councilman Cano. Uh, excuse me. Thank you, Council President. Um, look, everybody's right and everybody's wrong. Uh, you can go back, you know, who who started this first. Let's go
back 10 years, it's their fault. Go back 20 years, their fault. Go back to the 80s, it's their fault. Go back all the way to George Washington, it's his fault. Uh, so where do we begin? Uh, the the reality is we've got something to deal with now. And I thank uh Director
Freeman for his his comments and his bluntness, but frankly this is not the first time maybe in this public setting he was as blunt, but he has been this blunt with us in the past. Um last year in particular, uh I didn't vote for last year's budget because the levy was too
low because we were presented with this imbalance last year. But some of us were saying, "Well, no, overspending all this stuff." The other others of us were were were saying, "Hey, well, let's dip into into the uh the surplus to deal with
it." I wanted to deal with this last year. And so I voted no because I thought last year's budget was irresponsible. Now we're seeing what happens when you irresponsible year over year. So, so that was just one year. So the fact that this practice has gone on for a long time with various parties,
some of whom are here, some of whom aren't here, it's kind of regardless of the fact, you know, but you know, let's talk about what goes into our budget and this idea, you know, we're trying to kind of point fingers as
to as to um did we overspend, didn't we overspend? And the reality is we have to be honest with ourselves and Councilman President Sana is right. Nice things cost money. We have made a decision over the
past decade or so to invest heavily in green space and parks that are nice and people like them to be nice, but they also serve a very valuable function. We have made dramatic improvements in flooding in the city because in large
part these parks. We've also over the last 10 years or so heavily invested in fixing a lot of our infrastructure, replacing water manes that are aged. They still break, but they break far less. We bonded for all these things,
almost all of these things. Thank you for, you know, really. Go ahead. And it was appropriate to bond for all these things. So when if you're going to criticize, you know, building a park and sorry sometimes, you know, the
contractor that you picked didn't do a great job and you have to deal with the realities of having to fix things now, but it wasn't a bad idea to invest in these things. Over the past 10 years, way before my time, a lot of you on this council have made decisions that should have been made before to invest in
improving our city. And we're reaping those benefits now of a overall enhanced quality of life. Even though some of us would paint this as a burning cesspool, it's not. It's really nice and it's really safe and a lot of people love living
here. However, along the way when we've decided whether how we're going to pay for for the borrowing that we did, we had choices. We could have done development and ratables which is a valid
choice but the makeup of the city decided that we that wasn't what we wanted to do. Maybe we did too much development in the past. We wanted to take the route where where our parks were just green and not you know building two story uh uh eightstory buildings on
them. In that world, we should have had the courage to increase levies, even though it would have hurt some folks at the lower end of the spectrum, but the respon responsible thing to do at the time would have been to do that. But we didn't. We dipped into
surplus. Now, we're getting to a point where we have to think about, okay, moving forward, do we really is the appetite now to to do more development so that we can increase those ratables? a valid question that we need to be having over over the next few years. Well, we do have a choice. The other choice is we can raise taxes like a
bajillion dollars, right? We always have a choice. We have avoided this choice for the past 10 years or so. Last year, I tried to force the issue so that we started making this choice last year and make this year a little less painful and and the following year a little less painful. We avoided it. Now,
now we're faced with it. We can't avoid it. I'm happy to look and see what we want to cut. I have a feeling nobody's going to have an appetite really to cut these things. I'm excited to actually this year to go through this budget process even more so than last year's because
people we can't hide anymore. We're actually to Jason's point, we're actually going to decide what kind of city we want to be, what our values are, and what we're going to put our money behind. So, uh, so thank you, uh, Director Freeman, um, for your presentation.
Thank you, Councilman. I'm not going to belabor this, but I actually thought the most interesting thing, um, there's a slide where you presented where you started before you got to us. Can you show that one? So, this is the one that I found most
interesting because I think what's most honest about your presentation is this piece of it because there's quite a change between the recommendation and what was introduced. And sometimes the finance subcommittee would get into some of that. But I like that we're being
upfront about this information here because the iterative process of the budget being, you know, for us being public facing um and this being really our critical function, I would have liked to us for
us to always start with whatever the recommendation was on this deis and we didn't always. Um so I actually find that to be the most interesting bit of information here. Um, you know, obviously as that it's been said and it's said every year, a lot of this
budget is enormous immovable costs. So, it is a difficult conversation. I don't want us to pretend that making tiny line item cuts to supplies is going to get us to the place where we can feel better about this. Um, but I am interested in seeing um not just a conversation about
where we can make cuts, but I also think it's important for us to talk about the value of where people's money is going. My sense of it is that I think sometimes people don't understand how these budgets work for them on a day-to-day basis. Uh, and I think the piece that's
missing for me is how we can express and communicate, not just for the hearing process to allow people to ask questions about those factors, but to make sure that your average resident has an understanding of where their dollars are going and whether they feel like they're getting value from them. So, I look
forward to that process. Thank you to Director Freeman for your presentation um and for your honesty with this. I appreciate it. Thank you, Councilwoman. Mr. Fina, do we want to move on to the CAP ordinance?
Yes. Thank you. Uh ordinance to exceed the municipal budget appropriation limits and to establish a cap bank NJSA4A 4-45.14. Mr. Con. Hi. M. Fisher. Yes.
Mrs. Jabore. Yes. President Xano. No. Mr. Cano. Hi. Mr. Ramos. No. Mr. Russo. No. President Doyle. Hi. All right. Introduce for first reading. Now the
introduction of the municipal budget. Yep. Call the vote. Sorry, Mr. Con. Hi, Miss Fischer. Yes, Mrs. Jabore. Yes, President Xano. I can I Mr. Ramos. Hi,
Russo. Hi, President Doyle. Hi. Ordinance for uh hearing and final reading. An ordinance. Do we want to do the temp? Ordinance to amend chapter 65A affordable housing of
the municipal code of the city of Hobboken B7. Council President, we should have the temp F1, please. Oh, I'm sorry. It's okay. Yeah. Um, Council President, just a reminder, this this temp requires six affirmative votes to
pass. Resolution authorizing emergency temporary appropriations in accordance with NJSA4A 4-20. Mr. Con. Hi. Fisher. Yes. Mrs. Jabore. Yes. President Xano. Hi. Mr. Cano. Hi.
Mr. Ramos. Hi. Mr. Russo. No. President Doyle. Hi. Thank you. All right. Hearing on an ordinance amending chapter 65A affordable housing the municipal code of the city of Hoboken B753.
Yes. Uh I think I I announced that um sorry 752 is carried. Um we have one member of the the public Manuel Rivera Solair has signed up for 753. Oh, sorry. Sorry. Good evening, council
president, council, members of the public. Um, once again, appreciative for all members of the public who are present. Um, council president and those who are watching, council president, in this ordinance B uh 753, can members of the public have or can the council
elaborate, pardon me, further on this ordinance um in regards to um where in chapter what is it 65A uh in the affordable housing code of Hoboken? Where and why are we, meaning
the council and the administration changing at this moment um that code? Um, is it for the changing of the units of what is going to be considered affordable? Um I don't I'm I I went to the meeting
but I I kind of forgot which is it um the units or is this for the developers so they can understand um the code of Hoboken in regards to what they can um offer um the
administration and uh the city. Um I hope my question is clear is can you elaborate further so members of the public could understand where and why you're changing the chapter uh the code in chapter 65A and I believe I did that in record
time. I yel back. Thank you Mr. Rivera Solair. Uh no other members of the public. Well Patricia Waiters has who doesn't think she's here. Okay. Motion close public worship motion.
All in favor? I I So this amendment uh Manny is it's really a clarification that the under the code there is a a number that is associated with with projects that uh you know the 10% number
is when redevelopment zones etc. And so there was old language that that that required the applicant to justify why why the number that they selected was X when there's a chart and you have
to detail it. So there's no there's no uh discretion. So there was no need for them to to explain why the you know the three units if that's the number were justified financially because the three units are required. So and it and then there's an added requirement where you
know you have to identify breaking it down by units you know onebedroom twobedroom etc as part of uh as so that in the application process the boards understand what is being that they're doing it correctly. So it's not changing
substance as much as clarifying how it's provided to the boards. And I think you'll see in uh new business actually no the last where where is it the the changes to chapter 44 are just
um changes that require it to be put on the checklist so that uh applicants will be certain to provide it to the boards for approval. So, um I think the planning board reviewed that and found
it to be consistent. So, I think it it'll either be on I guess it'll be on next meeting. So, all right. I hope that helps. Is it is it with Okay, the 44 is there. It is number six. I apologize.
So, yep, it's uh 758. Well, B758. Any council members? Mr. Fina, please call the vote. Mr. Con, hi. Fisher, yes. Mr. Jabore, yes.
