I just went. >> So, good even good evening everyone and welcome. Um, so our uh agenda tonight is just a little bit different. We are going to be starting with the pledge of allegiance and then we're going to move to swearing in our new council member.
So, if we could all please stand for the pledge of allegiance. >> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and
justice for all. I state your name. I Glen Rises >> do solemnly swear >> do solemnly swear >> that I will support the Constitution >> that I will support the Constitution >> of the United States >> of the United States >> and the Constitution of the State of New Jersey >> and the Constitution of the State of New Jersey
>> that I will bear true faith >> that I will bear truth and faith >> and allegiance to the Saint >> and allegiance to the Saint >> and to the government established >> and to the government established >> in the United States >> in the United States >> and in the state >> and in the state >> under the authority of the people >> under the authority of the people
>> and that I will faithfully and that I will faithfully >> impartially >> impartially >> and justly perform >> and justly perform >> all the duties of a council member >> all the duties of a council member >> for the city of Long >> for the city of Long Branch >> according to the best of my ability >> according to the best of my ability. >> So help me God. >> So help me God.
>> Congratulations. >> Thank you. >> Congratulations. Congratulations. >> Thanks. Congratulations. >> Congratulations. See, you're good. >> All right.
Good. So, now um the November 20 25th, 2025 council meeting of the Long Burn City Council will now come to order. Roll call, please. >> Mr. Rases >> here. >> Mr. Vieira, >> I'm here. >> Mrs. Whittis is absent. Mr. Dangler is absent. Dr. vote here. I will now read
the mission statement for the city council. The Long Branch mayor, city council, and administration are committed to cultivating an environment of mutual trust and respect that values the diversity of our community. We will strive to enhance the quality of life
for all who live here by making Long Branch a desirable place in which to live and prosper. We will treat all members of the public with respect and expect the same in return. Certification, please. >> I hereby certify that this meeting has
been published in the newspaper in accordance with the open public meeting act and posted as required by law. >> Okay. Thank you. Reading and approval of previous minutes. I need a motion to approve the minutes from the November 12th, 2025 meeting. >> So move. Second.
>> Roll call, please. >> Mr. Rases? >> Yes. >> Mr. Vieira? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Whittis is absent. Mr. Dangler is absent. Dr. Vote. >> Yes. >> Motion passed. >> Thank you. Consideration of ordinance public hearing and final consideration 0-13-25
is an ordinance of the city of Long Branch County of Mammoth approving and adopting the 2025 update to the Oceanfront Broadway Redevelopment Plan and amending and supplementing chapter 269
redevelopment and chapter 345 zoning of the city of Long Branch Code. A summary of this ordinance is as follows. The ordinance was introduced on October uh 22nd, 2025. The ordinance is adopting the 2025
updated oceanfront Broadway redevelopment plan, which revises the prior redevelopment plans and the design handbooks for the local development sectors. Chapter 269 redevelopment and
chapter 345 zoning are amended to codify the changes set forth in the redevelopment plan. The redevel development plan indicates that the handbooks regarding the development of the Broadway Gateway in handbook three
and lower Broadway in handbook 7 are fully superseded by the new plan and where the updated redevelopment plan conflicts with the general design guidelines in handbook one and the oceanfront Broadway addendum in handbook
8. The provisions of the new redevelopment plan prevail. I need a motion to open the public hearing on this ordinance only. >> So moved. Second. >> All in favor? >> I.
>> Any any member of the public um who has any comments to make on this ordinance only, please come to the podium. State your name and address clearly for the record. You will have five minutes and may only speak once on ordinance 0-13-25.
And seeing no one coming to the podium, I need a motion to close. >> So moved. Second. >> All in favor? >> I >> I. >> This is the second reading of ordinance 13-25. I need a motion to adopt on second and
final reading and advertise according to law. So moved. Second. >> Roll call, please. >> Mr. Ras, >> yes. >> Mr. Vieiraa, >> yes. >> Mrs. Whittis is absent. Mr. Dangler is absent. Dr. Vote, >> yes. >> Motion passed. >> Thank you. Ordinance for introduction.
Ordinance 0-15-25. This is the first reading of ordinance 15-25. An ordinance design designating no parking during certain days and times south side of West and Court west of
Second Avenue. The summary of this ordinance is as follows. The ordinance prohibits parking during certain days and times on the south side of West End Court west of Second Avenue and will be used for commercial loading and
unloading only. I need a motion to introduce on first reading advertise and post according to law and set the public hearing for December 10th, 2025. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Roll call. >> Mr. Ras. >> Yes. >> Mr. Vieiraa. >> Yes.
