Okay, everyone. We're about to get started. If we can find our seats, silence our cell phones as I am doing as well. And if we can close the side doors, the back door. We have the air conditioner off, so it
should not get cold in here tonight. Thank you very much for closing the doors again. If we can find our seats. We're about to get started. >> Okay. Good evening everyone. We are on the record. Today is Wednesday, the 11th day of February in the year 2026. This
is a regular meeting of the Jersey City Municipal Council. We had a scheduled 6 p.m. start. The clock on my cell phone is showing 6:04 p.m. May we have a roll call for the commencement of this meeting. Council person Brooks, >> present.
>> Council person Zupa, here. >> Council person Ephro here. Council Person Little, Council Person Gilmore, >> Council Person Singh >> here, >> Council Person Griffin,
Council Person Lavaro >> here, >> and Council President Ridley >> here. >> We have nine council members in attendance at 6:04 p.m. Can we kindly rise for a moment of silence, please? Evelyn Willer,
Maris Flowers. First chance. Thank you very much on behalf of Council President Ridley and the members of the municipal council in accordance with New Jersey Public Laws of 1975 chapter 231, the Open Public Meetings Act, also known
as the Sunshine Law, adequate notice of this meeting has been provided by the posting on the bulletin board of the first floor of city hall. The annual notice which is the schedule of meetings and caucuses of the municipal council for the calendar year 2026 and filed in the
office of the city clerk on Tuesday, November 25th, 2025. In addition, at its time of its preparation, the agenda of this meeting was similarly disseminated on Friday, February 6, 2026 at 7:05 p.m. to the mayor, municipal council, business administrator, corporation
council, and the newspapers and posted on the city's website so I can certify as to our total compliance with the sunshine law. Just give me one moment. I'm sorry. If I didn't put the batteries in, they wouldn't be able to talk.
Okay. Sorry for that interruption. So, council members, as discussed at the caucus meeting, before we move on to our regular schedule, I'm not going to repeat what he said. Uh, as discussed at the caucus, there
are three items that we need to add to the agenda. They are the last three resolutions on the agenda. First resolution 10.23, resolution 26-065. It's a resolution of the municipal council of the city of Jersey City
expressing opposition to the federal immigration enforcement policies under the current presidential administration calling for the abolition of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, also known as ICE. Item 10.24, 24 city resolution 26-066
is a resolution authorizing the city of Jersey City to apply and accept the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs 2026 local recreation Improvement Grant Program and 10.25 25. Resolution 26-067
is a resolution establishing the rent protection special investigation committee and superseding resolution 25-564. May I have a motion to add items 10.23, 24, and 25 to the agenda? >> I motion.
>> Why don't we wait for um the legal memo? No, that was No, that was the other one. >> Yeah, >> that was for the crane. >> Oh, that was for the Oh, that's already in it. >> Second. >> So, we have a motion made by Council Person Lavaro, seconded by Council Person Zupa. On a motion to add items
10.23 through 10.25, 25. Council person Brooks. >> I. >> Council person Zupa. >> I. >> Council person Efos. >> I. >> Council person Little. >> Hi. >> Council person Gilmore. >> I. >> Council person Singh. >> I. >> Council person Griffin.
>> I. >> Council person Lavaro. >> I. >> And council president Ridley. >> I. >> Motion carries 90 to add items 10.23 through 10.25 25 to the agenda.
Again, before we move we move on. Okay. We'll make sure we get an adjustment before the next meeting. Um, as discussed at the caucus, we were discussing withdrawing item 10.3,
city resolution 26-045. Um, I have a motion to withdraw item 10.3, city resolution 26045 from the agenda, which the motion will be made by council person Ephro. May I have a second? >> Second.
>> Second made by council person Lavaro. On the motion to withdraw item 10.3, city resolution 26-045 from the agenda. Council person Brooks, >> I. >> Council person Zupa. >> Hi. >> Council person Efos. >> Hi.
>> Council person Little. >> Hi. >> Council person Gilmore. >> Hi. >> Council person Singh. >> Hi. >> Council person Griffin. >> I. >> Council person Lavaro. >> Hi. and council president Ridley. >> I.
>> Motion carries 90 to withdraw item 10.3 city resolution 26-45 from the agenda. I believe it's the intention also of the administration to withdraw 10.19 from the agenda. Is that correct,
business administrator? >> That is correct. Thank you, Sean. Okay, I will mark the item withdrawn. I'm sorry for that interruption. Just give me one second.
Sorry about that, ladies and gentlemen. Okay, >> Sean. >> Yes, >> before we continue, just I just wanted to get some clarification for myself. I the resolution that was withdrawn 10.3 was voted on by the council, but the the other one is not. What's the
distinction? >> So, yes. So, the distinction is the council is making the motion to withdraw 10.3. The administration was making the suggestion to be withdrawn on 10.19, >> but the council doesn't have to withdraw it.
>> The council does not have to act unless the administration was not withdrawing 10.19. Then the council would have to make a motion to withdraw. >> The administration has the um the authority to withdraw any item from the agenda with the exception of a second reading ordinance
>> in in case the council wanted to keep it on and vote on it. Would that be possible to override with >> You could do that. You would have to make a motion to place it back on the agenda since the administration uh withdrew the item.
>> Okay. As a late item and that would require six out of nine votes >> in order for that to be added back on. I don't believe you need six votes on that. I don't think so. >> Yeah. I'm not sure about the six votes, but for clarification purposes, this is a duplicate item. That's why we're
withdrawing it. Understood for this case. Thank you. Yes. >> I just wanted to understand procedurally. >> Of course. All right. With that being said, >> I have a motion to defer to items 10.4,
4 10.5 and 10.9 which are the resolutions appointing our finance director our director corporation council and director of law department and our finance director also being acting chief financial officer
I have a motion to defer to items 10.45 four, five, and nine. >> Second. >> Motion made by council person Gilmore, seconded by council person Zupa. On the motion to defer to items 10.4,5
and nine. Council person Brooks. >> I. >> Council person Zupa. >> I. >> Council person Ephro. >> Hi. >> Council person Little. >> Hi. >> Council person Gilmore. >> I. >> Council person Singh. >> Hi. >> Council person Griffin. >> I. Council President Lavaro
>> I. >> And Council President Ridley >> I. >> Motion carries 90 to defer to items 10.45 and 9. We'll do them individually if that's okay with the council.
So the first resolution 10.4 resolution 26-046 is a resolution approving the appointment of William Vaker as director of the department of finance. We can go right to the vote. Council
members, if you're ready to vote, >> yes. >> Okay. Council person Brooks. >> I. >> Council person Zupa. >> Hi. >> Council person Efos. >> Hi. >> Council person Little. >> Hi.
>> Council person Gilmore. Make sure your mic is on. >> I. >> There you go. Council person sing. I congratulations will >> council person Griffin >> I council person Lavaro
I'll also offer my congratulations to both the appointees and um you know the first two appointees from the administration um speak volume speak highly of the administration and um are a good start and a good direction for the city of Jersey City and some really
qualified professionals um heading up our finance department and the the law department I voted today and council president Ridley >> I congratulations >> city resolution 26-046 is approved unanimously 90
congratulations okay next we're going in order is 10 5 city resolution 26- 047 is a resolution approving the appointment of
Sarah M. Lavine as corporation council and director of the department of law. Council person Brooks >> I person Zuba. >> Hi. >> Council person Efos. >> Hi. And I'm excited to continue working
with you, sir. It's great. Congrats. >> Council person Little. >> Hi. And congratulations. >> Council person Gilmore. I >> Council Person Singh >> I Congratulations Miss Lavine
>> Council Person Griffin >> I congratulations council person Lavaro >> I'll reiterate what I said but uh congratulations looking forward to working with you and I'm going to uh
test you on that uh separation of powers every meeting. Thanks. I vote I was waiting for his vote. I was like, whoa. And Council President Ridley, >> I congratulations.
>> City resolution 26-047 is approved unanimously. 90. Congratulations. She was going up. Uh, >> nice. >> All right, going in the order. Next is item 10.9, city resolution
26-051 is a resolution approving the appointment of William Vakura as acting chief financial officer. Council person Brooks >> for one. Congratulations. I >> council person Zupa. I
>> council person Ephro >> I reiterating this is uh not an additional paid position. This is an additional title to do additional work uh as as we desperately need it. So hi >> council person. >> Hi and congratulations
>> council person Gilmoreation. Well you you on the hot seat. Welcome aboard. Oh, I >> they're making you sweat already, Bill. You know, I don't understand it. Council person sing.
>> I And good luck, Bill. >> Council person Griffin. >> Bill, there's a lot on your plate, but um I'm pretty confident you'll help us through this. So, I vote I. Congratulations, >> Council Person Lavaro. I
>> I'll just um offer congratulations and condolences. $254 million budget crisis and um looking forward to working with you uh and um on behalf of the people of Jerry City and solving this problem. I vote I
>> thank you and council president Ridley. >> I vote I. Congratulations. >> City resolution 26-051 is approved unanimously 90. Congratulations again. All right,
now that we got all of that done with, now on to our regular order of business. If you would allow me to read the first readings in, excuse me, into the record. Item 3.1, city ordinance 26-00006,
is an ordinance authorizing the use of up to 3% of payroll taxes collected to be used on administrative expenses and a waiver for entities subject to outofstate payroll tax in the ordinance with recent changes to New Jersey law.
Item 3.2, 2. City Ordinance 26-00007 is a franchise ordinance granting permission to Ever Westside Square LLC for the installation of a lit protective Ballard at lot 30.01
in block 9301 qualifier 1, also known as 1075 Westside Avenue into the right of way. Next item 3.3, city ordinance 26-008
is an ordinance of the Jersey City Municipal Council amending Jersey City Land Development Ordinance, Chapter 345, Article 1, Section 6 Definitions, Chapter 345, Article 5, Section 62, Residential Design Standards, and
Chapter 345, Article 5, Section 63, Non-residential Design Standards. So, council members, >> Sean, >> before before I ask for a vote, okay, I just want our corporation council just to address the question that was asked
at the caucus regarding if there's any law that prevents this council on introducing an ordinance that was vetoed by the previous administration. >> No. >> Thank you. >> Thank you.
>> With that being said, >> well, one second, Sean. >> Sure. Go ahead, council president. Um the council did receive uh some late communication from uh people on both sides of the arguments for 3.3. Councilwoman Little uh has a few words
to say in some of the correspondence she received. Um and we may be looking to hold off on this until we can meet with both sides, but I'll let Councilwoman Little explain. >> Sure. Thank you so much. Um so you know
we this ordinance 3.3 is the bird safe buildings ordinance. Um you know our perception was that it was with the planning department and that they would possibly you know bring it review it and
bring it to us. Um I think all of my council colleagues and myself were surprised to see it on the agenda Friday. um the advocates on both sides of the issue had not seen it were and they were also surprised to see it on the agenda when the agenda was
published Friday. Um and then at Caucus when planning was explaining to it they actually have some changes that they would like to see made um based on their staffing and their capacity. And um so I you know we I think had considered um
carrying this to the next meeting but I think after discussion um I I think we will make a concerted effort to meet with the advocates on both sides of this issue and um we will have a lot of homework to do the next two weeks but I
think we can introduce it this week and amend it at the second reading. So, I just want to make sure I understood that. Uh, are we moving forward with introducing it tonight? >> We're introducing it tonight, but stating the intention that um it will be amended at the second reading.
>> Okay. We just um explained for the council in terms of amendments on second reading. Um, will it will we be able to vote on it as amended on second reading or will it uh
require an additional public hearing? >> I I would ask that we whatever amendments we have, we review with the law department to make sure they're not substantial changes. Um, because then kind of what Councilman Lavar is alluding to, we might have to go back to
first read if the changes are substantial. Please correct me if I'm wrong. Uh, law Correct. Council president. >> Okay. Okay. So, before they make that amendment, they will definitely check with the law department so we'll know which way we're going on next meeting.
>> But if they are substantial changes, then we could still continue with the ordinance. We would just have to do another first reading and then the second reading. Correct. >> That is correct. >> Okay. Um I am not sure. I am not an attorney, so I'm not sure what your your
um assessment will be, but we will work with the we will work to get the amendments to you in a timely fashion and um go from there. >> Thanks. >> Okay, Sean. >> All right, with that being said, I'm
going to be taking a vote on items 3.1 through 3.3. Council person Brooks, >> I on all. Council person Zupa >> put eye on all just for 3.3 um already have meetings scheduled with
advocates both in housing and for the ordinance and I'm not satisfied with the information we got yesterday that it won't increase cost to for building uh and there was a concern that one of the affordable housing projects we have in Journal Square at 701 New York wouldn't receive the tax credits it would uh with
with if some of the ordinance uh items were introduced. So, I just want to work on that before the second reading. >> Council person Ephro, >> I'll vote I on all. And I'll just note that one thing at caucus yesterday, we spilled out with 3.1 is that we're
getting estimates of what we have collected uh in terms of payroll tax the city so far. So, looking forward to having that information out there. And I also feel confident with 3.3 um we'll be able to make this work and um achieve the environmental protection standards
we want to ion council person >> um you know I stated before my intention to work with my colleagues and um introduce amendments uh to 3.3 because I think after hearing from the planning
department as well as advocates it's maybe not exactly where it needs to Um, that being said, I do very much support having a bird safe buildings ordinance on the books. Uh, we are at a really important place on the Atlantic flyway and the birds are a very important part of our ecosystem and um,
you know, I I want to make sure that we're doing this in a way that um, doesn't hurt affordability and also doesn't overburden the planning department. So um I vote I for introduction on all of them uh with my intention to work with my colleagues on
amending 3.3. Thank you. >> Council person Gilmore >> I for introduction. >> Council person Singh >> I for three of them. >> Council person Griffin >> I on all. Council President Lavaro,
>> I for introduction. >> And Council President Ridley, >> I for introduction. >> Items 3.1 through 3.3 are introduced unanimously. 90. On to our first second reading ordinance. Item 4.1, city ordinance
26-001 is an ordinance amending chapter 3, administration of government, article 11, Department of Public Works, sub article 1, division of police, and chapter 160 fee schedule established. Subsection 7 fees for the Department of
Public Works of the Municipal Code to reform the offduty and public works rental for nonprofit and cultural events. This is a public hearing on this ordinance and I see Ivonne Bolser. Just give me one second, Ivon, so I can get
the camera on you and we'll start your time when you're ready. >> Okay. I read this ordinance and I understand this is about sharing cost with these ethnic parades, but this is a problem with this ordinance. It doesn't
explain how much money the city will spend for the year. We should know this by comparing previous years when we had parades. Jersey City is looking at a major tax increase. When the mayor said it is $254
million that we're in a hole, that is similar to what the board of ed lost when they lost state aid and the school taxes doubled. So I my problem is this. You should pull this. We work it and say
we're going to have x number of parades and it should be a somewhat dollar amount. I mean it is just too loose. This is how we get into trouble. We don't have a tight enough financial course attached to things. It is very vague. You could have 10 parades. You
could have 50 parades. What will this cost? What will the city spend? You know the bottom line? And since we're in this uh this crisis, we can't um be this way. This is a the slippery slope happens because of resolutions, I mean
ordinances like this. I'm my suggestion, redo it, come back. You want to parade, fine. Put a dollar amount on saying we're not going to go above this amount of money. Thank you very much. >> Thank you so much. This is still a public hearing on city ordinance and I
on city ordinance 26 D001 and I see Mr. Perkins. >> Yes. >> May I ask question um the administration >> if that's possible? >> Yes. >> Oh, Peter stepped out. Okay. I guess I can ask afterward. So, sorry.
>> Council members, if I'm sorry to interrupt if we can just hold the public hearing and if we have questions after the public hearing, we can ask them before we actually take a vote. >> Understood. Thanks, Sean. >> You're welcome. >> Just about this ordinance. >> I'm sorry, Edward. I'm sorry. I got to get the camera back on you and I'm going
to set your time. >> Thank you. >> Ready to go. >> Just about this ordinance in general, this is an issue for many of us in the community. So, please um just remember that you know the deal is now that it's
unaffordable. So, safety is first, but there should be some option that we all um can agree to. I think you um should think outside of the box too. Like I see reform the offduty police, you know, um
offduty police officers, but how about having police officers that have issues um with uh disciplinary records? How about thinking outside of the box on how we hire or how we attain uh police officers to cover different
races or or marathons, different events, parades, so forth and so on. Like we need new ideas and we should never pay $100 an an hour for a police officer. I would like to see what we're
going to do considering we're in a $250 million deficit. But that being it, think outside of the box. You ought to know, which many of you probably already do, nonprofits, this is a disservice to us. If you're here now
serving us, it should be a priority to you all to ensure that different races and ethnicities and so forth and so on that we are represented throughout our city. and you, we all come together to make sure that there's funding for us to be able to represent our communities and
to be able to celebrate our communities equally. And thank you. >> This is still a public hearing on city ordinance 26-001 and I see Philip Carrington. >> Good evening.
I want to give my support for this ordinance is long overdue and well needed. You see, it is more than just policing. If you have if you ask a nonprofit
organization to pay $150 or $100 an hour for police for 4 hours, it depends on the size of that organization. In other words, you can pay $7,000 just for policing alone.
And so I I think it's important that the city assist us in some of that cost. Many or nonprofit organizations that had and plan to have cultural events
does not have the wherewithal to raise a lot of money to pay these fees. And so this is extremely important. No, you can't give an ex exact number of how much the city is going to pay. It depends on how long the event is going
to be and how many police or how many uh different people from different agencies needs to attend. Most organizations are not big. I run a cultural event myself. Most of
it is done on my property. But if I did it and which I plan to do in the streets, the hours sometimes would be four, six or eight hours. And so uh my cost would vary from other
people costs. This is long overdue. when the former administration would take money and give it to Pompido for just one
organization millions of dollars and no one had no complaint. I was complaining about that all the time how unfair it was. And I'm pleased to see that this administration decided to just cut Pompeo out. It's not needed, but this is
needed in these different departments. And so I want to support this wholeheartedly. Thank you. >> Thank you. This is still a public hearing on city ordinance 26-001.