President, hi. Cano, hi. Mr. Ramos, hi. Mr. Russo, hi. President Doyle, hi. Hearing on an ordinance amending chapter 192 parking for persons with disabilities B755.
Uh, no members of the public have signed up. Motion to close public portion. Second. All those in favor? I. Mr. Fina, call the vote. Mr. Con? I. Fiser. Yes. Jabore. Yes. President Xano. Hi. Mr. Canero. Hi. Mr. Ramos. Hi. Mr.
Rouso. Hi. President Doyle. Hi. Or hearing on an ordinance chapter 1 amending chapter 190-11 entitled loading zones designating to extend the hours of loading zone on Hudson Street between
14th Street and 15th Street. No members of the public signed up to close public portion. All those in favor? I Mr. Fina call the vote. Mr. Con. Hi. Fiser. Yes. Mr. Jabore. Yes. President Zano. Hi, Mr. Cano. Hi, Mr. Ramos. Hi,
Mr. Russo. Hi, President Doyle. I uh 757 has been has carried. It's actually going back for first reading. It's going to be amended. So, hearing on aance amending chapter 44, land use procedures to
update the checklist to include a plan of compliance. No. No, it's going back to first reading. No, I don't I Right. But should we vote on it with the other first measures for first reading or should we has it been
amended? Yes. As it's amended in the in the packet. So this is the the Brian Aoya second reading first reading vote. Is that reading? Do we do we know second reading? Do we know that the the title
has this is the first reading? This is the Yes, that's correct. But we vote here. You want us to vote on it now? Can we Let's just do it now. If Okay. All right. Sorry, Jimmy. Jerry, you miss me this whole. All right. So, so we're going to Would you read number five? You know, an excuse me, an ordinance
amending supplementing an or establishing schedule of classifications and allocations of titles for her positions mentioned for the city of Hoboken. Mr. Con I Fiser.
Yes. On first reading. Dabbor. Yes. President Zano. Yes. On first reading. Mr. Canero. Hi. Mr. Ramos. Hi. Mr. Russo. Hi. President Doyle. Hi. Okay.
Actually, and there were no members of the public signed up to speak on that just in case. Just after the fact. Um. All right. So, we have So, you're up to six. Yes. Yes. Hearing on an ordinance amending chapter 44 land use procedures to update checklist to include a plan
for compliance. Okay. Uh no members of the public assigned motion to close public portion. Second. All those in favor? I um Mr. Pina, Mr. Con. Miss Fiser, yes.
Mr. Jabore, yes. President Xano, I Mr. Cano, hi. Mr. Ramos, hi. Mr. Russo, hi. President Oil I Okay, the president Jerry public portion on agenda items. Public portion
on resolutions. Yes. Agenda items. Right. Um Manuel Rivera Solair. You don't have to maybe. Yeah. Thank you, President and members of the public. Once again, I appreciate your attention. I know that um yes, members
of the public don't necessarily have to come up and speak on every single issue, but every single issue is important. So, um although um usually I get joked upon why I speak so much, but that that it's important, it doesn't matter to me. So,
I just want to ask a few questions on this on the agenda resolution and administration. uh A2, A3, A4. On A2, I just want to say um congratulations to uh Miss Daisy Amato
um in her um commission uh to be appointed and as well as in A4 uh Mr. Baldwin who is now chief financial officer. Uh hopefully he'll he'll keep everything tidy like it was
in the past with our former financial officer. Um A6 and A8 in A8 um again want to congratulate
again in advance or right now uh Mr. Stratton, who I think left the room, but in his new role uh as well as uh in climate action,
CA1, CA3, and CA4. If you can elaborate a little more uh on either one of those, uh members of the public would appreciate that. and on um community development CD1. Again, uh this this one should be elaborated or given a little more information if you can or if
anybody wants to pull it out. It's uh a bond. I don't know if it's um to release that bond for uh the development here. Which one was it? Uh yeah, and uh I'm going to conclude with
uh the clerk CL2 again a uh I think I'm going to leave it as CL2 and parks and recreation P1. Council President uh also
uh in safety uh S P SP1. Um we'll also like to uh welcome and congratulate Mr. Frey. I think it's pronounced F re um who's the also the chief inspector for fire again in Hoboken. FYI, right?
Fry. Fry. Okay. Thank you, council member Fry. Uh no, council member Ramos. Mr. Fry is the one that I was congratulating. Um, so enough of the confusion. That's what I'm going to leave it at. Council President, again, I think I uh rambled on a little bit, but
I will yield back. If you could answer any one of those, we would appreciate it. And again, I yield back. Thank you, Manny. Um, Patricia Waiters once again is not here. Not here.
Um, so councel motion close. Second. I All those good. Do we have a second? Second. All right. All those in favor? I. So, council
members can pulling uh T1 CD3 and CD4 CA3 CA4 CA3 CA4 and F2. Okay, is that it, Mr. Marina? Uh,
CD3, CD4, CA3 and 4, F2 and T1. F1 or F2. Uh, F2, I believe, is what? Yes. So, everything else?
Call it. Call a vote. Mr. Con? I. Mr. Fischer, I'm a no on A2. Yes on everything else. Mr. Jabore. Yes. President Zano. Hi. Mr. Canero. Hi. Mr. Ramos. Hi. Russo. I.
President Doyle. I actually uh for Mr. uh Solair. I I'm assuming you didn't want a discussion on the the the people that you congratulated for appointments. So, but
uh the CD1 is when developers, as Mr. Angers can tell you, you have to put a bond up when they're filling out an application. They get they get money back when the project is done. So, that's just a a a reimbursement. CL2
uh is I think maybe want me to respond really quick. Did you pull that? You did. I didn't. Um well, why don't we Yeah, why don't you start? It's just a um this is a a loading zone for a new grocery store. We're just changing the hours and it's kind of an emergency
because the trucks are just like double parking in the middle of the road and creating a dangerous situation. And we talked with all the neighbors and all not all the neighbors, but like the building managers and stuff and everyone's supportive of it. We're trying to end the um uh this dangerous
situation as quickly as possible. Thank you, Councilwoman. Okay, so CA3, I believe, is the first one up and that was I don't remember who. It was me. Okay.
Uh, I just have some questions on these two from the director or welcome back. Thank you. Good to see you. Welcome back. Um, I just have a couple questions on the Hudson Place water main replacement. The when we give
them noise, uh, we allow them to make noise overnight. We're not talking like jackhammering, are we? Uh, no. So, okay. The the reason for the noise for the overnight construction is simply because it requires service connections to cut them off. Yeah. And we would hope not to
do that during the day, obviously, to minimize uh inconvenience to the residents. But yes, it should be it should be as limited noise as possible, but you know, I can't say there's backing up, but it's basically service connections. Okay. And then same same thing for the paving. It's just uh Yeah. Oh, well, the paving actually should
have even um less of an impact. It's actually fully on NJ Transit property and it's only two nights. Um it's basically milling and paving though. Do we don't know specifically when they're going to turn the water off because they have to find everything and do everything during it said two weeks during that time frame. It's two weeks during the 45 uh day window. It'll
probably be towards the very end. Um, and each resident will be notified um, individually. Okay. Please, seven, uh, 77 River, please make sure they know about this. It's they've had some issues with their water lines during the, uh, path closure. Okay. So, they're
extremely concerned about this. I can I can absolutely reiterate that. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. So, your CA4 was Yeah, we can do if you can put them together, we can we call them together, Mr. Fina. CA3 and CA4. Call the vote, please. Mr. Con. Hi.
