good evening and welcome to the October 88th 2024 meeting of the pay County Board of County Commissioners we're going to begin with a roll call followed by the announcement of the open public meetings law L County Commissioners Cruz
Duffy Gallow here James leor here deputy director Lazar here director Bartlett here we heard you I'm here actually start without me must be my I lack credibility on that
point tonight ladies and gentlemen the noce requirement of the open public meetings law has been satisfied with respect to this meeting specifying the time date and location including the and notice adopted a reorganization meeting filed with the county clerk post administration building and mail to two
news is in accordance with the provisions of the law very good please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance please join me I pledge Al to the flag of the United States of America to the
Reps one nation under God invisible with liy and justice for all pleas for main standing brother Ryan would you introduce Our Guest uh clergy member this evening I just met Pastor
bisaro right before the meeting and he's down on River Street and I used to be on 18th Street and he's been stealing all of my parishioners for years so I'm glad I met up with you all right so without
any further Ado we welcome the pastor of Riverside Church Father John uh pastor Jonathan baso it's all yours thank you let's
pray Heavenly Father We Gather before you today with hearts full of gratitude as we celebrate the rich Heritage and contribution of the Hispanic Community we thank you for the beauty of diversity
and the unique cultures that make up this County and Nation Lord we lift up to you the two organization we honor today young people of the future of New Jersey and
jooi we ask for your contined blessing upon their work as they Inspire Empower and uplift the Next Generation and create spaces of inclusion creativity and progress in our community
we also pray for Dr Sandra diodon the superintendent of pay schools may you grant her wisdom strength and Grace as she leads with vision and compassion impacting the life of countless students
and families bless all those gather here today and remind us always always that we are one people under your care as we celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month may we be ever mindful of the contribution of
all of those who have come before us and seek to honor them by working for justice equality and unity we take this opportunity to ask you for the State of Florida especially for the central
cities so that your powerful hand may protect them from the hurcan Milton and any damage they may suffer finally we ask that you bless B County for Bard County Commissioner who is a sponsoring
this event in your holy name we pray amen thank you thank you Pastor are you able to stay for the program we have a certificate okay terrific we'll present that to you in a little bit then please remain standing sorry um for a moment of
silence to remember all the men and women who have died while serving in the United States armed forces and all those who died from covid-19 especially the 2,312 residents of P County thank you all right I will take a motion for
approval of the minutes of September 24th make that motion second County Commissioners Duffy yes Gallow yes leor deputy director lazara here director Bartlett yes I'll have a motion
for approval of the proclamations second uh it was G um la la County Commissioners Duffy yes Gallow yes leor yes deputy director lazara yes director Bartlett yes Matthew the
administrator's report yes thank you director um as you said we are here to celebrate Hispanic uh Heritage Month uh commissioner Cruz uh is representing SE County at uh Governor Murphy's uh Hispanic Heritage Month celebration in drum drumthwacket so he sends his
regrets I think we had have a a welcome video from him to start the program good evening ladies and gentlemen welcome to count I'm state county commissioner unfortunately I cannot be
with you here this evening but tonight's program is surely to be we have H all that have been breaking barriers and all has been organization that has been
speaking up for those who of themselves and the young people of the future of have been creating opportun for our Latinos to continue on in education in their future career and Sandra superintendent of has been
ensuring that our children in the city of the best education possible so without further Ado ladies and gentlemen we will begin our program we have great food afterwards and we have great honor that you guys are all about I want to
thank you guys for joining us and at this time I the program back wow well done uh we're absolutely s perfect segue uh I want to invite my deputy director Sandy lazera to join me down at the podium and we'll get started with our presentation
of proclamation young people hi everyone so our first Proclamation and you're going to see a uh all three of these proclamations have to
do a lot with kids and that's such a great thing right because isn't it our responsibility as adults to take care of our kids um the first Proclamation is going to go to the young people of the future of New
Jersey [Applause] Martha a pattern that's the word I was looking for a pattern come on over here
so on behalf of the county of Pake the state of New Jersey and the United States of America uh we are all celebrating National his anic heritage month from September 15th through October 15 2024
and in recognition of the outstanding achievements and contributions made by many exceptional members of the Hispanic community over the years the board of County commissioners of the county of Pake deems it fitting and appropriate at
this time to honor and recognize young people of the future of New Jersey nonprofit organization whereas young people of the future of New Jersey was founded by Mrs Martha ansy on May 18th
2016 as a nonprofit organization contributing to the education training orientation and recognition of their Community leaders and young people who are the present and the future of this
