All right, welcome everyone uh to our second uh common council meeting for April. Like to thank we have a lot more people here than usual. Uh it's nice to see must be the budget Tammy. They're all here to see you. It's awesome. Uh u
Okay, so uh let's get going. Um madame may or madame clerk, could you please read the adequate notice of compliance statement, please? 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 that 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. Thank you so much. Uh, roll call, please. Mr. Ber present. Miss Hamlet here. Miss Camson here. Mr. Palowski here. Mr. Smallwood here. Miss Toth here. President McDan present. All right. Um at this time I'd like to call
on two longtime summit residents and brothers uh to lead us in the pledge of allegiance. The the DOA brothers, please. Will everybody please stand? I pledge algiance 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 guys. Um, all right, moving right along. Um, Madame Clerk, you would you please read the explanatory note regarding closed session and hearings
and comments? A close session meeting as 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 channels 30 and 33 and rebroadcast on Thursdays and Saturdays on HTTV on Comcast 36 and Verizon 33. When invited to speak, please come to the lectern clearly. State your name and address, spell your last name, and speak
into the 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 to permit all to be heard, speakers shall limit their comments to three minutes. Unless you are using an 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. Um All right. Um Madame Clerk, uh or I'm sorry, do I have a motion to approve the minutes for regular and close session meetings of March 18th and April 1st?
So moved. Second. All in favor? I I opposed. Motion carries. All right, we are Oh, before we get to reports, I just wanted to make an announcement. Um I believe there are seats uh upstairs if anyone in the back
uh would like to sit. I think there are TVs up there, too. Um you'll have plenty of opportunity to come down if you want to speak uh at any time during uh one of the public comment sections. I'd hate to see you guys all standing up there knowing that there are some seats uh
available in the building. So, you be my guest to stand if you'd like to though. Um okay. Uh so we're on to our report section. Uh Madame Mayor, uh do you have a report for us this evening? Indeed. Good evening everyone. So I'd like to start with a big thank you to everyone
who came out for our annual Easter egg hunt on the village green. Um, we had great weather and a fantastic turnout. And a special thanks to the PAL for sponsoring the event and to our Department of Community Programs for organizing such a fun day for our community. I hope you all got some great photos with our Easter Bunny. Looking
ahead to this weekend, we've got the always popular fishing derby at the municipal golf course. Once again, sponsored by the PL. Um, don't forget to bring your rods. Bait will be available for sale on site and we'll have free hot dogs for all participants. get there early for your chance at catching the
prize fish. It will be both Saturday and Sunday from 8 to 4 8:00 a.m. to 4 p.m. Um, I also want to acknowledge the retirement of police officer Karen Sour. I've known Karen personally for many years and I want to wish her the best as
she embarks on her next journey. Happy Earth. Very important. And a good word for I agree. [Laughter] Um, okay. Now, I want to speak to
something that I know many of you are here for tonight. Um, I want to provide some background about how the camping ordinance came about. When we started talking about this issue 14 months ago, we did so because there was an alarming drain on our first
responder resources and an overuse of the 911 system for non-emergency situations, putting our residents at risk for not getting immediate help when truly needed. Almost 20% of the calls coming into our volunteer first aid squad were from the same handful of individuals. And this there was a
similar drain on our police resources. Many of these calls were not true 911 calls. And for those of you who don't know, if an ambulance responds to a 911 call, as soon as they respond and interface with the individual, they're obligated to stay with the individual until they are deemed stable and
medically cleared or transport them for care. So, if they're responding to a call at the train station for somebody who's intoxicated, as an example, they can't leave and go on another call for a resident that has a real emergency like a heart attack or a stroke or a seizure
or a fall that requires transport to a hospital. they are obligated to stay. So at the time about it was probably about 14 months ago we had I want to say about 40 homeless people in Summit and we realized that we needed to
do something to both get them off the streets. Forgive me for interrupting but outside they're not we can't hear it's not synchronized and so there's a little frustration outside. Is there a delay? Is it there is there a delay or they can't hear anything when you're
speaking? Uh we see the council president and vice versa. It's not it's not synchronized. So there's a lot of frustration outside. Is it better if they go upstairs? Can try. Yeah. I mean uh I would suggest that they try the Whitman room upstairs.
Is it They told me it was just better. Someone just texted me that it got better. Okay. Didn't but All right. Can we maybe we do a testing? Anybody can we get a test a thumbs up from the uh lobby out there if we can if we're better now? Anyone? Anyone? Buer, keep talking.
Council President, I someone informed me that there's a 20 second or so delay. I don't think there's anything we can do. Yeah, that's a live stream thing. That's not That's not any malfunction. Should I speak more slowly? No, just kidding. We'll be okay. They'll I
think they'll be able to get the gist of what we're talking about. All right. So, um, we we started talking about how to both help individuals get off the streets and into a safe shelter and help our community's public safety
and health as well. In fact, at the time, we considered an ordinance like this one because other cities had passed similar ones. But as we looked into it more, we realized that there wasn't a one-sizefits-all solution for all these cases. So, we came up with our own strategy. Since we have so many service
providers in town who serve the homeless and housing insecure, we created the mayor's homelessness task force to bring everyone together in the same room and to come up with solutions to help those in need while eliminating duplication of services. I'm really proud of the success of that task force. Since its
formation in June, the task force has helped 21 individuals find housing or rehabilitation services. This group, which includes case managers, it's really cool. I I'm I'm just gonna we're going to have a really really long evening if everyone
applauses for line. So I I I'm sure the mayor appreciates the applause, but can we just keep the applause to a minimum so we can get through our meeting? Thank you. You had paddles. Yeah. Yeah. So, this group which includes the task force which includes case managers um first
aid uh I'm sorry, EMS workers, police and volunteers and um representatives from all of our service providers in town um and our our healthcare providers as well um have been spent countless hours and when I tell you countless and
these are all most of these people are volunteering their time to to solve this this issue. Um, we had service providers and outreach teams out 5 days a week engaging with people, working tirelessly creating relationships, identifying what the issues were, what
the hurdles were, and trying to find the right solutions for the people who wanted to engage and were ready to accept the boundaries required for them to receive the right care. It's an incredible success that continues to this day. Um, offering resources will always be our community's first
response. Not only has our task force helped all of those who were homeless um and willing to accept assistance, but they also helped seven summit residents who were at risk of becoming homeless get the resources they needed in time to get out of that crisis situation. So during
this whole process in the last you know 10 months or so as we were working to house these individuals and connect them with services we were expecting call volumes for some particular our particular issues and disturbances to decrease. So things like quality of life issues such as um urinating in public,
public intoxication, things like that. Um but we're still facing some of those. We're still seeing a lot of calls regarding those issues. Um and we're still facing some public safety issues and an inordinate request for resources from a group of individuals who haven't
accepted help or boundaries that have been put in place. Some of the calls we received include showing pornography to children, looking up pornography on library in the library on public computers in plain view of our kids, um punching and hitting our first
responders, urinating and defecating in public places, including right in the middle of center town. Um, most recently we even experienced a more threatening situation where one of these individuals was panhandling and when an 11-year-old did not give him money, he pulled a
knife on her. We had to ask ourselves, not only how do we help those in need who want help, but also how do we protect our residents, our business owners, and our visitors? We identified two major issues. the strain on our resources from these disturbances which
I've outlined. And secondly, and even more importantly, a broader public safety implications near our highly trafficked areas like our train station, our bus stops, our library, and our downtown. For instance, because unattended personal belongings are
becoming commonplace, we run the risk of complacency and not being able to recognize when there's a true threat. I know when I go to New York airport and I see a backpack and there's nobody around, I look around, right? Um we're not we're sort of becoming a little
immune to that in our little summit bubble and and that's concerning. It's really unacceptable. We have a train station with thousands of commuters passing through each day and we can't allow ourselves to be a soft target for someone with violent intentions because we can't properly monitor the surrounding area. I think we can all
agree that the residents of Summit would not want a tent city on the village green and that we want to be safe in our s in our city and I think that all of our discussions and efforts will be to ensure our residents safety while also continuing to treat individuals with
compassion. In the fa past few weeks, we have taken into account feedback from residents, our service providers, law enforcement, the prosecutor's office to amend what was proposed last uh meeting in a way that better serves their needs and the
community. I'm thrilled with the collaboration from those who truly want to be a part of the solution and it's led to something that I think is going to be better and more useful and that my friends is the power of democracy. So, thank you to all who have been involved in these discussions. Thank you again to
my task force um for your tireless efforts and for all of our service providers and our first responders who are caring and compassionate. Thank you. Thank you, Madame Mayor. All right. Uh moving along to our city administrator
report. Miss Baldwin, please. Thank you, Council President. Good evening, everyone. The next summit free market will be held this Friday, April 25th from 12:00 p.m. to 2 p.m. at the transfer station. It's located at 40 New Providence Avenue. Stop by, drop off any
unwanted yard sale quality items, and browse for other donated items for free. A Summit resident transfer station permit is required to attend and more information is available at city of the website cityofsummit.orgfreearket. And in
celebration of local government week, which was held earlier this month, the city of Summit is hosting a spring photo contest now through May 16th. Summit residents can submit up to three photos of our city that showcase its beauty, uniqueness, and community spirit during
the spring season. The contest is open to residents of all ages. And all the information is available at cityofsummit.org/phoontest. We can't wait to see what you will share with us. That's my report. Thank you. All right. Thank you very much. I'll keep my uh
report very brief because we have a lot to get through today. Um I just want to thank everyone. Uh we kind of joked about it, but um uh our city administrators been working tirelessly with city staff to prepare our budget. Uh and we're introducing it tonight.
Um, we all talk about affordability and and how expensive it is to live in New Jersey and all that is true. Most times when we talk about our budget, we have three people in the room. It matters though. So, I'm, you
know, and I'm I'm happy that people come here and listen about what we're trying to do with city finances and and uh and how we're going to manage that. So I'm looking forward to our presentation and I just am happy that people will see it and understand some of the challenges
that we face around providing highquality services with the other side of it making the city as affordable as possible so people can continue to live and raise a family here. And it's not easy. It's not easy. and and I do want
to thank Tammy um and all the people working in the finance office um for her hard work and and we'll talk more about the committee work later, but um I'm I'm looking forward to that. All right, so with that um Councilman Palowski, do we have a
historical minute today? We do. I'd like to introduce our business administrator, Tammy Baldwin, who's gonna do some of uh the history of budgets in summit. Woohoo. App propo. Thank you very much. Thank you, council
president. Um, and I appreciate being allowed to do the historical minute this evening. I'll keep it very brief. Um, but I recently moved into the city administrator's office, having been the CFO for the last six years. And in moving into that office, I came across some interesting books and publications
that are housed on the bookshelves in my new office. One of those books entitled 20th Century Summit, written by Edward S. Alcott, was one I picked up and I couldn't put down. Having grown up here in Summit, I really thought I knew so much about this city. However, I did
learn that there was so much I didn't know between the covers of that book. If you can get a hold of a copy, I highly recommend reading it. Admittedly, I have been in budget prep mode for some time now. And in my efforts to collaborate and prepare the municipal budget for
introduction over the last several mud several months, budget has been top of mind. So, in keeping with the budget theme, I have found some interesting facts about budgets in this book. Many of you may be aware that Summit was incorporated city in 1899 with a
population of a little over 5,000 people. There was an election in April of that year to change the form of government from a township to a city. And that election produced the first mayor of the city of Summit, George H. Wilcox. And the new sevenman common
council, it was men then. Um the members of this first council were for the most part businessmen and executives working in New York City uh or in Summit in fields such as sugar and coffee brokerage, diamond dealing, mailing and book binding, blacksmith and wagon
repair, bakery and confectionary, and lumber and building materials. There was also a New York attorney on the council of the two of the original councilmen, George W. Baldwin and Rufford Franklin were later to become mayors. And a fun fact, George W.
Baldwin was the second mayor of Summit and was my great great-grandfather. So, talk about history. At this meeting on May 16th, 1899, budget appropriations for the ensuing year were approved and they included
$18,500 for roads, water, and lights, 5,000 for general city expenses, a th000 for the poor. This is how it's listed. 4,000 police, 500 for health, $1,500 for fire, and $1,700 for a source thinking
fund, bringing the total budget at $32,200. Fast forward to 1928 and the municipal budget in total was $561,000 and change. Salaries for a 25man police department totaled 46,000,
which is less than the annual salary of a policeman 97 years later. Police officer 97 years later, the city clerk and the city treasurer each made $1,500 annually. The superintendent of ashes and garbage made
$2,700, and the line item for snow removal was $900 and change. Maybe next year I'll go into the archives and see what budgets look like in the years after 1928 or whatever documents we have, how far back I can go, and I will update you then. Unfortunately, the
budget I'll be introducing shortly will not be $561,000, but it's also not 1928. Thank you for indulging me, and I hope you found this as interesting as a self-proclaimed budget nerd did. Thank you, Tammy. Okay. Uh we're on to
the presentation uh section of our meeting. I'll just make an announcement. Um the Elks Club recognition of the mayor as citizen of the year. Sadly, uh someone uh at the Elks uh came down with an illness and we're going to have to
postpone that. So your recognition will be delayed somewhat, but I'm sure it'll just be as amazing as it would have been this evening. Um, but we still do have one presentation which is a fair well message from our retiring u police chief
Steven Zagorski. I think uh our mayor would like to maybe give a slight a small introduction. I would. Thank you. I want to say um that we are incredibly grateful to Chief Zagorski um for his 36
years of dedicated service to our city. He has led with integrity, steadfastness, and an unwavering commitment to keeping our community safe. His membership of our current officers I'm sorry, I can't see and I'm trying not to cheat because
really this is supposed to be and it is from the heart and I really didn't want to read. Sorry, chief. I'm not good at this. um his mentorship for of our current officers and of the incoming administration has ensured that the department is in a strong position to
continue its important work. It has been a privilege to get to know you and to work alongside you and I thank you for your patience and your guidance and for helping me understand the inner workings of public safety. And I will really miss your calm demeanor and your sense of
humor. and we all are better for your leadership and I wish you the very very best as you explore your next chapter. So thank [Applause]
[Applause] you. All right, Chief, the podium is yours. This is a little bit uh more coverage than I was anticipating. Tonight is a moment filled
with gratitude, reflection, and I must admit, a touch of bittersweet emotion. After serving as a law enforcement officer for 36 years, this chapter of my life is coming to a close. It has been an incredible honor
to serve this community, to work alongside some of the most dedicated men and women in uniform and to be part of something bigger than myself. I want to begin simply with a heart a heartfelt thank you. Thank you for the unwavering
support you've shown me uh throughout my career. It's been one of the greatest honors of my life to serve this community and I am deeply humbled by the trust you've placed in me. I want to uh especially thank Mayor
Elizabeth Fagan and the former mayor, Mayor Norah uh Nora Raidus for their steadfast support, leadership, and dedication to public safety. mayors. Uh your belief in me and this police department made all the
difference and I'm truly grateful for the guidance and partnership we've shared over the past few years. Thank you. Being a police officer wasn't just a job for me. It was a lifelong
dream. Ever since I was a kid, this is all I wanted to do. Well, honestly, it was actually a toss up between playing shortstop for the Mets or this. Um, but no, in all seriousness, uh this job is the only is
is all I wanted to do. To have had that chance uh to not only uh do that, but to lead this incredible department as chief has been more than I ever imagined. It has truly been an honor of a
lifetime. For me, policing is more than enforcing laws. It is about protecting, serving, building trust. It's about the relationships we form, the challenges we overcome, and the moments that that
remind us why we chose this path. Throughout my career, I have witnessed the very best of this community. Neighbors helping neighbors. Officers going above and beyond. A city that pulls together in
times of crisis. I've loved coming to work every single day, not just because of the importance of the mission, but because of the men and women of this department. They are undoubtedly some of
the best people I know. dedicated, courageous, compassionate, and committed to making this community safer and stronger. They've inspired me daily, and I'm proud to have been beside them. As I pass the torch to our new
chief, Ryan Peters, I do so with absolute confidence. The department is in very good hands. The future is bright. and I'm excited to see how this next chapter unfolds under Ryan's strong,
capable leadership. So, it is with gratitude, great pride, and a full heart that I say goodbye not to the people, not to this place, but to the
job. Uh, the job I've cherished with all my heart. Thank [Applause] [Applause] you. Can't hug you from here. All right, Tammy, you're going to have to follow that. Um, all right. So, we've
got our 2025 budget presentation uh now. And as I mentioned, uh, Tammy Baldwin, our city administrator, and she also is our chief financial officer, um, is going to introduce our 2025 operating budget.
Thank you, Council President. Thank God. We're going to take a few seconds here. I'm going to catch my breath. That was a little bit emotional. Um, get this presentation up for you all. Okay. Well, good evening again everyone. It's the trifecta. I did the city
administrator report. I did the historical minute and now the municipal budget presentation. Um, I have never I've been doing budgets for 25 years now in municipal government and this is by far the biggest crowd I've ever done a presentation in front of for for
budgets. So, this is exciting, a highlight for my career. Um, I'm going to try to keep this as brief as I can, but it is a lot of information to get into a condensed period of time. Um, and there will be
information posted. Uh this presentation will go up on the city website tomorrow and by Friday there'll be some very detailed information going up on the city website if anybody wants to do a deep dive. Uh but tonight we're gonna quickly let me go over what we're going
to go through is the process and the timeline and how we develop the budget, the challenges, some of the challenges we face for 2025, our financial totals, the general fund summary points of the budget, our tax base evaluation, property taxes and budget
impact, and the general fund revenues and appropriations along with the city's debt position. and we'll touch on the uh 2025 capital budget and um that plan. So, this process actually starts in
August. I'm just uh what four months out from starting it again for 2026. Um all department heads start putting together their operating and their capital budget requests. They're submitted to the chief financial officer and the city administrator in October of
2024. And then um council committees review and discuss the various department budgets in their committee. They come back with any revisions provided to the CFO and then um in December we have a public workshop
on the capital budget request. I don't know if anybody attended that but it's a very in-depth look at what the various departments are requesting in terms of capital projects. Um January and February, the operating budgets are discussed with the finance committee um
and the capital projects as well. And we evaluate and finalize the capital budget plan. And that brings us to today doing the introduction and presenting this budget to common council um in this meeting. And then there is state budget
law that requires 28 days between introduction and adoption, a minimum of 28 days. So, the hearing on this budget will be on May 20th. So, the challenges that we faced in 2025, um, right off the bat, we had a revenue loss of
$315,000 in change. The state, um, many, many years ago, um, the state started collecting energy receipts tax. That was something a revenue that was previously collected by municipalities. the state took it over and then they decided that um it's kind of part of our state aid
and you also have to now go through a best practice summary and checklist in order to get and retain 100% of your state aid. But they've never really given back all of the ERT money that they took over. So in 23 and 24 there
was a movement to restore some of that. So, in each year we got $315,000 extra. Um, I feel like it was the municipalities in the first place, but we were getting a little piece of it back and that is not happening for
2025. Um, on the appropriation side, um, we have 952,000 increase in the municipal municipal operation expenses or 4.6%. Um, that's not really a lot when you're talking about uh
5759,000. I mean 57 million last year, 59 million this year budget. Um, we were up in salary and wages by 279,000. That's pretty low. There was some restructuring done which saved us a bit. That number would have been much
higher. um and then 672,000 and change in the um other expenses, the regular operating non- salary expenses. There was an almost $60,000 increase in the general liability and workers compensation. We've been seeing steady increases in
this area uh in large part due to cyber security threats that not only municipalities but all corporations and and private industry are seeing the same kind of threats. And then um our healthcare insurance premiums went up by
$450,000. It was a 17% increase with the state health benefit plan. Um, caveat to that, uh, myself and my finance team and some other folks in city hall will be looking at our options for 2026 to see
if we can do something different um, and save some money in the 26 budget because I don't anticipate that 17% is going to be the number next year. I think it might be much higher reading all of the fiscal reports that are coming out. So, we'll be looking at that
carefully. Um the general fund municipal budget for 2025 is 59,769,000 and change. Um again that's a 4.6% increase in the amount budgeted not in taxes. We'll get there in a minute.
Um and then the capital budget is up at 5,256. That's a 2.9% increase. have to keep in mind that we u and we talked about this last year when um the previous city administrator presented the budget. Um there's a lot of capital
needs, infrastructure needs to be maintained and we can't continue to not do it and push it. Eventually, we have to get certain things done. So, we take a hard look at what is imminent, what can wait, and what needs our immediate attention and and that's how those are
developed. Uh we also have a soore utility fund and a parking utility fund. They are the soar utility fund. Uh they're both called self-liquidating funds, right? They are maintained the expenses are covered by the revenue that's taken in.
So the soar fees that are collected cover all of the expenses of the soar utility fund and the parking revenue that's generated covers all of the expenses of the parking utility fund. Um those numbers are here. We are up 4.7% in the operations for the so
utility fund and um 1% in the parking utility fund. Um the capital budget looks huge there with the parking utility. You see 2025 is 2,725,000 and last year it was 55,000.
That is because in large part we have funds put in to re rehab um the tier garage. It is in need of repair. There have been some presentations to council. Um we're looking into it further to see the breadth of the repair that's
needed. Um uh Tammy, could you just speak closer into the microphone? Yes, I can. I apologize. Um, so we're looking into that to see if uh we're fairly certain this will not cover it, but we're starting to prepare for that and we need to get into the
design of it to really see what we're looking at. Um, and then we have to do a a cost benefit analysis as to whether it's something we should fix and how many years does that get us or is this something that we have to look at a bigger solution
for? Um so financial totals and that's everything all in you're taking soar parking and the general fund and we are up 8.6% 6% but again that is not in taxes that's three different budgets alto together so just a reminder nobody
panic um taxbased valuation breakdown everybody can see this and take a deeper dive but essentially um we are we are looking at a net assessed valuation total of 3 bill380,000 and change and you can see
the distribution on this slide um residential property makes up 82% of that tax base valuation. Commercial makes up 9 12%. Um industrial 5 12% and and the apartments vacant land and the business per
personal property telephone tax with Verizon makes up the smaller percentage. the tax base growth. Uh you can see over all the years um 2020 through 24 um to note you see that in 23
that tax base growth was $81.9 million. That is because uh Bristol Meyer Squib some of their properties came back online and were assessed at the right values and so that made for a big jump
that year. uh this year in 2024 we closed with an increase of just about 26 million and this is important because the growth in the tax base raises revenue in the tax automatically inherently so it's not
additional tax rate that has to go up so our tax base as I said is 3.38 billion that's up 26 million from 2024 inherently ly that provides for 1
million 1.13 million uh in increase of total tax revenues. Of that the municipal gain is 240,500. That 1.13 is the school, the county, the library, everything included there. So just over a half a cent in
taxbased growth. That's the impact on the municipal tax rate. This is a quick slide. lot of information here, but it gives you the breakdown of the estimated right now. Um I don't have the county all in yet. Um
but we estimated that based on information they provided and right now 2025 um looks like this. Uh 4.48 is the tax rate increase um for the municipal side which is the only thing
that this council really can control. um that is 0.943 which is a 0.018 cent um tax increase. This dollar is a pretty good graphic um that our chief communications
officer helped me get up here. Um and this shows the distribution of your tax dollar. So 49.3% goes to the school, 24% goes to the county, 21% goes to the
municipality. Um, additionally there's 3.2 in school debt service. So that raises that to about 52.5 for the school. So just over half your dollar. And then um 2.23% is the public library. And their
calculation, it's a state formula. So they tell us what that's going to be. It's a third of a mill formula and based on population. And that's how that works. So, for every property tax dollar build and collected, the city only retains 21 cents to fund municipal
budget needs. I think it's really important to point that out, and I've been saying this for 25 years because it doesn't matter which municipality you're in. You really do get the most bang for your buck in your local municipality. This is where you get your services, your public safety, your police, your
fire, your garbage picked up, your DPW, your snow plowed, roads taken care of. Everything happens here and you can see that the piece of the dollar is smaller here than it is in other areas. Um, if you take a look at this,
this is a tax bill comparison. So, the average residential home in Summit this year is assessed, the assessment is $440,641. So, if we were to take that assessment and take last year's tax rate, that's
the column in 2024, and take the tax rates and apply them for the ones that are estimated for 2025, the tax bill goes up by $542. $374 of those dollars are to the school.
$49 is the increase with the county. $40 is the increase for the library and $79 is the increase in that average bill for the municipality breaks down to I think it's $658 if I remember. I had to look just
to see that's what it cost from a municipal perspective. Um this is the annual change in the municipal tax rate from 2015 to 2025. And uh this slide represents the general fund revenues. Um you can see that fund
balance is at 8.4 million in this budget. That's 14% of the revenue. Our local revenues are make up 6.8% of the budget. The state aid 6%. Um
grants.1% of the budget. I think it's worth noting here that in 2024 you see that there was 137,000 in change in grants and right now there's 608 in 2025. When we closed out 24 we had over $900,000 in grants.