>> Mrs. Whittis is absent. Mr. Dangler is absent. Dr. Vote. >> Yes. >> Motion passed. >> Thank you. Ordinance 0-16-25. This is the first reading of ordinance 16-25, a capital ordinance providing for the
construction of the Broadway extension project by and in the city of Long Branch in the county of of uh mom, the state of New Jersey, appropriating $5 million therefore to pay for the cost
thereof, which amount will be will be funded by a grant in the amount of $5 million received. received or expected to be received from the federal American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.
A summary of this ordinance is is as follows. This capital ordinance authorizes the construction of the boardwalk extension project in the city which includes but is not limited to the construction of a pier and supporting
amenities. I need a motion to introduce on first reading advertise and post according to law and set the public hearing for December 10th, 2025. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Uh >> Mr. Rases, >> yes. >> Mr. Vieira,
>> yes. >> Mrs. Whittis is absent. Mr. Dangler is absent. Dr. Vote, >> yes. >> Motion passed. >> Thank you. Ordinance 0-17-25. This is the first reading of ordinance 17-25, a bond ordinance providing for the
construction of the boardwalk extension project in and by the city of Long Branch in the county of Mama State of New Jersey, appropriating $5 million therefore and authorizing the issuance of $4,761,000
in bonds or notes of the city to finance part of the cost thereof. A summary of this ordinance is as is as follows. The bond ordinance provides for the construction of boardwalk extension project in the city including but not
limited to the construction of a peer and supporting amenities. The city of Long Branch was awarded a grant for $3,249,000 from the New Jersey Division of Community Affairs, Division of Disaster
Recovery and Mitigation in the form of a grant through the New Jersey Boardwalk Preservation Fund. The city of Long Branch was then awarded an additional grant for $5 million through the New Jersey Division of Community Affairs
Corona State Fiscal Recovery Fund under Long Branch Municipal Operations. The project cost for the boardwalk extension from initial conception through the design phase was significantly affected by two recent
significant federal and state code changes. First, the FEMA FEMA based uh flood elevation in Long Branch in the area of the boardwalk extension project was increased from 12.0
to 19.0 zero which is a 7foot increase. Engineering requirements for minimum design loads for flood velocity and wave load calculations have also increased.
These design changes are intended to improve and protect our investment and infrastructure and to enhance the resiliency of this project. I need a motion to introduce on first reading, advertise, and post according to law and
set the public hearing for December 10th, 2020 2025. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Roll call, please. >> Mr. Rases, >> yes. >> Mr. Vieira, >> yes. >> Mrs. Whittis is absent. Mr. Dangler is absent. Dr. Vote, >> yes. >> Motion passed.
>> Thank you. Ordinance 0-18-25. This is the first reading of ordinance 18-25, a bond ordinance providing for the acquisition of a fire truck for the Long Branch Fire Department by and in the city of Long Branch in the county of
Mammoth, state of New Jersey, appropriating $2 million therefore and authorizing the issuance of a 1,94,000 uh $4,000 bonds or notes in the city to
finance part of the cost there thereof. The summary of this ordinance is as follows. The bond ordinance authorizes the city of Long Branch to acquire a 100 foot or greater Quint ladder apparatus
for the Long Branch Fire Department. A Quint is a multi-purpose fire truck that combines five essential firefighting functions. an aerial ladder, a fire pump, a water tank, fire hose, and
ground ladders. This single P piece of apparatus can perform both engine and ladder company operations, providing greater operational flexibility during emergency responses. This acquisition addresses the critical
public safety need. Long Branch has multiple mid-rise and residential and mixeduse buildings. A 100 ft aerial device is necessary necessary to ensure the fire department can effectively
access upper floors for rescue operations and fire suppression. This apparatus will enable the city to maintain adequate fire protection services for all properties within its boundaries. I need a motion to introduce on first
reading advertise and post according to law and set the public hearing for December 10th, 2025. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Roll call, please. >> Mr. Rases, >> yes. >> Mr. Vieiraa, >> yes. >> Mrs. Whittis is absent. Mr. Dangler's absent. Dr. Vote. >> Yes. >> Motion passed.
