This is the special commissioner meeting of July 29th, 2026 at 6:00 p.m. at the Sussex County Administrative Center Commissioner Meeting Room, One Spring Street, Newton, New Jersey. Can I have a roll call, please? >> Commissioner Carney,
>> here. Deputy Director Degru here. >> Commissioner Henderson here. >> Commissioner Silverthornne here. >> Director Space here. Okay. Number three. Moment of silence and salute to the flag. >> I wasn't going to do a moment of silence, but um I am going to do a
moment of silence. Uh today, Commissioner Silverthornne and his wife Liz Silverthornne lost Liz's mother, Lillian Babson. And I just want to take a moment to recognize her loss. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the
United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liy and justice for all. Number four, public statement. Pursuant
to the Open Public Meetings Act, PL1975, C231, and PL 2025 C72, adequate notice as defined has been made via electronic posting and email. Such notice being submitted on July 24th, 2026 from the
administrative center of the county of Sussex located at 1 Spring Street, Newton, New Jersey to the following. the New Jersey Herald and is also posted on www.sussex.nj. us. The bulletin board maintained the administrative center for public
announcements and has been submitted to the Sussex County Clerk in compliance with said act. At this time, please mute all electronic devices. Okay. Number five, approval of agenda. There will be a change to tonight's
agenda. Item 24 number seven is being removed. And I will let Lorraine explain. >> We no longer have to have executive session because the uh issue that was going to be addressed has been resolved prior to today's meeting. Thank you.
>> Okay. Can I get a motion to approve the agenda? >> Still moved. >> Okay. Commissioner Corning. A second from Commissioner Silverthornne. Any discussion? All in favor? I oppose. Abstain. Okay. Agenda is approved. Number six, there are no proclamations, certificates, or presentations. Number
seven, no public hearing. Number eight, public session from the floor. This public session is for those wishing to make a comment of 3 minutes or less regarding an agenda item. Please line up at the microphone and state your name, municipality, and agenda topic for the
record. Can I get a motion to open the floor for public comment? So move. Second. >> Okay. Commissioner Henderson and a second from Deputy Director Degrroot. Any discussion? All in favor? >> I oppose. Abstain. Okay, the floor is open. And if you could just like speak into the microphone because sometimes
it's hard for people to >> It should be good to pass it. Yeah. >> Good. Thank you, >> Michelle Van Allen. Hardest Township. I'm going to read real quickly um a statement made by um Governor Cheryl a couple of days ago. Um, she said, "One
week ago, I informed New Jerseyians that a serious software error in the Motor Vehicle Commission system has improperly registered approximately 6600 individuals to vote between the 23 and 24 during the previous administration. I promised New Jerseyians that my administration would confront the issue with accountability and urgency. Today,
I want to provide an update on the progress we've made over the last seven days. We moved aggressively on multiple fronts, reaching out directly to those affected and beginning the role process of correcting the voter roles. MVC motor vehicle has mailed letters to the individuals who were impacted by the software error to supplement these
notifications. We've launched a website with answers to frequently asked questions, information about the voter registration review process, and support resources. The website is nj.gov/mvcs errors 2023. At the same time, the [clears throat] division of elections has begun a process to remove more than
4,500 individuals who were registered solely through this software error. The remaining registrations will be referred to county election officials for additional review to ensure that any lawfully registered voters are not being disenfranchised. We are taking this extra step because our initial review indicates that a number of these
individuals may be citizens that have been that has been the case in other states where clerical and administrative voter registration errors have occurred and we've we're determined to get this right. Just as we have an obligation to remove everyone who is not eligible to vote, we also have a responsibility to
protect the voting rights of eligible New Jersey citizens and ensure no one is improperly removed from the roles. And we are going to do just that. As I said last week, this is what accountable government looks like. We inherited a problem. We didn't hide it. We didn't deny it. We're investigating it and we're going to fix it the right way.
That approach stands in stark contrast to how MAGA Republicans have responded to this issue. From the moment I made the public this this public and launched the investigation, Donald Trump and his followers have to weaponize the issue to advance their voter suppression schemes
and they are trying to target the individuals affected who were registered [clears throat] >> through no fault of their own. I won't let them do either. New Jerseyians should have confidence that every eligible citizen can vote. every lawful vote will be counted and their government will act quickly and
transparently when problems arise. That's my responsibility as governor and we'll continue providing public updates while the investigation moves forward. And I trust uh Governor Cheryl to handle this properly and I'm going to trust that the commissioner board will handle this properly as well. I'm not even sure where this falls under your purview.
Maybe you'll explain that to us tonight. But we're hoping that um what's going on in Washington right now, the voter suppression that's going to be done by the the regime that's in charge because I don't even consider it administration because they're not
administering anything but their own agenda. I hope that um you're going to stand up what's right for the people because I know you've said you've supported him before. I can't support what he's doing. Thank you. three minutes you say. >> Okay. Raymond Twin, Municipality,
uh, Hampton Township. Uh, I'd actually like to just oppose both of the items on resolutions on the agenda this evening for the same reason. They both appear to be outside of the powers of the uh county outside of its remit and completely irrelevant to any of its
responsibilities is which the commissioners have been tasked with and I really think that's all that needs to be said. Thank you. >> Hello, my name is Matthew Colbeach. K A LB A C like the phone. Um, I'm a, you know, local resident of Hamburg. Um, I
lived at the Sussex Motel for a while as their manager. I have a little bit of experience on what it was like earning that facility into what it was today. But to know that county officials were involved in dumping homeless
people. Yes. This would be the voter fraud. So, um, with that experience, given that the state troopers were being controlled in that manner, um, we had that same problem in Burnsville, North Carolina with absentee ballot mismanagement where
sheriffs were improperly handling, observing, or dropping charges for felons so that way if they voted a certain way, they were then treated with leniency or like I said, those charges were then dropped. This happened in 2011. The Anie County News, the
newspaper I worked for, a threeperson newspaper, won one of the highest awards in journalism, the EW Howard Scripps Award for distinguished service to the First Amendment because of this issue. So you have to understand by showing the road map of how you can steal an
election, a municipality, you can steal an entire state by targeting these weak municipalities. Literally just heard someone come up here and say that it isn't your responsibility to look into this. absolutely is your responsibility to look into the integrity of your elections because you guys are obviously
in charge and you can perpetually put yourselves there in the type of apparatus that existed in Yansy County and that was proved and put a sheriff in that county in a 60-year dynasty, the longest running sheriff in uh in United
States history. So it just gives you just a small contrast of what you're dealing with and the type of people in the community that actually have the experience to know where to look. So this might be a software glitch, but
there certainly is a lot more to just software glitches and people making excuses for issues that shouldn't be just brushed to the table like that. So, um, with that being said, you guys need to draft legislation or at least begin
looking at legislation that brings transparency to how the absentee ballot process and if your sheriffs are involved. Now, my understanding doesn't have sheriffs that the state troopers are mainly responsible for the area. And in my experience, most of those state
troopers while I ran the Sussex Motel professionally were extremely unprofessional. and I posted a review, I mean a video that went viral some 3 four weeks ago with over 10,000 views of my small little window of experience. And uh so with that, commissioners, I I ask
that you definitely look into this matter. You appreciate it. >> My name is Rebecca Marino. I am a resident of Hart. I am speaking tonight in support of both resolution A and resolution B. I believe our country's
foundation relies on secure elections and safe committees. Right now, Trenton [clears throat] is threatening both. Regarding resolution A, it is completely unacceptable that a state software error allowed over 6,600 non-citizens
[clears throat] to be improperly registered to vote. Voting is a sacred right for United States citizens. I fully support this board's demand for transparent investigation and an immediate halt to
almatic MVC registrations. Regarding resolution B, Trenton's recent sanctuary policies are making our communities less safe. [clears throat] Restricting our local police from cooperating with federal agencies like
ICE is a dangerous political game. Creating a so-called safe spaces puts a massive unfair burden on our local law enforcement. We need our local, state, and federal agencies working together, not being
forced apart by state mandates. Thank you to this board of commissioners for having the courage to stand up [clears throat] to Trenton. By supporting these resolutions, you are fighting for the rule of law in Sus County. I urge you to vote yes on both.
Thank you for your time. [clears throat] Good evening. Um I'm Dr. Claire Golden, resident of Andover Township and um in the interest of full transparency, I just want to state up front that I am running against Commissioner Carney for the position of county clerk in the
upcoming November election. and I welcome the opportunity to more thoroughly discuss election security and other issues with him in the upcoming debate hosted by the League of Women Voters. So, I hope we can meet there again. Um, as for resolution A,
resolution A, it might surprise you that I agree with a lot of what is stated in resolution A, but my opinion is that in many times it is overstated and has a real risk of of sewing distrust and a
lack of faith in our election, which would result in more voter suppression. Not saying that's your motive, but I'm saying that may be a consequence that you haven't considered. Um, I agree that this mistake by the motor vehicle commission is serious and needs to be
investigated. There needs to be accountability and it has to be done with transparency. And I argue I argue that as we have that already that is what the governor is doing and I think we should all support her in those efforts. Um, what we don't want is to
turn this into at the taxpayers's expense a multi-million dollar hunt for mud to sling at each other in a political circus. So, I caution you all do things that are motivated by serving
the people, not by grandstanding for a political party. And the danger and distrust is the real danger of Proposition A. Now, as for Proposition B, I think it's even more
dangerous because this resolution is potentially um as it worded, it would disrupt the proper balance between state and federal authority over elections. Um [clears throat] the government the Constitution of the United States separates the powers and
it gives primary power to the states to run their own elections. We're at danger. And if you don't believe me, listen to the threat that Wayne Mark Mullen, director of DHS, said he was going he threatened
election workers, clerks, and all state and local officials uh with imprisonment possibly if they don't, as he say, comply with federal uh election measures, security measures. I don't see them as security measures. I see them as
another brick in the road to autocracy. We're not a dictatorship. will never be a kingdom. And I think rather than write resolutions supporting a potential takeover, I think what you should be doing is writing a resolution that
stands in support of our state's rights and our individual county rights to run our elections without unwarranted interference. Phil Dphano, Branchville. $35,000 was the approximate cost cited
for the 2019 sanctuary state resolution and ballot question. And what did taxpayers get for it? A political message on the ballot that had no power to change immigration law. Then in 2020, we did it again with the Second Amendment Sanctuary Resolution. The
county board spent time and taxpayer resources on another symbolic resolution that could not change state or federal law. And now here we are again. As Dr. Golden pointed out tonight, we apparently can't let a good crisis go to waste. This time we're being asked to
pass two more resolutions surrounding an election security issue that is already being investigated and addressed through the appropriate legal and governmental channels. Let me be clear. I support election security. I support
investigating the software failure. I support identifying registrations that need further review. Referring appropriate matters to law enforcement and fixing whatever went wrong. But we need facts, not fear. We need accountability, not political theater.
