Councilwoman Edwards, >> present. >> Councilwoman Feliciano, >> present. >> Councilwoman Frisbee, >> present. >> Councilwoman Gonzalez, >> presente.
>> Councilman Harrison is excused from this meeting. He did call ahead. Vice President Williams, >> present. E presente >> and Council President Figueroa Edenberg, >> present. >> Myself, Brandon Garcia, municipal clerk, present. Mr. Edward Colloji, Legislative
Council. Thank you. And Mr. West Bridges. Thank you. And Madam President, if you like at this time, I'll read the invocation. Almighty God, who holds the fate of man and nation, we most humbly beseech thee
to bless this our city, these deliberations, and these thy servants, that they may act with wisdom and understanding for the good of our community and thy greater glory. Amen. Amen. >> And Madame President, at this time I believe it's your wish you'd like to see
if the uh prior to presentation, we'd like we have some volunteers for some boards and commissions that are present. >> That is correct. >> Uh if you are present for volunteers for boards and commissions, I believe I have Mr. I'll just go ahead and start. I have and let me know if you're here. Mr.
Douglas Hughes. Thank you. Miss Louise Mccantsz. Thank you. Dr. Tara Butler. >> Thank you. And Miss Veronica Davis. Miss Davis. Okay. Understood. And Madame President,
then I suppose you uh we could start with any individual you or the council wish. >> Yes. Mr. Garcia, if any of those individuals did you just acknowledge that they would like to come and just say u introduce themselves and um a quick hello about um being part of those
committees, that would be great. Very quick. in the interest of moving things ahead. Thank you very much, Mr. Hughes. Took the words right out of my mouth. Good evening, council. Uh, it's my pleasure to join this board.
After serving 47 years in government, 38 years here with the city of Trenton, uh I think I have a little handle on being a senior now. Uh I had to kind of pinch myself and
say, "Oh, that's right. I am. I'll be 72 years of age in two weeks." So, I think that qualifies. Uh but uh it's my pleasure uh to be part of this uh board
and uh voice some of the concerns uh within my neighborhood and throughout the city of Trenton uh representing the seniors. That's basically all I have to say.
Thank you. Are there any other volunteers that miss or that wish to come forward and address council? >> Good evening uh to the esteemed members of city council, council president, uh council vice president. Uh my name is
Dr. Tara Butler and when I'm not wearing my Smith Family Foundation hat, I serve as the executive director of Vonzella's Crown. I have over 15 years in dealing with the seniors and I'm passionate. I'm not a senior, but I love my seniors. Um,
I feel that I will be a great addition to this board. I bring um a lot of experience with geriatric management, intergenerational and multigenerational programming, dealing
with grand families, and I also hold a plethora of certifications. I have a master's in criminal justice pre pre-law business um business administration and also certificates from Ruckers dealing with the seniors. So I think you want me
on this board and I bring my time, my treasures and my talents. Thank you for letting me come forward to council. Thank you. >> Thank you so much and thank you for your commitment. >> May I? >> Good evening. Thank you wonderful council for allowing me to have these
words and be a part of this board. My name is Louise Mccantsz. I am the CEO of the Capitol Area YMCA. I come with a heart to serve. I'm that little girl that lived with her grandma who couldn't read.
She only had a third grade education. And so I would then volunteer to read for our elders at the church because I understood that they needed an advocate. I'm that little girl that grew up on the block where Mr. Mallalerie and the the
all the old names that would count on us young people to to be the voice to be the legs. And so my servant as the Capitol area city YMCA where we serve many seniors, they are fastest growing populations. I'm here to be of service
to make sure their voices are being heard and their needs are being met. Thank you. >> Thank you so much. Thank you all for your position and your commitment and thank you Councilwoman Feliciano for putting this together um for making sure that our seniors voices are heard moving
forward in the city um so that we can implement change um and effectuate it as well. So thank you again Councilwoman Feliciano and thank you all for all of your um undying commitments. Um Mr. Garcia, we can proceed.
Certainly, Madam President, if there are no other individuals uh who would like to address council at this time, then we can move on to presentations. So, I'll give a last call for that purpose. >> Yes. So, at this time, I would like the presentation from NJOHSP
um to present um on online extremism. There's 10 minutes for the presentation. Thank you so much for being here. >> Good evening everyone. Um before we begin the presentation, just wanted to bring up director Tom.