Um but they weren't in the initial adopted budget. They come in during the year. The state approves them and lets me enter them into the budget. So, um, we're lucky that we started out strong, um, right now and I already have a couple of grants that have come in, um, that'll get booked after the budget is
adopted. There's a whole process with the state for that. Um, enterprise enterprise funds contributions make up 5%. Um, prior year tax receipts half a percent. The municipal tax levy makes up
53% of the general fund revenue. Um and the school district debt has to be paid back to the municipality. They cover that. That makes up 7% of the revenue. So it offsets their debt. And um the library tax levy makes up uh
5%. So our fund balance, otherwise known as surplus, we closed out uh 2024 um with 11 million 11.85 85 million in surplus. Um we're using 8.4 of that
in this budget and that leaves just about 3 and a.5 million unused remaining balance. It's really important. People often ask why not just use it all? Why not lower our taxes and use all of that surplus? Well, the problem with that is what do I do next year? Uh you can only
go up 2% on the tax levy and we leave this behind to regenerate surplus. And there are other methods, you know, unused appropriations cancel back. Um unanticipated revenues add to that. Um but it is it is not a smart move at all
to deplete your fund balance. So um this leaves behind oops I should go back one second. Um this leaves behind the 3.4 3.45 million. Um, I get to it in another slide, but there are certain policies that the credit rating agencies look for
in how much surplus you have and what is your surplus policy. And Summit is rated AAA by all three rating agencies. And that is worth its weight and gold. And keeping a 25 to 30% fund balance is
really important in that endeavor. And that lowers our interest rates when we go out to bond. So, it it all ties in the property tax levy. Um, most people are familiar with, and that is that you can't raise property taxes by
more than 2%. We are $718,000 under the max amount that we are allowed to go to this year. uh our general fund appropriations. Um just so you know what what makes that up. Um 37 million and change is made up
the municipal operations. That includes uh department salaries, wages, other expenses. It includes our utilities, insuranceances, our statutory expenditures, pension, social security, all of that. Um the other
appropriations 17 uh 17,524,000 and change that is made up of the library levy, your grants and interlocal agreements, your capital improvements um down payment, your municipal and local school debt service,
and your deferred charges and reserves. And then there's the reserve for uncollected taxes um of 5,15. the appropriations we just spoke of. I don't think I'll go down the whole list. I think everybody could see it, but um the 37 million is made up of
these various areas including general government finance, public safety, your community services, your community programs, your board of health, your municipal court, which we share with New Providence, your utilities, your insuranceances, your pension, and social security. And I have invisal lines and I
sometimes really lisp lately, so forgive me. a tough time with these things. Um, on the other side, as I said, these are the percentages that make up the um, other appropriations, including our joint dispatch, capital
down payments, debt service, etc. There's also an appropriations cap in addition to the tax levy cap. Um this was the first cap that the state um law came down on which most of us CFOs these days say why don't you just get rid of
that because the tax levy cap is really the overriding feature. We can't go over 2% so really the rest of this doesn't matter that much but there still is an appropriations cap where you can't go over 3 and a half% of your appropriations from the previous year. But then they give you all kinds of
exceptions. So, it it's kind of a a funky formula, but um we are 2,330,000 under that appropriations cap. So, uh we didn't even come close to that. Um quick slide on salaries and wages because this seems to be of
interest to folks. Um and this does include temporary seasonal um employees with our pool and our golf course. Um so you can see that um from 24 to 25 in the general budget we're up by
1.5%. In the store utility budget we're up 2.1%. Parking services we actually decreased by 14.4%. There was a lot of turnover and change from um longtime employees and new folks taking over. So
just by attrition um that savings occurred. And then in our um UCCC, which is a dedicated trust fund, we're up 4.9%. Our current debt position, um as of the end of the year, our annual debt statement is posted on the website. Anybody who's interested can take a look
at that. Um but our statutory equalized valuation is um 8 bill512,942632. that allows us um 3 and 12% borrowing power. So um counties can go to 2 and 12%, municipalities to 3.5%. That would
have allow us to borrow $297 million in change. We are not doing that. Um right now we're at 62 million. So um you could see that we are well under what we're allowed to go to. Um the remaining power
there is that 235 million. Um and our net debt to statutory equalized valuation is 678. So we're under 1%. We're not even at 1% and we could go to three and a half. Not that I would advise
them. Um this is our debt and the capital budgets. It just gives a history from 2016 to 2025. the amount of principal that we're paying um for our bonds and then that year's capital budget. So it
doesn't correlate the the slide is shown together, but um your capital budget often doesn't go out to you go for notes for a couple years and then when it builds up and it's cost-effective and the rates are right, you go out and you take bonds. Um, so in my experience
here, it's about every 3 years depending on where the rates are with the market and if it makes sense at that time. And these are the capital budgets. I'll touch on these real quick because we did have a very lengthy um discussion back in December on this. Um, but
overall the general funds 5,256,000 and change. the parking services agency. I talked about the funds for the tier garage two 2.7 million and the soar utility uh improvements of 2.1
million. This is a breakdown by department um for 2025. Fire requested 333,000. Police 195,000. Community services um just over three million. Community programs
1.375 million and administration clerk 260,000. That's what uh makes up that 5,256. Uh these are a breakdown of parking services. We touched on that briefly. Again, that is up because of the tier garage and soar is actually um
down by 460,000 as it stands right now. Um this is a detail for the fire department of the request that they made. It's turnout gear replacing car one, small equipment, rescue equipment, and radio equipment makes up that
333,000. In the police department, it's a network server replacement and upgrade. It's Axon drone equipment, um, replacing desktop computers and vehicle replacement. Department of Community Services, which is where most of our capital dollars are spent. This is where
our infrastructure is. and um their total request there's 2,140,000 in road improvement projects, in storm water projects, in traffic and safety um projects. Um and there's a
list here that you all can look at um online if you'd like to. Also, vehicles and equipment, a rear packer garbage truck, a trash transfer trailer, and a zeroturn mower. And then um city buildings and
properties and the transfer station have some uh additional funding requests um for city hall, for DPW, for the community center, and for upgrades to the transfer station. The Department of Community Programs uh has funding request in
for upper Tatlock playground, the memorial playground, a shade structure and basketball court at the Summit Family Aquatic Center, Tatlock Lighting, Investors Bank Stadium upgrades, and um the administration
clerk finance capital. There's not every year is there something there, but there is funding in for upgrades to the Whitman community room upstairs. That's to be able to live stream and to get all of that up to speed with, you know, 2025. And then um property acquisition
for a small piece of property uh related to um the firehouse, just a small piece within that whole property that the city doesn't own currently. Uh and that's what that is for. The Soore utility has
2,145 in their budget. In large part, that is for the Soore infrastructure. Um, cameraing inspections, lining, spot repairs, mapping and updates, and facility upgrades, as well as sore replacements for particular areas and
general areas. Um, general repairs and system upgrades to the sore infrastructure. um utility vehicle and truck with plow for equipment and 200,000 for our pump stations on Chattam Road and Constantine Place and then general pump upgrades as
necessary. Also, there is 250,000 um starting to work towards the capital contribution that as a member of the joint meeting of Essex in Union County, we have to contribute to the capital programs that they have. Parking services is the tier garage
rehab project, 2.5 million. City hall parking lot and lighting upgrades. That's right out here. Um and parking lot improvements of 50,000. Um so before I get into this is we're almost done. I'm wrapping it up, I promise. But I I think it's important to
let everybody know that when it comes to capital projects, this budget adopts a plan. It adopts a municipal budget. It adopts a store so utility budget and a parking utility budget. It does not adopt the capital. It adopts a plan. That is just
a plan until council approves any ordinances to go ahead with funding those requests. So, it remains a plan and there's another we always say there's another bite at the apple when those ordinances come up for
introduction and adoption for um folks to come out and hear about that, talk about it, express their opinions at the hearings for those things. Um and and what you have in a plan might not always be what passes eventually, but this is this is where we're at right now.
Um the key highlights of this budget is that we ended highest in decades the general fund balance at the end of 2024 at the 11.85 million which is fantastic. Um we are using 8.4 million in
anticipated surplus to offset taxes for 2025. Um, last year we used 70%, this year it's 71%, but I'm still well within that 25 to 30% that the credit rating agencies are looking for.
Uh, 844,928 $844,928 is the uh, municipal tax levy increase to balance the budget. Outside of the other revenues that help support that, the 26 million in new property
value growth brings in the 1.13 million in new total tax revenue, um, which is the 240,000 in new municipal revenue. And overall, the 2025 municipal budget will require a municipal tax rate
increase of 018 um to generate about 68,000 in additional revenue. So again, $79 of the estimated 542 total tax bill increase is related to the municipal tax rate. Um, again, based on the average
residential property, I would just like to thank all of the department heads and my finance team because without everybody, this was a crazy year. Um, we had a lot of people um, move on and move up. you mentor
people and then they get these bigger jobs and they leave you. And uh my assistant treasurer left in December. It it's just been a little nutty, but um with the help of all the department heads and all of their hard work and the finance committee who really bore down
on all of this week after week in our meetings, um I appreciate it because it is a collaborative effort and without everybody I would not have been able to do it. So that wraps up the presentation. [Applause]
Thank you, Miss Baldwin. That was really really great. Um I hope that was informative for for everyone here. Um so uh we are if for people who do follow our meetings, usually resolutions come after ordinances. However, because this
we're talking about two budgets uh this time around, um we introduce our budgets by resolution. Uh so there are so we're we're going to have a little resolution sector se section. Um we're then we'll go back to hearing. So you guys will uh
we'll get we're almost getting to what you guys most of you have come for. Um and uh and then we'll go back uh to to finish up with further resolutions. So, uh, with that, we've got two, uh, resolutions coming out of finance, and I'd like to ask Councilwoman, uh, Toth
to int, uh, to, uh, introduce, uh, finance number one. Thank you, Council President. This is resolution ID1808, and this resolution introduces the 2025 budgets for the city and for the parking and sewer utilities. And as
M. Baldwin noted per state law we shall vote on these budgets on May 20th and I move to adopt this resolution via a roll call vote. I second. Okay. Um this is a resolution to create a hearing date. So normally on
resolutions uh we would have public comments and council comments. Um but because we're having this we'll have a hearing on this the hearing on this one will will take place uh in a month. Okay. So, um, with that, may I have a roll call? Madam Clerk, Mr. Ber, I. Miss
Hamlet, I. Miss Calmanson, hi. Mr. Palowski, I. Mr. Smallwood, I. Miss Toth, I. President McTurn, I. Okay. Uh, motion carries. All right. Uh, finance number two, Councilwoman Toth. Thank you, Council President. This is resolution ID 1809, and it introduces
the 2025 budget for Summit Downtown, Inc., our special improvement district. The budget is included in the in the larger meeting packet and we'll also vote on this budget on May 20th. So, I move to adopt this resolution via a roll
call vote. I second. Thank you. Uh, roll call, please. Um, council president, did you want to give um, Miss Adams any opportunity to speak? Um, I I'd love you to come back at our hearing date and speak. No, you can't.
our our board treasurable. Okay, that's great. All right, roll call. Mr. Ber, I. Miss Hamlet, I. Miss Calmanson, I. Mr. Pilowski, I. Mr. Smallwood, I. Miss Toes, I. President McT. Motion carries. All right. Uh, we're moving
along to uh ordinances for hearing. Um, we've got a few today. Uh, so we're starting off with finance. Uh, Councilwoman Toth. Okay. Thank you, Coun. Oh, would you like me to read the Oh, yeah. Yeah. I'm sorry. Uh, Matt, I'm sorry. Madam Clerk, will you please read
the ordinance for final hearing for finance? For hearing. Uh, ordinance number 25-3336, bond ordinance providing for the acquisition of a portion of the property at 402 Broad Street in and by the city of Summit in the county of
Union, New Jersey, appropriating $210,000, therefore, and authorizing issuance of $200,000 in bonds or notes of the city for finding financing such appropriation. Thank you very much. Uh, now, Councilwoman Toth. Okay. Thank you,
Council President. And this ordinance will allow the city to purchase the so-called finger lot on Broad Street between the former firehouse and the Chestnut Street parking lot. Acquiring this final piece of that larger property allows the city to sell it to a
developer. Specifically, this ordinance allows the city to spend up to 210,000, which includes professional and transaction fees associated with the purchase along with the purchase price. The city can issue a bond for up to $200,000. I move to open the hearing on
this ordinance. I second. Okay. Um I'm going to declare the hearing open. Uh at this time, what we're going to do with the hearing, uh we'll ask I'm going to ask for public comments. Um and then we'll have council comments. Uh I am wearing my
constitution tie today. So I think it's super super important that people have an opportunity to speak. uh when they would like to. Uh one of the things we rebelled against England for was because we weren't allowed to petition the king. Um so you should be able to petition the
government. Uh that being said, we have a meeting to get through. So I'm going to ask everyone as u madame clerk said, if you come up um please limit your comments to three minutes. Uh at the beginning, please state your name and
your full address for the record. and then you can talk about whatever you'd like around these ordinances. I will say though, we have a large crowd here. Um we're going to try and get through all of this. So, um in general, um if you
agree with something that somebody said, raise your hand and just say, "Yep, agree." Um let's hold the applause to a minimum so we can get through these uh comments. I would just ask you uh the um the other thing I would say is let's
be polite to each other. Uh you know we can't have civilization without civil. Okay. So um we are all neighbors. Uh we are all here. We we're friends. We worship together. We send our kids to school together. Let's model good
behavior. Um so if you have comments, please address the council. They're comments. This is not a question and answer session. Okay. Um so address the council and please try and hold your uh your comments uh to three minutes. If
you are in the audience, please respect the people who are speaking and let them talk. Okay? If you want to come up and and make a comment, you will have your opportunity. Um, I am told as well that uh we have a big crowd out in the in the
lobby and upstairs and that uh our as you guys came in our our uh firemen are keeping a count. I think we're at capacity. We are. So I would ask if you make a comment and you're done. There are people probably outside
who would like to make a comment. you can go home and watch the rest of this on TV and have a sandwich and kick your feet up. Um, when you leave, another person can come in and then make a comment as well. Okay? So, just keep
that in mind um as as you're finishing. Okay? And and we'll get through this evening. It's great. I can't wait to hear everybody's um comments. Okay? So with that um um I'm open the uh the hearing is open for anyone who wishes to
comment on our first finance ordinance. Good evening uh Diego Hoy Nal Court. This transaction is a win-win. The city wins by completing a larger property that likely becomes more attractive to prospective
buyers. The current owner of the lot finds its natural buyer. Without this transaction, he or she would be left with a tiny property of limited commercial potential. Thus, I wonder whether the city is
paying a fair price. By appropriating $210,000 to buy 0.067 acres of undeveloped land, the valuation becomes $3.1 million per acre.
How did this council decide that $3.1 million per acre was a good price for an empty lot? Thank you. I'll send it to you, Rosie. Thank you. Other comments? All right. I'm going to
declare the public comment portion of our hearing uh closed. Uh any comments from council? No. Well, I got to make a comment then. No. Uh this um this is uh as mentioned uh so
eloquently by Councilwoman Toth is the last little piece in the jigsaw puzzle to get this property at Broad Street West ready for sale. Um for those of you been following it, there are four parcels of land that the um current
firehouse occupies. one of the parcels we have a lean to use. It's a little tiny strip that goes kind of right next to the current firehouse. Um we need the city uh determined working through
council and with our uh planners that it was super important to get control of that little sliver of land uh in order to have a uh that a developer would care. if if you didn't have it, the the lots would have to be sold separately
and the value for the city would be less. Um, we worked very hard uh to come up with uh thinking about how to do this transaction and what we decided we we engaged with the current owner. The
owner had an agreement to sell this property to the developer, the infamous developer who was uh going to buy our property uh and then develop the Broad Street West
uh large development. Um we worked with we uh talked to the the owner. We we agreed to effectively step in for that developer to at uh to at the same monetary value that the
developer was willing to pay for it. Um thinking about it on those terms, uh that developer is a professional, knows a lot more about real estate than we did. And I think if anyone had followed the Broad Street West uh saga all those years, that developer kind of ran
circles around government as it came to uh to development. So um that uh that property I think is very fairly valued. It it um uh it's not you can't look at it just because it's per acreage. It
matters because it's that last piece in the jigsaw puzzle. Without it, you can't really sell the lots in general. So, I think it's a great deal and I'm very happy to uh support this ordinance. Okay. All right. Uh without any further questions or comments, I'm going to
close the hearing on this ordinance. Um we've got another ordinance for hearing today. Uh madame clerk, will you please read uh the first safety and health ordinance? Ordinance number 25-3337, an ordinance amending and supplementing the code of the city of
Summit. Chapter 3, police regulations to add new sections 3-17 entitled skateboards, scooters, and other non-motorized personal transportation devices and 3-18 entitled electric personal transportation
vehicles. Thank you very much, Councilman Ber. Thank you, Council President. I am introducing ordinance number 253337 for a final vote which amends chapter 3 of our city code to address the responsible use of personal
transportation devices both motorized and non-motorized within our city. This ordinance adds two sections to our police department regulations. section 317, which regulates nonmotorized
devices such as skateboards, bicycles, scooters, and rollerblades, although I don't know if anybody rollerblades anymore. Um, section 318 governs electric transportation vehicles, including both low and high-speed ebikes
and electric scooters, in accordance with state definitions. We fully recognize that these devices offer real benefits, especially children, seniors, and
individuals. Um, we promote safe travel. However, we've also recognized that we need to protect pedestrians. And over the past few years, we've seen
a rise in injuries, near collisions, and resident complaints, particularly involving unsafe sidewalk use in high foot traffic areas. Non-motorized devices will now be
prohibited on sidewalks in our downtown district where foot traffic is dense and pedestrian safety is paramount. Electric bikes and scooters are prohibited from all sidewalks and pedestrian pathways citywide and must be operated on streets
where bicycles are permitted. A detailed list of prohibited streets in the downtown district is included in your meeting packet for public reference. Uh this thoughtful balance ordinance embraces new transportation trends while
protecting the integrity of our walkable city. I move to open this ordinance for a final hearing. Second. All right. I'm going to open this uh hearing for public comments. I I just I forgot when I was talking about public
comments. Um I am certain that everyone will uh follow the good decorum and uh speak to the three minutes etc. won't you know disrupt from the crowd. I do want to say though just in case a fore
armed is forewarned um that if we do have any disruptions or what have you or people uh aren't going to follow the rules for an orderly meeting I will do what I do with my school children I will call an adult timeout meaning we will call a recess we will uh have a little
break allow people to calm down we'll come back and we will conduct our our meeting I'm I'm very confident that will be necessary But I did want to lay that out there. Um uh and hopefully we won't have to do that more than once. Okay. If uh if if
that is to happen. All right. Um so with that, um do we have anyone from the public who'd like to comment on this safety and health ordinance? Uh my name is David Sherry. S H E R R Y. My address is 241 Planefield Avenue,
Berkeley Heights. And I just wanted to say um if you want to ban um the use of bikes from um sidewalks, you need to install bike lanes. It is not safe for bikers and
people on rollerblades and people on scooters to share a road with a vehicle that can go 60 miles an hour and they don't have any protection from that. Thank you. Thank you very much. Other comments
from the public? Hi, my name is Christopher Decker. I live at 133 Summit Avenue, apartment 17. I've lived here for about nine years. One of the reasons I moved to Summit is because of how walkable it is. It's really nice being able to walk around and not have to not have to get into my
car to go run errands. Uh, obviously things have changed recently and now we need to I need to ride my scooter down the street sometimes to go get groceries. One thing I realized in the past year since I've had I bought a scooter sorry about a year ago. One thing I quickly realized is how unsafe
some of the roads are around here to ride on a scooter or on a bike. It is like Mars Avenue, Kent Place Boulevard, Springfield Avenue, Summit Avenue. All of these streets are have incredibly fast traffic with large cars driving
incredibly quickly and there's no shoulder. Well, there is a shoulder, but usually cars are parked on it. And to have to ride on the shoulder, weave out into traffic, and then back onto the shoulder. It's not safe. I would rather see, instead of an ordinance restricting and prohibiting people from riding their
electric scooters or bicycles on the sidewalk, I would much rather see you make it safer to ride in the street. I don't like riding on the sidewalk. My scooter has solid wheels. It has terrible suspension. It's not comfortable to ride on a sidewalk. I would much rather ride it on the much rather ride it on the street, but I
don't do so. Well, I try to most of the time, but sometimes I don't. I just don't feel safe. It's not safe to do so. I would ra much rather see you and really hope you don't ex don't adopt this ordinance and instead adopt an ordinance creating protected bike lanes
or honestly any bike lanes. Thank you. I agree. Thank you. Other comments? Uh Jesse Reyes. Uh last name spelled R E S. Uh 42 London Dairy Way. Uh I've been riding bikes all my life. I'm 67 years
old. Used to do bike bike bike racing. When I moved to the city from the country, it was a big was a big adjustment. Uh what I've noticed is several towns have done this. I saw this in Chadam. Uh they have busier streets than we do because they have an entire uh street that is a through street. Uh
I've seen near collisions between children and you know pedestrians. Uh there's no clear winner ever uh in these things. Um my dad used to say you can be 100% right and a thousand% broke which basically meant if you get in the street you know you may be have the right away
but you may get run over. The thing I have noticed about bikes is I've told my kids the minute you get off of your bike you become a pedestrian. And so one of the things that I like seeing is parents would have their kids walk their bikes on the sidewalk. Now granted, I don't know about scooters. I don't know about
electric scooters, but for bicycles, especially for very young kids, I know why they want to ride on the sidewalk because it's safer. You're there with parents. But I'd have to say that we have to do better training of our kids of how to use their vehicles. I watched a kid without a helmet the other day cut
right in front of me from the sidewalk to the street on a on an electric bike. um just took me a second later and you know it would have been an accident. So it's as much about training our bike riders especially the young ones about how to be and how to coexist with
pedestrians. I don't think there's a clear winner in any of this ever. Uh but and we don't want anyone to get hurt. So I'm in favor of anything that does that. But I think there's also needs to be some training for our bike riders adults. I had a bike that almost ran
into me because he thought he had the right way to run through a stop sign. And this is an adult, not a little kid. So, I'm in favor of anything that makes us safer. I wish I had one solution. This is a step in the right direction, but with the right training for kids. Thank you. Thank you for your comments.
Other comments from the public. Hello, my name is Robert Lee. I live at 9 Pearl Street in Summit, New Jersey. And I love riding my bike. Um, I ride my bike with my dog. I ride by my bike with my kids. And I also have observed that
Summit is completely unsafe for bike riders. Either you're when I'm with my dog, I like to be on the sidewalk because I don't want my dog close to traffic. When I'm with my kids, same thing. I'd like them to be on the sidewalk. And at the same time, I understand that bike riders don't belong
on the sidewalk. And I think Summit needs to do better to create protected bike lanes um for our residents, for our kids. Um kids should be able to ride their bikes around town and get to places and get to go visit their friends on the other side of town. And I think
that should become a priority if we're going to protect our um downtown pedestrians. We also need to pro protect our kids on the streets. Thank you. Thank you. Other comments?
Yeah. Other comments or Yep. Please. Leonard Apprentice, 12 Chestnut Avenue, Summit. Um, I've been a cyclist most of my adult life. And one of the things that I've noticed here in Summit more than too much is that when parents are
out riding bicycles with their children, often times the children are riding in front of the parents as they go down the street. Wrong. If something would happen and one of those children fall off and
couldn't let out a shout or a warning, the parent will ride on down the street and the child is behind them and sometime they got two and three kids behind them. No, I don't care what ordinances you pass in the future or don't pass,
but parents need to be made aware that you keep your kids in sight. You become the obstacle between that car, that vehicle, and your children. You get hit first as a a
parent. Thank you. Good comment. Thank you. I agree. Uh other uh comments from the public. Okay. Seeing none, I'm going to close the public comment uh section of this hearing. Uh comments from council.
Council President. Yes. Councilman Boyer, I just want to make a distinction between uh non-motorized bicycles and electric bikes and scooters. So, the thought process behind this was regardless of
what age you are, right, you can ride your bicycle on the sidewalk. I thought about it and I said, um, you know, you could be 60, 70 years old and say, you know what, I want to pick up riding a bicycle and not be that good and be in the street. We don't want that to
happen, right? Um, also, regardless of what age you are, uh, we don't want the the police to stop kids on the sidewalk uh, that are riding just bicycles. So the the idea is that you yield to pedestrians on the
sidewalk. The difference between the bicycles and the electric bikes are that a they're heavier, they go faster, and they shouldn't be on the sidewalk. We've we've seen people that have had um
catastrophic accidents being hit by an electric bike um more than once. And I've gotten a lot of complaints and I've talked to a lot of residents about this. I think it's a great idea for the downtown section because everybody
should just walk, right? Um it's a busy, heavily traffked area and even this past weekend I've seen kids riding in the downtown section and it's some of them some of them move, some of them want you to move and there's a lot of small
children around. So, I think it was a good idea. Um, the the last point is I've talked to the the chief of police, our new chief of police, uh, Chief Peters, and there has to be some education. Um, being a former football
coach here in Summit, I know a lot of these boys. I stopped them and I'm like, "Dude, you got to wear a helmet. You're doing like 60 miles an hour. Your helmet is on your handlebars." And I mean you you crash
you crack your head open, you know. I remember back in the day um no one you went skiing, snowboarding, nobody had helmets on, right? It was like crazy time in the '9s. Uh but everybody wears helmets now. We got to get the kids to start wearing helmets, you know. Um the
the I know I said my last point, but my last last point. Um, Director Shrager, can you talk about the bike lanes because we talked about bike lanes in Summit and what we can do to get them and uh we talked about like the the county and not really Yeah, I'll let
you. Sure. It's for you, Council President. Uh, so the city is faced with a couple challenges. one, we do have a lot of narrow streets, but we also do have hills. But then when you factor in most of the thoroughares that are desired by bicyclists are the ones that are under
county jurisdiction. So the county is not um you know actively installing or hasn't really installed them throughout the county. Um thus to date uh we could keep trying um if we wanted to. The streets we do have some control over would be uh city streets such as Kent
Place Boulevard, the downtown which we know is too narrow. Um but those are streets we could look at. The forest has a bike lane in a few spots there, but otherwise um the most of the main roads are the the county jurisdiction. We'd have to work with them, but and and that's been a challenge. Uh
getting the county to uh look at bike lanes. Um you know, maybe they changed their mind this year. Uh but I know in past years they weren't they, you know, they weren't interested in it. Well, okay. Other
comments, Councilwoman CLON. Um, thank you, Council President. I just there's a distinction I just wanted to make sure the public understands because I'm not sure if they understand based on some of the comments. Um, motorized transportation, you know, um, ebikes and
scooters, those are prohibited on sidewalks everywhere. Downtown, um, bicycles, roller skates, rollerblades, those are prohibited. But outside of the downtown district, um, bicycles, um, scooters, if they're not motorized, you can ride that on a
sidewalk as long as you're yielding to pedestrians. Do I have that correct, everyone? Okay. Just wanted to make Okay. I just wanted to make sure the public understood that. Thank you. Uh, Councilman Palowski. Thank you, Mr. Reyes. Your point is well
taken. We have been discussing in the community programs committee putting together a presentation for our students and I think David Guida has it basically put together. It's about bike safety and we're going to bring it to each of the
schools every single year. So as kids metriculate through the system it'll be um ingrained in in their education. Maybe we'll also ask to include the suggestion of walking bikes
uh when when they're uptown. Um and maybe we can also offer a program for adults or record one of them, put it on our YouTube channel, maybe put it on HTTV. Um so we'll we'll
talk about that as well. Thank you. Thank you. Other comments, Councilwoman Hamlet. Um, I guess my question might go to you, Rosie. Is it true that we do have to register bikes in the code? I want to open up a can of worms, but I
think we actually do have to register regular bikes um according to the city code, which which brings up an interesting and I just thought about it now and I know we talked about it before, Council Councilman Ber, but um when I think we think we either need to eliminate that or get these folks to
register a bike as well because it might give us an opportunity um to say to those motorized scooter vehicles, you know, here are the rules. Um, I think we just need to maybe clean that up a little bit before we because at least if we're going to require regular bikes to be registered, then we should also
require, you know, the other bikes. And I guess my other question is I just want to understand like what safety standards was this? I understand it's just in the central downtown business, but what bike standards are out there that we got this from? Like where did this I just don't know. Where did it originate from? Is it
the chief or was it safety committee? Yeah, we we spoke about it in the safety committee based on complaints and everything. We looked at the streets, uh we looked at the different options and this is what we came up with, you know, and and secondly, I would say um there
are multiple different ordinances that we have in place that uh we're we are not um uh we're not in line with. Right. So, I can talk about the fact that there's a city ordinance that says
you're not allowed to put your garbage out front, right? But we do. So, I mean it, you know, we could kind of, you know, play whack-a-ole with that, you know, in terms of ordinances. So, yes, council woman. Mike, I'm just
putting my 10-year-old son in the picture and I'm wondering at what the gentleman I forget where you went where you were scared to go on the sidewalks as well. My son does not have one, but for the younger kids, is it safer for them to ride on the sidewalks when they're going to get their ice cream, or do we want to put them in the street? I
guess that's my question that as a mom, I have to ask. Are are you talking about ebikes or or bicycles? Motorized scooters. So, if you're riding a motorized scooter, right, and the thing goes 30 miles an hour, I think you got to make an assessment how old your child
should be to I mean, but a 13-year-old, are they better off? I I mean, I don't know. I'm just asking a question. Okay. I just ask a question. Mhm. Uh, Councilman Smallwood. Thank you, Council President. I I to be honest with you, I I I don't think this goes far enough.