Fisher. Uh, yes. Excuse me. Mrs. Jabor, yes. President Xano. Hi. Mr. Cano. I. Mr. Ramos. Hi. Mr. Russo. I. President Doyle. I uh
CD3. Councilman Fischer, I believe. Yes. [Music] Um this I guess the fir the first question and it relates to both is we've gone back and forth on whether or not
this is is this correct? It's not this is correct. So we didn't Okay. It is what it is. Yep. I mean, so um so just for the public's benefit, um this is this is a
resolution to look at the area basically to look at where the hospital is, where the Midtown garage is, and another property owned by um the hospital to be potentially be a
redevelopment area. And um it's been uh what what the new hospital owners are proposing the the new owners of the Care Point the three Care Point Hospitals Hoboken Hospital,
Christ Hospital, and Bayon. Uh the new owners are HRH, which is Hudson Regional Health. They own a hospital in Sakus, but they're basically developers. uh they they're developers that run hospitals and I'm on the board of the Hoboken Hospital, but what what they're
proposing I think um is to build a new hospital, you know, which feels really good and sounds really good and um and I think we would all be supportive of building a new
hospital. Um, their plan would be to take down our Midtown garage, build a new Midtown garage, put a hospital on top of that garage, and then once that hospital is open, theoretically they would take down the existing hospital
and replace it with 10 12 some story um residential tower. This is right next to Church Towers. So, you can envision how high Church Towers is in and a full city block. um you know it's uh we're th this
is what starts a process. Um and it doesn't it doesn't end here. Um but uh we've had a back and forth about why should we even start this process because what this does if the process
continues and we designate it a redevelopment area and we put um some residential upzoning on there and we give that upzoning to the developer/h hospital operator. I mean what's what reason do they have to actually keep the
hospital open at all? So maybe they'll just shut the hospital and build all their residential instead. And that would be a bad outcome for Hoboken. So um the conversations I've had, you know, with the owners are, you know, there's kind of two paths here. One is we're
perfectly aligned. You know, we'll work towards them delivering new hospital, being able to build this luxury residential, which I'm sure will have affordable housing, etc. in it. Um that's one path where our interests are aligned. But where our interests become not aligned is if they choose at some
point along the way after they get this incredibly valuable upzoning to no longer uh keep the hospital open. So where we've had some back and forth because they've not put anything in writing. They're just we're we're moving forward, you know, with nothing in
writing, just a uh a promise. Um we to start this there's two different ways you can designate a property as a redevelopment area. One gives you the city, the
county, whoever the right to take the property from them in the future, paying them market value. But we have that ability. That's a hammer that says if you don't build the hospital then we have this hammer and we can take the property and make sure the hospital gets built and owned and or maintained by
someone else. The other way of doing redevelopment is not to have the ability to take for a city to take the property. So one would think to protect the city's interests. It makes sense. It's just it just gives us a hammer sometime in the
future. It makes absolutely logical sense. um both Councilman Doyle, myself, Councilman President Zano, we've raised this issue um to change it from a non-condemnation to one that would just allow the normal process and allow give
us that right in the future as we put this partnership together. Um when I asked our director of uh community development um he took it to the mayor and the mayor basically said he would agree to that if I voted yes. So it
wasn't he would just agree to it to do the right thing for Hoboken. He would agree to it if I voted yes for it, which makes no sense. We should just do it because it's the right thing for Hoboken. So I I know I'm appealing to my
colleagues. I know that they have um I've spoken with Chris Brown, Director Brown. I know that they actually have proposals from this um company topology uh to do one that is
just regular not non- conddemnation. We can cross off the word or the phrase non condemnation and approve these just as regular because he has those approvals and and let or he has those proposals and we can do the right thing for
Hoboken. It's something that the developer doesn't want because they don't want us to have that hammer in the future, right? This is how we can it's like incumbent on ourselves to protect ourselves um as we go through this process and this is giving away
something huge and increasing the risk that we lose the hospital altogether. And I I know that we like I said there's two paths. There's the path that says we're all aligned. We want a new hospital. We want to make sure we
maintain our garage and we're all in line until they decide not to do that and whether they're telling us they're not going to do that, but once we give them upzoning, they're less incentivized to go down that path. And then suddenly we're over here and we no longer have
the right to ensure that we have a hospital in Hoboken. So, I would ask that if Chris wants to come up and if I've misrepresented anything, but we talked about it, he has those proposals and I believe that we can change these
because it's the right thing for the council. It allows us to move forward and it allows us to move forward preserving a really important right in the future and we can vote on this tonight and actually start as opposed to voting on something that the developer wants and we're giving away a lot of
protections in the future. And Chris, am I misrepresenting anything? Director, sorry, Director Brown, am I misrepresenting anything? Yeah, if you if you want to go into close session if you feel that's necessary
or I mean I'm just throwing general broad strokes. Um you're you're generally correct. Um the representation of conversation with the mayor um I I wouldn't necessarily um
describe that or characterize that or you know blanketly. Yes. But general broad strokes, you're you're generally on target. Council President. Yes, Councilman. Uh, director, while you're there, are you okay, Tiffany? Are
you done? Yeah. Just a a quick question, and I don't think Councilwoman misrepresented anything. I I just want to make sure I understand it correctly. If if we were to do a um condemnation versus
non-condemnation, is there any difference in how the professionals would go about evaluating that property? It's the same report. Same exactly. It's the same report. Well, it's the same report there. Uh the proposal um if this goes into
statute and it goes into how um the uh the designation is made. It has to state condemn and that's why the it would just have to say yes or no. It's going to be condemnation versus non condemnation. The referral resolution has to state a
lane. You can't say generally speaking area need of redevelopment. Has to be condemnation or non-condemnation. But this specifically does not determine that. We the council will determine that at a later date with a resolution. No, no, we have to start it where this
starts. Wait, wait a minute. I'm asking the director please. what he just said. Your your question is if you make the designation can um to answer your question the t the referral to the planning board has to
state condemnation or non- condemnation because at some point the planning board secretary is going to send out notices right to a property owner and if we are if we do not have a and this is my representation this is I'm I'm giving you my um
Uh, I'm relaying what's been what how how I how I've interpreted it. Um, if the planning board secretary sends out a notice, the uh it has to it has to be specific to the property
owner, right? It has to say condemnation. It has to say, you know, one, if you are general or not or not. So the the follow-up question is can that change into the future if we so choose to change it as a council if the
referral does not state if it says non- condemnation if it says condemnation if it if you say condemnation today no if you say condemnation today the notice is going to come out and it's going to say condemnation right if the council
then later decides we change our mind can we and send it back and then vote do another study, right? But so it's not that goes back to my right that goes back to my original question. Would that have to be an entirely new study or is
it as simple as changing condemnation to non-demnation or vice versa because the study in essence is exactly the same. So I don't want to give you an answer off the fly because I think that that goes into how the noticing plays into Yeah. So I I think that it depends on how the
noticing plays into that later designation. So I don't want to I don't necessarily want to give That's why I asked the question because I'm not sure either. I want I want to make sure I understand it. So and I appreciate it. Thank you, director. Um look, for me for me this is is pretty simple. I've been
talking about a brand new hospital in the city of Hoboken for years. I think this is the first step. I think when when there are facts that are not presented yet, I think those that are pessimistic or
concerned will fill those voids with pessimis pessimistic concerns, right? I think those that are optimistic and are trying to achieve a grand vision for the healthcare in the city city of Hobok and I think we then fill those voids with
that type of of facts, right? This to me is the start of the process. This to me is something that I would like to see happen. A piece of the property that we're talking about is already owned by the city of Hoboken. We don't need to
condemn it. The other piece different. Understand? We just got done talking about our budget. We're talking about probably a hund00 million plus
garage, a $300 million plus hospital that would not be put on the backs of a taxpayer if in fact we move forward with a a project like this. Nice things cost money. Oh my god.
Valuable things cost money. Necessities cost money. for me, a brand new state-of-the-art
hospital that employs hundreds of people that we will be built with 100% union labor, will be staffed with union labor, will provide not just emergency
care, but state-of-the-art medical attention. to our residents. That is the fact base that I fill those voids with. Those are the
types of things that I envision when we talk about this. I appreciate people being concerned. I truly do. But this council every step of the way has a say and has a vote. If we do that
study and we decide let's go the condemnation route, we could always do it. We could always do it again. We could send it back to the planning board, bring it back to the council, have another vote. Either way, the plan has to be
built, has to be negotiated. This council has to vote on that plan. Once the plan's completed, then the individual agreements get planned and voted on. There are many, many steps in this process and I think it's really
shortsighted of us if we're not willing to take that simple and very inexpensive step forward to understand what that may look like. So, I'm 100% supportive of it here tonight and I hope my colleagues would support it as well. Thank you, Council President. Thank you,
Councilman. Councilman Cano. Uh, thank you, Council President. Um, this could potentially be the start of a very long process which would result in a overall $500 million uh investment
into the city which would net a brand new parking garage replacing the current one which is at its end of useful life. uh uh a brand new hospital that it's practically at the end of its useful
life. Uh and some res residential housing with affordable housing included, which we all agree we need uh at no cost to the city. Nice things cost money. Things cost money. Thank you.