Any other member of the public wishing to be heard, please come up to the podium and state your name for the record. >> Motion. >> Second. Motion to close the public hearing was made by council person Gilmore and seconded by council person Lavaro
on city ordinance 26-001. Council person Brooks. >> I uh think the >> this is to close the public hearing. >> To close the public hearing. I >> no problem. Council person Zupa. Hi.
>> Council person Ephos. Hi. Council person Little. >> I. >> Council person Gilmore. >> Hi. >> Council Person Sing. >> I. >> Council person Griffin. >> I. >> Council person Labaro. >> I.
>> And council president Ridley. >> I. >> Motion to close the public hearing on city ordinance 26-001 is approved. 90. So, >> Councilman Nethos has a question.
>> Yeah. Um, Peter's still not back. >> Well, let's let him get his question out and if it's something the law department can answer, then we'll take it from there. If not, then I would ask Sean that we uh defer and move on to 4.2 and come back to the vote on 4.1.
Th >> Thank you. I don't I don't know that this is going to sway my vote too too much, but I just did want to acknowledge um Miss Von Balser's question. I appreciate the the question about the cost. Um I recall seeing a figure that it would be based on previous years uh
like parades and and cultural events. This would be around $500,000 that the city would spend in a year. Um and I just wanted to get verification that that was like the ballpark figure that the city was estimating. We'll have to wait for the
administration to come back to answer that. >> Okay. >> Okay. So, as spoken at the caucus meeting, there's a couple of typographic errors that were made on this ordinance. I don't know if you
would want to move to amend the ordinance while we're still waiting for Peter. Um I won't ask for a final vote until Peter is able to answer your question, council person efforts. But if you're willing to uh make the amendments
on the ordinance, it's just two typographical errors that were uh one on page one and one on page three. >> I'll make the motion. >> Second. So, Council Person Lavaro is making a motion to amend city ordinance
26-001 and seconded by Council Person Ephro. And the amendment is basically on page one. Underline special cultural events include cultural and other neighborhood festivities, festival, parades that
receive a permit from cultural affairs. one. Uh number 12 is stricken out and it should be number 11 on and on page three. Compensation for crossing guards
calling for pedestrian safety $10 an hour is crossed out completely. And these changes, just so we're clear on the record, these are not substantial changes. Correct. Corporation council.
>> That's correct. Thank you. So on the motion to amend city ordinance 26-001, council person Brooks >> I. >> Let's just go through the motion and then we'll get the question answered. Council person Zupa. >> I for the amendment.
>> I'm sorry. >> I >> Oh, thank you. Council person Efos. >> I to amend. >> Council person Little. I to amend. >> Council person Gilmore. >> I. >> Council person Singh. >> I. >> Council person Griffin.
>> Uh, so with this amendment, are we changing the figure? >> We are only making amendments. >> We're just >> scratching it out. >> Scratching. >> Okay. I, >> Council Person Lavaro. >> I.
>> And Council President Ridley. >> I. Motion carries 900 to amend city ordinance 26-00001. So before I ask for final consideration, council person Efos, if you would be kind enough just to restate your
question to our business administrator. >> Sure. >> Thank you. I just wanted to get verification. I thought I had seen a figure that the estimated cost for supporting these cultural events through this ordinance uh would be something around $500,000 per year based on
previous uh years um events, but I just wanted to verify is that is that a ballpark that the city's using? >> I don't know if that's a ballpark how much the city would spend. I think that might be a ballpark more how much the parades and things have collectively cost us. Um, obviously we're only paying
50 50 or 25% depending on the size of the parade. So I think it would be less than that. Um, but that's probably a ballpark as far as what the total cost would be for us. >> Understood. Okay. So it would be well >> total cost for the the all the parades collectively what their gross cost would
be. >> Okay. And I I mean I think and then I also think a good benchmark for us will be able to see how much we expended in the first year. Um because I would imagine just from a logistic standpoint
each parade is going to be different. The duration you know how much security is needed at um each. But I do think that is that is a good question um to try to home in on what is the financial burden especially
in today's climate where we're trying to you know try to save as much as possible and still make sure we enjoy our um cultural festivities. Um, and there's also an element too that's kind of like a a hidden form of revenue is businesses
will be able to generate money and subsequently those businesses will pay taxes on the money they receive. >> Absolutely. And to your point councilman, we do have a new public safety director and team. So how those paid staff might change as well, which also may affect the cost of city that we
were previously charged and the, you know, the organizer of those events as well as the cost of be going forward. >> Thank you. Uh Sean, question. This information, can this be attached um to the information that's provided
with the ordinance after it's voted on? >> What What information are you actually looking for to be attached? >> Like the um the amounts that the city is willing to um pay or the past
the past amounts that were paid. We could get you historical figures for the gross amount that were invoiced to those entities, but I don't think the city has an exact dollar amount that they're willing to pay. I think it's based on the formula in the ordinance. >> Can you include it with this ordinance
>> to the clerk? Can you include that historical information to with the ordinance? >> I can provide the clerk a copy. It might, you know, full might take me a few days to get it. I have to rely on culture affairs over to provide the documents to it and have someone go through them. a lot of manual you know calculations there and review but yes I
can get the information to the clerk. >> Thank you. >> So once I receive the information from the business administrator I will attach it to the ordinance for all the council to see and all the members of the public. And if I could just for for the
record um that that figure is was quoted around half a million dollars or so, but my my recollection or at the press conference that the mayor did on this was that the actual cost of the city would be less than $100,000
um based on historical figures. So uh but it would be good to have that on the record and included with the Okay. And and just could we request regular updates throughout the year on the cost
to the city, maybe a quarterly update just so we we can kind of keep check on how much this is costing because, you know, less than $100,000 sounds reasonable to make sure that we can, you know, support our cultural events. >> So, I'll convol that convey that to the
office of cultural affairs. >> I really appreciate that. Thank you. >> All right, council members. So, the final consideration and adoption of city ordinance 26-001 as amended. Council person Brooks.
Uh before I vote, I just want to say thank you for making the changes. Um and with regard to the three-year cycle, I believe that we're in the third year um calculating from 2014. So, I vote I thank you,
>> Council President Zupa. It's important that we celebrate the diversity that makes this city great. Uh, and we all show up to the parades, wave our flags, take our pictures as politicians, but then we can't charge $20,000 to nonprofit groups or holding events. And and I do want to note this isn't making
the parades free for people. It's just limiting the costs to something more reasonable so that we can celebrate those events. Uh, something the city should look into though is is ways to um alleviate the cost to the city. ways of doing that is hiring class two police officers. We're hiring the officers
through our special improvement districts, which is at a lower rate than the annual the usual overtime rate. So, our our public safety won't miss out on on working and being compensated, but it'll be at a rate that uh is is is associated with nonprofit groups. I vote
I council person. >> I look forward to proliferation of amazing cultural events on top of the amazing ones we already have. So I vote I council person Little.
>> I very much recognize the need to make these events affordable for a wide variety of cultural groups that form the heart of Jersey City. Um, I also
uh would like to echo Councilman Efas's request that we get quarterly updates on the on the um cost to the city. Um, but I am happy to vote I. Thank you, >> Council Person Gilmore. >> Yes. Um, I think this is a good
ordinance. So I think whenever we can really let individual cultural groups acknowledge their heritage is a chance for us to come together. It's a chance for us to learn new things. Um but I do want to say this. I will be, you know,
watching a financial report then watching groups who are acting as nonprofit but they're making money. Um because we want to do two things. One, we want to make sure these cultural events take place. We also want to make sure you know people are not taking
advantage of the reduced rates and things of that nature. So I proudly vote I and we bringing the MLK parade back. >> Council person sing >> as an event organizer. Uh this makes me
really happy and excited. Few more events from us but uh this is exciting. I have seen lot of organizations especially not forprofit struggling organizing events. So that will open doors for them and I vote I
council person Griffin. >> Over the years I watched uh many nonprofits struggle um with their uh parades and events. Um, so hopefully this will help uh bring back the
excitement and and you know the the community spirit from these events like the MLK parade, West Indian parade. So I vote I council person Lavaro. >> I think it's important to um recognize
how we how we got here. Uh so the the prior administration um rather than uh collecting revenues and taxes or payroll or or whatever the case might be um to make sure that our
budget was balanced um nickel and dimed hardworking people in Jersey City um and it nickel or dime was a big big deal a big big amount of money right so these cultural groups who are largely volunteerrun um had to be were were being levied with
huge fees um that literally cancelled some parades and festivals um that were volunteer-run um and celebrations for a lot of cultural communities in Jersey City um or pushed them out to to uh do do their event within a walking around a
park in a circle basically, right? So, um, so we we're the most diverse city in the entire nation, and we want to be able to celebrate all of that. Um, and celebrate our our diversity. Um, and, uh, um, and we don't want to do it on the back of those, uh, those hardworking
communities that are, um, just trying to do, uh, celebrate our cultures here in Jersey City and their cultures, our cultures. Um, so um, so that's how we got here. and this is correcting that.
That being said, the uh the uh the the questions raised given the circumstances are different today than they were um under uh the previous administration. Um and we do have a budget crisis and so I hear those calls
and so um I think there are things that we can do and Councilman Zupa with regard to class two officers um is definitely uh one particular option. Um but just at yesterday's caucus, we talked about um a dedicated fund uh for
uh matching grants. This is essentially like a matching fund um to these cultural organizations. And we have a matching fund for that. And so I don't see why we can't establish a matching fund and budget appropriately to make sure that we're not um overspending here
and have the controls. I think that's a a reasonable thing to ask um from the public. Um, I'm not going to hold this up and um I definitely want to support the the communities to keep it moving forward. Um, but I promise that uh I'll I'll bring back an ordinance that will uh um establish such a fund um so that
we're making sure that we're budgeting accordingly around this and uh um and safeguarding taxpayers dollars. Um with that I vote I. >> Council President Ridley >> I. City Ordinance 26-001
is adopted unanimously 90 as amended. On to our next second reading ordinance. Item 4.2, City Ordinance 26-00002 is an ordinance supplementing chapter 332, Vehicles and Traffic, article 9, parking for the disabled of the Jersey
City Code, designating a reserved parking space at various locations throughout the city. This is a public hearing on this ordinance. Any member of the public wishing to be heard, please come up to the podium and state your name for the record. I see Philip Carrington.
Yeah, quickly I just want to say uh there is a law or something of the sort that only a certain amount is supposed to be given handicap in certain areas. On Garfield Avenue, there's an excess
amount. I think three or four within two blocks and I think that is um is unfair and it is not according to your your laws and I would I'm not against handicap. I'm against the abuse of getting handicapped in that area. There
is an excess amount enough say. >> Thank you. This is still a public hearing on city ordinance 26-002. Any member of the public wishing to be heard please come up to the podium and state your name for the record. Motion >> second. >> Motion to close the public hearing on
city ordinance 26-002 was made by council person Gilmore. Seconded by council person Zupa. On the motion to close a public hearing on city ordinance 26-002. Council person Brooks. >> I. >> Council person Zupa. >> I.
>> Council person Ephro. >> Hi. >> Council person Little. >> I. >> Council person Gilmore. >> Hi. >> Council person Singh. >> Hi. >> Council person Griffin. >> Hi. Council Person Labaro >> I. >> And council president Ridley. >> I. >> Motion carries 90 to close the public
hearing on city ordinance 26-002 for final consideration and adoption of city ordinance 26-002. Council person Brooks. >> I. >> Council person Zupa. >> Hi. >> Council person Ephro. >> I. >> Council person Little. Hi.
>> Council person Gilmore. >> I. >> Council person Singh. I. Council Person Griffin, Council Person Laboro, >> I, >> and Council President Ridley, >> I. >> City Ordinance 26-002
is adopted unanimously, 90. Our next second reading ordinance, item 4.3, city ordinance 26-004. It's an ordinance authorizing the acceptance of block 1612 lot 3, more commonly known by the
street address of 95 Morgan Street from 95 Morgan Street Development LLC as discussed as discussed at at the caucus. Sorry. >> Sorry. >> It's okay. Um, we were discussing a motion to carry this ordinance to the
February 25th municipal council meeting. Um, Council Person Little uh needs to receive a environmental report if I remember correctly. And once we have that, we'll move forward with the ordinance. And what I'll do is I'll
advertise it for a public hearing again on February 25th. So with that with that motion, I'm going to give the motion first to Council Person Little and give the second to Council Person Gilmore to be fair. On the motion to carry city ordinance
26-004 to the February 25th municipal council meeting. Council person Brooks >> I. >> Council person Zupa. >> I. >> Council person Ephro. >> Hi. >> Council person Little. >> Hi. >> Council person Gilmore. >> I.
>> Council person Singh. >> Hi. >> Council person Griffin. >> Hi. >> Council person Lavaro. >> Hi. and council president Ridley. >> I >> motion carries 90 to carry city ordinance 26-004
to the February 25th municipal council meeting. On to our last second reading ordinance item 4. Somebody say something. >> Okay. >> Yeah, >> I'm hearing things now. Item 4.4 city ordinance 26-00005.
It's a franchise ordinance granting permission to 20 VW LLC by man by managing member Hang Wang Zang. I'm I'm mispronouncing that. I apologize. allowing the installation of concrete stairs that extend into the
right of way beyond the boundary lines of lot 38 block 12003 and are for the benefit of lot 38 block 12003 commonly known as 20 bandwagon Avenue Jersey City New Jersey. This is a
public hearing on this ordinance. Any member of the public wishing to be heard? >> Motion. >> Wait wait wait. standing >> second. >> Hey, Philip Carrington. >> Go ahead, Phil. >> I just need clarity on this and any
ordinance or any um easement given to anyone using part of the sidewalk. So, my question then is how much of the sidewalk really are you supposed to use? Now, the sidewalk is my property. It is just uh uh made into law to give people
uh a pathway to prevent them from walking into the street. But some sidewalks are 12 ft, some is 15, some is less. If you take off, if a person have 12 ft and you take off 3T to
make a step for that building, is that incorrect or is it proper? In other words, how much space is allowed for walking on the sidewalk?
Let's be clear. The sidewalk is owned by the the property owner. According to meets and bounds, your meats start from the the curb and bound to wherever else is end. So the sidewalk is our properties. I have to fight people all
the time, every day. You know that to tell me the sidewalk is my it is my property. It is my property. All right. But of course, the city and the property owner has an agreement, but the pro the sidewalk is mine. So, I just need
clarity as to how much space is needed for egress because that's the purpose for the sidewalk to prevent people from walking into the streets and obstructing the buses or vehicles. Can I get an answer to that?
>> Mr. car you up but that's all right. >> Yeah. So this was the second reading. At the first reading I I had asked this questions. Anytime there's a franchise it means that there's um private property extending onto public property. At this particular address at
20 Van Wagon uh the house is already above the sidewalk. This property is not abuting any more than it already does. It's just because they're doing a renovation. They had to come to the city to get a franchise agreement. Previously, the houses already were in the uh their boundary extended into the
public right away and there's no further extension of of um onto the sidewalk of of private property. >> So, this is just temporarily. >> No, no, no. I meaning if you look along the row of houses, there's a there's stairs here, there's stairs in the next house. Uh there's no further extension
than the stairwell stairways to the next next house, for example. >> Okay. >> Question Nancy. Okay, this is still a public hearing on city ordinance 26-005. Any member of the public still wish to be heard, please come up to the podium
and state your name for the record. >> Motion. >> Motion to close the public hearing on city ordinance 26-005 was made by council person Gilmore. May I have a second? >> Second. >> Second by council president Ridley.
On the motion to close the public hearing on city ordinance 26 day 005. Council person Brooks >> I. >> Council person Zupa. >> I. >> Council person Ephro. >> Hi. >> Council person Little. >> Hi. >> Council person Gilmore. >> I. >> Council person Singh.
>> Hi. >> Council person Griffin. >> I. >> Council person Lavaro. >> I. >> And council president Ridley. >> I. Motion carries 9 to close the public hearing on city ordinance 26-00005 for final consideration and adoption of
city ordinance 260005. Council person Brooks >> I. >> Council person Zupa. >> I. >> Council person Efos. >> I. >> Council person Little. >> I. >> Council person Gilmore. >> I. >> Council person Singh.
>> I. >> Council person Griffin. >> I. Council Person Lavaro. >> Hi. >> And Council President Ridley. >> I. >> City ordinance 26-005 is adopted unanimously. 90.
All right, ladies and gentlemen, we're going to go on to our public request for a hearing. Please pay close attention to your agenda if you are present. And if you are watching at home, uh reminder that I'll be calling the the name the number and the first name of that
individual and they have three minutes to speak. So with that being said, first speaker 5.1 Lever. >> Good evening, council. I'm sorry I missed your first council meeting, but two weeks ago I fell on the ice in front
of my door. I hope hurt my whole right side, but I thank God I can still get around. And I'm here tonight pleading for help. I called Councilman Gilmore on last week. Uh Tommy got the G valid gas
station on uh Garfield on Carter Wreck called me about a hotel in Mid Manhattan which is a Marriott that's being redone and he found it not robbery to offer me the furniture. The furniture each floor
they doing 30 rooms at a time with king and queen I'm sending these pictures to you. King and queen bed. Can somebody take this? They can start looking at. It's king and queen beds. It's a desk and chair, television, mirrors, nicely.
