all right everyone we're about to get started if we can find our seats silence our cell phones as I'm doing close the side doors and the back door a great appreciate it okay good evening everyone we are on the record today is Wednesday the 12th
day of March in the year 2025 this is a regular meeting of the Jersey City municipal Council we had a scheduled 600 p.m. start the clock on my cell phone is showing 6:05 p.m. may we have a roll call for the commencement of this
meeting council person Ridley here council person priner council person Bano council person CLE is not here yet council person Solomon here council person Gilmore is
not here yet council person Dees council person Rivera here and council president wman here okay we have seven members in seven council members in attendance at 6:05
p.m. can we kindly rise for a moment of silence please I like to dedicate this moment of silence to Kenneth Andrews e I see we now have Council persons Cay and Gilmore present at
606 PM so we now have all nine members present on behalf of council president wman and the members of the municipal Council and the 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 2025 and filed in the office of the city
clerk on Friday November 15 2024 in addition at its time of its preparation the agenda of this meeting was similarly disseminated on Friday March 7th 2025 at 4:25 p.m. to the mayor Municipal Council business administrator Corporation Council and the local newspapers and
posted on the city's website so I can certify as to our total compliance with the Sunshine Law hey we're going to go right on to our first reading ordinances you will indulge me in allowing me to read them into the record item 3.1 city ordinance
25-25 is an ordinance amending ordinance 22- 089 that authorize the city of Jersey City to accept from 1 34 Bay Street LLC three theater condominium units within the property located at 155 Bay Street Jersey City and authorizing
the city to accept from 134 Bay Street LLC one residential condominium unit at 155 Bay Street item 3.2 city ordinance 25- 026 is an ordinance amending chapter 131 entitled construction codes uniform
construction codes excuse me requiring applicants for construction permit to demonstrate prior approvals from certain city officials and agencies item 3.3 city ordinance 25-27 is an ordinance to amend and
supplement chapter 160 fees and charges section three Public Safety of the code of ordinances of the city of Jersey City to include a fee for the use of the city's deescalation Center and item 3.4 city ordinance
25-28 an ordinance amending chapter 160 fees and charges and chapter 175 food handling establishments as regards regulation and permits for mobile food vendors council members I'm going to be taking a vote on items 3 wait a minute
Sean Sean yep sorry click on Council presid I two quick things so first is on 3.4 I just wanted to update the Council on changes made based on the feedback so we took out the portion on the um push carts okay that's removed and then the
reduction in for Zone one permits is now $11,000 uh which had it been it had been 20% Which or which was closer to 2,000 a little more than 2,000 uh so I just want to update them and then we're committed to meeting with all the business interest before uh second reading so I
just want to say those on the record and then for 3.2 our office this is an our ordinance so we didn't change it obviously but we did want to offer an amendment on 3.2 to add in the tax collector's office to confirm compliance with payroll tax requirements as part of the local approvals so want to ask if we could either you know make I don't know
if I formally make the amendment or or how you wanted to handle that uh councilman we could do it in the second reading okay yeah we'll bring it back in a sec right you can either do it then as long as it's not a substantial change right if it is we can add it tonight okay let's add it tonight just to be
safe that's what are you talking about 3.2 3.2 it should be well all right so what's we need more councilman Solomon if you can just reiterate what we're going to be adding to 3.2 sure so it it's section D local prior approvals and
it lists right now uh you know one two um it has a list of I believe uh six and we want to add a seventh which says Jersey City tax collector's office to confirm compliance with any payroll tax requirements okay if you can just email me that language as soon as uh the
meeting is over um I'll be I'll go downstairs and update it so every member of the public can also see what we're voting on as far as that change is concerned great okay all right with that being said Sean can I just say something sure all right first of all Solomon I'd like
to know more on 3.2 we could talk about it during the week on 3.4 I just want to say that I've received calls from the business people as I said I used to work downtown they we received calls from brick and mortar businesses they too have already been
hurt after the pandemic these businesses did not know anything about it this ordinance I mean every everyone must work together on this amendment when the first ordinance was created brick and morar businesses HHS council members and the Food Truck Association worked for
many months on this councilman Salman can you please include the brick and mortar businesses and the SIDS the SIDS are a little some one of them is a little annoyed about this I know the Journal Square Sid is interested in making changes as well in their area so
may uh maybe possibly this should be t you should go back and sit down and speak to the businesses along Newark Avenue and speak to the SIDS we're happy to meet I would like to introduce happy to to meet with them
before if it takes time happy to take time on it it's the first reading but if not it should be pull and uh because they have to be satisfied these businesses on nework Avenue have been hurt and a lot of them are not doing too well okay
so council members I'm going to be taking a vote on items 3.1 through 3.4 and as council person Solomon the item 3.2 with his Amendment council person Ridley hi council person priner Hi for
introduction council person ban I'll say I for introduction but on 3.4 if it comes up there's no changes the think it should be pulled okay I say I thank you council person s I for introduction council person
Solomon I for introduction council person Gilmore council person Dees I for introduction council person reera I for introduction and yeah on 3.4 looking forward to the meetings with
3.4 council president wman items 3.1 through 3.4 are introduced unanimously 90 before we move on to our second reading ordinances I believe our business
administrator and our director of infrastructure would like to address the city council uh thank you Council um we're just requesting that uh uh director Patel address the Council on some of the changes on the resolution for the bike
Lanes uh before the public speaking section this way everybody has the most Uh current information uh on the resolution that we'll be voting on tonight evening council members after Monday's caucus and several conversations with members of the council and the
administration there has been a change to the text in the resolution uh which is agenda item 10.40 resolution 25-1 185 this is a resolution concerning the NJ do bikeways program for bike
Lanes in the Heights so uh before you get to that item we just want to explain what the changes are in the text and the reason for the changes so I'll ask uh the transportation director Mike Manzel to go through them evening counil president members of
council um in the resolution there were three whereas Clause that were added um it says States whereas several concept Alternatives were presented prepared and presented for advancement of this Grand project and whereas the presented Alternatives included various options
that would maintain both Manhattan and Franklin as two-way streets convert one or both streets from two-way streets to one-way streets maintain all or most of the existing supply of on street parking in the project area or remove some of the existing supply of on street parking
in the project area and whereas the NJ do requires one preferred alternative to be Advanced and developed into a preliminary and final design and in the now therefore Clause at the end uh there was a new Clause number six added that
states the award of this contract shall further be subject to the condition that the designer French and pillo Associates provides design drawings for this NJ do bikeways grant that maintains the orientation of Manhattan Avenue as a
two-way street for the entire length of the corridor so to summarize the resolution will basically state that if if approved the council would award this uh design contract to French and pillo to do the design work that's needed to
satisfy the requirements of the NJ do Grant but the stipulation was that was requested to be added was that it will not include Manhattan have changing any travel Direction it will remain a two-way street what about Franklin Street
that that is still an option as it could be one way you're making a change we sat down with the police department the fire department the hospital and everybody else and they all vo the opinion if you're going to make changes we have to sit down with them again and get this
approved because we're not going to endanger any lives the fire department to talk to you expressively about how this could hurt them so I think if you're going to make changes we have to sit down again we have to have another meeting and this should be
delayed then so these changes were requested by the council and the administration to you know Take Manhattan a off the table as changing directions um it was our understanding that that was the council's direction and that they're still an interest in if
this Grand project does move forward looking at Franklin Street um if that's not the case the council always has the prerogative to vote now Mike the uh they're complaining about both of the streets we spoke and we sat down we said we could take this money you can reapply
and use it make bike Lanes on other streets but these two streets are important streets in the city and uh you're in danger in lives especially in fire department hooking ladders and stuff so I think we should sit down with them again because something happens I
don't want them coming back and suing the council or suing you understood councilman and uh you know I'll get to the to the public safety aspect in a second but the council has every right to vote this down and and we would then be required to basically ask the dot to
resend the grant um but as far as the public safety issue the department of infrastructure the division Transportation Planning also has a directive to save lives and for Public Safety and safe and infrastructure is a matter of Public Safety in this city um and we fully understand and respect that
the uh Department of Public Safety has a responsibility and a directive to save lives when there are emergencies and we fully understand that and have worked with the public safety department in this process over two years looking at this Grand project um but we also have a directive to save lives and it is proven
time and again both in this city and in National and state level research that incorporation of bike Lanes increases safety for all Road users um and reduces the number of crashes well then might get rich rich rich let me
talkad Council council president um this was just a for everybody to be updated on the most current know now here it comes they want they all want to say something would you be able to make sure
that the what if approved that we'd be able to complete the bike project within the parameters uh that have been given to us by the NJ doot we will make every effort if we given is it possible like what it's
possible anything is possible we're already I think as director Patel explained at the C Caucus meeting and the previous meetings were already under the gun in terms of timeline um there's just been a not Direction and we will do everything we can to make it happen and push for an extension if that's even
possible even though we've been given every indication from njd so far that it's not um we will do everything we can to make it happen if we are awarded this contract and this is the compromise plan from like the last eight months from like the community coming together and
you know whether it's Public Safety Central Avenue Sid the bike lane Advocates the people that live on that block like th this is the plan that was finalized by your expert engineering expertise this is the compromise plan
first plan this is the compromise plan the first plan was one that kept both streets as two-ways that fire department stated that they would like because there was no change in the direction of the street and that plan would have
required the removal of 92 on street parking spaces which we were given the indication that that would not have support from Council Members because of the removal of parking spaces we then came up with a plan plan that would keep
as much parking as possible but then would change the direction of the streets to make the bike infrastructure fit that is something that Public Safety said that they would not favor but it solved the problem of keeping as much residential parking as possible and then
that is why we came up with this compromise plan which tries to accomplish a little bit of both okay I think you get a little bit of everything you have Manhattan Avenue stays two-way Franklin Avenue which is next to a school may turn gets turned into oneway
and I have seen a lot of schools that have oneway streets and you know to avoid them when the schools let out and you'll get a left turn signal on Manhattan Avenue as well so I think it no one's going to be happy everyone gets a little bit of
everything councilman ultimately our job is to present all of the options possible to you that is what we've done at the last caucus and Council meeting at this week's caucus and now at this council meeting so we the options are in
front of you and we've summarize what the changes are in the resolution you got something to say w here's another letter we just received from I I just have a question based on the last meeting that we had with Public Safety councilman boano and myself right
there was a fire director I mean the fire chief was there um there was a fire captain that lives in the area uh director Shay was there uh in that
meeting director Shay stated that uh the the study that was done made no sense because it was done by the Union right but the union members that were there are Jersey City Firefighters and they
stated that both both uh choices that you just gave and they stated that they were concerned with the apparatuses that they have uh within the Franklin Avenue area because then they means we would
have to change Street routes and they stated that it they were not they do not want to be at full if there is a life loss that's what what they stated so what what are we doing like so I mean I
just I just want I just want all of us since since we're being on the record here and everybody's on the record here right so is what the fire department stating does that not matter or does it
matter council members I think that is for you to decide okay it matters to us what the fire department says however the plan has not been designed yet so while I understand their concerns the plan this entire EX excise is for the
design to be done and then all of these considerations would be built into the design at the meeting that you just referenced the representatives from the fire department also said that they would prefer the plan that removes 92 parking spaces from the street um
because that would be more favorable to their operations But ultimately as director Shay said and as I am saying we understand the options in front of you are difficult choices but our our Department's job is to lay out
all of the options and all of the pros and cons of each of the options to you and we defer to you on the decision that's ultimately made and the decision that you make is the one that we will then carry out any more questions yes par I just
got another letter from the fire department saying no you know you said the other day you could take this money and put by CLS on other streets I did yes you did they can't they can't it's a certain Grant not this money you can apply for another Grant that's correct
right uh you know you're in danger in the lives of people that own homes there uh with the fire trucks the police department said no the hospital said no the nursing home said no I mean you're aggravating a lot of people with this
take completely understand but decision is not mine to no she's not making a decision we have to make the decision lives are in danger every single day 247 on the streets we are just trying to make the streets safer for the people who are the most vulnerable just got a
vote at this point but go ahead Frank um I just I just wna focus on the turnaround and the time right um You can't guarantee anything right but at some point when you're
making decisions on spending money you have to be you have to be able to do it with some level of confidence um is are you 60% 70% confident that we will be able to get this done in the timely man it h it
can't be a coin twip it's it's hundred and some th000 we can't flip the coin with $160,000 so I'll repeat what I said at at talk to some Monday about the amount of money about half of that is for the construction inspection so that wouldn't be a some cost if for some reason we
don't get the approvals to change the street to one way and go forward with the design because we wouldn't go to construction right we wouldn't need the construction inspection for that part of it so you're really talking about just half of the what's in front of you in terms of like the risk of not getting it done in time um when back when this was
first coming before Council the Consultants provided rfps and said you know here's we said here's our schedule can you meet it and at that time they could they they all said in their responses it was aggressive but they think that they could meet it we're now
almost a month from when that was supposed to start so we're already cutting in half basically the time they have to design it do we think that we can get it done I think with reasonable yes I think with reasonable expectations I think it C I
think it can be done but we can't promise anything because we have already cut to the time and now we're cutting into what the the Consultants responded into what their schedule is so now we have to go back and you know make sure that that that's even something that still could be possible so we can't
promise anything we don't want to say on you know mislead the council that it will definitely get done but we have reasonable you know hope that it that it's something that could be achievable do I'm sorry um and to add to that we've
done everything we can to prepare the consultant um so that they know exactly what direction they're going in exactly what their expectations are the deadline they have to meet so we've taken all of those steps ahead of time um as pre-work to let them know listen you're not
guaranteed this contract because ultimately the decision is up to the council but if you win this contract from the city these are the things you are required to do so they have already started preparing in case they are awarded the contract today that tomorrow
morning they get started on the work that they have to do so these are steps we've taken to to prepare as much as we possibly can with this vote being the unknown again there has to be like executive just don't make this there
have to be you have to have some level of comfort either 50 like there has to be a there has to be a reasonable expectation irregardless if it's all way up here or all way down here it you guys are test right with executing a plan
getting it to the people I'm this is not your first rodeo at this right so what I'm saying is I'm not willing to spend any of the taxpayers money on I think this might happen well Frank they don't
know the answer but go ahead Denise because you know what part of the problem is it's not our it's not our fault that this arrived to us at this time based on to my understanding this was going on ever since January so the parties that was at the table should have made a decision then they didn't
not make that decision then that's why we are here now and we're like trying to chase time here but don't let it stress us out let's do the right thing whatever our votes are that's how we have to look at it because it's not our fault that they came to us the last minute it's not go ahead Denise I don't want to draw
this out any longer but you know it's been said several times tonight that it's our choice it's our vote um yeah but we voted last meeting so what is the difference between the ordinance that's on today not uh director Menzel's
Amendment but before he made that Amendment what's the difference between what's on our agenda today and what we voted on at the last meeting like why are we here again the amendment that's it so so the the resolution did not make the agenda because of the vote it was a
531 vote I believe if I remember correctly I wasn't at the last council meeting but if I remember correctly in order to add a late item to the agenda you need six votes and because it had an affirmative vote it still failed so it
didn't make the agenda this is the same resolution just with Mike Manzel's uh director Manel I'm sorry uh his amendments added to it the amendment is to no I got the amendment I'm talking he just made that Amendment I'm talking
about before it's the same resolution last week that we said we didn't want to put on the agenda that's now on the agenda that is correct I just want to be clear okay Sean uh Sean follow the agenda when we get to it we'll vote however we'll do
feel it okay thank you director thank you thank you EV they didn't listen to the people that signed up petition all right our first second reading ordinance item 4.1 city ordinance
25-18 as discussed at the caucus the attorneys for this franchise ordinance is requesting the council to carry it two more weeks to the March 26 meeting and in order for me to do that I would need a motion from the city council to
carry city ordinance 25- 018 to the March 26 Municipal Council motion motion made by council person Rivera seconded by council president Waterman on the motion to carry city
ordinance 25- 018 to the March 26th Municipal Council meeting council person Ridley I council person priner Hi council person bajano Hi council person SLE hi council person Solomon hi council
person Gilmore council person Dees hi council person rera Hi and council president wman motion carries 90 to carry city ordinance 25- 018 to the March 26 Municipal council meeting our