Um, and I think this should actually be a work in progress. Do I believe that even though there currently exists an ordinance that we're having to register our bicycles, I I think that's something that we could probably eliminate. However, a
motorized scooter, an ebike that goes 30, 40 miles an hour with a teenager who doesn't even have a license without making them go through some sort of safety protocols. I would totally be in favor
of them having to register those and also in also incorporate and I would certainly rely on our police department for guidance on this but if you're having to register an ebike that goes 30 35 miles an hour even more
um maybe you know we can incorporate mandatory training you know I I cannot tell you how many times I have seen children and I say children because I know that they're teenagers riding an ebike on Union
Place two or three at a time going 25 30 miles an hour and as everybody knows on Union Place you're backing out diagonally and they're driving down the street going 30 miles an hour being
distracted by the kid that's behind them pulling their shirt or whatever and none of them are wearing helmets. So, I I I really think and I'm gonna fully support this because I I really think that this could be a work in progress to make it even better and
safer for our children. Thank you. Other comments. Uh yes, Madame Mayor. I can never miss an opportunity to remind people to wear their helmets and I don't care how old you are. Um and uh I forget who was saying that you know we need to
encourage our kids to um think one of the best ways to do that as adults and parents is to model the behavior. So, um, maybe guilty is charged. When I had younger kids, I maybe didn't wear a helmet cuz I didn't want to mess up my hair. But, um, but I do think it's
really important and I do, you know, I think to Jamal's to Councilman Ber's point, you know, it used to not be normal to wear helmets when we skied and snowboarded and there were a couple of uh, celebrity deaths on the ski slopes and and that encouraged people to now
this is kind of the norm. So I think to that ex to to that end I think we as as adults need to model that behavior. So if we're riding a bike or a scooter or whatever it is whether it's motorized or foot pedled I think that's really important. And then secondly I do like
the comments about um bike lanes and and I know there are are challenges with that but um I have had a few conversations with residents. I'm happy to entertain those. So if people want to um you know try to get behind that I know there are challenges. because I know this has happened and had been a
discussion. I've spoken to director Shreger recently about it, but I do think that it's something that we we could entertain a conversation around at least um and maybe maybe consider some trial of some sort. So, thank you. Thank you. Other comments? I'll just wrap it up um and
say if you thought the '9s were crazy, the 80s and 70s were much crazier. All right. Um, but that being said, you know, I agree safety is a big thing and and I was just wondering, um, Chief Chief Evers, I know there's another
component to safety for a lot of these ebikes, which is battery fires and things like that. And I mean, given that this topic is up, I just was wondering if you could you say something about uh how people should think about storing those ebikes um so they don't uh start
fires and things like that. Sure. Yeah. Yes. um any any kind of battery device you get, bicycle and all, there's always um safety guidelines go with it. It's very important to stick to the guidelines. A lot of people try to underpower their batteries, overpower them, causes problems. If they get warm and hot and they're malfunctioned, they
should be thrown out and most importantly shouldn't be stored in an area where it can cause harm to your home. So, just really just go by your um instructions in the manuals you get. And also there's a lot of videos on um YouTube talking how to properly care for Ubike ebikes and how to properly charge them and store our batteries and all. So
but it is a problem. It's going to be batteries are part of our technology now and it's a lot of issue with batteries they with the fires. So it's a big big topic in the fire service and around the country on how to deal with these problems. So but definitely go with the safety instructions that come with your uh devices and adhere to them. Great.
Thank you. All right. If uh no further comments, I'm going to close the hearing on this ordinance and we'll move along to our next hearing uh which is uh another safety ordinance. Madame clerk, will you please read the second safety ordinance for hearing
today? Ordinance number 25-3338 and ordinance amending chapter 3, police regulations of the code of the city of Summit to revise section 3-16 entitled resident protection. Thank you so much. Um, Councilman Ber.
Thank you, Council President. Uh, this is ordinance number 253338, an amendment to section 316 of our city code, the resident protection ordinance, which strengthens Summit's legal response to increasingly
sophisticated property crimes. As many of you know, cities across New Jersey, including ours, has faced car thefts and home evasions. These are not petty crimes.
Organized groups are using signal boosting devices to unlock and steal cars parked in your driveways. uh tools to detect whether key fobs are inside homes or vehicles and Wi-Fi jammers to disable security systems and prevent
emergency calls. This ordinance makes it a violation to be on private property without permission while using, possessing, or intending to use these tools. It also prohibits specific acts
that are often uh that are often steps in a crime, including peering into vehicle windows on private property. Now, let me be clear. This does not mean
that there are a group of kids admire in a car that they'll be charged with the crime. The the ordinance targets intentional suspicious behavior, not harmless
curiosity. Police officers are trained to assess context. They don't issue charges lightly. As with many criminal investigations, officers determine whether the facts support the elements of a violation before
proceeding. This ensures that enforcement remains fair. reasonable and focused on true threats. We've already seen this ordinance in action. The Summit Police Department has issued eight summones under the existing resident protection
ordinance, and it's proven to be a practical tool. With this amendment, we expand its utility in two ways. one, as an original charge when unlawful entry or possession of signal jamming or key
cloning equipment is observed. And two, and as a fallback tool during plea negotiations when higher charges such as burglary or attempted theft are reduced. Now, this is crucial because sometimes a
prosecutor may decline to pursue a more serious charge. Without an alternative, the case might be dropped altogether. This ordinance ensures accountability even in those situations so that illegal conduct does not go
unchecked. So, this is about real prevention, modern policing, and protecting Summit residents. I thank the Summit Police Department for their proactive leadership and welcome. Uh any comments? Thank you, Council President.
Do I have a second? Second. Thank you. Um All right. At this time, I'm going to open the uh hearing to the public. Is there anyone who would wish to make a comment? Okay, seeing no one uh commenting, um I'm going to close the hearing and uh
for the public, uh anyone from council wish to make a comment. Yes, Councilwoman Token. Thank you, Council President. I'm not going to oppose this ordinance, but I do want to comment. Um a hallmark of good government is to decide slowly and
execute promptly. Deciding slowly means consulting with subject matter experts and stakeholders. It means working through alternatives and approaching a problem from multiple perspectives. Last year, the resident protection ordinance was one example of this council majority rushing to make
summit seem safer without taking the time to work it through. Uh procedurally, when this ordinance was passed a year ago, the then council acknowledged that there were problem drafting problems with it and promised amendments. and it has taken this long to produce those changes. Many of the
amendments requested by the interfaith council have not been incorporated. Process matters. Council should move deliberately and get it right the first time. Moreover, this ordinance is mostly just window dressing. It was touted as creating an additional disincentive to
car thefts. In 2023, the year before this ordinance was passed, the state legislature reclassified the crime of car theft and created the new crime of running a car theft ring. Following those changes, both crimes now carry
hefty prison sentences, where before the presumption had been no time behind bars. The council majority says state law doesn't adequately address the increase in car thefts. And if the prospect of hard time isn't a disincentive, then why do we think that
a municipal fine will be? I understand wanting to look like we're addressing the uptick in car thefts. And we can better do that by recognizing that this is a statewide problem, working across jurisdictions to address the problem holistically rather than pretending that
it's some a problem that's unique to Summit. Um, and finally, I'll note that Wi-Fi jam the Wi-Fi jammers addressed in this amendment are already illegal under federal law. So, this adds nothing. Thank you. Please, can you hold your applause,
please? Thank you. So, we can get through the evening. I mentioned that earlier. Thank you. There's a balance to get through a meeting. Thank you. Okay. Uh, other comments, Councilman Palowski.
So, this is far more than window dressing. Jamal mentioned the ability to plead down, which we discussed when we originally passed this. It's an added benefit of sparing a
kid who makes a mistake from having a criminal record. You see, a violation of an ordinance is not a crime. It's a petty offense and it doesn't go on your criminal record. So, that's another added benefit. And a question that I
asked when we first introduced this and and passed it was what's the downside? And some people made claims that there were certain downsides and not a single one of them has panned out. So to say this is window
dressing, it's meaningless. I disagree with that. And I also note that this council does not take instruction from the interfaith council when creating public policy, but it should. Thank you.
Any other comments from council? Council president. Yes, Councilman Ber. So just want to note that uh this ordinance has been in place for an entire year. Um, was it rushed? No. Do we make amendments? This
is not This is technically an amendment, but it's not an amendment of our what we originally put in it. It's an addition. There's nothing wrong with the ordinance. It's working as intended. I believe I said that the Summit Police
Department issued eight summones, right? I think I did say that. I also believe that I said that this is a critical tool in plea negotiations. The point of this ordinance was that we wanted
accountability. There were people that were being let go that were being arrested, car thefts, riding in a car, stolen car, they were not being prosecuted. Now you have a tool that makes sure that there is accountability.
Otherwise, there is no accountability whatsoever. Thank you, Council President. Other comments from council. Councilwoman Camelson. Thank you, Council President. Um, I'm not going to oppose this ordinance, but I remain
unconvinced of its effectiveness. Um, last year there was a lot of talk about how this ordinance had brought crime down um, in Summit, but I looked up all of the neighboring municipalities and there was a sharp decline in crime regionally in all of in all of the towns
around. So I I mean to to say this is what this is what brought crime down. I I don't agree with that, but I'm I'm not going to oppose this. Thank you. Other comments? Councilwoman Hamlet. I guess since you're on the committee, Council, uh,
Councilwoman, uh, who did you receive guidance from when you were crafting this in committee? Um, sounds like you're not convinced. So, did you have input from the chief or since you're it's your it's your it's your committee. So, if you're not comfortable with it, I just want to make sure through the police chief, right?
Oppose it, but I'm not going to oppose it. I remain unconvinced. But was this was this was this created with the chief of police of with his input? Is that or maybe Councilman Bor, you can answer that? Yes. Okay, there you go. So may maybe he can comment. Uh Council
President, who? The chief. Anybody? Uh Zagorski? I I think it was Chief Zorski. Yeah. And he's left for the evening. Um but this was fully vetted by the chief of our police, of course. City of Summit. Absolutely. Thank you. Other comments?
Um just Councilman Boyer really quickly, right? I don't think anyone said that this was a magic bullet, right? Like um you looked across the universe of other municipalities and um they didn't have an ordinance and car thefts were going
down. I don't know how you make that correlation. And no one's up here saying that um this was the reason why car thefts are down. This is just another tool. It's a force multiplier. That's it. Thank you. Thank you. Yeah, I'll
just wrap it up. Um I would say I know this ordinance was adopted before I was on council and and there was a lot of concern from from different people. Um I wanted to make sure one of the things I did when I uh became council president was to make sure that Chief Sigorski
held a meeting and a presentation on the effects of the ordinance. um particularly around a lot of the concerns that citizens had that maybe the ordinance uh went too far or would um target certain individuals uh whatever their concerns were. Um and I
was happy to see that that just was not the case. So there were a lot of concerns and people are quite in their right to have concerns. Um there were all a lot of people who said this was not going to be a problem and you know that doesn't mean things can't change in
the future but at least for now um this ordinance um hasn't um caused some of the issues that that people have um feared. In addition, other towns have asked us how
did you create this ordinance? Why did you create this ordinance? um have uh talked to Matt Jacobe and have adopted the ordinance to emulate what we've done here. So, you know, if uh imitation is
the sincerest form of flattery, I think other people think that this was a pretty good idea. Um I think, you know, changes should be made and looked at. And I agree with Councilman Ber. You know, I get uh one crime or one breakin
in our in our home in Summit is too many. I know it it's fantasy to think we'll never have a home breakin, but our our police do a fantastic job. Um but there and we've invested in that. We hired two people, two police officers
last year. Um there's uh additional police officers in the budget that's going to be discussed in a month. That is a real investment in public safety. We've also invested in technology um in in order to help leverage the
police, make each police officer more productive in order to protect our city. This is a third tool in the toolbox to tell wouldbe people who may want to come here, look, we take this
seriously. There are additional penalties if we so choose to use them. um think twice. It is one aspect of a multi-pronged approach that I think this council has talked about as a priority for them and they are implementing
different uh um ordinances to tackle this problem that residents want us to grapple with. So I um I'll end it there by fully supporting this ordinance. Okay. So, I'm going to close the
hearing and we will move on to Madame Clerk, would you please uh read the let's see, the fourth uh safety and health ordinance for this evening. Ordinance number
25-3339, an ordinance amending chapter 3, police regulations, the code of the city of Summit to add a new section 3-9 entitled camping or sleeping on public property. Councilman Ber. Thank you, Council
President. Tonight, I bring forward for final hearing ordinance 25339. After careful listening, we've made a small but meaningful adjustment. We've removed the word sleeping from the
ordinance. It's a nonsubstantive change, but it reflects our core belief that this is not about punishing people for being unhoused, tired, or leave. Later tonight, you'll also see an amended version of the ordinance that
explicitly outlines the range of options available to judges and prosecutors, including alternatives like courtordered social services and behavioral health treatment. To be clear, these options
already exist in the law. There was nothing broken about the original ordinance, but this clarification is for the public to reinforce what this ordinance is. It's for us to reinforce to the public what
this ordinance is and what it is not. So, let me be absolutely clear. This is about public safety. This is not about homelessness. It's not about poverty. It's not about status,
it's about behavior. This ordinance focuses on how public spaces are used, not who is using them. Many of the individuals occupying parks, sidewalks, and benches and summit are not unhoused.
They have access to housing or shelter, but they reject it because housing comes with expectations, sobriety, safety, structure, and some just don't want to do that. This ordinance establishes basic
standards for behavior in our shared space because no one, regardless of circumstance, has the right to turn a public park into an encampment or defecate on a public
bench. Summit will continue to invest in housing, outreach, and compassionate care. This ordinance does not replace that work. It strengthens it. It gives our city the ability to protect the public
while still offering services to those who seek help. It is a for force multiplier, not a substitute. But those who refuse help, the consequences have been devastating
for them and for our community. And I know that uh some folks will make this about the homeless population and summit, but it's not really that. It's
about a group of people who are refusing help that are displaying behaviors that are devastating. One of which several weeks
ago, my own 11year-old daughter uptown with her girlfriend's sixth grader. Someone pulled a knife on her after asking her for a dollar.
A 5-year-old was grabbed in the playground. A teenager was threatened with being shot. As the mayor stated, people are watching pornography in our public library in view of
children. Others are urinating and defecating on benches in full public view. And what about our emergency responders? In the last year alone, the Summit Police Department responded to
over,00 calls tied to these folks. That included 351 welfare checks, 267 medical emergencies, 89 trespassing,
82 disturbances and fights, 74 municipal violations. This ordinance gives us the tools to act not punitively but responsibly, not to criminalize poverty, but to protect the
public while continuing to support those ready for help. Because compassion without structure leads to chaos, and dignity without boundaries is not dignity at all.
It's just a strain on our city resources. Now, I want to be straight with you all and here's what I believe people are going to say based on some of the emails
we received in the last couple of weeks. Uh, this ordinance is unlawful. It's not. Cities like Summit are granted clear authority under New Jersey statute 40-48-1 state to regulate public spaces
for health and safety. This ordinance targets behavior not housing status. It includes due process. Calling it unlawful is just another way of saying we shouldn't have
boundaries at all. Another one here is uh this already falls under existing laws. Why create more? It's senseless to find people who have no money. Existing laws cover pieces of the
problem. But when summones go unforced, when threats, harassment, and disorder are routine, what we're left with is a void of accountability. Again, this ordinance is a tool not for punishment but for
action when other systems fail. Sleeping is not a crime. It's a human need. Yes. So is shelter. So is community. So is structure. But when people pitch tents
in public parks, store bags on benches, and disrupt daily civic life, they aren't simply sleeping. This undermines Summit's progress. Progress that abandons order
is not progress. It's decay with a smile. Summit has done an incredible job housing 20 out of 25 individuals last year. That's real
progress. But what do you do with the others who refuse all offers? This tarnishes Summit's identity. You know what tarnishes some's identity? Children being chased through
parks. Public libraries being used as porn theaters. A group of sixth grade girls almost being dragged into a train station bathroom. first responders responding to one
person 200 times a year while possibly somebody else across town has a heart attack. This ordinance isn't a stain. It is a course
correction. It's a signal to our residents that we still believe in the value of public order. And last but not least, what are we debating here
tonight? We are debating the fact of whether to allow people to make encampments on our city, public parks, train stations,
sidewalks. I mean, imagine that. Imagine that. Summer residents. I mean, imagine that. We're not here to preserve illusions. We're here to tell the
truth, protect the vulnerable, defend the community, and offer help with standards. And yes, that takes courage, but courage is exactly what's required right now. And uh I'd ask our police
chief to come up and say a couple of words. Thank you, sir. To you, council president. As incoming chief of police for the city of Summit, I want to speak to you tonight not only about the ordinance, but also about community, empathy, and the shared responsibility
we all have in maintaining safety and dignity in our public places. As first responders, we often see the firsthand struggles tied to housing instability, mental health, and lack of access to critical resources. That's why our approach to
enforcement has been and will continue to be ingrained in dignity and compassion. We are committed to continuing our relationships with local, county, and state partners along with our faith-based organizations to maintain a network of support for
individuals in need. Whether it's connecting someone to an emergency shelter, mental health services, or addiction recovery programs, we are dedicated to creating pathways forward for those who are struggling. My apologies. That being said, I do feel
two elements listed in this ordinance do have public safety implications and should be addressed. In recent years, we've seen an increase in unattended or abandoned property, especially near the train station, parks, bus shelters, and
along busy pedestrian areas. Whether they are suitcases, boxes, or personal belongings, each raise legitimate safety concerns. And in the law enforcement world, we cannot afford to overlook the potential risks these items may pose. As
we try to navigate these concerns, we cannot turn a blind eye. For example, as recent as yesterday, New Jersey Transit responded to the Summit train station where a party graffitied inside the vestibule words like
4195 OKC bombing, Oklahoma City bombing, RIP Timothy McVey, American hero. 168 bad guys equals one win for us. And for the record, 168 citizens died in that
bombing. Then went on to write, "Dia Martyr, Lee Harvey Oswald, where are you when we need you?" Although sad, these are the realities that law enforcement are challenged with. While isolated, we must also be cognizant about the real concern the city faces. Unattended bags
can trigger fears of hazardous materials, suspicious activity. They also require immediate investigation and at times intervention not only by police but specialized response teams. This diverts critical resources and causes unnecessary distress for commuters,
residents, and visitors alike. Additionally, abandoned items can obstruct sidewalks, create hazards, specifically tripping, and present sanitation issues that affect the cleanliness and usability of our shared public spaces. The second element of
this ordinance that I feel has public safety implications is the creation of temporary structures for habitation. As of today, April 22nd, 2025, there are no legal mechanisms in place for law enforcement to address this within the city. While we recognize
the desperation and hardship that may lead someone to build such a shelter, we must also address the serious safety risks associated with the structures present. not just to those who build them, but to the broader community. Temporary structures, oh, I'm
sorry. Temporary structures are often built with flammable materials, lack proper ventilation, and do not provide adequate protection from the elements. They can pose fire hazards, obstruct emergency services, and invite other public health health concerns such as
improper waste disposal or unsanic unsanitary conditions. as we've heard from the council members and the mayor regarding urinating, defecating, and a variety of other calls for service that we've responded to over the last few years. Additionally, when these structures are located near hightraic
areas like parks, playgrounds, or sidewalks, they can cause accidents, hinder accessibility, and raise concerns among residents and commuters. I want to reiterate the law enforcement component to this ordinance is not simply about
issuing summones to persons in need. It's about providing access to resources while ensuring that our public spaces remain safe, accessible, and welcoming for everyone. To ensure our commitment, the police department will be working
with the mayor's homeless homelessness task force as well as other local organizations to draft standard operating procedure to guide our officers on alternative measures that shall be taken prior to the enforcement and of any component of this ordinance.
Thank you. Thank you, Chief Peters. Anything else? Yeah. So, um, let's be honest about what's going on here. I grew up in this town. I've been in this town since I was in fifth grade.
I have two children. I get phone calls from residents saying that they're concerned about their kids walking into town. That breaks my heart. We've always had a homeless population
in Summit. Always. But this is something different. What's going on here? Some of you are not from Summit. You may not know. This is this is different. And what the media is portraying is clickbait politics. Plain
and simple. I mean, look at the headlines, right? wealthy town jails the homeless and finds them $2,000. I mean, it's clickbait.
It's it it's No, it's not. No, but it but it's not true. It's not true. You guys will have a chance to comment, please. It's not journalism. It's not journalism. It's It's not It's not journalism. Listen, I told you we will recess for 10
minutes if you guys can't stay under control. He's an elected official. He He ran for this town. He represented more than people sitting in the audience did. He deserves people's uh attention. He
gets that right, as do everybody up here. If you have an outburst again, I will recess us for 10 minutes and we will wait until everybody calms down. Okay, please continue. This whole thing is designed
to make people feel guilty for wanting order, not to actually understand the crisis that we're dealing with. And it starts with the word homeless. You see that that term has been
weaponized turned into propaganda. It flattens every situation into a single narrative. You know, the struggling mom evicted unfairly, the abused survivor with nowhere to turn. And yes, those stories
exist. But let's tell the whole truth. A huge portion of what we're dealing with isn't that. It's not what we're talking about. Anyone who wants housing has got housing. Summit has done
an amazing job with that. What we're talking about is a group of people that are pulling knives on kids, that are defecating and urinating on benches, that are fighting with police, that are harassing
residents, that are writing terroristic graffiti in the bathrooms of the train station supporting the Oklahoma City bombing. This town and the residents
deserve a community that is compassionate, which is what the task force has done for over a year. and they also deserve the balance of a protected community and this is what this does.
Thank you, council president. Thank you. No, please hold your applause. Do I have a second? Second. All right. At this time, I would like to We're going to open up our hearing on this ordinance. Uh we're going to begin
with public comments. Just remind people when you come to the lect turn, please state your na, your full name and your address and limit your comments to three minutes, please. Who would like to come? Uh, please approach the bench. You guys can make a line if you'd like. Leonard Prrenis, 12 Chestnut
Avenue. I've been in Summit since 2011. I only happened through here on my way to Pennsylvania. I spent much of my time homeless living
here because of good people that I happened to meet here. I was able to have some doors open for me and gave me an opportunity to make a life here for myself. I am not an exception to the
rule. What it is is that I happen to meet people who look beyond the convenience of their situation and their position and their and their uh social status and didn't recognize that I was a
person just like these people that you've been describing. I've slept on those park benches. I've slept in the parks. I've slept on church plots. I've slept just about anywhere I could get out of this light just like these other people. The problem is most of the
homeless have never been homeless before. They don't know nothing about living out here. Not because it's Summit or Newark. The people that you're particularly talking about here, those that don't want help, refuse help,
they're terrified of the options that you've given them. They're terrified. They don't Most of these people come from these small towns like Summit, grew up, built homes, had
businesses, sent their kids off to college, and their kids have returned home, have their own homes. But because of whatever happened, the bottom dropped out of their lives, their marriage fell apart, a significant other died, and on
and on. They find themselves out here unprepared for homeless life and the community has a responsibility for making sure that they have resources that will help them reconstruct their lives. And it's not a
matter of convenience for the city council or the president of the United States. People need what they need in spite of their inconvenience to you. My thing is this, and I'm going to cut this short because I'm getting ready to get
rude. The thing is this. You got that firehouse over, the old firehouse over there. Use it as a community service center. You have enough room to house any homeless people you got here under one roof. And you don't have to move
them all over town like gypsies. That's one of the reasons why they don't trust you because you haven't given them anything to feel settled with to make them feel comfortable with you. The other thing is you got the right
organizations but you don't have a game plan. Summit warm could you wrap it up please? Yes. Summit Warmart and the rest of them were here to make sure Summit didn't have to deal with a lot of the problems that the a lot of the communities are. My thing is use that
firehouse or another where you can leave all the homeless, provide services with social service workers. A four-week program. I'm going to ask you bring in mentors. Thank you. And re-educate them before
you put them in the street because most of them don't know how to take care of themselves. [Applause] Uh good evening, mayor. Good evening, councel. I will be remaining anonymous
tonight. No, no, no, no, no. In accord public meeting act, and I guess we're going to have to have your lawyer tell you this, and the fourth amendment of the United States, anonymous communications are heavily protected by the First Amendment
as you wear your Constitution tie. As you wear the Constitution in tie form, you ignore the values and the fundamental rights that come along with it. Excuse me. How dare you think that I What? Oh, I need to What? You have to give your name and No, I don't. Yes, you do. Open Public Meeting Act. You're
incorrect, sir. No. The last time I saw you was January 20 23rd of 2023, and you cut off a woman who was trying to have a moment of silence for her friends who had opiate overdoses. And when you cut her off, I decided from that moment on I would never give my name ever. I saw
such disgust and display from you. You have to step and you No, you know what? I'll I'll allow it. He's clearly not from Summit. That's fine. You're You're I'm from the United States of America. Council President, you've got a few more minutes left. Have your peace. Thank you. I mean, talk about some
housekeeping. Jesus Lord. How dare you? Threw the chair to the lawyer. How dare you? Threw the chair to Mr. Ber. Boyer, when you introduced this ordinance, it had napping in it. And as you sit here in front of all these residents and you say that napping is a
human right and a human need when you introduce this ordinance, it was certainly in there. And to watch you get everyone all riled up with your common and then your second common. When we're done, you're going to have a third common. Last time when it was introduced last meeting, you
needed to speak on it. Even though the council president said we don't like traditionally do this during the introduction, you couldn't help but get your words in. You just couldn't help it. You know, anyone from the public can come here and make comments. You're making
one and they don't have to give their name. That is protected by the First Amendment and the Fourth Amendment and the Open Public Meeting Act. Mr. Lawyer, I've been to council meetings all across this state and I stopped
giving my name and address because of what you did to that lady. So, I'm glad that napping's out of it. I'm glad about that. And it's funny to hear you talk about that being a human need and a human right when it was originally in there. Whoever decided to
remove that from the ordinance, super intelligent. Super intelligent. And all these things that were mentioned, graffiti on the wall, uh, every single thing that was mentioned has nothing to do with this ordinance. There were already laws in place to protect and
stop every single example that was given tonight. None of these examples had anything to do with napping or camping. So to watch you guys weaponize fear is a
disgrace. I know we want this time to end as soon as possible. I get it. But through the charity of Mr. lawyer. Watching you get everyone all worked up because you just love the sound of your own voice is not good for public
service. In my opinion, you are a disgrace. Come on, please. Jeez, you guys are adults here. Um, do I need to give my name again? I gave it in the last one. Yes, please. Okay. Um, good evening. My name's David Sherry.
Uh, my address is 241 Planefield Avenue. I live in Berkeley Heights. Um, so, um, I've heard you guys talk about disturbances and you claimed that this ordinance is not about housing status,
it's about behavior. But what do you do? Like how can you say that when this is a behavior that a person is doing to survive? You can't say you're not trying to criminalize homelessness when you are
going to punish the pe punish people for doing things that homeless people need to survive. You can't tell me that that's not about criminalizing homelessness. And even if it's not, that's what the effect is.
You you talk about people urinating and defecating in the parks and I've talked to homeless people and they said they they always complain about this. People are locking them out of their bathrooms. People, if you want people to
stop urinating in public parks, give them bathrooms. If you want people to stop making camp temporary shelters, give them housing and you can't try to punish them into doing this. This makes
them even more afraid to reach out to seek aid. It makes it makes seeking assistance terrifying to people and it makes them trapped. Thank you. Thank you for your comments.
You're creating a sundown city with this. Wow. Fox 5. Uh, hi grandpa. My name is Gavin Loanberger. I live at Nine Blair Place here in Summit, New Jersey. Uh, Loanberger. Do you need
me to spell it? Please. Yes. It's L O W E N B E not U R and G E R. I would begin with this prepared statement that I've got here, but I think there's a couple claims that have already been made that I need to
address. First off, this is pretty controversial and I want to address every member of this board with respect, especially you, Councilman uh Ber. And I think that you were
absolutely right when you said that this would not this is not an issue of homelessness because it is in fact an issue of mental health. 20% of the homeless population
uh it seems right five out of 25 are refusing to be helped uh and causing problems such as as you put it Mr. Mcieran in a statement two days ago uh putting a monopoly on our healthcare resources. This ordinance would put
fines on those people. It would put them uh in could put them into jail for up to 90 days or it could give them up to 90 days of community service. These don't address the root cause. I think we can agree that any rational person would accept the help
that we in a wealthy town with our homelessness coalition have offered. And it seems like these people are not rational. It seems like these people might suffer from mental illness. The Arlington Life Shelter shares that about
20% of homeless Americans suffer from mental illness. Does that 20% remind you of anything I've previously said? These people need psychiatric help. And while it might be easier to push people
into debt and push people into prison, we decide to help the homeless. Not because it is easy, but because it is hard. You know, I wrote this at 1:00 a.m. and I'm reading the conclusion. and it looks really snarky and I do not want to say it to you guys cuz I have a lot of respect for you and I really I really
do. Um, but you all should know this ordinance will not help. This ordinance does not address the root problems that are ultimately causing all of this Trump uh, excuse me, all of this strife. There
we are. I empathize deeply with the concerns expressed. Uh I myself uh am a 17-year-old high school student and a lot a lot in a lot of these ways I'm quite vulnerable. I do not want to be held at knife point downtown. I do not
want to be, you know, trying taken to a bathroom and coerced or bullied or sat on or defecated on. And to do that, I must reiterate this is not the way to prevent it. Thank you. Thank you for your comments. Um, so
Mr. Loenberger, did you do any if you had if you have prepared comments, you can give them to the clerk if you'd like for the record, but if you didn't read from them, then then that's fine. Oh, uh, I had emailed um you, Mrs. Madame Clerk, last night with this speech prepared. Okay. Okay. That's awesome.