I'm gonna stand to the side. Sir, can everybody hear me? >> Yes. >> First of all, thank you for having us. >> Uh sir, just so you know, uh we do have this accessible online and if you are not at the microphone, none of what you say will register. >> I don't want to turn my back to everybody. Good evening again. Thank you
for having us. Um, I'd like to uh introduce myself and then introduce and thank our team that's here with us today. My name is Tom Hal. I'm the newly appointed director for New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness. Um, prior to coming to this position,
I've been with the same office for about three and a half years as the director of intelligence and operations division. And prior to that, I spent 23 years here in New Jersey with the FBI before retiring. um some of our team here tonight. Um Izzy Chowry is our our uh he
leads our partner engagement unit. Um you'll see him out and about um all over the state. Also with us is Shannon Torres. She is a new bureau chief with our office. She oversees our partner engagement um our coordination with our county threat coordinators and also our
threat intake and management. So all the threat reporting and suspicious activity reporting that's under Shannon's purview. Um what we're here to do tonight is to talk about nihilistic violent extremists. And I'm not going to steal John Edwards uh thunder. He's an intel analyst who will be presenting
today. But this is a really important topic. Um this is these are groups who just their goal in life is to tear down society. And unfortunately, um, one of their biggest ways of doing that is to take advantage of, to leverage and exploit our youth. And it's
not, this is no stranger to New Jersey. Um, they push these kids to harm themselves, harm others, kill others, kill themselves. And we've had numerous recent cases here in New Jersey of teens committing suicide because of these nihilistic groups. So, what John is
going to present tonight, um, one thing I'll say in closing is this year we're really trying to, um, take this message directly to the youth. Um, we're teaching parents, we're teaching folks like yourself, we're teaching teachers and coaches so they can recognize uh,
when this element is present. But we feel it's very important to get to our youth for two reasons. They're closer to the problem. They're gonna number one, the more they know about this, the better they can protect themselves from becoming victims. And they're also
closer to their peers. So, they're going to see before we will, and they'll see those indicators that maybe one of their friends is uh been targeted and is being taken advantage of by these groups. So, again, thank you for having us tonight. And I'm going to turn it over to intelligence analyst John Edwards. Thank
you, John. Good evening, councilman or council people. Um, I'm going to be speaking today about milistic violent extremist as our sorry. Yeah, it's not working. If you wouldn't mind, you could just uh
I could just have you advance the slide if you're okay with it. Okay, perfect. you can uh change the slide. So again, good evening council. I'm going to be talking today about nilistic violent extremists. Um nilism is described essentially as a philosophical belief that life has no real inherent
meaning, value or purpose. So extremists look to leverage that belief to promote the kind of tear down of society and the destruction of basically common uh morals and values. Oh, I'm sorry. Go ahead.
>> So, the belief in ex among mainstream extremists of tearing down society is not new. It's something referred to as accelerationism. So, a lot of mainstream extremists have used this in the past. But the difference is that for mainstream extremists when they are looking to tear down
society, they're looking to do so to rebuild society in their own image. So for instance, white supremacist extremists, they are looking to collapse, you know, the US government and society at large. So that their hope is that they could then reconstruct essentially like an all-white society
that they control. They believe they can take control of the chaos and harness it for their ability. Nilistic violent extremists operate a little differently where there is no second step. Their goal is simply to destroy and break down societal walls for the purpose of
destruction in and of itself. So they don't really have any further step two, which makes them dangerous because their motivations are a little more difficult to detect in that sense. There's a lot of different sub uh extremist ideologies that wind up making
up nilic violent extremism. We see mixes of white supremacist uh ideology, neo-Nazi ideology, accelerationist sat uh satanic rituals and occultist beliefs will all sort of be rolled into nilistic violent extremism. It's not necessarily
one belief or the other. There's a lot of crossover between these beliefs, but the underlying thread that joins all of these beliefs is that again a belief that life has no meaning, has no purpose, and has no real value. This does seem like a new belief system.
It's really uh coming into the forefront within the past couple years. It's really made uh a splash in the media very recently, but its ties go back to the 1960s, late 1960s, early 1970s with this group, Order of Nine Angles, out of the UK. Um they rolled in, like I said
before, uh white supremacist and neo-Nazi beliefs with Satanist and occultist beliefs. and they did so for the purpose of encouraging violence, terrorism, and unfortunately sexual abuse against children. These beliefs have still carried over today. This group has had varying degrees of
popularity over the years. It kind of some resurgence in the '9s and then again more recently with subgroups that have built off of it. Their sort of aesthetics that you see here, this sort of black background with white text has been co-opted today by other groups and
used to sort of link back to the past. The more popular group today is known as 764. It's not really a group. It's like an online network um of a lot of subgroups. They are built off of another group called Cult spelled CVLT.