>> Thank you. Ordinance 0-9-25. This is the first reading of ordinance 19-25, an ordinance of the city of Long Branch amending chapter 345, zoning section and uh 345-3
definitions. The summary of this ordinance is as follows. This ordinance amends zoning ordinance to include the definition of a gasoline station and convenience center. I need a motion to introduce on first reading, advertise,
and post according to law and set the public hearing for December 10th, 2025. >> So moved. Second. >> Roll call, please. >> Mr. Rases, >> yes. >> Mr. Vieiraa, >> yes. >> Mrs. Whittis is absent. Mr. Dangler is absent. Dr. Vote, >> yes. >> Motion passed.
>> Thank you. Ordinance 0-20-25. This is the first reading of ordinance 20-25, an ordinance amending chapter 345 of the code of the city of Long Branch and more specifically the zoning regulations
pertaining to transit village district medical village subdist. A summary of this ordinance is as follows. This ordinance amends section 345-39 and the table of bulk uses in the
transit village district medical village subd district to remove all residential uses. The ordinance also repeals the Mzone medical hospital zone uh uh the M
zone in the medical hospital zone district. Given that the creation of the transit village district, no property in the city was included in the M zone medical hospital zone district.
I need a motion to introduce on first reading, advertise, and post according to law and set the public hearing for December 23rd, 2025. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Roll call, please. >> Mr. Rases, >> yes. >> Mr. Vieiraa, >> yes.
>> Mrs. Whittis is absent. Mr. Dangler is absent. Dr. Vote. >> Yes. >> Motion passed. >> You'll be relieved to know that all of our new ordinance, we're not done with all of our new ordinance ordinances. And we are up to the public participation for resolutions and all general
comments. I need a motion to open the public portion of the meeting for all comments. >> So moved. >> Second. >> All in favor? >> I. >> Opposed? None. The public portion of the meeting is to allow you, the public, to
state your comments directly to the administration and have a voice in the proceedings of your of your governing body. There will be no cross dialogue during the public portion part of the meeting after you have spoken and any member of the deas deis authorized to
speak on the administration's behalf may address your comments, answer questions and correct any misleading or erroneous information. If there is anyone in the audience who has a comment to make, please step forward to the podium and state your name and address clearly for
the record. You will have five minutes and may only speak once. Good evening. My name is Jeff Walstein. I was born here in Long Branch and I currently reside in Tintton Falls. Before anything else, I need to address the policy requiring speakers to state their full name and home address on
camera. This rule is not required by federal or state law, and in my situation, it creates a very real safety risk. Because of my public comments, I've received hundreds of hateful messages and even threats of violence from members of the
local Jewish community. The threats won't silence me, but they are very real, and this city should not be forcing me to dox myself in order to speak to this council. I am willing to state my name in my municipality, but I but I will not expose my private home
address on a live stream that can be replayed endlessly. This is an unreasonable requirement and a violation of my first amendment rights. At the last council meeting, we had over 20 people speak out against the Israeli flag display. And when the public
portion came to an end, the city attorney's associate addressed the room. Let me just say this. The city attorney is not a judge. He is not an independent, unbiased arbitrator. We should not take his legal opinions at face value. He is just a lawyer and he
has paid to represent the city. He has dug in on this issue and he has no choice but to stick to his little spiel. He simply said Pier Village is private property and thus out of his control. But that completely misses the point. I
have never once denied that Pier Village is privately owned. He never addressed public forum doctrine. He never addressed state action. He never addressed municipal involvement, public easements, public maintenance, or the fifth amendment issues. It takes a lot
of hutbah to ignore every legal argument I've raised and just declare the issue settled. His job is to give this council accurate legal advice, not political cover. But what he did at the last meeting didn't look like legal analysis at all. It looked like advocacy. He may
even be in violation of his oath of office. No one is debating if the property is privately owned. Ownership is not the issue. Function is. And functionally, Pier Village is anything but private. Here are the facts. Public
works maintains portions of the property. Long Branch Police patrol it daily and provide security at taxpayer expense. City-owned parking meters operate throughout the property, generating revenue for the city. Parking enforcement is handled entirely by city
personnel. The city provides free marketing promoting Pier Village on its website and social media. The city hosts concerts, parades, festivals, and holiday events on the property. And the land itself was seized through eminent domain, a government power used for the
public benefit. Pier Village also provides public beach access under the public trust doctrine. And the lifeguards are hired, supervised, and paid by the city. So, let's be honest, the city provides the safety, the city provides maintenance, the city enforces
the rules, the city collects the parking revenue, the city runs the events, and the city staffs the beaches. If anyone still denies the public nature of Pier Village, let me just show you this. This is a flyer for the city of Long Branch's official Christmas tree
lighting. You could find it on the city website. This is a city sponsored event being hosted at Pier Village. Right on the bottom of the flyer, it says, "The event is proudly presented by Pier Village, the city of Long Branch, and the Long Branch Fire Department. It is a
joint operation between city government, and the owners of Pier Village. And speaking of those owners, Pier Village is owned by the Kushner family. Jared Kushner is a Jewish American born right here in New Jersey. And his father, Charles Kushner, is now the United States ambassador to France in Monaco.