Thank you. Be used all year, huh? just Hey, you know, I'll I'll even record this speech and post it on Instagram tomorrow for you. Um Oh, I thought you were done. I'm sorry. No. Uh so, yeah, I I I understand
the concerns. Um you know, development in Hudson County is always, you know, there's there's always rumors and stuff. Uh but you know uh the the concern that there could be a potential bait and switch that somehow all the time and
energy here is really just so we kind of change the zoning on on a particular uh piece of property so that you know can they switch to all residential I think is a little for me um off base. Uh but even with that said,
you know, one of the things that we wanted to make sure that we added to this process was more transparency than we're used to. Uh and when this first came up, we pumped the brakes on this process a little bit and asked those involved, hey, well, like let's put
together a working group so that we can get, you know, presentations, so that we can uh get more information, so we can get more color and uh from from the folks uh from the interested parties so that there's no surprises. Uh and
they've been amendable along the way. We have put together a working group. four of us on this day are on it. Uh the representatives from the hospital have been there uh at its current stage very early. Uh they've been very upfront and
transparent with the information that they have at the moment, including what information they don't have at the moment. And uh there's commitments to maintain that level of transparency. We will be meeting again. We met twice.
will be meeting again after this vote. My understanding is that there's also a working group being put together uh with the county as well. So all the stakeholders are are getting included in the conversation. Uh and that's a good thing so that we can have make informed
decisions along the way through this process. You know, as Councilman Ramos had indicated, there's multiple votes. There's multiple exit ramps. We're going to vote on tonight directing the planning board to do the study. Then they will do a studying and we have a feeling we know just because of the the
how the infrastructure appears in town most places can qualify as areas in need of redevelopment. Next step is we will vote on that designation next. After that if we prove it then we'll vote on the
plan potential for an exam. Then we'll vote on the agreement potential for an ex if along the way and we can build in conditions along the way that would prevent this bait and switch scenario. But if along the way we're losing transparency, we think that there aren't
honest brokers, we can vote no and stop this process along the way. We have agency here, right? Regardless of what some people think, we all have agency. We can decide yes or no. So I'm comfortable moving forward because everything that I've
asked with respect to transparency, with respect to communications, with respect to process has been delivered thus far. I've also made it clear that I expect this level of transparency to remain so that we can make these informed decisions moving forward. Uh and so, you know, I hope my colleagues join me in in
voting yes on this. So we can continue having the conversation so that we can realize, you know, brand new parking garage, state-of-the-art hospital, and residential housing at no cost to the city. Council President, Councilman Cohen.
Thank you, Council President. Uh, I'm in support of this. Uh, it's pretty straightforward. Just one thing I just wanted to mention with respect to Councilwoman Fischer's concerns. uh the folks that we're dealing with
have a track record with respect to uh investing in and transforming hospitals into turning them into quality institutions like the kind of Councilman Russo is hoping that we have here. Uh you look at the Saucus Hospital
experience, uh this is the same team that came in and turned that facility around and it's now a state-of-the-art facility. uh you could check out if you've been to the Saga hospital, if you know people's experience there, I think you'll hear
very positive things. Uh you know, this is not the group that we're talking to and and to echo Councilman Cano's comments, uh this is not a group that is uh purely making a real estate play. They're talking to us about transforming
this into a state-of-the-art hospital. And I think that's important. And I know that we've had concerns as a council about the prior owner of the property and whether they were truly committed to having a full-ervice hospital there. Uh and I think that we are hoping and
expecting that that's where we're going to land. Uh so that has been central to my discussions uh with uh with the new owners and their representatives that this is going to be a full-ervice state-of-the-art hospital facility and all the other things are ancillary to that. They're important and they're part
of it, but at the heart of this is a future facility that will serve our community for generations and it will be a a kind of facility where you're going to want to have your family be treated there. Uh if you have the choice. Uh so that's all. Thanks, Council President.
Thank you, Councilman. You you go ahead. Go ahead. All right. Um, what the I've been ripping the last piece of my hair out on this one. Um, I have in Ward One, Hudson Place,
GarageB, Police Plaza, Elcore 1, El Core 2, CVS Plaza, Herby. If this passes tonight, 122 Clinton, 83, Willow will probably come online. Newman leather will get done before the end of the year just the way everything's getting sped up. Now the
hospital. So all four corners of my ward will be ripped up in the next 5 to 10 years or even let's say 3 to 10 years. And that's going to cause some issues uh some positive issues and some negative
issues in the past six months. And I've said it before, we've we've moved lightning speed. We spend more time on on a swing in a park than we do deep discussion on some of this or even the
budget. Uh this has sounds like it has the votes to pass tonight. I was from day one a condemnation guy, so it still gave us some ability. Um,
I I might disagree a little bit with uh Councilman Cohen that um they aren't real estate and developers because most hospitals don't invest in building housing um and using housing to finance
everything. You usually are in the business of hospitals like Barnabas and um and Hackinack. So, I've struggled a lot with this. I struggled because the owner of the hospital land also owns 122 Clinton,
which is a little bit of a conundrum in itself. And that's why 122 Clinton is on here as well. And if we need a hospital and we're talking about a parking garage, I still don't understand why 122 Clinton's on there. So, I'm torn here. And it's this has not
been an easy discussion there. There I when I look at if I'm looking at something I'm going to have a plan. I'm going to know how I'm going to finance it. We don't have much of that right now. However, this is preliminary. But I've seen this council up here just
ignore any of these plans and just decide what they're going to do and and it happens. And I this one is a really big struggle for me right now. But I do wanted to bring that that point out that like some of your wards are not being ripped up like
mine is. And so there are some major concerns for my uh for my residents. Um however, yes, I we all want a new hospital. We all want to see people keep their jobs. We all still want our residents employed at these hospitals
and employed in the city. Um but I I would like to see condemnation just because I think he gives us more power. Um but I mean you can see that I'm a loss for the words on this. I I I'm
struggling with it. However, this has the votes to pass. So um you know it's almost like I'm I'm just into the wind. It's not into the wind though. your your your concerns are valid, right? I mean, I I think everyone understands that and
and you're right. There's a lot of projects in the first, but the bulk of this project's not. No, bulk of this project's in the third. You get the corner of my ward and then you get 122 and then if you put Newman Leather, you know, so I I literally it just circles me. Uh that's one of the
concerns because when this all happens, it's all going to probably happen at once and getting through the first ward is going to be a nightmare. However, you know, I I'm just highlighting the fact that everything in the past 6 months has moved at lightning speed and for the
past eight years, everything moved like we were stuck in quick in uh you know, in the mud. All right. Well, whatever we want to say, but we're stuck in the mud. And now, now I don't know if that's because of the urgency of, you know, the presentation we made tonight. Butre, it just puts me in a really uncomfortable
position um for this. Thank you, Council President. Councilman Ramos, if you are so inclined. Yep. Uh hey, Council President. Yeah, I want to go back to uh the budget presentation
a little bit as we discussed this as well. I think the number that we bonded for to redo the Midtown garage, which is in a state of disrepair, unfortunately, or or need of dire repair is what the
$30 million range. Correct. 33, right? 30 $33 million range. So, we could finance that. this adds more to that deficit we were talking about go more in that red line or we could try explore this path and that deficit gets taken
gets built throughout this process potentially I think so that is a positive uh my grandmother before she passed away spent some time in the hospital here and
let's face it the honest truth is the hospital's physical condition. The physical condition of the hospital is not worthy of the patients that visit the hospital or the staff working in the
hospital. When you have to wait a week to get a CAT scan because the CAT scan the hop in the hospital is not operational, that's a problem. That's not delivering healthy outcomes for the residents of Hoboken. And her situation
was not one of one. That was one of everyone there that day. That was one of many that needed an exam. Uh what other machines that are vital for the staff to perform at the best of their ability that they're missing in the current
building. So if the building or the hospital continues in its current physical condition, not the staff, the staff is wonderful. The staff's working uh very diligently in the conditions that they're working with currently, doing
the best they can under dire conditions under the under the past regime, and they're doing their best. But for us to move the hospital forward to make it state-of-the-art, this has to be part of that
conversation to to afford to build a facility that is worthy. I think right now less than 20% of the visitors or the patients in the hospital are Hoboken residents. How are we going to get that's one one of the main questions I
asked. How are we going to get Hoboken residents to have the confidence and the faith in having their primary care getting taken care of in the city of Hoboken and we had a lengthy discussion
on that what type of machines are required to do that uh whether it's uh X-ray mimography CAT scan MRI that that's that's what will keep the hospital open in the long term. That's what will build a quality
facility in the long term to sustain quality health care in the city of Hoboken. Uh we have 63,000 residents in here, but we don't service just 63,000. We service Wehawk and we service Union City. We ser we service uh uh southern
West New York uh patients come to visit the hospital here in emergency care basis. But how are we going to sustain ourselves for the long-term care and having a facility open? And this needs to be part of that conversation. Uh and
how we could preserve it uh the best we can cuz you know the condition physically is nowhere near it needs to be. Nowhere near it needs to be. the fact that they were they were stressing to find linen to
change the sheets of the bed, you know, is that is that the hospital we want to have in in the city of Hoboken? We have broken machines looking for linens. Is that is that what we're looking for? We have to take it upon ourselves to the best we can to improve the current conditions of the hospital.
Then then, you know, let's go to the condemnation portion of it. You know, we we did an appraisal last council meeting. Hopefully that appraisal will come back with a number and tell us what the land value is worth. I'll just throw $44 million is what we bonded for to
purchase the hospital last time. And people were out of their minds. Out of their minds. People the room was packed telling us not to save the hospital. People to save the hospital. Ultimately had to make the decision to try and preserve the hospital at that time. Now
it's in a condition now it's probably worth a lot more. Unfortunately, it went to a provider that was unsavory to say the least. Unsavory to say the least. Stole millions from the hospital. Millions. You know, it wasn't part of that one. I could probably say that one.