Cult was uh started in 2019 2020 kind of around the beginning of the pandemic in the UK by an individual. Its popularity spawned uh the 764 network also known as the comm. These groups largely operate in the same way. The difference between
them and uh order of nine angles that initial group is that these groups wind up being very online which has helped rapidly spread their popularity um kind of globally at this point but again they kind of operate the same
way as before. These groups, I would say, more predominantly focus on targeting juveniles for exploitation either sexually or promoting uh videos where they encourage juveniles to harm themselves, either cut themselves or commit harm
against themselves on video that so they can spread those videos amongst the network. Again, because it's a very online um ideology, it winds up being a little more difficult to stop. Most of these uh
what we've seen is that they operate on online networks like Discord and Telegram which offer encrypted chat services so that perpetrators can kind of coordinate subversively a little bit without detection by law enforcement and Roblox which is an online gaming
platform popularized by juveniles. I'm sure anyone with family members here and children might know uh members of their family who use this. So for these perpetrators, this prevents presents a very target-rich environment. Unfortunately, uh the 764 um network was actually
created by this gentleman here, Bradley Caden Head. He's out of Texas. 764 appears to have no other significance than it's the first three digits of his zip code, which generally these have more meaning, but that looks to be the only reason. But of note, he was immersed in online uh violence and
videos of violence and gore as early as age 10. It he's believed to have started this movement when he was about 15 years old. So, a lot of times extremist groups, perpetrators, and organizers are older, but again, teenagers these days online are sort of getting a little more
involved than they used to be. He is currently uh serving an 80-year sentence for possession of child pornography, but he is still very revered among the movement. In New Jersey, we've seen increasing reports um across the over the past couple years. The problem I would say is
this. We're not sure what is an increasing amount of activity versus increasing number of reports as people become more aware of this activity. So, while we're seeing increasing reports, there is a chance that this activity was happening previously of these reports
without anyone's real knowledge of it. There's two main cases out in New Jersey in the past couple years. In uh January of 2025, uh Colin Walker of Bridton down in Cumberland County um was arrested. He was a member of the uh cult group online. Um he was acting as an
administrator and was actually running their servers that were using were being used to coordinate activity. uh for these perpetrators. And while I said we see a lot of white supremacist activity on this, it's not necessarily bound to that. So this is
Merk Cher uh Cherquay of Egg Harbor or Chakawi, I'm sorry. Um he was an administrator for the 764 network and was helping uh organize for them to promote terrorism, violence, and sexual abuse of children. But when he was arrested, it was found that he had
actually planned to travel overseas to join ISIS, receive training, and then travel back to the US to commit an attack. So there's no one ideology that's sort of ex excluded from this sort of overarching ideological belief system.
Predominantly, like I said, we see most of their activity on uh social media websites, online chat websites, and gaming platforms. uh Discord and Telegram and Roblox seem to be the most popular. These are the sorts of things that we wind up seeing. Um again,
images that have a black background and a a lot of white text imagery are kind of a hallmark of this movement. and images of graphic violence, sexual abuse, animal torture set in like a more
contemporary memelike format are also things that they use to kind of spread their message around. They also happen to use coded hashtags and coded language to avoid detection uh by authorities. So for instance, instead of asking for child pornography, they will ask for things like cheese pizza because the
first two letters match up with the first two letters of that. that helps them bypass online content moderations that would automatically flag that language. In addition to this sort of activity, some of these smaller subgroups will participate in hoax threats or sell hoax
threats as a service. Um, so they will commit swatting attacks or hoax threats against hospitals, schools, uh, other government agencies, or sometimes private residents of people they're looking specifically to target. Um, last August there was a series of hoax
threats against universities across the nation. Uh, most notably there was one over in Villanova. Um, while the police were searching for the alleged perpetrator, an online researcher actually found the hoax threat and a Discord channel and found that they were offering swatting as a service and making threats against other
universities. At that point, it was ableuthorities were able to determine that the threat at that point was a hoax. But they will sell these services very inexpensively, often on the dark web. But if a child or juvenile does want to school that day, they can reach out to these services and sometimes for as
little as $20 have somebody phone in either a swatting threat or a bomb threat against their school. So primary tactics of these individuals um largely focuses on online uh grooming and recruitment. They often use pseudonyms or uh fake identities while
conducting this activity. um psychological manipulation. Oftent times um juveniles who have trouble fitting in or loners, I guess in a sense, will wind up becoming primary targets for these individuals. Um sexion and coercion. How
they keep these scams kind of going is that they will have children record either sexualized videos of themselves or videos of them conducting self harm and then they'll threaten to blackmail them if they don't continue producing these sorts of videos. They'll threaten to go to friends and family and mail these videos publicly, forcing these
children to kind of continue on with this behavior. And with blackmail and escalation, sometimes it escalates to real world harm with encouraging actual physical abuse or sometimes trying to encourage these children to commit suicide or kill other people on their behalf.
Ideological goals are varied, but again, that underlying belief that again their life has no purpose or meaning is really what's motivating them to do this. some indicators and signs people can look out for behavior changes. These are a little difficult because teenagers
oftent times will exhibit these. So any one of these isn't necessarily an indicator in of itself but when taken as a whole they wind up becoming more problematic. So changes of behavior and appearance so becoming more withdrawn or you know cutting their hair off or changing their clothes drastically could
be an indicator. Self harm is a big one. eating disorders or finding cut lines on their arms or limbs. Um, writing in blood I would say is probably a pretty good one, but um, fortunately, one of the bigger ones here, and this may be a little more difficult,
receiving anonymous gifts. So, sometimes when perpetrators are trying to get juveniles to commit these acts, either self harm or uh, sexual abuse, they don't have necessarily the tools themselves to commit it. So they will get the children's address and actually mail anonymous packages that either
contain you know sexual devices or knives or razor blades so that the children can harm themselves. Um so monitoring what your kids are receiving through the mail is going to be very important. And again, swatting and doxing. This is uh something they will
do to keep children in line that if a kid decides to not go along with it anymore and they know what their address is, they'll start having swatting and sending the police to their house claiming that there is uh some sort of violence going on at the house. >> CP, that has been 10 minutes. It's up to
you. I'll leave it to you for permission to continue. >> Just a couple. Okay. >> Should just be a few more minutes. >> All right. So, just some safety guidelines again. monitoring children's online activity. I know this is difficult with the advent of smartphones, but trying to do the best you can and trying to without
necessarily invading their privacy too much, but trying to keep an eye on what they are doing. But in that same breath, for parents, it is important to be aware of what they are posting online involving content involving their children. If you have
wide open public social media and you're posting pictures of your children, that could make them a target. um searching regularly. You can actually search your children's information online and see if it pops up on any websites. If it does, that is something that can be a concern.