This is Mid Manhattan Marriott. It ain't no garbage. I gave away so far about 30 rooms. Uh uh Jerry Walker let me use part of his uh place on Pacific where he have his
school but I only had a weekend hair cuz he's getting ready to start another class but people came from bag wagon and car people needed furniture and the lady cried she said miss thank you she was sleeping on the floor and I
gave her two beds the TV nightstands the beautiful lamps front chain no garbage cuz I can't afford to stay in that area and I'm a Marriott member. But I'm pleading tonight cuz I got a hund more rooms of furniture and television stuff to come
to this city for me out of Manhattan Marriott. But I have to find a location. They give me a floor at a time cuz they be doing each floor. They did one floor and about another week they're going to start the second floor. And people
really appreciated this furniture from all walks of life. They were just saying, "Thank you. I'm getting calls for more furniture from all over this city. So, I need a location where I can free I with Councilman Gilmore. I
reached out to him and looking for like a storefront, a warehouse. This fund is in good shape and is needed. You'd be surprised who we have blessed in this city that needs this furniture. They got the TV, the
nightstand, coffee tables, a desk and chair. I needed a TV stand. I got one. I got a 7 in TV for the holiday. I got nowhere to put it. And God bless me. One look like this. Solid wood, beautiful stuff. Nice gold chairs and everything.
So, I'm pleading with you guys tonight. I need your help for this city. It ain't for me if I have to keep one of my developers like Green Plumbing Tommy that gave me the furniture out there. >> Then leash the plates and pay this stuff
need to be welcome to our city to give our people. >> Thank you Leverne >> and thank you. >> Appreciate your time. >> Our next speaker 5.2 Gina Good evening, Gina Davidson. I'm a resident of WB B. I'm active in the community and on council, but I'm
speaking on my own behalf as a resident tonight. Since 2023, we have been saying justice for Drew. Justice for Drew. And now we are also saying justice for
Tesan Rogers. And so today I'm here to talk to you about accountability and legacy. And I want to thank folks from the outgoing council like Mr. Gilmore who did things like hold our public safety
director accountable. Thank you for the work that you do. And thank you to Mr. Solomon as well for remaining independent on the previous council. And I love that you all here are ready to go and the good energy that I'm
feeling in the room and feeling uh in the city. And yet, I still want to ask you all to take the time to look back at the cautionary tale that was most of the previous city council.
I would encourage you to look back at the recordings of the last few meetings. Residents, we got up and we said, "We are not okay. You failed us in the following ways. We wish you had heard us. We are struggling with housing. We
are struggling with jobs. We are struggling with so many things. And we wish you had heard us and believed us when we said all is not well in Jersey City. Gentrification is not progress. And the majority of outgoing council as
always ignored us. They patted each other on the shoulders and kept saying, "Well, this job just wasn't easy. It's not easy to sit up here and make decisions for the city, decisions that affect people's lives. Well, that's what you're signing up for.
And so, I want you all to think about how people will remember you, your legacy. Because I talk to people in Jersey City every day through my work in animal rescue and beyond, and the outgoing council and mayor will not be remembered fondly. They will be remembered for a
$250 million deficit. Amy Deiz will be remembered as the council person who hit somebody with her bike and left the scene and whose father got her off so she could continue to serve on council. Mr. Rivera will be remembered as
somebody who didn't like to show up to council meetings. Mr. Cle will be remembered as a sickopant for Mayor Steven Trump who continued to say that the residents don't know what what's good for them. We need the Pompadoo. Well, now we have $30 million in debt to
consultants for that Pompadoo project. Thank you. Our next speaker 5.3 Tina All right. Justice for Drill. First of first of all, yes, I do work for Education of Gilmore, but I'm speaking upon myself. Let's do that again.
Justice for Drew. >> I want to thank everyone who had called me when I did that election. That election was something else of me going through. First of all, I just want to thank God for my boss for stepping out there because I went to I went on a team
that I thought that was a team, but I guess when you lose, you forget about your team and I end up having to call my boss for help. So, I want to thank you and showed you what type of loyalty you was for coming back out there to help me because the person I was running with left me and that messed me up, but you
came to help me. So, that just show how honest you was of that situation. Um, also I want to say to y'all, we can all line up and let's go to New York so we can get our money back from Steve and have a sign at his job and say, "Give us our money." Let's keep the families in
prayers in New York. A lot of family lost their life through the coldness of the warmth of how cold it was inside of New York and all over here in Jersey City. I just wanted to thank everyone who took a part of riding around with me
at nighttime to make sure we didn't have anyone outside. The reason why we was riding around because we deal with homeless. They come to me for blankets, coats, and cover. So, we wanted to make sure we brought them to the warm space
so they wouldn't get cold. So, we wouldn't have the same problem like New York had. We did have problems with landlords that y'all need to get it together. It's not y'all fault. We already know why they came here. But we need to make some type of rules so the water won't break, the heat won't go
off, and the people won't continue to complain about their apartment. Also, I want to give you something, Sean. This is for Mike Griffin. This is for Mr. Denise. And this is for education of Gilmore. This is for because they took the small business away from our
community. This is one of the person who did small business in our community and was very upset because it made our community feel like we was going somewhere and someone was helping us. So, I just want y'all just to look around and just see and help out not only small business but the nonprofits.
Y'all already know, Miss Denise, you gave me my first award. Um, you looked over your area to give me my my award to make sure that nonprofits continue to help out in the community. So, I just want y'all to make sure that the nonprofits get some type of help because we are the ones with the boots on the
ground. Everyone know me. They reach out to me. So, I just want to make sure. Sean, please get this out. And one for you, too. >> Sean, is that vegetarian by the Je? >> Thank you, Tina. Council President, I'd like to make a comment. So, uh to to the
administration, um Kristen, if we can follow up with the administration, um through this most recent cold spell, would like to get um a report on uh the number of people
utilizing our warming centers. Um we we'll put put together a whole request of uh kind of data points to look for. Um, and uh get a get a sense of uh you know New York as uh Tina pointed
out uh a lot of people a lot of people died in this cold. I'm curious uh I'd like to know what what those numbers were in Jersey City. I was thinking about that myself. So, okay. Thank you.
Okay. Our next speaker 5.4 Phillip Council President Wley members of the city council and Phil Carrington it's good to see new faces out there and I hope that this is a purge because
the last group was so wicked and corrupt. I uh tried to sue the mayor. I hope that I was hoping that Celt got locked up before he he left the office and I I am not saying it now. You know, I've said that over and over and no one
looked at the facts when I was speaking, but now the the new mayor is looking at something the same things I was saying. The guy's a rogue and his whole administration went rogue. I say to his face, behind his back, wherever, you know, I tell the truth and I don't just come here to waste time. Anybody would
tell you I have a source from everything I say and everything I do. And to back it up, I take you all to court and present the facts. But the law department was so wicked. I hope that this new law department would change as well. Uh Philip Edman and the others uh
there come to court refuse to ask a single question discovery. 14 months not a single question in discovery. And then well operating bad fat. I'm a black man. We don't say operating bad fing like hell. They know that. And I told him that. So I just hope that this new
administration will just change. That's all I'm asking for. I ask you for fair play. You know that. Why? Because I've said over and over, Jersey City have two laws, one white, one black, separate, and unequal. And every time I come here
with the facts, I can't get a hearing. And it's nothing more disheartened than I have a license and permit to do business. and William O'Donnell and Christine Goodman called the police to stop the event. I just came here to ask
you all a simple question. What law say you can have a license and a permit? And then the city put you out of business. Couldn't get a hearing over and over. But then the the the ridiculous administrations, Steve Phillip, Joyce Vadma, uh Christine
Goodman, they all jump on the plane and went to France to hold a hearing for the pompadon people. again I just asked for 13 minutes and he didn't even have to answer give me 13 minutes just answer simple question they didn't answer that question at all went to court they
wouldn't even answer that question and so that's why he's saying that uh Philip Edman and Melissa Mars and all of those that was in that case need to be disciplined because the statements that they make is untrue is no law that you can have a license with a city state um
seal on it and a permit and then you pay the insurance and you can't operate a court and lie. I'm telling you, I have a transcript to back it up. I don't see anything without facts to back it up. So, I do hope that you all would all I ask you to do is a fair play. If there's a question on city laws, here is a play.
I shouldn't have to go to the state court to ask to get an answer on the municipal laws. Like, now you're making these laws or you're making it law. It started somewhere else, but you make it law. And so, if I come out on a question of law, thank you, Phil. Our
next speaker 5.5 Lamont. Hello everyone. I'm here today to introduce my business, plumbing business. Uh, this is the first we've been researching and trying to find out, but I know I am the first black master plumber to come from Jersey
City. my business, the first ever plumbing business blackowned from Jersey City. I just want to get the respect of plumbing because out of all things I can say plumbing is most important thing in the world. It's like doctors, it's like
anything else, lawyers. So, I'm here to introduce a blackowned business was me and my my wife, we ran together out of the house. It started actually last week. I wanted to start on Black History Month cuz I felt it was important. This is history. H history for me. I have 19 years in the union. I'm actually leaving
the union to start my own business. I want kids to see me and want to be a plumber because it's needed. The trade needs it and the kids need it. Being in Jersey City, I understand that kids make mistakes. They do things that they have to learn
from. like me, like most kids, I'm an average kid from the city, from the projects, raised by a single mother, been in jail, made my mistakes, record expuned, right? And I want to show kids that it's okay to make mistakes. Things happen. But I also want them to
know that there's other people that look just like them that are doing things that they can do it. So, my whole purpose of being here, open my business here, and being here in my city where I was born and raised, I want kids to be plumbers, get into the trades. I've been looking trying my best to push kids to
get into the trades. I come from a family the ways and we believe in hiring people from our community and helping them build theirself up and work for the business. That's what how I grew up with how I grew up and what I understood that
hiring people in your community helps out. It helps everyone. And I've seen people be taken advantage of and not get the opportunity because of their color and not being upset about that. That helped me start my own business and
becoming a master plumber and studying this and night out and night and failing and coming back and going again to become a master plumber. So I want to push that. I want to push that the fact that this is needed for the kids because a lot of kids don't have nothing to do especially when they got out of jail. I
did. It was plumbing. We don't care about records. Most of all of us are people who made mistakes. Also, I also feel that tradesmen are some of the best mentors in the world. We've been through everything and we can teach you everything. And as you're learning, you're learning the trading, you learn about life, you learn about marriage.
Thank you, >> John. Can I say something? >> John, can I say something? >> Yep. Um I'm sorry I did not uh get your name but congratulations starting your business and this is the hot piece of
cake right now. You know Jersey City has so much demand for plumbers. So I think and heating is another problem right now we all are facing. So thank you for doing it and hopefully we'll reach out to you for youth programming because one
of the thing I have talked about that trade skills is something we want to start in high schools so kids can learn these skills. Thank you >> Lamont. I just want to say congratulations and um I I just want the
city to know and understand uh the disparities here in this city. Uh for this young man to come up and and in 2026 to say he's the first
in a city that is one of the most diverse in this country. It's it's it's it's it's beyond me, right? Um and and I hope his story
um inspires the youth uh and inspires people to work with our youth um and and to work with each other in our communities. So, Lamont, thank you. Thank >> congratulations, Mr. Wade, on your new
business. Oh, and thank you to Ash for the candy apple >> for the t-shirts. >> Okay, our next speaker 5.6 Edward.
Good evening. Uh, I was not here formally last meeting to greet you all. and uh you know so um congratulations on gaining support from the wider community to represent us all here at city council all of you here for the first time but let me just begin
with our um me just saying I had a moment to review uh mayor Solomon's uh press conference where members of city council were there state assembly members and state senators and I just
want to start my comments with saying where we're going with the direction of, you know, the new direction for our city. Start with public safety because this is a pillar of the new administration and the way forward. You want to hire how many new police
officers? Let's just start there. Safety first. I think we would be better served. How when we invest in hiring new police officers, we have to take care of them. Are these police officers able to afford to even live here? First of all, the struggle with hiring new officers to
live here. But you would better serve us, okay, by helping build our infrastructure, okay, with housing. You have to commit to us to help build out our mental health crisis infrastructure response in
this city. When you do traffic enforcement, which we need, okay, don't send the extra police officers that you hire on the black and brown side of town to ticket us. This last administration spent how long? Developing the city,
building more housing, and it ain't enough parking. Now, you're going to hire new police officers to come, and that's going to be part of the enforcement. And that's not fair. Not not on my watch, and it shouldn't be under yours. The new police officers also, we ain't got no new housing coming
to the area. But where are the new jobs? Where where So what's going to happen to all of all of us who are already marginalized? You can't think that you're going to move forward and criminalize us. So, okay, new police officers, but what else do you have to offer? So, please, in your meetings with
the mayor, let them know there may be things that we can do other than hiring new police officers as our grand model for public safety overall. Please look to the nonprofits I have. I I'm I'm
telling you, the city government has failed us so much. There is so much distrust here. And as Tina null said, you would do a great service to our community by looking to nonprofits who are on the ground and who serve many of us when many of the past members who sit
where you are were all absent. Many members on in nonprofits doing the work. Do what you can to invest in nonprofits. Do what you can to help build the infrastructure for nonprofits in our city to help deliver overall services and a better quality of life
for us all. >> Thank you. Our next speaker 5.7 Demetrius not here. Next speaker 5.8 Charlene. I don't think I seen Charlene either.
5.9 J Barkstdale um J A Y B A R K S D A L E. My spouse and I moved to Ward E 16 years ago and we're very happy by Councilman Little. Hi everybody. Um I'm speaking
about the ordinance 4.3 actually. Um, those of you who don't know it, it's I I see it every day because 311 Washington, Washington Commons envelops it. And it's probably
here to there and here to there. It's not a large space. Um, and it only gets morning light. So if you plan to make it a park, if any history is to be followed, there'll be a huge skyrise
right across the street in a few years. So unless you want to make a fern and moss garden, which would be beautiful actually, um don't do that. Whatever you do, please don't give it back to the Boys and Girls Club. You see boys and girls there twice, maybe three times a
year. The rest of it is just there. Uh, the adults plant things and it's very pretty to look at, but there's ugly hurricane fences. They did build an apiary. I'll give them that. Um,
I I think you we should have uh public meetings for environs. I mean, it's not a large space and this is a champagne problem actually. It's not like my worthy, you know, former speakers are bringing up, but have um
some public meetings for Washington Commons, Modera Lofts, um uh the Lively. We're not a we're not a real family, uh neighborhood, you know, it was all warehouses and construction and there's
no parks to speak of. Um there could be, but they seem to be in private hands. Um, what else do I want to say? I meant to measure it off with my 11 in feet, but I will next time. Um, I think a
fountain, a traditional fountain would be really nice with four cupids, north, south, east, and west, you know, u water coming out of their little pee peas. That would be cute. Um, and
I think that's it. Thank you. So Jay Sean, can I ask one question? >> Sure. >> Jay, who is maintaining that? Because I thought boys and girls were maintaining that nerve. >> Well, they're maintaining it, but they're not. It's like wasted space. And why are you Why is it being sold for a
dollar? That sounds like a sweetheart deal. I mean, >> thank you. >> All right. Thanks. >> Thank you, J. >> Okay, our next speaker, 5.10, 10. Eve. >> Hi, I'm Eve Taylor from W E. I used to
be a finance director. After 10 days in the hospital from repeated carbon monoxide attacks at my building, a social security judge just declared me permanently disabled. It's official. This is a direct result of Jersey City Hall six years of refusing to collect
municipal fines revenue specifically refusal to enforce chapter 260 and fire code. The Jersey City Municipal Court is still blatantly ticket fixing. For years, fire code violations and recurring no heat violations in my building have been adjourned, dismissed, or fines not collected. Municipal court
just destroyed another significant summon this week on Monday. On February 9th, summon SF 20224-4452537 issued by JCPD on November 14th, 2024 for 30 days of no heat in my building after being adjourned 12 times for no reason, was viciously dismissed,
dismissed prosecutor discretion by prosecutor Vishnu Kamraj and Judge Ramy Eid. The defendant, my landlord, Muhammad Shahed, did not even show up for court. Let me explain what they destroyed. If that summon which affected more than one tenant was charged as a separate violation for each tenant and each day's failure to comply were
charged as a separate violation and the maximum fine per day was applied then the math would be six units in my building times 30 days times the maximum penalty of $2,000 a day for no heat. That summon potentially then was a $360,000
fine just that one incident. Here's their other trick. Violations have to be issued within one year. Sum in 452537 was adjourned past the statutory year limit so it can't be refiled. $360,000 gone. Poof. Dismissed prosecutor
discretion. This is now my third time at the Solomon administration pleading for urgent enforcement. If you had acted the last time I was here, that money, whatever you charge it up to the 36 $360,000
would be banked. I wholeheartedly support the new Solomon administration, but we need you to urgently please support us. Please enforce chapter 260 fire code and building code by fully issuing and collecting m municipal fines revenue immediately. Also, can you please check the 2026 budget for summons
revenue that I have seen was I believe 13 million when historical collections were 16 to$18 million. Uh, and I saw no provision to recover the estimated 25 to $50 million in uncharged uncollected fines. Thank you.