Thank you so much. Hello, my name is Karen Olsen and I have to speak louder. Yeah. Uh, hold on one sec. We can handel. Yeah, we'll get you a hand up there or that
one's it. Thank you. Hello, my name is Karen Olsen, Oso N, and I work out of 71 Summit Avenue in Summit. That's Family Promises
headquarters. This ordinance is not needed. The summit task force with its workers and agencies has housed 20 of the 25 people who were homeless. The five who
are not housed suffer from mental health issues and and substance abuse issues. They need help and their lives can be turned around. It means an investment of a
social worker or two working with them comprehensively and consistently. Not just once a week or once a month, but regularly there to build their trust so that they will want to get the needed help. You know, if somebody has um heart
disease, you don't um give up on them. You get them treatment. They're suffering from mental health issues and substance abuse issues most of them and that needs to be treated and in summit we can do that. It
requires the investment of another one or two social workers to help them turn their lives around. Let's not criminalize homelessness. That's what we're doing here. It's absolutely ridiculous and insane. This ordinance is
not needed. We're bringing ourselves back to the dark ages and I I applaud Summit and its task force for all it's done. Thank you. Thank you. [Applause]
Good evening. My name is Vivian Hardy. I want to thank Bob Palowski for answering my email and for Claire Toth for doing that and for Mike McTenan for writing such a wellwritten um thank
you introduction to all of this. I wanted to tell you that um I have lived in Summit for 58 years. Over that lifetime, which is a lifetime almost, there's been a lot of change in our
world in New Jersey and Summit. Um, my first job, please speak into the microphone so they can hear you. My first job was um with Family Service of Morris County. That was after I had been
in New York City for a little while in a running a program for a settlement house and in the peace corps in Bolivia before that. So I worked for 10 years for more the family promise of Morris County. What I did was write a grant to the
state and the state at that time was interested in helping communities. I hired three Spanish-speaking people who I trained to be paraprofessional social workers and work in Dover, New Jersey,
which had a largely Puerto Rican and Hispanic community that needed a lot of help. So that was um way back when I also became president of the mental health association of Union
County. There was such an association. There was an association of the state called mental health in Elizabeth. We had a headquarters that had services that provided daytime and some nighttime
services to people who had mental health issues. There was a thing called Reynolds Hospital. Do any of you remember the name of that? There was outside of Morristown a huge mental health
hospital. All these facilities to treat mental health have been done away with in our state. And as the two people before me have said, this is a mental health issue. You've done a wonderful
job with your task force, but the work is not done yet. The task force needs to go on. It needs to take some of the advice that Karen just gave you. We need a couple of workers who would be able to
reach out to these people, help them get over their fear, and make it so that they could be treated. But the truth of the matter is this is not going to end. It isn't just these five people who are sleeping on our street. there will be a
continual group. Do we really want to put them in jail? Do we really want to spend the money that it takes to incarcerate people? Or would it be much better to try to help them find a cure? Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
[Applause] Uh good evening, council members and fellow residents. My name is Enrique Guardi, Gui C A R D II. Uh I live at One Road Summit. Uh I'm a senior at Summit High School. Uh and I'm here tonight to
talk about the ordinance. Now, I understand the concerns that led up to this law. I've heard the argument that a few individuals have been aggressive or have have refused help. But creating a policy that punishes an entire group of vulnerable people because of a handful of difficult cases and not is not just
bad governance. It's inhumane. And a quick note for Councilman Ber, why are we criminalizing homelessness and not arresting that individual for pulling a knife out? Why are we making an entirely new ordinance? Why not prosecute that individual, but instead we want to create an entirely new law collectively
punishing all homeless people? We are finding people who have no money. We are arresting people who have no homes. This is not a solution. It's a cycle. You can't just jail someone into housing. This law doesn't address the root cause of homelessness. It hides it. It
punishes people for their poverty, their trauma, and their circumstances. It assumes that because a couple of individuals have refused help, all unsheltered people are choosing to live on the streets or forgetting that these people have stories, they face serious mental health issues, or whatever the
case is. The point is, they're human beings. Choosing to be unhoused is rarely a real choice. It's the last option in a system that has failed them. And council members, I have a couple of questions. What if someone gets kicked out of their house and has to sleep on the street for the night? Will they be
arrested or defined? What if I want to take a nap on a public bench in the park? Because under your ordinance in section one, it states, quote, "No person will be permitted to sleep in any public area or portion thereof at any time." quote, "And whether you like it or not,
in the next 10 to 5 years or or whatever, there will be new homeless people and they they will show up. Will we just arrest them?" This this ordinance is an is the epitome of repression and a lack of empathy. What we need is a policy that focuses on the
root issue, not the situ. What we need is outreach, mental health services, affordable housing, and programs that treat people like people. And I know we have these services, but we need to keep pushing it. We need to keep pushing it. We don't need fines. We
don't need handcuffs. We need to keep trying to help these people, not just discard them to another town. Because once this deterrent of an ordinance is put in place, these people would just move to new. They'll move to Naplewood. And then what happens when those city halls make the same type of ordinance
that we're making here? What happens then? We are literally just trying to get rid of these people instead of looking at this problem in the face and actually addressing it. This law sends a message that Summit would rather criminalize homelessness than actually do the hard work of solving it. You talk
about heroism, Councilman Boyer on your post. Let's actually be heroes and actually help people instead of taking the easy way out because to me, I feel like some of us would rather just disappear of the problem than actually address it. I urge you to repeal this ordinance and replace it with a policy
rooted in dignity. Thank you. Thank you. I'm happy to give my name. I'm happy to give my name. Uh it's Joseph Marazi. M A R A Z TI. I live at 50 Palmley Place in Summit. Uh I want to
uh thank the task force, the mayor, addressed council president, mayor, members of the council, and thank you for the work you've done so far. It's not done. I am humbled by what I just heard. I am
encouraged by the effort of the young generation to make a statement like that. I've been practicing law for 60 years. I can't do better than what he just did. But but I do have a couple of points anyway. And that is that people
who are homeless are victims of one type of a situation or another. It may be it may be domestic violence. It may be eviction. It may be mental health, which is likely to be the case. And so
this ordinance, these are victims. This ordinance is blaming the victims. It's a classic case of blaming the victim for their unfortunate position. This is not consistent with the moral values taught by almost every
religion I know of. I can only wonder uh what had would have happened had Jesus Christ been born in Summit. Mary and Joseph would have had two hours to remove their belongings.
Mary and Joseph would have been subject to a fine of between $100 and $2,000 andor imprisonment andor community service or imprisonment for more than 90 days. This is not summit. This has not
solved the problem. As has been said by others, all of the issues that have been complained about already have laws on the books to deal with them. This law will not deal with those issues. If somebody's asleep, they're
not going to be attempting to stab somebody. This is misdirecting the remedy to this situation. I urge you to to redouble the efforts of the task force. I will be happy to to contribute my efforts to
that uh activity as well because I would not be happy to see summit go down this path. Summit is better than this. Thank you for your attention. Marcus McNamera, 53 Morris Avenue. Uh yeah, I got nothing prepared,
but um let's see. You know, I agree with what everybody says. There needs to be more mental health. There be needs to be more uh help for people with addiction, you know. Um and years ago when they were
really getting wild at the bus stops, I was kind of talking and like I kind of said, "Well, wait a second. What if these guys really do need help? What if they really are just down on their luck? And I I went up I went up to the bus stop. Uh I'm in I don't like to air my
dirty laundry, but I'm in recovery almost 20 years. I went up there. I said, "Listen, I could get you into a a rehab tonight for free. I got connections. Nobody said they were alcoholics or drug addicts." Then I said, "Well, how can I as a resident help you?" They said, "Well, we need
jobs." So I went home. I printed out every job that a convict or somebody who's been in trouble could get moving whatever entry level stuff. They didn't like the jobs. So I, you know, do I have compassion for
alcoholics and drug addicts? 100%. But when do you draw the line when they're just causing problems and they've refused help? You know, I agree. There should be something where they get put into and I don't know how do you put in how do you put the person who doesn't
want help. How I don't know. You know what I mean? I know one thing consequences have actions. All the consequences of my drug abuse and alcoholism led me to get sober. I got sick and tired of being sick and tired. I don't get up
here trying to pretend that that I have the solution. If I was going to do it, I would have them go into full-on rehab and then into a step down where they have a job. I would love to hire them. I can't hire guys who are straight off the street. I know what I know what I was
like. I know what people who are still addicted um are like. I I think about all the the police. I was at the park one day with my kids. We're playing baseball. I seen I seen a police officer come over to a guy. He was so drunk. It was a Memorial
Day weekend right at May Park. There's a guy by the rock. Cop came over. I told my kids they had to be like eight or nine. I said, "Watch, this guy's going to get arrested." He was so drunk he could barely stand up. They didn't arrest him. Then as he as he left, the police officer drove away and then two
other guys were so drunk that they got up and they rolled along the fence in front of maybe Park until the fence end and fell down. like I don't know what the solution is, you know, but doing nothing is not a solution either, you
know what I mean? Um, like I said, if I could help anyway, I'll go talk to anybody. I'll tell them my story, but you know, I'm not a I don't have a popular opinion in this room, which is fine. But I agree with the audience cuz
something has to be done. There's so much I think 24 million billion dollars got lost in California for the homeless. They don't know where it is. Like I don't know what's going on with this. Thank you. And thank you for sharing your story. Thank you, J.
Yes. Good evening, uh, Mayor Fagan, Council President McTan, members of Common Council. I'm Jim Bennett, BNE TT, 38 Fair View Avenue. I call for the adoption of the ordinance. A few weeks ago, Councilman
Buer's 11-year-old daughter was threatened at knife point by a vagrant with a wrap sheet longer than your arm. What does that incident have to do with this ordinance? It's about the broken window theory. To restate that theory
imperfectly, when government focuses on quality of life issues such as, well, it was sleeping or camping on public grounds, cities like New York have proven that big problems tend to take care of themselves. To those who think
that sleeping in public areas is innocuous, two weeks ago, two MTA workers were injured after waking up an aggressive subway passenger when the train reached the end of the line. Allowing abuse of our public
spaces is neither humane nor compassionate. Nearly all of Summit's homeless who sought help received help. Our homelessness task force has done an exceptional job of reducing Summit's
homeless population from at least 35 to five. According to Richard Unica of the Gothamist, those who refuse help uh tend to have uh problems. And the best prescription for these intrigent homeless, according to my predecessor,
who's a Summit Painting contractor who himself long ago recovered from alcoholism, is tough love, which this ordinance delivers. The ordinance focuses on deterring conduct that people of ordinary sensibilities find
repugnant. not on the status of homelessness. If there is any perceived deficiency in this ordinance, the mayor as head of police can cure it with internal guidance. Following adoption, I urge council to post signs putting potential
visitors on notice at every entryway to the city, including bus stops and the train station. join the municipalities of Milville, Keyport, Howell, and Hamilton. Adopting this ordinance will
be an essential step to ensure that Councilman Buer's daughter and many like her feel safe in Summit. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Bennett. If you'd leave your Oh, she did. Got it. Okay. Janet Malbeck, 40 Russell Place.
Good evening, mayor. Good evening, members of council. My name is Janet Malbeck. I'm the director of Interweave, an interfaith nonprofit that serves the city of Summit. I'm a member of the Summit
Interfaith Council and a 45 year resident of Summit. Because of all of this, I have a vested interest in the well-being of this community. I come to you tonight to speak against ordinance
11871. Across the country, we have seen a rise in homelessness. With people living paycheck to paycheck and the financial challenges of our day, homelessness could happen to anyone. It could happen to someone you know
unexpectedly. How are we answering that challenge here in Summit? Until recently, I would have been said that I am proud of how we are answering that challenge because of the work of the mayor's task force on homelessness.
Thank you, mayor. But I will not be able to say that I am proud if this ordinance goes forward. The responsibility of a city is to keep all its citizens safe and well. Even the small percentage of the Summit
community that are homeless, they too are a part of the Summit community, they too are our neighbors. We look to you, city leaders, to care for the whole community. We look to you for compassion. We look to you for wisdom.
But this ordinance is neither compassionate nor is it wise. We have a wonderful police to force that is taking care of the whole community working hard. But let's not shackle our police force with this ordinance. Let's not
shackle the summit taxpayers asking them to pay the burden of unwarranted incarcerations. Let's not shackle our homeless neighbors with fines they cannot pay and jail sentences they do not deserve. They didn't ask for this.
Let's bring solutions that match the problem. Bringing people the resources they need to match the challenge before us. Working to solve the root causes of homelessness will not be found in a jail cell, but rather in our considerable you
community resources. I'm old enough to remember George Bush senior saying a thousand points of light of all community organizations that are spread like stars throughout
the nation doing good. We have those points of light right here. They've been doing good work. Progress has been made. In a time of national c crisis and homelessness summit can be a light to others. Let's let community services do
their job. Let's let community organizations do their job. Let's say no to ordinance 1811871. Thank you. [Applause] Good evening. H my name is Mberly Hernandez. I live on Ashwood Avenue and
I own my home. I'm an immigrant and I came to this country in 2000 and I'm proud US citizen. I chose to live in Summit because it's a safe place and it's a good environment to raise my kids and the schools are very high rated. When I
moved here, I was a single mother and especially chose Summit because it was a safe place for my family and for me as a single mother. I started my business in 2009 and I have been leasing my business space since then. I own a salon and clients come from
Summit Church Hills, Chadam, Berkeley Heights. My my business serves mostly females and all ages. I have been surprised to see the changes in summit over the five over the past five
years and it's very concerning to me. My staff feel sometimes very unsafe when they leave the salon and the nighttime, especially in Thursdays and Fridays because of the situation. Um, some of my clients
express concern about coming into the salon when it's dark or when they leaving or when they're entering because they feel unsafe. I have called the police more than 10 times because of the situations. People come into my salon. They come
into my salon and ask for money and harass on time my employees. Two of my employees are refused to work late nights because they don't feel safe. This disrupted this disrupt my business and service to my clients. I
have chair outside in front of my salon and various various people take over the chairs and talk and threading manners to clients and people in my salon. We take the trash out in the back alley and my youngest worker have witnessed people
urinating and doing other unsanitary and inappropriate activities. My youngest employer will no longer take out the trash due to so many threatening incidents involving these situations. I witnessed how the summit
safety has been declining in the past several years. And I'm going to be honest, it's a daily drama in front of my I have first se I see everything because my salon especially is between the liquid store and the cigarette. So I see everything in the first time every
single day. Erh I care about these people. I'm a Christian person and I want to help those in need always. this situation is affecting my business
somehow. And I have to throw people. I have given them free haircuts. I got I have to try to help them to get some uh jobs at the pet store, etc. And I've talked to them about their addiction issues. I'm not capable to manage that because that's another level. But I I
try my best and I even pray with them. I try to guide them and encourage them. By the way, one of them was here. We are we are to this point in summit that we need to do you need to do more. The safety of my kids is a big concern always all the kids they love going downtown not coming
anymore. These kids are in need independence and social skill and being able to wrap it up please stop. H lastly my 13year-old son and his friends reported that we witnessed a drug deal near the train station and is very scared and very concerning. So if we
don't have the ordinance, we need to do something because we are trying to solve this matter. You guys have been putting some solutions there, but we need to do something with the people are left. Thank you, Mr. Hernandez. [Applause] Good evening. My name is Amanda Block.
My family and I reside at 13 Dear Place in Summit. 22 years ago, I began care navigation and outreach work in Manhattan. It was in that time that I led trainings on care navigation specifically for the unhoused population and the soon-to-be released individuals
from singing Bay View Correctional Facilities, Belleview Hospital, and the Forom School of Social Work. I closed that work in 2014 and laid the groundwork to prevent suburban homelessness with what is now known as Grace. For the past 10 years, starting
when I was chairman of the board of bridges, I advocated for municipal involvement in the outreach and intervention of our community's unhoused neighbors. And I am especially grateful for the resources and collaboration afforded by the mayor's task force uh
over the past two years. Seven years ago, Summit Warm Hearts was created by one of our previous speakers, Leonard Prrentice, who I've known for 30 years uh thanks to Bridges. It is it created a platform for stabilization, building trust, making a place to be human and
make rational decisions in the 2021-22 season and in the 2022 23 seasons. Each season uh six participants obtained and continue to enjoy stable housing. In the 2022 23 season, it was an increased time
of transients in our community and most of the participants were only in summit for an average of two nights due to diversion efforts. In 2023, we started working with court innovations, a court diversion program to take summones from the unhoused population and create a
pipeline to rehabilitation and housing. Most of the time the tickets get thrown out unfortunately by the prosecutor or the judge. Most of the five individuals council references have extensive interactions with the police and the
judicial system. It is yet to change anything. I don't know why we think this ordinance would make a difference when the judicial system has not changed. In the 2023 24 season, 20 participants obtained stable housing. Why? because it
was a year we could foster relationships and build plans from a place of strength and trust. In the 2024-25 season, Summit warmhearts only offered respbit to seven unique individuals based on the task force guidelines. Five of those seven
obtained housing this year. I do not have the same access to the data because of the boundaries put in place. It does not mean the name numbers have changed substantially. In fact, our current estimate is that 17 individuals lack a stable address. This year, we were lucky
to have access to the only solution to homelessness, housing. The rapid rehousing awarded by the DCA and enacted by the members of the task force is what ended homelessness for the seven individuals.
Placing fines, jail time, other punishments lengthen the homelessness to housing pipeline. No one is endorsing crime here. I beg of you. You aim to stop crime, criminalize the criminal activity. An ordinance is a law we do not need. This council has made a name
for itself with accountability and with care. This ordinance will not give you the result you seek. Please invest in what will, coordinated care. Thank you. [Applause]
Blake Scallet, S C A L E T. I reside at 105 New England Avenue here in Summit. I'm also the pastor of St. John's Lutheran Church, 587 Springfield Avenue here in Summit since 1908. I want to read to you a statement actually that I didn't write, our whole
congregation endorsed. Um I think the first time in 117 years we've ever done that. As followers of Jesus Christ and active members of the summit community, we of St. John's Lutheran Church feel called to speak out against the proposed ordinance banning camping and sleeping
in public spaces. This ordinance does not reflect the moral values of compassion and justice that our faith demands and it will harm our most vulnerable neighbors rather than strengthen our community. Scripture makes clear that God identifies with the poor and the
unhoused. Deuteronomy, you are told, "You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy, and to the poor in your land." The prophet Isaiah urges us to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house. In First John, we hear, "If anyone has the world's goods and sees
his brother in need, yet closes his heart, how does God's love abide in them?" And Jesus says plainly, "I was hungry and you gave me food. I was a stranger and you welcomed me. Just as you did it to one of the least of these,
you did it to me. This ordinance would criminalize the simple act of existing in public while poor. That is not mercy. That is not justice. Now, as Lutheran, we affirm the role of the government to maintain safety and order, but never at
the expense of care and protection for the poor. Enforce existing laws as necessary, but do not make poverty itself a crime. We urge the Summit Common Council to reject this ordinance. Instead, continue to invest in real
compassionate solutions and partnerships that address the root causes of homelessness. Our congregation has committed our time, energy, and resources to do this work, and we will continue to do so. Let us not turn our backs on those in need. Let us open our
hearts as Christ has opened his arms heart to us and adopted by the creation council of St. John's Lutheran Church April 15, 2025. And I would say personally, we've said, you've said tell the truth. Well, you're talking about
residents. These people are residents, too. We are all one community together. All of us residents. Safe, welcoming. Vote. No, don't do this. This is not summit. Thank you.
[Applause] Hi, my name is Robert Lee, 9 Pro Street Summit, New Jersey. Um, my personal feeling is I am shocked by this ordinance. Um, especially knowing the people that I know here on
this council and knowing the kind of human beings that you are and the kind of compassion that you guys show typically, this ordinance does not reflect who you are and who we are as a community. Um, and the other thing
is I I have my best friend [Music] My best friend from college dealt with schizophrenia. He's been homeless and
and he's not violent. He's not a danger to others, but he's one of those people that reject help. We do not have the right to take away his
freedom for who he is. If we as a country criminalize people for who they are just to clean up our streets so we don't have to face the ugliness of those
issues is not who I feel we should be as people. And that's why I urge the council to reject this ordinance. We cannot presume to know
what is best for somebody else just because we feel we don't agree with their sty lifestyle. Courage is having the patience to be there for
them when they are ready to say yes to the help that we're offering. That's true courage. And I ask this council to be courageous and be patient with those people and deal with the criminal
situations threatening somebody with a knife with the criminal laws that we have to do that. But don't criminalize people for who they are. That's all I have to say cuz that's a dangerous road to go down. Thank you.
[Music] [Applause] Do I need to give my name? I'm just teasing. You've been up here so you know why it's valuable. Thank you. Jordan CL 100 Wilson Road, Springfield, New Jersey.
Um, so if anybody knows one thing about me is I love this town. And the other thing they'll know about me is I would go through a wall for police and first responders. I also understand what you all are going through tonight. It's a
thorny is issue. But this is not this ordinance is not reflective of Summit. And I just ask you, you know, my dad was probably the smartest guy I knew. And he always said when I had a problem like this, take a breath. And I ask you that
you just you don't have to pass this tonight. The other thing I know about summit is we have some of the smartest people living in our town. And this evening, just the firehouse idea, I don't know, but it got me thinking. There are probably a dozen ideas that we
can do as a workaround to try and solve this problem. Use the resources of the community. Use your task force. But don't this is not reflective of the town that we built. And I'll leave you with one other thought. Many of you got
elected here from a council because the council did not listen to the public. Okay? this room. I've, you know, I've been to quite a few council meetings in my and it's a rare time that I've seen a
meeting packed the way it is tonight. So, please, I ask you to listen and just maybe pump the brakes on this and thanks for everything you guys do. Thank you. [Applause] I suppose I should give my name as well.
Christopher Carter, 752 Springfield Avenue. Perhaps more than most, I both appreciate and understand the challenges associated with local governance. My perspective comes from
having had the privilege to serve in various leadership roles that included attending more than 300 meetings of the common council. 300 plus. More recently, I've had the
opportunity to serve as a member of the mayor's task force on homelessness and in a small way helped contribute to the uncommon success that group has achieved. Housing that many formerly unhoused
persons so quickly might give the impression that the process was easy. And therefore, those few persons remaining unhoused represent a failure of resolve that requires a more muscular
response. That impression would be a mistaken one. The efforts to reduce the local unhoused population have required the ongoing hard work of local service providers, civic and faith leaders, our
police and healthc care representatives, first aid squad members, business owners, and members of the merchant community. representatives of common council who rolled up their sleeves and did the hard
work. Local residents and others all working collaboratively. And that collaboration was made possible only because our mayor did something mayors are uniquely suited to do. bring diverse groups together to
address important civic issues by forming a task force on homelessness that is now a model for other communities. The proposed ordinance, while well intended, will likely make the efforts
of the task force even more difficult because it will erode any goodwill and more importantly the trust that has been established with unhoused persons. I think there's a better approach worth considering.
From my experience, it is the rare local issue that rises to the polarizing level that this one has. When that has happened in the past, the governing body took the time, sometimes a great deal of
time, to search for consensus, to asssure broad support among all stakeholders. I would urge this governing body to do the same by tableabling or voting down this ordinance and then seeking recommendations from the mayor's task
force that has the shared goal of ending homelessness in summit. Thank you all for the work that you do on behalf of this very special community. Thank you. Leah Griffith, 41 Witrich
Road. Um, and I'm speaking tonight as the chair of the mayor's task force on homelessness. Um, I first want to just, um, applaud the mayor and this council for forming the task force. Um it's quite an extraordinary group and
um most of our success has come from participation of all of um just our incredible first responders, our incredible social services agencies, our residents, and our business owners. Um, I know I'm a little repetitive from some people who have spoken before me, but I
I thought it was really important for um you all as well as um the town to kind to know exactly what it is we do because I think a lot of it is is somewhat hidden. Um, and I say this because I'm greatly disheartened by the
characterization of Summit in recent um press and media is it is an alarmingly false narrative. Summit has a long history of caring for all of its residents and that continues today. Homelessness is a complex issue and I'd like to explain the resources that the
task force has utilized to house and care for the homeless. We have outreach teams in summit 5 days a week. They're not particularly visible to many people, but they are trained professionals in outreach, and they engage with our known
homeless as well as any new faces in need of assistance. Outreach has been a key driver to our success in engaging and getting people into definitive care or housing. The teams are in the train station, the library, downtown.
They also arrive when the police or EMS or others notify them of someone in distress. We have teams that meet patients at Overlook and coordinate with social workers there to navigate for our homeless patients. We've utilized professional
crisis intervention teams when a mental health crisis has occurred. We've utilized prevention links with lived experience outreach teams to navigate rehab. We are working really hard to utilize all of our available
resources. The task force meets has met bi-weekly or monthly for 10 months. We have a triage team that meets weekly. I receive messages daily with outreach team updates, etc. We've housed numerous people with the
help of rapid rehousing funding that this council secured and moved them into furnished apartments with items that residents of this town have joyfully provided. My husband would have a little bit of beef with um all the space it was taking up
at some point, but um it's the the response by this town is incredible. This is the very best of this town. People working together to make a better life for others. And yet we have those that resist case management or housing assistance of any kind, but we continue
to outreach to them. Two things can be true at the same time. Um the task force work continues. What are we doing next? We're trying to get people connected to services earlier. We don't want anybody sleeping outside. Um we're going to focus on
stabilization of those already housed to ensure they remain housed. Prevention of the housing insecure. Sorry. and working with houses of worship. Thank you. Thank you so much. Good evening. Um my name is Raisa Ruben Stanwitz. Um I live at 360 Jefferson
Road in Princeton. Um and I am the policy associate for the New Jersey Coalition to End Homelessness. Grateful to be here tonight. I wanted to start off my remarks just by bringing up some unintended consequences of this ordinance that you may not have thought
of. Um, and these are consequences that go regardless of how it is actually enforced. Having this ordinance on the books will impact others have spoken to the issue of trust will impact the willingness. It may impact the
willingness of some who are unhoused in summit to engage with street outreach and homeless emergency services even beyond what they may have been willing to do before. The other piece is that it may impact the willingness of pe might
lead to people staying in unsafe housing situations because they are afraid of being unsheltered and unhoused and being arrested or being fined. And when I uh was at a hearing similar to this in Patterson uh where they tried to pass a
similar ordinance and ended up the council uh pulled the ordinance because of the degree of community backlash. Um there was someone who spoke to being in a domestic violence situation and how because of similar types of ordinances
and policies um she had uh stayed in a situation that was unsafe for her for longer than she should have. And I think what that really speaks to is that policy is not effective if the people who are directly impacted by that policy are not at the table and the unintended
consequences are going to fall on people who I do not believe are in these rooms when these conversations are being had. So I really really urge you all I have seen I have heard about the extraordinary work that you have done
when you have coalesed partners. You've put together this mayor's task force on homelessness and really done the work that works. You know I don't need to give you examples. You know how this works because you have done it and I am so grateful. And so I am asking as other
speakers have please vote down this ordinance tonight. The language in it isn't even the finalized version you all want. Vote down the ordinance tonight. Go back to the summit mayor's task force on homelessness. Let the solution come from them and from those discussions
with them. Let it come from the comments you're hearing from the community. Let it come for those with lived experiences of unsheltered homelessness. And then let's come back to the table and let's have this discussion. Um, and I know I have 19 seconds. I'll just touch really briefly. um the former uh executive
director of the US inter agency council on homelessness um said that not having a house is not a crime, it's a tragedy and I just want to end on those words. Thank you for your time. Thank you. [Applause]
Hello, my name is Paula Certis, last name CeR, and I live at 14 Tingley Road in Mendum Township. I want to say that this town has done something absolutely amazing. The town
of Summit has become a destination. People travel here from all over the county to enjoy the gardens. People travel here from other counties to attend the beautiful churches and wander through the town. People come
here from all of North Jersey to eat on Springfield A. And people from all over the state of New Jersey and New York City wish that they lived here. You guys have done something absolutely incredible. And I hope that you realize
that. But for everybody at the table here, there is something important that you need to know. There's a benefit that you will get from not moving forward with this ordinance. There's a message that you're sending and the message that we have heard is that the pesky
dogooders need to leave town. We need to go back to the other towns where we live. I have heard this numerous times from the summit council. And there's multiple ordinances that have come out one after another that are systematically dismantling the
community that you have built here that everyone is jealous of. So, I want you to know that if you want us to leave and go back to our other towns, we can. We can stop attending events on your green and posting about them on social media. We can go to the
restaurants that are in our own towns instead of meeting with friends and family here. And we can stop buying homes in the beautiful place that is Summit, New Jersey. So, I want you to realize that you are sending a message and it is being heard loud and clear.