And just making sure that your accounts are secure so they can't be hacked by individuals looking to do harm. Law enforcement is doing its best, but it is difficult. Again, a lot of this activity takes place online. Um a lot of that activity is anonymous or encrypted.
So, law enforcement is trying to do the best they can, but there are some limits of what they can do without parents help. Um this is some information if people want to take pictures of this um of what uh resources that they can reach out to. We also have some resources we can hand out. We have a stack in the back um that
we can distribute to the public if they uh would like further information. Um additionally I will be here so if anyone has any questions after this presentation I will be happy to answer any other questions. I think that's all I have. So if anyone has any other further questions >> thank you so much. Um, I'm actually
pleased like my council colleagues were taking pictures and they were nodding their heads and they were very very interested. Thank you so much council vice president Williams for bringing this forward. Um, and I I want to open this up to my colleagues if you guys have any questions at this time. Please
CP Counciloman Gonzalez. >> Yeah, I just have a quick question. I know you said that you wanted to target the youth. Are you like how are you engaging the youth or reaching them? Uh we have uh teams in our office that actually reach out to schools and um work with local police departments for
uh juveniles that are on a pathway to harm. So it's our stat team. We work very closely with those individuals um with those teams to sort of help provide information and guidance. >> Okay. Because I know we have two educators here. So I'm thinking how you know who would we actually contact? Um
is it the ones that's listed on this sheet? We can actually uh talk after the meeting. We can get you all that information you need uh to follow up with. >> I think it'd be great for us to bring to the high school or to to our schools. >> Councilman, I can answer that question. So, actually, we're in conversation with the superintendent of Trenton Schools. >> Oh, great. Okay. >> Uh to push and roll this uh whole
program out that including u training the children as well. >> Well, then I'll stay out of it. Thank you. >> Um any other uh Counciloman Frisbee? >> So, thank you, Council President. So, thank you for this presentation. And this was really uh insightful
um a little bit um shocking of course >> as well um uh but it very enlightening. So I wanted to thank you for that but also I want I have three questions. One where can we get these materials? That's the first one. Do you come out
and do demos if we at a demonstration if we um if we have other groups? So we have I have a Westward community conversation meeting once a month. would love to have you come out and present this to the community members there. We also stream it so it reaches beyond those that are in the room.
>> And then my final question is how can we best help to assist with um keeping our children safe? I you gave a lot of tools. You gave a lot of um information. I took a couple of pictures um of as you saw, but um what if you if we left here
and said if no one else could do any one thing, this would be the thing that you would have us to do. What would that be? one or two we would I would ask >> um I would say for the first question a lot of our materials are available on our website njhsp.gov. A lot of what we write is written for the public. We actually just released our annual threat
assessment um that speaks about this. Um one of the handouts we have is actually taken directly from the uh annual threat assessment that has that information. We also have some resources like I said we're handing out but again our website does have a lot of uh resources and
information. Um, as for coming out to the meetings, we have been doing these talks all over the place and I think we'd be happy to come out and do talks for this group. I don't think that would be a problem at all. And as for tips, oh, uh, like I said, the resources
provide a lot of that you can do to monitor your children and keep them aware. And that's I would say probably the best thing you do. Keeping a close eye on what children are doing online is the best way. And if you have any concerns at all, reaching out to either our office or your local police
department. Um, local departments are becoming more aware of what's going on with this. So, their connection with us is a lot stronger in this sense. So, if you reach out to them with questions, they will very likely reach out to us. So, there are any concerns at all, reach out to the police department or us.
We'll happily help with anything. >> Thank you. And if you would, whatever material you have that you were going to leave in the back, if you would leave some here at the front and including your contact information, I'd love to reach out to you. Thank you so much. >> Oh, and we are going to send an electronic copy. >> I didn't hear you. >> We are going to send an electronic copy. >> Awesome. Thank you. >> No problem.