Our next speaker, 5.11, Eliza here. 5.12 Mildred. 5.13 Ivonne Ivon Bolson. What I have here is a part of the friendly budget page six and I also have the annual debt statement. So
my comments are from these articles published by the city. I want to talk about your city refunding bonds. They're do they're based on tax appeals. For 2023, Jersey City refunded $49
million and in 2024, excuse in 2024, it refunded $43 million. Jersey City, under our current rent control laws, tenants cannot have a tax
increase. Their increase is based upon the consumer price index which is similar to social security but it's not taxes. So what happened is the landlords gets the taxes. They go at Hudson County tax courts and you automatically win and
then I as a taxpayer have to pay what they should have paid. They don't pay any taxes at all. Whether it was the board of ed going up or the county going up or city go up. They don't. They only pay the consumer price
index, not what you guys passed on the budget. So my idea is they should pay. Hopeen pays, North Bergen pays, but not Jersey City. And I think that's wrong. So if you want to fix the budget, have people who vote for the art tax, people
who vote for open space, that they should also pay part of the government. Now, it's more than just the $254 million we're in debt. According to the annual uh statement that's on the city's
line, the city is $681 million and has bonding debt. But if you add up all the debt, including the debt that the city issued, but it did not go forward with it, we're $1.4 billion dollar in bond debt. So that's
what all these things, you know, I I don't know whether or not you can um cancel some of this. These are things that the city council voted on but were not authorized. So we add up everything together who won't perform. And who pays
this? Well, it's not affordable housing, but they pay a certain fee. They don't go up. It's not rent control because they they are in the consumer price index. It is basically this very small homeowners that when the budget is squeezed, I get it because I'm a one
family homeowner. So if you want to fix the budget, make it fair. You know, everyone talk about discrimination. The only discrimination that I see in Jersey City is who pay taxes. It's not skin color. It's not your language. It's who
pays taxes is the discrimination in Jersey City. So that's the first thing you should do. Now, my suggestion for this new council is to go on the city's website and start reading the annual stat statements and it has everything. >> Thank you,
>> thank you very much. >> Our next speaker, 5.14, Ryan. >> Ryan's not here. Thank you. Next speaker, 5.15, Jack Um, I'm here to speak about the pilot executive order. I'm just trying to be uh constructive. The last council
meeting, I think Jake, you had some some questions around the role of the external auditors and and and Michelle, my friend Michelle over there, referenced a 2019 audit sanctioned by the Jersey City Board of Education that suggested the city was losing $70
million due to non-compliant pilots. Um I I started with in the audit division in 2020 and we began a uh an audit and review of uh uh a substantial population of those pilots. Three internal uh
external audit firms did about 13 and I did about 117 um over 2020. Um so just to give you some process uh you know after the agreement is reached and codified it becomes operational. uh the
developer then makes you know payments quarterly in accordance with the terms uh of the agreement and by statute the developer needs to send independent audit reports by their CPA firm that they pay uh in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles 90 days
after the their year end. So this is a design check and balance as the as these are relied on to validate you know the gross revenues that the entity is collecting and paying you know a percentage to us per the agreement and most importantly and and also compliance
with the other aspects of the long-term uh tax exemption law uh with respect to excess profits. Uh failure to provide these reports leads to a possible default that they have 60 days to cure. So the board of ed audit asked for a
sample of those reports that were uh not provided and I don't know what happened back then. They weren't able to get them. This was before my time but uh they hypothetically assumed they weren't available and you know we're really speaking towards the potential lost revenue if if we didn't have any of
those. So it was a bit exaggerated frankly and um you know it it was um yeah like I said before my time. So, so when I got there, we we focused on uh multiple aspects of the audit uh primarily focusing on our internal processes and then some other uh legally
focused um aspects that might might still be outstanding. And so I have like a uh you know a cop I did an audit I have a copy of a a rough copy of a draft that I I used when I went over it on a team's meeting with the city council. So it exists somewhere
but it's it gives you a good flavor for what's involved with with pilots and and uh and and that sort of thing. So in the interest of cost containment before engaging third parties I think uh and this probably goes for all consulting agreements you know the the major
finding that I had was that the level of staffing there uh and the internal controls have been you know and that have been documented by our uh ex our own external auditor um need to be addressed first you know the pilot has one person down there >> sorry
>> and uh it's a large population source of Sorry, we won't get through that. >> Jack, thank you. Uh, thank you so much. Yeah, Zeke, my legislative director, is going to go talk to you because we'd love to sit down, get some more information, and thanks for your work
for our city. Okay, our next speaker, 516, Sophie. Sophie here? No. 5.17, Lauren. or are you Sophie? Lauren. >> Lauren, come on up. Lauren,
>> I'll get to know your face better. I'm sorry. >> Oh, it's fine. It's fine. >> Thank you so much. Um, I want to say thank you to the council for their service. Obviously, we're coming into Jersey City at a very uh intense time with a lot of needs. Um, so thank you so much for taking your service so
seriously. I am here to talk about the bird friendly design standards um where there was a first reading tonight. I know we've been talking with many of you about them and I just want to really emphasize again I said bird friendly design standards. There is no specialty glass mandate in the standards. We
support the goals and we just want to underscore that there is no evidence it slows or stalls housing construction. New York City shows us that. But I'm going to back up. Why do we care so much? Um, as Councilwoman Little noted, we are on the Atlantic flyway, which
means millions of birds have migrated through here, and they m continue to migrate north and south. So, last fall, in fall 2025, 14 million birds migrated through Hudson County largely at night. This is a conservation crisis because
over a billion in North America are dying every year from window strikes. So, we need to address it and the time is now. So it is devastating not only for an ecosystem but as someone who does volunteer monitoring to see the suffering of a bird with a broken neck looking at you knowing they have seconds
left it it's absolutely horrible. So we need to address it as an environmental crisis and it's also quite cruel to the wildlife that crash into the glass and die. I would like to then transition to cost and emphasize the flexible solutions. Again it is not a glass
mandate. It does not limit and I'm going to be quoting from American Bird Conservancy directly. It does not limit compliance to only masonry, fritted glass or UV glass. It establishes a standard, not a single prescribed material. Bird friendly glass can be
achieved through a range of options including ceramic frit, laser etching, acid etching, screen printing, laser etch, and other patterned glass methods. A lot of options, right? And that is for the glass. Again, it's not a glass mandate, but there are many solutions and there are solutions beyond the
glass. So, unfortunately, the pro-developer facts that have been going around are misleading and we have debunked them and we will continue to debunk them. Again, we know from looking over at New York City that these are not ownorous standards. They have had them for years. So, we continue to expect
that Jersey City can implement them in a way that's good for people and wildlife in this city. I'm also going to switch back over to another email um from American Bird Conservancy and just talk about the height requirement. So the height requirement that American Bird
Conservancy recommended was 100 ft tall and that's because that's the height of the tree canopy and above where most bird collisions would occur. Um it is set at that sorry I have a lot of different notes here. Um, so that is where most but not all strikes happen
and the 75 ft standard in New York City was mostly to be in line with other administrative codes that was not science-based. Thank you for your time. We are here for any questions you have in the coming days. >> Thank you. >> Thank you Lauren for taking our time and also meeting us answering our questions.
We really appreciate you. Thank you. Okay, our next speaker, and excuse me if I mispronounce Bing Ji Fu, >> we got to get a nickname for you. It's a little too nickname. So, yeah.
>> Okay. >> Uh, so esteemed council members, hi. As I said, my name is Cafu. You all know me. I'm the chief of staff for council member Efos. Uh tonight I would just like to talk about the issue of city council staff funding which seems to be a hot button issue right now. So just
setting aside from the fact that New Jersey state law prescribes four staff members per council member for city hour sites. It's our belief that we need to fully fund our council office precisely because we're in a deep budget crisis and a budget hole. Throughout the last
months I have witnessed how understaffed and underresourced our entire city is. For example, our crossing guards who are often charged with protecting our children from speeding traffic are underpaid, overworked, understaffed. And today I visited the Division of Animal
Care and Control, the city shelter, where witness the impact of our budget deficit and a malicious intentional neglect by the previous administration to our animals. Morale is low across our city staff and we have difficulty enforcing even the most basic codes to
protect our residents. That is why our council office needs to be fully staffed. Because when the city chooses not to issue fines for slum lords who harass and evict their tenants and fail to provide adequate heat, when the city fails to plow snow from our streets,
when the city does not have the resource to care for our animals, our constituents call us the cons the council aids. So throughout the snowstorm and the ice kidnappings last week, our council office has worked 12-hour days, seven days a week at city
hall, at our wordy office, and even at home for almost a month. We need more resources and more staff to provide full service to our constituents, especially when the city is underresourced. In addition, Mayor Solomon's office has pointed out in their emergency report
that the reason why former mayor Fulip was able to get away from wrecking our city's budget, but because he intentionally hid the budgetary process from the previous council. With a fully staffed council office, we'll have the resources and capacity to truly hold our
city accountable. We could read through every resolution and ordinance on our agenda and propose new ones that can better our city. I understand the resolution for full staffing has been with strong pending negotiation with Mayor Solomon, but I still want to call on this council and the mayor to support
funding our offices. If you want a city that works for its residents, a city that our constituents feel proud feel proud to call home, then I urge you to support a proposal. Thank you and have a good night. I my time back to Sean. I just want to add here
as we all know we are in deficit and we just took this job. There are people working in the city they might lose their job. They are fearful. They are not getting raise. So I think we should give ourself enough time to go through the work and the
responsibilities and we just started. So this is something we should think about in few months. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Okay, our next speaker, 5.19, Esther. I >> think I seen Esther.
>> Oh, >> not here. I >> think she's here. >> 5.20, Judith. Miss Miss Judith, before you start, can can I say a few words before you start? Uh, I just want to say that last meeting
I made a private request. This meeting I'm going to make a public request to everyone and I don't expect an answer now. Um, as Kevin and Michelle know, I will never ask anyone not to speak. it is your right and I know that especially
since you've been speaking all this time, you don't want to break that streak. So, please don't misunderstand what I'm asking for, not asking you not to speak. Um, but we have been getting requests from the public asking that if I can ask you, which is within my right
as a council president, if we can reduce some of the numbers of speakers. Last week we had some elder members of the community come from ward B uh that had to sit through it and you know could have left earlier. We have had uh elder members of the community come from ward
A. So I did want to make that request formally on the record. You don't have to answer now but if you all would take that back and think about it especially now that we've formed the committee we have new council members. They're trying to get their uh heads wrapped around the
issue and there has been open lines of communication that you all have gratefully expressed your uh pleasure in us doing that and we appreciate you giving us that positive feedback. I just ask that you take that back and think about it and let me know before next
meeting. But go ahead, Miss Judith. >> I could let you know and now I'll always speak. That's I wish everyone a productive 2026 past and present.
I did not vote for Mayor Solomon, but I wish him well. He was my councilman and I wasn't helped by him or the previous council. I complained at times publicly of
building code violations, mold, air quality, potential structural damage at 100 Montgomery. Let's talk building structure. The historic powerhouse building downtown is
designated collapse zone, not full collapse. Serious structural integrity. I read How do they know? How do they know how to label that? They know by paperwork that was
correctly filled out, permits that were filled out, building cold request, reports, the legal process in this country and in Jersey City. In a high-rise, bearing walls are part
of a gravity load path. When a contractor removes most of a bearing wall and leaves only a three-foot high wall from ceiling, that wall doesn't carry vertical load properly. Doesn't
transfer, excuse me, doesn't transfer load to the floor below. It's cosmetic unless unless it is tied into a transfer beam or frame.
This requires engineering stamps, permits, and inspections. I'm asking you all the paperwork this administration can check without talking to someone and taking their word. You don't need a
visible inspection. It is a serious crime to remove or alter bearing walls in a residential high-rise without approval. Code requires structural analysis,
replacement beams or frame, permits, inspections. There is a paper trail, original blueprints with stamp, alteration permits, approved construction drawing,
inspection sign off, certificate of completion. Either it is there or it is not. If it's not, it's a crime. And I'm asking you to look it up.
Next speaker 5.21 Kevin. Good evening. I'm Kevin Weller from the forever ren controlled Portite Towers East in Ward F. Tonight I want to attempt to turn a page and realign focus
especially given the devastating financial report Mayor Solomon delivered just a few days ago. I want to see how we can give some attention to our former mayor, Steven Fulip. I'd like to help him
in ways he never helped us. I want to make sure he is housed, fed, and clothed. And that can happen no matter which facility he may end up in should the
facts warrant that outcome. Before this body tonight sits the resolution to establish what I will believe what I believe will become Jersey City's Watergate Committee. Listen carefully in the weeks ahead for one word, weaponizing.
Listen for who says it. We've already heard it from Equity residential lawyers in New Jersey Superior Court. It was public. They told the judge, they told the judge tenants were weaponizing city ordinances. They were talking about the upand
cominging at the time mandatory minimum fines ordinance which was about to come before this council. And they said that their client would soon owe millions of dollars in fines. What the judge said next came instantly,
almost reflexively. The judge said, "Only if your client breaks the law." Weaponizing is the vocabulary of people who have something to hide. It's the language of those who are afraid of what the investigative committee will find.
Following the law is free. We are not here to go after anyone who has done nothing wrong. This is the council exercising its duty under the Faulner Act to ensure the laws of this body passed are being enforced.
We filed a formal communication tonight making that explicit. We're not asking you to interfere with any litigation, but not everything is subject to litigation. So when anyone, any lobbyist, registered or unregistered, and some of them may be
breaking the law, comes to you privately to narrow the scope or soften the mandate, make them say it on the public record. This new committee must do its work in the light. And with a quarter of a billion dollars at stake, don't assume any private conversation with anyone
representing a party who is likely to be the subject of your investigation is actually private. Operation Bidrigg put 44 New Jersey politicians behind bars for far less for far less than a quarter of a billion dollars. Takes a lot of rigging to get
that kind of number. Rent rig, pilot rig, housing violations rigged. >> Thank you. Our next speaker, 5.22, Daniel. >> One week ago, Mayor James Solomon confirmed that our city is facing
approximately a $250 million deficit largely inherited from the prior administration. Now, in light of the city's financial situation, I would like to donate $88,000, metaphorically speaking, to Jersey City tonight. Now, not my money per se, but it's money that
should already belong to the city. Now, I've provided each of you with a packet. The first document in that packet is Jersey City Ordinance 07-153, which governs the vacated portion of Washington Street adjacent to the Morin Morris Canal Big Basin. Now, according
to section 7E of that ordinance, the easement deed accepted by the city requires that the vehicular access lane on the westerly side of the former Washington Street be closed and changed between 8:00 p.m. and 8 a.m. each day by Portside Tower security personnel. Now, that language is mandatory. The
ordinance states that the easement deed shall contain these terms, conditions, and restrictions. However, despite this clear requirement, the access lane, aka the the road, has repeatedly remained open overnight in direct violation of the ordinance. Now, enforcement authority regarding that ordinance is
not ambiguous. Now, also included in your packet is section 1-25 of the Jersey City Code of Ordinances. Now, under section 1-25, the maximum penalty for violating any provision of the code of any ordinance is a fine of up to $2,000. Section 1-25 further states that
each day a violation continues constitutes a separate offense. So, every single night that the gate remains open in violation of ordinance 07-153 is not one violation. It is a separate independently punishable offense potentially subject to a fine of up to
$2,000 per day. Now, on the final page of your packet, I have provided 44 URL links organized chronologically. Now, I included 44 because that's the maximum that fit on a single page. There are additional documented instances beyond those. Each link directs you to a Cclick
fix ticket that includes a timestamped report and a photograph showing the access lane open during the required closure period. That is 44 documented nights of non-compliance since December 19th alone. If those 44 violations were
enforced at the maximum penalty permitted under section 1-25 of the Jersey City Code of Ordinances, that equals $88,000 in recoverable fines. And what I have provided represents only a portion of the total documented violations. The
ordinance exists, the enforcement mechanism exists, and the documentation exists. The only missing component is enforcement. Thank you. Next speaker, 5.23, Jessica R. Next. 5.24, Jessica B.
>> Evening, city council. Um over the last three years, this group of tenants and the tenants beyond that you don't see tonight have experienced a lot of change. Evictions, displacement, unsafe conditions. Organizing and fighting for
tenant rights has been empowering and motivating for me, for our group, for Kevin, Michelle, Joel. At the same time, both of our mothers, Kevin and mine, were fighting for their lives. Both were diagnosed with cancer.
My mother, Georgia, passed last July, and last week, Kevin's mother, Evelyn, died. I want to thank the council for the moment of silence for Evelyn earlier. Both of our mothers were immensely proud
of this important work for tenants rights. Evelyn watched all of our council speeches and closely followed our fight. Evelyn was immensely proud of you, Kevin. It was my privilege to know her.
Reflecting on our journey, much of it happening in these chambers, importantly, when groups of people come together to speak and talk about what's going on and what's wrong and how to fix it, you know, it's very um it's very important. And I understand council president Ridley what you're asking
about time but we speak on behalf of a lot of people and for very important issues. So tonight I stand before you because we are really at a a moral and fiscal crossroads. We have recently learned that staggering truth of the inherited
20 $250 million deficit represented years of budgetary tricks and manipulation. And we are so excited that three years of campaigning has led to you to move to form this rent protection special investigation committee. And
this committee is one of the ways to bridge the incount accountability enforcement gap that have left our residents vulnerable. This enforcement gap is not just a bureaucratic failure. It's a breeding ground for corruption. And if this investigation uncovers
municipal employees or former officials neglected their duties to favor politically connected developers, there must be no quote moving on. There must be accountability. The authority this committee has to subpoena documents and compel testimony
must be used to its fullest extent. If the investigation reveals criminal misconduct, we expect this council to work with the municipal prosecutor's office to ensure that those who sold out our city's future are held legally and criminally accountable. To the veteran
leadership and new members of this body, your combined experience and grassroots energy are our best assets. You have fought for neighborhood stabilization and payroll audits before. We need your fire now more than ever. Thank you.