Wasn't part of that deal or negotiating that. So again, go back to the budget. We condemn that property for I don't know inflation. So say 75 million on the way low end, right? that
red line goes way up. Goes way up. So, I'm in favor of starting the process. Let's see what type of top rate facility we could deliver our residents. Let's see if we could save ourselves by building a new garage. Save $33 million
right there for Hoboken residents. And the garage isn't even at full capacity because it's in a s state of disrepair. You can't lose certain parts of that of the garage currently. So, I'm in favor of moving this process forward tonight. And it's not an end all be all, but at
least it's it's worthy of a discussion. Thank you, Councilman. Uh, Councilwoman Fischer, did you Is everyone done? I guess I guess I'll just begin. Oh, I'm sorry. That's okay. I apologize. No, I won't be. I'm not going to go on. Um, I'll just point out I think, you know, to reiterate some of the points that have
been discussed, you know, it's funny. Every time uh a parent has an incident, they often will go on like the Hoboken Mommy's Facebook page and say, "My child just fell and needs stitches. Where should I go?" Because we've reached that point where no one wants to go to Hoboken Hospital because they're nervous about the quality of care for their
kids, which is a really good indicator that we need to do better uh with our community hospital. So, I'm excited to support this because I want people to know that the default of going to the hospital that's only 5 minutes up the street from where an accident happens um is the right hospital and that it's good
quality care in addition to all the other reasons in terms of um the importance of this from an economics perspective for the jobs that are there um and what it says about our community that we can support uh a highquality hospital. So, I'm supporting this tonight and uh don't need to go on any
more than that. Thank you. Thank you, Councilwoman. Sorry about that. Counciloman Fischer, can you be concise, please? Yeah. Um, just a couple things. One is, uh, although I appreciate everyone, we're all supportive of Shiny New Hospital. Um, of
course, we want to have that in our community. Um, that actually wasn't the issue that I raised earlier, right? And the the thing that I raised earlier is making a modest change to the title of this so that the residents of Hoboken,
the future mayor, the future council have all the protections if for some reason this goes a different direction. Right? We're we're not our our job isn't to deliver a shiny new hospital. My view, our job is to make sure we don't lose a hospital. And just the difference
of crossing off in CD3, if we crossed off three words constitute a non- conddemnation, just crossing those off, we get all the protections in the world. The next one, uh, CD4, if we just crossed off non-condemnation, we get all
these protections. And it sounds like my council colleagues don't want those protections for the residents of Hoboken. It's a freebie. The the I'm not done. the it's a freebie and these developers it is they they absolutely
turned around Sakus um hospital we're going to go out and see it I've heard good things about it I've spoken I'm on the board of Hoboken hospital I've spoken at length with um the Dr. Kafaya who's like the number two person. He is committed to operating hospitals. We
absolutely want to hear all of that. But what we hear all the time every every time we have a conversation is that the owner of the hospital is a developer. They just refer to him as a developer. He's not in the operating uh hospital operating business. He's in a lot of
different businesses um including like in uh insurance type um businesses as it relates to um slip and fall type injuries. So he has a lot of fingers on a lot of places, but I want to just give a a a couple just facts. Um they have
not gone to the Department of Health yet and even mentioned that they want to do something different. They came out of bankruptcy. They've not told anyone. They just want the upzoning. Um the land that has been the problem. Um uh the big
issue is the land was separated from the hospital operations and the new owner is uh acquiring the land from the person who owns it now, but is actually going to continue keeping it completely separate from the operation. So not going to merge the two. In the state of
New Jersey, I don't know what percentage, but let's say almost all hospitals own their own land, but they're keeping the land out. Um, Councilman Cano mentioned they they answered all his questions. My list of questions was a lot longer, just very simple. Can you tell us high level how
you're going to get from here today to opening a new hospital? Are you going to have to shut down this hospital, do anything? They they didn't give us any of that information and definitely nothing in writing. Um, they did say that they were going to cut Hoboken Hospital in half. So, when you look at
the front of Hoboken now, they'll cut everything to the south of it, which is where all the garbage is, where all their deliveries are. Don't know how they're going to operate that hospital if they cut it in half and build a garage there first. Um, so just they're just kind of spitballing. Um, and then
they talked about financing. They made up numbers. The first time we talked to them, I met with them. I said, "This is what I've done for a living." And now they're backtracking and saying, "Well, we're trying to find financing, you know, for this." Addressing Ruben's um Councilman Ramos's story, his mom was or
his grandmother was in the hospital at probably the worst financial moment of this hospital's life. They were either about to go into bankruptcy, going through bankruptcy. The prior owners mismanaged and just sucked money out and they were not able to sustain. HRH is
now in there and they're absolutely being supportive in restoring businesses. Um, which is great. And, you know, I just we we have an opportunity with a minor change that that really doesn't
change the outcome. We still get to start. I'll vote yes starting. We just get to have this one little piece that gives us more strength and more strength in the future. Why wouldn't we want to do that? Why wouldn't we do that? Wait, that's it. Thank you.
Um I'm hoping not to start the cycle all over again, but I will I will because uh I allowed Councilman Fischer to speak a second time. I will say that I was an advocate for the change that you are uh
advocating with regard to condemnation authority in this study. I did my homework and I disagree with you that it's as simple as you say and I have changed my position based you know and that's just it's not entirely opinion
but it's it's a question with riskbased decision-m so um I hear where you're coming from but I don't think I don't think it's as dire as and here we're only talking about this study we're not talking about the the actors and what's
going happen 10 how many years away? We're just you're apparently in favor of doing the study if the that the if the naan is taken out of condemnation and uh so I I would hope that you would you
know accept the fact that this isn't as as much as you'd like but it's uh for reasons which I don't want to go into between attorney client issues and so forth. I'm saying that I will support it and I would hope all members of the
council would. Council President, ju just quickly, I I think it needs to be said you have an operator of a hospital that is potentially creating an entire hospital system in Hudson
County. And to characterize them as developers is a little unfair. It's not my words. Yeah, a lot of noise. It is a little unfair to characterize anything other than the
fact that they are trying to create a medical system across the county. And we in the city of Hoboken are lucky enough to have them want to build a brand new state-of-the-art hospital here in the city of
Hoboken. That is that is a really important point because it really is unfair for people to come away from this meeting to believe that they only got into the business of a hospital in Hoboken because they're developers. That's not true. There's a piece of
property in Bayon. There's another piece p piece of property in Jersey City that they have other options to put their money into. I am trying to secure that money staying in the city of Hoboken for all the reasons I articulated
earlier. This is one very simple vote to start the process to change it from condemnation to from from non-ddemnation to condemnation is not just scratching out a word. It is
signaling to those who are willing to put hundreds of millions of dollars into our health care system in the city of Hoboken that we do not trust them that you should go elsewhere and invest elsewhere. That's what you're doing when you cross out those two
little words. Those are the concerns that we have. Those are the concerns that I have as a councilman. Those are the concerns that my constituents have as residents. Those are the concerns that the patients in that
hospital have, whether they're Hoboken residents or residents outside of Hoboken. This is important. This is extremely important. There is a grand vision here. years ago when the city of Hoboken went
and condemned the property and took that over, some of the same people who now are asking for condemnation want to hurry up and sell it. Hurry up and get rid of the hospital property. Sell it off to Care
Point. We can't have a revisionist history, council president, and those things need to be said. I wasn't there. This protects our residents. I think it's a smart first move. Thank you, Councilman. Mr. Fina, call the vote.
Mr. Con, hi. Mr. Fischer, yes. Yes, Mrs. Jabore. Yes, President. Hi, Mr. Cano. I Mr. Ramos. Hi, Mr. Russo. Hi,
President Dor. I glad I swayed you to uh C4 is are we C4 is on the same topic? Um do we want to discuss the contract itself? No. I'm
asking Counciloman Fischer who she Yeah. Did you say yes or call? Okay. Can Can I ask just one quick question? I I would like to have every council member say it tonight that there will be discussions and any information that we have in
meetings with HR is disseminated to all of us 100%. I believe that and we all have our lives. We're all busy with things. I get it. However, that that working group met and I had a chase to
get a brief and and I Councilman Gara, I know you life is busy. It's fine and we we discussed it before this afternoon, but any time that we're having discussion, we all need to be on the same page. This is not a $50 million project. This is a $500 million project.