The existing election system has processes for reviewing voter registrations and investigating [clears throat] potential violations. The appropriate state and local authorities are already involved. The answer is not to undermine public confidence by suggesting that our
elections are somehow out of control. And it certainly shouldn't be to spend taxpayer money on political resolutions that don't actually solve the problem. Dr. Golden was right. this issue like the 2019 sanctuary resolution,
excuse [clears throat] me, and the 2020 Second Amendment resolution risk becoming another vehicle for partisan politics rather than responsible county government. So tonight, I have one simple question. What will these resolutions actually accomplish that the
existing investigative and election security processes cannot? If the answer is nothing substantive, then we're asking taxpayers to pay for symbolism instead of solutions. Clare said we need cool heads, transparency, and fiscal
responsibility. I agree. Investigate the problem. Fix the system. Hold people accountable where appropriate, but don't use a serious issue to manufacture fear, distrust, or political advantage. Sussex County deserves better than another
political circus. And come November, I hope voters remember the difference between governing and grandstanding. Thank you. Good evening. Ray Morris from Newton. First, I want to commend everyone who came out tonight. Regardless of our
political differences, this is dem this [clears throat] is democracy in action. People are concerned about our elections. They care about the integrity of the process and they have taken the time to come here and make their voices heard. That deserves respect. But I think we als I [clears throat] think we also need to be honest about why this
room is so full tonight. The outrage we're seeing didn't begin with the discovery of these registration errors. It grew out of a much larger political narrative that began after the 2020 election. The claim that de that Democrats had engaged in a massive conspiracy to manipulate or steal the
election. That claim, which many of us refer to as the big lie, is still being promoted by Donald Trump and many of his loyal supporters. And despite years of investigations, court proceedings, audits, recounts, and examinations of the 2020 election, no evidence has emerged demonstrating the massive
conspiracy that was alleged. Republicans have had years of opportunity, including control of the Senate and significant influence in state governments to produce evidence supporting those allegations. If such evidence existed, you would expect somewhere along the way substantial
proof would have emerged. It didn't. That doesn't mean we should ignore genuine problems with our election system. Quite the opposite. If approximately 6,600 people were improperly registered because of a software error that deserves investigation. We should know how it happened, why it happened, and how it
was discovered, what safeguards are being put in place to prevent it from happening again. And I agree with everyone here on one fundamental principles. Our elections must be secure, accurate, and worthy of public confidence. But there's an important line we should not cross. A real error is not the same as evidence of
conspiracy. And there's recent example that I think is worth considering. Just this week, the Pentagon's own casualty database briefly reported that 14 American service members had died in the Iran conflict after previously reporting 18. Four service members had effectively disappeared from the official online
count. The Pentagon attributed the discrepancy to yes software or data processing problem. The numbers were subsequently corrected and the casualties accounted for through a different category. [clears throat] We would rightly uh we should apply that same standard here. A computer system
can fail. A database can transmit incorrect information. A government agency can make a mistake. None of those things by themselves demonstrate a conspiracy. So before we decide that we need new laws, new restrictions on voter registration, shouldn't we first make sure that the laws and safeguards we already have be uh are being followed?
New Jersey already has procedures for verifying voter registrations, maintaining voter roles, and auditing election results. We have voter verified paper records and independent post election audits. What happens here is is a software failure, not a failure of the law itself. So let's fix the software.
Let's hold the responsible vendor accountable. Let's make sure the existing safeguards are properly intimate implemented and independently verified. But let's not automatically conclude that the answer is so is to change the rules for every legitimate voter and [clears throat] Angela Delucia, president of the Sussex
County Education Association. I reside in Sparta. I'm here tonight representing the educators and education support professionals who serve the children, families, and communities of Sussex County every day. We are deeply disappointed that taxpayer dollars and public resources have been used to
convene an emergency meeting, not to address an actual emergency, but to advance resolutions that provide no meaningful benefit to the people of this county. Emergency meetings should be reserved for urgent action that protects the public. Tonight's agenda does none
of that. These resolutions will not reduce property taxes, lower health care costs, improve public safety, create jobs, or help families struggling to make ends meet. They offer no practical solutions to the challenges Sussex County residents face every day.
Instead, this meeting uses public time and resources to advance political messaging while pressing local issues remain unresolved. As educators, we know what real emergency looks like. We see students struggling with anxiety, food
insecurity, housing instability. We see families stretched by rising costs. We see school districts forced to eliminate staff, increase class sizes, and reduce opportunities for students because health care costs continue to consume education budgets. Those are real
emergencies. Those are the issues that deserve your attention. And leadership. And leadership is not measured by symbolic resolutions. Leadership is measured by results. It is measured by whether government solves problems, spends taxpayer dollars responsibly, and
improves the lives of the people it serves. The people of Sussex County elected you to solve problems, not stage political performances. They expect you to address the issues affecting their daily lives, use public resources responsibly, and work together to
strengthen our communities. The Sussex County Education Association respectfully urges this board to focus its time, energy, and resources on real challenges facing Sussex County and to do the work you were elected to do. Our students are watching. Our families are
watching. And the people of Sussex County deserve leadership defined by service, responsibility, and results. Thank you. Kathy Brennan, Hampton Township. I wanted to discuss a little bit about uh resolution B. Um in regards to ICE
agents, um I find your opposition to the New Jersey uh laws regarding ICE agents to be counterproductive. Your claims that repealing these laws would make us safest, I find truly to be false. These
laws are designed to keep us safe from rogue, ill-trained agents running a muck in our communities at the moment. These agents racially profile with no judicial warrants. No due process is provided and it's all to fulfill a daily quotota
required by the administration. Detaining the quote unquote worst of the worst is not done in this way. To get the quote unquote worst of the worst, it takes investigative work, judicial
warrants, and getting the proper people. ISIS is detaining, in some cases, killing immigrants, and detaining citizens, immigrants that have committed no crimes. The Kato Institute says that
at least 70% of those detained are either citizens in the process of becoming citizens or have committed no crimes. And then these people are sent off to detention centers, concentration camps, whatever you want to call them. And they are left there sitting there
indefinitely with no due process, nothing that can be done. Recently, two more individuals were killed by ICE. And DHS said, "Oh, by the way, it was a mistake. We got the wrong people. Oops. Sorry. Well, that doesn't cut it. That
is totally unacceptable to say, "Oops, we killed the wrong people." Demasking agents may help with this because if they can be identified, they can be brought to justice and perhaps it'll make them think before they do some
these crazy things. Allowing agents into schools, churches, hospitals, and courtrooms would further traumatize the community and lead to more violence and death. Would you like your child or grandchild to come home from school traumatized, saying mass men came
running in and they aggressively abducted people? I don't think that's what this country was about. This is not the country I grew up in. We were taught to embrace other citizens and immigrants o as well regardless of race, color, sex, or religion. Some of you tout your
Christianity, yet you either turn away or worse, you actually condone these terrible, inhumane policies. And I think this needs to stop. Thank you. Good evening, Director Space, members of
the Sussex County Commissioner Board. My name is Matt Rooney and I hail from Camden County down in South Jersey, which some of you know as Delaware because it's so far south. But I made it up here tonight because I want to do something that very rarely happens in this context. And I know this as a
long-term m municipal attorney. It's to come here and tell you thank you for your leadership and your courage on this issue. I am a very proud New Jerseyian and I'm proud to stand here tonight as the executive director of the New Jersey chapter, the America First Policy
Institute that fights for America First values here in the state of New Jersey. And there's not a lot of courage right now and there's a lot of bad information out there. Respectfully, and I say this as a fellow New Jerseyian, I heard of a lot of it here tonight. I heard a lot of
ad hom attacks. I heard a lot of hyperbolic language concerning concentration camps, which is someone whose grandfather fought in World War II, I have to be honest, really twists me. But perhaps the one that I found the most offensive is when I hear an
educator say, "We're not in a crisis." This is a crisis as real as the one that we faced 250 years ago when this state was fighting along with 12 other colonies for its independence. Look around the room tonight. I agree that this is a wonderful demonstration
democracy, even though I strongly disagree with some of my fellow citizens. But that's the key word, right? Citizens. 400 at least New Jerseyians voted residents of the state voted illegally, right? In this state. That's what the Cheryl administration has admitted to.
That means every single person in this room right now, whether you are okay with sanctuary statehood or you're opposed to it, your vote was canceled out. 6,600 more in the roles and we don't know how many because we don't have transparency from this administration.
They're looking at only one year when we currently have people facing criminal charges in New Jersey from prior to when the alleged glitch happened. Sanctuary statethood is not a victimless crime. It is not political showboating to stand up
against it. It's been estimated that sanctuary statehood cost the state about $7.5 billion a year. And there have been countless victims of crime, illegal alien crime, including all not that long ago, a mother and her beautiful young
daughter that was killed in Ocean County, New Jersey when they were struck by a drunken driver who was in this country illegally. Those are two New Jersey citizens that would still be here tonight, but for those policies. So sometimes, unfortunately, the least
informed voices are the loudest, but I want you to know that New Jersey stands with you. You are doing what you can to defend this great state. God bless you for it, and thank you for it. >> Hi, my name is Jake McCarthy. Uh, I live in Andover. Uh I've lived in Sussex
County my whole life. Uh which is about 35 years. Uh I even lived here when I was going to school in Newark, which uh is mentioned. Um so I personally disagree with the concept of rallying to send ice into church schools, hospitals, and daycarees. Uh I just wanted to draw
your attention to something since Newark's Delaney Hall is specifically mentioned in uh resolution B. Um there have been protests since May 2025. Uh the law which is referenced in 14B ends up being signed in March of this year.
Um the incident which was made the news occurred in May of 2026 and today it's uh July. We're in Sussex County which is not Newark. Um we're in a special session and I would argue it lacks urgency and legitimacy. Uh neither 5
days notice nor 3 minutes is enough to cover both of these vastly diff different topics. So I just chose to cover that one. I oppose both. Uh, thank you for your time. >> Hi, my name is Nick D. Fabrisio. I live in Augusta. Um, I don't need to add any
more to the conversation. You've heard it both sides pretty much. Uh, just a couple of additional points. One, I think the, uh, the governor's taking the right approach. The Chesa firm is the perfect firm to do the initial investigation on this matter. Jeff Chasa
was not only the last Republican senator we had, but he was also a US attorney and a uh uh attorney general. He's a very trustworthy guy. I think Democrats and Republicans can trust his judgment. I think if you send it to the legislature for an investigation,
they'll make a a mad house out of it and waste a ton of money and they'll just be infighting. I suggest we let him and his firm gather the evidence first and then a biccameal and um bipartisan group of legislators can then deal with that
evidence and then with or without subpoena power. That's my recommendation. Um in terms of the the gravity of it, yeah, 400 [clears throat] votes is a big deal. 6,000 is a big deal. But let me give you a couple of other numbers to put it in perspective.
The total number of registered voters in New Jersey are 6,549,000. So roughly 1 in a,000 we're talking about in this glitch. And in terms of 400 votes, that's roughly 1 in 10,000. That's not those are not unusual numbers
for large computerated issues in my experience as practicing law in 40 years. But let me give you a couple of other numbers. 15,7833 votes in the last guminatorial election were rejected, including 414. Kind of an
interesting number here in Sussex County. I would like to see us do a better job with that. Many of those votes may have been um properly rejected, but some of them were not. There are people, particularly elderly people, who screw up for one reason or another, and we should be able to do a
better job of saving their votes. Second, the other number that really gets me is 51%. That's the percentage of registered voters that actually cast a to vote in the last gubinatorial election. That is a disgrace. 54% in
Sussex County, that's a disgrace. If we don't do a better job of getting everybody to vote, particularly young people, that's the biggest risk to our democracy. Not immigrants, not computer glitches, but a lack of interest among the general public. We need to find a
better way to get people engaged and voting whether they vote for one side or the other. That to me is the biggest issue here. Thank you. >> Hi, Sandy Pender, Freeden Township. Uh good to see you all again. It's been a little bit. Uh I am here to speak out
against you on both resolution A and B, but I'm going to focus on resolution B. The state of New Jersey enacted major legislation in March regarding law enforcement operations and federal state cooperation in regard to immigration policy. The first part of the legisl
legislation, the immigration trust directive codification, formally bans and state law enforcement from entering into or renewing federal agreements that deputize local police as immigration enforcers. It also prohibits police from
stopping, questioning, arresting, or detaining individuals solely based on actual or suspected immigration status. It also bars holding individuals past their scheduled criminal release date strictly on civil immigration detainers.
Please keep in mind that there are exceptions to all of these, particularly when a final order of removal exists or if the person has committed a major felony. To paraphrase an elected official, New Jersey resources, our tax
dollars should not be used to do federal agents jobs. I think we can all agree that ICE has been given more than enough federal dollars to do their jobs. Again, our hard-earned tax dollars. The second part of the legislation, the Law Enforcement Officer Protection Act,
requires law enforcement officers, including federal agents operating in the state of New Jersey, to display visible identification and present credentials prior to detaining or arresting anyone. Officers are prohibited from wearing
masks or disguises that conceal their facial identity during public-f facing official duties. Again, there are reasonable exceptions such as for undercover operations. I think we can all agree that if your spouse, children, or neighbor were being
pulled over for a traffic stop, we would we would all want an officer to have visible identification and not be wearing a mask. To suggest otherwise is dangerous and steers us in the direction of an authoritarian state. The final part of the legislation, the Privacy
Protection Act, restricts state and local agencies and healthc care facilities from collecting or retaining sensitive personal information like citizenship status, place of birth, or taxpayer identification numbers unless it is necessary for service delivery.