next second reading ordinance is item 4. 2 city ordinance 25- 020 is an ordinance expanding the boundaries of Exchange Place Alliance special improvement district to include sections of Marin Boulevard Christopher Columbus Drive Morgan Street Bay Street
First Street stubin Street and Provo Street this is a public hearing on this ordinance and any member of the public wishing to be heard can come up to the podium and state their name for the record good evening council president members my name is is Donald pepy from
srcy Hollenbeck I represent The Exchange Place Alliance before you is the proposal to expand the district basically to better conform with the area in which we're intend intending to provide services and Capital Improvements as requested by the board at the last Caucus meeting we did hold a
public meeting it was attended by 44 people we answered their questions uh to try and alleviate any concerns that might have otherwise come up this evening I think that meeting went uh resoundingly well I heard no negativity about the proposed expansion um so we
ask to vote favorably on this all right this this expansion doesn't have anything to do with the meeting from yesterday right this is a separate one um no this was a meeting yesterday in order to answer any questions that some
of the people who got notices about this hearing might have had in advance of actual hearing it was directly with respect to this it was but I think I think at that
meeting the process um was that you're notifying those people and then subsequently there was going to be another meeting um the process that we worked out with the clerk and with Council uh
with Corporation councel was we sent out the one statutory notice that that you know stipulated this date for the final hearing and in that notice we also informed people that we were going to have a preliminary meeting on the 10th in order to answer any questions in
advance of the public hearing I I guess I'm confused because I heard verbatim on the meeting yesterday that there was going to be a follow-up meeting as it relates to does this have anything
to do with that area I just want to make sure I'm clear here no but I'm sorry I'm sorry before you answer I just need you to identify yourself for the record I'm D Crockett ex uh executive director of Exchange Place Alliance I apologize councilman Gilmore we uh had a
representative from your office on the call um some discussions came out up about Nathaniel Green Park and we did announce that we would have a community call on that project in future towards the end of the summer or the fall whenever that project comes back into
play so that might be what your so this don't have nothing to do with that no that's what I thank you uh I appreciate you pleasure thank you pepy uh you said you had a meeting yesterday yeah um no it was Monday Monday was Rachel
there uh Rachel was not there but I had communication with Rachel yesterday afternoon to deliver a letter to her that she requested and she was very happy to receive that and that is uh a direct letter
regarding not expanding into the historical district downtown Sid sorry okay the time is expired so our next public speaker on this specific ordinance if you can identify
yourself for the record and spell your name for my court reporter I greatly appreciate it sure um my name is Alfonso that's a f o NS o Rivera r i v r a thank you sir yeah you're welcome um first off I wanted to say thank you to The
Exchange Place Alliance for hosting the Forum on Monday uh it was very helpful for a lot of the residents to understand what it means to have the Sid expand into our neighborhood I live in the PowerHouse Arts District uh so you know I'm impacted by the expansion I also wanted to thank councilman Solomon's
office and council president Waterman's office for answering some of my questions when I reached out uh while I support the Ordinance one thing that I wanted to point out is that in both the expansion and in the state formation ordinance it's it's kind of vague on like what is considered commercial what
is considered multi-use residential I think it would be helpful if the ordinances detailed exactly what property Class Type would are being assessed a fee meaning like a 4A or 15f or whatever it be that's all thank you thank
you this is still a public hearing on this ordinance any member of the public still 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 25-20 was made by council person Riva
seconded by council person CLE on the motion to close the public hearing on city ordinance 25- 020 council person Ridley hi council person priner council person bajano I council person SLE I council person Solomon I council person
Gilmore I council person Dees I council person Rivera I and council president wman motion carries 90 to close of public hearing on city ordinance 25- 020 for final consideration and Adoption of city ordinance 25- 020 council person
Ridley I council person priner I council person bajano I'm gonna abstain council person s i council person Solomon first just a quick thank you to Alfonso and Katherine from padna for helping us uh make sure people were
aware uh thank you to The Exchange Place Alliance for working with us we obvious went through multiple iterations uh but ultimately you know I think for the PowerHouse this means better Public Services it's going to be trash clean up and and supplemental trash pick up on every street in the neighborhood which we think will make a difference and then
there's a couple important capital projects in particular the uh uh ice house building on Washington Street that we want to work with the alliance on so uh with that I vote I council person Gilmore I council person Dees council person rber yeah I
want to thank you guys for really being engaged with the uh downtown Sid you know I know it was a little bit bumpy there for a bit but you did a great job I vote on and council president wman I could hear
you okay city ordinance 25- 020 is approved 72 with council members bajano and council president Waterman abstaining next second reading ordinance
item 4.3 city ordinance 25- 021 is an ordinance of the city of Jersey City authorizing the transfer of city-owned real property identified on the tax map of the city of Jersey City as block 14905 lot
17819 also known as 302 famon Avenue to the Jersey City Redevelopment agency 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 the ver web
Washington is this property right there off a man Avenue no I think it's it's the old what that the Old Courthouse right parking lot on fairmart off of Bergen in the back
where the old used to be that parking lot there yeah thank you this is still a public hearing on city ordinance 25 de 021 any member of the public still wishing to be heard please come up to the podium and state your name for the
record T I couldn't hear who the motion was made by to close the public hearing on city ordinance 25- 021 thank you and the second was made by council person s yes
yes on the motion to close a public hearing on city ordinance 25- 021 council person Ridley hi council person priner Hi council person Bano hi council person s hi council person Solomon council person Gilmore I council person
Dees hi council person Rivera hi and council president wman motion carries 90 to close a public hearing on city ordinance 25- 021 for final consideration and Adoption of city ordinance 25-21 council person Ridley I council
person priner council person bajana Hi council person SLE I council person Solomon council person Gilmore I just have a quick question I guess for legal or the um the ba um he John any one of the John um as
it relates to the the actual transfer what like why why did the city have to transfer to Redevelopment to do the parking lot versus being City owned because I thought all of our properties were under the jurisdiction of the um
Jersey City Redevelopment agency but it's not we actually still have some so I'm just trying to figure out what yeah so councilman what they'll do is they'll conduct a study for the highest and best use for that property and then they could also in that process determine a designated developer if if we wish to
partner with them or we can do a contingent sale on the way it works if the city retains the property you know we we wouldn't be have the ability to um uh designate the developer and we'd have to sell it at a public auction at the highest and fairest offer yeah all right
thank you council person Dees council person rera Hi and council president wman city ordinance 25- 021 is adopted unanimously 90 on to our next second reading
ordinance item 4.4 city ordinance 25- 022 is an ordinance of the Jersey City municipal Council amending the Jersey City Land Development ordinance chapter 345 article 3 application requirements development procedures and checklist 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 was so this means that as a developer we don't have to go through this checklist the way we've been going or it going to be a new
way no you do uh uh Sor Mrs Wasington excuse me so essentially what this does is it makes it digital and that accepts digital signatures from the planning board essentially and clud some additional language for the MUA so it won't be so paper intensive it'll go through Tyler and through the um digital
process okay thank you this is still a public hearing on ordinance 25- 022 any member of the public still 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 Riva seconded by council person Cay to close a public hearing on city ordinance 25- 022 council person Ridley hi council person priner council person priner hi thank
you couldn't hear you council person bajana Hi council person SLE hi council person Solomon hi I council person Gilmore I council person Dees Council person Riva hi and council president
wman council members I'm just going to say this I don't want to keep saying it to to during the meetings if your mics are not on members of the public washing at home cannot hear how you vote I just wanted to let you know so the motion carries 90 to close a public hearing on
city ordinance 25- 022 for final excuse me I'm sorry as spoken about at the um at the Caucus meeting there is an amendment to this ordinance which is the amendment to the plan and the amendment
is on I believe the very last page of the plan if I'm not mistaken council person Solomon it's it's it's section uh I think the the does the corporation
council's office have the language so the only one that I was given was the one that had the um amendments to section stantial changes no you want me to read them if you don't
mind that would be great okay and I'll make sure with the councilman that these are correct the yellow highlights right okay so um we're also making amendments this is on page it's on B page five 345-2222 review the application when
appropriate the applicant shall forward copies of the application and plans to review agents upon request sorry just me clarify um if I just ask a policy director Isaac spit to come up so as you want to clarify that that's the section that's being removed
correct there's some pieces that are being the yellow's missing so we took use your mic sorry so there's some sections in which um further up that the language is removed so that's actually removed in the pre in the new version uh
cooperation Council do you have that on you worked here eight years I couldn't tell you so just to be clear is this version online
oh it is the changes we have right now are so anything in yellow is being removed except for our last one which is the 3 45-28 so
ask and just to clarify what what the corporation explaining but there had been concerns from community members about the storm water portion but director Marion wanted to move forward with uh the sort of streamlining of the application so we wanted to keep the streamlining in and remove the storm water portion
that's fine it's not substantial we still have our storm order portion we can go forward with that okay the only portion staying in is uh 34528 and the removals will okay we'll edit it are we all clear on what the
amendment is are we clear council members are we clear I I will make the motion motion to amend city ordinance 2 5 d022 was made by council person Solomon may I have a second second second by
council person Rivera on the motion to amend city ordinance 25- 022 council person Ridley hi council person priner Hi council person bajano I council person SLE I council person Solomon I council person Gilmore
I council person Dees I council person Rivera and council president wman motion to amend city ordinance 25- 022 is approved unanimously 90 for final consideration and Adoption
of city ordinance 22-22 as amended council person Ridley I council person priner I council person bajano Hi council person SLE I council person Solomon hi council person Gilmore
hi council person thees Hi council person Rivera hi and council president wman city ordinance 25- 022 as amended is adopted unanimously 90 on to our next second reading
ordinance item 4.5 city ordinance 25-23 is an ordinance of the city of Jersey City municipal Council approving a technical amendment to ordinance 24- 096 language in chapter 345 for zoning
fees 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 motion oh sorry we can't hear you yeah you're gonna have to come up L I'll answer it
before you get up you don't have to get up so the uh the original uh there's a decimal point issue that um the fee was 50 cents but it's actually $50 so we're just correcting that it's always been $50 it just was brought to our attention at the decimal is
wrong no disrespect I think councilman Gilmore shut off the air conditioner for you so it's on a timer I'm I'm I apologize it goes on it goes by the temperature that's outside all right this is still a public hearing on ordinance 25- 023 any member
of the public still 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 25 de0 23 was made by council president Waterman seconded by council person CLE on the motion to
close a public hearing on city ordinance 25- 023 council person Ridley I council person priner I council person bajano I council person SLE I council person Solomon I council person Gilmore I council person Dees I council
person Rea hi and council president wman motion carries 90 to close a public hearing on on city ordinance 25-23 for final consideration and Adoption of city ordinance 25- 023 council person Ridley I council person
priner Hi council person Bano hi council person SLE hi council person Solomon I council person Gilmore I council person Dees I council person Rivera I and council president Waterman city
ordinance 25- 023 is adopted unanimously 90 on to our last second reading ordinance item 4.6 city ordinance 25- 024 is an ordinance authorizing the execution of a temporary construction easement and access easement agreement
between the city of Jersey City and FD Johnston Avenue LLC authorizing FD Johnston Avenue LLC to install and maintain two temporary well points and one monitoring well in a portion of the public RightWay known as Johnston Avenue
south of gaban Street 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 motion motion to close the public hearing on city ordinance 25- 024 was
made by council person Cay and seconded by council president Waterman on the motion to close a public hearing on city ordinance 25-24 council person Ridley I council person priner council person B hi council person SLE hi council person
Solomon hi council person Gilmore hi council person Dees I council person Reber I and council president wman motion carries 90 to close a public hearing on city ordinance 25-24 for final consideration and
Adoption of city ordinance 25- 024 council person Ridley hi council person priner Hi council person bajano Hi council person SLE hi council person Solomon I council person Gilmore I council person Dees I council person
Rivera I and council president wman city ordinance 25-24 is adopted unanimously 90 okay members of the public and members watching at home we are now going to our public request for a
hearing I will be calling the first name of the individual listed along with the number with that being said and we have 3 minutes we have 68 speakers listed so let's make sure we adhere to the three
minutes and with that being said our first Speaker 5.1 L okay I need help from my city council people on Grand Street in Jersey City down by State Street down the junction around the corner for me I got a problem
with there's no walkway when people got a cross from one side of the street to the other the light is up on up there by uh West not West place but Summit Avenue and the next light is down you had kids coming from school my grandkid son Walks
from number four School up Grand Street and he had if he wanted to Cross by State Street he can't but the traffic so heavy there's no walkway there's nothing and that used to be the Old State Street Bar the gas station used to be there years ago but now now the next walkway
is up at the lightake and I have seen kids trying to cross the street counselman and they can't get from one side to the other let they down on Johnson Avenue or they come up to sum Avenue that's where the red light they can try Crossing but we do need a walkway we got brand new buildings up
there and everything so we do need a walk with from one side of the street to the other and and then the other thing is we have to do a little more in our community with jobs and
housing people are getting put out of places and there's nowhere to go we our affordable housing have fell I'm trying to do another project now with a developer we are desperate people have
fires they have nowhere to go we used when I got burned out years ago a little girl on Maple Street we had a big fire my mother had about 8 or 10 or still we went down Mar and Gard they gave us appointment down there we stayed there
till our house got back ready today we had nothing we don't have even room in the shelter for people and it's it's sad with all this development going on in this city and we need to determine to these developers
they got to put some affordable in like they did down here years ago we got five in the down here in in in Newport that people been there for 40 years that's affordable and still affordable these developers do these new
buildings and they a't they don't want to get nothing back to Affordable hous and trust fund and they don't want to put nothing in there girlfriend from mine from New York came here looking for apartment it was $5,000 for a one bedroom and this is a disgrace we got to
do better so we can help our community and knowing streets of up there we need jobs we need help and I'm here to help you you guys have a blessed one I'm out of here thank you God bless you thank you our next speaker 5.2 Charlene I
didn't see her okay next speaker 5.3 Juan ju's not here okay thank you next speaker 5.4 Tina Tina is
here sure yes I work for education of Gore but I'm also speaking upon myself Tina NOS Justice for Drew Justice for Drew so I wear I'm wearing my green hat mental health aware of letting everyone
know in our community that we still haven't got no um type of he or mentor help in our community we still haven't got that apologies for then what they had said about um Drew about what that day that happened so I also want to talk
about J um director Shay I really felt that the way he was talking at the meeting Monday that he don't have no respect for our community I remember the two times my car got shot up in my community and um I was letting the cops know what happened and they told me that
I was storying that that didn't happen in my community I had to call education of Gilmore to come around there to let them know of what happened soon as I called him it wasn't that he didn't believe me he knew what was going on he came around there to realize that on the
on the camera they really came through shooting I also found a bullet inside of my store of them shooting to see that J director whatever Jay um Shay to see that how he kept turning back around to laugh it wasn't a joke we definitely
need um um safety in our community from crossing guards from the cameras from Crossing Walks from Red Lights we definitely need it apparently he don't want to do his job so apparently we need to just go ahead and take his job away
that's the reason that we not growing in our community and War if they take it as a joke because no one is in our community walking around seeing that the stuff that we are going through I get phone calls constantly I know my friend Edward get tired of me calling him every
day about domestic violence I guess my community feel feels so safe that they reach out to me for help we help out with TR we help out with housing this is some of the issues that we should have have been talking about so I thank God this year right here we will be getting
a whole new team up there and don't get it messed up and some of y'all have been doing the right thing in the community and I want to salute y'all for that but it's time for all the jok and all the playing and all that I walk around my community for free my phone call every
day for my community about something going on so to see that's happening it is a issue in our community we need to stop letting anybody come in our community and say what they going to do for our community this is our community and we are taking back our
community our next speaker 5.5 Edward thank you so much Tina and I feel uh the same way about a lot of issues but um I did take a look at the Caucus meeting and um a few notes thank you so much councilman Gilmore for your leadership
um you know uh with the with the no confidence in the director um I really support that um I was shocked from the representative from w b Council lady said um so this is akin to you know just
a censure and the response was yes and the Law Department responded you know um you know what what would be the other option you said and it would be uh removal and I thought well that's exactly what we want you know that's
exactly what we need so I do wish that you were all there now you know um what there there was three steps there was the the vote was at the end the notice I guess was first and then there was a second step but I do I do wish
that you were all there because um we have zero confidence in him and it's a shame that the mayor thank you for educating us all took the authority from the council all the directors of the apartments are appointed so how do we
have um accountability um you know um accountability withdrew accountability with the crime rates accountability uh with police abuse uh and I haven't heard much I thought to myself I haven't heard much
from you Miss Amy um you made a few comments a few months ago that were very instructive about 911 and 988 and I thought you know well I haven't heard anything from her much hopefully she's communicating through the emails that may have never made it to where they