So, we can't sit here and play politics amongst ourselves where we're risking the hospital. We We need to drop that and discuss it from put our big boy pants on and discuss it as professionals. the the moment that happens, we have an issue with our uh
open public meetings act. So my suggestion would be that the council president convene committee of the whole and we have all those conversations and we have them right here in public. I have no problem with that. At the last meeting we had that was something I said specifically because I think there's also the problem of a game of telephone
that develops when you're sharing messages without a consistent sort of guiding document to have at the base of this. And so we flagged that as part of the conversation in that work group that that's something that needs to come out of that. Um as long as we follow of course all the sunshine rules associated
with that. I I'll also add we constructed this working group purposefully to have historically you know we don't have parties but we have factions. So you've got folks on both sides of factions. So there there are there is equal representation. So I the
the word's not represented. Just just but sometimes it's good. Hold on. Okay, guys. I'm happy to answer any of your questions that you have. I do my best to to answer. Exactly. Well, I mean, my big white pants are on. what you just asked Councilman President Zano is every
conversation and to to in order to do that for every conversation if we're going to have a committee of the whole meeting we would be meeting three times a week or I I don't know how many conversations there are but I agree with you that we should be whether it's
Councilman Cano you know disseminating information as we we'll do the best we can and there may be a culmination of events where it's more appropriate for us to have a what I'm looking for is just that sometimes it's good to hear
the other side of things, right? That might be, you know, because I wasn't in a spot to vote yes. I would have loved to hear somebody yes talking to me instead of kind of sitting in my echo chamber. That's all I'm asking. That's all I'm asking. Can we call the vote on CD4? Yes, we can. Thank you, Mr. Fina.
Mr. Con. Hi. Fisher. Yes. More. Yes. President. Hi. Cano. Hi. Mr. Ramos. Hi, Mr. Russo. Hi, President Doyle. I F2, was I believe Yeah, I I have just a question on this one. I was reading it.
Um, and this is Director Freeman, right? I read all the streets that are on there. Is this like just peace meal or is this like like you know two blocks here, two blocks there? Yeah, this is part of our road the overall road reservicing plan and it allow this is us permanently
financing the what $365 million worth of notes. Okay, so we've already done we've already started the work that's down in the uh in the west southwest correct. This is on I think northwest kind of up break it down. It's Madison Grand Adams Jefferson
fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth. That's good. I'm all right. Thank you. Yeah, I'm go ahead. Okay. Thank you, Mr. Fina. Call the vote. Mr. Con. Hi, Fiser. Yes, Mr. Jabore. Yes, President Zano. Hi, Mantero. Hi, Mr. Ramos. Hi, Mr. Russo.
Hi, President Doyle. I uh T1, Council President. Yes, Councilman. Thank you, Council President. director, if you don't mind. Director, um, if you could just kind of briefly go over
the process for a resident. And, and the reason I'm asking is I was contacted by someone who said that they were approved, but they're not on the agenda tonight. and their concern is that they've been waiting for a long period already. Um, and they're trying to kind of move that process along as fast as
possible. So, if if you don't mind just talking about what the process is, how that's happening, and then when it gets to the agenda. Um, can I ask uh which which resident I
think he emailed you today. I don't want to put anybody's business out there. Probably not. Yeah. Okay. Okay. But I could tell you after the meeting by all means. Fair fair enough. Uh so the process is that uh a resident needs to uh submit an
application to my unit. It needs to have documentation from their physician. They need to have uh handicap plates and a handicap hang tag or placard. Uh once they have that documentation, we submit
it to the medical examiner who reviews the application and evaluates it and make sure that it meets our criteria. Uh if the medical examiner approves the application, then we bring it to you.
And it what's the time frame between the approval to the council meeting? So, for example, this individual was approved, but it's not on the agenda for an approval here tonight. So, at the very least, we're waiting two more weeks for that individual, and then it the process
of putting the signage up, so on and so forth. So, it takes long. Okay. I I think I do know uh who you're referring to. Um, so it this came to my attention after the uh agenda was locked. Uh I
told this person that it would be on the next uh agenda. Uh so uh you know as as as far as I can tell it has moved as quickly as we can. I I understand that he's gone through a bit
of a process getting to this point. Uh and uh I understand how much stress he's under. Uh we're moving it ahead as quickly as we can. Okay. I I I just wanted to clarify it for everyone else out there that might be going through the same thing. So, I appreciate it.
Thanks. Sure. Thank you. And then the only other thing I wanted to add about it is, you know, we we used to do all of this in house and when we changed it, uh I made a statement then uh going back to our budget discussion earlier, this will
be a cost to the city of Hoboken and it's now a $25,000 cost where originally I think we thought it was going to be much less. So, I don't know if that'll grow again, if that'll change next year. Um, but it's always something that we should watch. So, that's all I had.
Thank you, D. Council Russo, I think one of the biggest problems there, and I can councilwoman Jabboral say it is finding somebody to actually put their name to it. No doctor in town wanted to do anything of this. Um, we had somebody that did it and was just immediately
said, I nom. And so that's one of the issues why we went to this format. And then as well somebody in town might see that person that made that decision and in the day of technology could also hurt their business by giving bad reviews as
well. So this is the reason why it's not something that we wanted to do. We were kind of forced to do it. So just as a side note, I I understand your point, but I don't necessarily agree that we could have that we should have outsourced it like this with the added expense, but it is what it is. I'm only
one vote of none. Thank you, director. Mr. Fina, call the vote. Mr. Con? I. Mr. Fisher. Yes. Mrs. Jabore. Yes. President. Yes. I I Mr. Cano. Hi. Mr. Ramos. Hi.
Mr. Russo. No. President Doyle. Hi. Okay. On to ordinances for introduction. An ordinance amending Hoboken city code 59A article 3 outside police personnel employment to amend outside employment
rates in accordance with the amendments to the city contract with the PBA. Mr. Pina, please call the vote. Mr. Con. Jabore I mean Miss Fischer? No. Mr. Jabore. Yes. President Zano. No.
Quantero. Hi, Mr. Ramos. Hi, Mr. Russo. Hi, President Doyle. Hi. Ordinance amending chapter 192 parking for persons with disabilities. Mr. Fina, please call the vote. Mr. Con, I. Mr. Fischer, yes. Mrs. Jabore, yes.
President, I Mr. Cano, hi. Mr. Ramos, hi. Mr. Russo, hi. President Toy, hi. Uh, what do we miss? Number four, an ordinance the city of Oakland County of Hudson state of New Jersey vacating
vacating a portion of Jackson Street right of way to combine with block 14 lot one. Mr. Fina, please call the vote. Mr. Con? I miss Fischer. Yes.
Yes. Yes. Mrs. Jabore. President People can't hear me. Hi. Hi. Sorry. Hi, Mr. Ram Ramos. Hi. Mr. Russo. Hi. President Doyle. Hi. Ordinance for introduction. City of Hoboken County Hudson state, New Jersey
vacating a portion of observer highway right away combined with block 14 lot one. Mr. Marina, please call the vote. Mr. Con. I. And the next one. M. Fisher. Yes. Yes. Four. The Nicks beat the sage. Yes. President. Hi.
Matter. I. Mr. Ramos. Hi. Mr. Russo I President Doyle I an ordinance for introduction amending chapter 190-11 entitled loading zones they add loading zone to Adam Street between first street
and second street Mr. Cole I miss Fischer yes jabor yes presidento I Mr. Canero I Mr. Ramos hi Mr. Russo. Hi, President Doyle. I launch for introduction amending chapter 190-11
entitled loading zone to add a loading zone on Patterson Avenue. Mr. Parina, please call the vote. I get Mr. Con. I Fiser. Yes. Mrs. Yabore. Yes. President, hi. Mr. Gero,
hi. Mr. Ramos, hi. Mr. Russo. No. Oh, I'm sorry. Yes. On that one. Yes. Next one's President Doyle. I uh an ordinance introduction amending chapter 19 179 Special Improvement
District. Mr. Fina, please record the vote. Mr. Cole, I Fischer, yes. Mr. Jabore, yes. Mr. Presidento, Mr. Cano, wait. Hi. Mr. President's honor is a
yes. I first reading yes Mr. Canero I Mr. Ramos hi Mr. Russo no this one's a no Kim no President Doyle I this one ordinance for introduction an
ordinance amending the north end redevelopment plan for the north end rehabilitation area Mr. Fina please call the vote Mr. Con I Mr. Fiser. Yes. Mr. Jabore. Yes. President Xano. Hi. Mr. Canero. Hi. Mr.
Ramos. Hi. Mr. Russo. Hi. President Doyle. I first reading. Uh, we got the public portion. Well, we have a resolution to send the Oh, resolution CD9. Thank you.
No problem. CD9. is a resolution city of Hoboken referring the adoption of amendment the north end redevelopment plan the north end rehabilitation area to the city of Hoboken planning board for review and report pursuant to the
local redevelopment housing law Mr. Fina please Mr. Con I miss Fisher yes Mr. Jabore yes President Xano I can hi Mr. Ramos hi Mr. Russo. Hi, President Doyle.