There is no reason why these men should be prioritizing the state of Israel over the United States. When private ownership merges with public power, that space becomes a quasi public or limited public forum. It falls under the public function doctrine. It
does not matter that it is privately owned. There is case law to back this up. and the city attorney knows it. Marsh v. Alabama, Evans v. Newton, Burton v. Wilmington Parking Authority. These cases all establish a precedent that private property can still be
considered a public forum. Once a space functions as public, the Constitution applies. That includes the First Amendment, which prohibits viewpoint discrimination, government favoritism, and the selective elevation of one political message over others. So, I'm
asking this council to stop hiding behind the debunked private property shtick and start acknowledging reality and start putting America first. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Just leave one of these squatters for
you all. >> Thank you. >> Anyone else? Good evening, Rich Seagull. I'm from Tene, New Jersey. Uh, could I get a one minute warning? >> Yes. >> Thank you.
Uh, so yeah, I just uh drove down from T-neck to be here tonight. Uh, don't ask me about my trip. It was ridiculous. Uh but it's important for me to be here. Um
I am Jewish. Uh some people don't believe that I'm Jewish. They say, "How could you be Jewish and oppose Israel the way you do?" And um I was raised Zionist and I
changed my mind as an adult. So I've gone the distance with this issue. My loyalty is to God, to the tens of thousands of Palestinian children who are crying out from the
grave, to the 34 Navy men murdered by Israel on the USS Liberty. My loyalty is to right against wrong.
Um, regarding this flag display, it was interesting to me to sit through the meeting last time. I was the fourth speaker, so I got to hear just about everybody else afterwards. And um, the Zionist Jews who came up,
first of all, nobody said that they loved the display. Um, a couple of them did say that they were alarmed when it was taken down temporarily. uh and all of them cited the hatred and the room. They talked about anti-semitism.
Um first of all, let me say that anti-semitism is a really stupid word because I'm an Ashkanazi Jew. I'm not a Seite and most Jews are Ashkanazi and we're not Semites. It's the largest population. Uh my family uh is a Yiddishspeaking
family. Yiddish is not a Semitic language. So what we're talking about is hatred against Jews, which is mistakenly referred to as anti-semitism. So when I heard these Zionist Jews in the
room complain about the hatred in the room and the anti-semitism in the room, um what occurred to me was that there was no hatred against Jews in the room. There was no anti-semitism in the room. There were veterans
complaining that they had served this country only to see a display of flags from a foreign nation and a foreign nation that had attacked us deliberately. I'm referring to the USS Liberty. There were parents who complained that
they could not bring their children to Pier Village because their children were aware of a genocide. and it would be very confusing to see a flag that's honoring a genocide. So, what I heard was a lot of very
legitimate concern and I heard emotion and a lot of legitimate emotion. I believe that this flag display is is a provocation. I don't know if it's a deliberate provocation or an unconscious provocation. I can't read Jared
Kushner's mind, but I do know that Zionism and anti-semitism have been working together for the entire history of Zionism. The father of Zionism, Theodore Herzel, uh, famously
remarked that the anti-semmites are going to be Zionism's best ally. So when a display, a garish display of six Israeli flags is put up, it's going to result
in hatred against Jews. That just makes sense. Why are those flags there? They're making a point. >> One minute notification. >> Thank you. I mean, if I saw six Mexican flags, I would say, well, you know who moved uh u Cinco de Mayo to November?
Okay. There there's a point to Six Israeli flags, okay? And the point is that Jared Kushner is putting his political point of view in our faces. He is conforming to lots of stereotypes
about why people hate Jews. He's got a lot of money. He's acting arrogant and entitled. And he's displaying his divided loyalties prominently. And people are reacting with an understandable resentment.