need to be but hopefully any um Communications moving forward will make it um the ba will make sure of that thank you so much um council president because you said more than twice that you know you were tired of um the hoopla
about the public safety director and so you had forced him to the front and you know uh had him answer you know um The public's concerns and so forth and um I just wish that you would drag us all a little more forward because um it's evident and it's clear that the mayor's
turned his back on us and the the guy he appointed for Public Safety isn't the guy that we need now and I just wonder why we're all not you know we're not there now many of us in the community feel like it's because our elected officials might be in the pocket of the
mayor you know like on his team and support the vision for him and if that's true then you too are not what we need now in our city so I'll be back thank you thank you thank you our next speaker 5.6
Gina good evening Gina Davidson w f speaking on behalf of myself tonight Justice for Drew Justice for Drew tonight I am speaking in support of item 10.2 resolution 255-1147 calling
for a vote of no confidence in our director of Public Safety there have been many calls for removal but as I understand it this could take longer than waiting for the next Administration so this is the least we can do considering the lack of
movement on many issues the disrespect shown to this Council and from my perspective a complete and utter failure to serve Andrew Washington and the Washington family after Drew was murdered by Jersey City police the only correct response from director Shay would have
been this should never have happened this will never happen again and here is the plan we are putting in place to make sure it never happens again that said if the ESU had been properly trained in deescalation tactics
in the first place Drew would still be here today Mr Shay's job is not an easy one but when you take on a job that big with that amount of power and money you know there will be some public evaluation of your work we are tired of having significant gaps in traffic safety
crossing guard Staffing and Mental Health crisis response by the way director Shay has said that if he had it his way he would have nothing to do with mental health care he would leave it to the social workers but that's not realistic and it's troubling coming from our director of Public Safety he also
said on Monday he quote hates bike Lanes from what I can see he's even disregarding what some of his fire team are advising you all on about the man Manhattan Avenue project I have a friend through animal rescue who has 20 years experience in
security he's applied twice to be a crossing guard in the past few months and he has heard nothing yet director Shay says he's not getting any applicants and he can't raise salaries due to the union being a problem for him therefore he can't hire sufficiently something's just not adding up here
president Waterman you were very generous in allowing for one last attempt at dialogue this past Monday and he was very dismissive I applaud your patience and the way you handled that tonight an opportunity has been handed to this Council by Mr Gilmore to instantly send a message on the record
to stand up for yourselves and your constituents thank you all in advance for standing up for those who can no longer stand for themselves and voting no confidence in director Shay Justice for Drew our next speaker 5.7
David hi members of the council my name is David and I live in Ward SE I'm here to speak about safety I know that's a Hot Topic tonight this week on Summit AV a pedestrian was killed by a pickup truck in a crosswalk the first thing I did when I saw that news was run to my
phone and text my spouse to ask how her commute was she rides a city bike downtown on Summit every day walks into the PATH station and I hadn't heard from her I was worried and I was relieved when I saw that she had read my message and then I felt guilt because I shouldn't be breathing a sigh of relief
when someone else lost a family member there's no amount of enforcements and there is no time that the response could have been reduced that would have prevented that loss of life there are things that could have prevented that loss of life and we know this curb bump outs raised crosswalks
speed bumps narrower driving Lanes infrastructure they greatly decrease the likelihood that vulnerable people will be killed by cars we have experts in Jersey City on Street safety they're here tonight our infrastructure department they identified another
dangerous Corridor in fact it's the street where my wife and I own a home Franklin Street we've lived there for four years infrastructure chose Franklin Street for safety improvements because multiple CL crashes including hit and run incidents have happened there recently they've recommended a protected
bike lane be built to slow traffic in front of ps8 I'm asking for you all to vote Yes on the resolution to contract a firm to design the bike lane a very important first step and slow car traffic on my street I have a daughter who's three years old and I'm missing
her bedtime routine right now to be here I'm not worried about her being pinned beneath a bike and bleeding out councilman SLE thank you for listening to my daughter when we met at C City Hall sever weeks ago she's talked about it to me since she wanted to relay one more important message to you her
bike is green and her helmet is yellow I want to make sure that enters the record she took her first bike ride on a big girl bike with no training wheels just two weeks ago and she hasn't looked back I've never been more proud we've had several incidents where drivers turned into the crosswalk and she and I
were in it most recently the driver of a pickup truck came within feet of us before stopping to roll down his window and yell watch your kid other parents who were nearby checked on us we were both really shaken up another dad reprimanded the driver on my behalf I'm not alone in my fears
about dangerous drivers in Jersey City Heights and I'm not particularly paranoid my neighbors the other parents I meet at the playground agree with me the current situation is not acceptable my own councilman said tonight that people on Franklin Street are aggravated my family is
aggravated we're asking for you to vote Yes on the resolution and improve Street safety in Jersey City Heights with the fully funded Grant available to you thank you our next speaker 5.8 an i Ann aison you can bring the mic down and you don't have to stand on you
to thank you I'm shorter than David I'm sure too go ahead okay I am here to speak in support of the ected bike lane in Jersey City Heights along Franklin and Manhattan Avenues I live there I own property
there I pay property taxes I am part of the community and I ride a bike and I support the bike lane the only legal place to ride a bike is in the street alongside cars and all of this talk of
safety that I heard tonight I'm horrified that we are not talking about the lives of the people people who ride bikes in the street I'm one of those people I ride as a form of transportation I plan to ride a bike with my three-year-old kid and I have to
ride in the street with her if you are truly worried about people's lives on your hands please look at my face I'm serious please look at my face there's one person who's not looking at it interesting if you vote no and I get hit
by a car in the street I want you to know that my life would be on your hands it is truly hypocritical to me and frankly unconscionable that some of you have been talking about safety and you don't care about
mine I usually come in here with lots of smiles I'm usually real positive but I sat here in the first part of this meeting and I'm shaking I cannot believe that you're talking about safety and you don't care about the pedestrians walking on the street in crosswalks and you
don't care about the cyclists on the street even if you don't ride a bike the food that you order rides a bike we should care about people I have so much time left I thought that was going to take longer I do want to thank councilman C for Having
the courage to bring this up I believe you when you said it was going to be hard and I want to than although I think they left you guys yelled at them so much but the department of infrastructure who has done an amazing job to try to curtail all of the various concerns that you guys have had this
whole time it is not their fault that this is the last minute okay please vote yes thank you our next speaker 5.9 Dana uh I'm Dana and I own a home in w d um all large building projects the Eiffel
Tower Central Park Boston's big dig have faced criticism before they're being built and now we can't imagine any of these cities without those projects change is incredibly hard but in order to have a safer more Equitable Community we have to make changes the Franklin
Manhattan bike lane would be the first protected bike lane in the Heights and would greatly improve the walkability and bikeability of my neighborhood I fundamentally disagree that people up in that area are all against it because all of my friends and
the 800 people that wrote you all letters want this Lane there are so many reasons to build this Lane and I'm going to highlight three I am car lless by choice um but not everyone has a choice uh the cost of a car is thousands of dollars um up
front and not to mention you have to pay monthly maintenance and tolls and gas um by comparison a used bike can be a few hundred or even less than $100 and get someone Mobility when they didn't have anyone prior no matter all how we choose to get around we deserve safe
options in addition businesses along bike lane quarters often see an increase in sales even if areas close by don't for me I work from home um and so I don't really go past Central Avenue much because it's too far of a walk um but with a safe cycling route I could go to
lopa or I could go to FR on Franklin or I could go to itan a lot faster and just think of all the tacos I could be buying and supporting our local businesses the multitude of reasons to build this Lane are so incredibly important but safety is the most just
this week A 73-year-old man was killed by a driver um at Summit in sip a cyclist was hit by a bus at Palisade in Hunton and I almost got hit by a driver at Summit and griffith um for someone who was just not paying attention that the light was uh in my favor
so many of our streets including Franklin Street and Manhattan Avenue are designed with only one mode of transportation in mind and that's driving so I ask you how many more people have to die or get hurt before we can have a bike clean is it one is it
two is it 10 really interested in your threshold for safety um considering it's such a such a big issue for you how much longer do we have to prioritize parking over human lives we need to change so that our businesses
can Thrive we need to change so that someone can take a job because there's an affordable way to get there we need to change so that my neighbor's daughter can take her bike to school without fear we need to change so I ask for council's support on the resolution tonight to
vote Yes on for the Franklin Manhattan bike lane thank you our next speaker 5.10 Danielle good evening council members I'm here tonight to speak about Jersey City's broken approach to Public Safety what we're doing is not working as you've
heard on Monday March 10th at Summit and sip a pedestrian was run over by a pickup truck and pinned underneath for over 30 minutes they were unresponsive when found surrounded by Blood and rust
to Jersey City Medical Center how many more people have to be hospitalized or killed before this city takes action City leadership says it's all about saving lives but if that were true we wouldn't let parking take priority over
Public Safety the city could take just 1% of curbside parking to create fire Lanes like many cities do but they won't they could build a protected bike lane on Manhattan and Frank
with no loss of car lanes and with full fire Tru access but because it would require removing a few parking spots it's stalled so no it's not about saving lives it's about saving parking and in
the process we PID two life-saving functions protected bike lanes and emergency response against each other for scraps this ties directly to leadership public saf safety isn't just about crime stats it's about trust
transparency and accountability that's why I support the vote of no confidence in public safety director James Shay under his leadership we've seen neglect misconduct and a refusal to engage with the community from police misconduct to
crumbling public trust Shay has failed to keep residents safe when we ask for safer streets like a bike link we're told to wait council members we don't need more waiting we need action this is not just about a bike lane it's
about what kind of City we want to be a city that protects lives or one that protects parking and political careers parents who want Safe Streets for their kids seniors who want to cross without fear they're counting on you the choice
is yours act to save lives hold leadership accountable and commit to safer more accessible streets for everyone vote Yes on the resolution for the protected bike lane on Manhattan
Avenue and Franklin Street thank you our next speaker 5.11 Devin is Devon here Devon's not here next 5 point 12 Dana Dana
Patton my name is Dana Patton I've been an involved Community member for more than 20 years and I am a member of the Jersey City together Education team I'm here to talk about the payroll tax which is supposed to make up for reductions in state aid to the Jersey
City public school district our school district district has very strict rules about when its budget is due and what can be included the School District budget deadline is March 19th and for years the district
has had to use a certified amount of $65 million for the payroll tax even though the city has apparently collected much more than that this reflects poorly on the city and raises a lot of questions about transparency around funds that
belong to the students of Jersey City public scho schools as a reminder to everyone here JCPS students are more than 80% kids of color and more than half qualify for free or reduced lunch which tells us they experience poverty
that's who gets short Changed by not proactively collecting the taxes owed and by not communicating officially about exactly how much was collected black and brown kids living in poverty every person at this meeting now
knows that this is an issue and has a responsibility to see it get addressed in a timely manner there should be a clear practice established where the city officially certifies to the district an accurate amount which we are told is actually in excess of $100 million this should be done every year
long before the School District budget deadline decisions that get made by the city council and the administration have a direct effect on the state aid for schools policy choice voices caused our real estate to become the largest tax
base in New Jersey with a taxable value of land and improvements of more than 45.7 billion do yet we still have so many kids living in poverty whether the system for giving
state aid is fair or not those policy choices led to the reduction of State funding for our local public schools something else to keep in mind especially with what's happening in education at the federal level is that across the state the average percentage
of property tax levy that goes to schools is more than 52% but in Jersey City we are only currently at 43% going to our schools on a separate note I want to talk about the no confidence resolution
10.2 for director Shay many of you have your own reasons for losing confidence in director Shay's leadership over the years but for me the response to the murder of and Andrew Washington alone is enough for him to be out as public safety director Justice for
Drew as the city continues to comp contemplate its own budget I'm asking you to think about what your time is up our next speaker 5.13 finigan good evening my name is is finegan Pat I've lived in Jersey City
all my life I've attended many Council meetings but this is the first time I will be here today I'm here to talk about ways we can more effectively spend first off then again if you could just put the mic closer to your mouth there you go first off I would like to
talk about giving PE to people in need giving houses to the homeless and food to the hungry we could build houses and rent apartments out to the home homeless until they can afford to buy a house of their own we could also provide more food to people who can't get it
themselves this would make a big change in many people's lives me and my family volunteer at Triangle Park and it breaks my heart to see all the hungry people that come there to get food moving on I would also like to address the problem
of the school's budget we have not been giving as much money as we should to schools from the payroll tax more money for school s means better education and tools to teach the kids lastly I would like to talk about putting more money
towards notifying people about how to protect yourselves when confronted by ice this would help people stay safe and happy living their lives it would protect them from being forced back to the place they left to start a new life here I appreciate your time thank you
for listening finigan finigan how how old are you finigan how old are you you did a phenomenal job public speak speak is not easy and you did it like it was seamless for you you definitely have a career I'm going
to be retiring soon so it's up to you just joking just joking our next speaker 5.4 team Richard Richard green not here okay next speaker 5.15 Sean and not Gallagher and
margar not here okay next speaker 5.16 Ryan is Ryan here not here okay next is 5.17 and Essence is here hi how you doing good evening Council Sean we missed you two weeks ago
how was vacation oh it wasn't vacation I was actually sick oh I'm sorry to hear that I hope you feel much much better okay so let's get straight to the point guys so let's talk about Mr James Shay since he is on the board today right so
as I read the article with Hudson Cy view which he is not sitting here at this time but looking at the details it's is very very intriguing to hear him say that well one he was very insubordinate and you know of course with the favors that are given to City
you know things and that's done and the directors that are put into position obvious ly you know he hasn't had any consequences for that action which should be and you know without any hesitation for everything that he has
said whether the council read it or not whether he sent it an hour before that should have never been his response to say Hey what if you if it wasn't your choice to read it or if you didn't have enough time to read it must I say to council that is very disrespectful one
they should be given about 24 to 48 hours to read anything that is given as a response into anything that is being requested by Council that's number one let's start there and then after that you know we have Council that's sitting here half of
y'all offices are across the street as I know as a person that has worked for the city council so my question is how come nobody ever walked over to his office knowing that he own basically is in the biggest building on MLK Drive that has
the big JC letters on it but nobody has actually went to his office to say hey how come you haven't responded or hey is there anything that you need or is there anything that we could possibly do for you to get a response a little bit sooner so yes we have to blame
Administration for your actions as well and also by the way let's not just start with Mr Shay let's start with an IES and let's keep going down the line and I hope that there's further action for the rest of the directors that do not need
to be there and I'm sorry to bring such a rise but y'all know this we hiring people with our tax money and guess what they can't even answer to questions by the council how are you for us but thank you so
much our next speaker 5.18 Alfonso are you still here you're good next speaker 5.19 Amy is Amy
here no next speaker 5.20 James hi you hear me all right yes uh good evening council members my name is James Seymour and I'm speaking on behalf of the traffic reform Warriors a group formed over shared concerns with
Traffic Safety in Bergen Lafayette we'd like to thank councilman Gilmore for his leadership in sponsoring a vote of no confidence in public director James Shay this resolution further exposes the shortcomings of our Public Safety
leadership and we hope this will act as a catalyst for positive change under the leadership of director Shay Jersey city has failed to implement multiple actions designed to ensure the safety of our streets in 2019 Jersey City developed
the vision zero action plan making specific commitments with the goal of eliminating deaths and serious injuries on our roadways while there have been successes such as designing safer streets and for this credit is due to our council members and Transportation
Planning and Engineering agencies commitments made relating to enforcement law and policy are falling short Mee fewer than half of their objectives under the action plan one such one such objective is the creation of a traffic
safety unit to enforce traffic violations 6 years later the unit exists but without any assigned officers school crossing guards are crucial in ensuring the safety of our children traveling to and from school yet there has been no
progress in expanding the school crossing guard program as promised 6 years ago on many occasions dangerous intersections are missing crossing guards and those that are on duty are not sufficiently protected from aggressive drivers 3 years ago council
members questioned director Shay over the dysfunction of the parking authority in Bergen Lafayette there is insufficient enforcement of vehicles parked within 25 ft of crosswalks and intersections daylighting is vital ensuring the safety of pedestrians
crossing the street enforcement relies on reports by residents and this process is far from optimal there are frequent technical issues with the word on the street app and calling the office directly often leads to a dismissive response and no action the parking
authority has been dysfunctional for many years and it remains that way today in conclusion dangerous driving behaviors remain unpunished there are too few crossing guards on duty to fully protect our children and safe Crossing
is continually prohibited by illegally Park Vehicles these are long-standing issues known and acknowledged by the city and further inaction is negligent it's time for Public Safety leadership to be accountable create and
communicate a plan and take immediate action to resolve their failings please vote on resolution 10.2 thank you our next speaker 5.21 Samuel iight to meet you my name is
