All right. Well, welcome everyone to our second uh council meeting or I'm sorry, first council meeting in May. Um so, happy May to everybody and happy spring. Um thank you all for coming. Uh madame clerk, will you please read the adequate notice of compliance statement? Adequate
notice of this meeting has been provided by the city clerk's office in preparation of the council annual meeting notice dated December 16th, 2024, which was properly distributed and posted per statutory requirements. Please be advised the fire exits are to my right, your left, and at the back of
the room. The city has a listening system to assist the hearing impaired. If anyone needs hearing assistance, please obtain the system at the deis and return it thereafter. And someone did not give me my real pull card. Give me one moment. Okay.
May I call the roll call? Yes, please. Thank you. Oh, I didn't say roll call. That's okay. Okay. Mr. Ber, present. Miss Hamlet, here. Miss Calmanson, here. Mr. Powski, here. Mr. Smallwood here. Miss Toad, here. President McTurn, present. All right. Uh, for the pledge
of allegiance, who Mr. Rick Wolf, would you do us the honor and lead us in the pres uh the pledge of allegiance, please? 1 2 3 go 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. Thank you, Mr. Wolf. Thank you. All right, Madame Clerk, will you please read the explanatory note regarding uh
close session and hearings and comments? A close session meeting is authorized by state statute was announced and held prior to the start of this meeting and the known items for discussion were listed on the published close session agenda. Please be advised that council meetings are broadcast live on Comcast
channels 36 and 34 and Verizon's channel 30 and 33 and rebroadcast on Thursdays and Saturdays on HGTV on Comcast 36 and Verizon 33. When invited to speak, come to the lect turn clearly state your name
and spell your last name and speak into the pod podium microphone so that your comments can be understood by all and properly recorded. Whenever an audience or council member reads from a prepared statement, please give or email a copy to the city clerk at city clerk@c
cityofsummit.org. To help facilitate an orderly meeting and permit to permit all to be heard, speakers shall limit their comments to three minutes. Unless you are using electronic device to follow the meeting agenda or need it for professional emergency contact purposes, please turn it off. Thank you. Thank you
very much. All right. Um, I think we're going to push the approval of minutes because we just got them. I Madame Clerk, thank you for And that was a long meeting to write minutes for. So, we haven't had time to go through them. Uh, so we're going to push that
till next meeting. Uh, which takes us to our report section of our meeting this evening. Uh, Madame Mayor, lead us off, please. Thank you. Good evening, everyone. Thank you for joining us tonight. Um, last week was a busy one for the police department, beginning with the retirement celebration of
Officer Karen Sour on Friday, April 25th, followed by the celebration and final clap out for Chief Zagorski on April 29th, and culminating on Thursday, May 1st with the official swearing in ceremony for our new Chief Ryan Peters, along with two newly appointed captains,
two lieutenants, and two new officers. Thank you for your service to our community. Congratulations to all and welcome to our new officers. May is mental health awareness month, hence the green ribbons you see on the deest tonight. Um, and summit is proud to participate in the paint the town green
initiative in partnership with neighboring communities. You'll notice uh green ribbons and signs around town reminding us all to be kind to our minds. And I encourage everyone to take a moment to check in on your mental well-being and to explore the resources available. You can also join the New Jersey Cross Town Mental Health
Coalition group on Facebook to stay uptodate on events and tools offered this month. A quick reminder from our Office of Health and Vital Statistics. The deadline to renew dog and cat licenses is June 2nd, 2025. Any renewals submitted after this date will incur a
$10 late fee. Applications can be submitted online at cityofsummit.org/doglicens and cityofsummit.org/catlicens. Looking ahead to community events, our bike rodeo is coming up on Sunday, May 18th from 9:00 am to 12 pm in the Bank
Street parking lot. Young riders will have the chance to learn bike handling skills, traffic safety rules, and the importance of wearing helmets. Officers will talk about the new ebike ordinance passed at our April 22nd council meeting. This is a free event and open to all residents.
We also have Disc After Dark, which is taking place at the municipal golf course on Friday, May 16th at 8:00 p.m. This event is open to residents aged 12 and up, and you can pre-register at summit communityprograms.com. Lastly, I'm proud to announce that our Hometown Heroes
banners are now being installed and will be fully up by Memorial Day. This program honors and recognizes our local veterans with banners displaying their names, images, and dates of service. These banners will line our city streets through August 15th. Thank you, and I look forward to seeing everybody at some
of our upcoming events. Thank you so much. Great report as always. Okay. Um, our city administrator is not here this evening, so we're going to move right along uh to our uh council president's uh report. So, got two things. The first
thing is just a um housekeeping notice. Originally, the New Jersey primary was scheduled for June 4th. Fourth, no, the third. Tuesday, June 3rd. That's been So, when we had that on our calendar, we
moved we normally our meetings are on Tuesday, the first and third Tuesday of every month. We have moved the our meeting to June 4th because of the primary. Subsequently, New Jersey has moved their primary to the following
week. So rather than confuse people, uh what we do we I'm announcing now we our meeting is going to take place on our regularly scheduled first Tuesday of the month in June. Um so there are a few things on the agenda this evening that reference June 4th. We just agreed to
that in close session. So we're going to have our meeting on June 3rd and that will be noticed um when we normally notice things. So that's the first thing. Second thing, um I wanted to clarify the agenda this evening for our audience, particularly
around the three different camping ordinances that are on for this meeting. I'll just say I'm extremely happy with how we ultimately got to this point with our ordinance. Many many people have let us know both in person
and through emails that they have really strong opinions on the subject of Summit's camping ordinances both for and against. I know I for one have been happy to hear them. We should all have the opportunity to speak passionately about what we care about and we should
also be willing to listen as well even when we may disagree with those points of view. Balancing the safety and health needs of our community with the complicated and difficult process of engaging the few remaining homeless individuals in our city who refuse the help that has been
offered to them was always going to be hard. There are no road maps maps out there to do this. No other town to my knowledge has been willing to tackle this important task the way we are attempting to do so. We are trying to
build on the real successes our mayor's task force for the homeless has achieved by engaging these individuals as human beings. For this next step to be equally successful, we have to be open to an iterative iterative process where
initial ideas meet constructive criticism that then lead in new directions that are then altered further by additional feedback. If you want an ordinance that I hope will be an example for other communities in New Jersey to follow, engagement with others of all
viewpoints is essential. And that's how we ended up with three ordinances on the agenda tonight. The first one, if you look in your packet, is number 25-339. We had the public portion of
that ordinances hearing two weeks ago. Between introducing that and that hearing date, we had already received feedback from our community as well as the department of community fair affairs on how to improve it. So we did by
introducing that improved ordinance number 25-3340 two weeks ago. That improved ordinance is up for hearing tonight. going back two weeks. During that evening, if you guys tuned
in, we listened for hours to further input and made the decision to suspend the council comment part of the hearing on the original ordinance 25-339 until this evening. We also went straight back to work to make what was
the better version even better by listening and accepting further input from homeless advocates and others in our community. That is the ordinance number 11920 that Councilman Ber will introduce
later tonight for a public hearing scheduled for June 3rd. We all get a vote up here and it takes four votes for anything to get done. If we get agreement from council, I hope we could table the first two
ordinances, meaning they would not be considered and there would be no further public comment on that. they would just go away. We would then be able to introduce the new and again in my opinion approved ordinance for a hearing date on June
3rd. With ordinance introductions, there is no public comment or council comments. That will happen at the hearing a month from now. I hope that explains the process for this evening. Okay. All righty. We're now up to our uh
historical minute. Councilman Palowski, we have an historical minute for this evening. We do. Um, thank you. Tonight we have um Miss Gina Hoff who's going to uh give a historic minute. It's mental
health awareness month and um some folks uh maybe don't realize that summit was originally founded as kind of a getaway so that people could clear their minds and and so she's going to report on that. Miss Hoff is a nativeborn Italian,
came to New York at the age of 11. Uh she was a uh for a long time a professor of foreign languages and Italian culture at the University of Missouri. She owned and operated classical tours, which is a travel company specializing in Italian
travel. Uh she is an Elk and on the board of the Fortnitely Club. Thank you. Thank you. Good evening. As a new Summit resident, I've enjoyed learning about this wonderful town. And recently, I read