Take the goddamn flags down. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Anyone else? Good evening, madame clerk. Requesting one minute notification. Vincent Leapour 33 Ocean Tourist.
Council President vote. I'm requesting the introduction of ordinance 1825 be removed this evening and be reentered at the next council meeting. Everything you read is not on the board outside this council room, nor is it online as of
5:30 this afternoon. You read a completely different header version of this ordinance. Nowhere was it mentioned anything about aerial ladders and whatever else you said. So, the public is unprepared tonight, as is the council for the
introduction of this ordinance. the dirty, filthy, corrupt racketeering government of a long branch. This introduced ordinance for the acquisition of a fire truck which will be reintroduced.
There's nothing surprising here. Team America's on it. The real plan with West Long Branch was for Long Branch to use the West Long Branch fire truck with Long Branch alternative staffing, but to aggressively use that West Long Branch
ladder truck and then send it back to West Long Branch practically worthless. So, Long Branch would eventually buy that originally intended new Long Branch fire truck, but have West Long Branch stuck with the Long Branch alternative staffing. A
lose-lose for West Long Branch residents. Fortunately for Mammoth Beach residents, their ladder truck will not be used by Long Branch for an extensive amount of time. Long Branch will now source auto box
which is actual fire, smell of smoke, etc. for assistance from Assbury Park, Deal, Neptune, and Sebrite. It should be noted Long Branch hasn't purchased any major piece of fire equipment in the past 10 years.
I want the following questions answered. What is the average age of the other major fire equipments in this city? Why is Long Branch appropriating an ordinance 1825 to be reintroduced at two council
meetings from now for a purchase price of $2 million when the West Long Branch firetruck was purchased for 1,200,000? What is the estimated date of time of purchase of this fire truck? And when is the delivery date expected?
Why isn't this type of fire truck described in the ordinance that I showed you tonight? It wasn't. We didn't know if it was a aerial ladder or a tower bucket, the ladder of which the city needs. The
question being, why have we not chosen the tower bucket? Is the fire truck going to be bidded or sourced from one supplier? Reminding council team America has a criminal investigation
involving a fire truck supplier with a local fire department personnel. What is the expected amount of money to be appropriated in excess of the $2 million firetruck purchase price to outrig this new fire truck? And is that
cost of outrigging that outrigging going to be on another bond ordinance? When is the expected date of termination of Long Branch's use of the Mammoth Beach fire truck if it hasn't already occurred?
What is the estimated cost of the repairing currently of the Long Branch fire truck? And when is that truck expected to be back in full-time service? One minute notification. >> Thank you, Madame Clerk.
I want to remind everybody, this past week, we received our assessments again from the city. 10 15% increase. We looked at 30 40% increase in
assessments in the past three years. That's unsustainable. And those assessments, despite the colloqually workless and flawed of attorney reown, those increased assessments will eventually
hit with increased taxes on the people. This government has been a catastrophic failure. Catastrophic. And for attorney Ron to state that it's out of the council's control, what's taking place is wrong because you people had a hand
in it being part of the Mammoth County demonstration program. Mr. Palone put us in it. Junk government. >> Thank you, Mr. Reo and Mr. Lor. Good evening, Nick Deagle Yelmo, 580
Patton Avenue. Um, I've been here before and I've chronically discussed my uh total disappointment um with the tax situation in this community.
I've been given the runaround galore. I know I've asked for information and I first want to commend the mayor and the council uh for having released a uh a newsletter this summer which did educate
us in a in a simplified way. I'm I'm a retired physician. I'm not a finance person. I could I could spit out medicine left and right, but I can't spit out finance uh information and and nor should I. But the average individual
should be able to understand. So in going back to this to this little uh me uh message that was sent out, it showed that thankfully the the city of Long Branch maintained a
stable amount in its budget, which is great. However, shockingly, and I I I'm surprised that there isn't a a a bigger outrage, uh the board of education
snuck in an almost $7 million increase in one year. I may know the reasons why that's not the point, but who winds up eating that $7 million? It's us. As was just relayed, not only are the taxes
going up and the assessments are going up and despite the pontification from the city attorney that if the assessments go up, the taxes will go down. That's garbage. This is my third year. My first year here, my taxes were
$8500. The second year, they went up to $10,000 without any changes completed. This year they're currently over 11,000. And I don't even want to venture a guess as to what with the new assessment that
just came out last week, what my taxes will be. I ask all of you, council, mayor, the buzzword these days is affordability. How can you wind up telling me Long Branch is affordable? I
don't think so. Long Branch is only affordable to two wakes of people. Number one, the pe the out oftowners that are purchasing the properties with their damn payment in lie of taxes.