Samuel Ortiz no Notes From The Heart real quick I saw what happened Monday this is the re why I'm here I'm here to explain to you what happened last year I should have been standing on my I
should have been on my knees doing CPR for the last 25 minutes without any help so let me get straight to the point July 11 2024 as soon as I clock out the first
Shi in the morning at 9:45 soon as I turn around before I decid to go home a woman just collapsed that knock on her head by the bus caus the concussion during the heat that day turned around I
decided to take action knowing that I'm off duty I took I took the matter under my hand assess the situation made sure everything under control and I realized that the individual it was on on life support I decided to do DPR and chest compression during that
time someone call 911 how long did it takes what is going on with the 911 dispatch what is going on with the police what's going on with the fire department what's happening the last 25 minutes while I'm doing this
check compression even the bus driver he I told him to call the dispatcher and I needed help this radio is not even working so VCI unit responded they came even their radio not working because they putting the new equipment because
you have the old Administration to the new Administration you have a new equipment going on and I told him you have to put on Citywide once he put on Citywide which is the natural communication and emergency to contact uh ESU ESU is all the way downtown I
knew that day my wife was the signed for the hospital she was doing during summer school it was a signed by the hospital she made it here she asked me where are the where are they what's going on someone to be going to have to be held accountable that day so my wife and I we
took action and I told my wife we need to Direct Control and assess your situation under our hand and I direct two other crossing guard to take over two different location direct the traffic while we took over this has showed you how important why cting guard is very important to us very important to you we are your eyes
and ears We Are The Lifeguard for the children the cars are sharks and we are here the front line we are the ERS for the first children that come the first thing in the morning but anybody else we the last one to leave the last child finished after school
program so 25 minutes later unit respond EMS respond the training lacking training o thank you st our next speaker
5.22 Nick good evening how's everyone I'm also here to talk about Public Safety my name is pasta crescen AV w f representing my family traffic reform
Warriors our Citywide pedestrian first advocacy group and the Montella Community Collective thank you for your support for those of you who are supportive in our initiatives thus far tonight I stand before you as an
advocate but also a very concerned resident who's deeply invested in Jersey City safety and well-being at the core Public Safety is the quality of our lives without it everything else all to talk
about Economic Development and growth engagement cultural vibrancy It all becomes secondary as a safe City one where people feel secure in our daily lives where we can walk down the street wait
for a bus without fear where we can let our kids play outside without hesitation where our seniors our children and those struggling on the margins feel protected and
valued right now when we ask ourselves as a whole does Jersey City feel this way no when we neglect our shared spaces when disorder and lawlessness take hold
we undermine the foundation of a thriving City Public Safety cannot be reactive needs to be proactive that means designing safety for ensuring our streets are for example
well lit our public spaces are welld designed which infrastructure is trying to do our roads are made safer it means strengthening our community-based safety by building trust between residence law enforcement increasing engagement and
fostering a culture where people look out for one another means prioritizing our youth giving them the pH philosophical mentorship resources and opportunities to see themselves as a part of Jersey City's future because when our young
people have a stake in our communities and help build them up rather than tear them down above all it means fostering a culture of respect and accountability Public Safety doesn't exist in isolation it's woven in how we interact with one
another on a daily basis a city that values civility shared spaces and Community Thrive Jersey City's diverse Growing Place but without Public Safety and everything else to which it's built upon we need we cannot expect to
grow economically culturally socially and thank you next speaker 5.23 Kevin good evening city council two weeks ago I shared Hoboken
mayor Ravi bala's clear message about real enforcement even during litigation his words weren't just inspiring they were instructive revealing exactly where Jersey City still fails this Council writes our Municipal
Code mayor Steven fulli is responsible for enforcing it when enforcement fails this Council can investigate even vote no confidence in directors who neglect their duties Jersey City's laws clearly mandate daily fines rent reductions and
strong prosecution against landlords violating city ordinances our mayor often claims we have strong rent control laws note he says laws not enforcement director Richardson has the
strongest enforcement powers in the city yet his actions remain infrequent and mostly invisible instead of immediate daily fines we are met by silence what Jersey City needs from director Richardson is courage and AC
consider what silence and hesitation just cost Kansas City Missouri days ago a jury delivered a daming verdict against former Jersey City business administrator Brian Platt exposing corruption retaliation and abuse of power that verdict wasn't only
about plat it highlighted what happens when leaders refuse to enforce laws or hold power accountable Jersey City knows Platt's harmful Legacy all too well his restructuring of a recreation department displaced black black and Latino workers showing a troubling disregard for
fairness this whistleblower driven verdict could be a warning for Jersey City lat's story vividly illustrates how non-enforcement especially harms Ward F home to our largest African-American population those who exposed plat knew
far less than what we already do about ongoing enforcement failures right here I genuinely don't know how mayor fup or director Richardson will defend continued inaction especially regarding enforcement unrelated to litigation
issues repeatedly raised Citywide and not just by Portside Towers residents non- enforcement inflicts real pain to the residents of Jersey City I say if you have experienced Jersey City's enforcement failures especially
in WF or if you've been forced out of your home or if you could afford to live at Portside Towers if legal rents were enforced please contact blowthe whistle JC at gmail.com the Kansas City whistleblower
was awarded $900,000 if you know something say something especially those of you who are not likely to get reelected anyway thank you our next speaker 5.24 Jessica good evening council members it's good
to see you um tonight I'd like to actually provide a little bit more education on whistleblower laws prompted by the recent developments involving Brian plat and troubling parallels here in Jersey City this message is critical for everyone in this room tenants and officials alike many of you heard about
Brian Platt a former New Jersey City business administrator who was recently found guilty of corruption and retaliation in Kansas City a whistleblower's bravery brought about account ability and resulted in a $900,000 reward such outcomes are not isolated
events whistleblower programs frequently deliver significant payouts typically ranging from 10% to 30% of recovered funds here in Jersey City ongoing non- enforcement of housing ordinances may lead directly to Serious Financial
misconduct for instance landlords collecting unlawful rents without proper enforcement create inflated financial statements if these artificially inflated figures support municipal bonds or Pilot agreements it could constitute Securities fraud under the SCC
whistleblower guidelines if city employees are pressured incentivized or directed to overlook enforcement responsibilities possibly benefiting landlords financially or politically this may fall under state and federal wh L protection
statutes reporting such misconduct can lead to a substantial Financial reward s if you know about intentional non- enforcement falsified compliance reports improper influence or artificially enhanced Financial records tied to Jersey City's housing enforcement now is
the time to step forward your information could bring about accountability and a significant financial reward if something doesn't feel right trust your instincts if you believe you may have actionable information we can connect you confidentially with legal experts who
will help valuate your case for a free confidential consultation please contact blowthewistle JC gmail.com your courage can restore Integrity protect our community and reward you significantly for doing the
right thing and if you are involved in wrongdoing consider carefully whether those around you will keep silent if $900,000 is on the table if you're unsure about that last part just ask Brian Platt thanks so much have a good night
our next speaker 5.25 Eve hi first of all I want to thank councilman Solomon Gilmore and Bano for their efforts to address the city's Financial mismanagement issues which remain unsolved because your votes are outnumbered a year ago I met with
President Waterman arriving with positive outlook wanting to work together towards beneficial policy changes I brought great news in fact I found money for the city and under collection of M Municipal fines and building registration fees this is what I do as an accountant and this windfall
cost you nothing normally people jump right on that because recovering lost Revenue improves government function and makes for excellent headlines come election season but instead of action my neighbors and I have been met with indifference and outright stonewalling
if I told someone they lost $26 they always come to get it immediately I told you 26 million and the at the response I get is attitude how odd city council is responsible for financial oversight yet
fundamental principles of accountability are ignored accountants take fraud prevention courses and we recognize red flag red flag red flag clear audit triggering events in Jersey City's Financial operations now a year later these failures continue unchecked let's
be clear clear on the consequences when revenue from Municipal housing summons isn't collected buildings deteriorate fires increase injuries occur families are displaced and the fire department is overwhelmed without the budget increase
to handle it when the landlord tenant office is deliberately under staffed rent control goes unenforced illegal overcharges bankrupt tenants fraudulent evictions rise and programs like rental assistance and prob boner legal aid are drained when revenue is under collected instead of implementing real Financial
controls as required by law instead the budget deficit is being plugged with tax increases borrowing or charging pool fees on poor residents meanwhile you are you are allowing the mayor to overspend on frivolous legal fees which are which the campaign donor lawyer then
conveniently sends a cut to the mayor's campaign donation account Jersey City taxpayers have essentially funded full-up re-election pliers while essential Services go underfunded I told you last year hiring a different independent auditor is required by law instead yet another FIP campaign donor
was hired the financial controls you are obligated to enforce are not in place enough excuses enough mismanagement the residents of Jersey City deserve better city council is elected to serve the people not to fund the mayor's Governor campaign I know that serving on C council is a hard job however there are
at least three other people who want each of your seats and we need all hands on deak to stop the housing crisis if anyone doesn't want the job which is budget and finan oversight kindly stop blocking business because every day the
resulting humanitarian disaster from this is escalating thank you our next speaker 5.26 Brendan hello city council mayor ful often proclaims that from 2013 in 2024 he stood up to developers build more affordable housing than any City in the
state so I thought let's carefully examine those words starting with to build to build implies homes being built hence the word build or built however fup is counting approval plans theoretical future projects not completed projects not Homes apartments
per City verified city data Jersey city has actually built 323 affordable units out of the 26,000 new apartments constructed during this time frame that's barely 1% of the new homes far fewer than as bold claims suggest
meanwhile nework hasn't talked about bu building affordable housing they've actually done it from 2015 to 2020 they've completed or preserved 3.5 th000 homes that those are real apartments with real people living inside based on
ouram May's logic I would like to announce my intent to build 20,000 affordable units plans and announcements appear to be equal I've got a good chance to have those done by let's say 2070 contrast that with our experience at Portside will rent control and
affordable housing policies differ enforcement of rent control appears to be non-existent had fup had May fup insisted the city enforce its existing rent control laws he legitimately have added 527 units to Jersey City's affordable
account still not very much though because he's not good at math now to be clear I'm not suggesting interference with ongoing litigation and if a federal judge ever decides Jersey City doesn't need to enforce its laws we would respect that decision but isn't it telling that no state or federal judges
ever excused Jersey City from enforcing their laws now I got some free time left so let's talk about the city's bike Lanes it is near suicide to bike in most of the city including downtown I would say vote Yes for um the vote of incompetence this evening and
vote to build more bike CS but let's put my money where my mouth is I didn't buy All City counsil to join me tomorrow evening and let's go bike around all the city let's go through all these wonderful bike lanes and non-existent Roads we can bike up to the heights we can bike to Journal Square we can go Bergen Lafayette then bike home and hope
our break don't feels good on that Hill it'll be nice and fun I'm sure if we're all together nobody will run us over or at least we'll be able to call an ambulance and hopefully W to get there probably by tomorrow at this point you need a new head of Public Safety I would venture to
Guess that any person sitting in this room could do a better job including the young the young man who spoke up earlier I am confident he could do a better job I'm also confident we could put Homer Simpson in charge and he might do a better job he genuinely can't do any worse
people vote cars don't vote we're protecting a bunch of parking spaces that aren't adding to our tax Bas thank you our next speaker 5.27 Daniel just over a year ago today on March 6 2024 I gave my first ever speech in
front of you all regarding our situation at Portside Towers asking for your help in getting this City's laws enforced now I'd love to thank you all for all the progress that's been made in the past year but I can't because our situation is literally exactly the same as it was
a year ago which is really heartening and sad now we have laws and ordinances here in Jersey City we have various sections of the Jersey City municipal code and all of you oftentimes vote on various ordinances and laws to enact but if the ordinances you vote on and the
laws of this city aren't enforced then these Council meetings are quite frankly a waste of time we have a clear ordinance stating that our building Portside Towers among uh many others must be must have 247 uniform Security on the premises at all times and we have
a clear ordinance stating that buildings such as ours must have an on-site super whom we can contact at any time if emergencies Tes take place and yet despite these ordinances and despite us telling you all over and over and over
and over and over and over and over and over and over again that we need 247 uniform security given the fact that a bullet pierced a young child's window last year given that an attacker chased a woman into our building last year leaving a trail of blood and that we
need an on-site super for emergencies such as when there was a fire and a flood last August we don't have 247 uniformed security and we don't have an on-site super so what will it take to get this City's laws enforced you know after the last city
council meeting that I spoke at which was a month ago after getting a late dinner and having a few drinks I came horn came home to Portside Towers East Tower front door was unlocked no one was at the front desk uh the computer which I presume has private information about residence on
it was open and unlocked and the package room was unlocked and open as well anyone could have walked in got on that computer and go God knows what stolen some packages or worse they could have attempted to break into someone's apartment at this point I've come to
expect apathy from Seven of you or occasionally maybe a verbal Declaration of support with no action now I'd love for you all to prove me wrong but at this time I have no confidence in the ability of this Council to ensure that this City's laws and ordinances are
enforced thank you our next speaker 5.28 Adrian good evening Council I'm sure all of you have read about Brian Platt in Kansas City and his misdeeds and I believe that's me putting it politely although he doesn't name him
outright I'm sure it'll take no stretch of our imaginations to see that plat is alluding to Mayor FIP in 2022 when he said the following in Jersey we had a mayor who would just make up numbers on the fly from the podium and no reporters ever called them
on it I have to remind Spectators residents in the counil that throughout the years many activists and residents alike have found many of the positive statistics touted by mayor phip to be quite frankly outlandish whether it was about Public Safety or affordable
housing and everything else in between there's always been a level of skepticism many of us have felt because of the because of the disparity between the image of the city he paints and the city many of us live in I also think it's appropriate that there is a vote of
no confidence for director Shay tonight because for as long as I've been civically engaged there's been discontent with his leadership and I fully support councilman Gilmore's resolution traffic enforcement is abysmal in our city I'm sure I've told the council before that I'm a commuter
and any chance that I get I'll walk all over Jersey City and I hate that I can't trust a red light because drivers in Jersey City love running through Reds or turning right on red and treating the rules of the road as suggestions our 911
services our 911 services are ironically Criminal while it may not remove director Shay from his post this is a NE necessary precursor before the fireworks go off leading up to November's elections as our city leadership will surely look
different come January to be candid based on the leadership full up app points in the company he's kept since his Ascent to power in Jersey City shouldn't this be a disqualifying Factor as he aims to be the most powerful person in New Jersey lastly as a product
of the Jersey City public school school system I fully support the resolution condemning Governor Murphy's proposed budget to underfund our public schools because again we deserve to have a fully funded school system to ensure the future of our city continues to glow and
shine brightly thank you our next speaker 5.29 Jessica hi Sean nice to have you back good evening city council so I think in the past I've mentioned I'm a neuroscientist um what you may not know is that I specialize in
the science of smell it was weird until Co and everybody lost their sense of smell and they wanted to know how it worked but now it's you know interesting my profession involves detecting subtle changes identifying patterns recognizing when something some simply doesn't smell right and hopefully making it smell
better like like that's not a euphemism that's actually what I do is trying to make stinky things smell better um which is not where I thought I'd be in a career but hey what the hell did you know our sense of smell is uniquely powerful unlike Vision or hearing smell
links strongly to emotion and memory it's Salient to all of us you miss it when you were not able to but there's an interesting phenomenon called olfactory fatigue where constant exposure to the same odor can make us blind and you've probably seen the commercial they'll call it nose
blindness you no longer can detect the presence of that odor the smell remains but we stopped noticing it that's exactly what's happening with enforcement in Jersey City I think you knew I was going to make a link here somewhere violations have persisted for
so long they've blended into the background City officials have grown fatigued desensitized to ongoing non-compliance but to tenants to people standing here tonight in this room these persistent violations aren't background
noise they're urgent daily hardships lack of uniform security non-existent resident superintendent missing rent roles due just last week these violations should trigger immediate and tangible responses under our city ordinances but each day without
enforcement is just another layer of fog apathy and what we call adaptation to tyranny dulling our Collective ability to notice Injustice and like old factory fatigue the city seems no longer to smell the
problem director Richardson has never imposed the daily fines mandated by our code each ignored violation deepens sensory fatigue diminishing urgency and accountability landlords now assume compliance is optional for some
buildings some buildings a guideline rather than a law but let's refocus clearly enforcement isn't optional Jersey city ordinances explicitly demand daily fines and meaningful consequences every single day if ignored the result
isn't just Financial loss as one of the previous speakers highlighted but communities that are fractured and displaced residents you are the fresh perspective our city needs you can investigate these failures you have a chance this year to
make your mark break through bureaucratic fatigue and restore accountability also resolution 10 .5 does that include affordable housing our next speaker 530 Joel good evening council members at a