some information about the history of Summit as a health retreat. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Summit became a well-known wellness destination for those escaping the stresses of New York City. Perched
high on the second watching mountain, it offered a unique combination of fresh air, cool breezes, and a peaceful treecovered landscape. At a time when doctors often diagnose people with nervous disorders like melanchalia and
neurostenia, they would prescribe rest in the countryside. Clean air and nature were considered essential medicine. Summit fit that prescription perfectly. The expanding Morris and Essex railroad
made it easy to reach. Just a short train ride from Manhattan and soon visitors were arriving in droves. Hotels and ins were built to welcome them. Most famously, the Blackburn Hotel, which
became the Grand Summit Hotel and is now called the Albon. It offered not only comfort and elegance, but also a view over the hills, gardens, and wooded estates that made Summit such a draw. Many people came for the summer
season, but some were so taken by the area's beauty that they stayed permanently. One such figure was Rear Admiral Joseph Mason Reeves, a naval pioneer who settled here with his wife Susan Hatfield Reeves. In 1916, they
purchased an estate that Susie would turn into something really beautiful, a serene and carefully cultivated garden sanctuary, now known as the Reeves Reed Arboritum. Today, the Arboritum remains one of the few intact garden estates
from that era and stands as a living testament to summer summit's long tradition of wellness, tranquility, and connection to the land. As we mark mental health awareness month this May, Summit's history reminds us that the
search for wellness is not new. It's rooted right here in our gardens, our green spaces, and our quiet streets. From the grand hotels of the past to the still blooming arboritum on Hobart Avenue, Summit continues to offer what
people came to find here over a century ago. A place to relax, to slow down, and find peace. Thank you. Thank you. No, thank you so much. All right. Um, at this time we have a few ceremonial awards. Um, Madame Mayor,
I believe you have two proclamations. I do indeed. Okay. Whereas mental health is essential to everyone's overall health and well-being. And whereas everyone experiences difficult times of stress and anxiety and should feel comfortable seeking help and support to assist with
managing those times. And whereas early identification and early intervention are effective ways of improving mental health and overall wellness. And whereas mental wellness leads to higher productivity, better education experiences, and improved quality of life. And whereas a greater
understanding of the science and research of stress and adverse childhood experiences is essential to preventing the over representation of mental illness within the criminal justice system. And whereas the city of Summit supports reducing the stigma and discrimination associated with mental
health diagnosis by instilling hope and providing access to health care and social services to assist individuals to live a healthy dignified life. And whereas each business, school, government, health care provider, organization, and citizen has a responsibility to support mental
wellness. And whereas alongside many other cities and towns, the city of Summit is committed to creating a safe and nurturing community with accessible health services and education to promote well-being for all people. Now therefore, I, Elizabeth Fagen, mayor of the city of Summit, do hereby proclaim
May as mental health awareness month in the city of Summit and hereby encourage all citizens, government agencies, public and private institutions, businesses, schools to support their local communities efforts in increasing awareness and understanding of mental health and the steps to take to protect
their mental health and well-being. In witness whereof, I have here unto set my hand and caused the seal of the city of Summit to be affixed this sixth day of May in the year 2025. Great. It's lonely up here. Usually have friends and this time I'll have friends.
The Elks are here to receive this proclamation. My representatives from the Elks, come on up. You're not shy. Nobody's shy. A lot of you do a quick photo after after I read
it. Whereas the Elks lodges of the state of New Jersey will observe May 1st through 7th as Elks National Youth Week in a tribute to our junior citizens honoring them for their achievements and contributions to the life of the community, state, and nation. And
whereas our youth need the guidance, inspiration, and encouragement which we along alone can give in order to help develop those qualities of character essential for future leadership. And whereas it is our responsibility to guide, inspire, and encourage our youth to go forth and serve America, our
privilege to manifest a lively interest in all their activities and ambitions and help prepare them in every way for the duties and opportunities of citizenship, which is the objective of Elks National Youth Week. And whereas to achieve this worthy objective, we would demonstrate we should demonstrate a
partnership with our youth and a sincere willingness to help prepare them for the responsibilities of good citizenship. Now therefore, I, Elizabeth Fagan, mayor of the city of Summit, do hereby proclaim May 1st through 7th, 2025 as Elks National Youth Week in the city of Summit, and can call upon all citizens
as well as all civic, fraternal, and patriotic groups to participate wholeheartedly in its observance. In witness whereof, I have here to set my hand and cause the seal of the city of Summit to be affixed this sixth day of May in the year 2025.
One, two, three. And one more. There you go. All right. Um, now we have a large stack of certificates of recognition. And what I'm going to do because there are so many of you, um, I am going to
read your names. I would like all of you to come on up. We're going to do a group photo after I complete reading everybody's names. And then I'm going to give a stack. Is there an adult in the room that might want to be in charge of the stack of Okay, perfect. Once I'm once we have done the picture and
everything, Jen, I'll give them I'll give you the stack of certificates to distribute so that we don't have to I don't have to fumble around trying to figure out who's who. Um, okay. So this is a certificate of recognition awarded to uh 31 individuals whose names I will
read in a moment in recognition of your outstanding contribution and dedication as a volunteer with teens tackle homelessness and in appreciation of your participation in preparing meals for the Bridges outreach organization which serves as a shining example of student-driven volunteerism in our
community. So come on up as I read your names and you don't have to wait to hear your name called. Abby Dragna, Zack Badistella, Dileia Callahan, Jillian Callahan, Jenna Carey, Ivy Sinoski, I hope so, um Teddy
Collins, Jillian Kunahan, Sydney Kunahan, Aiden Dangler, Fiona Dangler, Riley Dangler, Reese Dustin, Remy Dustin, Leila Ferrari, Charlotte Gyroano, Cooper Grogan, Nina Hen, Maggie
Horan, Claire Cleleorfer, Katherine Lizzie, Alli Mchuiori, Jack Malciori, Grace Miller, Carly Mer, John Peek, Leon Sarkeesian, Kayla Sheay, Amelia Slater, Khloe
Sleman, and Ashley Tran. Why don't you guys give them one? Congratulations, guys. Thank you. You're not coming. You know, you guys don't have to stay if you want, but if you do, that's great. AP. They do
have AP. Yeah, exactly. Thanks. Thank you so much. Thank you guys. Good luck on your tests. Yeah, good luck, guys. Well done. All right. Um, we have a presentation on our schedule. However, uh, the the uh
people from Sage Elderare were not able to make it tonight. So, we're going to look to reschedule that sometime hopefully uh next month. Um, I also forgot on my uh council president's comments. Uh some of you keen watchers of council meetings might
have observed a new face sitting at the table here. Um I just want to be I want to welcome Jennifer Kabisa to our uh summit. She's joined us as our new finance uh director. We're super super excited to have her. Um she's uh as you
know Tammy Baldwin holds two hats. She is our um uh business administrator as well as our uh CFO. Um Jennifer's going to uh really be doing uh real yman's work uh in the finance area to keep the
city running smoothly. So um we're super super excited to have her and if you see her, say thank you for for serving the city and we're uh happy to have you here. So thank you Jennifer. Okay. Um, at this time we're on to our ordinances
for hearing. So, uh, if, as I mentioned earlier, if you recall at last meeting, we, uh, had, uh, several hours of public comments on ordinance number 253340. We're in the middle of that
hearing, so I think it would make sense for Madame Clerk, if you could re please reread that ordinance and then we'll restart uh, the hearing. Okay. Ordinance number 25-3340. No, it's 339. Sorry. So, okay. Okay. Two
25-339, an ordinance amending chapter 3, police regulations of the code of the city of Summit to add a new section 3-9 entitled camping on public property. Thank you. All right. So, at this time, we've uh does anyone council president
council like to I would like to table this. Uh do you have a motion, Councilman Smallwood? I would like to make a motion to table this. Second. All right. There's a motion to table. Uh do we need a roll call to do that? Yes. Okay. Council President, can I just ask
a quick question? So, the one that we're in the middle of the hearing in is 25-339. Okay. So the reason that 3340 was on the agenda first is that we're just this should have been listed as a hearing, a
continued hearing. However, it's not constructed that. Okay. So just for matter of public record, I just want to be really clear. Yeah. So can we just go over that once again because I was confused. So if I was confused, it's going to come out tomorrow and everybody's going to be confused. So ordinance number 25-3339 should have been listed under
ordinances for hearing as we are continuing that hearing to a to a degree. Correct. Which is what I mentioned in my council. Sorry, I was looking at the agenda. I just want to be No, no, that's fine and thank you for pointing that out. So, to be clear, so there so we're in the middle of this hearing. Uh there is a motion uh on the
floor that's been seconded to table ordinance number 25-339. Um so we need a roll call. Mr. Buer, I. Miss Hamlet, I. Miss Celmanson. Hi. Mr. Palowski. Hi. Mr. Smallwood. Hi.