>> Next speaker, 5.25, Reanetta. >> Hello. Um, very happy to see new faces here today. You have no idea how frustrating was the last city council, but that's why they got voted out, right? Um, I'm Ranada. I live in Port Site
Towers. Um, I'm not here tonight to talk about ordinances or budgets. Other speakers have that covered. I'm here to tell you what it's like to live in a building where the landlord doesn't think the rules apply to them. We don't
have a resident superintendent. Or maybe we do. We just don't know. Not in my building. Not in the other tower. The law says we should have two, one for each building. And it says this information must be disclosed, given to
us, posted. Instead, what we get is an email where we have a listed maintenance provider with no unit number and the landlord doesn't even care. He did just list the phone number as the
port side tower's main line like the leasing office line. No superintendence, not a people who live in the building and are available when something goes wrong at 2 in the morning. And I had that happen to me when my fridge just
broke and I lost all of my food. Menace providers who may or may not show up during business hours and a phone number that just go to the Philippines. That's the hotline. That's what they tell us to call if something goes wrong.
Um, they used to list the super with a unit number. Then they took that off the certificates. Then they rented the super's unit out cuz you know how greedy they can be. When something breaks in
our apartment and things break, you submit a ticket to an app. You wait. If you're lucky, someone comes. If you follow up, you get a form response. If you push harder, you get silence. That's the system. It's not what the law
requires, but is what happens when nobody enforces the law. And it's not just maintenance. We were never told what our base rents are supposed to be. Jersey City law requires that information.
a list of base pays monthly rents going back to 1983. We have never seen it like it's a big secret. No tenant has it. It have never been filed with the city as the law required.
How are you supposed to know if our rent increases are legal if we were never told what the starting number was? Equity pretends that they're doing us a favor by behaving like rent control, but the
rents were already skyhigh when they started that. >> Thank you. >> Our next speaker, 5.26, Barbara. >> Evening, city council. Today, I'd like to give you a brief introduction to the ratio utilities billing system, better
known as RUBS. Rubs enables landlords to unbundle utilities such as water, sewage, and trash. Rather than include these utilities in the rent, Portside dings each apartment
with an additional monthly rubs bill for its share of the utilities based on an algorithm that the landlord controls. Why do landlords like rubs? Rubs transfers utility costs to tenants.
Rubs allows landlords to avoid maintenance like leak repair since the costs of water leaks are borne by tenants. So there's no need to invest in repairs. Robes also may also allow landlords to
mislead tenants about the true cost of renting. My neighbor tells me he was given a verbal estimate that rubs would amount to $50 a month before he signed his lease. It is monthly rubs bill for the first
year averaged 101. Why is rubs bad for tenants? We have no control over our charges. We cannot attempt to reduce our rub spills by reducing utilities usage. We have no
input into the algorithm used to calculate our rub spills. Those charges vary dramatically from month to month, making budgeting difficult. Landlords have no incentives to reduce
water usage by improving their building systems because the tenants pay the bills. and for the privilege of getting hit with unpredictable rubs charges each month. Each portside apartment is build
an additional $4.92 each and every month under the description Rub's billing fee. They are billing us or billing us. You'll hear more about Rubs later this
evening from my friend Mark. Thanks for listening. Thank you. Um, this is Councilwoman Little. I have a question for Corporation Council. Um, I know the previous council passed legislation banning rent setting algorithms. Um,
could that be amended to also um address algorithms affecting algorithms such as the one Rubs uses that also incorporate utilities? Um, or would that be a new ordinance that we
could introduce? >> We would have to look into that and get back to you. >> Okay. Thank you. Hey, our next speaker 5.27 Connor. >> Good evening, city council. My name is Connor Sears and I'm a tenant of Portide Towers. I'm here tonight in support of
the resolution to establish the rent protection special investigation committee and specifically to emphasize the importance of adding the fifth seat that will require this committee to be fully sunshined. That fifth seat matters because it
ensures transparency and ensures that this investigation happens in the open with public notice, public meetings, and public accountability. And for the tenants who have spent years asking for enforcement with little result, transparent transparency is not
optional. It's essential. Portide Towers has accumulated violations related to staffing maintenance and compliance with city ordinances for years. These violations did not persist because the laws were unclear. They persisted because
enforcement failed. When fines are issued but not meaningfully enforced or collected, large landlords learn that ignoring the law is cheaper than complying with it. The committee is not about singling out one building. Its
stated purpose is to examine how rent protection and housing enforcement laws are applied, where enforcement breaks down, and whether the city is using the tools it already has. That work must be done in public, especially this year.
Jersey City is facing a major budget deficit. Residents are being told that difficult choices are ahead. But before asking working families to absorb more cost, the city must ensure it is enforcing and collecting what is
already owed. Uncollected fines are not abstract. They are real dollars lost throughout an action or lost through an action. By adding the fifth seat and sunshining this committee, the council sends a clear message. Enforcement failures will
be examined openly. Accountability will be applied to large landlords and tenant protection laws will be taken seriously. As a portside resident, I urge you to vote yes. Yes to the committee, yes to the transparency, and yes to meaningful
enforcement. Thank you for your time and your service to Jersey City. All right, next speaker 5.28 Marshall. Thank you. Next speaker 5.29, Sylvia. Good night or evening. Uh thank you
councilman's and my name is Sylvia Luite our resident. I today I didn't prepare any speech because uh we we know everything that we are suffering since three years ago. I can absolutely point
in you what we are dealing and we still deal. It's impossible to not to feel frustrated for us and particularly we are or I am super grateful super grateful that you create a committee.
It's the first time that I feel like you heard us. You are a new councilman. You are a new council. You show us that we can work together. Please don't forot we will reduce the speakers as requested by
time but we will still hear and harrise every single every single problem that we still and I don't see any point that we will solve quickly and we will be able to get back to a normal life. Thank
you. and I'm trying to get a lot less less time as possible. Thank you. >> Our next speaker 530 Mark. Good evening members of the city council. Um first my apologies for missing your first two meetings. I'm
usually a regular in these chambers and you'll certainly be seeing a lot more of me in the month. But tonight I want to continue the ratio utility billing system rubs conversation. It sounds boring but it hits tenants right in the wallet. Rubs
is supposed to fairly divide unbundled costs for water, sewage, and trash. That's the idea. But in practice, it feels more like a magic black box that spits out bills. We all get these bills, but we're not allowed to see the internal mechanism, how our uh charges
are calculated. At Portside Towers, Equity Residential uses a Rubs algorithm to decide what each of us pays for water and sewage. They divide the total bill by the apartment square footage. Simple math, they say. Yet somehow the numbers bounce around monthto monthth like
they've had too much coffee. You can see this from the handout showing the charges for my apartment over the last year. And later in the handout is a 5-year chart showing that 2025 is not an anomaly. So, I asked Equity if I could see the
actual utility bills since I'm paying my portion of them. That seems reasonable. Equity refused to show me the utility bills, saying they were confidential. I did manage to obtain the original water bills thanks to councelor Gilmore and staff. I ran my own calculations,
which showed the equity residential build me 60% more than I calculated. I wrote up my reasoning like a fourth grade math assignment showing every step in the calculation process and I asked, "So, what have I got wrong?" That email
is the last page of the handouts. That was on August the 30th, 2025, and I chased it every week all the way to the very top of the billing company. All I was with was deflection. And then in November, I was ghosted. If the rub system is legitimate,
transparency shouldn't be scary. Show us the bills. to show us the formula. Let tenants verify that what we pay matches what port side pays the JCMUA. I'm asking for a council sponsor to support legislation that brings sunlight
to the rubs process. Tenants are not asking to change the system just to see the numbers and the formula. Rubs is supposed to be a fair aortioning of costs. It shouldn't feel like a shell game. So, please consider supporting legislation to shed light upon this
practice. If you're interested, you find my email on every page of the handout at the very bottom. Thank you. Our next speaker, 5.31, Suzanne. Thank you. Next speaker, 5.32, David.
Good evening, Council President Ridley, members of the council, hear me? There's a slogan in 12step, uh, progress, not perfection. And I'm going to tell you a secret about 12step, which is the slogans, not the steps, but
the slogans are useful for pretty much everybody, whether you're an addict or not. And that applies to this, and this is the way I'm thinking about this new council. um that I'm not expecting and I think nobody from port side is expecting
perfection. We're not expecting that, you know, years of malfeasants can be just swept away overnight, right? Um and I'm not going to jump down anybody's throat if things are moving a little
slowly or even if there are missteps, you know, along the way, it's fine. But at the same time, I do expect to see progress continually. Um, and I actually believe that you can do it. And I'm also
we're counting on you to do it. So I I think that uh opening the special committee could be a great way to start. Uh to your point, council president, I'm not going to repeat all the different issues that other people have spoken
about. Um, just that this is what this is what I'm hoping for is this continual progress. Thank you. >> Our next speaker 5.33 Sonia. >> Good evening, council. I was so excited to watch the past two meetings which I
unfortunately couldn't attend. What a new world we live in. one that's defined by mutual respect, interaction, and support. You have no idea really what that means to me. The past 50 times I spoke here, I was ignored. So, thank you
in advance for being different. At the same time, a look back might still be helpful. When I look back, I often think if someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time. I want to start by acknowledging something important. I really appreciated the
self-reflection shown by our new mayor, James Solomon, during the statement about Jersey City's $255 million budget deficit. He said he wished that he had done more to prevent this. From my professional work as a coach, I know how
rare it is for people, especially those in power, to critically look at themselves. That matters and it deserves to be said. At the same time, we also need to be honest. For three years, this group has been coming to city hall to
raise serious concerns about uninforced laws, about the city administration looking away while mega landlords imposed illegal rents, about highly questionable actions and money flows. We didn't whisper these things. We didn't
say them once. We said them over and over again. And a few of you were in this room in this very room each and every time. Frank Gilmore, Denise Ridley, and yes, James Solomon as well. Countless times we have talked about the
hardship that Phillips and the former council's actions and non-actions put on residents. We have spoken about how families were pushed out of our city, how people became homeless. We've live we've laid out the numbers even. None of
this was hidden. I wonder if maybe, just maybe, digging just a little deeper on these things would have brought light to other things as well. Or maybe it would have just confirmed who Fulop was and your own doubts, James, Denise, and
Frank. Mayor Solomon mentioned that he had voted against all city budgets of the past eight years. So, there was doubt, right? I don't take any pleasure in saying we told you so, but the sad truth is that the former council could have looked
behind the shiny smiling facade and ribbon cutings. It would have been easy to start those in investigations, but nothing happened. Which brings us back to the quote, "If someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time." To the new council, this moment
matters. You can show who you are, not in words, but in actions. transparency, accountability, and enforcement. And to the people of Jersey City, we encourage you to watch closely. When this council shows you who they are, believe them the
first time. >> Our next speaker, 5.34, Danilo, not here. >> Next speaker, 5.35, Brendan Good evening, council. My name is Brendan. I'm a resident of W E. I want to talk about what happened to the last
committee this this great city formed. In August 25, the council passed resolution 25-564 by a vote of 8 to 0 to it created the renter protection special investigation committee with subpoena power. That was 6 months ago. Would you like to guess
the amount of public hearings the council held? If you guessed zero, you would be correct. How many witnesses? Zero. And how many problems it solved? Also zero. Three council members were appointed to
that committee. CET, Gilmore, and Deeiz. They met with city officials behind closed doors, received over 160 daily email reports documenting ongoing violations when the committee was put on pause. Nobody voted deposit. There was no public discussion. It just stopped. I
wish I could stop my job like that sometimes. I'm not here to assign blame for why that happened. I'm here to make sure it doesn't happen again. That's why the anti-delay provisions in tonight's resolution matter. If the committee isn't convened within 30 days, any three
members can call a meeting. That's not technicality. That's a lesson learned. And the open membership provision matters. Any council member can join by written notice. This means they can't be kept out. This is a serious investigation. An 8 to vote says it is. You need you need to have the right to
participate. I want to say something about what this committee is not. It's not litigation. Michelle and Michael are doing enough already. That the the meeting is drawing a line clearly. The courts handle lawsuits. Those are separate tracks. I support keeping them
separate. But separate track doesn't mean you can just do nothing and call it a day. That's That's how we lose our jobs. Now, I'd like to offer a few ideas and words of encouragement about solving the city's budget pro problem. A you could try enforcing some fines against
bad landlords, bad actors within the city. In 1985, Mayor our former mayor Cuchi attempted to foreclose on the Statue of Liberty for not paying its water bill. Just food for thought. There are lots of ways the city can find
people. Please look at New York as you breathe and you'll probably get fined if you're doing anything in the city. Have a great night. Our next speaker, 5.36, Susan. Thank you. 5.37 Joel. >> Good evening, council. My name is Joel
Rothfus and I am a resident at Portside Towers. Uh like several others folks haven't been able to be here for the last two meetings. Welcome to the new council. We really look forward to working with you in a constructive manner.
Imagine you live in a building and the smoke alarm goes off. You call the fire department. They don't come. You call again the next day and the next and the next. You file formal complaints. You email every city official you can find
every single day for over 250 straight days and instead of putting out the fire, someone walks over and pulls out the battery from the smoke detector. This is what has happened to us. Since July 2022, our tenant associations have
documented enforcement failures to the city. On January 8th, a municipal prosecutor told the court director told the court that Director Richardson's office had verified our landlord's compliance with disclosure requirements.
The city's own records prove that was false. Based on that statement, our landlord avoided $142,000 in mandatory fines from 71 adjudicated guilty p. and it obscured the larger
consequence. Under chapter 260, our landlord has not qualified for any rent increase since at least 2016. That's pulling the batteries out of the alarm. To our new council members, welcome. And
this is the same pattern behind the $255 million deficit you inherited. In February 2020, the city's CFO, Libna Maner, was ordered to complete the annual financial statement without completed bank reconciliations.
Complying would have required falsifying the records. She refused. She reported to the state that the prior year's statement had already been submitted with false cash positions. She was terminated. The city spent $475,000
to settle her lawsuit and make sure that she bought they bought her silence. When fines aren't collected, when records are falsified, and when developers skip required audits, the city keeps billing outdated numbers.
The money disappears. That's how you lose $255 million. You weren't part of the administration that allowed this. You have fresh eyes and clean hands. On January 15th, you took an oath. We're
asking you to honor it. Put the batteries back in the alarm. Answer the alarm. Thank you. Our next speaker, 5.38, Shannon Good evening, council. My name is Shannon and I'm a resident of Ward F. I
want to talk about the $255 million structural deficit. It is serious. It is the result of years of mismanagement. And this administration has said it wants to set an example. Good. Set the example because here's what setting an
example actually looks like. In the past, every council member's office was fully funded. staff, aids, resources the law provides for you to do your jobs. The backroom deals then backroom deals quietly reallocated that money to other priorities. Money that was budgeted for
council operations was moved without public debate. The people who approved those budgets didn't know where the money was actually going and that has to end. But ending it doesn't mean cutting corners on the people who are supposed to be doing the work. You can't clean up a mess this big without a crew.