recent meeting many of you expressed your frustration about the lack of response from director Shay and the Department of Public Safety tonight you have the opportunity to make a clean public statement of your disapproval of the leadership of the department and especially director Shay I urge you all
to unanimously approve item 10.2 the resolution 25-47 sponsored by council member Gilmore but don't stop there you have substantial powers to curb administrative the administration's
epidemic abuse of power use them part two tonight let's explore accountability through a relatable analogy speeding imagine someone named Donald FIP frequently driving down Washington Street at 50 mil an hour in a
20 M mile Zone double the speed limit repeatedly over let's say 20 years perhaps Donald has advanced radar detection equipment or helpful friends tipping them off about police patrols for decades despite flagrantly breaking
the law Donald has never stopped or ticketed then one day a police officer finally pulls him over how absurd would it be if Donald's defense was well officer I've been driving like this for 20 years and no one stopped me by not
catching me sooner you've clearly acted as if this law doesn't exist so why should I follow it now how do you think it would go over what if he then drove off and went hey an extra 10 miles an hour even faster ridiculous isn't it yet
this is precisely the type of flawed logic certain landlords use when confronted with their long standing long-standing non-compliances they treat the lack of getting caught as implicit permission to ignore and dismiss the laws laws like rent roll filing
requirements resident super requirements and security protocols let's be clear just because a violation goes unnoticed for a period of time doesn't mean the law itself ceases to exist in our case Richardson is a police
officer our landlord was caught going at least twice the speed limit in 2023 in 2024 they went two and a half times in 2025 they upped it to three times the speed limit but they added to
the insult by laughing while speeding no federal court told anyone there that there is a stay on the unanimous determination the city lawyers will be before the federal judge this week Perhaps it is time to get some clarification as to what can be done
right now I hope the lawyers will figure out the best way forward but I'm just tired of getting hit by the same speeding car month after month after month after month after month it goes faster and faster thank you our next speaker 5.31
Suzanne good evening Council um before I get to my speech I just like to point out the fact that everyone in this room is listening and watching and they all vote and they all know people and Jersey City who vote who know people who vote recently I noticed Flyers
circulating about upcoming educational seminars does designed to teach tenants about their rights and how to navigate City resources on its face this sounds valuable awareness and education are undoubtedly positive goals many of us would gladly attend
these events offering support and connecting with others who share our struggles but tonight I must address the deeper issue behind this initiative while tenant education is beneficial it should never replace genuine enforcement action without real Enforcement
Education alone becomes ineffective and even demoralizing imagine these seminars achieve unprecedented success imagine participants gain expert level understanding of landlord tenant laws picture every attendee becoming as
knowledgeable as the season tenant Advocates who've delivered countless speeches right here in this chamber suppose they're so informed they could confidently testify in Trenton or Advocate Advocate successfully in Jersey City and Hoboken rent leveling board
hearings even then what does such remarkable knowledge accomplish without enforcement would this new found expertise ensure landlords comply with the resident superintendent requirement would it compel compliance with laws mandate mandating uniform security for
large buildings would it guarantee landlords finally provide the legally required fully populated rent roles critical for transparency and accountability without enforcement from the City the answer is clearly no what then is the true objective of
these seminars is it to educate more tenants about laws that remain unenforced resulting in frustration and hom hopelessness is it to increase the volume of violation reports knowing they'll lead nowhere we are already among the most
informed and active tenant groups in Jersey City history yet despite our efforts and detailed knowledge we've seen little to no meaningful enforcement especially regarding issues not subject to litigation I urge you city council I
prioritize meaningful enforcement first ensure ordinances result in real visible action and accountability then and only then can education truly Empower tenants without Enforcement Education becomes merely an explanation for why Justice
never arrives take action now enforcement first education second thank you our next speaker 5.32 Drew he's not here okay thank you next Speaker 5.33
John hi I want to bring up a couple of examples of some Curious terminology used by President Waterman recently the first was actually brought up at a recent meeting one of my neighbors David cited uh the president saying that Philip had made some enemies in recent
times enemies is a strange word to use I'm curious to know who it is you regard as his enemies it certainly can't be the corporate landlords and developers in the city because there is mates which can only mean you're referring to the likes of us and all we want is for this Administration to respect and enforce
the laws that were put in place to protect us and call me oldfashioned but I was under the impression that's what you would want too we certainly don't regard any of you of as our enemies I was interested to read councilman Gilmore's in the Jersey City Times last December where he outlined
the reasons why he doesn't believe the city needs Filip as governor and more recently his Instagram post regarding the mayor's past association with the disgrace Brian Platt do you regard your city council colleague as an enemy for being prepared to publicly call out the
mayor the other example of cous curious terminology came in president Waterman's short video to put forward her case for becoming the next mayor of Jersey City which she made following her recent people state of the city meeting there were some interesting points however one in particular struck me looking at
Creative Solutions such as rank control with respect I think the more accurate phrase would be existing Solutions since Jersey City already has rent control Steven phip himself said the city has the strictest rent control laws in the state although you'd be forgiven for thinking otherwise since those rent
control laws are never enforced all you have to do is enforce the rent control laws you don't need to wait till you're the mayor when you will eventually step down from your positions on the Council I think that you want to be able to look back on your years of service and know you did right by your constituents you
represented their rights and their interests and you ensured the sa their safety as much as you could assuming that's the case you might want to start by ensuring the city's ordinances are re enforced thanks our next speaker 5.34 Mel not
here thank you next speaker 5.35 Sonia good evening Council and happy belated International women's day it's the third one we're celebrating together unbelievable right tonight you've heard from single mothers from female
Community organizers from women entrepreneurs scientists and corporate leaders they all spent night after night here in front of you yes to fight for their livelihoods here in Jersey City these women are my friends and my
neighbors our neighbors on the southern border are often in the news these days we read about tariffs drug trafficking and people who are allegedly eat cats and dog which is of course ridiculous what is not laughable are the lives
refugees on the southern border flee from did you know that almost 800 murders were classified as femicides in Mexico last year 800 girls and women were murdered on account of their gender you said
as always heads down not able to look Us in the eyes maybe wondering why this concerns you I tell you why have you watched Amelia Perez the Oscar winning movie about Mex about a Mexican drug cartel I did and I was so reminded of
our situation when I heard the song El malal they evil to me it's a mirror a mirror that reflects the hypocrisy in our city the lyrics tell us of those who speak of law but live by crime of those
who smile and Shake our hands but sign deals behind closed doors they tell us about the cycle of corruption another example of evil is what started this week in Washington DC we all saw how the Trump Administration started demolishing
the black Liv's matter Memorial these pictures are haunting me it hits close to home as I come from a country which burned books in 1933 cultural tributes and artifacts memorials of histories that don't fit in got or are getting wiped out
orchestrated by the very top it's happening as we speak so let me ask you where are you as this happens where are you when Steven Fuller b b news outlets and threatened residents of the at the
state of the city address excuse me his friends and family get together where were you when he met with the cushioners to make the SRE pompo deal and where are you now as single mothers and hardworking families are being pushed out by greedy landlords who make
billions a year the song reminds us evil does not rain forever people wake up we have woken up three years ago people rise we are rising a little more week after week and you true leaders don't
hide behind their screens they serve the people with Integrity tonight I ask you once again will you finally break this cycle or will you just be another worse in this song good time is up we are singing back our next speaker 5.36
Shannon good evening city council my name is Shannon Ray and I'm a nurse and a tenant at Portside Towers today I'm well I was going to be holding a flyer but I left it at home um sent out by Steven phlips gubinatorial campaign it's
this one um a flyer that I and many of my neighbors paid for are you surprised that I paid for Stephen phlips campaign Flyers well if you're not a supporter of FIP you probably paid for them too here's how
this funding scheme Works mayor fet places a non-lawyer with no landlord tenant experience as the new director of The Office of landlord tenant relations ensures that this department remains untrained understaffed and underfunded then our mayor intentionally ignores
illegal rent increases which are magnified by landlords using price fixing software like real page some of those same landlords then funnel this extra cash our hard earned
rent payments back into Philips Super PAC convenient right they're not even spending their own money they're spending ours and here's the real kicker if tenants like us want our stolen rent back we must spend thousands of dollars on lawyers to battle billion dollar
landlords in court by then by the end of this of this court of this case Philip H hopes he's comfortably settled in the governor's office Out Of Reach of accountability unless someone Brian plats
him when enforcement stalls not related to litigation just basic enforcement tenants start connecting the dots we realize why certain parties remain silent quietly benefiting from the dirty funding scheme indifferent to
the struggle of families barely making rent each month fips flyer claims that he has a record of standing up for us but he conveniently omits that us means landlords and Wealthy developers this flyer also claimed that he's t the
toughest Challengers no matter who stood in his way that's the part that gave me chills quite honestly but not in a good way since I paid for this fire let me explain who he means by no matter who stood in his way it was us exhausted
nurses like me working long hours to afford rent it was residents begging for help and journalists courageously exposing the Injustice Stephen phip didn't just ignore us he exploited struggle to fund his political
ambition no matter who stood in his way thank you our next speaker 5.37 Mark members of the city council I'm here to say thank you it's wonderful news that we finally have uniform Security in both Portside towers and so
the Korean War Memorial is secured at night a conci desk are never left unattended and we finally feel fully protected by the city's laws thank you again for unan I'm sorry that's the wrong speech that's the one I wanted to give
tonight in fact I can't give that I'm here not with a new grievance but with the same urgent plea that I've voiced repeatedly since November 2023 Portside tenants demand yeah demand uniform Security on the premises as
mandated by city code just days after the first council meeting of the year I along with several concerned residents conducted a walkthr of the ground floor of our Towers what we discovered was not merely concerning it was a blatant disregard for the safety and well-being
of our community 10 days ago I did the same walk through and nothing has changed all the following allow anyone into the secured parts of our buildings number one failures of locks leading to the public parking garage two outside
door propped open three unattended East Tower lobby with main doors unlocked four unattended West Tower lobby with main doors unlocked five unattended unlocked outside door next to the loading dock these are not isolated
incidents walkthroughs were two months apart they're systemic failures indicative of profound negligence that permeates Portside security protocols these are just a sample of the vulnerabilities we uncovered let's be clear Portside is in direct and flagrant
violation of code 28-1 which mandates uniform Security Port signs being in direct and flagrant violation of this statute for almost 10 years a simple walkr of the towers revealed the disturbing picture of
negligence and disregard jeopardizing the safety of every resident I don't want to stand here every month pleading for the basic right to safety but I will we deserve better our community deserves better I employ you act let me give the
speech I really want to to say thank you our next speaker 5.38 Haruki not here thank you next speaker 5.39 Elizabeth thank you and our next speaker 5.40 Michelle
good evening tonight I expose a disturbing pattern of governance in Jersey City with mayor FIP at its Center Brian Platt Flip's Protegé and former business administrator recently testified under oath in Kansas City that
lying to the media was acceptable because in Jersey City we had a mayor who would just make up numbers on the fly from the podium and no reporters ever called him on it former CFO LNA maner was fired after
refusing John Metro's directives to falsify Financial records and Report false cash positions to New Jersey state actions that potentially violate Federal banking laws when former councilman
lavaro called for an investigation stating that musman 's Revelations appear very serious and that Jersey City needs stronger protections for whistleblowers his urgent request was dismissed at the Jersey City employment
and training program whistleblower nuer Sierra was terminated after providing evidence of checks written to cash funds later confirmed embezzled by Sudan Thomas a FIP Ally who was sentenced for his crimes when councilman Gilmore in n
other African-American employees filed suit alleging discrimination under Platz reorganization they faced a city Administration that the Civil Service Commission had already condemned for flagrant disregard for established
regulations the pattern is unmistakable Financial staff pressured to falsify records Civil Service regulations violated with impunity whistleblowers systematically silenced rank Control ordinances selectively
enforced and journalists reporting inconvenient facts blacklisted but there's Reason for Hope the story of Brian Platt shows us what happens when Brave truth tellers refused to be silenced in Kansas City the
whistleblowers testified under oath about plot's directive to lie referencing the exact Playbook he learned here in Jersey City working with Phillip the wh blow's courage led to a $900,000 jury ver verdict in their favor
and plat suspension Council the walls are closing in our evidence mounts daily the question now is will you investigate these troubling patterns to the public contact blowthewistle jc@ gmail.com if
you have evidence of wrongdoing remember in Kansas City one whistleblower was awarded $900,000 the truth doesn't just set you free sometimes the legal system May reward you thank you our next speaker 5.41
Emanuel I thank you good evening Council I'm here tonight to ask you to please vote Yes on resolution iion 10.40 awarding the engineering contract for the heights bike lane thank you so much to each of you
who have worked in good faith on Safe Streets issues these past years you all unanimously oppose the turnpik expansion bokit rallies have been responding to many different Community traffic safety concerns most recently in the Heights
and in Bergen Lafayette it's been incredible to see the city come together for vision zero in many ways including supporting efforts for daylighting Spade tables no turn on red signs and so much more we know the
safety improvements are working and we are saving lives in 2021 eight people died on city streets last year the city brought that number down to two cities Nationwide are looking to Jersey City for inspiration for their
own Vision zero efforts we should be proud of the city's work thus far and the work must continue the news from across the state is not good last year was New Jersey's deadliest for pedestrians this week media Outlets called our state the most dangerous
state in the nation for people walking and biking for this reason we have to remain steadfast we must not lose Road Safety Grant buies we must continue the work Beyond downtown until we achieve zero
deaths and serious injuries I'm here to testify that I'm completely dependent on our City's bike Lanes especially those in Ward SE councilman bajano and the new bike Lanes in Ward B have completely changed my life now my
partner and I regularly travel to businesses along mallerie Avenue and Westside Avenue when we were reluctant to do so before I thank councilwoman Prince Ary for standing strong for safety and progress and I cannot tell councilman
buto enough how disappointed I am in his stance on Street safety councilman I'm sure you've heard of The Pedestrian who was killed on Summit this week on a corridor that was identified for safety improvements four years ago if those improvements had moved forward perhaps
his life could have been saved we cannot and must not accept the status quo as our city grows and becomes more dense and more dangerous we must plan for multimodal communities because walkable bikable communities are
proven to be safer and more prosperous please vote Yes for the heights bike lane thank you our next speaker 5.42 Charles uh good evening city council my name is Charlie Hillman I'm a w d
resident and Liv in the Heights with my daughter with my 11-month-old daughter and my wife I'm here tonight to ask for your support in the construction of the Manhattan Avenue in Franklin Street protected bike lane Jersey city has the opportunity to build over one mile of protected bike Lanes in the Heights and
even though this plan has been fully paid for by the state through a grant I fear that if we do not build this bike lane it will beat the expense of our youngest and most vulnerable residents personally this protected bike lane would give my family my friends and neighbors the ability to safely cycle
from the Western Slope to persing field to the newly constructed Reservoir to stop and shop for a grocery run or to shops and daycares on Central and Palisade Avenue currently the Western Slope and Leonard Gordon Park are effectively cut off from the rest of the
Heights in regard to travel by bike as my daughter grows I hope to be able to drive our car lass around the heights but being able to bike with her to local businesses to parks in schools is not currently possible considering how dangerous our roads are
accidents are the number one cause of death and injury in children which includes traffic accidents on our streets protected bike lanes are a proven strategy that can help reduce traffic injury and death people can bike on them physically separated from Cars and Trucks but they can also slow car
traffic people drive more cautiously and they improve visibility for residents making it safer to cross the street as an e as an emergency room nurse at a local Trauma Center not a shift goes by that I don't personally see the damage that cars and trucks can inflict on a
human body whether it's a brain bleed a spinal cord injury a crushed femur a lifeless body laid upon a stretcher I think we can all agree today that there needs to be better enforcement of Vehicles driving recklessly and not following the rules of the road but the
truth is without also re without also redesigning your streets to make it safer for cyclists and pedestrians we will continue to see traffic violence even when everyone is following the rules of the road when behind the wheel of a car I'd prefer improved visibility for pedestrians cyclists riding in a
bike lane and visual reminders for me to slow down and drive cautiously as a driver a pedestrian a cyclist a father and a resident of the heights I see the construction of this bike lane is an easy win all around I Envision a future for my daughter where her and her friends could
na safely navigate their neighborhood on fo on foot on bike or behind the wheel of a car what message are we sending to our young people by not building a safer environment to move about their neighborhoods the construction of this bike lane will not only ensure safer
streets for residents now but signal to the next generation of Jersey City residents that we care about them and their health their safety and their lives let's not let them down thank you our next speaker
5.43 burnard Deb don't rush take your time good evening Council izy this is bernardette izi she I was let I want to let him talk but I reserve the right to give my opinion
okay this is the second time I've been here since the last hearing that you had and Council I give you a lot of credit for taking the time to listen I hope you can hear me since the last meeting I realized
that I had told you some things that I actually witnessed in the proposition the proposal for the pike Lane I watched it being installed I own a business on Franklin Street for 63 years right there
I'm at 248 Central and 142 Franklin Street that's the very corner of central Franklin as we know it's a very busy intersection that street is a conduit from some Central Avenue to Palisade