These laws have been enacted to protect us all against civil rights abuses and protect due process protections. When ICE is operating, it must be doing so lawfully. Immigration enforcement requires a judicial warrant to stop and
detain people as this is not a fishing expedition. I hope that you will use our resources wisely and protect our citizens. Thank you. >> Hello. Um Birdie Green Monu. Um, it's getting exhausting watching you
play to your base instead of doing your actual jobs and addressing what's important to all your constituents. Tonight's two resolutions make a show for your party but do nothing to help people in real life. The governor caught this misregistration issue, made it public, and immediately launched an
independent investigation by a law firm headed by a former Republican senator along with the at office of the attorney general. That is literally proof that the system is working. No system is perfect. What matters is fixing errors fast. But instead of being realistic,
you're seizing on a tech mistake to push the same, tired, baseless voter fraud claims you were shouting about before this even happened. You're trying to exploit a bad situation to justify worse outcomes like making voting harder and open to fewer people who can legally register.
We have orderly and fair elections in New Jersey. And if we didn't, then it calls into question the process that elected our current president. and the elections which keep returning your one party government to power in Sussex County, which I'm sure you don't want challenged.
We could be talking about how to stop big tech from stealing all our water and electricity with data centers like they're trying to do in Andover, but instead we're wasting time rehashing an error by a tech firm which the state has already fired. The second resolution is truly heinous.
We have an outofcrol federal government exceeding and abusing its authority. They attack and in some cases kill innocent people. It's tragic that your response is to double down and ask our state to reverse what progress we have made for human rights and openly call on your counterparts to break these state
laws. The issues you raise were settled years ago. The 10th amendment to the US Constitution, a document I don't think you've read, makes it clear that the federal government cannot hijack local police and tax dollars to do their job for them. States should not take on the functions
of federal government and the federal government cannot commandeer local police forces, budgets and other resources to carry out functions like immigration which are their only which are only their responsibility. The immigrant trust directive has the support of current and former police chiefs throughout the state in both red
and blue towns from precipany to orange to trend in Atlantic City. Newton, [clears throat] the town in which we are holding this meeting, has on their PD website, the immigrant trust directive is designed to strengthen trust between New Jersey's law enforcement officers and the state's diverse immigrant communities, thereby ensuring that
victims and witnesses feel safe reporting crimes. As New Jerseyians, we should be standing up to federal overreach, not rolling over for the rogue federal secret police and interference in our state's free and fair elections. Start acting like leaders who care about this county instead of party puppets
looking for cheap political points. I'd say thank you for your time, but you've already wasted mine. Hello, my name is Susanna Oliver. I'm from Roxberry. I'm here because in Roxberry, our town council wasted our time and passed a useless resolution
that did absolutely nothing to keep the warehouse from coming to Roxberry. And what I see happening here is that you're wasting people's time. Again, you are also wasting people's time trying to pass two resolutions that are are symbolic and are going to do absolutely nothing. I also want to state that I'm a
US veteran, an army veteran. I have had combat training as well as advanced weapons training. I've been to Delaney Hall and I see the joke of the uh ICE agents that are there. ICE agents that can't even hold or holster their weapons properly, yet these are the people that
you want to uh that you want to um partner with for law enforcement. That's very unsafe. Uh I also want to just touch base on um who is actually being picked up by ICE. Um contrary to your beliefs, it is not the worst of the
worst. Uh there are approximately 600,000 undocumented residents in New Jersey. Of them, group one is the worst of the worst. That's about 30,000 people, roughly 5% who have been convicted of a violent or dangerous
crime. Um that is actually um 0.0 I'm sorry 31% of all New Jersey residents. The second part are the paperwork offenders. Those are roughly 88,000 people. Around 18% of the people they
have um some sort of um traffic violation or something else. But the biggest group is the blameless. These are the vast majority of people being targeted by ICE. Around 46 uh thou 462,000 people. These are our neighbors, our
students, children, uh people who have zero criminal records other than that of to exist. Uh, one thing to note of irony, one of the staggering um, one of the staggering irony is that one of the worst of the worst criminal offenses is
noted as fraud and swindling. This is the benchmark for a national security threat. Then Trump, who has been convicted of massive civil frauds in 2024 and whose own charitable foundation was dissolved for legal illegal swindling, should be the first person
detained. I think that another thing I want to say real quick is that I also work in software. I've built my career in software and it's very very common to have software glitches without conspiracies. >> Hi. Uh my name is Cass Mihawk. I live in
Hatacong. Um, I think that y'all know that you're not really accomplishing anything at this meeting other than, like was said, pandering to your specific agenda and your audience. A lot of what I was going to say has already been said. I disagree with both your resolutions. Donald Trump lost the
election of Kamla by 252,000 votes, by the way, in 2024. I don't know if y'all are any good at math, but subtract 400. Like, it it still is what it was. Um, even the Heritage Foundation, which we all know that they're far right, could only find 99 specific instances of
undocumented individuals voting since the year 2000, only one of which was in New Jersey in 2011, and they were all punished by law. This is a non-issue. The Save Act and and clone acts are just targeted at specifically married women um who have a different last name or
trans people who change their name to make it diff more difficult for them to vote. It's expensive to change your documents and and that's all that it is. Um the governor has been clear about her investigation. Uh as far as as ICE goes, I've been outside at Delini Hall. I've been
attacked by ICE. I've been tagged by the the state police. Uh I'm provoked. They are a violent paramilitary group and I think that they're they're trying to see how far they can push it. Tom Hullman came out and said a couple weeks ago that there will be more bloodshed and if you want to invite that here, you might
as well just tell us all to go to to go to hell because you just saying you're not you don't care about us. Um I I do want to play this audio. This uh the the agent who killed I have his name here. Um Joan Sebastian Durangero a couple weeks
ago. He killed him. The agent's name is David Broulette. He had a va a mass history of domestic violence. He threw boiling water on his wife while she was holding their baby. And this is a a voicemail that he left for her.
>> Single female nothing just all of you said. >> Yeah, you should. >> So I don't know if if you guys feel safe inviting that kind of person into your churches, your schools or in your towns.
That's not a oneoff. That's a a mass pattern across ICE agents. There is no there is no background checks. A lot of them are domestic abusers, sexual abusers. They are abusing little girls in these concentration camps and getting them pregnant. These the
these aren't rumors. They've been proven. Um and allowing ICE agents to cover their faces, by the way, invites people to to imposter them. And even in Oregon last week, we saw a group of people pretending to be ICE agents and pull
over and assault a woman. So I I just think that even the added allowing them to cover their faces is really odd and it just tells us your motive and and shame on all of you. Truly, >> good evening, Manny Bonn. Um, there's been a lot of uh good things
said here against the resolutions and I agree with just about everything that was said. I wasn't going to speak, but there is one issue that hasn't been raised that I only became aware of this week and I just wanted to share it because it might prove
and I'm just going to read this little clip here. On April 28th of this year, the Texas Secretary of State admitted to a clerical error where individuals who identified themselves as non US citizens to the Department of Motor Vehicles were
nevertheless registered to vote. This incident involved a mismatch between driver's license application data and voter registration roles, which state officials characterized as a simple paperwork mistake rather than voter fraud. So the obvious question is when
it happens in a red state, it's just a simple error. When it happens in a blue state, everybody starts beating their chest and saying voter fraud. So why is that? I think one of the main reasons is because we've had a bully in
the pulpit beating his chest for the better part of 10 years telling us that there has been voter fraud and producing zero evidence. Carl Sean once said, "Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence." And to me, the
claim that there is rampant voter fraud and some kind of conspiracy is a major claim and should require extraordinary evidence. Thank you very much. >> Hi. Hey. Um, I want to start by um addressing something that the gentleman
from South Jersey had said. Oh, I'm sorry. Um, Carrie Stetler over Morris County. Um, yeah. So, the gentleman from South Jersey, um, unless I'm misunderstood, and he was citing the meeting as an example of democracy, which it is, and was glad to hear him say that, but he also seemed to be
implying that this meeting would only be for citizens, which I don't think is the case. I think anybody from anywhere can come to this meeting and speak out, right? Um, and I don't know that you're going to be checking for citizenship status at the door. Um, so for all you
know, I could not be a citizen, but here I am speaking to you because I care about something and also I'm a New Jersey resident and I live nearby in Morris County. Um secondly, [laughter] um I don't understand why how it makes
people safer to have your law enforcement officers supporting ICE going to schools and churches and medical facilities. Um if someone is is charged with a crime, they could easily just go into those places and and arrest
them. But to just be able to go in there randomly and get people who um haven't been as people have said 70% of the people who are detained have not been charged with a serious crime. Um and
also entering the US illegally is a mis is a misdemeanor. It's not a felony. It's a civil offense to stay here after you've entered illegally. Many of the people that do enter illegally that have been arrested and deported by ICE were
people who were going through the process of gaining status uh of gaining citizenship, of applying for refugee status. They were people who had temporary protection status. They've been here for decades in some cases and then all of a sudden they had that yanked away and yet they're still here
and all of a sudden they've been told abruptly that they need to leave. Um okay. [laughter] Um, and also I just wanted to point that out. I don't think those people are threats to public safety. And also there's I think your resolution advances
this notion that that ICE is somehow protecting the public. And in fact, six people, including three US citizens, have been killed when ICE fired at vehicles since January of 2025. 23 people have been shot at.
So, I think they're really that's that's something you should be concerned about. I think they're the threats to public safety. I don't think that immigrants are threats to public safety or they don't justify an emergency meeting for a resolution like this. Thank you.
Washa Williams, US veteran army hapacong. I wasn't going to speak tonight, but uh Matt Rooney came up here and said a few things, and I'm very sad that you had to drive all the way down here. I'm sure there's a lot of things you could focus on down in Camden County, like the 50% crime rate.
Uh my agenda topic is the fact that these two resolutions are wasting tax dollars. Just in Hakong, and I'm sure throughout the state, we're facing tax increases left over right after left over right. And it's ridiculous the fact that you guys aren't focused on the
utilities, the poles that are coming down, the trees that need to be trimmed, the infrastructures, the health care that you know you need to shop around for employees, things like that. Those are the things that could save us money as residents, right? I don't know. I'm going to approach this in a different way, right? We live in a Republican
county with elected Republican officials, right? If anything, I would expect that you would be touting how great the Republican county and elections are because you caught no voter fraud, right? Because it would be on your watch.
So, I don't see you doing that. Instead, I see you just making another resolution and wasting everybody's time and wasting more money, which these people do not have. All right. The second thing I want to address is the fact that and while he may be offended by the concentration
camp, and I can I can understand that, right? I'm going to I'm going to go a little different route. I would compare the ICE agents as modern-day slave patrol. They're yanking up people, citizens. They're killing them
with no training. They're running rampid in the streets. just in Roxberry not too long ago. They ran through our town ripping and running and end up in a car chase over by the hardware store off a landing in Roxberry. That is not safe. There's a park over there. Kids play
ball over there. If you don't want to protect that, then I don't I don't I don't know what purpose that resolution serves. Yeah. While I agree our New Jersey officers are well trained, I would trust them with my life. If that's what you're saying is that their ICE is
incompetent, you can't they can't be trusted, then on that lines, if you need our police officers to babysit them, then then maybe say that. Tell the truth. In the meantime, while Hakong school districts are ranked three
level levels lower than Camden, we're wasting 54% of our tax money competing with a district that is failing as well. So, let's talk about the issues. Let's talk about the grocery food prices. Let's talk about the
homelessness on on in Newton here, right here. Let's talk about services for these people instead of resolutions that aren't going to do anything. People elected you and I don't care what party you're belong to. People elected
you to do a job. Do it. >> Sorry. Before you start, I just want to before you start, I just want to say one thing. We do address all these things. This is a special meeting on these. Yeah. No, I'm just addressing it. I'm addressing it to the public. I'm addressing it to the public.