Miss Toads. Hi. President McTurnin I Okay, so that motion is that ordinance is tabled. Okay, now we're moving on to or ordinances for hearing. Uh madame clerk, will you please read the safety and
health ordinance for hearing, please? Ordinance number 25-3340, an ordinance to amend an ordinance amending chapter 3, police regulations of the code of the city of Summit to add a new section 3-9 entitled camping on public property.
Thank you, uh, Councilman Ber. Thank you, Council President. As the city clerk just mentioned, this is ordinance number 253340. I move this ordinance for table. So, you'd like to be tabled. Okay, so second. So, there is a motion to table
and that's been seconded. Um, madame clerk, roll call. Mr. Ber, I. Miss Hamlet, I. Miss Calmanson, I. Mr. Powski, I. Mr. Smallwood, I. Miss Toi I. President McTurn. I. All right. So, ordinance
25-3340 has also been tabled indefinitely. Okay. Um, excuse me, Mr. Council President. I'm sorry to interrupt, but could you or perhaps our solicitor explain to the public what the effect is of the or of these ordinances
being tabled at the end of the meeting if they have not subsequently been picked up for hearing? Uh Mr. Jacobe, would you like to do that? Absolutely. So when an ordinance is tabled like this evening, that means that it's basically withdrawn. there'd
have to be a reintroduction of it and another second hearing. So, by tableabling the the two ordinances this evening, they no longer exist even even for a first reading. They'd have to come back at another time. Thank you. One other question. Council
President, can can you also clarify for a matter of public record that there is no discussion during the table? Yeah, no discussion. Yeah, just from us, at least from all of us in general. So, I just want to make clear of the procedures. Yeah. Okay, great. So, um
now we are um moving on to ordinances. Um we have another ordinance for final consideration. No, we don't. Those are gone. We have an ordinance for introduction. Those are both gone. Yay. Okay. Um
so, uh ordinance for introduction. Um, Madame Clerk, will you please read uh Community Programs and Parking Services number 11903? ID 11903, an ordinance amending the code chapter 2, Administration, section 2-69,
fees for municipal services, subsection 2-69.9 fees to be collected by the parking services agency. Thank you, Councilman Smallwood. Thank you, Council President. This is ordinance number 11 193 11903 an
ordinance to amend the code chapter 2 administration section 2-69 fees for municipal services subsection 2-69.9 fees to be collected by the parking services agency. Uh this is to increase daily visitor pass fee and remove the bulk discount. Um the purpose
of this is the downtown businesses typically purchase these passes for visitors such as auditors, temporary employees. Contractors who do not require access to their vehicles also tend to use these passes instead of buying on street parking and space on
street parking spaces for the day. The last price adjustment was in 2006 when prices increased from $4 to $6 for a single pass and from $30 to $50 for a pack of 10. Uh in previous years, uh we
ordered these passes in bulk, typically 10,000 at a time, which allowed for more favorable pricing on the city's part. However, the demand has since declined. Overlook Overlook Hospital temporarily drove up demand during their parking
their garage construction, but last year we sold only 2,200 visitor passes, making the bulk purchase purchasing less beneficial. The current cost to the city per visitor pass is $2.20. So given that the daily parking
rate is $4, a prop a proposed price increase to seven would offset the cost of both the pass and the daily parking for parking for the daily fee. So I would like to this the hearing on this would actually be moved to June 3rd and I would like to move this ordinance for
introduction. Second. Okay. Roll call, please. Mr. Ber. I. Miss Hamlet. I. Miss Calmanson. I. Mr. Palowski. I. Mr. Smallwood. Hi, Miss Toad. Hi. President McTurn. I. Motion
carries. Okay. Uh, now we're on to safety and health 119 11 1920. Madam clerk, will you please read the ordinance? Ordinance uh ID number 11 1920, an ordinance amending chapter 3, police regulations of the code of the city of Summit to add a new section 3-19
entitled camping on public property. Thank you very much, Councilman Buer. Thank you, Council President. Tonight I introduce ordinance ID number 11 1920, an amendment to chapter 3 of the city code creating section 319, camping on
public property. So let's take a minute to talk about how the ordinance happens, the process. So we begin by listening to residents, business owners, and our
unhoused neighbors. Their concerns shape the foundation of this process. Those concerns come into committee, the safety committee, where the police chief, the mayor, and two council members, one chairing, myself,
and one co-chairing deliberate together. We then bring this issue to the law and labor committee with a simple mandate. Here is what we're hearing. Here is what we
believe needs to be done. There the ordinance is constructed and reviewed in close in close consultation with our city solicitor. Our municipal prosecutor joined the process ensuring that every
provision was enforceable, proportionate, and rooted in justice. And this was similar to our resident protection ordinance. We revised, clarified, and
codified, not to replace, but to ensure consistency, transparency, and legal grounding. And that is how we got here via the hearing, via public comments, listening to the public, advocates,
nonprofits. But let me say this as clearly as possible. This process is what good governance looks like. It is measured. It's transparent. And it's morally serious.