country whereas young people of the future of New Jersey hosts an event event every year on the first Friday in June that gives recognition to 20 to 24 Latino youth of Latino parents per
year who graduate from different universities and colleges this year would be the ninth year these recognitions are being given whereas young people of the future of New Jersey support Latino students of
qualifying Latino parents by offering a $11,000 scholarship to three high school students which are awarded every year on the third week in November and this year 2024 they have increased the
scholarship award to four high school students so therefore let it be proclaimed that the board of County commissioners of the county of Pake publicly honors and recognize is young people of the future of New Jersey
nonprofit organization for their many years of work and service in bringing Community Resources culture and information to the pay County Hispanic and Latin communities congratulations
thank you [Applause] good afternoon dear members of the P County Bo Commissioners I feel deeply honored to receive the award as president and founder of this magnific Center the a
magnificent organization J people of the future nonprofit corporation in celebration of Hispanic mon 2024 this recognition not only highlight my commitment but also underscore the
collaboration effort our community services to other is a great reward but the recognition is truly aing I will continue to Advocate work to achieve our share goals for Better
Community this year your recognition is great honor for our organization thank you thank you very much the this our Serv a remind me that every small effort can create
significant impact encourage me to persist in such efforts I deeply appreciate this recognization from you and the community at the same time I feel very
proud of my roots and my culture but the most important thing is that I am passing onto my grandchildren in the new generation and I want to add I am I was born in kahara
Peru thanks to this country that welcome us where we are now celebrating another year for our culture Jer and I am so happy very very proud and I want to say again thank you
thank you very much at the members of the board of commission thank [Applause] you thank you very much thank you we'll take a picture together and then we will uh okay can you come here yeah bring the
team up our director SEL okay congratulations congratulations good job all right before we move on to our next Don I just want to acknowledge our whole team here that made today possible of course you heard from our colleague
Orlando Cruz but Jasmine and vivianette and everybody Lou who makes these celebrations uh come off so well throughout the year uh we're fortunate to have an extraordinary team and we're fortunate to be in a county with so many Extraordinary People to recognize uh pay
County according to census 20 is now at a point where more than four in 10 of our neighbors are Hispanic so of the 525,000 people that make up the population of this County that means that more than
200,000 Trace their Heritage back to as all of you know who have driven down the streets of Patterson and P to so many places to Puerto Rico and Peru to Colombia and and the Dominican Republic and so many other places that as with
dignitaries if I start mentioning them I'm going to get in trouble with somebody for leaving one out but you know it's it's a tremendous thing for for me especially uh and I think for all of my colleagues to be in a place where
you can encounter so many cultures so many backgrounds and so much pride in each of those backgrounds we've been to easily a dozen flag raisings over these last couple of weeks and months which somehow is Independence season for
uh for countries all over Latin America and uh being here as we come close to the end almost a week till the end of Hispanic Heritage Month seems a nice culmination of all of that and the pride that it represents the opportunity that we have to work with elected officials
of those backgrounds like leis valz here from the city of Patterson and so many others so I want to ask Gina deos and the entire team from Yosi or whoever Gina you're the one in charge as we know so whoever should join us up here please
have them join us up here this is a very special award because later this month I know Joy I see is having a Galla to celebrate 10 years of the extraordinary work that you all are about to hear about
I was thinking about Joo and their work uh half an hour ago when and many of you were here for it when we were having our housing Comm Mission meeting and we heard from J Janice dejan about all the new and changed rules for folks who need
to apply for housing assistance here in Pay County rules that came down from the federal government in the course of their funding uh those housing opportunities that's daunting under any circumstances imagine having to deal
with those when English isn't even your first language and you get the beginning of the sense of the challenge that parents deal with and that you Gina recognized and are fighting uh and working to help them through the work of Usos so I'm pleased to read this into
the record whereas the county of P the state of New Jersey and the United States of America are celebrating National Hispanic Heritage Month for September 15 2024 through October 15 2024 and in recognition of the outstanding achievements and
contributions made by many exceptional members of the Hispanic community over the years the board of County commissioners of the county of Pacific deems it fitting and appropriate at this time to honor and recognize yoso AI nonprofit organization yoso meaning I am
like this and whereas yoi was founded by Gina De Laos in 2015 as a nonprofit organization dedicated to advocating for and empowering special needs families from Minority communities particularly those dealing with autism and other developmental disabilities and whereas
yoso AI is proud to be the first community-based agency in the state specifically to serve Spanish-speaking families offering support in their primary language and whereas yoso has a compassionate approach that includes family centered planning connecting to