>> Thank you, Madam President. >> You're welcome, Council Council Vice President. >> Thank you, ma'am. >> Williams, >> I just want to uh say thank you so much to both of you. Uh Izzy, uh John, also uh Shannon and Director Hal for being here tonight. Um I know when I first saw
the presentation, which is even more extensive than this, uh that you gave at a local community meeting, uh I was blown away. uh having a teenager myself um and like to think I'm sophisticated enough to keep up, but this is beyond. And like you said in that presentation,
this hits every demographic in America and uh so thank you for bringing it bringing this to us today. I know you're passionate about it and I'm really happy that you'll be able to be part of Trenton and um really getting the word out here to keep all of us and our kids
safe. So, thank you. >> Thank you. Thank you again for presenting to us. It was very good information. We appreciate it. Um, Mr. Garcia, if we could proceed. >> Certainly, Madam President. Madam President, at this time, I believe and
I'll check with uh interim director Harris. I believe there's a uh walk-on resolution at this time um to be presented. Is that correct? >> Yes. >> Okay. And while we're uh while we're waiting
on an individual to come up, I will just introduce that resolution briefly. is resolution affirming the city of Trenton's commitment made in resolution 24-495 to provide funding for improvements to the building and grounds at the Trenton
City Museum known as Ellersley Mansion. >> Yes. Thank you, Mr. Garcia. As I >> That will be resolution number 26-69, I believe. Yes, as I understand um this resolution as well as 26063
and 26064 um is pending further um clarification for us. We'll give that a few minutes to Mr. Garcia, Mayor Recior is coming to
present um this clarification for us. >> Yes, the mayor will be uh presenting this particular resolution of support. >> Good evening, mayor. Thank you for joining us. >> Uh good evening, ma'am, madame president
and members of the council. Uh, the city of Trenton currently holds more than 30 properties in its municipal inventory. At least 16 are historic assets, structures that define our community and
cultural legacy. That is not a small responsibility. From city hall to the Trent House, from Ellersley Museum to Eagle Tavern and the industrial anchor that is Robling Wireworks, we are entrusted with these assets that span
the centuries. Managing historic properties is ongoing. Funding for necessary capital improvements is limited. For example, while the city committed $2 million toward the restoration of the Carver Center, the full plan requires
approximately $8 million. The rehabilitation of the re reading Senior Center experienced setbacks in prior years and we have since dedicated $1.3 million with the county's help to
move that work forward. With so many historic properties and significant needs at each, we must remain flexible and ensure essential costs are met responsibly and strategically. Tonight's action reflects that responsibility.
NJA awarded the city a $7 million economic corridor grant for renovations at Eagle Tavern and Robing Wireworks. The award requires completion of both projects. There is no mechanisms to complete one without the other and both
projects exceed that grant amount. If we fail to close the funding gra gap, we would be returning $7 million to the state of New Jersey. That would jeopardize these sites and damage our credibility for future NJA
funding. And we're not willing to let that happen. Although we secure secured 3.5 million per project, the first Eagle Tavern bid came at $9.1 million. We rejected it and rebid the lowest of
three new bids was $5.8 million. Working with the Mercer County Improvement Authority, construction costs were negotiated down to 5.3 million and the city and the county each committed an additional 750,000
uh alongside the NJ EDA funding. I want to thank the county executive for stepping forward to help us ensure that this historic re rehabilitation project moves forward. Even after these efforts, we experienced a hard ARP deadline of
September 30th. To protect the $7 million award and meet that deadline, we require temporary flexibility and sequencing our historic investments. Let me clear be clear about Eldersley.
This was not a decision to disregard our city museum. Yesterday, we met directly with museum leadership. I believe they're in the room. and I want to thank them for their patience and understanding. We toured the galleries, the storage areas, and saw firsthand the
work necessary to preserve more than 6,000 pieces in their collection. Tonight, we are submitting a walk-on resolution reaffirming our commitment to Eldersley long-term preservation. and what is underway at Eldersley. The
preservation plan will be completed August 17th. A 75,000 Mercer County facilities grant will fund exter exterior repairs. A 500,000 BPU grant application has been submitted for HVAC
and roofing. We have requested expedited HVAC recommendations. Quotes are in hand for roof and exterior wood repairs. First floor refinishing is moving forward and the museum society continues to have technological
upgrades. So we are not delaying Eldersly. We are ensuring that the preservation plan guides the most responsible use of that funds including moving forward with the HVAC replacement. Tonight's vote ensures we do not lose
the $7 million from the EDA grant. We meet federal ARP deadlines. We preserve our credibility for future capital funding. And all three historic rehabilitation efforts move forward. This is administration is actively
managing improvements across Battle Monument, Douglas House, Passage Theater, Robing Wireworks, Eagle Tavern, Ellersley, and Tren House. That is stewardship. and stewardship sometimes requires difficult but responsible
decisions under deadline pressures, always with long-term preservation in mind. And for those reasons, I respectfully ask for your support tonight on the two resolutions. Thank you. >> Thank you, mayor. Um, so I'm going to
open up any questions um from my council colleagues. I just want to make it clear the understanding is um we are short of grant funding um to move forward with these projects um and if we don't move forward with
these projects and get this I guess 1.1 million or 750 thou 1.1 million um we would lose the $7 million that we were getting in grant money um to help fund um Robing Wireworks and the Eagle
Tavern. So, we have now pulled funds from Ellers's Ale in order to move these other projects forward with a promise to repay Ellers Ale for their repairs. >> Absolutely. That's correct. >> Any of my council colleagues have any questions?