Avenue and all the streets in between Cambridge Hancock Webster New York Avenue and Palisade Avenue on Franklin Street now I have a petition already I took a lot of time I think I told you uh
I'm around since 1937 I took took a petition out and I have a whole series of signatures including all the people from the Cardiology Center the restaurants on Franklin Street and all the people in my area it's
dangerous to have this bike lane on Franklin Street it not only creates a problem but it's also a a barrier for ambulance fire engines police cars who use that street and I know it I am the
there 7 days a week I live there at 142 Franklin Street right above my business so I can only tell you the bike lane is an important thing Maryanne Murphy wrote a beautiful letter and you all got the
letter showing you all the problems about the the area I'm telling you that the dangerous part of it the Stop and Shop exit is on Franklin Street they come in Central Avenue and they come out on Franklin I witnessed a truck holding
that street up for 14 minutes with buses down to Palisade Avenue because the the back Lane pushed the parking one lane into the street the bike lane is along the curb now the parking is on the
street one more Lane in when you have a 55t tractor trailer trying to get out and somebody Parks their car at the very end of the bike lane he can't get out we had everything to do but get that truck out I'm getting close to this time
you have I'm I'm my main reason is the safety of this thing it is a real real serious problem I'm there 63 years and let me tell you I've seen a lot thank you thank you very much I would just like to add that I agree about the
safety but also Manhattan avenu is when they made that one way the trucks that where they went they came out of Stop and Shop they had nowhere to go but into a residential area and in that particular residential area that happens
to be a deaf child so I was it's very concerned the whole thing is of a security aspect I am not against bike lanes per se but they take up too much room the way it was designed and very few people use them
also the a lot of people use these motorbikes or electric bikes on the sidewalk and it's very difficult for us seniors I have been R over several times thank you thank
you our next speaker 5.45 Roman good evening council members my name is Roman doia and I'm a visually impaired individual and this is my very first time speaking in at this H Hall and uh I
have written out my speech and I'd like to request if someone could read it I come before you not in opposition to progress but in defense of something far greater safety dignity and the rights of every citizen to walk their
own streets without fear I am visually impaired my white cane is my shield against the Unseen my sole defense in a world that does not always stop to notice me and yet I have felt the sharp
sting of that world's indifference a few months ago a cyclist hit me he shattered my cane which I call Santo this is my new cane Santo 2.0 the cyclist's feeble excuse after he
hit me was I did not see you had I been alone I would have been left helpless abandoned in a city that should protect me this is not just my story it is the silent struggle of many in my community
a bike lane on Franklin Street and Manhattan Avenue without the strictest safeguards and enforcement such as an auditory signal will turn risk into recklessness and oversight into outright
danger I was told that St Joseph's School of the blind also reached out to the city council in opposition of this please please listen to us we need Public Safety to ensure and enforce
these safeguards we need a police traffic unit with a bike Patrol unit I ask you council members will we build a city where all can move freely or no one where the most vulnerable are left
behind do not let this be our failure vote no on the bike Lanes on Franklin Street and Manhattan Avenue did you want to add something you have 39 seconds no I just wanted to say thank you for allowing me to speak tonight and appreciate all of
you thank you our next speaker 5.46 Steve good evening thank you sir good to see you good to be seen uh I also ask to join me speaker number 50 because he's our um race course designer and uh race
course manager but just in case uh I don't use all my time uh earlier today sent each member of the uh Council a uh email with a letter that we also sent to the mayor indicating um part of our um
proposition as to uh our we're running the Jersey City Marathon this year it's our third year we have 10,000 Runners signed up from 14 countries almost 2,000 from Jersey City last year we had, 1600 from Jersey City
and our first year we had 1,200 so collectively we're at about 5,000 residents from Jersey City who uh participate but the reason uh for my coming here is that uh a few of the council have shared with me a missive that was sent by a reverend in the city
uh protesting the race being hosted on Palm Sunday I'd like to begin by on not begin but say that when I was a studying to be a deacon at seen Hall University probably Chris chiarino and the beginning of an introduction to the
Gospel of John Core said as Catholics we are both end people not either are and so in that spirit I just want you all to know that we've been working with the religious community Jewish because it's the first day of Passover as well as
other Reverend Christian throughout the city in fact um Pastor I'll just give one example Pastor Daryl Griffin has moved his service up a couple of hours and we're going to be working with him to um provide a little something for his
parishioners after their service another thing is is that one of the parishioners from our lady of uh Mount carel I get I received three emails from uh the parish one was from a runner and a devout Catholic and she said hi Steve I hope you're well I'm sure things are quite
busy as the race gets closer I really appreciate the conversation we had on Monday and I'm excited to keep in touch thanks so much I'm so excited to get out there and cheer um I'm going to sort of wrap up um the date we picked because
the U two weeks before the date that we did pick is ID ala the week before here that is Lord madita It's a Indian holiday the week after we picked was Easter and the last day of Passover so
trying to normalize it the years before we've always had it on the second Sunday in April but in speaking with director Goodman to rectify this that we'll have no uh conflict with religions going forward we'll uh have the race on the first Sunday of May um going forward um
my time's over but uh if Dan has anything to say nope uh let me just say this one second with the council I've emailed you if you have any questions I've worked closely with councilman Solomon's office closely with Council
woman Ridley's office thank you for to work with constituents our next speaker 5.47 Pam thank you for your patience pen no problem good evening Council and good evening Sean I did hear a little cough
so I hope you feel better make sure you take care of yourself yes thank you I am here to speak on the record regarding director Shay's vote of no confidence and I also want to lift up the voices of residents who have demanded director Shay's resignation over the years folks
have spoken on the record at press conferences city council and Community meetings for many years expressing their disappointment with his leadership and this includes former members like myself who previously served on the public safety Advisory Board as residents we
were frustrated then and we are infuriated now to find out that director Shay may not have been confirmed in 2021 and should not even be the public safety director is troubling director Shay continues to ignore city council members and the concerns of residents and that
is disrespectful unacceptable and he should be held accountable as a director of the anti-violence Coalition of Hudson County I work very closely with our police department and that is because of retired Chief Kelly Flora District captains and Community liaison officers
who have been consistent with answering our calls responding to our emails and attending neighborhood meetings to address our concerns without them there would be zero lines of communication Public Safety and the actual public now we are at a Crossroads but we did not
have to be here do we know how many directors are currently working without being confirmed I urge you all to investigate that councilman Gilmore thank you for taking the lead through this resolution I recall prior to you becoming a council member you were
leading the charge on the ground along with myself former councilman Chris Gaton and former councilwoman Michelle Massie and other community leaders and members who have been displeased by director Shay's performance or lack thereof question has the council
requested a written legal opinion from Corporation Council it it may make sense to have our own Council to have your own Council since the legislative and executive branches will not always agree I just want to know where we go from here because I want to make sure that
wherever it is there is real action behind it thank you our next speaker 5.48 Kevin not here thank you next speaker 5.49 Sabrina to see you good to see you as
well good evening Council um well it's been a very very very eventful council meeting this evening um I would just like to point out that the Portside Towers um those individuals did a wonderful job in
speaking in reference to what I was actually going to come and bring to you guys attention I think the last time I was here was when Recreation was going through what they were going through and we were coming here speaking to you guys to let you know what was going on and
you all just looked at us looked at us the way you're looking at me now okay and that's the problem we are we are taxpayers we are citizens and guess what more so important than that we are
voters and we are the voters of this city not just employees former employee for me however I do understand what they went through in Kansas City and what they were talking about in regards to Brian Platt because that
behavior has been going on in this city from 2013 till today and there are several other unheard stories and issues from employees throughout this city that have been too afraid to come and speak up so when the employees come here okay
I advise you to listen because there may be some truth investigate and use your powers and find out the truth because it costs us money and I can attest to that as well unnecessary
money training speaking of director Shay no confidence at all and as a director of the police it's no reason why he has an issue with the mental health training all police officers
should go through some training so that they can understand how to deal with the public that is so critical and it will save us money in the long run when our police officers are trained to understand how sensitive things are for
people and in closing the other issue I wanted to speak to is in regards to the payroll taxes I go to the board meeting every month and for years the board of education has been requesting accountability for the payroll taxes why
is it so hard to fund that money send it to the Board of Education these children they need their money and it's only fair if you're collecting the money where's the accountability where is the money how much are you collecting who's who's keeping track of it but when will those
dollars get to those children because writing a letter to the governor is hypocritical it's very hypocritical for each and every one of you all to write a letter to the governor when you all yourselves hav't made sure that that money that was collected was sent to the board of education for those children
thank you very much and have a great day our next speaker 550 Daniel yes uh thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak I'll speak very briefly uh I was up here just a little while ago with Steve lipsky uh Steve of course as you know is the driving force
behind the uh Jersey City Marathon I'm a behind the scenes guy I'm I'm the my specialty is course measurement I've been measuring and certifying Road Race courses for almost 40 years I'm the official course measurer of of the
Jersey City Marathon and also the official course measurer of the Philadelphia Marathon the New York City marathon and have in the past been the official course measurer for the US Olympic trials marathon and for some uh U uh International
ultramarathon uh championships in in Europe so uh again again my um what I bring to the event is my technical expertise however since I've been involved in doing this around the country and in Europe and actually
Australia I've I've I have a pretty good perception of how events start and often fail and then some of them succeed and grow over the years and uh in only its third year now uh I've I've been so so
impressed by the good work that Steve and his colleagues have done and they've brought um prominence to Jersey City with this Marathon it is now universally throughout the country and internationally regarded as the premier
marathon in the state of New Jersey and uh I'm just very happy to be associated with it and um uh it's it's it's it's an unprecedented success after after only two years thank you thank you
our next speaker 5.51 Robert hello I'm Robert fretz FZ um thank you for this time this is my second time speaking at the council about the protected bike lane on Manhattan uh I'm still a car owner I'm still a pedestrian and I'm still a
bicyclist uh I still live in the neighborhood obviously on Manhattan and I hope to see the neighborhood someday become as safe as downtown Jersey City hob hoken Union City and Lower Manhattan uh particularly for riding with my
children since the last time I spoke I am commuting into Manhattan regularly for the first time in seven years I bike to the path daily either to Hoboken or Journal Square usually passing dozens of cars during the short ride in the morning riding during Peak commuting
times has also made me even more aware of how vulnerable Riders and pedestrians are and a shout out to the crossing guards for keeping everybody safe projects like this are intended to protect those who ride walk and drive we've seen as recently as Monday the possible consequences of not acting
where there is a known need and a plan to correct it most of the arguments against bike lanes are really complaints about the status quo bikes are not the reason you can get airborne going through five corners or break an axle on New York bikes are not the reason that the north
side of Franklin is dented by Central to the point about the stuck tractor trailer I'm happy to show the council a picture of that day because it blew up our local social media and it was an illegally parked truck inside the bike lane Zone it that was blocking it not
the lane itself and that one is very off-script so I apologize but I I do have the picture if anyone's curious bikes are also not responsible for people parking for months without a permit before being ticketed or the proliferation of
questionable driveways taking away spots and finally bikes don't create traffic before congestion pricing it was not uncommon for me to pass 40 to 50 cars heading down toward Hoboken in the morning those are the complaints of today but where we are in 10 years is
what we need to be talking about many of you are seeking higher office are affiliated with those who are and this vote speaks to whether we have a vision for the neighborhood or simply the status quo this project covers a vital Corridor connecting the unprotected North South Lanes we have and this
project is a needed first step toward a more mobile neighborhood and ultimately City if you are hesitating because it's not your ward I hope you consider the kids from all over should be able to safely ride and enjoy persing field and the department of wreck activities until
the black hole of bike safety that is Southern Heights is fixed this project would safely open up a corridor from Mountain Road to Leonard Gordon those are your residents facilities to use and they should be able to get there safely without a car and in the absence of
reliable public transportation this project won't fit everything but it is a thank you our next speaker 5.52 Phillip is Philip here I know he will was earlier
okay next speaker 5.53 Jim thank you my name is Jim Nelson a Public School parent and leader with Jersey City together Education team I appreciate the spirit of resolution 10.16 concerning the state cuts to the Jersey City Public Schools others have
already spoken about the fun algorithms impacted by our aggregate tax base and what shortfalls mean for our students like Finn all the more so since the pandemic related sources of federal Esser funding and state maintenance of
equity funding streams have ended resolution 10.16 cites Cuts I might add the governor's budget Omission the lack of any additional funds for the school's Development Authority for count School
construction or School additions just a minor amount for Capital maintenance the need for sustainable funding for SDA facilities is another conversation another time yet at this moment I ask what is in your
power our power to mitigate the real shortfalls for the district's regular operations certify the employer payroll tax at its full amount and and transfer the 2024
fund balance fully we are in the tight window the school district must submit the state fiscal year 2026 budget to the Department of Education County Executive by next Wednesday March 19th the Schoolboard meets that day at 5:30 this
means the meeting agenda book should go to the trustees with complete information this Friday yet last I heard the district leadership have not received an updated clear certification of the employer perel tax have not yet received an updated
certification the amount of employer perel tax that the city certifies as its estimated collectible is what the New Jersey Department of Education considers real money for sake of budget planning the school district
must use the amount certified by the city please make the certification a truer amount and anticipate even more aggressive of compliance you're aware of the proposed state legislation designed to enhance
the city's capacity to collect the employer payroll tax and enforce compliance while that language has been referred to the respective New Jersey assembly and Senate committees for hearing in the coming weeks one does not need to wait for that breakthrough to do
the timely and right action for the school district schools and the public charter schools please implore the city business administrator to expedite this process tomorrow we want the city and the school district to model good
governance capacity to collect commitment to enforce and share Public Communication thank you thank you our next speaker 5.54 beatus hi good evening thank you for the opportunity to
speak with you and thanks to all of those in the Council that responded back to Advocates when we were trying to speak with you um one in particular did not respond to any of The Advocates that I know about and it's very disappointing not to have um a council person return a
call or an email um I'm here to ask that you vote Yes on resolution 10.40 authorizing the award of a Professional Services contract to provide engineering design services for the Manhattan Avenue and Franklin Street improvements the protected bike lane
proposed for the heights will have paint and plastic ballards it's not a Monumental infrastructure pro project none of it is irreversible but you know what is irreversible the trauma of a pedestrian or cyclist being hit by a
car cyclist and pedestrians are disproportionately harmed by traffic violence when the demonstration project was removed a woman crossing the street in front of the school was hit by a car during TW uh the years of 20 to 20
2008 to 2017 the city recorded a total of 58 bicycle crashes resulting in 18 serious injuries and 10 fatalities in war D alone the majority of crashes occurred on the high andry Network segments includ including Tunnell Central and
Summit which are major intersections along Manhattan Avenue and Franklin Street residents of the heights have been asking for safer streets and a bike lane is a proven measure to make the street safer regarding response times for the fire department when we met with fire
chief Johnson and Hart they noted that the project would not be a problem if parking next to the bike lane was removed they lamented how cars obstructed their movement not bikes or bike Lanes regarding uh I just lost it
regarding the truck that created 17 minutes of traffic leaving Stop and Shop I have a picture someone else in the neighborhood took a photo as well there's an illegally parked car where there's striping where they should not have parked which is why that was caused
um I would also like to just say to the young man that was hit by a bicycle I feel so bad that's terrible that should not have happened um and Miss lesie also mentioned cyclists on sidewalks if we have a safe place to ride in the street we will not be on the sidewalk or there will be a lot less I
know that not everybody makes the right decision whether they're on a bike or they're in a car but if you give them a safe place to go they're likely to be there so if this council is serious about safety about everyone's safety they will vote Yes for this much needed
project you miss 100% of the shots that you do not take let's use $670,000 this money that was granted to us that you accepted that you allowed the infrastructure Department to apply for let's build what the experts recommend
they're the experts they are won awards they know what they're doing thank you for your time our next speaker 5.55 Javier yeah good evening uh council members my name is Javier GES I'm a resident of the heights I want to start
by thanking you for what you do um I don't take this opportunity for granted thank you for still respecting our fragile democracy Now show of hands if you support Public Safety for all of your
citizens you support good I'm glad that we are on the same page um how is it possible that the director of Public Safety does not like bikes or bike Lanes safety is not for a few but for
all so no vote of cence for director of Public Safety SH now I need you all to please be all in and support the Manhattan Franklin Safety project first approv the 160k technical design and second knowing that
is uh that if you approve this know that the technical design if you approve the technical design you will support the full project that's very important if you approve the design you need to be all in to approve the whole project now
Mr bajano and we know that you love cars and and parking and I'm very impressed sir how you rally support against this project um I'm been factious uh I wish you could use the same energy sir to to