Thank you. Thank you. [Applause] Good evening. My name is Taisa Kelly. I live at 208 Burger Street in Somerset and I work with Monarch Housing Associates, which is a nonprofit that focuses on working to end homelessness
across New Jersey. And we're based in Cranford, New Jersey. I think it's safe to say that everybody here at the at the all of you at the table there and everybody in this room and in the overflow rooms does not want to see any person living on the street.
Nobody wants to see somebody unsheltered. And I think it's also safe to say that everybody here also agrees that we need to ensure the safety of our community and we want everybody to enjoy the space safely. That being
said, making it a a crime, developing this ordinance that makes it a crime to have, whether it is about sleeping in public, whether it is about camping in public, does not ensure safety and does not help to end homelessness in this community. At Monarch, we conduct the
point in time count for the state and we have been seeing an unfortunate trend of increase in homelessness over the last couple of years. We expect that number to continue given the the situation that we're in now, given the unaffordability of housing, given the stagnation of wages. This is going to be a troubling
trend. And so this ordinance is not just about who's experiencing homelessness in your community today. It is also going to affect those who experience the homelessness in your community in the future. And I would love to say that, you know, once you've housed everybody who's experiencing homelessness now, you
will not see any other folks experiencing homelessness. But the reality is there will be others who fall in hard times, who have housing insecurity, who end up unhoused, who are unsheltered and need support. Having an ordinance that makes it illegal to have your stuff in public
places, to camp in public places, essentially criminalizes homelessness. And that is not the way to help people get in into housing. That is not the way to end their homelessness. The way to end homelessness is to get people into housing. You guys have been doing a tremendous tremendous job of actually
getting people into housing. The reality is it takes a lot of work and I know that you guys know this to move a person into housing. It is not something where we can offer them a voucher today and they can be in housing tomorrow. It takes time. It is a process and so we have to be patient and let that process
play out. I know it is difficult and you do have laws on the book when there are um instances and behaviors that are problematic in your community. There are ways to address those by addressing the problematic behavior. But having this ordinance that speaks specifically to
camping does not address the problematic behavior. The problematic behavior is not the camping. The problematic behavior is the aggression is the other things that are happening. And so you can use the laws that you have on the books to address those behaviors rather than criminalizing folks for the simple
act of sleeping out in public. There is nowhere else for them to go. It is not a matter of simply refusing help. It is also a matter of our systems not being equipped to help people in the ways that are needed. And we need to take the time to build the services and supports to help get them safely into housing.
Thank you. Thank you very much. [Applause] Um, Gabrielle Porz, 30 Weaver Street. I'm going to be reading from my phone. Um, this is my request to reject the criminalization of homelessness and
invest in long-term solutions. First and foremost, fines in jails don't um solve homelessness, they make it worse. Extensive research shows criminalizing homelessness worsens the crisis by increasing arrests, creating barriers to housing, and causing long-term harm to
the victims of unjust ordinances. People are able to address mental health, addiction, and employment concerns far more effectively when they're housed. Real safety and public health comes from ensuring everyone has a safe place to sleep, not from adding to the jail
population. Homelessness is a policy failure, not a personal choice. Homelessness exists because housing is too expensive and wages are too low. Summit has a decadesl long wait list for affordable housing, and there are little to no options for those working minimum
wage jobs to afford to live in the city. Criminalizing homelessness does not provide a sustainable solution to a larger affordable housing issue. It ignores the root cause and punishes the most vulnerable among us. Um, findings finding someone who cannot
afford housing does not help them afford the rent. It traps them deeper in poverty and a vicious cycle. In New Jersey, nearly half of renters are rent burden. Many are one paycheck away from eviction. Homelessness in the state has increased 25% since last year. So, we
need to keep that in mind when we think about who this ordinance could impact, not only presently, but in the future. And last, but not least, criminalizing homelessness waste taxpayer dollars. New Jersey on average spends $66,000 per incarcerated person annually. Um, which
also contributes to the horrific conditions that they are held in in state prisons. Focusing on providing immediate housing with supportive services, increases stability, cuts hospital and jail use, and saves money. The proposed ordinance drains local resources while ignoring proven
solutions such as a task force to combat homelessness. Summit's homelessness task force has proven successful in generating results and lasting change while leading with empathy and community support instead of contributing to the homelessness to prison pipeline. And I have a few
seconds left. I just wanted to note that some of my statistics and remarks were contributed by Alec Vandenberg who leads the anti-criminal criminalization work at the National Alliance to End Homelessness, which is the organization
that gave the summit homelessness task force the award recently. Thank you. Thank you. [Applause] Good evening, Mayor Fagan, Council President McTurnin, members of council.
My name is Richard Ununiak. I serve as president of Bridges Outreach and we're located at 120 Morris Avenue in Summit. Three weeks ago, when the camping and sleeping ban was introduced, I shared how proud I've been of the work being done in Summit, the formation of the mayor's task force to solve
homelessness, the datadriven housing first approach, and our ability to bring in DCA to help facilitate a rapid rehousing sprint. Together, we've been doing all the right things. With the mayor's leadership, we were able to convene key stakeholders. We established
a byname list, and there has been consistent case collaboration. The by-name list of 35 names is essentially down to five through rapid rehousing, HPPP, HPRP, diversion, and more. We've made huge progress. More
than that, we've established a model for other communities to emulate. That model led to national recognition. Passing this ordinance as written is in congruous with that approach. and criminalization of homelessness,
including coercive tactics which attempt to force people into treatment or case management, do not work. These approaches are widely shown to be the most expensive and the least effective ways to approach solving homelessness. I recognize the need to uphold public
safety. There have been behaviors exhibited which are unacceptable and should be unacceptable in society. Those actions which are already illegal should be punished. We should not punish the condition of homelessness itself nor the
biological imperative to sleep. My ask of you today is that you vote down this ordinance or table it in favor of engaging the task force in sub in substantive discussion. Though the mayor's task force may not have an
official role in policymaking, you've created and convened this body to great success, engaged the members in discussion of the ordinance. At this point, that group's feedback is conspicuously absent from the ordinance process and is instead coming out
through other channels. I also reiterate my call for continuing to engage DCA. The partnership from OP has been invaluable to the success that we have made thus far and their endorsement makes ongoing partnership much more
fruitful. Homelessness is on the rise in New Jersey and if the Q1 trend continues, we could see a 55% increase year-over-year. In Summit, we are in the unique position of nearly having the systems in place to ensure that
experiences of homelessness can be rare, brief, and nonrecurring. A vote against this ordinance as introduced is a vote to take the time to get it right, which is the commitment I believe has been made. Thank you. Thank you.
[Applause] Good evening, Peter Jacob, 402 Elizabeth, uh, Union Avenue, Elizabeth, New Jersey. Mayor Fagan, members of the Summit City Council. My name is Peter Jacob. I'm the executive director of Family Promise Union County, which serves families with children who are at
risk of being homeless. Uh, we are the flagship organization founded by Karen Olsson, who spoke before me. Personally, I love being a resident here in Union County and I'm a patron of many of the businesses here in town. I want you to imagine, if you will, a single mother
with children who has nowhere else to go in an emergency situation, fleeing a dangerous circumstance, and now by definition, homeless, driving down Broader Springfield with no place to go, but the safest place they could find is a public lot or a side street to get a
few hours of rest and safety. Under what and whose discretion will this ordinance determine what will happen to this mother and children? Will child protective services be called? Will they be split up? Will they be fined? Face jail time? What if warrants for unpaid parking tickets come up? Sure, this is
not the intended, but can be one of the unintended consequences for someone who is camping in their vehicle or having personal belongings such as a sleeping bag or blanket. And how is this distinguishable from an individual who has personal belongings sitting on a
park bench? We all want to live in vibrant and safe communities. So, I want to la the mayor's task force on homelessness, the success it has seen over the past year, resulting being recognized as a national model, and we're proud as Family Promise Union County to sit on that task force.
However, now we find language around criminalizing homelessness, which is synonymous with the language found in this ordinance. when the evidence shows that such policy results in worse economic health safety outcomes for both unhoused and housed residents. I
understand our challenges now are very nuanced and that the nature of things when you do succeed as we do level up we need to meet that challenge for our community and this phase that we walk into will be our next challenge. I
understand that this challenge I understand there can be challenging individuals who happen to be unhoused in our community. We can all agree that inappropriate and illegal behaviors in public spaces are cause for concern and should be addressed accordingly but not
conflated with homelessness. If you have a graffiti problem, that's a graffiti problem. If you have somebody painting graffiti about Timothy McVey, then maybe that's a white supremacy problem. The question becomes, have we done
everything we can in good faith to meet the challenge today? There's more we can do. We can invest by training our homeless outreach teams, aka hot teams, our EMTs, and our local police departments to better meet this challenge where we've seen this happen in Grand Rapids, Michigan, or in
Sarasota, Florida, where the police department in partnership with social service providers created the educate, encourage, and enforcement program. I respectfully ask that we vote down this current ordinance. I ask that you consider what future generations will do
a year, 5 years, a generation from now when a person in need shows up. The summit community and stakeholders must meet this challenging challenge and we can do it together. Thank you. Thank you.
[Applause] Good evening. I'm Jeff Wild, one Loenstein Drive, Rosland, New Jersey. I am a founding founder and trustee, excuse me, of the New Jersey Coalition to end
homelessness. I am a partner at New Jerseyy's largest law firm. Maybe more relevantly, I'm the son of a man who grew up poor and homeless, uh, unhoused. They called it homeless then. And I think I have more experience than any
lawyer in the state of New Jersey in working with municipalities from the top to the bottom in the state in solving this problem the right way. Uh and I share your views. I get it. It is an
abomination that people are living in tents in this town. I would hate it in my town. Uh daughters who are being threatened. I'm a dad. Believe me, I get that. And uh this is all the more reason
why uh we shouldn't let uh emotion uh dictate what happens tonight. Uh I have a modest ask. Uh you have not yet spoken to the lawyers who one know the law in this area, New Jersey law, and two have
worked successfully. uh whether it's in Lakewood, Tom's River, Patterson, everywhere we have been able to get rid of the tents, get rid of the people outside and do it in a legal
way. I applaud uh how you have made so much progress here and please don't blow it when you're about to take the last step here because legally there is a fatal flaw in this ordinance. The
amendment I is helpful in some ways, but it doesn't have in it what I heard was your intent that you're not criminalizing homelessness. Well, the reality is there are no available beds many
nights uh in Summit in Union County. We called this morning, no beds. People can't go there. And the problem with the ordinance is it doesn't have a clause saying what I think you believe that no
person shall be prosecuted under this ordinance if they are outside because there is no housing, no emergency shelter, no safe place that they can go because the absence of that runs uh a
foul of all sorts of New Jersey laws. But let's be practical. It's been done the right way and the wrong way for four or five years. Uh Lakewood litigated with us. Ultimately, at the end of the day, they wasted a fortune in taxpayer
dollars. They got bad press considered to be uh heartless community uh at the end of the day didn't work. Uh there's no community where commu criminalizing homelessness has worked. I would urge
you uh give it two weeks. Let's sit down. If you won't withdraw the ordinance, at least fix the obvious legal fatal flaws. So before you embark on a course which is going to bring on
all the problems to the town, will solve no problems when this can be a success story. And like in all the other cities, we can do a joint press release together and we'll get rid of people living outside. Thank you. Thank you.
[Applause] Good evening. My name is Dewan Norwood and I serve as policy counsel at the ACLU of New Jersey with our offices being located in Newark, New Jersey. ACLUJ opposes the ordinance to prohibit
sleeping and camping on public property. As written, the ordinance unduly targets individuals experiencing homelessness. We are deeply concerned by the ordinance as it would place severe punitive measures on those who are the most vulnerable in the community. On its face, this ordinance
would only accomplish the goal of punishing and criminalizing individuals on the basis of their poverty and housing status. Instead of providing individuals with the help that they need, the city stands to further exacerbate the conditions experienced by unhoused individuals. Imposing fines and
jail time on unhoused individuals will increase barriers to accessing housing and will perpetuate the very issues that the city claims to be addressing with this ordinance. Put simply, the policy proposed in this ordinance is
ineffective and inhumane. It is unconscionable to propose meeting individuals in need with a bed in a jail cell instead of a bed provided through stable and safe housing or shelter options. At this critical political
moment in our state and across the nation, city officials should be on the front lines of defending and protecting all within the communities that they serve. To pass this ordinance in any form would advance the notion that a human being can be beyond care,
compassion, and decency. If the city council is serious about addressing homelessness, the focus must be shifted to ensuring that there are shelters and resources that are easily accessible to people experiencing homelessness. Research by the National
Homelessness Law Center shows that criminalization is the most effective I mean is the most expensive and least effective approach to addressing homelessness. Time and time again it has been shown that criminalization does nothing to prevent it. Alternatively,
policies that are rooted in care such as emergency shelter and services are more effective while costing less. Further, the city has prevent presented no evidence to show that this ordinance would achieve its alleged goal of increasing public safety. Additionally,
the ordinance lacks any clear guidance on enforcement. And as members of this council, the decision before you is whether you will cast a vote in support of the further criminalization of vulnerable people experiencing homelessness in the face of overwhelming evidence that doing so is harmful and
ineffective. Ordinances like this one have no place here or anywhere in New Jersey. This council must seriously listen to and consider the concerns and stories of the community that have been presented here tonight. And we strongly urge you to
withdraw or vote against the passage and imple implementation of this ordinance and to rather pursue effective policies that are rooted in the care and rehabilitation of unhoused individuals. Thank you. Thank you.
[Applause] Hey, good evening, council president, mayor. My name is Matthew Hirs. I humbly come to you as a visitor from Highland Park, New Jersey. Uh I'm also the vice president of policy and advocacy at the Housing and Community Development Network of New Jersey. Uh we're a membership organization and many of the
speakers here tonight uh are members and many of many many members of the of the uh homelessness task force are also members of the network. I just I wanted to just reiterate the congratulations to you know on the work that you have done uh really committing to you know ending homelessness investing in the community
in investing in the resources that are necessary to stop homelessness because that is the problem that we're seeing and I just wanted to provide a little bit of perspective from our advocacy standpoint um uh because we're not in summit but uh this is part of a national uh uh uh campaign to stop laws like
this. uh you know, we hear it at every national conference that we go to and any any homelessness or low-income advocacy, you know, focuses on these types of laws because it is often a last stop for municipalities to take when they feel that they are fresh out of ideas. But I think what you're seeing
tonight is that you have an enormous an embarrassment of riches of ideas uh to work off of to make for a better better law. Um, and I did just want to point to the uh the the state supreme court decision that you might have heard uh from last year, Johnson versus Grants
Pass. Uh, on June 28th last year, a decision was announced that cities and states can arrest people for sleeping outside even when there are no safe alternatives. Uh, this is a court case that was originally filed in 2018 uh that determined that it is cruel and unusual punishment to arrest or ticket
people for sleeping outside when they have no safe place to go. The case started in Grantspass, Oregon, um where the city began issuing tickets to people sleeping in public even when there were not enough safe accessible shelter beds. And unfortunately, the case continues in places like Summit, New Jersey, in
places like Morristown, in places like Patterson who are entertaining ordinances that address homelessness in this way. Um and it's just not the solution. Grants Pass, like many cities in America, is thousands of housing units short of what is needed. New Jersey is hundreds of thousands of units
short of what is needed for affordable homes. So, the investment really does need to come from other from from from other resources as well. Um, we know we we we you know, I I can reiterate everything that is that that's been said that criminalization does not address the real causes of homelessness. Uh,
criminalization worsens homelessness. Criminalization policies make the problem of homelessness worse. Where do they go after they leave Summit? You know, where do folks go when they're arrested? Maybe they're let out of jail. Um, where are they going to go? The town next door, New Providence. I I I don't know. So, so it's not it's not
addressing the problem. And I just will just want to finish up saying that, you know, in the advocacy world, we consider the work that Summit has done up to now a huge huge win. Uh, this doesn't happen in other communities. the work that you have done to put together a broad diverse coalition composed of experts
who work on the ground with homelessness populations uh to provide solutions understanding and proposing solutions to a dimensional issue. It's not as simple as just one ordinance. But this ordinance is so shockingly and so shockingly and suddenly undoes that work
and would represent a loss not only for advocates but for us all. Let's not react to the difficult things in our community. Let's plan deliberately and methodically. And please don't give up now. Please don't give up now. Keep your eye on the prize. Thank you. Thank you very much. Uh good evening everyone. Before I
begin my prepared remarks, I'd just like to thank you all for letting us all come and speak before you. I'm absolutely exhausted and you must be having to pay attention. And I'll do my part and say whether or not you like my remarks, please don't clap at the end so we'll move it along faster. Um, my name is Dan
Magcguire and I'm the CEO of the Elizabeth Coalition to House the Homeless located at 118 Division Street in Elizabeth. We're a 44 year old nonprofit serve in the Union County with homeless prevention, sheltering programs, and services and affordable
housing development. We operate a two family house in Summit that provides affordable homes to formerly homeless families. I'm very fond of Summit, a place where my daughters went to school for 13 years. I still love to come to visit friends and meet people for
coffee. I was thrilled to hear at the last meeting I came to that the MUN is open. Um I'm an avid disc golfer, so you know you'll you'll find me there if you're out there. Uh there is so much uh to love about Summit. Uh you guys even have probably the coolest high school sports names in the state, the Hill
Toppers. Um unfortunately if the proposed ordinances advance uh you're going to need a new nickname uh because henceforth you'll no longer be the proverbial city on the hill. Summit has made impressive strides as you've heard tonight in addressing homelessness which
is so commendable and everybody's echoed that ordinances that criminalize uh homelessness obliterate the reputation that you've built and create a new image of Summit that is far less flattering. Uh, I won't repeat what's been said already. I'd like to urge the council to
consider two items. First, um, it's not necessarily your job, but I I I ask you to think beyond the municipal boundaries. Uh these ordinances would potentially have a domino effect in New Jersey and perhaps even nationally, effectively giving permission to other
towns to flout these best practices that you've been using in favor of shortcuts that jail people for being unhoused or push the homeless from one town to another. You might be focused on the five people in your town, but this will ripple negatively through the state and
impact many many more homeless people and the providers who are trying to get them to a positive housing outcome. Uh second, while some of the remaining homeless in in town have caused problems that need to stop, they're inexcusable and hopefully addressed through existing
laws. Um I urge the council to take the long view. As said, there will be more people becoming homeless in the community in the very near future. Should nonprofit partners like those who have spoken and worked on the task force and the faith community who
have been part of that and government partners like DCA, should they all continue to invest valuable and scarce resources in Summit if trust is broken and best practices ignored when other towns are trying to do it the right way?
I ask you to seriously weigh the question and the implications of the answer you arrive at. I urge the council to vote no against the proposed ordinances or at least delay a vote so that continued conversations can take place that lead to a consensus approach. Thank you very much.
Thank you. Good evening. My name is Eric Salidto. I reside at 28 Way Drive. Like many of the folks in this room, uh I was born and raised in Summit, born in an overlook and grew up over on Huntley Road, East Summit as it was called. And
it was called that because it was spray painted on the train trust as you go down Springfield A. And like a lot of the folks in this room, I I moved back to Summit after living out of state for 20 years because my family and I were attracted to its
schools and its safe community. Councilman Ber, I I'm so sorry this happened to your child. I'm a parent of a middle school uh daughter as well, and if if I had been in your shoes, I'd be doing everything in my power to make sure it never happened again. And I know
your motives are for the safety of all of our children. But this just happened a few weeks ago, and to have this ordinance all of a sudden up for vote is the epitome of a knee-jerk reaction. We've had experts tell us, legal experts
tell us that this is not the proper way to go. We've had social service experts tell us this is not the way uh to do it, to solve the issue here in Summit. And as any current middle school parent has been told uh by their child, I I'll tell the council this, let them cook. Let
them do their job. They they're batting 750 in the span of two years. They've reduced homelessness and summit by leaps and bounds. The last few are never going to be easy. they're going to be the hardest ones. And by using the stick, by using fear, that's not the way we're
going to solve homelessness here in Summit. And I I I think it's fitting that we're bringing this up when in a time when uh one of the leaders of the the the great religions of the world, the Pope Francis, the late Pope Francis lies in state. My my my mom and my dad,
my my stepdad, he played guitar at St. Teresa's at the Rock and Roll Mass on on 5:30s on Sundays. This is not how we should treat our the least fortunate among us here in summit and I ask you to table and reconsider this ordinance. Thank you.
[Applause] Good evening. I'm Aaron Glazer G A Z. I'm the senior rabbi at Temple Sinai here in Summit 208 Summit Avenue. I want to share a public letter that was issued today from community leaders, service
providers, concerned residents, and faith leaders, including myself. We're all deeply concerned about this ordinance. We agree with the common council that threatening and violent behavior should be stopped regardless of whether the perpetrator is housed or
unhoused. We agree that downtown Summit should be a safe community for all residents, business owners, and visitors. But we cannot agree with this ordinance. It does not solve our problems. It creates new ones. Common council is rightly
concerned about the disproportionate use of city resources for a small number of individuals. Yet, this ordinance will cost Summit more money. While current resources for housing come from county, state, and federal funds, enforcement of this ordinance will come solely from
Summit's budget. If someone is sentenced to up to 90 days in jail, will Summit residents foot the bill? Summit is likely to face litigation should this ordinance pass, and the legal costs will be borne by city residents.
Despite the progress of the mayor's task force on homelessness, common council is now proposing action that defies national studies on homelessness, which show that criminalization of sleeping and camping in public results in an average of two additional years of
homelessness. While the task force has had significant success in placing people in permanent housing, the process takes time. In fact, due to New Jersey's severe affordable housing shortage, individuals who are fortunate enough to have received a rent subsidy voucher
search for on average 8 months before finding housing, even longer if supportive housing or medical intervention is needed. In addition, because the sharing of confidential information is essential to the effective case management that has
been successful in the task force, several members of the task force will be forced to consider resigning should the ordinance pass. They cannot be in a position of sharing names and confidential information that could lead to arrests. The present ordinance is
flawed, as several members of common council acknowledged, and it contains unintended consequences. Both council members and police officers have shared that this ordinance would be used as a last resort and would not be enforced on everyone who sleeps in a
public space. Selective enforcement would be illegal and could expose the city to litigation. In addition, there are already laws in place that criminalize violent and threatening behaviors. for the financial, practical, legal, and moral reasons. We hope common
council will vote this ordinance down and recommmit to the mayor's task force on homelessness. We remain willing to partner to solve the challenges our community faces with datadriven, legally sound, and morally grounded solutions. We need to reenter on common
sense solutions. This ordinance is the exact opposite. Thank you. [Applause] Hi, I'm Abigail Kaine, K. I live at 88 West End Avenue here in Summit. Um,
first off, Councilman Boyer, I am so sorry for what happened to your daughter. Um, from one young woman to a father of a young daughter. Um, I understand and I completely empathize. I think I felt unsafe at times here, too. So, I completely understand your motivations for wanting to create this
ordinance, but I don't think that this is the right way to solve um your issues of safety here. Um, in my opinion, the wording of this ordinance um and the attitude that certain citizens have towards it is tying and conflating issues of criminal activity and public
safety to issues of encampments and the unhoused population. This confusion confusion may be one of the reasons that the unhoused in this town don't want to accept help from their civil servants. And it's because ordinances like these and attitudes that some citizens have is that they view unhoused people as
criminals and subhuman. If we wanted to stop criminal activity like what has happened in recent months, we should create ordinances that target things like harassment itself, not the unhoused. And we need to make sure that the unhoused in this town feel human. Thank you. Thank you,
Madame Mayor, Mr. President, members of council. My name is Avi Freriedman, F- Red D-N 34 Hartley Road. I'm also the rabbi of Congregation Orsh Shalom, 67 Kentplace Boulevard here in Summit. I came to Summit just a few months shy of
20 years ago. And when I came to town, I heard a story that made me realize that this was the town I wanted to live in. I don't know exactly how true it is, but I I think there's a kernel of truth there. The story as I understand it is back in 1990 a young man who was born here in
Summit was found dead on a park bench and he had been living homeless and the response of this town was to form a task force and out of that task force came ship Summit helping its people which to this day provides over 15,000 meals a
year to people in need. That's the kind of city I want to live in. When the mayor established the homelessness task force, it only reinforced for me what this city is and can be. As our elected
officials, you are now the stewards of this city's reputation. And we can dismiss it as clickbait, but the press that we are getting is incredibly negative. And I think it's warranted. and we have an opportunity to step on
the brakes to reconsider and to think through the best path forward. I should have added in addition to being the rabbi of a congregation, I'm also the parent of four children, three of them daughters
who I've raised here in Summit. I understand a father of daughters and um watching them go out into the world and the risks that they face and if I could eliminate all those risks I would. But
this is not the path forward. Summit is better than this as others have said before me and I implore you to step on the brakes, table this ordinance and let's work together to find a better solution. Thank you for your time. Thank you.