>> Man, stop interrupting. The director Mayor, stop interrupting. >> I'm addressing it to the public. They probably would like to hear what I say. We do have meetings twice a month and that's what we discuss at these meetings twice a month. This is just a special meeting on these two resolutions. Whether you agree with them or not, we
do do the other things at the other meetings. And that's why I'm just addressing a lot of the same people come to a lot of our meetings and they do see us do that kind of stuff and worry about our taxes and our residents. Thank you. >> Uh Sierra Wilson, you know me from Stanh Hope. Um I wasn't going to speak
tonight, so forgive me. I'm not going to be as eloquent or well spoken as some of the folks here. Um but I hear people that are on the other political side of the spectrum as me say the name Lake and Riley, but I never hear the names of Sandy Hook victims. So, if you're going
to say that ICE is the issue for killing all of these American citizens, I also want you to address the issue of guns that are killing American citizens as well. In fact, uh, white Americans killed more people just this last year than immigrants. So, keep that in mind
when you're you're using your resolution tonight. My second topic or my second point is has have any of you been to Delaney Hall? I didn't think so. I have been to Delaney Hall and I want to share uh my experiences at Delaney Hall and some of
the experiences that your Sussex County residents have uh at Delaney Hall. Just so you know what you are inviting into your neighborhoods, into your towns, into your streets. Um just this past Sunday, an ICE agent sped through the streets in Delaney Hall and nearly hit
two pedestrians. These were just bystanders that were going to visit their loved ones at Delaney Hall. Um they nearly hit these two pedestrians. ICE has literally hit someone and sent them to the hospital before at Delaney Hall. Uh this doesn't even bring up the
topic of the guns that have been fired, the gas tanks that have just been accidentally dropped at Delaney Hall. Um the fact that they pepper- sprayed Andy Kim. So think about all of that when you are addressing your resolution tonight. But um there are people that are
detained at Delaney Hall that should not be. Uh there are children at Delaney Hall. There are people at Delaney Hall that have their green cards that have been here for longer than I have been alive, probably longer than some of you have been alive. Um, the ICE agents have no regard for human life. If they are
going to speed up to purposefully hit pedestrians that are there to save their loved ones, what are they going to be doing in your streets? Uh right after this ICE agent almost hit two pedestrians, visitation was cancelled for the day uh because
advocates on the ground said literally watch out, get out of the way, don't run into that person. And visitation was canled for the couple dozen people that were there. Uh so this again is what you're bringing into your streets. Cruel people that have no regard for human life, that have no humanity. Please
consider this when addressing your resolution tonight. I believe it's resolution B that you are inviting and you are not only inviting but you are encouraging crime and horrible horrible people to walk on your streets in the name of whatever you want to call it
justice safety it's not safe ICE agents are not safe and again if you're going to address uh immigrants that have killed people you also need to address the issue of Sandy Hook and guns thank you >> hi Amy Milan uh Lafayette. I'm just
saddened, disgusted, heartbroken. I I don't even have words. I was educated in Germany. Violence, murder, brutality. These things are never the answer to
anything. This is the first thing that is pounded into your head when you go to school in Germany. Violence, murder, and brutality. Shooting someone in the head in front of their child in the back seat is not
okay. I don't care how you try to justify this. I mean, I don't understand what is going on. This is like so insane. [clears throat] Anyway, I'm going to finish for Mr. Morris. He was up before
um he didn't get to finish. So, let's fix the software. Let's hold the responsible vendor accountable. Let's make sure the existing safeguards are properly implemented and independently verified. But let's not automatically conclude that the answer is to change the rules for every legitimate voter in
New Jersey because a computer system failed to follow the rules that already exist. We don't necessarily need new election laws. We need the laws we already have to work and we need the people responsible for administering them to be held
accountable when they don't work. And this is where I hope the commissioners will exercise particular care. Sussex County is overwhelmingly Republican, as we well know, and every member of this board is a Republican, as we well know. I understand why many people here may have strong feelings about what happened
in 2020. But that makes your responsibility even greater. You have an opportunity tonight to demonstrate that election integrity isn't a Republican issue or a Democratic issue. It's an American issue that affects all of us. investigate the problem, fix the
problem, hold people accountable when accountability is warranted, but also be willing to say when the evidence doesn't support the larger allegation. Because if we take every mistake, every irregularity, every bureaucratic failure, and use it as proof of a predetermined conspiracy,
then we're no longer investigating. We're simply confirming what we already believe. And that is exactly the kind of thinking that has damaged public confidence in our elections. So, I commend everyone for being here tonight. I commend the commissioners for taking election integrity seriously, but I would ask that we make this something
about something bigger than Democrats or Republicans, bigger than Trump or Biden. Let's make it about ev evidence. Let's make it about accountability. And let's make it about restoring trust in our elections. Not by telling people what they want to hear, but by telling them what the facts actually demonstrate. Thank you.
>> My name is Tracy Richardson. I'm a resident of Andover Township. I'm also the current president of the League of Women Voters of the Sussex Highlands and I'm speaking on behalf. Uh, every voter in Sussex County shares a fundamental interest in secure and
accurate elections. When system errors occur, they demand swift and thorough attention. However, we must be clear about the verified facts. Earlier this month, as we've discussed tonight, Governor Cheryl publicly disclosed that a software error at the Motor Vehicle
Commission caused approximately 6,600 people who indicated that they are not citizens to be registered to vote. The software was provided by the vendor IDMIA and the error occurred between June 2023 and June 2024. These applicants explicitly indicated that
they were not citizens on the keypads at MVC, but the vendor software mistakenly processed their registrations anyway. These individuals acted in good faith and we must recognize that distinction. They informed us they are not citizens. This was an error committed on them.
Less than 400 of those people seem to have voted. One presumes that they received some sort of documentation from their county election office which might have led them to believe it was safe for them to do so. We do not know at this time. What we do know, preliminary reviews show these individuals are
scattered across the state. They are registered in a variety of parties. Some are Democrats, some are Republicans, some are independent, unaffiliated. None of these votes seem to have affected the outcome of any elections, but this will be investigated. An independent legal audit has already
been launched. As mentioned before, state leadership has already begun the process to replace that vendor at the MVC. The system had already been patched. Accountability measures are already in progress. The Division of Elections has already removed 4,500 individuals that were identified as part
of this error from they've been removed from the voter roles and the rest have been referred to the county election offices for review because some of them might now be eligible to vote because they've gained their citizenship. While oversight and public transparency are essential, this resolution calls for
legislative inquiries that are already underway. It's calling for information that is already been released publicly. This resolution doesn't make our elections more secure, but it is costing the taxpayers of this county. True election integrity requires a
balanced approach, protecting the security and the accuracy of our voter roles while ensuring that elections remain accessible and inclusive for every eligible citizen. Public confidence in our elections depends on transparency, accountability, and responsible leadership. We at the league
ask you to vote no on this resolution. That said, we do also invite everyone to take an interest in the process. Our board of elections meets in this building. Mr. Silverthorn, I've seen you there before.
This is our process. Be a part of it. Ask questions. Thank you. >> Good evening. I'm David Dit from Hampton Township. I've read your resolution on election security and I think it's a fantastic idea that you investigate all of our
voting records. Need to interrogate our election officials, your employees, our poll workers, who are your neighbors and friends. You make sure you check their bank records. That George Soros check wasn't there rewarding them for their
nefarious deeds perverting our elections. Voter voter registration of 6,600 ineligible voters resulting in maybe 400 plus alleged actual votes absolutely must be investigated and corrected by
independent agencies. That's just what has been promised by Governor Cheryl. Why are we here? Why did you guys want to come up with a special meeting? some little bird whisper in your ear that this was a terrific way to assist
you in getting elected. This is a loser. I know you people. None of you are Nazis. None of you are liars. They're my neighbors. Your house was burning down. I'd run over and help you put it out.
It's not the time to follow a liar and a criminal. And that's what our president is. And he's got a whole army of enab enablers to work his will on this country. And what he wants to do more than anything
else, more than steal all the money he can is make sure he destroys our confidence in our electoral process. You know, I know, everybody here knows that this 2020 he comes out
with whenever he opens his mouth is nonsense. The Heritage Foundation, that's your team. They've been looking into this since 1982 up to the present day. They found 100
1,619 instances of election fraud. That's nothingness. This incident you guys want to go out on a limb on and alienate these people even more is not necessary.
And as far as the other one where you're welcoming ICE to our township, how would you like to go up to the green and pick up the bloody ruins of somebody they just blew their brains out? Because believe me, they've demonstrated over
and over again they will do that with impunity. Where's the investigation for the people in Minnesota? Where's the investigation for the guy in Texas? Anybody know a prosecutor that's talking about this nut job in Maine who
shot this guy to death in front of his three-year-old. >> My name is La Urugos and I'm a Sussex County resident for the last six years and I'm here also to talk about your resolution. So I have a lot of concerns both in the substance of the resolution
and the language that is used opposing the safe communities act as essential especially traveling. The resolution describes protections to schools, hospitals, shelters and courts as creating safe spaces for criminals that wrongly conflates undocumented
immigrants with with criminals. Being in the United States um without illegal immigration status is only a civil violation, but I think you already know that. though those two are not the same thing. The Safe Communities Act does not protect criminals. It protects kids
going to schools. It protects people going to hospitals and shelters, people seeking justice in the courts. If this board sees protections, those protections as safe spaces for criminals, that is exactly the reason why you should don't proceed with that resolution. No child should be afraid to
go to school and worry about tearing their families apart. No people should be afraid to seek justice at courts. The resolution also opposes laws requiring federal officers to reveal their faces during public public interactions.
That requirement is not excessive. It's the bare minimum. I think we all agree that our government government institutions and law enforcements should be accountable to us. The board also notes that they support constitutional rights, due process, lawful pro policing, and public accountability. Yet
you argue against the protections designed to uphold those principles. Constitutional rights do not matter only for the people that you approve of. Today, this resolution advocates for reducing protections for people that look like me, that have an accent like
mine. But you should know that history teaches us that once rights are weakened, for some people, they do not stop there. Finally, I am concerned with how worried this resolution is about um making our local personnel information resources
and resources available to federal immigration enforcement. The board should be focused on servicing Sussex County residents and protecting their safety and their well-being. Your responsibility is to us, the people that live here, not to advancing federal immigration informance initi priorities.
Public safety is not made stronger by suppressing the rights of others. I understand that this resolution is meant for you to make a stand, but just know that you're standing on the wrong side of history. John Snider, Sanderson Township. [clears throat]
But I see apparently the governor knew about this error or this fraud. There 6,000 people registered to vote before she called Donald Trump a liar when addressing this topic.
We talk about what 400 people apparently they say voted out of 6,000. What was to present prevent excuse me the 6,000 people or more when they get the voter registration from motor vehicle for saying they are a citizen? Nobody's talking about that. We're
talking about people who apparently allegedly said they were not citizens and somehow got were eligible to vote. But the whole idea of using motor vehicle registration or getting a driver's license as a form of registering to vote is ridiculous.
We've been complaining about it for years that all someone has to do is go, "Oh yeah, I'm a citizen. Now I can vote." The governor apparently still refuses to cooperate with the Department of Justice in releasing the voter roles from New Jersey.
I've heard that over 80% of people pled agree that we should have voter ID, whether you're Republican or Democrat. Save America Act in my opinion is exactly what it says. This country is
going down. Have the Democrat party which is slowly becoming the Communist Party. Don't decide your fair. Have a little >> the democratic socialist of America basically communists.