>> Council President, I just have one question. I just counc Thank you. Um so without this uh arrangement that has been made and it's good to see uh what was the deadline to make sure that this funding was secured by >> this week.
>> This week. Okay. >> So if we did not come up with the total preservation plan for Eagle Tavern and for Rolling Wireworks, we would lose the $7 million grant. >> Okay. And is expectation of when that work may begin?
>> Uh imminently. We're we're um prepared to move with both projects. Both the county MCIA is in charge of Eagle Tavern and we are in charge of Robing Wireworks. And I believe the entire cost of the robing wireworks exceeds 7
million. Um, and that's essentially phase one of Robing Wire Works restoration, which will be the roof, the windows, and the framing, which are long overdue and will help stabilize that uh um building. Ultimately, we want to put
an HVAC system in there, more bathrooms, an industrial kitchen to make it a true civic center for the city of Trenton. Okay. >> Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Council President. Councilwoman Fresby. >> Thank you, Council President. So, thank
you, Mayor, for the uh presentation. And I understand time constraints. Uh I want to uh before I go further say thank you to our county exec who I believe don't know if he's still here or not. Yeah. There. Uh county exe Dan Benson for stepping in and making sure that we don't lose this funding. It would have
been um disastrous on our part to have lo lost this funding. So, I understand that completely. I am um looking forward to the money for going back into LRC mansion when that uh does come back around and you just actually answered the question because I want I did want
to know about the upgrades um as far as with um the HVAC system even the bathrooms um downstairs there's a lot but making sure that we preserve the integrity of the building itself but just making sure that we can accommodate even those who are disabled whether it's
with this um a um the elevators is to making sure all that is working um operable so working properly. So um I really don't have any other questions on that other than I I do um I'm looking forward to this and I am looking forward to having the uh rolling building
rolling wire works um done and the tavern. It's been a long time coming and they are some of our beautiful his uh historic landmarks and I'm glad that was it is happening on our watch. Well, thank you very much. And I think Jean and Debbie are here
back here. And um they are tough. I I lost an eard drum with conversation with Jean, but rightfully so. I mean, Eldersley is a beautiful asset. They they host um art art openings, art
contest uh classes and um we do have a commitment and we want to assure uh them and the world that we are committed to um preserving Eldersly Mansion and making sure that their art collection um
is preserved. >> Thank you, Mayor. Um >> Council President, >> Councilwoman Feliciano, >> thank you. So, thank you, mayor, for the presentation tonight. I guess the question I have is when um when Elders Lee found out that
the money was going to be shifted, how did they find out? >> They were informed by our um our recreation director, Paul Harrison, a conversation with them. >> Okay. So they they were notified before anything was sent out, the document was
sent out or they looked at the docket and >> so and I apologize for the timing, but we just found out all along uh MCIA was renegotiating the the construction costs for Eagle Tavern >> and that only recently fell into place.
And then once it the price tag, we had to figure out how we go from 3.5 million to 5.3 million. >> And um so there were delays in finding that out and finding a solution. Um in
the meantime, we're looking to where we could shift funds and that seemed to be the most appropriate. >> Okay. >> Uh way. >> Thank you. I only asked because you know I'm a member of the museum. I got the the first letter and then I was like, "Oh." And then I saw the second letter. So, my whole thing is thank you for um
rectifying this situation and taking care of it. Thank you for talking to the county exec, right, for you both working together to help us to make Trenton even better. That's what strong collaboration is all about. So, I'm glad that we were able to meet in the middle. Um and I
look forward to seeing the positive results from everything coming forward. Thank you. >> Yeah. If I if I could just be clear, but for the county's intercedence, um we would not be able to even be here on all three projects. So, we want the the happy ending is with the county's
partnership, we're able to um proceed on all three projects >> with him and then with you having the conversation as well. That's what we're talking about. Good collaboration and the meeting of the minds to make the things happen. So, thank you to you both and to Paul and to everyone that helped
make this happen so we can take care of what it is we need to do in the city. Thank you. >> Thank you, Councilwoman. Thank you, mayor, for your presentation. Um, just wanted to make it clear for everybody what was going on. Um, thank you, Dan Benson. Thank you, Paul, all of you for
your hard work and diligence during this. So, thank you so much. >> Thank you, everyone. Thanks so much. Uh, >> Mr. Garcia, we can proceed. >> Certainly. At this time, >> Mr. Garcia, I'm sorry. I just want to be clear. So, this walk-on will be 26069.
>> Yes. >> Thank you. >> Uh, at this time, I believe uh, Madam President, will that be your does council satisfied with that and the full explanation and then including uh, the explanation mentioned previously this meeting? >> Any comments from council about the walk
on? No. Okay, with that in mind, we will move on to public comment for agenda items only. And to the public, you'll have five minutes to address anything you wish that is on the docket or the agenda. Um,
the council is not obligated to respond to you. Please do state your name and address for the record. And again, you will have five minutes to speak. first indual listed for public comment for docket items only is Louise MCZ. >> Okay.