resources culturally relevant support educational workshops advocacy Partnerships for inclusivity Community engagement and an upcoming Resource Center of bricks and mortar spot opening this fall in the city of Patterson that will provide more multilingual programs
programs training on special education support groups recreational activities and additional care for children adults and parents dealing with autism and other disabilities and whereas yoso remains committed to the mission of Empowering
Families advocating for a more inclusive society and dedicated to expanding their reach enhancing their programs and ensuring that every family has the tools they need to thrive now therefore be a proclaimed by the board of County commissioners of the county of pic that
we publicly honor and recognize yasi for their many years of work for their decade of work and ex service in bringing Community Resources culture and information to the pay County Hispanic and Latin communities Gina thank you very
much thank you very much um Dona please um I would like to call Aries please from pako Pak our sister uh organization please come with us please but tonight um my son Ethan has
um the micro so he's going to be with you at this at this moment okay want to say it's okay just read it okay okay here we go all right good
evening everyone my name is Ethan Reyes and I am deeply honored to be here today some of you may know that four years after me and my mom moved to NJ at the age of a at the age of eight I was diagnosed with autism in
ADHD we came from the Dominican Republic where the language culture and support systems for individuals like me were are vastly different it was a challenge for my mom to find the help we needed especially in Spanish
she even went back to college to to learn the language that she could better support me but it took time I remember how hard those times were for both of us as many of you know Latinos and Hispanics make up 40% of the population of Bic
County with one and three being immigrants just like us the Highlight this highlights the urgent need for accessible resources and supportable for families like mine over the past 10 years joose has become a Pioneer in
advocating for Hispanic families dealing with autism and other developmental disabilities not just in P County but across New Jersey therefore on behalf of all the members of J I am here using my voice to express my heartfelt gratitude for the County ofic Commissioners Office for its
recognition it means so much that to us inv validates the hard work and dedication in our entire community thank you for all the mothers and families that who have shown incredible endurance and love you are the backbone of this movement every person is unique but we
all fry when we feel loved respected and included I may face challenges of socialization but I stand here today because of the unwavering support from all of you we have a big responsibility ahead ahead of us with one and every 34 children on the Spectrum it's vital that
we continue to work together your efforts will make a lasting impact in J which means I am like this we emphasize that we are family it's an honor to witness how we are creating a more inclusive environment one day at a time thank you once again for this
recognition and congratulations to the other honores thank [Applause] you thank you very much
all right great great job great job don't everybody go anywhere let's get a picture everybody say where you are I have my colleagues come down and join us here at the center we did great man very well done
give me here let's step up okay all right hey young man you know what why don't you step up front since you're a little little okay well I'm tall so I
good job good job good job everyone congratulations yes all right thank you very much absolutely all right that was terrific Sandra join us up
[Applause] front so I I get to give out another Proclamation and I'm really happy this power of new where's that coming
from sitting up there the county commissioner yes director director good for him how cute um Dr deal D is the superintendent of in
the city of Pake a really large school district and she has made significant strides in the years that she's been there and you know we all know that when we have good leadership at the top it kind of flows down throughout the
district and you certainly have done that I mean you you have a great team but it really starts up on the top and as a former teacher I I know that being the superintendent comes with a lot of
responsibility and it's not always an easy job I know that so I am so happy to be able to present and read this Proclamation tonight and if you'll bear with me just for a couple minutes it
really has a lot of great information whereas the county of Pake the state of New Jersey and the United States of America are celebrating National Hispanic Heritage Month from September 15th 2024 until October October 15
2024 and in recognition of the outstanding achievements and contributions made by many exceptional members of the Hispanic community over the years the board of County commissioners of the county of Pake deems it fitting and appropriate at this
time to honor and recognize Dr Sandra M deod Den whereas Dr D Den graduated from Pake High School in 198 9 holds a bachelor of the Arts degree in communication and
journalism from William patteron University and pursued further education earning two master's degrees in multi Multicultural studies and Leadership from the New Jersey City
University whereas Dr Dale Den has held impactful roles including transitional bilingual social studies teacher literacy coach High School history teacher supervisor
principal of Patterson public school number five assistant chief academic officer of Patterson public schools and in 2016 she became a assistant superintendent overseeing 20 schools and
leading initiatives to enhance teaching and learning while combating chronic absentee is M and we know that's a big challenge whereas Dr Gio Den fulfilled a lifelong ambition by being appointed