help us this project is very important this is a Safety project uh now some experts call said that this project will add 45 seconds to a minute uh increased response time for
the fire trucks um this issue is not the the issue is not uh the bike lane the issue is the the drivers some drivers not all they don't move out of the way so we need more tra enforcement so they can so they can actually move out
of the way I understand that when a fire truck comes they have to move it's not the bike lane uh please understand that this is a Public Safety project not just a bike lane please need you need to rally and let's get the project done don't lose
that 170k grand thank you very much yes sir I just like to say something I didn't recruit anybody they called here they sent messages the fire department police department I didn't call anybody and ask anybody to oppose it I'm not against bike Lanes I'm against uh unfair
people in the neighborhood uh complaining the fire department came out at it about it and others I didn't recruit them okay no that's fine sir and please your time is up Sir don't get emotional but uh this is important safety
safety our next speaker 5.50 six Karen uh good evening uh my name is Karen Nelson I am also a ward uh D resident I live up in the west um Western Slope I am uh really upset about the lack of concern for my life it
bothers me every single day I am a cyclist I go to work down in Hoboken and I feel that we need enforcement there's already rules there's already laws on the book all we have to do is enforce them we need to go
around if you have illegal plates why are they on the street if you have an unregistered vehicle why is it on the street running stop lights is not acceptable running stop signs is not acceptable the speeding is ridiculous we
live in a city that has a 25 mph speed limit I don't know why I am constantly being passed by people going 40 45 it's not SI safe we need to focus on the importance of safe bike infrastructure safe walking conditions for the
pedestrians we also need to focus after the enforcement which I think somebody else already acknowledged education I really believe in the education about where bikes can ride so drivers understand it and also so cyclists understand it does the parking
enforcement officers focus on ticketing any of these illegal things that cars are doing can cars be in crosswalks can cars be in protected bike Lanes what about in bus stops can they park in front of hydrants can they Park in illegal spots where people cannot
properly turn which causes issues within the bike Lanes if a car cannot properly turn because somebody's illegally parked this is an issue to finish up today I just want to say that just on my short little drive my bike ride into uh school
today uh and coming home three cars ran the Traffic Light On Bleecker and JFK that go onto Nelson as the crossing guard is going out every day I feel so happy that we have crossing guards but I fear for their safety at the same time
when I'm telling people no wait for that light because RAR is are going to run the red light it's not right at Patterson Plank and Palisades four cars at the newly constructed traffic lights four cars ran
the red light this morning to twice today I was honked at on my way home and my way to here telling me to get off the road that I don't belong on the road the one woman honked at me as we were going over a
speed bump to go to a traffic light only a half a block away we both ended up at the next Dame stop sign and I told her I have the right to ride on it and she told me to get off the street um on the way over here we got cut off by a car so I'm really asking
for enforcement yes to bike lanes and yes to people living in a safe Community thank you thank you our next speaker 5.57 omy thank you my name is l Velasquez and I am the President of the Jersey City uh
Public School Board I may not be as eloquent as the young man was here earlier but I just want to tell you that that's what we work for that's our product and many of you that are sitting before me are also products of the
Jersey City Public Schools therefore if you take pride in who you are and what you do here please help us so that others can come after you and take pride and do the same great job as you are
doing today however um our actual I do have uh copies of more thorough copies of this for you I'll give in a second uh but when you receive this this is only a a overview of what will be
presented on Wednesday and hopefully you can come either to the meeting so that you can speak or you can view the meeting and help us uh because our ba will go line by line thorough um
expectations of where this money is going to take us uh the New Jersey local fair share is the portion of the school funding that a community is responsible for raising through the local property taxes the local fair share combined with
state aid is intended to adequately fund our schools currently Jersey City is paying 452 m337 3,369 of the local fair share
versus 739 million 567,000 837 New Jersey says that the city should contribute therefore
the calculations show that the district is a short Change by 2 million 287 milon 230,000 468 of the local fair share to educate
our students your students Jersey City Public Schools as well as charter school students because the money that we receive from the state is not just for the students in our 40 schools but we also have to give to the uh Charter
Schools 170 million therefore cutting even more into what our budget is your time is up thank you
okay thank you very much I'll take that our next speaker 5.58 Nathan good evening Council uh my name is Nathan Jones I've lived in Jersey City for 10 years I'm a part of the Jersey City together Education team and like several individuals earlier tonight
I'm here to talk about the payroll tax I'm here to ask that the city certify an accurate payroll tax amount immediately for the board of education budget process transfer the full amount of the payroll tax collected in 2024 uh those funds over the amount
previously certified and disclos the trust fund balances for the collected payroll tax our public schools and their students deserve to receive all funds legally designated for them in a timely and transparent manner thank you you thank
you council president sorry can I just say something very briefly uh the ba can follow up but uh this morning there was communication to um the superintendent as well as the business administrator for the schools about the certification of the payroll tax but if you have any other additional
questions the ba can follow up on that okay our next speaker 5.59 Veronica he's not here not here okay thank you our next speaker 5.60 Jeffrey Jeffrey here no
Jeff nope next speaker 5.61 Corey Corey is here good evening uh I'm here to speak on behalf of commissioner OD day he wanted to
share with the council that he primary sponsored a resolution with uh commissioner Jerry Walker seconding that resol res solution uh to remove summer camp fees and restore access free access to all
children uh this res this resolution basically goes into historically how Jersey city has provided free summer camps and that the imposition of summer camp fees has created Financial barriers for many families particularly those of
low-income house households uh the elimination of these fees would Al alleviate financial burden on the Working Families promote equality and youth programming and investing in these summer camp programs contributes to positive Youth
Development um so with that said they did vote to inform you guys uh to formally take action so I guess I'll send you all a copy of that via email and he also asked for me to mail it too so you'll get that thank you for your
time oh and he also wanted to state that he was an original supporter of free pools and that should happen so oh we voted on that Cory bill could have stay he was here too okay we thank you
Cory our next speaker 5.62 Joe is Joe here no Joe Joe is not here okay next 5.63 Kevin NOP Kevin Davis not here here next
5.64 Tony hi Tony barelli from bike JC just briefly I'd like to note that placing auditory signals next to a bike lane and thus next to a street and uh especially knew the home of a visually impaired person uh sounds like a great
idea I totally support that you always put human life first Above All Things I have heard some of you say that repeatedly in this room and I think everybody here
agrees on the Manhattan Franklin Corridor you've been given the chance to do just that you had a plan in front of you that would have included protected bike lanes for the whole Corridor and retained all the existing access for emergency
vehicles too Public Safety was fine with that and infrastructure was fine with that they designed it we sure as heck wanted it you had the chance to save lives in
two ways on one Corridor you could have said and gotten on with it months ago but you literally chose to save parking first I mean that's what happened right by doing so by ganking
that off the table right away you inevitably pitted one life-saving project against another life-saving function expressly for the sake of saving parking which never saved anyone's
life on a related matter maybe it sounds like this is out of the blue but where are the fire Lanes across the heights recently uh some Advocates along with me we we met with some First Responders based out of the Heights and they said said spontaneously
that the city should remove some parking on a side street or two near them so they can get across town many cities do that but we don't we have the space but it's all trapped under parked cars hundreds of Lane miles of Park
cars now I I found it significant that even one of our fire officials mentioned the park cars is one reason why the streets are narrow they're not narrow they're narrowed by cars they're a narrow ER anyway that's absolutely
right here again if you want to save lives you have to put parking after saving lives you have a chance tonight a very fleeting chance to allow your transportation professionals to get started on a plan that's paid for that
meets the primary objections expressed by Public Safety while still saving more lives with better Street safety infrastructure and if you really do care about putting human life above all else then do it you must thank
you our next speaker 5.65 Mark Mark B not here next 5.66 Aya good evening I am utterly flabbergasted
that I and we all have to once again beg our elected officials to use grant money to benefit a neighborhood that has been left behind on Street safety improvements and this is coming on the very same day that the federal government ordered a halt on all grants
to build bike lanes and other green infrastructure federal grants only the timing is uncanny you already voted twice in favor of this bike lane Grant once to support the city's Grant application and another to accept the
funds the mayor and the ward councilman support it plenty of the community supports it so what are we doing here please let's finish the job I want to address a recurring sentiment among this body which is the idea that I support bike Lanes in the Heights just not on
Manhattan and Franklin putting aside the fact that using another Street means forgoing $670,000 of grant money which Corridor do you suggest because I guar I'm truly asking because I guarantee you that you'll
unlikely reach consensus even among yourselves on this question let alone among the broader Community it's always some other street is better than this one if there is a magical unicorn street that would be better suited for this don't you think our infrastructure team would have written a grant for that one
but they selected Manhattan and Franklin not only because of its history of crashes but because it's one of the only full East West corridors across the heights that has the space almost every other Street features a parking Lane a oneway travel Lane and another parking
Lane meaning that the only way to fit a protected bike lane is by removing an entire parking Lane so given that do you still support another street instead Public Safety is on board with this approach as parking removal actually speeds up their response times but if you're not willing to vote for that
please stop telling us that you support bike Lanes in the Heights and just tell us that you value the almighty car over our lives and with all due respect to Public Safety I have to point out the irony that you're so heavily weighing public safety's opinion on this particular project on the very same night that
there's a vote of no confidence in public safety on the agenda so again what are we doing here lastly I want to address the God forbid something bad happens if we move forward with this project sentiment that was repeated again here tonight here's the thing bad things are happening now a
pedestrian was killed on our streets just this this week this project is for the benefit of Public Safety and not at the expense of it no project has ever had unanimous support you all have voted in favor of countless projects that were highly controversial from pompados to
pedestrian plazas and all kinds of stuff but this project should not be controversial it's a Safety project whose many benefits will be felt immediately please do the right thing and vote Yes residents of the Heights and the whole city are counting on you
thank you our next speaker 5.67 massab I didn't see him and our last speaker 5.68 Thomas Connelly not here okay that will
conclude our public speaking portion of the meeting so okay on to our petitions and Communications any questions or comments on items 6.1
through 6.36 plus there was a communication sent to me by email from mcky and Nance uh with regards to their opposition to ordinance 25- 020 and it was sent to all the members of the
municipal Council which will be added as a petition and communication any questions or comments hearing none there are no officer Communications or reported directors so I'm going to go right on to our claims and addendums number one and number two so council members are going to be
taking a vote on claims and addendums number one and number two council person Ridley I council person priner I council person bajano council person SLE hi council person Solomon council person
Gilmore I council person Dees council person Rivera I and council president Waterman I claims and addendums number one and number two are approved unanimously 90 on to our resolutions council members
going to be taking a vote on items 10.1 through 10.14 Sean hold on Sean I just W to um read something for the record um with respect to 10 two um just for clarity um
so I'll give just a brief history of the interaction of just my office with Public Safety and in the interest of time I won't read well I didn't pre print out everything but on Sunday a
constituent emailed me um the gist of the conversation was there was an incident in the park and she have called the 547 uh non-emergency number in which the phone have wrung endlessly in her words um we've brought this to the public
safety um director's um attention and that email wasn't answered on August 22nd 2024 at 550 we've also um
requested um that we reconfigure sitting posts to have police walk around and engage the community versus just sitting in the car with the lights on again that post I mean excuse me that
email I guess it didn't get what it was supposed to get and then we found out that we should include the ba on correspondence because he had to approve the public safety director to answer back to us so subsequently we begin to
CC the ba on emails here's another email from Saturday April 8th um the previous Thursday April 6th constituent reached in hello I'm a parent at 41 school we have two kids attending the school I'm
worried that there's no police or crossing guards this is very dangerous for our kids can you help us good morning director Moody director Shay families and school personnels wanted it to be noted that there have been no crossing guards um at the school or no
uh police Crossing kids email not answered again September 26 which is a Thursday at 150 um we would like to get a copy oh oh so someone another constituents called
in as it relates to the manner in which um they were treated um by a 911 operator we requested information in or meeting about that again the email um was not answered the ba is also CCD
on that email there's also uh text thread to show the communications um and then I know we've asked for communication so on February 7th of this year Sean you kindly sent out an
email um please dispute directors Moody memorandum on the 911 Communication Center thank you uh my best actually it's Peter sent it out through you John um at that point me and both councilmen boano were requesting a
itemized budget for the money that was spent um they did send this email um I don't know how I missed it but nonetheless what we requested is still not in set email there's no itemized
budget um and then again on February 12 councilman boano reached out Jim and Bob can someone at Public Safety please send me a full email or itemize expenditure for the proposed 911 lease someone did
answer that email on Tuesday February 18 that would be councilman Gilmore asking the same question that councilman boano asked again Public Safety did not respond then we get a I guess I don't
know this is not itemized budget but it is a contract in which we're leasing this equipment to the tune of $40 million 31 million in principle and then about 6% in interest what brings it to end of
around $40 million um so this is a clear pattern of continuing to ignore the counil as it relates to simple questions about simple
safety measures for residents of Jersey City um so at this point I mean the record is beyond clear I didn't even include the fact of the point that councilman re R brought up as it relates
to the fire situation fire houses fire stations brownouts and all that I didn't even get into all of that but this is a clear pattern of for whatever reason this director operating in a manner which is not indicative of what we would
like to see in City leadership and again the administration is partially on the hook because again these directors does not come up for reappointment if they come up for reappointment and know they have to get
the council votes to continue their job then maybe then they will answer a email and answering in the email you don't even you not even really expecting you to solve the problem but at the very
least just acknowledge that constituents and residents have issues as it relates to safety measures for Public Safety so with that like I said in an interest of time I just wanted to highlight all of those
interactions yeah all right uh kilm Mo I agree with you 100% uh it's a shame what's going on in the city we need a Traffic Unit 911 is under staffed the parking authority is under staffed the morale in the police department is terrible when I came on
the police department there were two classes month one month after another that we had 1160 cops we're down to 800 I don't see any cops in the street I don't see any on patrol and I'm tired of seeing cops sitting in a park car in a corner told they can't get out of the
damn car all right that's number one uh secondly uh uh statement of resolution on the amendment of The Journal Square Redevelopment plan 10 point I'm sorry I'm sorry do we doing this all right yeah well we're only
going to 10:14 okay council members are going to be taking a vote on items 10.1 through 10.14 can I say something on 10.5 you sure can yeah no
I want to say something before you vote I want to say something before you vote on it we have a resolution on the amendment for Journal Square Redevelopment plan I have submitted a resolution to extend the time for 90 days for planning to review and amend the Journal Square Redevelopment plan I
appreciate the work that t and time that planning has put into this I want to thank councilman wman president councilman wman and councilman Prince AR for attending the ward SE community meeting with planning we had 129 people
signed in we had another 30 or 40 that didn't sign in because they ran out of paper we have uh people are tired of giving developers more bonus densities for affordable housing that isn't even affordable to them we need to protect
the people who live here now homes are being demolished and Consolidated to qualify for density bonuses look at Baldwin Avenue what they've done to it after our Ward c community meeting it was clear that revisions and additional meetings are needed we need to listen to
the people ensure that the final amendments reflect their voice I had an affordable housing ordinance pass uh for the Journal Square area but when you look at it affordable housing is not $22,000 a month in rent we need
affordable housing we have to keep the people here that live in the city and take care of our people and stop this uh uh ridiculous rents and chasing people out of the city all right Johan okay any other council member
willing to or want to make a comment all right all right I again will take a vote on items 10.1 through 10.14 council person Ridley uh on
10.2 uh that we've discussed a lot tonight um like council president mentioned during the caucus we've been going back and forth with this public safety stuff for a while and um you know initially this vote of no confidence I kind of felt
like you know what's the point right we're going to do the vote in no confidence and tomorrow the emails probably still won't be answered um but I think a good thing did happen with putting this on the agenda um was the fact that residents now have a better
understanding of what we go through up here as a council um and what our roles and responsibilities are what we have the powers to do what we don't have the powers to do and what's that process uh what our relationship is with the administration and our relationship with the directors and how that all works so
I think that that was uh a good this is a good example of bringing some light to that because you do you do have a good counsil whether you agree with everything we do or not we are advocating for things and I think that if you've been watching the last few Council and caucus meetings over the
past few months then you know that the confidence really hasn't been there um as we discussed many times with a lot of the different Council people I think we've all made certain requests that we may not have gotten a response to um so with that um I'm going to stand with my
fellow Council people who have been the most vocal Gilmore uh Rivera borano and I'm going to vote uh I for council person priner so uh first of all councilman thank you for bringing this to the council as it allows us an opportunity to discuss and for the
public to watch the process now I want to bring a little bit of clarity to statement that was made earlier tonight the reason why during en caucus I asked if this resolution was akin to a censor censure is that I want the public to understand that a resolution is a statement and the council should we vote