Reverend Dr. Robin Tanner, Minister of Beacon Unitarian Universalist Congregation here in Summit, president of the Summit Interfaith Council and a member of the Mayor's Task Force on Homelessness. Over the course of the last 3 weeks, in the midst of Passover,
spring break, and Holy Week, we have attempted under pressure to resolve the problems in this ordinance. Most of common council acknowledge that this ordinance is in response to a small number of people, perhaps about
five. My concerns with the ordinance are numerous, but here is the primary one. This is not something I like sharing publicly. 24 years ago, I was homeless. I was scared and for a period
of time, I had nowhere to go. It was no fault of my own. But I like to think of myself now, if I'm honest, at times as so different from that person then, protected,
accomplished, educated. But the truth is that the vast majority of people do not become homeless because of a failure in morals or poor choices, but like me had something completely out of their control happened
to them. And the truth is, we shouldn't write laws for a handful, a small handful of people when there are harmful consequences for many more. Over the course of these last few weeks,
I have wondered, what if this passes and we need state funds? Will DCA prioritize a community in which our practices run counter to housing first, which is the standard
proven policy? What if this passes and as some have promised me, we don't enforce it equally and we violate the 14th amendment of the United States Constitution? What if a family loses
housing tomorrow and the finite funds we have worked for in partnership with DCA have run out? What will we tell them? We are sorry. We didn't mean it. They were an
unintended consequence. Summit deserves better. We deserve better than this proposal. We're capable of better. If we're really honest, as I have been with myself in these past few
weeks, I know we can do better, but it will take all of us doing it together. Give us that time. Vote no. Thank you,
[Applause] Rosemary Grace, Chestnut Avenue. I'm here speaking on behalf of Atome in Summit, a grassroots group of community
advocates who believe Summit must do more to produce its fair share of affordable housing in our city. At Home and Summit strongly opposes this ordinance. The root cause of
homelessness in our state is the dire lack of affordable housing. Rather than blaming and punishing people for sleeping or storing possessions in public spaces, Summit should be facilitating the development
of more affordable housing. Regardless of what you as our city officials have claimed, Summit has not met its round three fair share obligation and has only facilitated the
construction of 23 of its 50 unit obligation. The energy that you are putting into this unound ordinance would be better directed toward right policy
choices. The message is clear. Let's get affordable housing built in our town. Thank you. You know, it's going on 11:30. What? I I people have been up here for a
while. I know people in the audience have been sitting for a while. I'm gonna ask we're going to have just take a five minute break. I need one. So, um and again, I want to thank everyone for your politeness and your uh your patience in
coming to the lectern. Um for the most part, you guys have been a great audience and a very very engaged um uh speakers. Um but can we get five minutes? We'll we'll be back just after a couple of minutes or little fast. Anybody has any snacks? Feel free to
drop them up here. Thank you everyone for uh the five minute break. Um let's get going again. Thank you. Zeli Thomas, Patterson, New Jersey. Um first I want to thank you all
for allowing us to be here tonight. And again, my name is Zeli Thomas and I'm from Black Lives Matter Patterson. And the reason why I'm here today is a few months ago, Patterson tried to pass a similar ordinance to criminalize those that were living in encampments. And we
was able to mobilize our community members, some of them who were houseless, different social service organizations and shelters to be able to push back this ordinance. And the Patterson City Council did the right thing. took a step back and he shoved the ordinance and said we do not want to
criminalize um those that's living in encampments. And we realize now that what we was doing was just that even though the intention was good that no one wants people sleeping out. We all agree on it. But their approach was
wrong. That we don't end homelessness by disappearing people. We end homelessness by getting rid of the issues that caused homelessness. And those things are not always being addressed in our communities. We always take a punitive
approach. And we need to stop taking a punitive approach when it comes to homelessness. We need to take approach that comes with compassion, care, and love. And I think that's what the mayor um task force was trying to do and is attempting to do by having that care and patience with individuals that
experiencing homelessness. But the issue is right that there are some individuals who their pathway to being housed is not going to be an easy one. And I know that many of us may be frustrated and not understand that why are people not
wanting to be in in um take some of these shelters. That is why we have to approach this with a lens that has community care. With Black Lives Matter Patterson, we have something called a harm reduction center where we u work with folks that have substance use
disorder and who are facing homelessness. And some of these individuals come to our space every single day and some days they're saying, "You know what? I want to go to a detox center tomorrow." We get them all ready, get them in the car, and the last minute they say, "You know what? I'm not
ready." And instead of saying to them, you know what, you need to deserve in jail or that we're not going to work with you no more. We invested so much time and energy into you more. Don't come no more. We say, okay, come back tomorrow and we'll continue working with you. continue to work with them every
single day until that day that they are ready. They won't be ready when you have them in jail and they won't be ready if they're dead. So, we have to approach this with care and patience with love because our
goal is to make sure that everyone has a home and that home cannot be a jail. Thank you. Thank you. Sue Feasler, 71 Madison Avenue, and also the overnight coordinator for Summit Wars. Um, first I want to congratulate
the mayor's task force as well. It is incredible what has happened. I don't want to have to do an overnight program because there'd be no um homelessness, but the reality is there is. So, I'm going to share about somebody that I know really well who was
homeless, and that's me. And I'm also a recovering addict. And there was no 7-day rehab in my world. It didn't work. I was in for two months at Fair Oaks before I even thought I can get
clean. Before that, I turned down every opportunity that came my way to get help because how am I going to live my life without getting high? That's my reality. Even suicide. I failed at suicide. And I was like, "Okay." And I went into fares because somebody lied to me. They told
me breakfast in bed 28 days. I can relax a little bit. Door knob was not on my side of the door. But while I was there, I got clean and I moved to Summit and I've been able to give back. Why do I do what I do? Because it's my
job. It's what I'm supposed to do. What I want to share with you guys, you've heard it all in the overnight program. I can assure you there's consequences to bad behavior. I've kicked people out for the night. I've kicked people out of the
program for a week, a month. There were consequences, but we always took them back and we talked to them and it was a lot of trust and a lot of openness. What I want to share with you is what we haven't talked about yet. Who has come through those doors? We've
had vets walk in. We've had domestic violence cases walk in. We've had trafficking situations walk in. Where would they go? I don't know. But those are the people we've had. We've had people discharged from
hospitals walk in the door at 2:00 in the morning. We've worked with the Summit PD quite a bit on that. If somebody was on the streets at 10 p.m., they called me. And that's what we did. And it wasn't just the drug addict. We're locking out a small snapshot of who the
reality is. We had a 73 year old woman walk in our door last year because her daughter kicked her out of the house at 5:00 the next morning. We called 911 because she couldn't breathe. That's who we get in there too. So homelessness is
not just about drug addicts. Yes, consequences have to happen for criminal behaviors, but we are all asking you, please rethink this ordinance, please, because these people do deserve better. You know, it is hard on the
street. I don't like the behavior. I yell at them. But don't make an ordinance for a lot of people because of a few. You know, I would tell you if we do that then nobody should drive in Summit because a lot of people drive really
bad. You know, let's think about that though. Let's make it real. All right. And think about it, please. Thank you. Thank you. [Applause] Uh good evening. Uh Tom Zeber, 768 Springfield Avenue. I'm here tonight to
express my support for the passage of this ordinance. Uh, and I also want to dispel with one particular aspect of the opposition to the ordinance that I find especially false and misleading. I've heard from some who've opposed this ordinance that by enacting this measure, the common council is showing a lack of
compassion. Well, I'm here to say that that is just not true. And in fact, it is just the opposite. I've spent three years on a mental health nonprofit board, and even before I began that service, I've always been incredibly passionate about mental health causes. And the fact of the matter is there's
nothing compassionate about enabling individuals who are clearly already facing hard times to sleep on concrete. There's nothing compassionate about turning a blind eye to them relieving themselves outdoors. There's nothing compassionate about permitting them to enter or remain in a cycle of despair.
This council by passing this ordinance is actually showing great compassion. They are doing it by offering help to the homeless individuals in this community while still fulfilling their duty to maintain public health and public safety. The mayor's homelessness task force, as has been brought up a number of times tonight, has in fact
obtained housing for over 20 people. That is compassion. The council will, by passing this ordinance, empower summits unhoused to choose a path to redemption and recovery without sherking its obligation to maintain a safe and welcoming environment in its public spaces. That is compassion. And I trust
that this council will not only continue to work to help those who will accept it to find housing, but expand its mission to preventing future homelessness in town. That is compassion. Enacting this measure will ensure the proper and efficient use of city resources. It will
keep our public spaces sanitary and suitable for use by Summit's residents, young and old. And it will make gains in protecting the health, be it mental or physical, of both the housed and unhoused, within city limits. So, I hope that council will proceed with passing this ordinance. It is simply the
compassionate thing to do. Thank you. Thank you. Hello everyone. Um, thank you so much to Common Council for having us all here. Um, and for everyone that has come. My name is Charlene Walker. I am the executive director of Faith in New Jersey, the statewide power building
vehicle um, that was lucky enough to bring a lot of these people here. Um, I also, um, for the record, live in Roselle, New Jersey, and I will not put my actual street address for the fear of being doxed because of my work.
Um, so I'm really happy that I went right after him. I also have over 10 years of experience working in mental health and serving on a board does not mean care caring and actually providing mental health supports for others. Um the reality is when we think about compassion and we think about mental
health, the truth of the matter is what compassion looks like in mental health is actually providing positive behavioral supports, proper medication and teaching people coping mechanisms, not criminalizing them and throwing them in jail. That is actually what it looks
like. Um I myself um was born homeless. I was born um and put up for adoption immediately. I have grown I've grew and lived in a foster home my entire life and was lucky enough
to be adopted. But the great part about that home I grew up in was the fact that my mother made home for so many other people. People who were unhoused uh lived with us and she gave them a place to stay. And that led me down a path to
become a community organizer. And I'm really thinking as I was listening to all of these conversations that there are some skills that community organizers have that y'all are being called to have right now. One, in order to be a good community organizer, you have to be unapologetic about the
truth. The truth is the amendment that you're putting forward does nothing but just replicate and soften language and it still outlaws sleeping. You have to be unapologetic about the fact that um this is going to harm people. This is
broken window policing which funneled so many people into our criminal legal system over the years and never actually addressed any of the problems. You have to also be curious and ask questions. When I was listening to everything, they're talking about porn at the library that people are
watching. Where was the curiosity to ask why are there not blocks on library computers? Where was the curiosity to ask why are people defecating in our in public spaces? You have to be curious and you
have to have enough imagination to think about how do we actually solve these things because policing is not it. Police are not social workers. They are not trained in positive behavioral supports. I myself have trained police officers and the first thing that they will tell me after a training is we
should not be doing this. I have seen this council as we looked at the budget not have the imagination to reimagine how do we actually provide supports for people who are unhoused. Your health department has the law smallest one of the smallest
budgets yet most of the things that people who are unhoused need fall under health. The last oop sorry things that I just want to say that we also need to build real community. I heard people talking about being scared of people. We're at a
time where people are so scared of each other. The council should be asking how do we actually build community so people actually see each other. There's nothing good about this ordinance and people have stated it so many different ways. Okay. Thank you. But the last thing is
be brave enough to actually say you know what I need help. Maybe I did the wrong thing. And to stand against those that are telling you otherwise. Amen. Emily Kaine, Washington School District. I am here to express my opposition to
ordinance 1871. This ordinance reflects poorly on summit, not just locally, but on a national level. Let us assume that any person who could afford to house themselves would do so. If a person does not have secure housing, then what makes
you think that finding them would solve the situation? When study after study demonstrates that giving money leads to less homelessness, you are proposing the opposite. Or if a person cannot pay, you propose mandatory community service or
up to 90 days of jail jail time. This proposition not only effectively deprivives people of their civil liberties but also money uses money that could have been used to house these people to do such a thing. Many elected officials some here mention that there
are people who consistently refuse help in finding housing and that is why they have proposed or they support this ordinance. Of these officials I ask what are these people's names? What are their stories? If you cannot answer these questions, you are not doing your job of
representing the people, all people of Summit. I am sure we all share the common goal of making sure every person has a safe place to eat and to sleep. This proposed ordinance does not advance that goal. Councilman Ber, I don't know
you, yet I am embarrassed by and for you. I urge this council to strike down the proposed ordinance and not let it become law. Thank [Applause] you. Adrien Gomez, Brighton School
District. I'm here to oppose uh this ordinance and I want to echo a lot of whatever everyone else has been saying tonight, but it's increasingly frustrating how the council has spoken about this ordinance and about the community they claim to represent. So I have very few words left to find common
ground. What I will say is that this indicates to me and a lot of us in is that your ability to serve your position as representatives of the people of this town has become a liability. You show us that you're incapable of incapable or unwilling to solve complex issues with
real solutions. Will simply push things under the rug. Undermine your own initiatives and your own task force even when they are successful. This ordinance is not only harmful and sets up a potential for violence on our neighbors,
but also destroys the trust in your position moving forward to solve any future issues in this town or that any solutions proposed will be maintained and seen to its conclusion. I've grown up in Summit as many of the people here
and I've seen so much improvement in my lifetime and this is incredibly disappointing and a hostility on us as a community. We joked about this crowd being here today for the budget meeting. Let this be an indication the of the will of our community. I urge you to
maintain the trust we have in our representatives and continue the good work that has come out of this current task force to end homelessness. Thank [Applause] you. It's Peter Ljoy 124 Canubber
Parkway Summit New Jersey. Um, I'd like to just speak to a couple of things. First of all, the council's not criminalizing homelessness or unhoused people. The the the the council doesn't
pass criminal statutes. That's the legislaturator's responsibility. This is an ordinance and it's much like the ordinance a old council many years ago passed concerning underage drinking. And the reason they did that is because our
kids from the high school were being sent down to Elizabeth into the criminal justice system dealing with the prosecutor's office instead of dealing with a local judge and a more tolerant ordinance. So I don't think Summit in
any way is criminalizing the unhoused. As far as tents, I've seen the tent cities in Lakewood and other places. There is no way Summit should tolerate that. And there is no way
anybody has the right to create that in any community. This council also has a responsibility to to look after the health, welfare, and safety of all its residents and it has the police power to do that. And I just see this as one more
tool for a very professional police department to work out these problems. And I would like through the C Yeah. I would like through the council president because I heard Mr. Wild makes some accusations and I would like
through the council president to hear what our attorney thinks because it suggests that what we're doing is illegal and we're going to be loaded with lawsuits and we've heard a couple of attorneys do that and if you if that's your discretion, Mr. President,
but I would ask that you do that. Thank you. [Applause] Good evening. Um, my name is Miguel Vez. I live at 113 Mountain Avenue. I have been there since 1984 when I was brought
here by Bell Laboratories. When I came to Summit, I started seeing what a wonderful city it is and how many people volunteer to run the city. As a matter of fact, I think the first ordinance passed by the city when it was chartered
was that the council will not be paid. So, they expect volunteers and you have volunteers from all over the world speaking 43 different languages. Uh, part of the problem I see is that people who propose this audience, this this
ordinance, I'm sorry, and I ask that you vote against it. Maybe you grew up in Summit, but maybe you lack appreciation for what Summit is. I grew up in the Lower East Side, so I understand how Summit could not could be something
different. Um, I know that you have people who do the right thing. Summit is a city that build affordable housing before it was legally required. Some is a city that starts a place like
an organization like ship or bridges to help their fellow man. It's not a place where people go to extremes uh with retaliation. It's a city that receives recognition around the country. I mean
you just went some time ago weeks ago to Los Angeles because people were praising Summit, right? So that's part of the problem that you are this ordinance is giving someone a black eye and ruining the reputation
that has taken over a hundred years to build. The second problem is that it's a misallocation of funds. You're there's you're saying you're willing to spend x amount of money to put people in jail 90 days at a clip and charging them five $2,000 which they can't pay. They have
no money. Instead of that, why not take that sum of money and allocate it to doing something useful and increasing the work that you're doing with the count with the homeless uh committee, which is an
excellent thing. Imagine the Yankees get, you know, all the way down to the World Series and they say, "Nah, we're going to quit. We're not going to play the final." That's that's not what you do when you're doing good things. You you have to be a winner. You can't quit.
you're down to the last five. You know, if you really want to pass this ordinance, call it the ordinance of the Central Park Five and then you'll be famous forever because I think it's going to have the same effect. Take the same amount of money, allocate it to maybe creating a hostile type situation
where people can spend some time and doing something that these organizations are already doing. If you're homeless, the biggest handicap you have is you don't have an ID. you have no identification. So, help them get an identification. Maybe they are veterans.
Maybe they're entitled to some kind of benefits or maybe they have social security. So, help them do that and use the funds in a proactive way. Don't give up on the last five. Now, last comment is that, you know, if somebody
approached my daughter with a knife, I would call a policeman and have that person charged with uh assault. Thank you. I would I don't think this ordinance is going to do anything along those lines. Jesse Reyes, uh, 42 London Dair way,
last name Ree S. First of all, apologies. Council Ber, I'm a parent. I've seen things like this happen and I am just absolutely devastated by that. We should handle that. Also, congratulations to the task force.
phenomenal reputation, phenomenal work on getting you know 80% of the problem fixed. Um in economics we call this a paro problem that 20% of your problems I mean 80% of your problems come from 20%
of your population or your profits. It's always 8020 in in communication called the last mile is really really tough. So we've got an 80% there. We got the other 20% that represents it's taking up all these resources. And the problem now we have is an optics problem in some ways
because we've had this phenomenal reputation that we've had. And I we tell our we tell our kids your reputation is built in miles, but it can be destroyed in inches. Whether it's clickbait, whether it's what I have a friend in RS, Texas, population, 1100 in rural West
Texas, who texted me, is this your town? And this is a guy who usually doesn't take off progressive causes, but he texted me to say, "Is this your town?" Now, when I look at this optics problem and look at the problems we're trying to solve with the 80%, you know, it makes
me think of words like popper, vagrant, hobos, people that refuse to live within the system, whether with the mental health or just a lifestyle choice. That's what they choose to do. Now, my favorite new tool, Propel City AI, which I think is better than chatp, tells me
that we got rid of popper prisons by the 1930s. the UK had them a bit longer, but we have we're basically saying if you don't really fit into what we want because of our mental health or because we choose not to get help that we're going to, you
know, have a punitive damage. So, I mean a punitive punishment rather than a carrot, we're going to start using sticks. Please don't create a new popper prison. Now, a lot of smart people, a lot of ideas. I wish I knew what to do. I spent the last two weeks helping a
homeless family that I know very very well that got kicked out out of unfortunate circumstances. The dogs living in our sun porch. When are their kids living with us, other kids living elsewhere? You know, we're trying to get stuff into storage or trying to get stuff into trucks. So, I understand how this can happen to anyone who goes
through a divorce, goes through a death or whatever. Um, backpacks laying around. Yes, a problem. Go to CVS. You look inside the CVS after school. 100 backpacks there. What could someone do? slip another backpack there. It's innocent, but true. All these things are
problems that, you know, we've elected you to solve. We don't expect you to solve them alone. We've got resources in this town. We got a lot of smart people. Let's fix that last mile. Let's fix the 20% of the problems cutting 80%. If we have discretion about policing, is there
any way to have discretion about how long an ambulance can stay with someone? Change that rule to where we don't have our resources tied up. All these people tied up for a few problems. Let's fix that 20%. Thank you.
Good evening, Madame Mayor. Congratulations on your task force. Sadly, as it took a high school senior I need your name and address, please. Um, under the Victim's Rights Act, I am
not going to provide that. Fair enough. Um, as I was stating, Madame Mayor, um, unfortunately, it took a senior, a high school senior from Summit to point out the fact that your task force hasn't gone far
enough. Let's spend some time get that cleared up. Let's not just punt at the last. Councilman Ber, it's unfortunate what has happened with your
daughter. It's sad what has happened with your daughter. Myself, I spent seven and a half months in a nursing facility because of an
attack at the train station in Summit. I chose not to press legal charges. In fact, I encouraged the judge to pursue asking
for the defendant to undergo treatment which he is doing. You say that this ordinance is not an attack against
homeless. But let me ask this. For those of you that your wives drag you to the opera or you sit at your child's recital and you happen to fall asleep, are you going to base being
arrested? Let's ponder that a moment. Under this ordinance, you could be arrested. You're shaking your head, Councilman. So, let's not victimize. This is not And Councilman
Ber, this is not This This ordinance is not about crimes. This ordinance is about Yes. Post 911, our world changed. We don't want to have backpacks lying
around and and unattended pieces of of luggage and and so forth. We can't have that in this world. But this ordinance is not about crimes of attacks and
graffiti. That's not what this ordinance is. There are laws in place already. So this ordinance does nothing for those crimes. This is
merely this is an attack. It's victimizing those people that are already victims. And those five persons that you are
claiming are criminals because they don't want to seek help. There's laws. Thank you. Thank you. [Applause]
Uh Apollo Raorovich, 22 West End Avenue. Uh I'm on the homelessness task force. Um uh first of all, I went last because I promised that I'm only going to be incremental and not have things repeated. And I've honestly 90% of what I have to say has been crossed off. So
um so I'll be quick about it. Um, first, thank you very much for the council. It is amazing. I mean, folks, I mean, I just want to say for anybody who personally attacks one of the council people for a position they take that you totally disagree with, even if you think it's 100% illogical, they're volunteers.
I mean, they're not getting paid for this and they're spending ridiculous amount of own time providing service. So, just please take that into account when you speak, you know, when you just address them, please. And, you know, I know I'm repeating Mr. McTurnon's comments, but, you know, please. Now,
um, look, first of all, council, if it were me, I would probably, you know, be certainly be immediately looking to take action and so forth. However, I would just kindly ask this, and that's this is that, and I'm look, I'm on the homeless task
force, but I only been focusing on, you know, the charity work and service for the last three years really, but there's folks on doing this 20, 30 years, 40 years. You know, we got the founder of Family Promise. We have people who have charities running charities that are models for the whole of Union County so
forth. There's a lot of intelligence there and I know that it is not a group that is supposed to create policy but in my career in my life I always found I found very early that I'm not as smart as I think I am and I always try to surround myself with people or at least
take input from others because I know the ultimate answer is going to be a smarter answer if I get the input from everybody. So I'm just kindly asking please like don't in in in the moment of heat in the emotion and everything when you do a lot of work on something you know logical flaws like anchoring come
into play to previous position or escalation of commitment because you went down a certain way just step back please and just let's aggregate get aggregate mind share on this to come up with the best possible solution. Okay. And that's and that's really all I'm saying in terms of in terms of ideas. I
mean, look, there's there's many ideas we c we can and will come up with. Um, you know, positive low barrier daytime activities like cleanup crews and library partners, library partnerships or recreation programs so that these guys who are the proverbial troublemakers don't have so much free
time and nothing to do and therefore they're just rallying around each other in the train station. And on the train station, look, let's really push hard on New Jersey Transit. I mean, it's their property. They should be helping our police department. These guys shouldn't be getting their resources strained because they have to go into the police, you know, into the train station. So,
and look, I I'm not sure the ideas. I hope you guys give us the forum through the homelessness task force. And quite frankly, people are a lot smarter than us than I who've been doing this for 20, 30 years. Provide that input so we can come up with the best possible solution. Otherwise, thank you so much. Thank you for taking action. In a way, you taking
action is probably going to result in something much better than ultimately we would have had. So um so you know so so thank you. Hopefully it's a refined action that is one that is you know the solution uh take takes you know solves the problem more adequately. So thank
you. Thank you. Good evening uh council president, mayor, members of council and thank you all for your service. Robert Rabino Prospect Hill Avenue. Uh I'm here to uh give my full support to this ordinance.
I I commend the mayor and the task force. I think this community through your leadership and has shown maximum tolerance and compassion uh and the companion piece to that. Now I think as residents uh we deserve a
minimal standard of public behavior. This is about safety. This is all it's about. It's a safety issue and my own members of my own family have been accosted at the the post office by inebriated uh homeless folks. Scary
situation, but we still always extend a hand of help first. But when that doesn't work, I think we do need to have a minimum expectation for all the residents. And when you sit there and you ponder tonight if how you're going to vote, think about not just the folks
from out of town who came here to speak tonight, but think of your friends and neighbors when you go downtown, what their expectation is of you. And I'm sure you've gotten lots of emails from those folks. And you're going to see them long after this meeting is gone. And we're going to have a minimum expectation of public behavior and
safety. And that's what this is about. And I thank you for all your time and not only tonight but all your your countless hours of service. Thank you. Thank you. It's now the 23rd. 23rd. And the way this is going, we may
be here till the 24th. True. I'm not going to take three minutes. I'm Gil Orman. I live at 45 Wallace Road and I've worked downtown for 60 years and enjoyed every minute of I love Summit
and I think you're doing a great job. Uh and someone mentioned the Yankees. I'm going to put this in the and a man from Bridges who's on your uh the mayor's task force told me it's not it's 35 and
there's 30 left. That's it. Much better, but there's still five. And I I applaud the your committee, mayor, and I applaud the work that you did going to California to tell what's happening in
Summit. I'm proud of Summit and very proud of Summit. And in terms of sports, if I had a 35 and five record, I'd be in the NBA right now coaching one of those teams. And as far
as I'm concerned, that's the way I feel about you. In the long run, the right thing will happen. And because we have good people, good things happen when we have good people. And you all all are good people. Thank you.
Thank you. Hi, Dory Gagnon, Bedford Road. Um, I'd like to thank you all for taking your time. I know it's really late, so I'm going to be quick. Um, I'd just like to clarify, uh, Councilman Ber's situation. Um, for all of you who are not here, um,
have not heard before, the man um, that, uh, threatened his daughter, he was arrested. So, I'd like to thank the police officers for taking that situation seriously. However, um, when it comes to unhoused uh, people um, in the city, often the police officers
don't like to arrest them. I mean, they don't want to put them in jail. So, like a situation where u Mr. Boyer spoke on where my son was threatened by one of the um homeless people in town saying that he would shoot my son because my son wasn't able to give him him a slice
of pizza at the place he worked. Um the police officers didn't arrest him. Um but they did uh put a citation in place where he wasn't able to go back into that pizzeria again. Um I I think they try to do uh the least
enforcable thing to not put them in jail. There's been many situations where they kind of move them from one place to another. Um so I think there is sympathy. Our police officers have a lot of sympathy and they have heart. So I think going into this ordinance um we
have to know that they they do care. like um Chief Peters mentioned. Um I also want to know I have a couple questions. How long have you been working on this ordinance? So if you could answer that at the end. Um and how many homeless people are in our
neighboring towns such as New Providence, Chadam, Milbourne, and Madison. I'd like to have some statistics and understand like where our homeless people are around us. Our neighboring towns, just our like close little neighbors.
um you know, as it was mentioned before, some had saw an influx of homeless people like 50 or so um a couple winters ago and but not our neighboring towns. And I like to understand why that is. Um and before anybody says it's because we're a great town and we're on the
train line, there's other towns that are on the train line. So I think a lot of us in town like to understand that a little bit. Um and and then before that ever happens again, are we going to have the tools in place to make sure we don't have this influx? Um I'd like to
understand this. And if you vote this ordinance down, I know you amended it, does that mean if you vote this down then you have to vote on the amended ordinance or do you amend it today? Um if you could just provide that clarification for me and maybe some members in the audience how that works
because I don't know how the vote goes for the original versus the amended. Um, and again, I just want to thank you for your time. Um, I know this is not easy for everybody. I have a lot of sympathy for um, the unhoused. I know there's not many of us that are just residents here
speaking tonight. Um, but again, I want to thank you for your time and the homelessness task force, everything you guys have done. Thank you. Thank you, Eric Moberg. Harvey Court M O E RG. This ordinance that's been proposed by Councilman Ber is
exceptionally compassionate in the truest sense of the word in that people are not allowed to flounder and u remain in that unfortunate dreadful condition. It's meaningfully moving them forward to
a better place where they can have a more complete life. I urge the council to move forward and pass this ordinance. Thank you. Thank you. Want to speak? Want
to Hello, my name is Zachary Brontel. Z A C H A R Y B R U N T E L. I'm representing myself. I am a homeless gentleman in Summit, New Jersey. I have been coming to this town ever since I was a child. I was 14 when I
first showed up in this town. I have a lot of friends here and I know a lot of people in this town. I've been coming here to receive treatment from doctors from my mental illness ever since I was young. I was abused sexually when I was 10 in a group home. I've been in and out
of the system my whole life. The questions that you are posing tonight I can probably shine a little light on. People have told me if you're homeless, come to either Summit or Morristown because they have resources to help you. I do not want to go to Newark or any
other hood place because I've literally been robbed and abused out there and treated like I came to this town. I've been here a long time. I've been in and out of here almost for the last 10 years in and out of town. I've been to Boston. I've been back and forth. I've
literally gone through hell and back through the system. Like I don't know what to do anymore. I try to stay where I can. I try to hide all night from the police. I wear I've been wearing a face mask for the last two months cuz one of the officers in this town literally keeps
giving me charges and citations for no apparent reason. And I was on the fifth floor of the parking garage where you're planning on doing that work, sleeping in a sleeping bag in -3° weather with nowhere to go because the only shelter available is in Elizabeth at the YMCA.