There were no missteps here. We're not changing course because the original ordinance was flawed or lacked moral grounding. Instead, we're updating it because governing is an ongoing process of listening and learning. As we hear
more from the community, we refine our understanding of shared values and how best to apply them. Now, ordinance 11920 formalizes practices our officers and courts already uphold, ensuring
consistent, transparent application across the city. It reflects our commitment to compassionate, coordinated responses by clearly laying out expectations in law. Specifically, it reinforces service
first responses by codifying the practice of prioritizing connections to housing and support services before enforcement action. Number two, it codifies protections for individuals without
access to shelter, ensuring no one faces penalties under 3-9.3. when indoor housing options are unavailable. Three, affirms diversion pathways by
ensuring by encouraging, excuse me, continued court practices that favor behavioral health or social services interventions before considering penalties. And it codifies our existing mental
health response by authorizing when necessary involuntary commitment under NJSA30 col4-27 for individuals posing a danger due to mental illness ensuring that
treatment not punishment remains the guiding principle. I want to give a special thanks to Jeff Wild Council for the New Jersey Coalition to End Homelessness. He was a true partner
providing valuable input and remaining committed to finding the right balance between compassion and practicality. He is not here tonight because no public comments are permitted, but he informed us that he is
in support of this version of the ordinance and will be here on June 3rd to support it in person. Let me also give credit where credit is due to our mayor for providing the foundation for
this balanced approach. One of the very first things our mayor did was to establish the mayor's task force of homelessness, not as a gesture, but as a serious solutionsdriven effort. Thanks
to their work, 20 out of 25 unhoused individuals in our city have already been connected with housing. And now our police officers have something they haven't always had, a coordinated support system. They can
actively engage to help even more people off the streets and into care. That's real progress. That's not just a policy win. That's 20 lives that was
changed. And that matters and we shouldn't lose sight of that. Now, this ordinance does not undo previous work the homeless task force has done and will do. It also doesn't
replace it. It strengthens it. I want to thank all the members of both the law and labor committee and the safety committee including councilwoman toth our city solicitor councilwoman
Colmanson who co-chairs the safety committee with me Chief Peters and I'm especially grateful to our council president and to Councilman Powski who has worked tirelessly ly on this issue since day one. And last but
not least, Councilwoman Hamlet. Her dedication to addressing homelessness goes far beyond this chamber. Whether it's working with the state office of homelessness prevention, serving on the task force, securing
housing for veterans or helping individuals get shelter. She is consistently on the ground doing the work. As a single mother of three, a business owner, and a public servant, she embodies
sacrifice, and she deserves recognition. Thank you. Thank you. This ordinance reflects a truly bipartisan collaborative effort and I am proud to be a part of it.
Finally, in a world that too often swings between extremes, between apathy and overreach, between neglect and control, there lies something
harder but more meaningful. That's responsibility. I believe in that. I believe in the hard work of facing what's uncomfortable, of balancing competing
truths and of building something better together. I believe in this process in this administration and in the community that we're all responsible for. And I know I said last but not
least, um I know there's some new faces out there and you're probably wondering what this is all about because the news media only reports one thing. Wealthy town wants to lock up and penalize homeless people. It's ridiculous. Um the
truth of the matter is this. We have a group of individuals that are doing insanely atrocious things. Grabbing four girls, trying to pull them into the bathroom at the train station, pulling a knife on my young
daughter, watching pornographic material in our libraries. So he would say to me, "Well, Councilman Borer, why don't we just finish it? Councilman Borer, why don't you just arrest him?" Right? Why is the police not arresting them? Well, the police do. They gave out 87 summones last year
and what happens? They go to court and they're let out. Now, if you or I went to court and the court says, "Hey, you got to come back on this day." And we didn't come back, we'd have a pench warrant, would be arrested, right? We'd have a
warrant out. Not not those folks. No, they're just allowed to just continue this activity. Now, I have children. They go to the middle school. I have one in high school. I know
multiple other families that have children, girls, little kids that walk through the main hub of our our our city, our train station. I mean, this is the reason for this. We have there has to be some
balance in this world. Anyone who wants shelter can obtain shelter and we've done that. Thank you, council president. Need to make a motion to introduce it. I make a motion to introduce this for a
final hearing for June 3rd at 7:30. Do I hear a second? Um, I I'm going to second it, but I think I need to clear up something because um there are some statements that Councilman Ber made that are not I
mean he council president he just spent 10 minutes introducing this and I just want to clear up the fact that he said that concerns come into the safety committee and that we talk about them and then we work on the ordinance and then it goes to law and labor and that I did not work on the first two
ordinances. I did not have any part of them and they were presented to me after they were already on the agenda. I did not work on those. Okay. Now, I second this one because I I had a lot of concerns about unintended consequences and my concerns have been addressed in
this latest one, but I I don't appreciate that that you know, you're telling everybody that we worked on this together because the first two I I did not have any pardon. Um, so and on that I will second. Can can I respond? We can
res we can respond and uh council comments afterwards. Okay. I mean she's out of order. She's telling me I'm I'm I'm untruthful. You're out of order, Mr. Ber. Could you're out of order, sir. Okay. You want to come up and do the gavvel? I
don't think anyone elected you here. Okay. I got my own gavl, buddy. want to play games. If we have people who are disrupting our meeting, we will do the same thing I said we'll do yesterday. If people want to be
childlike, we will call a timeout and we will adjourn the meeting for 10 minutes and we can all sit here till we decide how to act like adults and we'll come and do it again. And if people lash out again, we'll adjourn the meeting again
and we can do this all night. Okay? So, if you want to have a meeting, act like an adult and listen. You will have your opportunity to speak at public comment. It's not that hard. Okay. Thank you. All right. I'm going to call for a roll
call. Mr. Ber, I. Miss Hamlet. Hi. Miss Celmanson. Hi. Mr. Palowski. I. Mr. Smallwood. Hi, Miss Toth. I. President McT. Okay. Motion carries. All right. All right, we're now moving along to the
resolution part of our meeting. Uh we have one resolution on the regular agenda. Uh Councilwoman Hamlet. Thank you, Council President. Uh this is resolution 11901 declaring a vacancy uh DCS
Division of Public Works. Uh whereas the superintendent of public works advises that as a result of an upcoming promotion, a vacancy will exist in the position of equipment operator in the roads unit in the division of public works. Now therefore, be it resolved by the common council of the city of summit that a vacancy be and is hereby declared
for the position of equipment operator in the roads unit in the division of public works uh department of community services. That authorization is hereby given to the director of the division of engineering who recently joined us, director Shaker, uh, and public works to either offer the position to the next
candidate on the eligibility list or to or to a current employee or advertise same and provide for testing if appropriate. I'd like to move this resolution. Second. All right. At this time, is there anyone from the public who'd like to make comments on
this? No. Uh, anyone from council? No. Okay. Um, all in favor? I opposed. Motion carries. All right. Um, at this time, do I have a motion to approve the consent agenda as presented? So moved.
Second. Second. All right. Um, all in favor? Oh, I'm sorry. Is there anyone from the public who'd like to comment on anything on the consent agenda? Any comments from councel? All right. All in favor? I opposed.
Motion carries. All right, we are now on to our public comment uh section of our meeting. At this time, if anyone from the public would like to make a comment on something that's not on the agenda, please feel free to do so. We would ask you approach the dis, please state your
name and your address and uh please hold your comments to three minutes so all may get an opportunity to speak. Shantel Landman, LD man, uh, 128 Beakman Road. I'm here tonight to ask some questions about the municipal budget
shared by Miss Baldwin at the last council meeting. I understand this is a budget and isn't approval for specific funding requests, and I'm hopeful that sharing my questions now will allow time for council to prepare answers and consider making some adjustments. ahead of the next meet meeting, excuse me.
First, regarding the tax base, apparently Bristol Myers Club has shared that they will be moving some operations out of Summit and they're planning to sell part of their property. So, I'm curious to hear more about this plan and the anticipated tax consequences.