It would be irresponsible with this big of a deficit, $255 million, staring this city in the face to send to the front line uh out to send the front line out understaffed. Every ward office, every aid, every position the law allows for fully fund them. That's not
overspending. That's the minimum. And it's not just the council offices. The Office of Landlord Tenant Relations is another department that was deliberately underfunded to reduce its effectiveness and create plausible deniability when enforcement failed. When you starve an office of resources and then point to
its poor performance as proof it doesn't work, that's not a budget decision. That's a strategy. And it's one this administration has the power to reverse. So here's the part that should be easy. This isn't a cost. It's an investment that pays for itself. There's over $100
million in uncollected housing violation fines and unpaid pilot obligations sitting on the books right now. Six years of money that walked out the door because nobody was staffed up to collect it. This city can and must look back and recover every dime it is owed. Make it
part of the charge. Stand staff up the enforcement teams. Fund the council office. Expand the office of landlord tenant relations. Set a target. 100 million recovered in 100 days. So, you want to set an example. Here's the
example. Staff the crew, do the work, and collect what's owed. Clean up Bulip's mess. The last thing I want to say, um I understand the the plea to have fewer of us speak um for in terms of efficiency. Um I don't have much in
the name of power. I have a vote. Um, and that happens once every two years, four years. I have a voice, though. I have unionized as a nurse. I have always spoken up for the little guy, and I always will. I'm not going to
remove from myself that power I have to come here and speak. Thank you. >> I I'm just I'd just like to make comment. Was it Shannon? Is that Shannon? Yeah. Um to your point about a a coordinated
strategy, um you're absolutely 100% correct. This past administration starved 911, starved recreation, starved tenant landlord um enforcements and relations around that. So housing enforcement, I should say. Um and so and
then said these these are broken systems and we need to do away with them or or privatize or or do some something else. And uh um that that's uh frankly it's it's been awful for the employees of
Jersey City and um I I hope that it's my intention to make sure that changes um for certain and and I know the director of finance isn't here but we need to make sure we focus in putting it in in a tough budget that we put our budget and resources to make sure we're putting the resources into um the services that are
going to serve the people of Jury City but also that are revenue generating for for Jury City as well. Um, so I just want to put that in the record as well. >> Our next speaker, 5.39, Mel. >> Hi. Uh, yes, I'm Mel. I'm a portside resident for almost 14 years. It's my
first time in front of this council. I've been here many times. I have a plethora of speeches I have given in the last three years, mostly regarding rent control. All of them are still relevant and pending action today. Um, President Ridley uh requested we reduce our
speaker numbers as diplomatically as possible. Um, but the fact she's now left and doesn't even want to hear what we have to say is actually really making my blood boil. Um, I don't want to retain uh elderly residents here late at night. I don't want to be here late at night. I don't want to be here at all. I suggest President Ridley and Councilman
Gilmore get everyone up to speed, take some action, and voila, we're gone. Problem solved. Okay. So, I'm pleased to say that I was heartened to see the engagement and enthusiasm of the new council uh during
the last couple of meetings. However, I've come here so often with so little action. I'm somewhat of a cynic. So, I beg of you to not fall foul of the last council's lack of follow through. The lacadasical approach is what has cost this city so much money and cost us residents thousands and thousands
individually, not as a whole, in illegal rents. I'm relieved to see Mayor Solomon conducting a financial audit that is long overdue. And I also hope the new mayor and council will undo some of the other self-serving actions of our previous mayor. One such example is the
bird safegass initiative that was mentioned earlier in the evening. Um he claimed it would be prohibitive to developers profits. Quick go Google search will tell you that's not true. It's going to be less than 1% of project costs, not prohibitive to any profits. It can be compared to the additional
cost of adding seat belts in car manufacturing. Both are cost-effective safety measures and it's energy efficient, lowering the longerterm cost of running a building. This wasn't a priority to Philip. He preferred to pass the costs on to us, the constituents, in direct contradiction of his claim to be
for affordable housing. I hope this goes back on the new council's to-do list and Mayor Solomon backs it as he did as a council member. I feel like that should be an easy win. So, enforce, enforce, enforce, protect your constituents, improve the city, back up its claims on affordable housing and rent control. And
I will gladly not return to speak again. Thank you. >> Our next speaker, 5.40, John. >> Hi. Uh, this is my first opportunity to speak to the new members of the council. So, um, welcome and congratulations,
President Ridley, on your new role. Um so yeah um having never checked it out before yesterday I decided to have a look at the website of the office of landlord tenant relations. Imagine how happy I was when I read the very first sentence on the home page homepage. It
reads the office of landlord tenant relations administers and enforces the rent control ordinance chapter 260 of the Jersey City Municipal Code. We don't need those signs anymore guys. If only if chapter 260 were being enforced, we'd never have had cause to
come here and appeal to the council. For over three years, we've asked for its enforcement, only to be greeted by blank looks, no looks, hollow promises, and lip service, and chapter 260 remains uninforced. We've been heartened and energized by the high level of engagement this new council has shown
since taking office, especially the enthusiasm to be involved in the special committee. It was great to hear its official resolution on tonight's agenda, and I look forward to you voting to make it official. Now, I'm sure it's not lost on you how much there is to unpack. If I may, I have a few suggestions for the new committee. Um, how about asking Dina
Henden, the previous director of the Office of Landlord Tenant Relations, why she abruptly reversed her decision, her original decision, and officially determined Portide Towers to be exempt from rent control despite all evidence to the contrary. Perhaps Fullet was behind it. Why didn't an individual in
the same department secretly doctor an official form for landlords removing fields to help them subvert rent control laws and uh apply for or get given rent control exemption without providing all the necessary information? The meta the system track the metadata so we have the
time the date and the user details. Perhaps you can ask them who told them to do it. You can investigate the prosecutor's office. Why does this office persist in dismissing valid summones against landlords that are blatantly violating laws? Going back to the office of landlord tenant relations,
we've been hearing for a long time now and just from Shannon again, um how dire from director Richardson that his office is seriously understaffed. Presumably, it's remained that way since staffing a department designed to help the city's residents was of no interest to Fulip. This needs to be addressed by the
Solomon administration. It's in your interests to help Richardson help your constituents. I'll wrap up. The previous council failed to protect this city's residents from bad actors and from Steven Fulip. All of you now have the power to write the wrongs of your predecessors. Under
the Faulner Act, the newly formed special committee will have the tools and the duty to ask the right questions of the right people to determine why the fullup administration bent over backwards to help big corporate landlords and developers screw over this city's tenants. And you have the
ordinances in place already to stop it from happening now. Thanks. We look forward to hearing of your progress. >> Our next speaker, 5.41, Vania Council. My name is Vana. I'm attendant at Portside Towers. Um, with about 25
people from Port Side speaking here this evening, please know that we are not being overly critical of you yet, but are merely continuously showing up in order to keep the fire to your tushes so that momentum isn't lost. Tenants like us don't need new laws. We don't need
new ordinances. We just need the existing ones enforced. To make this point, I want to talk about my mom who's here today. Um, she's a small landlord, just three units. When she's cited for something small like trash left in front of her building or a fence that didn't
meet code, she pays the fine or appeals and fixes it within weeks. She has to because if she doesn't, the daily penalties kick in. That's accountability. A small landlord pays her dues. Portside Towers, on the other hand, a multi-billion dollar landlord,
has accumulated hundreds of days of documented violations, yet has paid under $2,000 in fines despite $142,000 in penalties technically on the books. That's not accountability, that's an enforcement gap. Two violations to
highlight. First, the absence of a required on-site superintendent and the requirement to disclose that information. a clear mandate for any building with six or more units. We have over 500. Second, the absence of a 247 uniform security guard. Also, a clear
ordinance for buildings with more than 100 units. That ordinance has been in effect for well over a year. Still no compliance. While these violations go uninforced, tenant safety is being gambled with. In November 2024, a young woman was attacked and ran bleeding into
our lobby. In June 2024, a bullet pierced an apartment window. In September 2025, a resident's car window was smashed next to her child's booster seat. These are not abstract risks. They are happening right now. Port side, a
million-doll landlord. A fine here and there is a scratch to them. But daily penalties properly enforced would finally make breaking the law more expensive than following it. That's the leverage you already have. So once again, I'm excited to have fresh interested ears to speak to. Please use
your office to ask the hard question, why are existing ordinances not being enforced and why are penalties not being applied as written? And I'll close where I began. If my mom with three units is expected to promptly fix a fence or trash violation under threat of daily
penalties, then surely a landlord of portside size should be held at least to at least the same standard, especially when the violations affect public safety. Thank you. >> Our next speaker, 5.42, Subie. Good evening, city council. My name is
Subie Hoyur and I'm a port side tenant. With Valentine's Day just the way a few days, I frame my remarks around it. We saw how engaged you were at the last council meeting and we appreciate that.
You asked thoughtful questions and took the time to understand our concerns. We felt heard and we felt cared for. So consider genuine appreciation as our Valentine to you. And with that comes genuine expectation.
We expect that you are on people's side. I have three little boys. One of them very disabled. He can't sit. He can't talk. He can't even um he he can't see. He's legally blind. His name is Julian.
Four years ago, Equity raised our rent for $700 just suddenly illegally. Considering we paid this every month since then, they've illegally taken about $40,000 from Julian, from my son. I cannot
afford all his therapies he needs because of this financial loss. These therapies are life-saving for him. He needs them to live. For equity, it's just additional money they managed to steal. Chelsea city is facing a projected 250
million budget deficit. At the same time, large corporate landlords, equity, residential among them have incurred significant uh fines that remain unpaid. As you know, holding them accountable isn't just about fairness. It's about fiscal responsibility.
It's about whether renters feel protected by law, whether this city keeps its promises to the people. For decades, tax abatements were granted generally to developers. Now, there is a city-wide executive order to review them. Yet, somehow, equity residential
was excluded from this review. We understand if this council wants to show care and commitment to renders and to the rule of law, the path is clear. Enforce existing laws, collect outstanding fines, and move forward with meaningful render
protections. Thank you. >> Our next speaker, 5.43, Michelle Good evening. I'm Michelle Hirs, president of the Portide Towers West Tenant Association. I urge every member of this council to vote I on the resolution establishing the rent
protection special investigation committee. Kevin and I have filed a formal communication tonight with Mr. Gallagher and he will share it with you and hopefully it'll be on the next agenda so it it becomes part of the uh public record. I want to use my time to
tell you what evidence shows. Let's follow the money. In 2020, Jersey City's chief financial officer, Lumnir, filed a whistleblower complaint after being terminated by John Metro from the
finance office. The city paid $475,000 to settle that complaint of taxpayer money so she'd never have to testify about what went on inside the finance office. The business administrator who oversaw her departure, Brian Platt,
later became Kansas City's city manager, where just last year a jury deliberated only one hour before awarding $900,000 to a communications director who was demoted for refusing to lie to the
press. Follow the money. In that trial, Mr. Platt testified under oath that the prior mayor of Jersey City, Fulip, would make up numbers from the podium. These are not our allegations. These are court
proceedings, government settlements, and sworn testimony in the public domain. The question for this committee is, has anyone from Jersey City followed up on those issues? What happened in the finance office? Why was Libna Maner
fired? Now, let me show you that enforcement failures are not just historical. They're happening in real time. Just yesterday, our landlord emailed updated state registration DCA certificates to
tenants. Brand new documents still listing maintenance providers instead of the resident superintendent required by law. But here's what you also need to understand. The form doesn't ask for everything that
Jersey City requires. Chapters 260 requires the superintendent's name and unit number. It requires base monthly rents as of 1983. None of that has ever been provided on any form to any tenant. Our landlord
fills out some of what's required by the state certificate and then calls it compliance. It isn't. They're counting on the city and all of you to not notice the difference. And every night, the Korean War Veterans Memorial at the foot
of our property sits unsecured. The city gave up. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Our next speaker, 5.44. >> Sorry, Sean. May I just ask a question? >> Sure. >> Um, thank you. I just new guy questions.
I have some uh questions about enforcement the responsibilities of landlord tenant uh to enforce 260 as opposed to the responsibility of the municipal prosecutor. Um just where where does the buck directly stop? I I
want to get my head around that. >> As discussed mostly uh office of landlord tenant deals with violations of 260. Um there's also different violations that the um municipal prosecutor and also code compliance will issue. Um but I will say uh it landlord
ten is mostly 260 violations. >> Okay, great. Thank you. And then um landlord tenant is an office within a department and city council does have the power to remove and to also firmly authorize the appointment of department
directors but not of division or office directors. Correct. >> Correct. >> Okay, great. Um, and if there were issues with a non- enforcement, as we've known there are, uh, in one of the offices within a department of our city,
um, at what point does the municipal prosecutor take a a look at that or could they have the jurisdiction to uh, look into this non-inforcement issue and take it upon themselves? >> They can look at it at any time if it's brought to their attention.
>> Okay. Um, and the prosecutor that the municipal prosecutor still is Jake Hudnut. Is that correct? And he's >> to the best of my knowledge. >> He's not correct. >> Today was his last day. I was told >> today was told. >> Interesting. After how many after how
many years? Okay. Um, >> oh, he was >> okay. Uh so that that's uh helpful information to know that we should be seeing a mun a new municipal prosecutor who could have some uh say in the non-
enforcement of 260 while we also have the opportunity as council to review um the leadership of landlord tenant and uh its umbrella department. Thank you so much for that information. I'm going to follow it up with one more
question and that uh given that if it's correct I suggested that today was at the municipal prosecutors the chief prosecutor's last day what what will be the authority of this committee if if this committee's passed to be able to um
question and and request his participation um with the committee as a former employee and you don't have to answer that actually right now you That's a legal question I think that needs to be. Thanks.
Okay. I don't want that awkward silence. All right. On to our next speaker. 5.44. William, >> he's not here. >> William, Santiago, not here. Okay, next.
5.45. Carol, >> she's Carol here. >> She left. >> No. >> Okay. 5.46. Rachel. >> Not here. >> Not here. 5.47.
Jennifer. She's here. Well, Good evening, council. Uh, this is my first time in front of the new council. >> That mic up, Jennifer. >> Oh, thank you. >> There you go. >> First time in front of the new council.
So, hello everyone. Um, I am honored by being able to finish Michelle Hersh's uh speech. So, I will finish hers and then do my own. Um, and every night the Korean War Veterans Memorial at the foot
of our property sits unsecured. The city gave up a public street in 2007 in exchange for the property owners promised to protect that memorial with security personnel. Nearly two decades
never enforced. Two things will determine whether this committee succeeds or fails. First, who leads it? The credibility of this investigation depends on leadership by council members
who can follow the evidence wherever it leads. Without conflicts to manage, their own or anyone else's, the prior committee was put on pause. We cannot afford another one. Second, if you are a
current or former city employee with information or anyone else with knowledge of how enforcement decisions were made or how revenue disappeared, please contact blowthe whistlejcgmail.com.
The proposed resolution includes anti- retaliation protections for a reason. Restore our faith in local government. Vote I. Thank you.
>> Thank you, Michelle. All right. Uh, I want to begin on a note of gratitude. The tone in this room feels different. There's openness, dialogue, and a sense that residents are being heard rather than managed. That
matters a whole lot to us. People didn't just vote for new faces. They voted for this new standard. At the same time, gratitude does not replace accountability. And it never should. In a democracy, accountability
is not distrust. It's engagement. Many of us here gave you our votes, our hope, and our energy because we believe Jersey City can do better. And belief is
powerful, but belief alone is also not proof. Only action proves that our trust was wellplaced. We are not asking for perfection. We are asking for positive consistency for laws
to be enforced. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Our next speaker 5.48 Reiker Riker here. >> See here. >> No. Next speaker. 5.49. Cheryl.
>> Cheryl left. >> She left. >> She left. Yeah. >> Yeah. Soon as she's there, she's there. I see. She's there. >> Oh, she never left. She's right there. Oh, >> is she coming to?
>> Yeah, she's right there. It's Armstrong. >> Okay. >> Thank you. Good evening. >> Thanks for your patience. >> Yeah. >> Thank you, Miss Erica, for your help.
Say good good evening to the council. Eric, are you allowed to come stand by me and read this for me? Cuz I forgot my glasses. Know what I did with them right now. Good evening to all. It says, "Good evening. I acknowledge
God, Mayor James Solomon, and all city council. My name is Minister Cheryl Armstrong Davenport. I'm a longtime born and raised resident of Jersey City. I reside at 98 Clerk Street, Jersey City, New Jersey 07305. My purpose this evening concerns the
latest Jersey City financial emergency report dated February 4th, 2026, property taxes and those increases that led to the tax appeals and water bill JCMUA. Page 1 and 8 says Jersey City faces a
full-blown deficit of 250 million or higher higher than New York City. Wow. Page two, mismanaged money. Can't get that back. previous mayor. Page three, city reserves depleted. Page four,
people over politics. Page three refers to tax appeals. Page 14, turning property taxes into water taxes in the present and future. Tax appeal. Is there another way or new way to put money back into property
owner's hands or tax bill? Page 19 and 20. As you move forward, remember the longabiding senior citizen property owners. We have already given too much. Where and when will the relief begin to
show? Homeowners, how do you plan to help the suffering taxpayers of residences? If there were no property owners, there would be no tenants. Does the BOE have anything to do with this great deficit? We as property owners
should not have to sell, move or relocate because of what happened here in this city. Thank you for hearing my voice. Thank you. >> As previously um from some life events, World Trade Center, I was unable to stay in here
like that. I had to go in there and get something to eat and some water. So, Miss Erica assisted me. She was getting ready to um I said I had to go home and I was getting tired and she took this paper. She did her job and her duty. She helped me. Kind of exhausted right now,
but I just wanted to present myself to you. Um, congratulations to all the new um, candidates and the council piece people. I believe in integrity. When I was a child, we had jobs. CEDA was I have time on the clock. Ceda, I had jobs
with CEDA and I work with law in different environments and I'm retired from the World Tra. I'm glad to be here today to tell the story. Thank you for your time. Thank you. Our next speaker 550 Cararissa.
Is Cararissa here? Oh, hello dear council members. My name is Cararissa Cunningham and I am one of Councilman Joel Brooks's aids. I am here to speak on resolution 26-045.
I want to start by telling you about my day. Today started with buying c bags for distributing candy to seniors for Valentine's Day. Walking up to the store, I fell off the sidewalk into a 6-in deep pothole full
of dirty slush and water, falling to my hands and knees, scraping my hand up. My first thought was not I should sue the city. It was I should file a cclick fix and then maybe follow up with the department of infrastructure.
That's the kind of mindset you develop working as a council aid. We are faced with the sometimes mundane, sometimes dramatic problems of Jersey City and we are expected to make the city work for people. Once I got back to the office and filed the cclick fix, I check in with a group
of tenants our office has been helping fight their landlord. Their landlord turns off the water regularly, has not ensured uh heat is always on on the building. There are mice and bugs in the building.
There is no super on the premises. I helped them read through their rent registration logs to see if they're being overcharged on their rent. Next, I called an elderly woman who is being targeted for illegal eviction by her landlord. I call her every other day
just to check on her. She's scared she'll lose the only home she's had for the last 45 years. Next, I reach out to the Department of Housing, Economic Development, and Commerce to help a small business owner get clarity about his certificate of occupancy. After that, I confirmed the
speakers for a know your rights training our office is hosting to prepare our neighbors for the eventual ice crackdown that is beginning in Jersey City. That's just what I got up to before lunch. The lunch I forgot to eat until 3
p.m. And quite frankly, I skipped a couple things. Council aids are workers, essential workers who are working hard to take care of your constituents. For many residents, we are the people they reach out to when they feel there
is nowhere else they can turn. We research and write policies that benefit the entire city for you. We must be fully staffed so that we can keep up our everinccreasing needs of our constituents and help you legislate in
response to those needs. I call all council members for the sake of your constituents and your legislative goals to fully fund your staff. Thank you so much. Our next speaker 5.51 Fidel here.
Next 5.52 Glenn. >> Glenn's not here. And last but not least, 5.53, Lorraine. Lorraine is not here. Okay. All right,
that will conclude our public speakers list. >> Motion to close the public speaker. >> No, we don't need to do that. We don't do that. Council person Gilmore is trying to keep me on my toes and I appreciate it. All right, on to our petitions and
communications. Items 6.1 through 6.27. Any questions or comments? Hearing none. There are no office of communications. Any questions or comments on report of directors 8.1 through 85?