We know that that was a mistake made in the past and everybody's passing the buck on that, but so be it. But Lower Broadway project has snuck in a significant uh payment in lie of taxes and they're putting up a Whole Foods
store in that neighborhood. Go figure. Is that going to be taxed? I don't know. My point being, how can you with a conscious say Long Branch is affordable when taxes
have gone up? As I've illustrated for myself, if you go on any of the social medias, you speak to people, they're all outraged about the taxes. What benefits are we wind up getting? A DPW that's
maintaining the property where foreign flags are, I don't think so. I didn't pay for that. So, I want I want all of you to to help me out. Can there be some kind of a liaison created to be able to discuss with the
board of education where their justification comes about in increasing their budget by $7 million? If you look, the board of education in in if you rank all the schools is at the
bottom of the leaderboard, but yet they have the audacity as an autonomous organization to request more money. If they were a franchise, if they were the New York Giants, they'd be losing that coach as has been demonstrated. That
doesn't work for here. I'm requesting form some kind of a liaison so that way there's discussion with the board of education because I can't reach them. When asked Mayor Palone, can I get emails? Oh no, they're they don't even
publish those. Well, how in God's name am I supposed to complain about that? They're autonomous. Perhaps they're too busy wanting to erect names on on different uh buildings. I don't know. But it is appalling, unacceptable.
And as our elected representatives, >> give us some answers. Create a a a board. Thank you. >> Thank you. Thank you. >> Anyone else? >> This is crazy, man. I want to go, but I want to go. Anyway,
good evening, council John. Some of you know me. I'm God. You clean the creek since 1989. I'm here try to talk about three things and I didn't write nothing up. I'm just going to blow it out. I live at 401 West Columbus Place in Lawn Branch, New Jersey. Um
I on 401 West Columbus Place they say one side is uh commercial, one side is residential, which is my side, but I got 90 foot trucks coming down there sometimes reverse all the way from 7th Avenue down to the Ark building. And our
road was paved about 15 years ago maybe. Good nice road. But at the end of the last 150 ft that used to be homes is now the Ark building. the pavement is breaking up in the road where it's going to cost the city more and more as it gets worse and the pavement on the ark
side where uh from the weight of the trucks coming down there. I mean, these are sleeper trucks. They're long and they block up the whole road. If there's a fire down by the church or towards the back of the school, Anastasia school, correct? Um there's going to be a problem. And if it's not a commercial
side on my side, it has to be then if for the truck to go down that road, it's it's going down on a north side which is residential but it's a commercial vehicle. So, getting past that, um, that needs to be addressed. And there's a
graffiti problem there where I didn't mind him doing the graffiti on the back of the building where it's on the side, but now somebody got up on the dumpster and started he painted something that says um, the lion will never die and it glows in the dark and there's a couple Martian there's a Martian up there. When
I look out my bedroom window, I'm looking out a Martian and it's all graffiti on this this truck and it's not doing nothing for my home and you know I'm wonder if the little Martian is going to come at me when he's looking in the window at me. But anyway, we'll get past that if that can be addressed over
there. And I went and talked to the woman, but it's like one ear and out the other. The other address is my backyard is the back of the school and the front of my house is the Ark building. I own two properties side by side 150. So it's
100 100 ft by 210 deep. I take up a quarter of the school and not the uh if the back is the gym, but a quarter of that school is my backyard. I can go back there and salute the flag if they still have the flag. I don't know. So my
thing is um if you our proposal is if the like he says the board of education spending money or the or the city of Long Branch is I'm willing to because I'm my my propertyy's on R5 zone which is town
houses or multiple family homes. I would like to maybe sell my two lots. And what I'm proposing is because the north the school doesn't have an exit out the south, John. It's two on the north side
and 7th Avenue. So there's for the whole length of Columbus Place to my house to the end to the creek. There's no back entrance in there or fire or safety apparatus that can get in there or some kind of catastrophe happening. There's
no no way to get in there. buy my property, my two lots where you can deal with the ark building and make a little make that whole area when I'm dead up towards suburban plaza better and the drainage system in there for the
creek and uh for busing or getting the kids out of there quicker. Where the playground is in the back of that is my yard. So, tear down my two houses, connect that pavement to the Ark building, and you have an exit to come
in there with buses, fire trucks, a playground, and do something for the back of that school for the exit in case you have to go out the south way because there's no exit at all for the whole length of that school. And I got two lots there I like to sell. So, if the if
the uh city's not interested or the board of ed, then I'm going to move on and do something later on. But I'm proposing for the good of the school system and for safety. I'm giving it a shot if you want to buy my properties, two
properties together, and you can own them. And also with the creek, if I still got time, Johnny, that creek when we go out Broadway here, uh, it makes a hard left for about 50 ft
about 300 yards in 400. If you if you just got a somebody in there with a bobcat, me or whoever made that creek so it goes straight when it gets flooded out here and the and the things gets built up with debris