I public portion. Uh um Enrique Herrera. I'm not doing council president. Um I just want to have you guys pass around this. This is a published um paperback of my
book, The Plot of the Story. Um the book revolves around uh technology that's indistinguishable from schizophrenia and a character's uh pretty much journey to finding that conclusion through a Schroinger's delusion deliberation. Uh the book was
published three uh about 2022 and it talks about um the situation through the eyes of the victim not necessarily through the eyes of the tech giants that govern over this type of technology without risk management. um with little or no impunity or
anything like that. Uh I wrote this book as a result of my own experience with Neuralink and uh that type of real-time communication that if you are a third party to that specific silent disco where that is how some people communicate is how you meet
someone and and so on and so forth. this would be the book that um that I I frankly started a indirect attack against this type of behavior with this technology on any level. If anyone's ever been illinformed or has a
presumptuous agreement upon which you think that this guy who wrote this book is wrong 24/7, I am the guy that you hate the most. I am that guy that introduced that curriculum and not necessarily in our school system or anything but on the internet involving Edipus electric curriculum where people
have monitored their children through this technology and or have trained um their kids through this technology for better or for worse the lack of risk management involves a family friend or co-worker SCOP like environment which as
I stated in a prior city hall public involves um the federal violation of the Smith Muntz Act of 1945 and further the internet era of that specific act 2012. Um my point being of this book is that I
in essence went to war against a regulatory system of psychiatrics that did not want to believe me on that front that that technology was real and that instead you are a schizophrenic. No questions asked. There's really nothing else to talk about. Therefore, I rebuked
it and rebuttled with a Schroinger's delusion deliberation that until proven in a court of United States law where they could not reach me. U it was a yes and no deliberation that was afforded to me under the first amendment of the United States. U freedom of speech and
expression u this is how I decided to go about this. Every other pattern involved an AI prediction scale of how Enrique would frankly die. Enrique Herrera myself. Um, because I am a creator of an
AI timeline. I actually wanted to give this one to the council president. Yeah, I think I got the right one. Yep. I signed it and everything. So, we did. Um, I I'd hope that the conversation stirs up controversially. It is a mystery novellet and it's part of a trilogy that I've been trying to write,
but uh if you saw the condition of my phone, I have a lot of bills to pay. So, it's not necessarily something that um calls for more than a discussion than needed. Um some people have friends and family and co-workers that don't like really speaking on that topic, but
introducing it as a mystery novellet gets the conversation going. I hope that this brings into a close any and all misconceptions or ill counsel that may have been provided to any council members here or my friends or my family or co-workers about who I am or what I'm
about. Uh again, private information of everything about me, I guess, got out. Uh there was some sense of a scop going on with the Secret Service where I had to divulge that information. They actually came over October 5th in 2023, uh 2024, I think, about a year after I came here. Uh I've been very
vigorous in selling my book. I've been going up and down the streets. The dispensaries love me, so they kind of just support me on that front. Uh I do have that um you know, support with dispensaries. I support legal cannabis, but because of
the the act of a Schroinger's delusion deliberation, I cannot be inti system for long, if anything less than a day. Uh the deliberation is legal to speak to a psychiatrist about it would drive them insane because I am and am not schizophrenic on this issue.
Would mean that their diagnosis would be a misdiagnosis. But um I also helped in creating an AI timeline which removed prediction scale of I am wrong to I am right by incorporating Marvel comics. Uh in Marvel comics there was a universe
called this planet. It's real time all the time. Best planet on planet earth. There's no Iron Man, no Thanos, none of that. So it's just this planet. Uh it's called 1218. So I in essence created AI 1218 timeline. um by creating that that
is in essence causing entropy externalized which I'm kind of going off before my time um it destroys any prediction scale or future scape of any sexual assault that would ever occur to a woman. Thus anything involving sexual assaulting a woman prediction scale-wise or orchestration wise uh I've destroyed
it. If there was anything other than that you would I could just go to the police about it but the act of orchestration is just that we have serial rapists or anything like that. I destroyed that. That being said, thank you so much. I went over my time. Thank you, Mr.
Herrera, and thank you for the book. Maybe we'll uh we'll share it amongst the group. Um Manuel Rivera Solair Man, you got you got a haircut, huh? Looking good, right?
I appreciate it. Thank you very much, Council President. Uh I was hoping you noticed, but anyway, I appreciate it. Uh Council President, once again, thank you. I was going to filibuster um for my friend Patricia Waiters, but I guess I'm
safe there, too. Patricia, do you want to be uh No. So, I just want to say the following. Council President, I appreciate the discussion that was had that was um taking place uh today in regards to the ordinance uh or the
resolution CD um 3 and4. It is very important that uh the the discussion was sincere um from all of you. But um in the back of the minds of members of the public and I'm sure that should be and you were and was mentioned by council member Fiser is that the composition of
this council may change may change fully in the sense that there could be four members, three members, two members. These members that are going to come in may have a different opinion. So when you make your decision cuz you are now in charge until then
right you have to think for the future of the residents of Hobok in that hospital in doesn't matter if it's going to be in partnership with a developer or if we have to take it on ourselves we the city the administration whomever
because a hospital is indispensable for our city. It doesn't matter anything that's said, anything that's that's um being politicized. Anybody who wants to snicker or or jer it it's it's the people. The hospital is ours. It belongs
to the people, they should have it. Our city is the biggest small city you can have. And if you don't have a house, could you imagine as council member Ramos said about his grandmother? I said the same story earlier about my brother, about my
family members who who are in that hospital who who who die there. But it's necessary to have topofthe- line because if we don't, we suffer as well, not just the patient that we have there. It's us because we
want to do more. But if we don't have a state of the art hospital and we just keep on building condominiums for for the 1% and even the 1% of the 1%, we are not a society that's going to be in the forefront because then we're going to
have to run to other municipalities and be in their their mercy. So do it for the people. If that was a first start, thank you. But explain to the people step by step what is going to happen to that hospital. It is important. It
should be discussed by everybody who's running and it should be discussed here freely without any concern of repercussion. So thank you again for that conversation. Now I'm my time is running out. I just want to also mention
quickly so that we don't lose the chain of thought. Our city by your decrees was once designated as a sanctuary city. I mentioned this before again as a council and
as administration, meaning the mayor, you should have or you should start having implementing some type of procedure or protocol should the federal government decide to look at us and put pressure and make us the city.
do things that we don't stand for. So these are things that also need to be thought about because we are living in very difficult times. It seems like everything is hunky dory, but it is not. People could be
taken and then we ask questions later after they're in some goolog or prison somewhere else that we can't get them back. American citizens, babies, fouryear-old taken away, American citizens. So we have to put protections. We have to make sure that our city
continues to be the free society that it always is, always wanted to be and always is. So with that, council president, I know my time is flying, but I also would like to pray. would like us again to unite in prayer with me and other members of the public for the
people uh our fellow American citizens in Puerto Rico that are suffering a devastation with flooding and avalanches all through different municipalities as well as the neighboring island of the Dominican Republic. So, we should I hope
that we could uh extend our prayers and thoughts for all the families affected. And um I would like to just say it in I made a a offer. I don't know if I'm going to be able to back it, but I'll try. If they I said in Spanish, Council
President, should they need us, we are here for them, and I hope that um promise could be fulfilled. I know that I'll do everything I can. So, with that, I um going to say once again,
Slava Ukraine. Glory to Ukraine. How do you say? I'm a little I'm a little emotional. Thank you. I know. Um Slava, glory to the heroes. God bless you, Council President. God bless uh you all. God bless Hoboken. Thank you. Thank you. Sorry for taking three more
seconds. Uh Patricia Waiters. Hi Pat Waiters. Thank you, Council President. I had so much to speak about tonight, but I'mma really give you a condensed version, but I want to get the importance out first with the election
slowly approaching and everything. First, Mr. Jabbor, I want to thank you because I don't know if this the new process was you're doing or not or Michael Russo or Ruben, but um I got a chance to speak to three people just keep beeping me say y'all called me three times. Where are you? Get to the
meeting. So, that's why I rushed here cuz I want this placed on the record. If this going to be the new way you do the handicap uh situation which was getting really ugly. We seen it for the last past couple of days with the personal attacks to both of us. I really like it because from what I'm hearing and I want
it on the record tonight that there's a doctor that's working with you guys like you know share services to review things and stuff like that. So it's a whole different process. I want to clear my mind of that and put it on the record so people could stop stopping me in the
stores and thinking about political favors to get a handicap and putting y'all in the target for running. So I know it could be hard. You know what I'm saying? And I don't think that's fair for nobody. So that's why I wanted placed on the record with all due fairness. You was trying to organize
this for like a year or more. And Ruben, you know, you've been working with me for more than four or five years, but this young man was very emotional. But then I got six other calls after him. I had to come out here and put that on the record. So let's hope this new process work in favor for everybody because you
know you got to work a miracle to give everybody satisfaction with respect to parking period. Never alone handicap cuz we all got a handicap. I'm crazy. That's my handicap. And anyway, um, number two, there was a position for the
Hoboken Police Department that I noticed disappeared and I think you was the sponsor, Mr. Quint, you Joe. I've been Well, anyway, I noticed it disappeared. Is it on there tonight? Cuz I didn't have enough time to read all of that for the Hoboken Police Department. Is any of y'all It got
carried. It went back to the position or the expanding the table. No, the position. It says like a positioner for the Hoboken Police Department. That was on last. Yeah, it was table. But you know what I'm talking about, right? Please do not skip me. And I
should and I cuz I'm letting you know now and I'm interested. I'm going to come and apply again. And with all due fairness and respect, yo, tomorrow your last day, Jason? Today? All right. So, this meeting going
Paty Booker get him on the mic for 24 hours. Wait a wait a minute. I'm sorry. I'm serious. So, today his last day, so I don't know who handling the business administrator's office, but please, let's get that done, guys. I'm letting you know now. I want it placed on the
record. Oh, Caleb, do you know Caleb? Would you wave, Caleb? Caleb, make sure you give Pat your cell number. Yes, please. And please answer me, sir. Please, cuz I'll sit outside and wait. And I And I want you guys to know, good luck to all of you guys. I'm going crazy
and November is not even here. Bittersweet, that's why I'm putting it on the record because everybody waiting for me to speak on the public portion. I have not decided what I did I'm doing. This is for the public. I'm not grandstanding. I'm not electioner and all that other good juicy stuff, but I'm
being stopped and it and it's a good feeling that people want change and I want change and I want a better hoboken. It ain't about place to blame, guys. Y'all don't have to stand up here tonight and say who did what the last 5 years. We got to prove it now in our actions. And could we start with Jimmy
Fina, please? For real. And Jerry Law. No, I'm serious. Because I have not seen a raise and they still on the same floor. Could they get a raise at least to the sixth floor and some extra coins? Jimmy, please for Jimmy and Jerry. Thank you guys. Just everybody think of unity
just this last six months. Thank you. Thank you, Miss Waiters. Yes. I said thank you. Yeah. Um, I may need a little help. Is it George? George Georgios.