superintendent of schools in her hometown of Pake New Jersey becoming the first woman and Latina to hold this position her dedication to bilingual education earned her recognition as superintendent of the year for the Seal
of biliteracy in 2022 by the New Jersey teachers of English speakers of other languages and whereas Dr Dio Den earned her doctorate from forom University in 20123
Focus go Ram there you go focusing on educational leadership and Improvement science she currently serves as an Adjunct professor at forom University in the school of education and serves as a board of trustee member of the Pake
County Community College since 2021 okay my spot as the governor's appointee whereas Dr deal D under her leadership and her team the Pake High School graduation
rate has increased from 58.2% in 2021 to 72% in 2024 that's amazing that's really amazing wow whereas Dr deal D resides in
uitt New Jersey married to her husband of 28 years Santos and has two son Sons St Jacobs and Noah so therefore let it be proclaimed that the C Board of County commissioners
of the county of Pake publicly honors and recognizes Dr Sandra M do for her many years of work and service and bringing Community Resources culture and information to the pay County Hispanic
and Latin [Music] [Applause] communities now I have to take off my glasses to read good evening distinguished guests colleagues friends
and Pake Board of Commissioners to all that I just have to say praise the Lord right I'm highly blessed and favored um when Orlando called me I was supposed to be at the governor's um event as well but I was like Governor Murphy's gonna have
to he's gonna have to take my I'm sorry I'm coming to to to this um award so I just want to thank you so much I was so excited um so I stand before you today with a heart full of gratitude and pride to be recognized by the county during
Hispanic Heritage Month it is not just a personal honor but but a testament to the collective achievements of our of our vibrant Hispanic Pake County Community first and foremost I want to express my deepest thanks to the County Commissioners for this recognition your acknowledgement reinforces the
importance of diversity and inclusion in our educational system and in our community at large as superintendent I've had the privilege of witnessing firsthand the incredible contributions of Hispanic students Educators families to our schools and beyond our Rich
cultural heritage our resilience and our commitment to Excellence continues to shape and strengthen the fabric of our society and P County this recognition is not mine alone it belongs to every student parent teacher administrator my cabinet my board members my board
president my family who really doesn't see me uh my church family my prayer warriors my friends my SAR sisters and those who Inspire and support my work and this is for the haters too who who
make me and my team work harder nothing like challenging a Latina woman with a great team some hoop earrings red lipstic and an unshakable faith in her God they will make it happen and so let's be
clear Hispanic Heritage Month is a time to celebrate the past but is also a call to action for our future as we honor our heritage let us also renew our commitment to creating educational opportunities for all students regardless of their backgrounds because
we know that our students deserve it to all within the sound of my voice I urge us to continue to be role models and mentors to our students in society to our students remember that your heritage is a source of strength and inspiration embrace it share it and let it fuel your
aspirations in closing and I promise you this was supposed to be a two and a half minute speech I put it through my AI but it looks like it wasn't true in closing I want to thank my family my colleagues my friends my my Village who's here please stand up you know who you are thank you for not considering it robbery
to be here my board president my right hand man thank you thank you thank you uh this recognition motivates me to work even harder to ensure that our schools are places where every student can Thrive and where diversity is celebrated every day not just for one month a year
thank you gracias and let's continue to make a difference together God bless you all to the Baseball fans out there let's go Mets God bless you and forward Palante thank you so much for this I'm so [Applause]
honored president of the Board of Education Jud SAS all right congratulations good for you congratulations good to see you oh well good to see you thank you Pastor basora would you join us up
here again I just wanted to take a moment before we conclude today's ceremony and thank you for coming out uh one of the things that I like about what we're able to do with these Special ceremonies it recognize the faith leaders in the communities that we
represent and uh it's my privilege you're having delivered our um invocation today to present with you present you with this certificate of thanks to you and elasia Riv Riverside thank you very much pleas absolutely thank
you now if I know or if I know Orlando there's lots of food downstairs so don't leave without stopping down there enjoying the buffet celebrating with one another this wonderful F uh evening and the wonderful Heritage that so many
folks in this room share and thank you all for being part of this year's [Applause] program all right Matt what's next oh director I'd be remissed if we didn't
recognize Tony Perez the uh executive director of the Patterson parking authority without having looked at my program I just assumed he was one of our honores for all absolutely ton contribution thanks for being with here Tony that that's all I have Tony got the parking garage named after him just last
month so we'll uh very good to have you here Tony and thanks to everybody who came out and take to uh take part in uh in this year's program all done with the administrators report that's it thank you all right fantastic that brings us to county commissioner reports I'm going
to foro mine but Sandy yeah um I just want to remind everybody that October 19th um pay County pause in the park will be held at gole Brook Park in horor and we invite you to join us that