Second, the budget assumes $600,000 in grants from the New Jersey Department of Transportation, but the Trump administration has signed an executive order freezing transportation funding. What other federal funding does the city count on in this budget? And what preparations, if any, have we made
for cuts in federal and state funding? Third, adding headcount is not a one-year expense. So, particular scrutiny should be given to these indefinite increased expenses. Last year, 10 new headcount were included in the budget, which is a 5% increase
year-over-year. I'm supportive of adding the two police officers in 2025, but our other additional headcount proposed for 2025. Why do we need to add these other headcount this year? Four, the DCS infrastructure
project includes $50,000 for stalt Brook stabilization. Previously, the city engineer said this can't be done peacemeal and the erosion problem runs from Brighton to New Providence. Is this a first step toward solving the erosion issue or full remediation? How many properties will
benefit from this budgeted spend? And if we aren't able to fund the full remediation in the near future, is this $50,000 fix going to need to be redone? Fifth, under the DCP budget, there is a $650,000 line item for Tatlock
Lighting. To clarify, this is for upper Tatlock field lighting replacement, not for the football field. Correct. Finally, given the declining economic environment, the increase in the tax levy for the school budget, and the uncertainty regarding federal and state funding cuts, please consider
tightening our budgeted spending. We need fiscal responsibility to achieve affordability in Summit. Thank you. Thank you. Good evening, Madame Mayor. Good evening, council. Just like last time, I will be remaining anonymous. Council
President, thank you. No, thank you. And I appreciate that you didn't ask the members of the public to give their address, surrender their fourth amendment, to exercise their first. And when you gave me a hard time about that
last time as you wore your Constitution tie, the First Amendment doesn't come with an introduction or permission. So, I came here tonight to clear up the fact that you didn't give me permission to remain anonymous. The Constitution of the United States of
America gave me permission. Not you. Don't cut me off. I'm not cutting you off. Please continue. I was about I was going to thank you. I don't You don't I don't need you to tell me to please continue. It's my time to speak. All right. And this guy over here through
the chair of the lawyer, this guy needs to be fired. He needs to be fired. He told me I got to step away from the podium. He's got to surrender his Fourth Amendment right. We need his name and address so he can exercise his First Amendment.
What are you paying this guy for? when I ran into him in Madison through the chair to the lawyer. When I ran into you in Madison, can't even look at me on January 23rd, 2023 when a woman who needed a moment of silence for her friends who died of
opiate overdoses in town and you cut her off on her moment of silence demanding her name. Since then, I have never given my name and address at a public meeting ever. Because of you, you sent me on
that trajectory. You should fire him. Unreal. see you didn't wear your constitution tie tonight. Anonymous communications are heavily protected under the first amendment under the fourth amendment and
the open public meeting act. Mr. lawyer, you have no right to try to intimidate the public, to surrender their private, sensitive information. If people want to come up and tell you guys where they live, that's on them. But you have no right to try to
intimidate me and silence me and my First Amendment. I think I'm going to keep coming back here. It's only three minutes anyway. That's That's ridiculous, too, in itself. Other comments, please.
Good evening, Jacqueline Laserina. L A S A R A C I N A. Sorry, I'm a resident of Summit. I'm here to request that as part of the current budget process, council, please consider hiring a dedicated
Summit social worker or similar professional, as has been done in Maplewood. I believe a dedicated social worker is a cost-effective, smart investment we can make to not just address issues we're facing today, but to prepare for what we may need as a
community in the future. A social worker can help the community in many ways. As part of school budget cuts, a mental health clinician and director of student services were cut. The director of student services help students experiencing housing insecurity, food
insecurity, interactions with child protective services, and so on. In the absence of these roles, a social worker could help our young people. They could perform wellness check-ins with our homebound neighbors and complement the work of SAGE and other organizations to
connect our seniors with greater support and services. In addition, our dedicated social worker could support the work of the homelessness task force, acting as a resource on both housing stabilization or homelessness prevention as well as case management.
If the most recent version of the anti-amping ordinance passes, we need to do our best as a community to make it work. And importantly, we need to staff it properly. The ordinance asks our police to do a lot. I'll paraphrase just a bit.
You ask the police to hold up-to-date information on whether individuals are working with the city or any nonprofit to obtain housing. officers are asked to determine whether quote a person by reason of mental illness is in need of an involuntary
commitment. I believe it is in the interest of the community to have a dedicated social worker partner with the police on this and to unbburden them of some of these responsibilities. We're dealing with tariffs, inflation, cuts to social services at the federal level with no
corresponding tax relief in sight. Do we think these challenges are going to improve or get worse? These are uncertain times. We need to make smart, stabilizing investments now, not just for the issues right in front of us, but
for what's coming. Thank you. Thank you. You guys, excuse me. You guys can take off. you've done your your part, okay? I don't want you to have to stay here if you don't need to. You have families to go to. Hi, my name is Dave Hoffman. I
live at one New England Avenue apartment 17A, Manley Court. Um, I just want to congratulate the council for the proclamation on mental health awareness month. I didn't know that. And the
wonderful recognition of Bridg's outreach to tackle homelessness. Am I done already? Oh, not you. Not you. Uh, anyway, yeah, I I didn't come to that last meeting. I watched it online. I couldn't believe it was seven hours. God
bless you all for for being through that. Um, I was a little bit disappointed that um it was as impersonal as it was because uh as a community we must remember that we're dealing with individuals. You know,
there's a guy named Ed, big Ed. He sleeps in the library sometimes and his snoring does annoy me. I have tried to get him to read the New York Times, but he insists on the Daily News. Bad choice. That's Ed and Yuri and Andre and
Calvin. If there are people who are looking at porn in the library, that surprises me because I go in the library a lot and I see them looking at models sometimes, but I believe they're blocks on pornography. And in terms of graffiti written in the bathroom, uh, white
supremacists, none that I know of are sleeping on the street. Um, so but the charges are very serious. I mean, dragging girls to a bathroom, you know, holding a knife,
absolutely there should be arrests and they should be, you know, going through the system. That's where the problem is. But some guy snoring on a bench doesn't bother me. Thank you. Thank you.
Other comments from the public. Joseph Brown. I'm 27 Glide F apartment E2. So I've been working on my free time. I'm 26 years old. I moved to Summit 3 years
ago. I seen a homeless population downside to what it is today from 20 to now was five on the street. And then as it is right now on
my free time, I I go to work. I'm in school. I'm in college. I seen these homeless people on the street. I talked to these homeless people. I know what they're going through. And all these people, they're have the option of going to apartments.
They have option to stay on the street. These people don't want to. They have the they have the option to do whatever they want to do. But all we ask of you is to let them sleep wherever they want to sleep. They're not bothering no one.
They're all good people. They're human beings just just like us. They're living. They're breathing people. I've been to bridges before. Me and Rich have talked. I've been a Beacon before. I've seen what these people are going
through. I talk face to face with them. the community some they don't understand what they're going through. I have talked to them. I sit down every day after work hours. I don't get home
until 10:00, 11:00 at night cuz I'm talking to them. I make sure that they have food. I make sure they have water. I give money out of my own pocket. I bring them food. I buy them food. I buy them in the winter time. I buy them a bunch of
stuff. All they ask of you is to make sure they have what they need. They're human beings and by you asking and by you telling them by you making this where they can't sleep on the street and by you taking
the benches away from them and you take you took the benches away from them. But did you ever think about the us as a community where we supposed to sit at the where we supposed to sit at the bus stop? Now we can't
sit when the when it rains. We can't sit nowhere. So thank you. We have to think about us as a community and you have to think of them too. And sometimes maybe one day me you could sit down in a
city council president. Maybe maybe we both of us could sit that all three of us could sit down together and come up with a plan. I'm willing to I'm willing to work with you guys to come with a plan for this whole this whole thing because I want to I want to make sure the homeless people have a voice. I
want to make sure they're okay. Thank you. Thank you very much. Good evening. How are you? Mark Haley of 22 William Street and Summit. Um, this topic right tonight is very dear to my heart. I'm glad that it's being
approached in the manner that's being approached. I've uh been very very fortunate to work with Bridges for many, many years under Fountain Baptist Church with Greg Davis for a long time when we used to going back so far where we would help the homeless underneath the
Brooklyn Bridge. And this goes way back before they closed everything off. And one of the reasons why they closed it all off is because they looked at majority of homeless people as criminals. Instead of if one person did something wrong, everybody get grouped
together. And that was a shame. And I agree, nobody wants to have a knife pulled on them. Nobody wants to have that. But my fear is is that before you know it, it goes from one person to everybody being looked at as a criminal just because of
the fact that how they sleep or what they might look like, how they dress, their lack thereof. When I always see people who are without, I always look at myself and I I thank God because I'm like, what if
I was that person? who would come over to help me or would you just look at me and call the police which is what majority of you do which is a shame. Every time I see them I always try to go down and meet them
where they're at. Talk to them, find out what their names are just as they ask me my name. And so when they see me in town, they always flag me down. And so I'll buy them lunch. I have a conversation with them. I get to know
them as an individual and just like them as myself, we all have bad days and we have good days and we all need assistance. We all need help. I thank God that I have a place I can go to at night where I can rest my
head. I thank God that I have a roof over my head, but it doesn't mean I haven't had hard days. But I've worked with bridges for a long time and it's been a real real blessing. Now, what I would love to see is that summit doesn't put up borders
for these people. They come here, a lot of them come here for safety, knowing that maybe they will be seen as someone who is has their hand up where that white flag is up saying, "I surrender. I need help." And I'm hoping that we'll
see that instead of ostracizing them instead of because if we do ostracize them and put them away, are we making this the situation better for them? what are we actually doing? My wife works in for Atlantic Health in risk management and sees this
type of thing all the time and she and it's a very hard it's a very hard question to answer, but it's something that's before us and like you said very well, you know, we could be the groundbreaking
town and how we do it right. Thank you. Thank you for your comments. Reverend Rod Williams, Mountain Baptist Church. Sometimes it appears that a little bit of history is in order and uh Councilman
Boyer, you and I have had some conversations and so you once talked about having been a student of history and so I would ask you if you remember the Black Codes. The Black Codes for the
uninformed were a system of laws that were created after reconstruction, after the Civil War. in order to reinslave those who had been freed by the Emancipation Proclamation. And so what the Black
Codes effectively did was created uh offenses such as loitering and vagrancy for those indeed who had been freed from plantations had nowhere to go, had no homes.