>> Uh yes, Sean. Um on 8.1, I just want to point out um this executive order uh was just tweeted about from the former mayor and um as you explained to us graciously last night at caucus uh was not actually properly delivered to the clerk's
office, which is why we see it in our reports of directors tonight. Um, and I just I know that the mayor's office is reviewing all of the former mayor's uh executive orders, including this one, but I just want to strongly urge uh the
retraction and revocation of this executive order um by our current administration as it conflates anti-semitic discrimination with the movement for boycott divestment sanctions against Israel and pretends as though there is no precedent for our
community to make a statement um that stands up against apartheid. Uh in fact, New Jersey was the first state to boycott South African apartheid um in the entire nation if I stand correct if
I'm correct on that. And I think it um would be a disservice to say that Jersey City is not allowed in any way or through any of our contracts uh to engage in boycott divestment sanctions of the state of Israel where we see an apartheid state today. So I just want to
strongly urge the administration to take that into consideration while reviewing this executive order. Sean, if could could you just clarify the record too why that letter is on this meeting and not a previous meeting? >> Sure. >> Just for the public.
>> Sure. So, whoever didn't watch the caucus last night, um the we we did not know that these executive orders existed until we received an OPER request um that was filed back in early January.
and we went looking for the request and uh the requesttor actually stated in his request that the mayor sent out the tweet about the um executive order. So, we called um upstairs to the mayor's office. And I know when you're going in through a
transition period, you know, things can get left behind, but this is something uh executive orders that have to be filed in the office of the city clerk and they get numbered by my office and we also distribute them to all department directors and also place it
on the website under the mayor's executive orders under the mayor's office on on uh the website. So, uh, we wouldn't have found out about these executive orders if the Oprah requests, uh, didn't get filed. Hence the reason why you see it on the agenda.
Any questions with that? All right. Hearing none, on to our claims and addendums number one and number two. Council members, I'm going to be taking a vote on claims and addendums number one and number two. Council Person Brooks.
Um before I vote, I don't know if this is a point of information. Um agenda items 9.2 and 9.3 were not on the uh caucus agenda last night. Is that correct?
>> That that is correct. But as soon as I received the addendums, I republished the agenda. Um and I received them uh I I don't know exactly what time. but it was early this afternoon and I republished it so uh the council members can at least take a look at um the
addendums number one and number two. >> Thank you. And I guess this is a question for uh the business administrator. Um if we uh if either 9.2 or 9.3 is defeated or carried, what
would be the implications of both? >> They wouldn't be carried. they have to be posted potentially on the next meeting. Um I don't know specifically every item that's on there, but if a item had a deadline to be paid and wasn't paid, then potentially the city
could incur interest or, you know, closure notices, things of that nature. >> Sure. I mean 9.2 is a total of 103 million. Am I reading that correctly? >> That's what I see.
>> That is correct. Okay. And 9.3 is almost 13 million. >> That is also correct. >> Okay. Um I'm like captain abstain over here on the claims. Uh but I think it's worth having a conversation with the public
viewing. Um that I mean these are significant uh expenditures, not denying the legitimacy of any of them. Um, and I just I I don't feel comfortable. Uh, actually, let me let me I have a few
questions. Um, with regard to 9.2, all of this is any of this or all of this part of the fiscal year 2026 budget or is it expending unexpended funds from 2025?
>> Hello. There we go. Most of these look to be 2026 expenditures. Again, as a reminder, the claims are things that have been previously authorized by the council, whether through all resolution or through a temporary budget. Um, these are things, regular bills that the council has to pay. So, it's not new
items. It's not items that haven't been discussed publicly at some point in time. It's just merely us paying the bills once they come in after a resolution or temporary budget or, you know, final budget has been approved by the council. Um the the law is they always have to go before the council.
It's almost like the second chance you get to see them. Um but again, I understand your concerns. The reason why Dennies exist is that bills come in late, items come in, you know, at different times. You know, our finance department always tries to pay them, you know, as quickly as possible given the concerns that the city's in. Um,
obviously we put the deadline for Friday because we want to get most items there as possible for you to see, but things do come over the weekend, Mondays, Tuesdays, and I think our, you know, accounts controls just try to get them paid as quickly as possible given any impending deadlines they might have.
>> Okay. Thank you. And, um, with regard to the temporary budget that we authorized earlier this year, where do these new claims fit in? Um does that increase uh is that encompassed in the in the
previous number or probably not I would imagine but >> any any items that are played through CL claims would not increase the temporary budget once you vote in the temporary budget. The only way that can increase is through council action. So these are not affect that. These would either be,
you know, reappropriations that are paid from the 2025th budget with any surplus or excess funds the city have or they would be part of the already the authorized money for the temporary budget. And so when we vote, you can stay seated, Peter. It's okay. Yeah,
it's up to you. Um, when we vote on the final budget as submitted by the administration, that will encompass the claims that we have already voted to approve and pay. Is that correct? the the final budget would encompass
potentially new claims. So these claims would be things that are already authorized through the temporary budget or again through appropriation transfers or things that the council has authorized. When you authorize the final budget, you're saying, you know, for instance, the clerk's office, sorry, Sean, um the clerk's office has x amount
of dollars to pay for contract, professional services, whatever it might be. And these claims come up through a matter of business through those payments. So you might not see a contract if it's under the certain purchasing amount. If it's over the purchase amount, you would see it, but it might be $10,000 for a, you know,
licensed software that saw needs. Someone has to pay that bill, pay that claim. It's authorized to the budget and then it's, you know, paid for through the claim, you know, process. If it's a higher amount over the purchasing threshold, that requires council authorization either through an RFP,
RFQ, or similar kind of uh action. >> Okay. Thank you. And Sean, you asked for a vote on items 9.1 and 9.2 only. Was there any reason excluded 9.3? >> I I No, I didn't exclude any of them. I I I don't call them 9.1, 9.2, and 9.3. I
call them claims and addendums number one and number two. So number one and number two is 9.2 and 9.3, I believe. >> Okay. Yeah. >> Um and you're I can I can vote now. >> Yes. Um
>> other >> unless you want to unless you want to have a discussion before everybody votes. >> I think I think I defer to my colleagues if they have questions. >> Love to ask questions now if that's okay. >> Sure. >> Sorry. Do
>> um so this seems like you know both council meetings we have where we have had a caucus. There was a caucus the day before and yet there were still some late items added. And um Sean, you mentioned that you publish the agenda on the website again. Um I would request
that going forward that you email us also when when these late items are added. Um because you know I understand that these claims can come in at any time. But like it it does seem to be a pattern that there are some
pretty substantial claims coming in in the 24 hours between caucus and council and that you know I I would really like to avoid that and if at all possible um I don't know you know to what extent it
is possible but in city departments if if we could make every effort to have these on the caucus agenda going forward and if there is a change between caucus and council if we could be emailed instead of having to refresh the website and scroll down. >> Yeah. And not to put it all in Sean,
I'll have the finance department if they do make changes or propose making changes, I'll have them email it to you directly. That way you're not getting it thirdand or if Sean is busy, it's not delaying it. >> I guess >> thank you. >> For me, Peter, the bigger question is how do something happen like this?
because I would imagine the people who want their money to the tune of 9 million or all of those people that they would have been in communication with the entity in which you owe them money. Um, so I guess my whole point is there
has to be a level of communication where this is not, you know, a lastm minute. Um, I mean, I get it. We signed the contract. We got to pay the bills, but there's a order and a way in which things should be done. That way when
people seeing it, um, they like, "Oh, what's this? I didn't know about this or whatever." Cuz I mean, it just holds everything up. >> I agree, Councilman. That's why I have expressed very sternly to the finance department that we're trying to get as much of that possible by Friday when we publish the agenda. That way the council and everyone else has much time to
review it. Um there will always be some kind of fluidity with it just because the vendors themselves you know provide us information. So it's not always I don't blame the finance department. Sometimes they are behind on his bills you know especially with you know law legal type things where you know they
might not be billing us as frequently they should be or a vendor might have had amended bills or sending us. So, it's a very fluid process. You know, the finance department does make sure they stay within the contractual allowed obligations. However, you know, they might send us a bill one day and then
two months later say, "Oh, wait, we messed up. We actually should have sent you a bill for that kind of stuff." And they have to review it long as they contract amount the, you know, count the finance department will eventually approve it. But it's not always, you know, like your cell phone bill where every month you get it the same amount, we can predict it. These are very fluid
bills. All that considered, let's just get in the habit of making sure people get this stuff in on time. >> You got it, Councilman. >> And and and also um can we be like more descriptive? Like obviously we know what dental and optical is, right? But some
people may not know what MLK green quarter is and it's like a $81,000 price tag on that. And then, you know, we have HR paying $2,200 for cocktail tables. Like what was the reason for that purchase? you know just you know we
want to keep track of >> well well the the descriptions are based on what's allowed by the software when they put in the billing system so I don't know if they can add descriptions to that um I can ask them okay we might be limited to what the software you know allows us to code these things as >> okay thank you
>> on on that note I mean if there's any way that the software can be you know tweaked to reference the ordinance or resolution that corresponds with the council's authorization of that payment. That would be really helpful as a way to
go back and cross check and make sure the claim we're now authorizing to spend money on is is consistent with the amount that was originally authorized. I'll ask that, but I don't know if it has the capability. Usually, it's done by account number. So, it'll say, you know, this payment per this account.
That account number is of course tied to an ordinance, but I don't know if it can do that leap to kind of connect everything for us. >> Okay. Yeah, that that'd be great to know. Thank you, Pete. And also council, if we um if we have this in advance and there is a question,
the department is there. So also feel free to reach out to those department directors if we have it far enough in advance to ask those questions as well. Anything that you think you have a question on, always feel free to reach out. Council President, um I would like
uh I'd like to I guess request uh some kind of a briefing from Director Vikira on claims um prior to each meeting. And listen, I know the public is watching. I'm not trying to grandstand here, but this is these are big numbers. Uh and we
had, you know, a me most of us stood here with the mayor uh with his pres very detailed presentation. Uh and you know, I think that we owe the residents of Jersey City an eagle eye on
everything that comes before us. Uh and I can't give an eagle eye to $109 million with less than 3 hours before I vote on it. So I'm just speaking for myself. Um, so I guess my request would be for a briefing from Director Vikier
uh on all claims going forward. >> So, uh, Peter, when we set that meeting up with, uh, Bill, please ask him to be prepared to discuss claims and, uh, explain the software. Uh, Councilman Brooks does have a point. You know, we've been told that we are in a budget
deficit, uh, and that we are in a dire situation. So they are doing their due diligence to comb through everything. So yep, >> we can't have it both ways. If we're in distress, then we got to go through it all. >> Understood. I'll pass it on. >> Okay, Sean.
>> I'm afraid to ask. No. Uh take it a vote on claims and addendums number one and number two. Council person Brooks. on uh claims item agenda item 9.1 I vote I
>> on the addendums one and two I abstain so that's 9.2 two and three. Correct. Correct. >> Council person Zupa, >> you're taking home and you're not yet sure whether you have an independent-minded council. I hope the
fact that we argue over the claims section of the agenda shows you that we are obviously very discerning in a way that you deserve. So, I'm I'm very proud that to be part of this questioning. I'm going to vote yes because the reimbursements, the claims include health care reimbursements for our
employees. they shouldn't suffer because of um delay in getting this information to us. And Sean, it's not through your office. Thank you for posting when you get when you receive it. Uh but we're going to need from our department directors these bills submitted well in advance of the council meeting and not
the Friday before. Uh so I vote I on all u for for those reasons. Council >> person, I vote I on 9.1 uh and abstain from 9.2 and 9.3.
Okay, Council Person Little, >> I vote I on 9.1 and abstain from 9.2 and 9.3 due to the lack of time to review them. Thank you, >> Council Person Gilmore. is Sean. So,
quick question um with regards to that um being that some members are voting I and then abstaining on part of >> um part of the claims and addendum. What
happen if they don't receive the all the almighty five votes? >> If we don't see receive the majority which is five votes, then those 9.2 2 and 9.23 will be defeated. >> But does
>> and and those >> and those payments will not be able to be made to those vendors and reimbursements to uh city employees. I mean, I just, you know, this is a note
for the administration. Um, if we can have these documents in a timely manner, um, and I don't even think it's a hard ass cuz I just think that when people owe people money, I can't imagine, and again, I don't know, but I can't imagine
them entities that's owed money is submitting paperwork. Like, I I try to submit my paperworks before I perform the duty. Um so hopefully we can start getting all that documentation on time. Um of I
>> council person sing. >> Um I don't want to hold on to their payments because of our hesitation. Uh so I will vote I on all three. Thanks Sean. >> Thank you. Council person Griffin.
>> I vote I. Council Person Lavaro. >> Um I I admire my my colleagues and their um scrutinizing this very very closely. Um and we should. So um I am um voting I
on 9.1. I'm going to go a little different. Um and I'm going to um support their their call for more uh more information, timely timely information. Um but on 9
is it 9.2 um I am going to get granular and do a a line item. Can I do that Sean? >> You can. >> Yeah. So I'm going to do on page three
of 9 uh two I'll do the employees retirement system. Um >> when you're saying you're going to you're voting >> affirmative >> affirmative
>> for the school bonds um just the Gen Mnt investment group both of those. I would just need the ones that you're not voting against. >> I think it's easier for me to vote.
>> Okay. >> Just to >> I don't have it in front of me so I have no idea what >> Yeah. So, so it's those three items on page three. That's the retirement benefits, the debt service going to Mnt Investment Group. Um, and then I'll vote
for all of them on PA page four, which includes allocations to the Jersey City Public Schools, the County of Hudson for that. And then on 9.3 will um on page three of the document under
dental plans. I'll vote for that affirmatively. Um, I'll vote for page four, the prescriptions on page four, a little over $1 million.
Um, and then lastly, the medical claims on page five of the document, which is almost $11 million. So question, if I'm if I'm understanding right,
you're only voting on portions of the claims. >> I'm voting yes on those portions and no on the rest. I'm sorry. Abstaining on the rest, I should say. Yeah, abstain. >> Okay. So Sean, since those since those claims are one agenda item,
can he vote on them separately? Line separate line items? Yes, we've done that in the past. Um, and that's why Council Person Labaro asked the question. We He's done it in the past. He had to abstain on certain ones when he had another job. Um, he had a
conflict. So, um, there is no problem doing that. It's just I don't have the copy of the claims in front of me. So, I was just trying to jot down the notes that he was referring to on which ones he's voting for and the ones that he's not voting for. >> Okay. And then you'll do the proper
recording after. >> Right. >> Okay. >> And Council President Ridley, >> I don't know. >> So without going through the whole line by line, claims and addendums number one
and number two are approved. I'm going to say a 54 vote. I mean, excuse me, 504 with council person Brooks, Ephro, Little and Lavaro on portions of 9.2 and
three abstaining. Is that fair? >> Yeah, I think that's fair for right now. Okay. All righty. On to our resolutions.
Council members are going to be taking a vote on items 10.1 through 10.14 with the exception of 10.3 which has been withdrawn and 1045 and 9 which were approved earlier. Council person Brooks.
I vote I on all. Council person Zupa. >> Uh I vote I on all for 10.10. Uh I appreciate the administration getting us some guidance on that. I'm I'm satisfied that my questions yesterday at caucus were answered. Uh
that the administration and this city will not um forego getting much needed grant money for our fire department. Um so I vote I. >> Council person Ephro. Uh, I also vote I ditto Councilman Zupa's points. Um,
>> I thank you, Council Person Little. >> I on. >> Council person Gilmore. >> Um, I'm going to vote I on all with regards to 10.12 and all pretty much of
the city contracts. I think we owe it to the taxpayers to try to bring as much uh services in house as possible. Um I really look forward to that transition. Um so I I all
>> Thank you. Council person Singh. >> I vote I on all >> Council Person Griffin. >> In regards to uh 10.12, I believe uh my colleague uh Councilman
Zupa uh requested some information in regards to um non-payment of employment. I mean I I mean of uh employees. >> Different item. >> Huh? >> Different item. Not 1012. >> 10 1018. >> Not this one.
>> We're not there yet. >> We're going from 10.1 through 10.14. >> That was a dumb move. >> Oh, we got Okay. All right. I I vote I on all. >> Council person Lavaro. >> I don't.
>> And council president Ridley. I >> items 10.1 through 10.14 with the exception of 10.3 which has been withdrawn are approved unanimously 90. On to the balance of our resolutions
items 10.15 through 10.25 with the exception of 10.19 which has been withdrawn. Council person Brooks >> on 10.15
I uh vote I on 1016 and 10.17 I abstain and um I just think we need to do uh I think we need to get our arms around how many uh cannabis businesses were approving when some of them are
failing notably two in the past month. Jersey City. Uh on 10.18, I heard my colleague uh with regard to that contractor. This park is in my ward and I'm sorry to say that I cannot vote uh
for this particular contractor if they have wage and hour violations. Um Councilman, if I may to clarify that, I received a memo at about 5:00 today from a colleague who is looking down that information. According to the New Jersey Department of Labor website, they do not have any outstanding prevailing wage
claims, nor did any of the biders that participated in that public bid. Um, they did reach out to the Department of Labor directly to try to, you know, ensure there wasn't something in the pipeline or something that wasn't publicly listed, but uh, they haven't gotten a response from them yet. Um, on top of that, for the city, we can verify
that there have never been a claim for any of the work they've done in the city. We have a department OTAAC that actually reviews all those you know every contract and every vendor and we withhold the final payment till we are satisfied and certify that all claims have been paid to all employees. Um it's
a normal process standard process that we do for every bidder. Um so the city is confident at least in the city of jury city and according to the publicly available information that there are no prevailing wage outstanding claims against this bidder or any of the biders that were listed in the the public bid.