day it's a really fun event thank you thank you uh Orlando's not here Terry no report tonight Nick that all right um we do have a bunch of things on our consent agenda I
just want to make mention of one before we move on um and that is uh number six uh this board is adopting this evening a resolution in support of the bill in Washington HR 9528 that would re redesignate certain
facilities at the Patterson Great Falls National Historical Park in honor of Congressman Bill Pascal Jr and we are very glad that his colleague his longtime colleague congressman Frank palone Jr has introduced that uh and this board having worked with
Congressman pasal for the last quarter Century uh and continuing to mourn his passing back in August will very proudly support that resolution on tonight's consent agenda so seeing no Communications that brings us to the oral portion of the
meeting can I have a motion to open it County Commissioners Duffy yes Gallow yes lour deput Lazar yes director Bartlett yes so this is the part of the meeting where you all get to have your say uh this is the public portion of the meeting uh please note that you're
confined to three minutes there are green yellow and red lights on the podium uh please begin with your name and address and take note that anything you say will become part of the public record of tonight's meeting so seeing no one at the podium I
move to close the public portion second oh okay do we need to give us just one sec so you can uh we can point you in the right direction good evening good evening um happy Heritage Munch to every uh to
everybody here um thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to speak my name is sigon Ezekiel orani um I am represent pres in my company priority groups Home Service priority group Services um I'm actually speaking here today because of I was awarded a
contract my company was awarded a contract um and that contract is RFQ um 2421 and I'm here to just speak about my challenges with being able to actually
provide services for um this particular contract so this contract is in reference to pregnancy Healthcare Center I am a licensed staffing agency um I've been doing it for multiple years and basically the situation was and is that I have this contract is a
one-year contract um and I have not received any opportunity to provide services I've reached out to prant healthcare center and they've told me that um respectfully because of my rates from what they're saying is too high um that they can't utilize my service I was
I'm not sure how many other agencies are um mwe but this is also you know just a coincidence talking about Heritage MCH um and basically there's quite frankly for my agency there's no inclusion in terms of being a um mwbe before this contract was given
to me among two to four other staffing agencies I was asked to provide my mwbe certification and also to provide the bill rates for my services um I going to be very Frank I understand that the service that I'm providing um there are other
agencies that are bigger than mine um so their rates might be cheaper and might be lower but quite frankly um I wasn't going to come because of again I this is not my first contract I've had I've had other contracts in New York as well as in Jersey and you know I wanted to make
sure I could build a good relationship and this is this contract was only for one year but something that made me want to come here today is because I received a notice just um just recently in the last week that the funding was increased by $2 million um originally the funding
was 3.5 million and it's now going up to 5.5 million and I can tell you that not zero was being I was not offered an any opportunity whatsoever I did a couple things to make sure I can not just come here without you know taking some due
diligence I reached out to the council um I actually had a meeting with the council um the legal council um I believe his name is John uh basically was asking for some resolution solution because on the contract that was signed by this board um and the the commission
I was able to actually have that opportunity but quite frankly I was basically pushed away I I really wasn't able to there there was no solution they just told me the same thing that prance Healthcare centers told me and I understand that this is important to make sure that you know we want to
budget so it's very important but if this contract was offered to me I would have loved to see if I could have had an opportunity to work with prance Healthcare Center and uh just love to see this can be looked into thank you so much for your time and if there's any questions I can I've leave my information as well as my contact if
this is something I can share with you guys that would be great thank you so much all right okay perfect so this is just my information I can my actual your name
move the close public portion County Commissioner Duffy yes Gallow yes leor yes deput director Lazar yes director Bartlett yes Ezekiel you said your name was I'll talk to our executive director and when we get your contact information we'll be
in touch and we can figure out what's going on so thank you thank you Matt um that brings us to the consent agenda letter letter L for those of you following along at home uh and we've got uh matters L1 through
l49 Council I understand there are no late starters no need for executive session um are there any of these items that any of my colleagues would like removed and voted separately okay seeing none I will take a motion to adopt the consent agenda L1
through l49 I'll move it second County Commissioners Duffy yes Gallow yes deputy director Lazar yes director Bartlett yes that brings us to new business second County Commissioners Duffy yes Gallow
yes leor director Lazaro yes director Bartlett yes second County Commissioners Duffy yes Gallow yes four director Lazar yes director Bartlett yes okay one more reminder about the food downstairs we'll
see you there and with that I will take a motion to adjourn I'll make the motion second County Commissioners Duffy yes Gallow yes forut director Lazar yes partlet yes thank you all very much have a great evening