Suddenly they were arrested and threw a loophole in the 13th amendment which says that slavery was still permitted for those who were imprisoned. So Councilman Boyer, I would hope that that fact doesn't escape you
how close you've come to once again a process that criminalizes the least and the most unfortunate among us. Thank you for your time. Thank you. Good evening, madame mayor, council
president, council. Damon Gilliard, pastor, senior pastor of Corinthian Baptist Church in Jersey City. I reside at 13 Van Dyke Place here in Summit. In following uh the the pre the pastor before me, I would suggest some
good reading and good viewing for you to come to a clear decision about the task that you are undertaking. As a teacher of history, I submit to you the documentary Slavery by Another Name,
also the book and The New Jim Crow. What we are embarking on nationally is a system in which folks are going to be eating one another, a form of social capitalism. And I
suggest that you think clearly about this decision. Suggestions have been made this evening about uh employing a social worker to work with the police. I concur with that suggestion as well as
the men of this town getting off their behinds and getting out in the streets and engaging the people. When the men stand up, everybody else will be better at what we call
community. So, two suggestions for reading or viewing. You can look on YouTube for the documentaries or you can go to the bookstore and buy it. You will not find those books probably at the Summit Library yet. And if you really interested and
you don't you can't find it, I will give you a copy. But this is a decision that really needs to be thought through because not only was it vagrancy and um incarceration and that little loophole in the 13th
amendment, that exception to the rule, but a lot of us could be in the same position. Everybody has a story. And how would you deal with the loss of one of your children?
I heard you when you said that a knife was pulled on your daughter. I would have been there before the police and I would have addressed that situation. But even before that, because I've had children come through this school system as well as
myself, my reputation precedes me. and they would have thought twice whether they were just passing through summit because my children would have known what to do also. So it's all about educating. It's all about embracing and engaging the
community because some of you have walked by me and never acknowledge me, but I've watched you. All right? So let's be mindful of the time in which we live.
We need each other. Thank you. Thank you. Everybody, my name is Rich Yunak. I'm the president of Bridges Outreach. We're at 120 Morris Avenue and Summit. I don't have prepared remarks for you tonight. Um, but I did want to say uh actually I
really wanted to to echo some of what you said, Councilman Ber. I I think that this has become a very collaborative process. Um I think you all know how I felt about the way uh the initial ordinance was introduced. Um you know,
I've I've spoken at great length about that. Um, and as an anchor provider of homeless services and homelessness prevention services here in Summit and throughout Union and Essex counties, I believe that we need to figure out how
to continue to partner with city government, county government, state government. Um, I I think it's absolutely essential that we have approached this work the way the task force enabled us to approach this work. I think that the uh continual revisions
to this ordinance enable us to get to a place where people who are seeking housing, temporary and permanent, have access to that. And I very much uh want to kind of underscore the suggestion about access to social work or case
management. I think that it's a really important concept to think about a co-response mechanism in summit. If I could, my outreach team would join the PD on any call that might possibly involve these folks so that we can do
this together. Um, and I very much look forward to working with Chief Peters and his officers on the protocols moving forward uh once the new ordinance becomes law. I I assume next month because I think that it's going to be
important that we continue to uh make that kind of case management very very accessible to folks. Um and that we're really thoughtful with how we frame that interaction. Um so I I do think that you know there is some thanks that is due
for the collaborative process and the willingness to work with us. We've come a long way and uh I look forward to seeing that continue. So, thank you for the partnership. Thank you. Good evening. My name is
Marcela and I'm happy that I have the opportunity to be here this evening to say a little something about um homelessness. I've had uh the opportunity to serve food at the Beacon
Church many many times and uh I do not know how it feels to be homeless because I've never been homeless, but I've seen it throughout my career. I worked as a chaplain for a while and
I've seen it even in the hospital. So homelessness is not just um about very poor people. There are some people who have no family and maybe it's a mental health issue that causes
them to be homeless. So tonight I just want to say a few words that I have here. Um, I just want to acknowledge the challenges and recognize the difficulties that come
with homelessness such as lack of shelter, mental health issues, or joblessness. I I I I want to highlight and explain how finding homeless individuals or threatening
incarceration would not solve underlining issues. I know that someone already advocated for the homeless person um to have more compassion and to
approach such additional support services, affordable housing initiatives or shelters. I think someone already said that those things are being done and I really am glad about that in this
summit. Um I just I'm not here to speak very long because I did not come to I did not prepare myself really to speak but because of my heart when it comes to people who are on the bottom who are
poor who are sick who have no family I I I have a heart for those people and sometimes I have a heart for those very rich people because I've met a lot people who have worked on the autumn bomb and a little girl like me
sitting at their bedside listening to their issues. So it's not only just homeless for homeless sake. There are people who are in homes where they have no family members. And sometimes it's a person like me as a chaplain who is
sitting at their bedside encouraging them, laughing with them, and sharing thoughts with them. Everybody needs that. It doesn't matter your circumstance. I'm a little poor girl from the countryside of Jamaica. And that's all I have to say
cuz I could go on and on. Thank you. Thank you very much. Anyone else like to make a public comment? Okay, seeing no one, we're going to close that section of our meeting. Uh we're moving on to council member comments and new business. Don't be shy.
Councilman Palowski. Okay. Keep in my list here. Um just to address um Miss Calmanson's comments. This ordinance actually um give everybody a
little bit of history. We talked about doing it a year ago um before she was elected when I was on uh the safety committee and we drafted uh the first version of it actually during that time. Um we decided to go in the direction of
the task force first um because we have always had um a housing first uh philosophy and we still do um after uh after we've housed uh 20 out of 25 I
think it's 21 now um out of 25 uh homeless people um this ordinance came back uh into my mind as the next that because the handful of people who remained were not interested in our help. And so that may be why
um Miss Calmanson, you didn't you weren't involved in the initial ordinance and I was at two safety meetings as a special guest of Councilman Ber where we discussed the other versions with you. So, I'm not sure exactly what um what you're saying
there, but um I was literally there when we discussed these in the safety meetings. Um so, as somebody mentioned, uh possible social worker that we hire a dedicated social worker, it's my understanding, and I'll confirm it
before the next meeting that through the Department of Health and at the county level, we have access to social workers. There are social workers in this town three full days a week and three other half days a week for anybody who needs
their help. Moreover, we have outreach professionals uh who are at the library, train station, and the hospital and connect anybody who needs a social worker with a social worker. Um whether we also need a dedicated social worker,
I'm not sure, but uh certainly we can look into that, but it seems like we might have that covered already. Um the new Jim Crow is available at the public library. There are three or four copies if anybody would like to take it out.