According to the governor of California, they're welcome. We have a big tent. I guess if Adolf Hitler was still alive, he'd be in that tent along with Nikita Kruev, Joe Stalin, and other people. But they're coming out now, these DSA
people. No more President, no more Senate, no more Supreme Court. And I guess they want a parliamentary form of government. Some of them are calling for the release of all incarcerated prisoners. I may sound crazy, but I'm only
repeating things that have come from these people. Someone mentioned tonight that in New Jersey there were 30,000 convicted felons that are illegal alien Jersey. And then they went on to talk about what a percent that was. I don't care what
percent that is. 30,000. Thank you and God bless America. Hi, I'm Diane Brennan from Randolph and I didn't get a count before when you were all asked who's been to Delanium. I have a show of hands if people
Okay, you don't want to divulge that. Okay. Well, I'm assuming that if nobody's, you know, probably all haven't been. Well, I've been a few times and um you know, I know people don't like the comparison to concentration camps.
Concentration camps out is detention camps. And uh my father was um a World War II vet that was shot down over Germany, nine months in a prison. Worse than that, from his from his from
his recollections, stories I've been told over the years, the German guards actually flooded in the area of a parking lot because the Red Cross sent ice skates and they wanted to allow the prisoners to skate in the wintertime. Do you think that would go on at Delaney Hall? I don't
think so. There were bugs in his food. He took them out. His comrades laughed at him and said, "No, you keep them in. That's the protein." Well, there are maggots, worms, and mold in Delaneies. Their milk is spoiled. Things are outdated. They're not getting medical
care. They're dying in detention. Something like 88% not committed criminal acts. And you want it, you want your heart broken, go there sometime when there are kids there visiting their dads or their
brothers or their uncles or whoever, and ICE shows up. You want your heart broken? You see, run down the street crying and screaming ice on this country. My father didn't fight
Nazis for that. Scott Null, Sparta. Um, we don't agree politically and that's fine. You guys are my neighbors. I've been here before, talked to you. had conversations after the side and I commented more than once how thank god
you're here doing the county's work because it is thankless it's so disappointing that something like this happens right like these nonsense resolutions issue was identified correct action was taken it's being addressed it's a waste of time
it's an insult to us as your constituency that this is a thing So um on the second resolution regarding um government I it boils down
to ICE I've had really good experience with the law enforcement here right the reason I've had really good experience with the law enforcement here they're vetted they're trained they know what due process is part of
the community they're unmasked I see them almost every weekend supporting us at Newton Square, right? They're part of the community. They're taking care of us. They're
professionals. That's their job. And they do it really well. None of that can be said for ICE. You can look it up. Look at their stats. Look at what they're doing. It's been said before, these people are not what
we want in our community. Okay? It it seems to matter for some reason, right? So, my dad was a veteran. I was a veteran. My father-in-law was a veteran. My sister-in-law was a veteran. Right? We're all trained. I don't need some jackass with the gun
running around telling me what to do, where to go, who's this, who can't even identify themselves and isn't wearing a proper uniform. I serve as a pole worker. I have several times. I do not want ICE
at the polls. It makes it more dangerous. It makes it more dangerous for me. It makes it more dangerous for our community and it makes it more dangerous for the voters. >> Good evening. I want to also say how glad I am for the work that you do.
Not important. Oh, I'm sorry. My name is Lori Gold and I live in Hardwood, but my driveway's in still ordering words. Um I I someone said before they don't understand what's going on. That's how I feel. And I think that um
resolutions are not not wise. And I I'm rising. I left my home to come here and say that to you. Um when the president says, "We're going to go after the worst of the worst." I'm picturing the gangs. We know that
there's been gangs and they need to be disrupted. They're terrorizing the communities that they That's not what we're seeing. what we're seeing average people being yanked out of their lives and put into untenable situations and sometimes killed.
But what I wanted to say the most, one of one of the other things I wanted to say is um to look around the room and see your neighbors, your friends, and that you are our neighbors and our friends. And Steven Miller stands up and say, "Oh, look at those people. They're
they all look weird. He's the weirdest looking guy I've ever seen. But I just want to say, look around. These are your neighbors. These are your friends. We're maybe a little weird, but we're not more weird than most. So, the thing that bothered me the most
about these two resolutions was the idea that these ICE agents should be allowed to wear masks. I mean, they're fully uniformed with these horrible They look horrible. They look so scary. and and
guessing a resolution that says they should be allowed. Are we living in not only damaging to it's not only damaging to our constitution, it's damaging to our souls.
Everyone in this room, everyone in this country, on our streets, damaging to us. Thank you for your time. >> Hi, uh Sarah Lee Witson from Newton. I don't want to repeat uh what uh many of
the commenters said, so I'll try to add a couple of additional points that I think you should consider. First of all, uh these resolutions, in particular, the one pertaining to ICE and immigration enforcement is dangerous. It's dangerous for our community if people are going to be afraid to call the police. uh if
women who are being battered by their husbands or partners or intruders are going to be afraid to call the police because they're afraid that this might be an ICE action. Um it's also very divisive. Clearly, you're hearing from people here tonight that this is not a
resolution and they that they support that the election resolution is happening in a context of a broader political fight that has little relevance right now to our county given that this is a performative resolution. Um, and it seems that you don't really
have the mandate to push this resolution forward from what you're hearing tonight. At minimum, I would urge you to table these resolutions, have a broader discussion about them, invite a broader community hearing, um, because it's clear that you don't have a mandate
[clears throat] to pass these resolutions, which again emphasizes that this is divisive. People are feeling excluded. We're making people in this community feel otherred because of the color of their skin and because of the weight that you're putting behind these
kinds of enforcement actions that are scaring people. It's not good for us. And I think you should at minimum pause and reconsider these resolutions. Um and of course you may as well inspire such strong opposition that you'll be going to be held accountable for these utterly
symbolic resolutions. Thank you. Hi, my name is Veronica Fernandez. I live in Long Valley in Morris County, but I was born and raised right known as a teenager on the green. When people talk about New Jersey, they talk about the turnpike. I'm like, I you
don't know where I come from. I come from it's I came from I used to go to space farms as a kid for field trips and I'll be very honest I cried when I left it
traumatized me to see how bad and um I don't know that was I think when I first started having my awakenings and aware awareness of things going on around me and I thought I lived in a perfect little world and I've grown up and I pledged to reach flag every day that stood for liberty,
justice, and peaceful. I don't know. As I got out into the world and I learned more, I learned about the failings of my country, the good and the bad. And we have I was thinking of the quote. It says, "Those who cannot remember are doomed to repeat." And I see the sign up here,
your logo, and every town has one. It's corn. And it's we're Lape. We are we but I don't but there's I think there's no one here of lape origin in here all white most of us are white you know they're not they're not here and then I
think about the Japanese interament we were on the wrong side of history then we were locking up people who looked like the enemy they are not the enemy they are fellow human beings they are more indigenous to this for the same reasons our ancestors came
to build a better life but our ancestors came legally seriously ly what does that mean? They came they came through Ellis Island. They got papers before all of that. They they were encouraging anyone to come. And some of my ancestors, my my birth name is Vandenhu. That's been
around here forever. And so I love this county even though I live in another and I I just where I come from and I I can't bear the thought of seeing ice because I've been to Delaney Hall. I've seen children. I was on on Memorial Day in Union at a parade
with kids running with American flags and later the day I went to Delaney Hall and I saw kids running from ICE. You know what it's like to see this terrified child. And then what the other thing is there's always unintended consequences with anything that you take on like this. And the unintended consequences here is you are creating
terrorists for generations to come. Children don't remember when you rip apart their families. They don't. We're going to pull them apart. We're not repatriating them or deporting them. We're trafficking them to countries they've never been to before. And their children are going to remember what they did, they're going to when you hear people say they hate America, ask
yourself why. We don't see it in each other. But you go outside of this country and you find out why people hate us. We're in everybody's business. We should be fixing our schools, giving our teachers raise, giving our police raise, giving them assistance. We should not be tracking and trafficking human beings.
Can we please be on the right side of history and have that flag stand for what it was meant to stand for? Thank you. AC Andrews, Sussex County. Can you guys hear me? So, I wasn't planning on speaking tonight. Uh, really I just want to say is I've seen enough videos of
people getting pepper-sprayed and attacked in New Jersey and other states. I don't want to see any more of them. I don't want to see my neighbors, my friends, the people I love getting attacked because someone thinks they don't belong here. They don't know. They think because of the color of their skin
or their accent. Please keep our neighborhoods safe. Our law enforcements are capable of doing what they're supposed to do without any other other assistance. Thank you. Tony Manzy from Parton and I'd like to just give you a little um anecdote. This
is from right here in Sussex County. So for any over 20 years I worked for a nonprofit organization and uh we were statewide but I worked in Sussex County and we went to many many schools in the county including right here in Newton and we talked to children about how to
stay safe in all different situations. I was working here in Newton with seventh graders and the boys and the girls were separated because they we talked about uh like date rape and so forth. That was part of our program. So we had them separate. >> I was working with a group of seventh
grade boys and many of them were from either their families were from South America or they were from South America. They were supposed to call us by our first names first of all. We weren't supposed to be seen as authority and bless them. They just so many South Americans. They're just so familyoriented. They couldn't do it.
They couldn't call me Tony. They had to call me Miss Tony. They're like, "We can't do it. We can't do it." So, not only were they polite, but we went through all this thing about safety. It has nothing to do with politics, nothing. Just children, how to stay safe. At the end, when I told the kids, "Okay, we have a few minutes. Just go
ahead talks amongst yourself." Oh, they were talk, this was in right before the election in 2016. These kids weren't talking about sports. They weren't talking about girls. They were talking about how fearful they were. And one of the little boys raised
his hand, "Miss Tony, Miss Tony." I said, "Oh, yeah." And I went up and he said, "What's going to happen to us if Donald Trump gets in? We hear what's what's going on. What's going to happen to our families? What's going to happen to us?" And I said, "Look, I'm it'll I said, "I can't promise you anything. I
don't know." I said, "But we have laws in this country and we're a diverse country and hopefully everything will be all right." Well, that was 2016 and now we're in 2026. What would you people say to those young
men and and young women in the other in the girls class? What would you say to them now if they was if they said to you, "What's going to happen to us? What's going to happen to our family? How can you look the children of Newton in the eye?" I just What would you say to them? These
are our children. We're not talking about some hypothetical kids, some hypothetical families. They were right here in Newton. I'll never forget those little boys saying, "What's going to happen to us and our family?" You're just going to say, "I don't care. I
don't care." So what? So maybe they're not Maybe they're not criminals, but we're kicking you out. Oh my god. I I can't imagine any of you would say that to those children. Debbie Melo, Frerieden Township. When I was made aware of tonight's
special meeting and read the resolutions, I was very upset. I think I could agree with just about everything that everyone has said about those resolutions tonight. So, I won't go beyond that except to say that again, I'm vehemently
opposed to them. And I'm also very concerned that this special meeting was called in July, middle of summer, but was so important that it had to be now. And I was going to ask you to
seriously consider when it was time for you to vote after hearing everyone tonight what your vote would be. But I really like the suggestion of the woman who came a few people before me saying, "Why don't we table it? Let's table it
and let's have a larger discussion because obviously this is just a small percentage of the people in our county and beyond for those people that come here. Um, we're very concerned about these resolutions and the impact that
they may have on our county, but also the hollowess of particularly the First terms of voter uh all of the all all the things in place
for voter security. I absolutely agree with voter security. I think that we need to have those measures in place so that we can have a fair and free election. I think a lot of those things are in place and we need to continue to enforce them and to look at things that
can help us go further. Um, but I also think that we need to give time to governor and the people that she has put in place to look at this process so that we can do better. So, I urge you to
consider tableabling this for uh sometime possibly in the fall where we could have a larger discussion and see what comes from that. Thank you very much. >> Good evening. My name is Zoe Heath. I
live in Franklin Burough. uh any sentiment that I have about the two resolutions have been echoed by everyone who spoke before me. Um not everyone but some of the points. Um my question is what was the point of having a special meeting to put forth these resolutions
regardless of if they pass, regardless of if we table them because it costs money to have these meetings. It it seems like the only positive thing that's going to come out of this meeting tonight is that a few of our sheriff's officers got some overtime. I'm sure they would like to hang out at home and get some overtime instead, but it is a
source of frustration for this county for us to spend money on these resolutions that a significant portion of the community has no faith in and has very clearly expressed their opposition to. So, I understand that you guys do not get paid nearly enough for the work
that you do as county commissioners. I understand that it is usually a job, but I don't understand why you would put this on yourselves as well. I understand there was also special business for executive session, but again that didn't happen either. So why we're having this meeting at all for this issue, the third
meeting you're going to have have to have in July just doesn't make sense. >> My name is Reese Moore. I'm from Vernon Township. Uh, I'm a Republican pole worker and I support law enforcement and safe and secure elections like I think almost anyone here would say. But I also
think that supporting law enforcement means standing next to them when they do right and standing across from them when they do wrong. You say in your resolution about ICE that forcing them to be unmasked and properly uniformed and identified is a threat to their
their safety and well-being. And yet every day across this country, federal agents, state law enforcement, and local law enforcement operate not only unmasked, but with body cameras and name tags on them, as the county sheriff's officers here tonight have without
incident, without anyone saying that they are under a constant daily risk to their safety. So, I would like to know where the idea that ICE agents being unmasked and properly identified people
is such a horrible idea. You also oppose these state laws that declare certain locations protected from law enforcement operations. One of those categories is schools. Now, I can personally speak to that one as a recent graduate of Sussex Community College where I was the
president of the Student Government Association, and I was approached throughout my tenure several times by different people who were all concerned about one issue, the possibility that ICE would be on our campus and interrogating students and possibly
arresting students in relation to their immigration status. because we did have ex foreign exchange students on campus. I was friends with many of them and I was never concerned about their immigration status because they were students the same as me. So, how do you
feel about the idea that students at the school you oversee as this county's commissioners felt unsafe in this county, in this place that you oversee? Like I said, standing by law enforcement is a great thing. Standing next to our
law enforcement when they do right is important. But when our law enforcement, like ICE has shown over the past year, is unable to control itself is seeing record numbers of deaths not only on the streets where they are shooting and killing people, but where record numbers of people are dying in their custody in
overcrowded prisons with poor quality. Are you really going to stand here and tell us you stand next to that wholeheartedly? Thank you. Can I get a motion to close the floor for public comment? >> So move. >> Okay. Um, Commissioner Henderson and a
second. Uh, Commissioner Silverthornne. Any discussion? All in favor? I >> post same. Number nine, commissioner's comments. I think we all said we were going to forego our regular commissioner comments since we had a meeting last week, unless
someone has seen comments. No. Number 10, there is no approval of consent agenda. Number 11, we have no minutes. Number 12, no ordinance. Number 13, no appointments and or resignations. Number 14, resolutions.