and stuff. When it makes that left to go back out, it's all gets built up in there. So doesn't move well. >> And the last thing is maybe fix the end of the traffic light, the street light. >> Chelsea, I mean, excuse me. 41 needs to
get fixed. >> Thank you. >> Thank you very much. >> Thank you. >> Okay. >> I'll see if I get a call. >> Okay. >> Have to calm down. Everybody >> is there anyone else who would like to make a comment?
>> Okay. Let me There are two things to do. Just one more comment to read about the public comment and then open it up. Uh if there are any responses from the deis. >> Did we close the public portion? >> No. Um anyone from the public who wants to further discuss any other comments or
concerns, please um call the city clerk's office at 732571-56866 to schedule a time at the public council hours that are held the first Wednesday of every month. And now if there is anyone from the deis that would like to respond.
>> If if I can, council president. Um, Dr. Nick, if if I can, I just want to u correct something that you said. So, the lower Broadway project when the Plone administration took place was 599 units and a 30-year tax abatement. It is now
299 units and there's no tax abatement. So, there's a food store being built there and there are those units being built, but they don't have a tax abatement. We actually through litigation and otherwise negotiated the tax abatement out, so they're paying full taxes. I just wanted you to know you said that there was a pilot there,
but there's not not a pilot there. So, with regards to Pure Village, um, non- lawyers tend to throw words out, things like public form and easement and other legal jargon that don't really mean anything in the context of what we're talking about. So, let's deal with
just the facts. And I think that my associate at the last meeting, what he said was fundamentally true, which is that the property on which the flags are located is private property. There are other parts in the Pure Village area that are not private property. For instance, there are public roads that
have parking meters on them. Those are public roads. There's a boardwalk, which is a public boardwalk. There's a beach, which is a public beach, and it has public lifeguards on it. They're public employees who protect it. That doesn't change the fact that the area where the
flags are is actually private property. When people argue about, oh, it's a public forum. Well, if it was a public forum, what a public forum means is that there's more First Amendment protection, not less First Amendment protection. So, here is the kind of simple analogy.
Since we don't own the property, we and we don't own the flag poles, we can't order somebody to take the flag pole down no more than we could order you to take the flag down in front of your house. So, how how do how does a governing body um act? How what how do how do they perform their duties? If we
passed an ordinance tomorrow that said you can't fly an Israeli flag on your private property, how long do you think it would take before we would get sued and that ordinance would be overturned? Pretty quick. And the reason is is because we can't regulate content speech on somebody's private property. We can't
regulate it on public property either. We have to be contentneutral. So the long and the short of it is you can not like the Israeli flag. um the Portuguese club which is you know a a place in town probably has the Portuguese flag above
it and we sometimes have flags from other countries and right here on on our public property but the the fact of the matter is is that we can't regulate how people express their first amendment rights. Remember people have first amendment rights on their private
property to express their rights. And the thing about the first amendment is that sometimes people get to express views that not everybody agrees with. Um that's the point of the first amendment after all is to protect it. It protects for instance folks who come here and by
the way this is a limited public forum in case people want to understand what the constitution really means. And what that means is that we give an opportunity for the public to speak but we can regulate the time and in the meeting when you speak and how long you can speak. But you know what we can't do
is we can't tell you not to say something that's your opinion. So if you came up and you had a Palestinian flag lapel pin there, we couldn't say to you, well, you can't you can't have that. Or if you spoke in favor of Israel or
against Israel, we can't say to you, you can't say that. And I think probably two or three meetings ago, I made that pretty clear. So that's where we are. It's I know that I know I'm not a judge, right? And at the same point in time, I'm the city's legal counsel and my
responsibility is to give them advice that doesn't that allows them to you heard Mr. Rases tonight um take an oath, right? The oath is to protect and defend the Constitution. So, part of what I do is that I try to lay
out the the guard rails. And like I said, it's real easy to go on Wikipedia and look up and come up with the names of cases, some of some of which are familiar cases to me, and they talk about where a parking garage could be a public forum. But you know what that means? That means that there's more
constitutional protection, not less constitutional protection. And what we're talking about here is not the first amendment protection. We're talking about limiting First Amendment protection. Because what we would like to do is we would like to impose
somebody's personal views on somebody else's private property and tell them that they can't have an expression. Whether you like it the the expression or not, it is their expression and it is, you know, it's the reason why we live in this country and why people live
and die to protect the constitution. That's that's what we do. So I I think that that's mayor. I don't think there are any other >> questions for me to to answer. >> Oh, and the the other thing is that um I'm sorry, council. I did say that. I'm >> Yes.