Um Rich Yunak, uh thank you for uh for your help. And uh I think you and I spoke before or while we were in the midst of revising these ordinances and you've always been willing to help our police. Um I'm one that didn't think we
needed to codify it. Um you know, we have a separation of powers in this country where uh the legislature creates a law and the executive creates policies or regulations to follow uh to uh implement um enforcement of those laws.
It happens at the federal level. that happens at the state level and it happens at the municipal level. And we also have a court system that makes its uh its own policies and sentencing guidelines. and and so while I was happy to get this uh ordinance across the
finish line um by adding a bunch of stuff in there um you know I think most of it would have happened anyway including your generous offers to help which we're going to of course take you up on. So, uh, you know, even though I
think you're cutting down from two to one day in Summit, um, you know, I know where to find you in Newark and I'm there every day. So, um, and Tatlock neighborhood committee, we had our second
um, meeting, which I thought was a productive meeting. Um couple of the key takeaways from that are our um we had the summit relays which uh last year had some issues uh in terms of traffic. Uh
this year uh it was better. I understand we made some improvements in terms of dropping off and picking up uh location of buses, but uh we do note that it was a bad weather day and so um you know we're hoping that the measures that we
took made for the improvements, but it also is possible that it was uh due to uh less attendance. Uh graduation will be coming up and that'll be a good time to observe whether some of the changes that we've implemented are working. And some of those changes are single side of
the street parking, um, dropping off and picking up with buses, um, and enforcement. And, um, on the enforcement note, I want to remind everybody when you go to an event, um, you know, everybody's busy, right? You pull up to
Tatlock, you want to go see a lacrosse game, you can see on the scoreboard it's already started. Don't park in front of people's driveways, even if it's just a couple inches, right? Find another spot. Don't park in front of crosswalks. Um, I'll be calling the police on you and
asking them to ticket you and I would encourage anybody else who sees that um to do to do the same thing. Um, Tatlock is in the middle of a residential neighborhood and um people moved to that residential neighborhood knowing full
well that Tatlock is there and people will be going to these games. But, you know, that doesn't mean we have to park like animals. And um and um we should have enough respect for the people in that neighborhood to um to treat it the
way we'd want our own neighborhood to be treated. And so, I'll call on everybody to please do that as you attend graduations and sporting events and and whatnot um in that neighborhood any and any place else in town. That's all I have. Thank you, Councilwoman Hamlet.
Uh, thank you, Council President. Uh, first I just want to say thank you um to everybody who came tonight and and again all this is this is all really sad stuff and and difficult to have conversations, but I think having all these difficult difficult conversations is getting us to a better place. Um, and so thank you. I
you're passionate about this issue. It's a really important issue and it's important um that we talk about it as a community. And I want to thank Rich for your your comments. I think it was even as of gosh, what's Tuesday? Even as a Friday, Rich said, "You know, I have this one little issue with the ordinance." And so I called Bob and I
said, "Bob, we got this one little problem." And I said to Rich, "Well, give me an example of why you think this is a problem." And he gave me the example and I said, "You know what? I agree. I agree." We actually had a case today. Um geez, get trying to get this
guy into housing for 20 years, but we finally made some progress. So yesterday we spent all day trying to get him ready for an interview for assisted living. Didn't work. Try it again today. And we had separate funding by a
wonderful organization ready to put this gentleman into a temporary shelter. We didn't get it done. You think I'm calling that guy? No. Not calling Chief Peters. This guy's not capable of going into a shelter. But we're working hard
as a community to get him out. and we're going to keep reworking the ordinance. That's what we're doing. Um, as far as the gentleman who mentioned Ed in library snoring, good news story, we got him
housed. If it's the same Ed I'm thinking about, uh, that's a good story. He was homeless for a long time and a lot of us tried to get him housed. One person just made a connection with him.
As far as the uh the case worker, you know, we already have providers like Bridgeway bridges arrive. One of the um excuse me, one of the recommendations that I made. Um I actually emailed the council
president and I gave him some ideas on strengthening the camping ordinance because it's easy to say you like it or you don't like it or it's criminal, right? What are the true give us give us some concrete things to change about this ordinance, right? So, I tried to give the council president some things that I would have included. I don't
always get my way. In fact, I think maybe one or two of them got on. I said, let's add a personal protection property clause, store IDs and medications rather than disposing of things within two hours. I think I may have won that battle, right? Clarify how shelter
offers and refusals are available and where are they. Include a compassionate statement in the whereas section offering compassionate services to our unhoused community. Require officers to verify real-time shelter availability before citing anyone was Martin versus
Boise compliance having emergency weather concept uh exception. But regarding the the mental health care worker or the social worker, I said, 'Let consider adopting a simple companion resolution encouraging summit area hospitals to strengthen discharge planning for homeless patients. A lot of
cities do this. Los Angeles, San Diego, Baltimore, Portland, Sacramento have done something similar. Basing basically asking h hospitals to coordinate with shelters or mental or providers before discharging people directly into the street. It's rinse and repeat. It's rinse and repeat what we're doing right
now. We need to hold the hospitals accountable for discharge planning. We need to get them to the table and be a partner. They already are. But we can no longer accept that releasing these unhoused individuals without providers there and we need a caseworker there.
It's unacceptable and we won't tolerate it. These are some examples of things. Instead of complaining that we're criminalizing homelessness, let's just make it better. The gentleman today is still not housed. We're not giving him a ticket and you'll find him on the street tomorrow morning.
If anybody has any better ideas on how to get him housed, please let us know. The other thing I'd like to clarify, a lot of lot of comments from uh from people running for council tonight, uh saying that we're taking the mental health person away at the board
of ed and we're firing the director of student services. I want to read a quick quick email that I read to the director, the superintendent and I said, "Hey, Scott, I was looking at your reduction in force slides from your meeting. Can you please confirm that the director of student services was not in fact a reduction in force?" I believe she
resigned and accepted another position. See below the article, but this seems a bit bit misleading to the community even if it was not intended. So, I want to make sure that the community asks the board of ed these questions because we are not the board of ed and I want to make that very clear. We concur the
budget. The board of education and the appointed board from former mayor Raidest and now Mayor Fagan makes those cuts. We concur the levy and I want to make that perfectly clear. Finally, I just want to thank
everyone. These are tough conversations. Thank you for coming. Thank you for city staff for dealing with us. Thank you, Councilman Ber uh for leading this effort and and tweaking it and making it right for the community. Um that's all I have to say. Thank you.
Other comments from council? Council president. Councilman Boyer. In regards to the uh Salt Brook stabilization, yes, the uh 50k is definitely needed. Um, see there is a there is a broken
pipe that Union County is responsible for fixing and they have made it plain to the city that they are not going to fix it until until the area where the pipe is next to is reinforced,
fortified. Um, and this $50,000 would do that. We We need to get that pipe fixed. and sooner than later. So, we need to work on that. Um long term, I know New Providence is doing doing something. Uh
we will continue to engage our congressmen uh for money for the Saltbrook. Um I don't think it's anything that we are turning our our backs on, but um we need to do something now to
stabilize that area. And if you if you ever looked at it, if you ever went back there, I think you would agree that something needs to happen sooner than later. Um, secondly, in regards to the social worker, uh, I know some people came up here and tried give me a history lesson. Um, Summit actually used to
employ a social worker for years, for a long time. So that's that is um that's not unheard of in in Summit. And um I I personally wouldn't mind uh
entertaining that and thinking about that especially with the new ordinance there. There are a lot of conditions there. One condition is the confinement and um having a mental health expert there
to determine um whether someone is having a mental issue and needs to be confined. I think would would possibly help the police, but you know, that's something that we can discuss.