Can I get a motion to adopt resolutions A and B? move. >> Thank Carney in a second. >> Second. >> Uh, deputy director of the group. Uh, discussion. Any discussion on resolution A? >> Yep. I have a lot to say, but I'm going to just stick to what I have written.
>> So, voter integrity should not be a Republican issue or Democrat issue. Should be an American issue. The right to vote is one of the most fundamental rights of American citizens. It is the foundation of our democracy and determines the leaders who make our laws and govern our nation. This resolution is not about benefiting one political
party over another. is about protecting the integrity of our elections and ensuring that every eligible citizen can have confidence that their vote is counted fairly and legally. Election integrity strengthens trust in our democratic process for Republicans, for Democrats, for independents, and every
voter alike. I will always stand for protecting the voting rights of every eligible American and preserving the integrity of the election process for generations to come. I've said this before, I'll say it again. Voter integrity is important. Voter ID is important. You need you need a
license for a library card for renting a car for rent going to a hotel and you don't need one to vote. We have our machines here in Sussex County that you can scan where your name will come up in your picture. It's very easy. We spent a lot of money on that stuff. We should be using them.
>> And I would like to see the governor fully cooperate with the Department of Justice and uh give the names of the voters, not to the public, but for the Department of Justice to investigate. And I would like to know um which municipalities and counties are affected
whether it's our county or not our county. But there are races that are lost by one, two votes, you know, in primaries, Republicans and Democrats. >> And that's what the resolution asks. And I I kind of feel like most people here did not read the resolution. We're going
to do it because it broken down. This is stop. Okay. Uh, resolute. Anyone else on that on resolution A? >> I'm just going to say I think anybody knows I'm probably is a black and white and black on any issue I see. I look at
this and I don't care if it's 400 votes or one vote. We have a problem. Do I agree it's a bipartisan problem? 100%. If it's not, we're all in this room for the wrong reason. In my opinion, we need to fix this together. It definitely
needs to be fixed. Do I believe it's personally 400? If I got an odd number like 382, I might have believed that. 400 I have a hard time with such an even round number 66 and 400. I mean, I look at that and think we've got a problem as Democrats, Republicans, I don't care who
you are, what you are, the problem needs to be fixed. However we get there, whether it's with our governor doing an investigation, kudos to her for bringing it out. How come we didn't know it the year before? It's 2023. This is 2026. Somebody
obviously knew here. Where has it been? Uh, that's my problem. I'm just going to add in to that, too. This is a nonpartisan issue. Couldn't be any more non nonpartisan than what it is. I I distrust both sides. I distrust government. So, I probably agree with you guys on a lot more than you think I
do. Um, so I I don't think this was a glitch. I just think it's sloppy government. I it happens at every level and I and I if you think it's only 6,600 votes or 400 people that voted, I I beg to differ, but I I can almost guarantee you that number is going to be significantly higher when this is all
said and done. And and I'm not trying to grandstand or make this any more than what it has to be. But I I think it is important that we do address it. And uh we sit here every week, week in and week out, and have people come in and ask us to uh listen to them vent about things
that we really have little to no control over other than we are your neighbors and we're here for you. Um and this is one issue where we do have some mod of control over going I am the liaison for the board of elections and and listen
there's issues everywhere. So, uh, you know, whether it's in our own backyard or or somewhere else, we try to do the best we can to make things better. And that's what we're doing here today. >> And this is to support every vote counts. Um, every legal vote. Anyone else?
>> And resolution B. We were asked to do resolution B. Warren County has passed this similar resolution um, supporting ICE. And in 2019, Sussex County did put this out to the voters
and had a discussion on it. And the voters overwhelmingly 22,447 voted yes on the referendum and 11,262 voted no. So in my opinion, this is that was the larger discussion and this is
just to reinforce that larger discussion from 2019. Anyone else? Okay. Um, we already had the motion and we had a second. We had the discussion. Uh, roll call, please. >> Commissioner Carney, >> yes.
>> Deputy Director Degroup, >> yes. >> Commissioner Henderson, >> yes. >> Commissioner Silverthornne, >> yes. >> Director Space, >> yes. >> Number 15, awards of contract change orders, bids, there are none. 16, financial, none. 17, personnel, none.
18, administrative report. No report. Okay. 19, county council report. Okay. Number 20. Do we have any unfinished business? No. Okay. 21. Any new business? Okay. Number 22. Public session from the floor. This public session is for those wishing to make
general comments of 3 minutes or less on non-aggenda topics. Please line up at the microphone and state your name and municipality for the record. Now, I get a motion to open the floor for public comment. Okay. Commissioner Silverthornne and a second from Commissioner Henderson. Any discussion?
All in favor? I oppose. A sub abstain. Okay. Floor is open. >> Okay. Raymond same Raymond Win Hampton Township. I find it glowing. However, it's one thing to say yes, this Sussex County is a Republican county. The
Republican party there. Therefore, the Republican agenda uh will be made manifest. It is another thing for a board with no Democrats on it to insist that they are uh implementing a bipartisan agenda. I don't even think any of you would understand what a
bipartisan agenda is. It's all right. Transparency matters when the owners of the Sussex Motel Oh, Matthew, sorry, my apologies. Matthew Colback, I was up here before from Hamburg. Transparency matters. When the owners of
the Sussex Motel drilled holes in my sewer line and report and I reported it to local event and eventually to state HHS that they expected help that I was forgotten. All right. No money. I hire an attorney, a state agency unwilling to help. And I had a professional plumbers's telescopic video proof and
invoices of the sewer line that I posted on social media after no one helped. So this is Phil Murphy's administration that you know u Mickey had you know taken on. So this was a while ago back in 2012 2013. So where was the state? Where was the county? I was a local Tory
musician and you you all claim to care. You love neighbors and here you know here I am. Love your neighbors and yet I was totally forgotten a veteran. Call Marks and Solinsky would be so proud. So here are the facts. The Trump administration and federal investigators launched probes into the incident
demanded unredacted voter data and Shur has refused to hand over this information. The Adema Global Software Company being cited in these errors is actually fighting back right now and no one has actually mentioned that. So maybe the commissioners need to look at that too. I made it back from
Afghanistan and ideologies hide and vulnerable and weak. Afghan freedom fighters and and interpreters we employed were implored to wear some type of face covering after being forgotten by the VA over 20 years. But the state could care less about veterans like
myself and focus on everybody else. So, you know, when we ran away from Afghanistan, I cried thinking about all those interpreters that are probably murdered and dead with all their family in front of their eyes. So, that's the type of thing that you guys are, you know, it isn't. This is public comment.