No, I George Oscar. Oh, this is Elias. Could you spell George? Is it I'm here tonight. Quiet down in the back, please. Yeah. I'm here tonight for the taxi in Koboken. The taxi? Yep.
Yeah. Could you They move in his name. Yeah. Okay. You know, J. Well, no, but the last name is what I'm going to put it down. Okay. Thank you. I'm I'm going to put it down later. Okay.
Okay. So, now they they moving us to a different place, New York and the river. Nobody can see us up there. People, the old people we taking usually is old people. They're
going to go come out the train. They're going to go to the taxi. Okay. Now they put us different area. Anyway, so we have another problem. Can Can I? Now we pay insurance for the
taxi $9,000 a year. From five you want to nine. Okay. I think after 6 and 1/2 years we need some raise. We can't afford it no
more. It's only $7. How you can go with $7 like that? We can't afford it. The tax is going to close down. We're going to go out of business. So, please think about it. Sir, could I
ask a question? Is there any signage when you leave the the the train station to where the location of the taxis are standing right now? Right now, we're good over there. It's very good there. Whatever we are now, but they're going to do some
construction there, they say. Right. And they push us out to the post office. I was just asking if behind there. Nobody can see us. Is a tax. Okay. Well, it sounds like the transportation committee is going to look into that. But it seems like that
seems like a logical thing to do to please, you got to help us to put us some in front of the taxi stand some in a front the path somewhere because I think that construction is going to be gone for a while. Okay. Yeah. Yeah.
And that's why we came here tonight. I don't know. All right. Thank you. Is Elias is Mr. Russo helped us the last time. He knows about taxi business. What's going on together? Yeah. Yeah. Go ahead. Thank you. Say something. Yeah. I just want to say uh
uh uh Thank you. Um Yes. It's like a six and a half years. So we Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Uh uh seven bucks and Uber sometime on on the ro shower go up
to 20 bucks. Mhm. 25 bucks. Surge price. Yeah. Yes. And uh and we uh uh you know we have we still there you know like with the hop right there
with the other bosses right there too. Uh we we are 65 cars right now working uh 20 you know we pass the code we we there
you know with the code we uh yeah um we try to make it and we have a we still have a lot of customers you know like for we still there have have a lot of customer and then I see hoboken is getting bigger
uh you know like 15 um by 15 and I see now um I see now we still need transportation you know for the amount
of construction is coming and um we right there people coming from the path we get us right there without suk sukidio you not succeed, you know. And uh I
hope is they can get us a little bit closer or people or at least put signs like to let it know the people where we are located, right? You know. Yeah, I got that. That's my
Thanks. Yeah. So, we have a transportation subcommittee and I'm the chair of that. So, could I get someone's contact information? And what we'll do is with our next transportation meeting, we'll have a conversation and we'll connect with you about how we can help. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Thank you. If
you want to give us your contact and that's Yep. If you want to just give it right here. And uh can you get uh Mr. Gio's last name? That's
it. We have one item for Yeah. And before we Oh. Um Jerry, this is I don't know if one of you maybe uh long time ago like like a 10 years
ago we you proposed the city proposed at that time like a a app. Yep. For Yeah. For Yeah. Exactly. I remember it vividly. Yes. I think I think we we have some room for that. You know, the price
we chart plus the price Uber go up. I think we you know, we have a room to to Yeah. to Yeah, we'll start that conversation to make a re, you know, I think it's a great idea to start that conversation again. Yeah, without a doubt. Oh, without a doubt. You have the
information, right? Yeah. I don't know. Thank you. Okay. No problem. Thank you very much, gentlemen. Appreciate it. Does he have a phone number or something, though? I know. It's just his name. No, he thinks for Mr. Nunees. Do you want uh Councilwoman to contact
you or Georgio? Okay, if you want to just leave me your phone number, I'll make sure a phone number or email address. I don't know. Okay. So, uh that's it for public comment.
Motion to close. Motion to close public portion. Oh, we still have we have new business. Have new business after we close the public portion. All those in favor of closing public portion I I thank you.
Motion. Um what else? All right. So, we have one matter and an emergency resolution for that matter. I think we can do them together. Yeah. Um, and this is it's an appointment that will lapse before our next meeting. So,
uh, one and two together. This is one and two together. NB1 and NB2. Mr. Con. Hi. Mr. Fischer. Yes. Mr. Jabor. Yes. President Jano. Hi. Mr. Cano. Hi. Mr. Ramos. Hi. Mr. Russo. Hi. President
Doyle. Hi. Council President. Councilman Russo. And then Councilman Ramos, you know, we start and and I most certainly didn't want to uh mention this at the beginning of the meeting. You know, we celebrated Jason and and what he's done
for the city. Uh but tonight was a very um very difficult night for some of us and it was a night of celebrating someone else who did so much for this city, but also mourning his passing. And
I just The simplest way for me to put it was he was my principal, he was my mentor, and he was my colleague here at the council. And I just ask that we all take a moment in
silence for council president, former superintendent of schools, Rich Delbachio. Amen. Amen. Thank you. Thank you, council. Councelor, let me if I could add that uh tomorrow is the funeral uh for former Councilman Delbachio. It's
going to be at St. An's Church at 10:00 a.m. So, just wanted to make that announcement as well. Yeah. If I could al also uh offer my condolences to Councilman Delbacho, you know, his wife Vicki, two daughters, his son, uh Richie
meant a lot to many people in the city of Hoboken. Uh like as Councilman Russo said, uh as a teacher, as a principal, as a council member, uh I was elected and Richie was a member of the city council and he taught me a lot about uh
being a council person and always putting constituents first no matter what. And I think he instilled that in me and I think it's something that we definitely still that I still uh practice today. uh and he really was a
quality individual and I think uh you know I think Kenny Kenny we were talking about Richie over the weekend and he was probably one of the best council presidents we ever had. Uh he really knew how to run a meeting and how to shut the public down in a in a in a
wonderful way that was like so polite the public would just say okay Richie thank you. So, but he was uh a classy individual and uh and the St. An's community is going to miss him. Uh a staple in St. An's church and the St.
An's feast is going to be uh have a big hole with that Richard Delbachi hole in the doors as you enter St. An's Church through the Saint Ans festival. So, uh rest in peace Rich, we're going to miss you. And he was also a great council president. Not taking any all due respect. I got to say one thing about
Richie. When he was a council president before the meeting started, take the vote. Transparency is important. Thank you very much. So motion close. Motion to close. All in favor? I. Thank you everyone. Thank you very much. Thank
you, Mr. Freeman. Thank you, Jason. Now, what do you want? Well, I used two days of raining. How did the Knicks? I was going to talk about helicopters. Two games in Boston. Let me tell you, that's scary.
I'm going tell you, that's really scary. Now they're coming to New York, right? For three. Yeah. Or is it two and 11 one? [Music]