Um, secondly, you know, um, I I've read this Jim Crow and, you know, I've read that book a couple of times. Um, you know, it's easy to come in and relate everything to, you know, racism
and, um, unfortunate treatment against black folks, but that's not what we're talking about here. It's so easy to disregard the work that we've done, right? We've been housing first. We've housed
individuals, right? What's up, Ken? I see you back there. Um, the other thing is it's like folks come up here and and I I think they're they believe that um we're sitting somewhere up on a mountain and we you know we we have no interest
in talking to anybody and you I I know most of the people out on the street. I have their phone numbers. I mean, we've worked hard to get people housing. What this ordinance does is the
folks that do not want housing, um, it allows the police to take action. We don't we don't want people erecting tents on our village green. I
mean, think about that. There has to be some sort of balance in this world, right? It has to be um and we we're talking about mental health month and what I see personally
is a country that has to deal with social media and media day in and day out. You verse me, Donald Trump and what the Republicans doing, what the Democrat, I mean, it drives you crazy. Like I think, you know, a mental health
solution is to turn the damn television off and the and the Facebook and all this other crap. It's it's it's ridiculous. We're we're all one community and we're all trying to find solutions. The first thing that we do is always go to um they're doing it for
this reason. They don't want to see the homeless people. No, actually, no. That's in your head. That's not the way I feel. Stop putting how you believe um your perception about how I
feel, you know, or how you feel, how you think I feel on me. Like you have I I see it happens all the time. Um lastly, you know, I'm I'm super excited. There was a couple of things
that I wanted to get done in my term here. uh was one was uh enhance our police department and I hope that final stretch gets done during this budget season. Um number two is our summit
housing authority. I I I I'm really desperate to get um my folks, family members, friends, relatives on Glenwood Place um to rehab their apartments. It's been looking the same since I was a kid.
um we we got to do something there. So, I I hope this year we can get them um some relief. Uh in regards to the park line, man, I tell you that is a that is a beast. Um I I I hope that we can make
some strides in regards to the park line. That would be uh the first new park in Summit's history for over a hundred years. and we we got to move on that. So, we're working hard to get that done. Um, and that is all I have. Thank you,
Council President. Thank you, Councilman Ber. Other comments from council? Council President. Yes, Councilman Smallwood. Uh before I make a motion to adjurnn, um with regards to the the the camping
ordinance, I'm going to save my comments till the the hearing on on January 3rd or June 3rd. Um because I think enough has has been said um tonight. I would like to take it on a little bit of a lighter note. Um it's
teacher appreciation day and I think um if we have any teachers here, please stand up. We'd like to give you a round of applause. If not, um thank you all very much for our council president. Yes, our council president.
So thank you for it's being a being a teacher is is definitely a difficult job. I uh I I originally wanted to be a teacher when I went to college and uh my junior year I spent two weeks in a classroom in 11th grade.
Um I quickly made the decision to drop out of the uh teaching education program uh because it I definitely didn't have the temperament to deal with it. So council president, you you I I give you a lot of credit for for doing it. So um
it helps me in council meetings. Yeah. So, uh, thank you to all of our teachers that are out there. I know it's, uh, you know, it's a very rewarding job, but also a very difficult job at times. So, thank you very much for all of that. Uh, again, you know, I'm glad you, our
mayor, uh, gave a proclamation for mental health uh, ma making May mental health uh, month. Um, I was impressed by her ice bucket challenge and that she actually did it. Um, Councilwoman
Hamlet, I'm doing it. Your your your time is running out. I'm doing it. I'm doing it. I think you have to the end of day tomorrow. Um, just to, you know, just a fun way to kind of bring awareness to to mental health. And, you know, we did a little ice bucket
challenge. So, um, also wanted to point out the Summit Lacrosse boys team is playing in the, uh, Union County semi-finals on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. at Al Johnson High School in Clark. So, if you're able to make it on Thursday, it
would be great to go out and support our team. Um, they've had a great season up to this point. They're 10 and two. And, um, if they hopefully they'll win, they play they play New Providence on Thursday and hopefully they'll they'll win. And then the finals would be on
Saturday at 7 PM at Al Johnson High School in Clark. Uh, and that's pretty much all I had. Any other comments? Madame Mayor, would you like to make a comment? Thank you, Kevin, for reminding me. I failed to thank Annette Dwire who
is uh has been instrumental in helping get mental health awareness month um and collaborating with um all of the other towns that we're working with. So, I just want to make sure I shout her out because she came in sort of swooped in
and saved me from having to to try to figure out how all of this was going to happen. She coordinated. She actually tied the green ribbons on the trees herself. Um, so I just wanted to make sure I thanked her because she's and she's an incredible asset to our community. So if you see Annette, thank
her. Thank you, Councilwoman Cummlson. I just wanted to um clear things up. The the council that or the meetings that Councilman Palowski is talking about, those meetings, I was presented with the ordinance. I had I had no part in
crafting it. I I expressed a lot of concerns about unintended consequences and I wanted to build in some guard rails. Um, and I was told at the time it couldn't be done. Now I'm really happy with our latest one. But I just want to be clear with the public that I did not
help craft these and they were they were shown to me when they were already on the agenda. So I that's that's just all I want to say. I just want to make that clear. Um, and I do support the most recent one. Thank you. Other comments from
council? Yeah, I'll just wrap it up then if there's no further ones. Um yeah, um around um mental health awareness month. Um I just want to echo you know uh it is important to take care of our mental
health. Um, one of the things I see as a tying in your teacher stuff is at my school, we have banned these things um, for children as soon as they enter the room or in the school and they can't have them back until they leave. And it
makes a difference. Kids actually are talking to one another in the hallways and in the lunchrooms. It's amazing that they actually know how to do that and it's really really positive. Um I think as adults we can all take a
lesson from that. Uh, I've had meetings over the last couple of weeks about social media and what to say and what not to say and hurt feelings and uh, you know, it's it's a great tool for
communication, but it also is can be incredibly poisonous and it doesn't bring out the best in community. It just doesn't. Um, so you know, let's take a a maybe for the month. How about we just
keep our fingers off the keypads and don't plunge into the comment section and and dive in there is for because you know local politics doesn't have to be a blood sport. Um, so that would be nice. Um, and then finally just um I say
Joseph, you want to meet uh I have my emails on uh the council or on the website. Let's meet. Happy to. Okay. Okay. Uh and then the last thing I'd say I'm going to save most of my comments uh for the ordinance for the hearing. Um
but I would say a bunch of the people who came up and you know look I've said this at the beginning we are trying to solve a problem here. We have, you know, we have
not just these few individuals who we want to get housing for. We also have 22,000 other people that we represent. We care about these people. We care about everyone in Summit. And I just wish people would
before they get up and, you know, and start to talk about, you know, black codes and things like that. We're not trying to hurt people. We want to help them. And I just wish people would take their comments and start from that perspective and
rather than accusing people of doing bad things to say maybe we have a different way of doing something and maybe that should be open for discussion because that's what we all want these people to be housed. We all do. And but we also want a town that's safe
and our children can play in and and that we all want to live in and and raise our families in too. They are not mutually exclusive. If we think they are, we will never have conversations and we should and I think
this ordinance has been a real great example of conversations that have been had and that can and and have made it better. And so I just would hope that people when you come to speak, you know, we're human beings too and we care and that's where we're coming from. Um, and
that's all I have to say. Okay. So now, Mr. Small, I'd like to make a motion to adjourn. Second. All right. All in favor? I. All right. We are adjourned.