>> Okay. Thank you, Mr. Reone. Uh any any other comments? >> Okay. Thank you. Uh I need a motion to close the public participation portion of the meeting. >> So move. Second. >> All in favor? I >> opposed. None. I'll now ask madame clerk
if there were any changes to the list of resolutions. >> No changes have been made. >> We can take the listed resolutions as the consent agenda. I need a motion. >> So move second. >> Roll call, please. >> Mr. Rases, >> yes. >> Mr. Vieiraa, >> yes.
>> Mrs. Whittis is absent. Mr. Dangler is absent. Dr. Vote. >> Yes. >> Motion passed. >> Thank you. Applications. There are none. And now for the miscellaneous business for the good of the order. And we are going to start with our new councilman, Councilman Rasus.
>> Thank you, Council President. Um, I'd like to thank uh the residents of Long Branch for having confidence in me in the recent election. I look forward to continuing to work for you. Um, I want to thank everyone for coming out this evening and want to wish everyone a happy Thanksgiving and stay safe.
>> Thank you, Mr. Asus and Councilman Vieiraa. >> Thank you. Thanks for coming out tonight. I want to thank that gentleman for cleaning our creeks. He's always cleaning the the creeks over there. Do a good job. Thank you. And I want to wish uh our Councilwoman Whittis a speedy
recovery. And I know a lot of people don't agree with our sayings up here that we saying that we hide under our lawyers and stuff. We pay a lot of money to our professionals. We don't know all the rules and the regulations. So, we got to depend on our
professionals for that. And with that, I want to wish everybody a happy Thanksgiving and thanks for coming out tonight. >> Thank you, Councilman Vieira and Mayor Plone. >> Thank you, Council President. First off, I just want to congratulate Councilman Rasus. It's been great
working with you the last year. Um, I want to also wish everyone a happy Thanksgiving. Uh, and thank you uh to all our city departments, the library, and some of our local nonprofits, many of our local nonprofits for holding food drives for those in need over the
last couple of weeks. I hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday. Um, couple of upcoming events. First off, I wanted to mention that the city is now using Everbridge for community announcement and as the official notification system
for the city. So, please go to our website when you have a moment, longbranch.org to sign up. It only takes a couple of minutes. We have a tree lighting on December 6th at city hall at 5:00 p.m. Join us for music, performances, treats, and a visit from
Santa. The city's manura lighting is on December 17th at the senior center at 5:00 p.m. Join us there for light refreshments, crafts, music, and more. And a full list of um all of our holiday events, and there are many, can be found on our website at longbranch.org and our
social media pages. Again, I like to wish everybody a happy Thanksgiving coming out for the and for coming out this evening. >> Thank you, Mayor Palone. And uh I also want to congratulate Councilman Ras. It has been a pleasure working with with you so far, and I'm sure that working
with you into the future is going to be uh excellent. So, you are a strong addition to the council. We we're pleased to have you join us. >> Uh, and with that, I just want to wish everyone a happy Thanksgiving. Thank you for coming out tonight. Safe travels
home and hopefully we will see you in two weeks. Thank you. >> And now I need a motion to adjourn. >> So moved. >> Second. >> All in favor? >> I. >> Thank you. Good night.
So I mean the reason the reason I asked