Dr. Tara Butler. Got it. Caroline Clark. Good evening, council tronians. So, I'm here to talk about the um
resolution ordinance that uh the mayor just walked on. I'm sorry, Caroline Clark, 1812 Riverside Drive. Thank you. So, so there's a walk on and then there's the docket,
the things that are on the docket. And resolution 26063 says that there is an appropriation of $750,000 from our ARPA funds that's going to be transferred to the
county for renovations to the Eagle Tavern. So my question is why is our ARPA money being transferred to the county to do
work that we should be doing here in Trenton? Is this not economic development? Why do we have to give our money? Why are we a conduit for the money to get to
the county? The county isn't a real thing. The county is a constellation of municipalities. So essentially, our money is going to the other municipalities. This is um I think they called it regionalization.
You're taking our money and you're send you're spending it out in the region. the the head of the economic development in the county is a councilman for Hamilton. When was the last time there
was something on Hamilton's docket that talked about transferring any of their ARPA money to us? When it NEVER HAPPENS, IT FALLS only from the poor city to the richer cities. Do you guys understand what it is you're
here doing? You're selling Trenton out with this. I don't care how pretty the mayor WANT TO SAY IT. I don't care how urgent he wants to do it because his urgency is not your concern. Waiting till one week before the thing expires,
that's not the basis on which to make this decision. Our monies should not be going to the county to do something we should be doing here. Once it does that, we have no more control of the money. We
have no accounting of the money. And that is how you continue to regionalize Trenton, not just the waterworks. You could call it whatever you want to. He called it shared. He said the happy ending. No, the happy ending is when we have an economic
development authority here. Thank you. Mary Horn, >> Mary Horn, 870 Parkside Avenue, Trenton. I'd like to Good evening, council. Like to speak to 26 062 resolution.
Okay. I speak to that because it's it's not clear of what police officers or the public police or it says here that law enforcement what law enforcement are we talking about because currently
the regular police here they do not wear masks. So are we talking about Trenton police or are we talking about ICE? So, we need to clarify this because if we're talking about ICE, yes, I speak to it because when I see our young black
people defenders of of the cause, toading or whether it's true or not true, toting aka being defenders of the cause, yes, I'm of concern and yes, we tell our people to stay home and stand
down when it comes to ICE. It has nothing to do with how somebody's personal opinions are or whether we're a pro or a con. That's not the issue. What is true to the issue is that when the
jumpout boys several years ago were wearing masks and jumping out on our uh uh community, no one had nothing to say. The people had to come out and speak against that.
We never heard anything from the city. All we got was crickets until the young man was shot and paralyzed. Okay, primarily being in his car. So, if we're going to speak to some something as fur as what's going on now,
then be clear about it, say what it is. because I haven't seen any of our police officers since they we had to shut down the jumpout boys before no one said anything about it. So be
clear about it because I haven't yet I'll repeat it again. I don't see any Trenton police officers wearing masks, but I have seen the jumpout boys wearing masks and and and and using uh uh
firepower and and disabling our people. So, and yes, it needs to be said and it needs to be clarified. So, if you're going to speak to the people, then you need to talk to the people first. We are taxpayers. You don't make a broad
statement like that and say, "Oh, well, we're going to do this and we want to put through this uh uh law or resolution and speak on behalf of everyone, all the people and the taxpayers in the city of Trenton.
Make it clear. Get it out to the people. Let us know. Let us make that decision and have some say so about it." And so that's all I have to say. Thank you. Robin Washington. Robin Vaughn Robin Vaughn, 1100 Styson Avenue.
Uh, I just wanted to speak on the county resolution. Uh, no. We should not I concur with Miss Clark. We should not be using Trenton's money funds for other
uh governments. Um Dan Benson uh needs to tend to the budgetary issues and some of the potential investigations around
uh we're not funding any of that. You know, there's 85 million plus ARPA funds missing from the county. So he needs to deal with that instead of coming here dipping in our coffers and funds that are allocated to the city of Trenton, a underserved community.
So you know there are five there are 21 counties in our state. 21 counties and do you know there's only five that have a county executive? So, I would just say Dan needs to go and
I call on my Mercer County uh residents and taxpayers to engage the freeholder board, I mean the county board of commissioners to retire the role of a county executive. The five counties that have a county
executive currently are Hudson County, Atlantic County, Bergen County, Mercer County, and Exits County. All of the other miss uh governments, county governments have gotten rid of their
county exec. It's a noshow job. It has no responsibilities and uh it needs to go. and our government at the commissioner board needs to pass an ordinance to get rid of that position like all of the very um
astute counties across New Jersey. And we will join the other 20 uh uh uh what is it 19 20 counties that saw fit to get rid of the
inefficient county government. So that's all I'm going to say. No more money to Mercer County. No more money to Dan Benson. He doesn't understand conflicts of interest. He's advantaging and putting his thumb on the scale for
Hamilton Township from whence he came along with the director of economic development, Anthony Caribelli. So, they got to go. And that's all I'm going to say. And I will I hope that none of you guys fund continue to fund
the county or entertain those crooks and corrupt elected officials. So I will end there. >> Thank you, Mr. Garcia. You have any more? >> Uh no, no more, Madam President. >> Thank you. We could proceed. >> Certainly. Uh moving on with the agenda.