on a note confidence vote for a director via resolution will not necessarily result in an action right so we vote this it does not mean that the direction is going to be removed the followup to that is what is under the power and the purview of the city council the power and the purview of the city council
calls for a hearing to bring in a director to raise grievances like the ones my Council colleagues have brought tonight and have brought in subsequent Council and caucus meetings and that is really important for us we are able to bring the Grievances to them they can respond and then the council can deliberate and decide whether or not we
want to vote to resend an appointment and remove a director that is an actionable item that the council can take I'm a little conflicted about this because I do believe that the statement that we want to make as a council is really important however I think it's also equally important that if we are
serious about the removal of a director we take action so until this council is ready and willing to take that cant action I'm going to abstain you're abstaining on 10.2 and I on all the rest okay person Bano I vote I on
all council person s regarding 102 um when abstain the process has to be followed it puts us in legal Jeopardy if we don't there has to
be notice first and foremost well articulated charges and there has to be a hearing and if not we are jeopardizing this Council and this city in terms of uh legal action so with that I have to
abstain that's not to say there aren't legitimate grievances which I have raised on this deis I have raised them at the budget hearings I have raised them in closed session meetings I have raised them in Open Session meetings you could view
them all online um there needs to be a motorcycle Squad there needs to be some reform in the uh 911 department and they need to be paid properly the fire department needs to be uh not treated
like a redheaded stepchild no offense to redheads in the audience sorry and basically there there are a long list of Grievances and when we had the closed session you know there was a poli policy decision made that essentially
they would not enforce as much after 2020 and um that would reduce the number of traffic stops and essentially you know we've gone a little too far to the left so the citizens are crying out for more enforcement I think it's
well-intentioned but this is not the process so that I have to abstain uh 106 you know I thank my Council colleague Daniel Rivera for bringing this because the state is playing a game of a squid game with the school
districts uh pitting us against each other and not fairly and efficiently funding us and it's purely political over the last um 30 40 years the funding formula has been overturned about 30
times so we need to overturn the funding formula they need to treat Jersey City with fairness and stop treating black and brown students like an afterthought in the state of New Jersey which is actually we have
um educational aarthi when it comes to the school districts here in New Jersey and it's a huge problem and they're not funding the black and brown districts like they should um so with that I vote I on the rest
hey council person Solomon just first if be can I just ask briefly it's related to 10 six but off but uh Corporation Council briefly mentioned but can you just provide an update on the status of the Peril tax certification councilman so I did um remit a memo to the board of ed uh
superintendent and ba today um describing exactly how much money is in the account um what is uh due to be uh remitted following the 25 uh 2425 calendar year schedule the balance of that amount which is approximately 43 million once you take
out those payments will be remitted to the uh board ofet at the end of the month and then we have four quarters of payments that are due between now and the end of the next calendar year don't forget unlike us January to December they are July to June um so they'll have four more opportunities for payments so
it's the 40 plus another four quarters and just looking at the no guarantees but the last three quarters have averaged about 20 million so if you add those in it's 80 plus 40 you're looking at about 120 and change um but that's all documented I could provide that with
to the council as well I just wanted to buy to the board of ed first because I know they have their pencil sharpen to complete their budget okay thank thank you for that um and then thank you Council AA for bringing 10 six obviously the cuts to the the schools it's already been 200 almost nearly 300 million
annually uh it's an unacceptable amount that's done you know damage to both students and homeowners um and then 10.2 agree with my Council colleague that uh you know we should have votes on directors and without those votes we don't have a chance to get commitments before either voting yes or no uh and
that leads to situations like this and there's too many legitimate concerns that the council's had so I'm in support of that and vote I for all thank you council person Gilmore um gonna vote I for all with regards to
10.6 uh want to thank um councilman Rivera it is extremely important that we make sure we're advocating for funding for our children you think the price of funding kids properly is expensive
wait till we get this bill for not funding them properly so um I'm of the opinion that you do it right on the front end so you're not cleaning up the mess on the back end um I Pro probably vote I for
all council person de on 10.2 I'm going to vote no although I'm not happy with this department all the time I have not lost confidence in the director it is wrong for that department not to communicate with the council and
that office does deserve an apology for that and there's more than enough record of that whether the Administration has to establish a liaison that communicates from that department directly to us because we had that you know with uh with Nick
um we had constant communication uh easy communication and we no longer have that we have questions and we have numerous residents calling us every day so it it is something that we need a direct line of communication if it's not going to be the director himself it's someone that
can speak on on his behalf we need to meet more often but felt we had a productive close session meeting we all offered guidance more than suggestions we want to see this we want this to happen and we were told yes on a lot of
those and I don't think that we've seen it so yes up here we do feel like we're offering Direction and it's not being followed through if it's not being proposed by the director of the department they don't feel inclined to
do it so we need more of we're asking of this we'd like to see it done too um I will still vote no although I do understand the unhappiness and I express similarities i v yes on the rest thank you council person
Rivera let me jump on 10.6 I appreciate you know the council colleague support on it uh 10.2 man there's so much I have to say but I'm not even going to say that I mean we we've been going through this for a while and um you know it's
it's a situations that I've had I have spoken to my Council colleagues about um lot of bumps in the roads and um I'm just not going to bore you with with all the rest of the stuff but I vote
I on all on all thank you council president wman well um on 10.2 this is the Hot Topic um the truth is though I'm just tired of all this stuff that goes on in
the city on the other side of town there is definitely a difference now I know this vote on director Shay is a challenging vote because he's the head of the department so I look at it like this if you're the head of Department
then your managers or your directors or your supervisor supposed to follow your lead and if they don't follow your lead then it still goes back up to you that's the way it goes um I have a problem with just police officers sitting in the car
I do they need to get outside they need to get out of the car and engage with the community I hear councilman Frank frustration I hear it I hear it all the time I don't know why they're not communicating to him I just
don't know why they should be communicating him he is a council person people elected him he deserved the same respect as anyone else we had closed sessions for you who don't know it we had plenty of closed sessions for Public Safety and we still come out with this
this situation here that there he's still not coming up to par on whatever the situation is we found out okay we have to go through the ba all right now we playing the blame game because all before we could have went to him and it was no problem now we back to the blame
game I got a problem because the enforcement is really not happening in the city it's just not happening in the city I'm going to too many places is really just not happening in the city and the people are frustrated with it because the enforcements are not happen part of the problem is even when I talk
to the police officers they are frustrated because when they do write summons then they go to court and then the court dismiss a lot of the summons see this this is the domino effect here this is a problem and what we're doing we are creating a behavior that is not
sustainable in this city and that's why we all just frustrated with it so it falls back on Shay and it falls really back on the ba too it does even though we can't write you know we could but you know it falls back on him too so I'm I'm going to I'm going to go with my
council person because I hear I hear Frank's frustration I'm on that side of town too and I hear what he's saying it's not like he's not the people are frustrated so with all that I vote I we got to do something here we got to do something here because enforcement is
not working and we gotta call the municipal judge back into let's get them all now at this point because stuff is not working and that's just the truth council president I just wanted to re um recap your vote you're voting I on
all thank you item 10.1 is approved unanimously 90 item 10.2 is approved 612 with council person de voting no and council members Prince Ary and Cay
abstaining items 10.3 through 10.14 are approved unanimously 90 on to our next set of resolutions items 10.15 through 10.23 would I believe with the exception of 10.19 I think is being
withdrawn VA if we can just confirm that so council members we're going to be taking a vote on items 10.15 through 10 23 with the exception of 10.19 which has been withdrawn council person
Ridley hi council person priner Hi for all council person Bano I council person SLE I for all council person Solomon I for all council person Gilmore council person
Dees council person Rivera hi and council president wman items 10.15 through 10.23 with the exception of 10.19 which has been withdrawn are approved unanimously 90 on to items 10.24 through
10.33 again that's 10.24 through 10.33 council person Ridley I council person priner council person bajano I council person s hi for all council person
Solomon hi for all counc counc person Gilmore council person de hi council person Rea hi and council president wman items 10.24 through 10.33 are approved unanimously 90 and
for the balance of our resolutions items 10.34 through 10.42 um I want a motion to pull this um 104 40 so we have a
motion made by council person CLE okay we'll we'll just have the vote we just have the vote okay you're not making a motion all right I'm s sending my motion motion res sended all right so again for the
balance of the resolutions on items 10.34 through 10.42 council person Ridley on 10.40 uh I repeat what some of what I said at the last meeting about uh the US
needing as a city or as the city Administration to do do a better job of communicating with each other and working out all these Kinks before we got to this point um again I think our bike Advocates are some of the best in the city they've advocated for a whole
lot of projects here and have gotten them through they've done a wonderful job reaching out and providing uh evidence and support we also have a lot of residents in uh SIDS and companies who have reached out and also are in
opposition and I think that just as I said before the oldness kind of lies on the city um I wish that our city departments would do a better job of communicating and presenting information to us before we get to this point uh
with the information that was presented before the caucus from our Public Safety department um mainly our fire department I think that U my feelings on it still stands from a safety perspective and from us needing to have
more communication do more for this particular area similar to what was done on mallerie to ensure that we are in a good position to do something like this so I'm going to vote no on 1040 and I for all the rest K council person priner I for
all council person can we hold the Applause until we actually finish the vote I appreciate it council person banana all right on 1040 I want to get something straight I am not against bike Lanes we need all of our residents to be safe in all modes of
transportation is clear based on the feedback that we received from the police fire Public Safety the Medical Center St Joseph School for the Blind Etc that installing a bike lane on Manhattan Avenue in Franklin Street is
not safe I do not believe that we should spend taxpayers money to pay for a bike lane to be designed on Manhattan and fr Franklin when it will be unsafe for all of us I will be working with councilman SLE the public safety departments and the department of infrastructure to come
up with a safer location for the bike lane and then the city can reapply for the grant so I am voting no on this resolution and yes on the rest council person soai 10:40 is the compromise plan 1040 I
understand the community has been divided on this issue right I understand that it is very divisive there's no more easy bike Lanes to install in Jersey City where you know
you have two lanes on each side going north or south east or west and you could take one lane for a bike lane um and now when we do these things they require an ordinance or they require contracts to
effectuate and this plan started in 2018 with the bike lane master plan there were over a dozen meetings across the city and it was adopted it was approved by the council and we are here today
because we're trying to move through the steps to get to The Logical conclusion of this exercise in government and with the constituency in mind Franklin Avenue and Manhattan Avenue are in the high accident Network I understand the
community doesn't want to change Manhattan Avenue for Public Safety purposes due to response time I live on that block I live on Manhattan and Summit okay personally I don't like the trucks that go down my block so I would be in favor of a bike lane as a
councilman I heard the community and we have put pushed for the compromise plan where Manhattan Avenue stays two ways blankin Avenue I think is a different Beast okay I know there are people that have lived there their whole lives I was born and raised in the Heights and I'm
telling you I haven't never left the Heights I'm a product of the public schools over there Franklin Avenue there have been mothers and children hit on Franklin in front of PSA and I'm not doing that to fearmonger I'm telling you why I'm so passionate about this because
I think something needs to be done and I sat with the PTA at ps8 okay and they said you know what if you do this it is going to be a headache but I also know not to drive during school time when the buses are loading up and I
know to have some buffer time over there but it would be safer for the children most of the schools have one ways around them and Franklin Avenue I believe in my heart that there is a case to make it
oneway as ps28 is or ps27 there are one ways all across those those schools and I I feel as though this Council needs to act we need we came to this compromise plan it took a lot of time you know The
Advocates weren't fully on board the community wasn't fully on board Manhattan Avenue stays two-way we get a left turn signal at the bottom of Manhattan in and now we're going to make the school area safer that's why I believe in this plan not everyone is
going to be happy with it I understand that but it will be safer and ultimately we're here for the kids for our constituency it might add time to your commute I'm not going to lie to you okay but it's going to it's going to make it
safer and we just had a hit and run on Summit and sip please I'm asking all right now no yelling out listen I understand it councilman I know it inspires a lot I'm not I'm not against
you okay I'm for you I've tried to listen to everyone on this okay I I I love you with all my heart and I I don't know how this is going to go but I hope my Council colleagues vote I if
they don't we're going to continue to try and make the streets safer because that's what we owe our constituents okay it can't just be about cars it can't just be about bikes we all have to learn to work together and come to a compromise and that's what this
deal represents this 1040 and I I hope it goes the way I want it to go but if it doesn't we're we're going to continue okay and it shouldn't let anyone be a don't be upset with each other I hate how I go online and I see
everyone fighting each other I'm like I get it everyone we need to learn how to communicate with each other and disagree in a better way where we're not attacking each other and that that's the biggest limit that I have in this whole exercise that people couldn't really
properly communicate with each other but um I vote I for all and you know this this is where this is where we're at thank you council person Solomon sure I'm going to vote I for all and just very
briefly appreciate everybody who came to speak on 1040 um folks were both in favor and against uh but at the end of the day you know I look at the numbers and and every year on Jersey city streets um we lose depending on the year 14 people killed seven people killed
nine people killed those those numbers really resonate with me and we have before us a a safety plan great experts um a compromise that's gone through multiple Community uh uh meetings and input sessions um and uh funding from the state that otherwise we're not going
to be able to use so you put it all together and I do think that uh we need to have the first protected bik Lan in the Heights and that's why I'm voting I coun person Gilmore um you seen the last council meeting you see how hard it was for me
to come to a decision then um this adds to to that um but here's here's the the reality for me right is I have to make
decisions based on the probability of something occurring now we've heard the director come here two weeks ago and said that we were pushing it and I still I voted for it because I wanted to see it come to
fruition um but at this juncture I'm going to obstain because it's just too much uncertainty for me we're not sure if we can get it to the Finishing Line and the time frame and this is actually
a a epic failure on on all parties because we've had that Grant since I don't know 20 8 2019 whenever it was we should have already come to a conclusion on how this money is going to be spent
what configuration we were going to do and now in the bottom of the ninth inning with two outs and two strikes it's like all right let's do the compromise right we should have been came to that conclusion um and I've asked the
director several times how confident give me an indicator give me an indicator and she's like councilman I just don't feel comfortable giving you a indicator because there's so many unpredictable variables so I went out
again and I talked to her again and it just added more confusion you have to get the architectural plans then you have to send a bid out for the contractor to accept the bid do the work get it back send it to the do and like I
said it's just so much uncertainty and I know I'm not going to take my money and spend it on something that I know it's not going to come to fruition so I'm not going to take the taxpayers money and spend it on something with this this level of
uncertainy uhh uhh don't sh no no yelling out you got to show respect whether you're for it or against it council members have a right to speak just like you have a right to speak let's be respectful I mean that's that's my position right now so
I'll abstain I'll vote I on arrest I on all arrest and abstaining on 1040 correct yes thank you council person Dees I council person Rivera no on 40 I on the
rest council president Waterman well first of all I want to thank everybody for coming out for speaking on this Hot Topic it's certainly a Hot Topic here we back again to weeks later um but what I want to say is to the bike Advocates you know I I'm Len I'm looking at the way
the council is voting some saying yes some saying saying no but for you guys to think that we're not for bikes that's not a fair statement because when you look across this city we have a lot of bike lanes and we did have to vote on that so we off for bike Lanes okay so don't think that we're not all right um
I dealt with this situation and I spoke to council minay and I asked them is there a place of compromise because it life is important on both sides life is important on both sides and so the compromise was only making Franklin a
one way that was the Compromise now do both sides agree no they don't they don't agree but we're trying not to lose the Grant moneyy and we don't know if it's going to go through based on the time we have if it don't then we won't spend our money it'll come back so it's not like we're losing anything but I do
believe that we have to give it some type of a tried to get another bike lane um just one way towards Franklin because of the school that's there just like when we have to deal with 16 school they didn't want to share the park I I I I I I I see this city growing and we just
don't want to share everybody wants what they want in their neighborhood but as it grow we got to learn how to share you know we raise our children up learn how to share even though they don't want to so in a situation like this we have to learn how to share so the compromising is just Franklin um a one way with that
I vote out hey to recap the vote items 10.34 through 10.39 are approved unanimously 90 item 10.40 is approved 531 with council members Ridley bajano
and reverber voting no and council person Gilmore abstaining items 10 .41 through 10.42 are approved unanimously 90 with that being said can I have a motion to adjourn at
96 p.m. motion made by I believe it was council president and seconded by council person Riva all in favor of the motion to adjourn at 9:56 p.m. all council members present by acclamation please say I we are out of here at 9:56
p.m.