The rest are warming centers and if everything gets filled up, you are literally screwed. There is nowhere to go. I peed in a bottle inside of my sleeping bag being very discreet. And I put it in the garbage can. The police rolled up me at 7:00 in the morning with flashing lights and sirens.
and gave me a ticket for urinating in public in a private parking garage for no reason. The train station gets locked at 2:30. Where do you want me to pee at? In the park in front of people. What do you want me to do? So, basically, I have no
options. And the police have literally told me, "Get the out of town or we're going to keep writing you tickets until you leave willingly." I don't know what to do anymore. Thank you for your time. Thank you for your comments.
Tracy Keegan, 15 Sweet Brier Road. Um, first I just want to start with the majority of public comments tonight, as far as I can tell, are actually people from Summit. Um, those that are not seem to be experts in their fields. So, I think that we should give them the
respect they deserve and actually listen to them. Uh but that's not why what I wanted to say um what I came up here. Uh so two days ago nearly every council person posted their best wishes for Easter. Among the posts were photos from
a church pew and ruminations on the resurrection. But with tonight's vote on the ordinance to criminalize homelessness, these posts came across as unseenly and ironic. The Easter story is one of a homeless man who wandered and spent his life with the poor, the
rejected, and the infirm. Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the son of man has no place to lay his head. Matthew 8 20. Jesus spent his time with those society pushed aside or tried to hide. He aligned himself with the
outcast and the forgotten. He suffered with them and like them was condemned unjustly but then like unlike anyone else rose again to bring hope for everyone not just the privileged but everyone. So why then if you believe in the Easter story are you trying to
criminalize the people like those Jesus chose to spend his life with? The Easter story is also about an innocent man being unjustly persecuted by the state. Criminalizing homelessness is a reflection of that. Shifting the burden
of systemic failure onto vulnerable individuals. Punishing the impoverished instead of addressing poverty's root causes which include a lack of affordable housing. Jesus said, "Whatsoever you do to the least of my brothers, that you do unto me." Matthew
25:40. Does this not include the hungry, the stranger, the poor, and the homeless? Are you not turning the least among us into those who deserve punishment? The Easter story is one of hope and renewal about the possibility of new life where death and despair once
reigned. Punishing the homeless is the exact opposite of this ideal is perpetuating despair instead of continuing to do the hard work to offer support. The Easter story calls us to love others as ourselves, to include the outcast,
and to challenge unjust power. It does not teach us to pass laws that treat suffering as a crime and the poor as criminals. Tonight, I hope every single one of you who posted about Easter will ask yourself before you vote, "What
would Jesus do?" Thank you. [Applause] God bless you. Mayor Fagan, Council President McTurnon, council members, and to
everyone assemble, good morning. Tonight, I ask each of you to look at the person next to you and say, "This could be me. Maybe not from a forest fire like what happened in
California. Let me go back. Dennis D. Hariel Jr. 140 Burough Street Summit, New Jersey in the pastor Wallace Chapel Church in Summit. Maybe not from a forest fire like what happened in
California, but from a tornado or hurricane. And and now I'm homeless. now find myself sleeping on the street or at a train station maybe. And this resonates with me
because I have witnessed members of my congregation who are homeless. And also since I'm an Air Force veteran, maybe a military veteran who defended our country who was wounded and is now suffering from post-traumatic
stress syndrome, finds him or herself homeless and sleeping on the street in the cold of winter or the hot summer. He or she is not a criminal. They do not threaten to harm anyone. They do not break any laws. They just have nowhere
to sleep. But instead of working together to find a solution, the governing body proposes or passes an ordinance and an amendment that says the solution is that they are fined, but they cannot pay the fine
because they have no income. Or they go to jail at taxpayers's expense. or they do community service. However, if they have mental challenges, business owners and residents do not want them around to do
any type of community service. And if they are okay to do community service, they are still homeless. Words matter. Emotions can inflame even good people. Fear paralyzes. And although intentions are honorable, they can be
divisive. I'm in favor of doing things to keep this beautiful town safe. However, this ordinance is not a deterrent to crime or help with safety. The amendment is like rearranging the furniture in a room.
Some words were removed from the original ordinance, but you are still discriminating against homeless people. making sleeping in public places a crime for people who did not commit a crime rather than simply using common sense
and enforcing the ex existing laws on the books. I maintain that a person homeless or not who commits a crime should definitely be arrested. Summit is a beautiful city set on a hill. A light is usually brightly
shining on that hill. Over the past few years, and I'm wrapping up, tropical storm Sandy came, COVID 19 came, meetings on building more affordable housing were held, but the light continued to shine brightly. Then Broad Street West came that created divisions
and the light almost went out. But then, to her credit and to Summit's credit, Mayor Fagan proactively formed a homeless task force. Rean, could you finish up please? Yes. That received national recognition and that light began to shine bright again.
I like to see mayor and council I like to see the mayor and council persons as servants rather than as politicians. You do not receive a salary for serving. In fact, some of you may struggle to pay your mortgage, rent, or other bills if you're dependent on your elective office
supporting you. Therefore, I respectfully request that you swallow your pride, crush your ego. Do not concern yourself with power or being reelected or being held hostage by any political party. Just be concerned about all of us in summit. Do not be
influenced by fear or emotions. Uh vote no on this audience and on the amendment and let the mayor's homeless task force go back to work to continue doing the good work that it was doing. Enforce existing laws. Don't divide this
beautiful town. It'll be part of the record if he doesn't finish. and don't go on record for being the council that extinguished the light that is dimly shining now, but with the work being done by the mayor's homeless task force. Thank you, can shine brightly again. Thank you. Thank you.
[Applause] Hello again everybody. Um, I've been sitting out there for about three hours or so. Name and address, please. You don't have to do that, but I'll do it anyway for you. Thank you. Hey, Ken Shiffron. I'm at 45
Springfield Avenue right here in in Summit. I have kind of a unique view than a lot of people. Uh I've been homeless for three years. The last four months I have a
place. Uh there's a lot that goes on in somebody's mind in terms of involvement. How involved do I get? You know, how much do I just watch and see what happens? And tonight I decided to sit back and see what happened and how I felt things
were going. Um, I know Dy's worked hard on what's happened. I know other people on the council have worked hard to try to get this ordinance, you know, approved. Um, whichever way it goes, I can tell
you one thing, but I like the people of Summit a lot because no matter what side they're on, they'll express to you exactly what they think their political views
are despite that and do it in a for the most part in in a friendly way. And that's one thing that's impressed me about this town and about the people. And I look at the council here and you I think you'll do the right thing, you
know, whatever you decide that's going to be. And somebody said a couple of people back, this isn't the end. So it's not just this one vote that's going to make us or break us, you know, but uh you know, I think [Music]
uh we've got a good thing here and I'll include myself in that because I'm a resident of Summit now. You know, we've got a good town here. I think everybody knows that. So once again, no matter how this thing turns out tonight, it's it's not the end. It's not the end for anybody because everybody
wants the right thing to be done. Correct. Correct. Thank you. Thank you very much. Right. Uh, any other public comments? Anyone wishing to speak? Anyone out in
the, uh, atrium would like to come in? Hi, Irwin Miller, 5 Knobill Drive. Uh, it was late tonight. I have kids here that we're raising. I don't know. A lot of people coming in from out of town, but got to do bedtime. We got two parent households. We got a lot of things going on. So, I just wanted to remind you all
when you're voting tonight or whenever, there's a lot of people who couldn't be here tonight. We live in Summit. We're raising kids in Summit. Our kids hang out on Springfield and Maple. Our kids play at maybe playground where there was an assault on two kids. Our kids go to
that library. Our kids use the facilities around here. So, um I'm almost kind of emotional about the gentleman who came here before. I really I see you around town and I'm glad that you accepted help from Summit
and that you're living here now and you're a resident of Summit and we welcome you. But if there are people who aren't accepting our help and they don't want to be helped, we can't have our kids be at risk just because we want to say nice
things and elect the right politicians. It's not right. You're coming in here and you're not you don't even know the facts of the ground in Summit. you're you're making commentary, but you don't even live here. You don't come to the council meetings. You don't live in some. You don't know what's going on. And there's a lot of people coming up
here and they don't have kids here. So, for all the people who didn't come here tonight who are busy with kids at home whose kids use these facilities, please remember them. And I don't I don't know if this is the perfect policy. I I don't know. But what I do know is that in the
past year, this group led by Mayor Fagan and the people she's brought together and the work they've done has led to incredible successes. And this man has a home because of that. And you got to trust the people who we elected a few years back who've
turned this town around. The budget at the schools was going to be 9%. It got down to 4% because of Mayor Fagan and the people here. There are a lot of things going on in this town that have been better the past few years because of the people that we put in charge. And I just want you all to remember that there's a lot of people that have your
back even if you weren't here tonight with these speeches and all this crap and mis, you know, misinformation that they're sending on their email list to their list serves. Um, so I don't know how it's going to go. I don't mind. Do what you want and if it doesn't want to
do amendments, talk to the lawyer for sure. Like do all the stuff. But I think we should trust the process, trust the people we elected, and I support the ordinance. Thank you. Thank you. Any other uh people in the audience who'd like to make a public
comment? Atrium's empty. No. Okay. All right. Uh, I'm going to close the public comment hearing or public comment portion of our hearing.
Uh, we're done with you have one one comment. Thank you. Um, all right. Thank you. Thank you. Um, okay. Um, there's been a lot of discussions back and forth. I've heard some comments from the the
audience. Um, I am going to actually call for a motion to go into executive session to talk to our legal counsel. Um, at the time I'm going to give We're going be in there for 10 minutes.
Um, if you guys want to You need a motion and second. So, I I I I'm going to make the motion. Second. Okay. Um, all in favor? I I Okay. We're in executive session. We'll be out in hopefully 10 minutes. All right.
All right. I'm I'm going to uh we're back in session. Thank you everyone uh for your patience as we chitchated. All right. Um at this time I'm I'm going to make a motion to and I'm going to explain what
this is. Uh, I'm going to make a motion that we want to carry the vote on this ordinance for two weeks from now. Okay. So, that's different than tableabling it. Tabling it would have it go away. We're going to
carry the the the the um I'm going to make a motion to carry it where we would um vote on the uh ordinance as is at our next meeting. Um, we've gone through public comments on it. Council people at
the next meeting would have an opportunity to talk about this. Um, it could get tabled. It could be whatever. Um, the the purpose of carrying the uh the vote on this would be
um to take up some of the generous offers of people in the room to improve this ordinance. um that I the it's it's it's to make it better and I'm not going to talk more about
that because I had a whole speech about that before. But that that's the thing. We we've had uh Mr. Wild here who um has worked with other towns. Um we are going to take you up on your offer uh if this motion to carry happens. Um and uh so at
addition what we would do well let's do that one first. Okay. So uh that is my motion to carry the vote. Do I have a second? Second. Okay. Um roll call. Yeah. Let's do a roll call. Mr. Ber.
Council President. If we're going to vote on this, right? We're just voting to carry the vote. So, we can't make a comment about our vote to carry. No, it's just whether we It's just a motion. It's just a vote to
carry. The ordinance is not going away. It It was just we would we would carry it. We would open up our next council meeting 13 days from now, right? 14. Just saying.
So, it's just it's pretty simple. Do we So, yes or no vote? It's a yes or no vote. Nay. Miss Hamlet. Hi. Miss Calmanson. I Mr. Powski.
Nay. Mr. Smallwood. I Miss Toes. I, President McTinan. I'll go with I as well. Okay. So, uh, motion carries. We're going to, uh, we're going to carry this vote to our
next meeting and there'll be no further public comment and you will not revertise for we we don't have we're not reopening public comment. There'll be council comments uh for whatever or or something else depending on our discussions over the next couple
of weeks. But that's uh that's where we are on this um this. Okay. All right. At this time, we do have an ordinance for introduction. No, no, no. We have to go back to final consideration. Oh, yeah. Final consideration. Oh, yeah. We have all
those things. Oh my gosh. No, we have to we have to adopt all the bond ordinances and we have we have a lot more to I got so far ahead of my agenda. Okay, we've got um we've got a few ordinances for final consideration. Uh
madame clerk, will you please read finance number one? Ordinance number 25-3336, bond ordinance providing for the acquisition of a portion of property 402 Broad Street and in by the city of Summit in County of Union
appropriating two thou $210,000 therefore and authorizing issuance of $200,000 in bonds or notes of the city for financing such appropriation. Councilwoman Toth. Thank you, Council President. Having closed the hearing on
this ordinance um yesterday, I move this ordinance for final adoption. I second. Uh roll call, please. Mr. Ber, I. Miss Hamlet, I. Miss Calmanson, I. Mr. Powski, I. Mr. Smallwood, I. Miss To I.
President McTurnin, I. All right. Motion carries. Uh first safety and health uh ordinance. Uh please. Um Madame Clerk. Ordinance 25-3337, an ordinance amen amending and supplementing the code of the city of
Summit. Chapter 3, police regulations to add new sections 3-17 entitled skateboards, scooters, and other non-motorized personal transportation devices and section 3-18 entitled electric personal
transportation vehicles. Thank you very much, Councilman Ber. Or yeah, thank you, Council President. Um to restate what council member to said, having closed this hearing yesterday, I move this ordinance for
final adoption. Second. Roll call, please. Mr. Ber, I. Miss Hamlet, I. Miss Cmanson, I. Mr. Powski, I. Mr. Smallwood, I. Miss Toe, I. President McTin, I. Okay. Motion carries. Uh, safety and health number two. Please,
uh, would you please read that ordinance, Madame Clerk? Uh, ordinance number 25-3338, an ordinance amending chapter 3, police regulations of the code of the city of Summit to revise section 3-16 entitled resident protection.
Thank you very much. Uh, Councilman Ber. Thank you, Council President. Having closed this hearing yesterday, I move this ordinance for final adoption. Second. Roll call, please. Mr. Ber, I. Miss Hamlet, I. Miss Cmanson, I. Mr. Powski, I. Mr. Smallwood, hi. Miss Toe I
President Tier I All right. Motion carries. Okay. Uh there's we're we've introduction carried the last safety and health till next meeting. Okay. All right. We have an ordinance for introduction. Um uh madame
clerk, will you please read the safety and health ordinance for introduction? So, um, with guidance of our city solicitor, I believe that the title will be an ordinance amending chapter 3, police regulations of the code of the city of
Summit entitled uh, section 3-9. New section- 319. New section. Yeah. Entitled camping or sleeping on public property. Okay. Um, Councilman Boyer,
you're introducing the ordinance that was the amended ordinance just as the ordinance is brand new. All right. Okay. So, ordinance ID number
11905, an amendment to section 319 of our police regulations, uh, not to change the intent of the original ordinance, but to strengthen public understanding and improve clarity. Uh, this ordinance has always been about public safety, not
punishment, and is certainly not about targeting people based on housing status, as has been inaccurately suggested. The amended ordinance renames the section to focus specifically on camping on public property, and it makes
two key clarifications. First, it now explicitly requires that the Summit Police give individuals 2-hour notice before any unintended items left in public spaces are removed. This ensures due process and transparency while also giving the police the ability to address
items that may pose health or safety risk to the public. Secondly, the ordinance now lays out the full range of options available to municipal court when handling violations, including discretion for alternatives like community service or behavioral health intervention. To be clear, these options
were always available under the state law, but after hearing from different organizations, we chose to make them more visible in the ordinance text so the public can see this law is about
engagement, not criminalization. We continue to invest in outreach, housing partnerships, and compassionate care. In fact, as we just talked, um we've housed more individuals this
year than I believe in the history of uh the summit. It starts in a short time. Uh this ordinance doesn't replace that work. It complements it by giving our city the tools to maintain public order while continuing to offer real help to
those who want it. I move to schedule this ordinance for a public hearing. You move this for introduction. You're move You're moving it for introduction. For introduction. Yes. Yeah. Do I have a second? Second.
All right. Uh, roll call, please. Mr. Ber, I. Miss Hamlet, I. Miss Camson, nay. Mr. Palowski. I. Mr. Smallwood. I. Miss Toad? Nay. President McT. All right. Motion carries. Council President. Yes. Can we just Can we
explain? I feel like maybe I feel like people look confused. Yeah, I I'll just explain what we just did there. Um just for people uh in the audience or viewing if they're still up or viewing on YouTube tomorrow morning. Um we are we've we've effectively through advice
of our council we um our intent was always that we have made improvements to the original ordinance. Um there was there was a lot of community engagement. Um we've spoken to uh um you know many
stakeholders to to improve this ordinance. Um regardless of whether you were for or against the original ordinance, my guess is you think this one is better regardless. Um so uh so
the idea is we are going to uh we're um introducing that that at the end of the day would pro depending on how our discussions go. Um hopefully they go well but this ordinance is an improvement which would be we would have
a hearing on in two weeks. Okay. I hope that makes sense. All right. Okay. Um, we're on to the resolutions section. Um, there are some there are some things on here
that I know I did want to talk about. Um, however, it's also 1:15 in the morning. So, I I am going to ask uh if I can get a motion to bundle all of the
resolutions into a consent agenda. Um, and some of them uh don't have a name. Uh, some of them were pending close session. I don't know if Matt is okay with that. Matt, can we do that? There's some that are pending close session in here that weren't
made. They weren't part of the agenda packet. Yeah, I mean, we should say what those are. Okay. I'm making a I'm making a I'm asking for a motion. It can get voted down. Okay. Okay. Council President, I'd
like to make a motion to bundle all of the remaining resolutions into one except if we need to pull out the close session items and we can introduce those. Yeah, I told it's a roll call vote once you bundle all these. Okay.
But the ones that were just a clarification, if they're pending close session, can we put those in a consent agenda? They were not part of the public packet is my point. Well, we should just read what those are so that people know. So, one of Do you want me to just read them out? Yeah, if you could, please. Okay. So, ID
11897, I mean, I'm sorry, 11889, confirming the mayor appointment, police department, two captains, two lieutenants, two police officers. Uh, ID 11897, appoint chair of Tatlock Neighborhood Committee.
ID 11895 disband silver summit advisory board. Those are the three that were discussed in closed session. Those three would be added to the remaining consent agenda items.
Okay. And I know there's also in finance there is one roll call vote that we'll have to vote on separately. No, I think you should bundle when you bundle these all together, you vote everything should be done by roll call. rebuddle the whole thing together. Okay, we can do that instead. All right. Um, so, uh,
Councilman Smallwood has a motion. Do I hear a second? Second. Um, okay. All in favor? No. Vote. Oh. For roll call to bundle them all. Okay. So, the first vote is to whether or not we're bundling. Oh, yeah. You're approving, right? That's what Yeah. I'm just
approving whether we do all this as a as a bundle. Roll call vote to What was the action? What was the motion? to do a motion to the motion was to bundle vote to bundle. Okay. So, just that can be all and you want a roll call vote. No.
Okay. Vote on all the bundle things then. Yes. Yeah. Okay. So, um all in favor of Yes. Sorry. Um Council President, can we pull the um the um school budget?
Was that getting bundled? That was the idea. If you'd like to pull that one, we can. Yeah. Can we pull that one? Okay. Okay. Um so, uh the amended proposal is to bundle everything. Uh we'll do it all by um except we will pull and discuss
the the um confirming the school budget. Okay. Uh all in favor? I opposed. Okay. Um All right. So, um by roll, we'll do this by roll call. Do I have um
uh going to have a a roll call vote on approving uh all of the resolutions except for which one is that? That is 834. Yeah. Finance number one on your packet which is ID
11834. Uh roll call, please. You need a motion to second. Oh, I need a motion to approve. Moved. Do I have a second? Second. Okay. Um roll call. Mr. opportunity for comment. Oh, very good idea. I forgot about that. It's only
1:30. Um, so yeah. Um, if you'd like to comment on the bundled resolutions, please be my guest. I'm gonna do that. Good morning. Morning. Greg Bartan, 14
Russell Place. Good evening. Thank you for having me. I've returned to discuss my supreme disappointment that the resolution for funding uh for Glenside Avenue is necessary. There are three reasons why.
One, we've known for years that there is a severe need for flood mitigation and a sidewalk along Glenside Avenue. We all stood there together. We heard our congressman say to our faces and to the faces of our
neighbors that he would work to get community project funding to help make that happen. He did submit that community project funding. Then he voted for a federal budget resolution that removed funding from the Glenside project for
2025. Second, the Glenside A project is one of 15 such projects in the district. The others are almost a million dollars for Warren Community College Agricultural Education and Training Center, $560,000 for Washington Townships Police
Department building renovation, $560,000 for Memorial Pond Stormwater dredging in Mount Arlington. Mr. Vartan, yeah. Can you talk about summit if you're going to talk? It's 1:30 in the morning. Okay. So, so my message is there's many
millions of dollars, including 560,000 for Summit. So, what I'm asking you to do is use your influence with our congressman to encourage him to get that funding in place for Glenside Avenue that we desperately need. Thank you.
Thank you. Uh sh please. Um okay. Uh any other comments on the bundled resolution? Yeah, Rosie, we have to name We do have I think Well, that was my point. Close
session. Okay. All right. So, I I'm going to make I'm going to make a revised motion to pull the um close session items out of here because we do have to we do have to Matt, can we just do you can just down? Yeah, absolutely. All right.
So, any other public comments on the um the resolutions? Simple question. Can we figure out what was in the in the in the close session information? Yeah. getting appointed to Yeah, we're just going to go through it right now. Okay. So, please, Madame
Mayor, do you have or um let's go through it. Uh so, the first appointment is um Councilman Ber. Thank you, Council President. Uh,
okay. So, Lieutenant Christopher Medina is being is now the uh police captain, appointed police captain with an effective date of May 5th,
2025. Congratulations, Captain Medina. Um, and Lieutenant John Garcia has been appointed to police captain with an effective date of May 5th, 2025. Congratulations to Captain Garcia. Uh,
and let's see, Detective Sergeant Thomas Rich to the position of police lieutenant with an effective date of May 5th, 2025. Congratulations to some Sergeant Rich uh
and Sergeant Jeffrey Deetsz to the position of police lieutenant with an effective date of May 5th, 2025. Uh and let's see, we are appointing Ryan Kroger to
the position of police officer with an effective date of May 1st, 2025. Ryan's a three-year veteran with the Allenhurst Police Department. And last but not least, uh Elsen Gloss to the position of police
officer with an effective date of May 1st, 2025. Elson is a one-year veteran with the Irvington Police Department. Congratulations to Ellison. Thank you, Council President. Thank you so much, Councilman Boyer. All
right. Um just uh we have uh Councilman Smallwood, can you please discuss the pending clo the close session appointment for the Tatlock neighborhood? This is the uh Thank you, Council President. This is ID number 11897 to appoint the chair of the
Tatlock neighborhood committee. Uh unfortunately, none of the Tatlock residents who are appointed to this board wanted to step up and be the chair. Yeah. So, we are appointing
uh Councilman Palowski, who does not live in the Tatlock Neighborhood Committee, as the chair. I'm in Ward One. Yep. Okay. All right. Um then we also have
uh let's see, dispand. Yeah. Um so, we have uh Councilwoman Camelson, you just want to discuss very briefly. Uh, admin and policies 11895. Uh, yes. Thank you, Council President. This is ID 11895 and
per closed session discussion. This resolution disbands the Silver Summit Advisory Board. Silver Summit was born out of the need to help seniors during the pandemic and original committee members continue to drive seniors to appointments and pick up groceries to this day. Recently, Silver Summit has
failed to make headway in other areas and was spinning their wheels, so to speak. After much discussion with the mayor, council president Sage and our DCP senior rep Gretchen Masterfano, everyone agreed that the best fa path path forward is for the city of Summit
to strengthen our relationship with Sage and to help our seniors. Um I move to adopt this resolution or sorry, not yet. Thank you, Councilwoman Camelson. All right. Um then I believe uh Councilwoman Hamlet, would you like
to uh clarify uh capital projects and community services number 11892? Sorry, which one was this one? Declare vacancy. Declare vacancy. Sorry. Sorry everybody. Page seven at the top.
Let me get there. Sorry, getting there. Bear with me. Uh, okay. Uh, this is Where's the ordinance number on this one? What number is this one? 1182. 11892. 1992. Yes. So, this is declaring
a vacancy Department of Community Services, Division of Public Works, Recreation, Parks, and Shade Tree Unit Operator. Whereas the superintendent of public works advises that as a result of promotion of Gustavo Reyes to assistant foreman effective April 14th, 2025, a vacancy will exist in the division of
public works in the position of operator and recreation parks and shade tree unit. I would like to uh introduce this ordinance and declare a vacancy effective April 22nd. Great. Thank you. Okay. Um the last uh uh resolution that
needs some clarification is finance number three. Uh Councilwoman Toth, could you please just enlighten us on 11886? Thank you, Council President. Uh Police Chief Sigorski is retiring at the end of this month and this resolution will pay
him as a crude time off. That was excellent. Um okay. Uh so that I think are all the close session items. Yes. So at this time um do I have a motion uh to
approve all the resolutions uh on the agenda with the exception of the uh finance number 111834 which is the port of school estimate um certification. So moved. Do I have a second? Second. All
right. Roll call, please. Mr. Ber I Miss Hamlet I Miss Cmanson I Mr. Palowski I Mr. Smallwood I Miss Toth I President McA. All right um resolutions carry. Okay. Um at this time
uh Councilwoman Toth um please uh introduce uh finance resolution number one. Um thank you council president. This resolution asks council to approve the 2025 school budget as certified by the board of school estimate. That
budget includes an approximate 4% increase. And although though that far exceeds the statutory 2% cap on tax increases, much of the budget is outside of those caps. And the budget includes the maximum tax increase the school
district can lawfully raise without a referendum. So, I move to bring this resolution forward to a vote. I second. All right. Uh, do I have any comments from the public on this resolution? Shantel Lman, 128 Beacon Road. I, like
many this year, have heard a lot about the board of ed budget process. I've attended meetings. I reviewed the budget and talked with people who are very informed about the process. Unfortunately, like many of you have said from the DEAS and in other public forums, there is little to no public
information about how the budget went from a proposed 8.8% to just under 4% increase. Residents are frustrated and many became angry when they were sent a flyer telling them they should be happy with the 4% increase, which is the largest percentage increase in school
tax levy in over 15 years. People don't want to be told what they should think. They should be given the facts so they can form their own opinions. The board of school estimate is responsible for the annual school budget and the resulting tax levy. Three of the five board of school estimate
members sit on this day as tonight. So here are my questions. What did our teachers and school administrators request to be included in the annual school budget that was subsequently denied? How are the budget cuts from the proposed 8.8%
8% to 4% impacting the student teacher ratio and programming for our special needs students. Is it true that all proposed additional teaching staff were cut? Is it true that current teacher administration and other headcount have
been cut by not not backfilling planned retirements? Did the mayor and council members who sit on the board of school estimate recommend and support these cuts to teaching staff? Given you're about to vote on approximately over $70 million spend of
mostly Summit taxpayer money, I think the public deserves to know what the money will be spent on and what was cut from the original proposed budget that our schools and teachers asked for. Thank you. Thank you. Other public comments.
Good evening. Good morning. Thank you all. Jacqueline Laser Cena. L A S A R A C I N A. I'm a resident of Summit and a proud public school kid. Our daughter will attend kindergarten at Wilson next year. Excellence in our public schools
is part of what makes Summit so special. And we all benefit from Summit being a place where you can get a great education. It's a promise we make to our children and an investment we make in our future. Quality education does carry a price. To ensure transparency and
accountability to the community, the mayor and two council members sit on the board of school estimate. The process is particularly important in this moment with the threat of major cuts to education and uncertainty around federal funding out of
DC. There are two important components to the budget. There are the numbers and what gets funded. It's an easy puzzle, but we do need both pieces to get the full picture. Certain members of council leadership have been happy to talk about the numbers, but we don't know what got
cut in that 5%. At the April 1 meeting, one council member both praised the mayor, Miss Hamlet, Mr. Swall, Smallwood, excuse me, for their work on the budget. And in almost the next breath said, quote, "I have very little idea what finally got
voted on in that budget." It's now 3 weeks later. Do we know more about what got cut in that 5%. Teachers, books, programs, services? We do not know. We do know that in another part of
the city budget, council approved a whopping $370,000 for two pieces of custom playground equipment. That is not fiscal responsibility. That is not protecting the summit taxpayer.