Iran murdered over over 40,000 protesters in a 2-day period during these blackouts in January. You find yourselves fortunate that you do not know what true atrocity looks like. So I ask literally someone admitted that their illegal immigrants can come into this commissioner meeting and it doesn't matter. President of Sussex County
educators believes that this meeting is mood and has no value. Election uh and elections and who wins can control it all. So election integrity does matter. Why would anybody say that would there be uh there is also unfounded evidence exists that we now know that the former
FBI director Christopher Ray lied to Congress about the over 200 embedded plane closed FBI agents in January 6th protest. Not to mention there were 50,000 hours of tapes held back during the prosecutions. Singer songwriter John Schaefer was swept up in the aftermath of that and called a domestic terrorist and stripped of due process. John is not
a and the demon de uh January 6 demonstrators are not insurrectionists. Given the comments I heard from the mainstream media that are summer love in 2017, I find that a very bad characterization. And so we say the Southern Poverty Law Center is the Democrats. So, subject change. Some cha
challenges uh politicians offering legislation to end prisons nationwide. I'm sorry. Some challenge politicians offering legislation. Some people challenge that there isn't legislation uh being presented. But Rasheed Talib and Ana Presley both uh authored the Breathe Act which proposed closing all
federal detention centers in a 10-year period. >> Hello, my name is Rebecca. I am a resident of Harris and I am here tonight to celebrate the legacy of the Americans with Disabilities Act and to advocate for how social county can better support
its disabled residents. 3 days ago on July 26th, our nation celebrated the 36th anniversary of the ADA. That landmark law promised equal access, community inclusion, and the right to for individuals with disabilities to
live full independent lives. To make that promise right here at home, there are two crucial areas where Substance County can lead the way. First, we urgently need more accessible and affordable housing options across our
country county [clears throat] residents deserve to live independently in the communities they know and [clears throat] love with real housing choices that honor their nominee and keep them connected to their support systems. Second, we need
more county sponsored social events and inclusive community programs. Social connection is vital for mental health and quality of life. Having regular accessible activities where disabled adults can gather, build friendships,
and stay active and in the community helps prevent isolation and builds [clears throat] a stronger, more connected such as county. As an advocate for disability rights, I urge the board to prioritize accessible housing and expand
only social program for adults with disabilities. [clears throat] Thank you. Suzanne Oliver, Roxberry, New Jersey. I heard you reference um a vote from seven years ago. Um seven years ago I lived in Sparta. Seven years ago, my daughter was
a senior at Sparta High School. A lot has changed within seven years. I think you should repole or re uh, you know, re revote on this with your constituents. But one thing that hasn't changed in seven years is that Sussex County is by
far the most racist place I've ever lived in my life. I I have lived across this country. I've lived in the South. And I want to tell you a story about what happened to my black daughter at Sparta High School. She was harassed and she was driven off the road after the
2016 um election by by several grown ass men in a Trump truck. They harassed her. They forced her off the road. They screamed the n-word at her. She was a 17-year-old girl. She was terrified. She
called me in tears. She did not know what to do. This is what goes on in Sussex County. This is what you stand for. This is still happening 7 years later. Get your together. >> Williams, hack. Hopefully I can run this through without being interrupted this
time. Um, I just want to say I am a US veteran, Army veteran. I come from a long line of veterans. My grandfather was a cook in the Navy for reasons that because he couldn't be anything else. My father was a first sergeant in the United States Army. My brother was a
sergeant in the Army and he is currently he did 13 tours in Afghanistan and came back with a brain tumor. Um my niece who just recently graduated from Fort Jackson, South Carolina, the same place that I did. I got a chance to tap her out last year. But I just want to say in
the words of Tupac Shakur, you know, you got money for wars, but you can't feed the poor. So when you say that you care, I don't think that you do. I can bring up racism. I could bring up profiling. I could bring up all of those things, but I don't think that you care. So what I will say is this. I'm actually glad to
hear that in a Republican county, in a Republican stronghold of 30 plus years, that you are admitting to voter fraud. At least the GOP can say that much this time around. I applaud you for that. All right. Now, the second thing, um,
actually, I actually wouldn't mind our New Jersey police officers. They're very fine gentlemen here that are getting overtime this evening. Welld deserved. I wouldn't mind them being babysitters for the incompetent agents. Right? So, if that's where we're going with that, go
right ahead because at least then maybe they won't kill American citizens, right? I know you guys don't care about private prisons. I know you don't care about the taxpayers in this county and lowering the cost of the utility bills or the utility bolt poles that are
falling down. The people who have been without power for weeks and cable and internet so they people that work from home about the train station to get to back and forth to New York City because there's a lot of us that do do that. Not me. I own a business here in Sussex County for the last 8 years. I've lived
here over 25 years. I've raised my kids here, right? And I've dealt with raising. So what, right? Big deal. Ain't going to cry about it cuz I'm a soldier. That's what we do. We suck it up and we move on, right? Nothing's going to change. I don't know about the most
racist place I've ever lived because I've lived a lot of different places and I've seen a lot of different things and I've seen a lot of people that don't care on both sides of the aisle. So, no. Am I surprised by your vote? Absolutely [clears throat]
not. I almost was pretty sure that you would, right? But like I said, I'm happy that you guys are admitting that the GOP in Sussex County has failed. Kathy Brennan, Hampton Township. I I
just I honestly didn't have anything to say, but I had to come up here and speak again because I have to question what happened to our humanity. The things that are going on in this country are inhumane. Yet, everyone sits here and
thinks it's a good idea. I don't obviously you have not been witness to these things. I have been witness to things. I have been to Delaney Hall. I have seen families. I have seen children waiting outside for hours to see their fathers and then they've been denied
because there's something happened in their unit that ICE didn't like or Geog Group didn't like and they said TOO BAD YOU'VE BEEN WAITING 3 HOURS GO HOME WE DON'T CARE AND THE CHILDREN go home crying and and as I've said before most
of these people are there for no reason if these people are all supposedly the worst of the worst which they are not Why are they not deported? Why are these in in these detention centers for months, years, whatever? It's inhumane.
And I think we all need to look at ourselves and say, "What is going on in this country?" We need to have humanity back. Um, ask me Hawk Patkong. Um, I'm disgusted, but I'm not surprised because we all know that you're deplorable human
beings. From a younger person, I am even more disappointed, bro, because you know better. There are some things that we just sat here and told you what we want. We're not scared of people from from other countries. We're not scared of of voter fraud. Those are non-issues. You
don't give a about what we're talking about. And I don't know what's funny. What? Cussing? Didn't some Wasn't somebody in here talking about saying the N-word with the hard R and I can't I can't Don't tell me what I can and can't say. I can say what I need to say. I have freedom of speech. Okay. Okay,
that's fine. I'm glad that you think that it's funny. I'm glad you think that it's funny. The biggest threat to America is white men that look like you, you, me, you, you, you, you, all these cops here. And something, by the way, I don't even think it's worth talking to a lot of you, but I urge all the white people here because a lot of people have
said that you're surprised. You don't know what's happening, what's going on. Because we have been so deeply beaten with propaganda that we are the greatest country in the world. We have always been this way. Imperialistic, genocidal. I'm not looking at you. You're not special. Okay. I'm not looking at you. I'm looking around. Yeah.
>> Right. Thank you. Thank you so much. I appreciate that. We've always been Shush. We've always been genocidal. We came to this land. We We We genocided the indigenous people. I don't want to look at you. I don't like looking at you. We genocided the indigenous people
when we came here. We killed them. We It It's Why are you interrupting me? I'm still talking. Are you threatening me? Like Like I'm I'm not Nobody's throwing me out. Nobody's touching me. Okay. Um I don't
know. Like I just urge you all to take a look at what we've done because this is not a surprise. We we we brought black people here to do slave labor. We ate them. White people were cannibals. We fed their babies to alligators. This is not a surprise that we do this. The problem is now it's affecting us.
So, we're all like, "Oh, no. What's going on?" And I'm not trying to insult you. We're not We're ignorant to it, but this is not new. We We started the Iranian war by bombing 168 little girls in school. This is what we do. This is the American way. And when somebody was up here saying that they
don't feel threatened by the police. Uh well, I do, but I know I'm privileged, but I don't know if y'all have seen the news. Like, they're shooting black kids left and right. A little boy called the cops the other day. He had a water bottle in his waistband and they shot him. He called the cops for help and they shot him. Nolan Wells. The whole
I'm not talking to you. Okay. You want to Okay, I'll look you in your eyes when I say it. Okay. Nolan Wells. Black people don't hang themselves from trees after they broke their bones. Okay, we have a major problem. It's not immigrants. It's not black people. It's not indigenous people. It's the white
people. Okay, we we don't want AI data centers. We're in drought and we're do we want a future and young people like me and this guy right here, he we don't have a future, okay? We're telling you what we need and you don't give a damn. And I'm so sick and tired of you old people not giving a about what
we're telling you because we don't have a future. Do you understand that? I'm looking at you now because you wanted so badly to make romantic eye contact with me. Okay. >> Sandy Pender, Freeden Township. I am going to try to bring it down a notch a
little bit. Uh but I am going to say I'm incredibly disappointed with all of your comments following all of the comments from your constituents. I want to thank everybody who showed up here tonight and who spoke or either came and sat in
solidarity. And I want to address the audience and just say when people show you who they are, believe them. >> Bernie Green Monu. So, I just want to remind you that, you know, you are an all Republican county
commissioners. Um, but not all of Sussex County is Republican. You do represent the other party as well. They are also your constituents, right? So, we've come here and you're probably assuming what political party we are, which I don't think that
you should do. Some of us are not Democratic Party. Uh, you represent everybody. This is not just like a small minority. We're coming here. We told you how we feel about all of this. Somebody even made a great suggestion to table it, open the
discussion back up because the information that you cited is 7 years old. A lot of people move in that time. The con the makeup of Sussex County changes. Everything changes in seven years. But you guys are afraid of that. You're
afraid of the change, right? You're afraid of the people that are different from you. You're you're afraid of all of this, right? But when your entire life is driven by fear, fear of others, fear of change, you will never feel safe. Safety
comes from understanding, knowing, connecting. [clears throat] It doesn't come from the government. It doesn't come from violence. It doesn't come from family separation. It comes from love, not hate, not fear. When we know love, we know peace. I don't need to force
roots in this land. I choose to be part of this country by standing with the people who built it. The black slaves that we abuse, the immigrants we vilify, they built this country. When we stand with them, we show true love for our country and its peoples. That's what Renee Good and Alex Py understood. They
were white like me and they died for our immigrant neighbors. They died because people like Johan Sebastian Guerrero and Lorenzo Sagato Arao are dying every day. It's not I do or I don't see color. It's not what about about what you see with your eyes. It's about what you see with
your heart. See the person, love your neighbors, and be kind. We will save this world with love, not hate, not fear. And that's what you guys are doing. By passing resolutions, performative
resolutions like this, you are making people fearful of things that are not that don't exist. fears that you're coming up with some random boogeyman. It's not. Immigrants are not the problem. You're more focused on them than you are
on the people that are robbing you blind. The millionaires and billionaires in this country that buy out our politics, buy out our news agencies. Those are the people that are manipulating us because we're too busy fighting amongst ourselves. It drives
the focus away from them. They're the ones running this country. So, are you going to continue to eat up all of those lies that they're force-feeding you through in the news?
Hi, Veronica Fernandez. Again, I get a chance to double dip and I really appreciate that about non-aggenda items and any chance. Um, I also want to mention that um I'm on the ballot to challenge Corey Booker. I'm an independent progressive. Uh there are four candidates on the ballot. I'm an independent. I wish we all were
independents. This two-party system is killing us. We're at each other and we don't need to be. I wish uh you know that that we could just all be independents and everybody would have to earn their vote. Uh but any time I get a chance to speak about healthcare, I'm going to take it because I'm a former underwriter. I was licensed up there at
selective insurance and uh um I know what you guys all are you guys all know how to read a county in a municipal budget and what we are paying for health insurance is insane. It's unsustainable and it has to change. It's it's the reason why we're closing down programs for our children in our schools like Jefferson Township. We're cutting
teachers pay. We're letting go of teachers. We have the money. It's just how we're spending it. We're sending it to a handful of insurance companies who provide no medical product, no medical service, completely unnecessary middlemen kept in office by both parties by their big donors in the healthcare
industry. So I I know what I know the average teacher salary in New Jersey right now is 81,000. their premium for 2026, their family premium, not including dental or vision, is over $60,000 a year. And that's in our budgets. That's what we're paying that could be going to children. And the
other thing that I have a minute and a half and I want to say, and I'm really debating whether to say this because I've never said this to another person before. I grew up in Sussex County, and I do believe it's deeply racist. And I know that that's true because anybody who is my age, I just turned 67 last week. I used to play this like not a
game when I was a kid, but when I was driving around with my parents and I saw a car car pulled over, I knew it was going to be a black guy. Didn't have a lot of black people. And anybody who was around my age knows that that's true cuz if I saw it, you saw it. A lot of times
when people were pulled over, more times than not, it was a black guy. And I thought that we had overcome that. I thought we had become better than that. But we haven't. And that that is breaking my heart that we're not better than that. Everybody says they don't see color. I think that's the problem. You need to see the color. You need to see
the dis difference. Like why her her uh father could only be a cook is because in World War II they weren't allowed to be sergeants. They they they they could only be enlisted. They didn't have rank. That's how close we are still to it. The civil rights they're taking that away. We we have a racism problem and it's in
my in this county that I love so much. And you really got to you can you have the chance to be on the right side of history. You have the chance to do the right thing. That's what you have an opportunity here amidst all this hatred. Sussex County can stand up and say no, we're not having it here. We're choosing our kids. We're choosing our teachers.