Now, Peter, when you say there are no outstanding claims, um there were claims made, these claims may have been closed. Um can you speak to have there ever been any claims? >> So, outstanding claims within the city of Jersey City. When we looked at their
public website that the department of labor has, it's called Wall, I think it's called the workplace accountability and labor list. They list any, you know, entity that would be prohibited from bidding on public contracts because of
outstanding or for any wage violations. And they were not listed, nor were any of the companies listed. >> Okay. And as as it relates to business done in Jersey City or the business that the firm do state, >> so the Department of Labor would cover the entire state. We did do our double
due diligence for Jerry City specifically and double checked and nothing Jerry City according to our records for the different projects this vendor has been a part of have any outstanding violations. >> Peter, thank you for that. I see my colleague has some documentation from the state. So, uh, can I make a motion
to carry this while we're voting or is that out of order? I believe you can make any motion to carry for another council meeting or to, you know, we can pull it off and revisit it next meeting if you'd like. >> Yeah, I think we should >> Hold on. Hold on. Hold on. So, you're
not going to carry a resolution. You're going to make a motion to withdraw it. >> Um, >> or or the administration can withdraw it. >> The administr was put on by the administration. So, >> do you want to withdraw it? I'm >> withdrawing it.
So you were drawing 10.18. So Council Person Brooks, um, since the administration has withdrawn 10.18 and 19, um, you're voting you're abstaining on 1016 and 17 and you're voting I on the
rest or because I I don't think you finished your vote. >> I did not finish my vote. Thank you. Yes, I am voting I on the rest. Uh and um thank you to my colleague, Council Member Lavaro, uh for getting to getting
the uh resolution to abolish ICE, calling for the abolition of ICE uh on the agenda. I'm excited to see also what my colleagues do on the uh rent protection special investigation committee. Uh there's a lot to do. Thank
you. Can I um sorry just on on your item council get more there's there's names that to be inserted in there I just realized right do we have to do that now or I think >> yes I think we should
>> yeah we should um well we should give Sean the names >> what are the >> you can you can provide me the names after we take the vote >> okay all right Sean oh the names of the committee members >> yeah we're in the middle of taking the vote the rest of the items
Council person Zupa. >> All right. On 10.15, I vote no. Uh I recognize NW Financial Group had been advisers to the city before. Um I also understand the administration is seeking a new RFP for
for uh seeking other proposals. They can certainly reapply or we can fold their services into a new request for proposal. Uh I'll vote I on 1016 and 1017. I don't want to hold uh the free-for-all that occurred at the cannabis review board with all the uh
licenses that were granted without really regard for whether they'd be successful before this council took office and I haven't heard any um negativity on these applications from my council colleagues and I I we always wish small businesses to do well. So I I
hope they will do well. Uh I'm glad 1018 was withdrawn. Pet Mr. Horton, thank you. Um ju just for background I I am in possession I'll share with the administration three documents uh purportedly from the department of labor and workforce development regarding Adamo Brothers Construction Incorporated
at 1033 Alexander Avenue in Ridgefield, New Jersey 07657 matches the address of the uh company on the resolution. Um I I have and will continue to speak a lot about uh union labor in our construction projects so
that our residents can have a livable wage and we need to lead by example in this city and make sure our contractors are paying prevailing wage. So uh when this comes up again uh whether they have violations or not uh I would assert that Adam Brothers it does not pay prevailing
or livable wage for their workers. Um on 10 20 1021 10:22 I vote I for uh 1023 I want to applaud Council Navaro for bringing this to our attention. And very
briefly I just want to address not the supporters of this resolution but those who may be at home who are opposed to it or who are sitting on the fence. uh you can say that you are pro law enforcement and so you want to support ICE or the Department of Homeland
Security. Uh I have worked with law enforcement when I was a prosecutor for Hudson County. I've seen law enforcement uh this is what's going on around the country is not law enforcement. What we're seeing in Hudson County is not law enforcement. Uh law enforcement
law enforcement follows the rule of law. Law enforcement follows the Constitution. And when they do not do that, it is incumbent on all of us to challenge it. It is okay to question authority. All of you come here and question us. It's your right to do that. And we're going to continue to accept that. Uh but this is not law
enforcement. Uh you may be at home and say, uh well, okay, uh being in this country is, by the way, overextending your stay is a civil penalty, not a criminal penalty. But you can say, well, it's illegal. So is running a red light. So is texting while driving. and he who
is without sin shall cast the first stone on that one. Right. So, uh it's so important that we support law enforcement but uh and send a message to TIC to follow the rule of law, follow our constitution. And I
applaud Councilman Efos for taking a stand and putting yourself out there uh in the public eye. Just to conclude my vote, I also vote I on 10.24. It's in the grant for recreation and for Persian Field Renovations. Uh and on 10:25, thank you
to Councilman Gilmore for for leading this uh and and I know it's uh uh all the council can join. I'm happy to join if you think my uh spe uh skills set would be helpful to the committee. Thank you. >> It will. So, Council Person Supa, just to
clarify, you're voting no on 10:15 and I on all the rest. >> That is correct, Sean. Thank you. >> Thank you, Council Person Efos. Uh, I am going to vote no on 10.15. um what my council colleague uh when Gil
Gilmore brought up at caucus yesterday uh you know I I can't get that out of my head that this is uh and Northwest Financial Group has been around for 20 plus years with the city um and we are in the hole that we're in and um I have
not yet seen a kind of analysis of what was the scope of work that they were doing such that they would have had no idea about all of the financial mismanagement Um, so, so I I can't in good faith vote. Yeah. So, I vote no on
10:15. I vote yes on 10:16 and 1017. Um, congratulations to uh Michael, who's I think still here uh on on Grass House. I I take seriously your commitment to social equity um in establishing this
business. Uh on Tunnel, um I vote yes on 1020. I yes on 1021. Yes on 10:22. Uh on yes on I excuse me not yes I on 1023. And I'll just say I'm
extremely grateful to the hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of members of our community that braved minus1 degree weather to march through our neighborhood in Jersey City Heights um and make it very clear that we want ice out of Jersey City. Uh this past
weekend, um we've had I I believe nine, eight or nine deaths by ICE or in ICE custody across the country this year alone. Um and it's not even March. Uh so this is ICE is not a
part of the federal government that we need for safety. Um and I'm glad that our city can uh you know double down on our sanctuary city status and in addition to that make it very clear that um this is this is not a agency of the federal government that we want around
at all. Um, I also vote yes or excuse me, I on 1024. Um, I on uh 10:25 very excited to work with the special investigation committee um with my council colleagues to make good on not
only the case of the port side tenants who have been fighting so hard, but the cases of tenants across this city to enforce code 260 to make sure landlords are accountable uh to the vast majority of this city. um and to get what is ours
in terms of the fines uh from the violations that we should be issuing. So very excited for that work. >> Council person Little, >> I vote no on 10.15. Um yeah, similar to
what my council colleague said, this firm has been providing us financial advisory services for 24 years. Um even if they were limited in scope, they advised on such things such as the PMPADU and um you know, I I think we
need to chart a new direction, especially when we are $255 million in the hole. Uh so I vote no on 10.15. Um, I vote I on 10.16 10.17. Um,
thank you, Mr. Horton, for uh withdrawing 10.18. I take um the prevailing wage concerns seriously and thank you Councilman Zuba for raising them. Um, I vote I on 10.20, 10.21,
10.22. I vote I on 10.23. I want to thank Councilman Lavaro for um getting this resolution together on a short time frame. I'm proud to be a co-sponsor of it. Um
ICE has been acting as a rogue paramilitary force. They have been executing citizens exercising their first amendment rights. Um, and I
they've been abducting people and deporting them, which is not even deportation, it's human trafficking, because they are sending them to countries, but that they have never been. They've been sending them to mass detention camps in El Salvador.
And I, you know, ICE is not a longstanding pillar of American government. It was formed after 911. It is younger than every single member of this council. Abolish ICE. I vote I on 10.23.
I vote I on 10.24. I vote I on 10.25. And I'm very excited to get to work with my colleagues enforcing the law and protecting tenants. Council Person Gilmore. Um,
>> Peter, quick question as it relates to 1015 um, NW Financial. Uh, can you confirm and or deny if one of the principal owners have relatives that work in the financial department for the
city? >> They do not work in the financial department. I think you're referring to one of our employees who is related to the company. He works in the auditing company. He does not have a capacity with NW. He's not employed by MD or is he compensated by NW? >> So he works for the city just not in
that department. He works in auditing. >> He does work in the city. Correct. >> He or she. Oh, okay. Um so in light of not even that, just the fact that um I just don't know where you can perform horribly and get another contract with
more money. Um, and you just haven't done a good enough job seeing that you're a financial consultant. Um, and the finance of the city is on hospice. So, I'm going to vote no on
10.15. I'll vote I on all the rest as it relates to the abolishing of ICE. Um, thank Councilman Rolando Navaro. Um, without saying too much, it's just
mindboggling how certain demographics in this country is targeted. Um, and then they try to paint the narrative that if you're against ICE, somehow you're anti- law enforcement. Um, just so the record can reflect, we're we're anti ICE. We're
against ICE. We like police, right? Police protect us, but these thugs um essentially are just ripping families apart and doing all type of unethical things. Um, as it relates to 10.25,
um, I'm elated to get to work to see, um, what we can do to bring about some form of resolution as it relates to any and all establishments that's under uh, rent control. Um because for whatever
reason when individuals are in these dwellings um certain landlords tend to think that these individuals are beneath um worthiness and they do all type of stupid tactical things um that they're
not supposed to be doing. Um so I'm excited to get to work um and just to make sure we're able to enforce the laws that are on our books. So I vote I on all except for 15 >> council person sing
>> um I don't I vote no for 1015 1016 1017 and on other than that on everything I vote yes I and 1025 I'm ex Thank you um Councilman Gilmore for I'm excited to be
part of an organ a committee where we will make a difference and that will be starting of our journey and hoping to help other tenants in the city. So, thank you. >> Just to confirm, you're voting no on 15,
16, 17, and I on all the rest. Correct. >> Correct. >> Thank you, Council Person Griffin. >> I'm going to vote no on uh 15. Uh, you know, if you're going to if you were advising us for all this time, I
mean, there should have been some sort of flags. She if you couldn't smell a smoke then you're not going to smell it now. So I'm going to vote no on that. Um 16 and 17 I am going to vote yes. However um
I just want you guys to know that um the way cannabis was set up in Jersey City um a lot of businesses are failing. So I wish you luck. Um, I'm going to vote I on everything else. Um, 23. I
want to thank my colleagues for um bringing this resolution on, Rolando, um, Jake, Elena, and whoever else. Tight suit. Um, this is great, right? Like I come from a
like Frank and I, we come from uh a marginalized community where we where we kind of saw stuff that's happening now happen in our community. Um just not to this extent, right? So we understand the fear that's going on. We
we know what it means to be separated um you know see families broken apart. So, um you know, just being an ally um to our neighbors, um it's it's it's a great feeling, right?
Um it's it's like one of those return of favorite things. And um I proudly vote eye on that. And when it comes to um 25, I absolutely uh vote eye on that. um we need to
um make sure that 260 is is being um enforced and so you know let's let's get to work >> on 24 >> and 24. >> So I >> you're voting I on all with the
exception of 10.15. Is that correct? >> That is correct. Yes, that's correct. Thank you, Council Person Labaro. >> On 10.15, um I'm going to be voting no. Um and as
been discussed, they they're providing these services that are going to provide uh fiscal financial advisory around tax abatements and bonding. Um, this is a firm that again has been with
the city for 22 years and they are used throughout the state of New Jersey and um, lots of municipalities and um, governmental entities utilize their services. Um, and if you were to ask people, they would say they do a good
job, frankly. Um and but but I have had the experience of uh not seeing that. And when they did financial analysis um in my towards the end of my last term particularly there was the idea that uh
um it um it suppressed affordable housing opportunities here in Jersey City. um and they did the the the bidding of an administration that as everyone has cited here as well that uh has led us to this financial crisis that
we're here um experiencing here today. Um and while while they didn't advise necessarily on uh the city's direct budget, um they've created the kind of they've been part of creating the city that has gentrified um Jury City through
their financial advisory services and have long favored um developers over Jur City residents. Um so I vote no on 10.15, on 10.16 and 10.17. Um, I I don't uh have anything against
the businesses themselves. I just really think um for me as well, I I share Councilman Brook's um assessment. We need to kind of revisit uh um the cannabis um regulations here in Juria City. Um
and so I'm personally not prepared to uh add another uh cannabis dispensary here in Jersey City. Um going down to 10.25. 25. Um, >> wait, wait, wait. How are you voting on 16 and 17? >> Abstaining. I'm sorry. I'm abstaining.
Thank you. I'm 10.25. Um, thank you to Councilman Gilmore for bringing this forward. Um, and I want to give a big thanks to the the advocates um for the your your your
the pressure and the your consistent um presence here at these city council meetings. um for raising the the right questions and and holding Jersey City officials accountable. Um and so I look forward to
this work on 10.25 25 and the committee uh and being able to um turn the tide here in Jersey City and make sure that um we hold people accountable um not just uh uh uh property owners and um but
city officials as well um for making sure that uh we're enforcing our laws here in Jersey City and that others are abiding by our laws here in Jersey City. um and anyone who's um been complicit in doing otherwise um we will investigate
that and we will um do bring all all means necessary to ensure that you're held accountable here in Jersey City. Um yeah, I vote yes on 10.25. Um on 10.23
um I just want to say um thank you to all our colleagues for for supporting this. Um, I want to start be first by just acknowledging the courage of my colleagues. Um, I was not out in those streets and uh, Councilman Ephro um, and
I give you all the credit in the world um, for your courage in confronting ICE um, and really putting your body and protecting our residents here in Jersey City and attempting to do that. Um, I also know my uh, other new colleagues here on the council. I don't know
exactly. I know you're out in the cold and and in in um in protests and and may rush to the county courthouse as well. Yeah. Um and so um I acknowledge all of you for for all of your work there and anyone else who did that as well on this
council. Um that's uh um I did not have the opportunity to do that and and to be frank with you and I say this uh I don't know that uh the physical courage to do that. So that that takes something to get out there and know that somebody across from you is uh wielding a weapon
um a gun and uh and that um it could be a risk. So I I I prepared a little statement here and I'm going to make it short because uh when I get emotional, I can tend to have a hard time getting my words out, but um you know, ICE agents
are terrorizing communities across America and they're doing it right here in Jersey City. Our immigrant neighbors are afraid to go to work, take their kids to school, or seek medical care. Renee Good was killed during a federal
enforcement operation and Alex Prey was murdered, executed. These are not abstractions. These are lives lost under a system that has abandoned due process and human dignity. Um that is why I'm proud to have introduced this resolution and
co-sponsored it with my colleagues um calling for the abolition of ICE. Jersey City will remain true to its values um and will remain a sanctuary city. I vote I for 23 and for all the rest. >> Council President Rley. Uh Peter, I have
a question. 10:15, uh I believe this is already defeated, but I have I know that at the caucus we discussed what exactly NW would be doing and how uh they relate to our deficit and what exactly their
role was and that it's not necessarily on them, but I believe that uh anybody that had anything to do with the city's finances over the last few years are going to have a hard way to go right now. So, I I totally understand the vote. My question
is now at this point, I'm assuming we would have to go back out to bid to find a new financial service. >> So, we would probably have to do another bid. Um, we may have to check the specs and see if we have to tweak it in order to comport with the council's uh
acknowledgement and requirements for the current financial situation. So we would have to, you know, do that in the next couple of days and then try to have some time of interimm plan until those uh, you know, needs can be met and what we're going to do for our future audits. Uh, that would maybe rely on NW or would
have it relied on NW. >> Okay. And then also I have a bit of concern about losing the over 20 years of their knowledge. But at the same time they have created reports all of those years that we have to rely
on or uh any financial advice that they did render. >> Correct. So anything they're involved in obviously we have copies of their documentation. We would have that stored here. Um the the intent originally of putting on the agenda and having the
council approve them was that they have a insight into how certain things were structured, why certain language was the way it was. They have that, you know, intimate knowledge when a lot of these pilots and long-term agreements were uh advanced by previous council and this goes back 10, 20 years to multiple
projects that the city was involved at prior to, you know, numerous administrations and councils. Um, so the city was intending to rely on them when they do their audit to really determine, you know, the the balls and strikes of a lot of different language and why things were put in there and why historically
they had certain conditions implemented. Um, so they would kind of be the lititness test at a lot of that when the audit was conducted. Um, however, you know, going forward, we will find a way to to debate that and to, you know, produce the best audit possible for the city so we get the best results for the city.
>> Okay. >> All right. based on uh that and the fact that we should have those reports. While it might be a little tedious, we are in a time where a lot of things are going to be tedious. So, I will stand with my council colleagues and vote no on 10:15.
Uh and I will vote I on all the rest. >> Okay. Sean, I'd like to uh revise my vote on 10:15. >> Let me guess. >> Okay. >> You're going to vote no. >> Yes. I I would uh Yeah. And I just for
members of the public watching, I missed this portion of the caucus yesterday and that is a reminder to do your homework. Uh so thank you colleagues. Uh I vote no on 10:15. Thank you. >> Okay. So
>> that's what happens when you vote first. >> For real, right? That's one of the bad That's one of the bad uh >> council. I want to try to get you guys out of here. So um 10.15 is defeated 09
with no one voting in the affirmative. 1016 is approved 61 2 with council members Brooks and Lavaro abstaining and council person Singh
voting no. Item 10.17, same vote. 612 with council members Brooks and Lavaro abstaining and council person Singh voting no. Items 10.20 through 10.25
are approved unanimously. 90. With that being said, >> may I have a motion to adjourn? >> Motion. Hold on. You're saying the motion before I'm even saying the time at 9:51 p.m.
>> Motion made by council person Gilmore. Let's do a second. Who's going to get that? >> Second. >> It's a delay on and I'll give it to Griffin. On the motion to adjourn at 9:51 p.m. All council members present by acclamation, please say I.
>> I hear at 9:51 p.m. Thank you so much everyone present and everyone watching at home. Remember, teamwork, basic, dreamwork. Have a great rest of the night. Stay safe.