I ask council to please, as you do with the municipal budget, share an executive summary or an infographic or something to explain to the community what got cut from the school budget. And to the mayor, madame mayor, I've reached out to you privately four
times with an increasingly important question regarding school safety. I would appreciate the courtesy of response at your earliest convenience. Thank you. Thank you. Good morning, Marjgerie Fox, 32 Rotary
Drive. Um, I wanted to speak on um this the board of school estimate process because um when I was on council, I served three years on the board of school estimate and the description of what has transpired in this process is
very different than what I saw when I was on board of school estimate. And um first of all um I'm questioning why that 9% number was ever presented to the public if um the mayor and the two council members who sit on the board of
school estimate had a problem with it to start. Usually the board the board of education presents to the board of school estimate members the budget and a discussion is had about the budget and if there are problems they're resolved upfront. This seems like gamesmanship.
It seems like like people were playing politics with school budget and I'm really disturbed to see this because it was never that way. Um what I'm you know what I'm also questioning is what was cut. You know
just like the other two speakers have asked for. We don't know and we don't know if this is a good budget or a bad budget. And yes, 5% was cut out of the budget, but we're hearing an awful lot of rumors about teachers getting pink slips, about technology being cut.
They're building a big technology center at the high school, but there may be no one to staff it is what we're hearing. So I think that before you all have a fiduciary responsibility, you know, a postcard was sent out where you guys took a victory lap on this and Miss
Hamlet was council member Hamlet said she went line by line through the budget yet she can't answer the questions about what was cut. Council Council President McTurnon, you said that the process lacked transparency and you didn't know what was cut. This is not a way to do
this. You have a fidic a fiduciary responsibility to the public to to give us first of all for you to know what's in the budget and what was cut, what's in, what's out, but also to give that information to the the public who were
going to be forced to vote on uh to pay for this. So, I would ask that you table this um this vote and at the next meeting have um Derek Jess or or uh Superintendent Huff come in and answer those questions for both the council and
the public for everyone's benefit. Thank you very much. Thanks. Other comments can answer Dory Gagnon, 27 Bedford Road. Um you know, everyone's coming up here blaming you guys. I went to the board of ed meetings twice.
Hardly anybody spoke and I asked for transparency. I I went and got the budget. There was like nothing on it except their salaries. Um they don't respond to you like you guys do. Um you ask a question and they
don't give you any feedback. So instead of yelling at you wondering what was on the board of school budget, I asked them and they didn't answer me. So here we are. We can't yell at you. Okay. I know Miss Hamlet spent like 30 days trying to
get them from 9 to 4. Maybe she just said, "Cut it from 9 to 4. I'm not going to accept it unless it's lower than 4%." Um, I'm still talking. Can you please just give me just a respect of just 2 minutes, please? Or however long I have left. Um, so I'm not going to yell at you because that's not your job. When it
comes to the city budget, I'll you I'll hold you responsible. I thank you for getting it down below, you know, 4%. Which is still very high. It's much better than nine. So, you know, when when we're talking about homelessness, I'm still talking everybody. We're talking about homelessness on the rise.
You know, I know a lot of people still couldn't afford the 9% cuz that would increase their taxes by a lot. So, I want to thank you for getting it down because that means a lot to a lot of residents here in this city. I would still like to understand what was cut on the budget, too. But that goes back to
the administration and I have a problem with that. So I would like you all to hold the administration accountable and not letting us as residents know what was on that budget. So thank you. Thank you. Good evening. Diego Ho Naral Court. I
was not planning on talking about the school budget. Um, but I think once I I was at three meetings, one in the high school, two in the middle school. Um, I even spoke with Council Palowski about um, some of the
things that I said. Um, and it was very friendly banter and I appreciate it. Um, to me, the schools are what makes Summit special. Uh, the schools are why people come to Summit. The schools are why people pay our property values or our
rents. Um, the schools are why people want to come here. Everything else that we value, our restaurants, our downtown, our uh to train lines to New York, they're wonderful. They're absolutely fantastic.
Um, but what people come here for is the education. And at those meetings, I heard people talk about how we should prioritize quote the basics, math and English language. And I have a question whether
that is a common perception or not. When you prioritize math and English language, you do prioritizing the rest. What is the rest? Is it our performing arts program? Is it our theater program?
Is it our sports? Is it um speech and debate? If we prioritizing just math and English language, what are you going to do with foreign language or English as a second language?
[Music] Um, and I think that a lot of people, yourself included, council president, have mentioned the fact that we do not know what was cut. And it is worrisome because we're seeing cuts both at the Department of
Education and the Department of Argiculture. And at least in one of our elementary schools, 25% of our kids are on reduced and free lunches. They don't have enough money to keep their bellies full if they don't get federal
help. And I've mentioned this to a number of you over the past couple of weeks and we have no answers. Um, now don't get me wrong, I'm happy that I have to pay a lower tax
increase than I would have otherwise. But if I have to choose one thing on which to focus my spending, you finish up please. Am I up to three minutes? Yeah. If I have to choose one thing in which to focus my spending, it's the schools. It is not our pavement. It is
not our playgrounds. It's not anything else. The schools are the number one thing. Then thank you. Could you finish, please? Yeah. Well, I mean, I didn't have a clock. Sorry. My No, I I I just said please finish. That's it. Okay. So, so but my my point is this fiscal responsibility
is about knowing what you really care about, what matters, what is the moat in Warren Buffett's terms. Our moat is our schools and that school budget got cut and we need to know why before we find anything else. Thank you very much. Thank you. Other comments from the
public. All right. Comments from council. I'll go. Uh Councilwoman Hamlet. Um I would say initially um this schoolboard budget was consistent with what the ops committee recommended which was no net
new teachers and they would not be impacting student facing um student facing services. So uh the role of the school of board estimate is to uh not manage that budget but to ensure a proper tax rate for the taxpayer. Um I just had a conversation with um the
superintendent today. Not only can I show you when we went from close to 9% down to 4.72 and we've shared emails back and forth. Um, but from 4.72 to 3 uh 95. Um, so we certainly have all that information. I can tell you just a
couple things. Summer school, I've been seeing a lot on Facebook that we killed summer school $110,000. You're right. Summer school got cut and that wasn't my decision. That was a superintendent school board decision. But that summer school can be obtained in other ways. So, we didn't actually So, you'll see
$110,000 decrease, but kids will still be able to go to summer school. Um, I talked to this uh superintendent about that because I saw some of those things online. Um, instructional staff training decrease of 385. Uh, improvement of instructional services was um was a
decrease of $157,000. Uh, un unallocated benefits went down $760,000. Now, in these buckets, I can't tell you whether it's from a retired teacher, but that's the superintendent's job. The superintendent's job is to manage the operation of the school budget. That's
something that we can't micromanage. And I'd like to, you know, have Mr. Gio talk a little bit about how the budget went from 9% to 4%. But the other thing is the fact that you haven't heard anything. Just opra it. All you have to do is oper. They're public documents.
You can oper the one that started at 9. You can oper the one that got submitted at 4.72. And you can open the one that got submitted at 3.95 and run a fabulous pivot table and you'll be able to see all of the information through the board of ed. Through the board of ed or you can opra my emails. They're all in
there. But I'd rather you I'd rather you open the board of ed than torture Rosie. But you can you can Oprah all three documents because they all got um they all got submitted. The first one got submitted. You want me to explain? So yeah, please. The board of school estimates does not create the school
budget. The school budget, the preliminary budget is due in March. This dis the school district, the administration, the BA and superintendent create the preliminary budget that has to be submitted to the state of New Jersey Department of Education and it goes to the executive
county superintendent of Union County. They have to review it and approve it. What they submitted was the 9.9% budget. The board of school estimates then says too much. You got to cut it. They then came back with the 5 72
4.72. What the board of school estimate does is it it sets the levy, the tax levy of what's permitted. So what is permitted? What the 3.92? What does that represent? You have a 2% tax levy that you're permitted under state law.
There's also an exception for the extraordinary expense of health benefits. And this happens statewide. every school district can can go above the 2% levy because of the extraordinary increase in in health benefits that occurred this year. A lot of it has to
do with the injectable drugs and a lot more skinny people walking around. Um the the and they can use what's called bank cap. And so they use bank cap, they use the the adjustment for the
extraordinary health benefits and the um 2% tax levy that gets you to the 3.72 number that that was ultimately struck. Um what we pointed out the difference between the 472 and the 372
395 3.95 was we looked at their their health benefit line and we knew what their health benefits went up and what they were budgeting was over that so we said you you can cut this health benefits and that's exactly where they cut it to get to the 392. There was no
nobody the school board investments does not go through these me the mayor and the two members don't go through and say cut teachers that they say this is the levy. It's the board's job and administration's job to figure out where to make the priorities fit within the
levy that was struck at 392. So they're the they're the body if you have questions about why did you do this? Why did you cut this? What did you do here? And it's happening. It's not just in your district. It's literally happening statewide um in terms of districts and where
things are and a lot of it is coupled with the fact that health benefits went way up. There's a change in the law about how how much employees contribute to their health benefits that went down. There's decreases in state aid which you guys got. Um and all this couples
together and there's also inflation energy just the energy cost alone for running your schools in these buildings went up 15% I think it's going up another 15% in June. So there's all these expenses that are going up and the
revenues when you have a 2% tax levy just like the the town's stuck with it so are school districts. So, uh, but the actual if there's any type of cuts that's those, um, micro issues are handled by the board and by the
administration and the BA, not by the board of schools. They ultimately set the levy and that's how we got it set down to the 3 392 3.95 3.95. It's it's almost 2 o'clock in the morning. Yeah, if I may, Council President, uh, hold on. Let's see if anyone else wants to
comment. Councilman Smallwood. Thank you. Um, Miss Fox, I'm glad you brought up the the process because you you do know that the board of education actually approves a budget and then the board of school estimate does their work. Is that
correct? What happens? So, come on. Here's no here's here's the issue. Stop asking rhetorical questions. Here's the issue. the this is for for us for the board of school estimates. It's not a cost
cutting exercise. The goal was to keep the the expenses in line with prior years. If we had just given a blanket yes to what the board of ed approved, you'd be here having a different conversation with us. How could you
possibly allow a board of school estimates approved over an 8% budget which would have increased taxes for over almost a thousand dollars per household? I guarantee you there'd be public comments. How could you possibly
increase our taxes that much? Our job on the board of school estimates was to say, listen, and I specifically said, and I know the mayor said as well, and I know Dillia said as well, what can we do to reduce this tax levy without cutting
studentfacing teachers? We have five tech people at the high school that have absolutely no studentf facing position. They teach teachers how to use programs.
Five. I would prefer those jobs to be cut. And to be honest with you, I actually I agree with you. I think we should have Derek Jess and Scott Huff come to a council meeting and explain to us where their cuts were and what made
what made their decisions to to get to down to that point. because I think that would be a lot more beneficial rather than us having to pull teeth to try and get something down from
8% to 3.95%. Thank you. Other comments, Councilman Palowski? Yeah, so I too went to the three meetings that um Mr. Ho went to and I think at every one of them I asked
them to make the case for what they needed and to shed a little light on what was going on. And um they wouldn't do it. So uh you know and they always say at the board of ed meetings and I'm going to criticize the board of ed right
now. Uh they always say ask your questions and we'll get you the answers. We'll publish the answers. We'll email you the answers. But they just don't. Um, so I too would like to have um Mr. Jess and Mr. Huff come and explain a
little more. Other comments from council. Councilwoman Camelson. Um, it sounds like several of us are in agreement that we would like to have um, Superintendent and Derek does come.
Could we table this for next? We have to pass this and have them come. Well, are you making a motion to table? I'm making a motion to table. Well, I here is there a second to table this.
May I ask a question in lie of that? Because from an earlier conversation with Mr. Jacobe, I believe that if we table it now and don't vote on it by the end of the meeting, it goes away and we have to start from scratch. That's an
ordinance. Okay. Um I So do I have a second? Just just so everyone knows there there's a statutory deadline for school districts to submit their budget to the
final budget just like you guys have a final adoption May 20th. U the final budget adoption has to be by May 8th. So um you know I think that if you table this you might I don't know what the
school has done but this sets the levy so that they can submit it to the state and they are required to do that and I don't know when their next meeting is etc. But I can tell you there's a lot of board meetings in the first week of May so they can adopt the final budget.
So I'm not hearing a second so we're going to continue uh council comments. Any others? All right. I I'm just This I just want to say this isn't you're not we're setting the tax levy like this the school board the school budget's been I
mean the only reason we could overdo it is we're con this is concurring right? We are not passing a budget and some of these people in the audience know this. It's called concurring their budget. Okay. Uh we're not pass we're not
creating a school budget here. That's already been done. The board of school estimates approved the tax levy. The board of ed shockingly creates their own budget and they vote on it and they're the ones who
do the nitty-gritty on who to cut and who not to cut. And people in this room know that. If you have questions about who's getting cut or not, my suggestion is don't come and ask
us. The board of ed is a separate legal body and people in this room know that too. And if you have questions, go and ask them. Sadly, you will get the same
response that Councilman Palowski gets because the board of education has rules where they don't answer questions from the dis. I don't know why they have those rules. If it was if I was on the board
of education, I would ask for more transparency to be able to answer questions of the public, but I didn't appoint the majority of those people to the board. They make the rules. If you have a problem with that, you should go
petition those board members to change the rules. Good idea. So you so you get transparency. Don't ask us the minutia of the budget. We don't do the minutia of the
budget. So, I am just going to say because I'm kind of cranky. It's late. The the board of school estimates deserves a victory lap, quote unquote.
We would have had a 9% budget if we just let the board of ed do their thing. They didn't give any information. I went to the same meetings that Mr. Ho and Councilman Smallwood went to. So did
other people in the audience. They gave you no information. As people mentioned, I was highly critical of the lack of transparency. I'm still highly critical of the lack of transparency. They're not even telling parents what they're doing. Talk to the board of
ed. They should I honestly think there should be major discussions with the board of ed members about who is in their staff creating these budgets because the process this year was horrific. A 9% floated budget. I don't
even know if they legally could have done that. It's way over the cap. No idea how they could have done that. I am not a business administrator that works for the board of ed, but I would assume that person would
know that there's legal limits on how much they can raise in taxes, but they offered a 9% budget to begin with. These people up here asked questions and said, "Get it down." The only reason they they lowered it, it
wasn't because the board of ed said lower it. It was because of these people. And it wasn't because the board of ed said lower it from 4.71, which is the statutory maximum that they could do. It was because of these people said
that they deserve credit for doing that. No one else who went to these meetings ever pushed back. No one. So, I'm very happy that they did what they did. I still don't know what
they're cutting. I have no idea. None. If I ask the question, they will send it to me in an email, maybe. But it's not my job to to do the school budget. My job is to concur the
funds. That's what we're up here to do. Okay? So, I apologize for being cranky. Um, but those are my comments. All right. Any other comments? All right. All in favor? I opposed. All right. Motion carries. Okay. I think
that's it for our agenda. I don't think we voted on the consent agenda as a whole. Oh, we have it. Okay. I thought we did. I thought you did a roll. No, you did the bundle. You did a motion. No, I bundled the consent agenda with the other resolutions. Yes. Did we do a
roll poll vote? Yes. On everything. If I go to the videotape, I'm going to check you. All right. All right. So, um, we're at the final leg of our meeting. It's only 2 in the morning. Um, at this time, uh,
are there Oh, we've got public comments for items that were not on the agenda. I didn't want to skip over that. Any public comments for items that are
not on the agenda? Good evening. Uh good morning. Never dreamed I would get up and say this, but um I've come to a lot of these over the years. Different people have sat on the DAS. Um I've never been quite so pontificated at
um I just would encourage the modeling of of civility. It's your job to have people um be upset and you knew it was going to be a long meeting. Um council president, I just would encourage you. We you to hurry things along and you um you have took up a lot
of our time pontificating and and sort of scolding us. Um I just encourage us to rise above that. Um please. Thank you. Other comments. Yes, please. I apologize. Go ahead. Um, just to piggy back off of what Rosie
said, I don't know if there was a roll call vote. And can you repeat that, please? A part of that a part of that consent agenda was the police officers getting promoted and I don't want that to be No, no, that was voted on. That was definitely voted on. I don't think there was. Would it Would it hurt to have another one? You do another roll
call vote. Let's do another one. Um, sorry. Let's do a roll call vote. Then we'll have more public comments. Roll call votes in on all the bundled items. All the the entire resolutions and consent. Correct. Mr. Ber I Miss Hamlet
I Miss Cmonson I Mr. Palowski I Mr. Smallwood I Miss Toad I President McTin I motion carries on the whole thing. Okay. More public comments. I just want to comment on the last
comment that I disagree completely. Since this council has taken office, more has happened with regard to public safety and the other needs of the community. Uh they addressed the budget. Uh I agree with everything uh the council president said. I won't go into
it now because it's late. Uh but there's certainly a better way to do that and I'd like to thank this body for all their hard work and I think people are heard here, people are welcomed here and to suggest otherwise I haven't seen you at this many meetings sir and to suggest
otherwise I think is is unfair to this body. So thank you very much all of you. Thank you. Other comments. Okay. Yeah, I hearing none. Um, we'll close public comments. Uh, we're on to council member comments and new business.
Councilman Smallwood, I'd like to make a motion to adjourn. Second. Wait, wait, wait. I want I want I have comments. So, okay. We're going to uh let's have some comments then. Councilman Palowski. Okay. So, long meeting. We heard a lot
about um this ordinance and I never got to comment on it. So, I'm going to use my my council comment time to do that. It'll be quick. Um, just so everybody knows, uh, the enabling portion, the enabling statute in the municipal code,
section 4048-1 specifically states that the governing body of every municipality may make, amend, repeal, and enforce ordinances to, among other things, prevent loitering, lounging, or sleeping
in the streets, parks, or public places. Second, the homelessness task force is not going anywhere. We're not abandoning a housing first model. To the contrary, the police are putting together a policy to do just that. Chief
Peters told us as much earlier tonight if anybody was listening. We're committed to that. Now, I've had conversations with many people over the past couple of weeks. One um was with Rich Uniak from Bridges. I think we can
all agree that he's an expert on placing homeless people um in homes, helping homeless people get housed. And he confirmed for me that he can house anybody who's willing to be housed, anybody that we have here. All I
have to do is say, "Help me." and he can house them. Uh the Reverend Dr. Tanner suggested earlier that DCA wouldn't support us anymore if we passed uh this ordinance. And I have here an email from
Michael Callahan, who is the director of the Office of Homelessness Prevention for the Department of Community Affairs. He told us that while the department will not be taking a position on our ordinance, the Office of Homelessness
Prevention and Department of Community Affairs remains committed to supporting unhoused persons in the city in ending their circumstances to stable and permanent housing. We look forward to continued cooperation with all stakeholders grounded in housing first
principles and guided by compassionate engagementdriven strategies to to end to the end of homelessness and summit. That's what we're working towards. He's not going anywhere either. And I spoke to him and he told me that I could quote
him on the following. Regardless of whether we pass the ordinance, the department will find a way to leverage all resources at their disposal to house anyone in need. DCA will move heaven and earth to house
anyone who needs it here in Summit. Fourth, we talked about the strain on our resources and I have a personal uh story that will illustrate this. Last week, I had heard that two nights in a
row, uh, there were people passed out, very drunk or on drugs or something at the library, refusing to leave when our librarians uh, asked them to leave when it was closing time. I happened to be at
a meeting here uptown at city hall when it was about 20 to 9, which is closing time for the library. I said, "You know what? I'm already up here. Let me go take a look. see what's happening at the library. And sure enough, there's someone passed out there. I waited. The
announcement comes on. It's closing time at the library. We need you to move. Librarians tried to wake this gentleman up. He would open his eyes, look at them, and go right back to sleep. So, what did they do? They had to call the police. Now, I don't know how many
police were on duty at approximately 900 p.m. last Thursday night patrolling. Was it two? Was it three or four? Okay. So, um well, I can tell you that two of them had to come to deal with
this. Now, if there were four patrolling, which I think is the maximum that we have overnight, unless we're making some kind of a special push, that means that half of our patrols we're dealing with somebody at
the um at the library. So, you know, we've been hearing for years burglaries, car thefts, you know, we need more police patrolling, right? They can't. This is a frequent thing at the library. It happens, I'm told, at
least once a week and I don't know, three times last week and and and probably a lot of times more. um in having this uh ordinance uh socialized around town and on social media and even here tonight, we've been
hearing things like if I I think I I think I read somewhere that if a baby falls asleep in a carriage in a park, they're going to be subject to this ordinance. I know I heard here tonight that if a parent falls asleep after being dragged to their kids'
concert, they are going to be arrested under this ordinance. Well, that that's just nonsense. Um, and you know, there are rules of statutory construction when interpreting ordinances in the state of New Jersey. The very first one says that
you have to do it within the context of you have to do it within the context of the particular ordinance. That's the first provision of our statutes. Okay. And then there's Supreme Court uh um
decisions that say we have the responsibility to avoid a lit a literal interpretation that would create a manifestally absurd result. So this is all just you know talk. people don't want us to do
something, you know, it's we we have to we have to cut through all that to see what's really really important. Now, um Mr. Wild, he's gone now. Uh I look forward to working with him. Um because
no matter what happens next week, whatever would have happened here tonight, um we're always striving to do better. And so it's never going to be the end. You know, we may pass an ordinance and we may amend it frequently if we keep finding ways to make it
better. That's our job up here. So, we're committed to that. And this is these are some of the things that I would have said had we had council comment uh previously, but we didn't do that. So, uh that's all I have to say. Council President, thank you. Uh
Councilman Boyer, I'm not going to be long. Um I know someone said that, you know, uh this may be political or, you know, look beyond that. Um I I'm not naive. I knew 100 people that was coming in here
were going to say, "Hey, you know, you're you're not a moral person. You know, we want the homeless and everything." Um, this is not this is not popular, right? Um, you know, the good thing is, um, I don't care about being
reelected. Could care less, right? What I care about is people getting arrested over and over again, over and over again, and getting let out on the street. And then my daughter and her friends or some other kids from the middle school or someone else that calls
me that, you know, with her with their kids or whatever, having to come in contact over and over again with violent and deviant people. I mean, it is what it is. I'm
I'm up here because I want this town to be safe. Period. don't care about re-election. That's why I don't care that 150 people walked in and said, "Hey, you don't like the homeless." That's not it. I like my kids. I like your kids. I want a safe
town. So, it is what it is. Thank you. Thank you. Other other comments, uh, Councilwoman Hamlet. Um, well, thank you for everybody who's still here at almost 2:15 in the morning. Um, I want to say even as we were sitting here tonight, there was three or
four incidents of homeless individuals. Just I'll give you one or two of them. Uh, tonight 2218. I put my glasses on. I can't even say. 31-year-old male stating he has scabs on his feet and they hurt. Requesting the only officer carabalo or he will start swinging swinging as he is
not playing games. Um, three or four more incidents came in tonight and I think it just highlights the the the hard cases that we just can't get our heads around. Another case last week, my hands were shaking when I
was writing this text because there was a gentleman who we all see and he was laying on the floor and I thought, well, why is this guy I thought we were getting him housing? What's why aren't we getting him housing? So, I called some of our providers and they said, well, let let us look into it. So, I thought to myself, you know, I'm going
to call the assisted living facility cuz I just maybe there's a backlog. I just want to call and see what's taking so long. So, I call the assisted living facility. I got a huge education on Medicaid, Medicare. And she said, you know, if he's around 70, this should have happened a long time ago. So, I call the providers back and I say, hey, I just found out that this should take,
you know, a short amount of time. Go back to the providers. Clear clerical mistake. This guy should have been probably and he's a tough one to get house, but he, you know, we they didn't press send and it was they felt terrible about it. But so you have all these out oftowners come in and say that we're not
kind or we don't care or we're criminalizing homelessness. The amount of statistical the stats that I could show you, the amount of Summit residents who are behind this ordinance tonight would overwhelm you. But I respect the people that were in this audience
tonight to try to make some adjustments. But I will not let this town and this council I will not let us look like we do not care because we have rolled up our sleeves. I deliver furniture to the homeless individuals. I'm finding them on the floor. We are housing them. We're
engaging providers. So, you can come in here with your hundreds of people, but we are going to pass some sort of ordinance. And we have been working really hard with DCA. And no one in some New Jersey wants camps on the village green. It's inhumane. It's not good for the people.
They are better than that. They deserve better. And I urge all of you who are interested in helping this situation, when you see the gentleman who's laying on the floor, who's bent over, call the providers, call Bridges, call Bridgeway. It's their
job. It's not our job. And thank you for coming today. Councilwoman Hamlet, I'm sorry. How many Yes, Councilman Boyer, how many times throughout the year have you called me or I called you and you're like, "Hey, do you have such and such phone number?" Right.
We we roll up our sleeves. We know. And I didn't want to sit here tonight and say, "Oh, this is what I do, right?" You know, because that's what, you know, sitting here defending that you're a moral person. Yeah. But we actually got off the deis and we know we know all
those people, man. We got the I have phone numbers of all. I mean, it ain't it ain't what it it ain't what's what came through the door tonight, you know. That's not that's not what it is at all. You know, maybe I can't articulate
articulate. Um the relationship that we have with these folks and the ones that are just off the rocker, man, you know, but it is what it is. So, what's illegal? Um any other comments from
council? All right, let me just one little comment around process. So, um, one of the things I think, you know, there's it's it's awesome people came out. Um, you know, people from Summit came. Look, people want to come from
other towns. That's fine. You know, it means they care. Um, but I think that I agree with Councilwoman Hamlet. We care, too. Okay. you know, we are trying to have a solution. We may have a different
opinion on how best to help these people, but the idea that, you know, we're trying to criminalize people, it's sad that that's kind of become the narrative um because it's just not
true. We do want to help these people. The goal is to have no homeless in Summit that these people end up with a life that's fulfilling, with a life where they're not living on the street, with a, you
know, where they wake up every day and um, you know, they're they they have things to do and and they enjoy life like that. Everyone should want that and that's what we all want, too. But we also want our community to be safe and
we we don't have the luxury of being a oneisssue council. We just don't we have other things that we have to you know prioritize and I get it like you know people are
passionate about stuff. It doesn't mean we're not passionate about the same thing that we don't want these people to get help too. we do and there's been so much behind the-scenes engagement with with people over the last several weeks where you know I think there was a lot
of commentary about you know listen get input my wife can attest I've done nothing but been on the phone for the last two weeks with people getting input um trying to make this better trying to respond to people's concerns because we
all want the same thing for these people, but we also we also have to worry about that poor woman who's running a business in Summit and and she's crying out for
help. There's no one driving from Princeton or wherever they're coming from to speak up for her. We, you know, we need to do that and and I'm going to do that. And I think most everybody up here feels for
that woman and we have to make those decisions too. So, um, like I said, I I I I'm hopeful that the next couple of weeks we'll get more information and we'll make it even better and I look forward to that because we want the best
ordinance for everybody. Um and that includes our residents who um as well as our those few ins you know well all our residents including you know the people who are um asking us to do you know to
do something because they they're concerned about safety and and uh the public spaces etc as well as those five individuals and and I I really am I'm an optimist. I think we are going to get to a really really good spot with this and um I think we're pretty close already
given a lot of the um comments that I've had with people. So, um I'm excited about the process and maybe I'll see all of you here again in two weeks time. So, and that's that's my my public comment. All right. I'd like to make a motion to
adjourn. Second. All right. All in favor? I I we are ajourned.