We're choosing our cops. We're choosing our families. We're choosing healthcare. We're choosing Veronica for Senate. Thank you. >> Sierra Wilson again. uh you know me from Stan Hope. I guess um I'm not surprised that you passed it. Um but I do want you
all to know that you could have voted on one and not the other. So not only have you told your constitu constituents that you want to waste their money, but you also are a deeply racist uh council, but I think again everyone knew that. Um, if you want to see what's going to happen in your streets and don't feel like making the commute to Delaney Hall, I
guess it's like an hour from here, uh, you should go to Dover and see ICE agents who are masked up, who are wearing plain clothes, snatching kids off the street. Yes, literal children riding their bicycles on the street because they get $2,000 ahead. Uh, regardless if they're a citizen,
regardless if they have a green card. This is confirmed. ICE agents get $2,000 for every single person that they snatch up. Again, regardless if they're a citizen or not, regardless if they stay one hour or one year in Delaney Hall, they get paid $2,000 ahead. We've seen this before, they are literal head
hunters. They are slave catchers. This is what you're going to see in your town because you voted on it. So, shame on all of you. That's all I have to say is shame. Truly. >> Hi, Carrie Stler, Morris County. I just wanted to address something that Commissioner
said. He said, I think you said you don't like the government or you don't trust the government, but you are the government. You're a county commissioner and you're here passing resolutions and creating laws and regulations to benefit the people of your county. And I'm not
one of them, but out because you're obviously here for a reason. So, if you just trust the government and you don't like the government, then maybe you should reconsider uh whether you want to be reelected. Claire Golden from Andover Township up
again. And the only reason I'm coming up here again is to answer a question that was posed by one of the other speakers. She asked why is this happening? Why are people being kept in detention in Wayne Hall? Some of them many of them are months
many of them have been years there. Well, there is one reason and it's the answer to a lot of why of a lot of this stuff is happening. Money. EO other companies that run these ice facilities make a fortune.
I mean, you can see they're spending $125 million to buy a war a warehouse that was valued at 30 thou $30 million and then they'll cancel it and give it back. There's plenty of money being sent
around to cronies like GEO. So this is like they said it's trafficking in humans. Lock them up, beat them maggots and make a fortune doing it. And they're taking that example from the top.
President in in our current administration has made over $2 billion in office. Put that up against the history that he that preceded him. Every president before him has not traded
socks. Jimmy Carter sold his peanut farm so that there would be no conflict. That's not what President Trump is doing. He and his family have made a fortune trading. And and I knew tonight how this vote was going. I just regret
that I didn't bet on Kelshi. The only reason they kept me from doing that is because the Trump brothers would have made a a fortune on that. They're making money because Kelshi and Poly Market were supposed to be regulated,
but when they invested it, ah, no more need to regulate them. It's so corrupt. It's all about money. And it started with Citizens United, which allowed fortunes to be invested by companies and politicians.
That has to stop. We have to get big money out of politics or this problem will never ever be solved. It's all about money. >> And I I just want to clarify what I said. I have distrust for for both
parties. It's not that I distrust what I'm doing or what we're doing up there. So, just so we're clear. Thank you, >> Amy Len. Um, I just wanted to agree. But it's not just money, greed, and corruption. It's hatred in blackened
hearts. And what happened to love thy neighbor? Care for thy neighbor. Take care of thy neighbor. Love one another. I have to end with a quote in German. Whoever battles monsters
should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster himself. And when you look long into the abyss, the abyss also looks into you.
Thank you, >> Scott. Nol Sparta. Um, my comments a little bit tamer. Um, it's not as dramatic, a note maybe to end on, but um, I'm a process guy. That's what I I do for work. Um
I first I'll sure I am disappointed, right? I mean the evidence [clears throat] is extraordinary. I don't actually believe you guys are that ignorant. I think there's a willful choice to make a wrong decision. I can't imagine why. It's it's very very clear.
Um but I also can see that it is your decision to make, right? You're the you're the county, right? So given that the decision's been made, my request given that ISIS's behavior is a known
quantity, that is something that will put the citizenry, the voters, and the officers at risk. So, I would suggest in the interim before we get closer to elections, figure out some SOPs for how the officers will have to interact with ICE
that they take the lead as the members of their community rather than be tainted by and put in danger by a bunch of clueless that are out hurting, killing,
incarcerating, and abusing people. Our guy shouldn't be exposed to that. It's wrong to do to the police. The decision's been made. He's go the next step and figure out how to do it to minimize the risk to them. Phil Duffano branch of New Jersey.
So I didn't come here tonight [clears throat] for me. I came here for all these people cuz I knew this was going to be like this anyway cuz what you're doing here is grandstanding. Total grandstanding. This is a joke. There was never going to
be any kind of openness in a vote. You You guys knew when you walked out here how you were going to vote tonight. You know who I feel sorry for these guys. And I know a lot of them cuz they're going to be babysitting criminals. They're criminals.
Read the newspapers. Wake up. See how many of those guys are going to jail for the stuff they do. They're given free reign like terrorists. So what you're part of here is creating another Nazi Germany. It's happening slowly but
surely. And the other thing you wanted to do tonight is fear-mongering. That's what the Republican party is doing right now. Lots of fear mongering. Do you know why? because the elections are coming and I'm coming hard, really hard. This has been the Boys and Women's
Club for too long. These are decisions that are irresponsible and I'm not going to be party to them. These people are not listened to. You don't listen to them. You sit here like this half asleep and you let them just talk away. You
don't listen to them. That's not my idea of an elected official. An elected official is somebody who is listened to. These people have a lot to think about. This is their community, too. Fix some issues in the county. Not bring these
stupid mass terrorists. These guys are going to be babysitters for these guys. They don't have enough to do. Well, I hope that they don't come to your houses. I really do. I hope they don't affect your community and the towns you live in and your children and you
young people. You should be ashamed of yourself. I'm done. I don't need another name. John Snider Sanderson. [clears throat] Wow. Guess we got a lot of very enlightened people in this room. I feel like a I don't know any of this stuff
that these people are all all experts on. Heard somebody talking about love, not hate. A lot of what I heard tonight sure sounds like hatred to me. Also heard someone talk about fear-mongering and what were they doing?
Fear-mongering. Telling people how this is the end. Your kids are not going to see this country the way it was. Somebody described you people up here as being deplorable. And I completely disagree. I thank you for what you're doing, for
giving people the opportunity to speak. If someone was also talking about how immigrants built the country, believe they were legal immigrants. I hope we're not alluding I hope we're not alluding to the fact that the current illegal immigrants in
this country many of them committing crimes all of them obviously not. But I don't want to work on a percentage of how many are doing it. You had a son or a daughter that was killed by one. I don't think you would want to hear what the percentage of crime was.
I also heard someone saying ICE agents get $2,000 for a head for an arrest to detention. I like to know where that comes from. I've never heard that before. Well, once again, what I hear from a lot
of people here tonight isn't love, it's hatred. But I thank you for listening and keep doing a good job. Thank you for Hal from Franen. Um thank you for your service to our county. Um having
said that I feel like my heart is it breaks a little bit more every day. It breaks when my daughter this year and a first year teacher was in a lockdown for an hour and a half with her third grade specialed students because there was a
person in the gun or with a gun in her building. And we care more about allowing people to walk around with guns, by the way, it was a white man than we do about protecting our citizens and protecting our children in schools.
I don't know where we have come. My grandfather was grew up in Newton. He was a veteran. I traveled to Belgium with him as a World War II veteran and we were guests of the Belgian government because he was there when people were
released from concentration camps. People thanked us as Americans. And now we have become a threat to the rest of the world. And I don't know how how you can sleep at night because I can't anymore. 3:00 every [clears throat]
single morning, I am up wondering where is God? Where is this God that we love and we and protects us? Because right now, we're living in a place filled with hatred. And I don't know how you can sleep at night with the decisions you've
made. I don't know how you think it's going to be okay for children to go to church. Nobody's going to go to church anymore. There's churches that that have Spanish services here. Do you think those people are going to feel comfortable going to church anymore?
We're isolating them. Do you think children of immigrants or children of not immigrants, just people who have brown skin, might feel comfortable going to school and having to walk through Newton if they know there's ICE agents?
You are ruining their chances for a fair and equitable education. And I don't know where this comes from. It sickens me. It makes my heart hurt so bad because I believe in the beauty of human beings.
But when I stand here and I see decisions like this, I question where that beauty is. Michelle Van Allen, artist in New Jersey. Um, I have a friend that works for the Colombian consulate and she's been working hard not only for folks um
trying to get here legally even though they've been picked up as they're going through their process being arrested when they're getting sworn in, but um she uh lives in Dover and she told me about um how the town has become a ghost
town and that's about what we're going to turn Newton into very soon when we have uh people patrolling streets and picking everyone else that looks different than them. And actually, a lot of them look the same. I'm I'm surprised how many Hispanic and black people are
selling out their own souls to um work for ICE and and immigration. But she said the businesses are closing down. They don't have workers. They don't have people coming there. They're afraid to come there. The families are afraid to leave their home. They're afraid to send their children to school. And you know,
considering that we have a highly um uh large population of um people that are not white in Newton, it thank you for shutting down Newton. That's been starting to grow and will no longer be able to because a lot of those
businesses are going to fail. Um unfortunately, uh the there the director of national intelligence um looks like uh Jay Clayton's getting sworn in this week. uh will be sworn in because he's been confirmed. And the one question he could not answer when he was asked time
and time again uh by John Oaf was was the 2020 election fair? Was it was it decided fairly? Was it a legal election? He could not answer that question. He refused to many many times because um apparently he got uh you know
marching orders from the regime. And I I I'd love to ask all of you, but I know you can't answer me. Um, was the 2020 election fair and legal? Or do you believe that the um the president that it is now in charge, was he fairly
elected? And I guess um you might want to go back that far if you want to point a finger at New Jerseyy's voting records. Um what did you feel about the 2020 election? Was that fair? Was he u unfairly elected? And by the way, I think he's planning on running for 2028. So make sure you all get your hats and
stand up for him. Um I just feel that um we are not representing everybody in this county. You need to represent all when you get elected and elections have consequences. In fact, the November election will have one as well. For our county commissioner that's running, Phil
Stephano, and for our county clerk, Claire Golden. So keep that in mind, voters at home and what the ones that are here. Please remember that when you go out and vote that the people that really want to stand up for everyone in this county, not just the white population or a few, and the ones that will protect our children and our
citizens are those people. So, make sure you use your voice and vote. Thank you. >> So, I just make a suggestion. How much the county and the state are required to uh cooperate with ICE will be determined by the courts as you know
under the scrimmage exemption. Um if it's determined that we must cooperate with them what I would recommend is that um you into negoti you you meaning the state as well look into negotiating the indemnity of it. It's
not clear, as I see it, that people who are obligated to cooperate with the feds have this protection of federal indemnities. And so that will fall on your malpractice, your meaning the the local police malpractice, the malpractice writers for the county and
the state. And the lawsuits will have to be handled. And so it may there may be an opportunity to negotiate with the feds an indemnity agreement. They're not going to give it, but there may be an opportunity. I mean, I would recommend this. This may come up in the future because that may be what is required. I
don't know. I think personally, I think it's unlikely. I think the supremacy court will allow the states to keep the laws we have. But if they don't, and we're obligated to cooperate, I would recommend that. I would secondly recommend negotiating with the feds for
some oversight uh better oversight of the detention centers and better oversightes of the rules of engagement that um ICE uh operates under. I think there will be some opportunity to negotiate and particularly if the Democrats win in November, but even if
they don't, I think there'll be an opportunity for that and I would recommend that people take that opportunity if we're forced to cooperate with them, which we may. I I'm not sure how it'll My guess is the laws will be upheld, but I'm not sure. So, that's my recommendation. I realize there's a lot
of people that are very upset here, and I'm just trying to offer some possible ways that we can make the situation better if it comes down to it. Thank you, >> Debbie Melo, Freeden Township. Shame on you. Shame on you for calling this
meeting. That was totally unnecessary. Shame on you for bringing these resolutions. Shame on you for not really listening to the people who came tonight. Shame on you for passing these resolutions.
I would imagine fully understanding that these resolutions do not supersede state law. So, they're hollow resolutions in my estimation. Shame on you for wasting everybody's time tonight. Anyone else? Can I get a motion to close
the floor for public comment and return to regular business? Secondorn and a second from Deputy Director Degru. Any discussion? All in favor? I post abstain. Okay. Number 23. Reminders, please check the county's website at www.sussex.nj.
us for meeting schedules. Number 24, there is no executive session. Number 25, adjournment. Can I get a motion to adjourn the meeting? Okay. Commissioner Henderson in a second. >> Second. >> Uh, Commissioner Silverthornne, any discussion? All in favor? I. Both
abstain. Meeting is over at 8:24. Thank you everyone.