Madam President, if you want to ask for a motion to approve the minutes of January 6th, 2026. >> May we have a motion to approve the minutes of January 6, 2026? >> So moved. Second.
>> Thank you. Roll call. Councilwoman Edwards, >> yes. >> Councilwoman Feliciano, >> yes. >> Councilwoman Frisbee, >> yes. Councilwoman Gonzalez, >> yes.
>> Vice President Williams >> and uh Council President Figuroa Edenberg. >> Yes. >> Noted. Thank you. Hold on one moment. And Madam President, if you want to ask for a motion to approve communic communications, petitions and reports.
>> May we have a motion to approve communications petitions and report? >> So moved. >> Second. Thank you. I'm sorry. Who was the second? >> Gonzalez. >> Thank you. Roll call. Councilwoman Edwards. >> Yes. >> Councilwoman Feliciano.
>> Yes. >> Councilwoman Frisbee. >> Yes. >> Councilwoman Gonzalez. >> Yes. >> Vice President Williams is absent. Um, Council President Figuro Kenberg. >> Yes. >> Motion carry. Thank you.
And moving on to ordinances for se ordinances for second reading and public hearing. Ordinance 26-003, ordinance amending and supplementing chapter 14 of the code of the city of Trenton traffic as it applies to parking
restrictions for vans and trucks in residential areas. Are there any members of the public that wish to speak to this ordinance at this time? Seeing none, Madam President, if you want to ask for a motion to approve. May >> we have a motion to approve? >> So moved. Second.
DP. >> Thank you. Go ahead. >> Council Gonzalez. >> Yeah. I just wanted to um after speaking to several people who own small businesses who reached out um via email,
some even called um their concern was um they were under the impression that they can't even if they have a ban that has um their writing on there that they can't be in front of I know it's like two it's kind of two of the same the two different ordinance. Yes. Um, so they
they were really concerned about that because some people don't have um they may have a driveway that they may use to park, but then they may use their van to park in the um in front of their homes. Like that's their only vehicle, but it's also their business vehicle. So they
were concerned about that. So we just want to make sure that they're not going to be um ticketed. I know it says 19 ft, but even it says vans here. Also, >> Council Gonzalez, so this this is 2603. This is about the the the people parking in front of their businesses with their
business. >> So then it's 267. >> Yes, you're you're talking about 260 17. >> Yes. >> So this one is about um having the not presented by me, but yeah, this is about the businesses being able to park their vehicles in a loading zone in
front of their businesses. So I'll wait their commercial vehicles and this is only certain businesses as allowed by the city of Trenton. >> Gotcha. 17 presented by the administration. Yeah. So that's 017 when we get there. Yeah. >> Gotcha. All right. >> Okay. >> Um
>> any other questions to this ordinance, Mr. Garcia? None. There are none. We could proceed. >> Thank you. Roll call. Councilwoman Edwards. >> Yes. >> Councilwoman Feliciano. >> Yes. >> Councilwoman Frisbee, >> yes. Councilwoman Gonzalez,
>> yes. >> Vice President Williams, >> yes. >> And Council President Figuro Edenberg, >> yes. >> Motion carried. On to ordinance 26-13, calendar year
2026, ordinance to exceed the municipal budget appropriations limit and to establish a cap bank NJSA4A 4-45 4514 in the amount of 7,659,3487.
Are there any members of the public that wish to speak to this ordinance at this time? Just state your name and address for the record and you have five minutes. >> Yeah. Uh Robin Vaughn, 1100 Styverson Avenue. um the cap bank to increase that
I think uh regarding to I assume that it's going to be to fund the budget and as we well know uh the council has chose to increase the taxes on the city of Trententon
and um in light of the substantial surplus that we have out um out of the Trenton waterworks um that surplus plus should be used to help fund a budget and any other expenses we need to do. We should not be
increasing the cap bank at all. And the laws, the water acts and the local uh budget laws permit, a municipality that owns a public utility to have customers
where the rates are equalized can use our surplus unfettered without any type of interference from anyone. to use that surplus to give relief to the taxpayers that hold the
burden of funding the ex the whole uh operations of our municipalities and all our departments and services. So we don't need to increase the cap bank because we have sufficient surplus to fund it. And I'm even talking about the
reserve account. And anybody who has completed an undergraduate education and has taken a county 101, financial accounting 101 or managerial county 102, you would know what financial statement
is. You would know what a surplus is and what it means. And you would know what a reserve account is and what that is used for. for capital infrastructure and capital expenses and improvement. The
surplus is a is uh uh funds that go back to that is owed to the taxpayers who have the full obligation and back the utility by their full faith and credit of their taxpayer dollars. That's our
money and you shouldn't be increasing the cap bank of any and and and that particularly will uh increase our property taxes again. But I know some of you don't have that knowledge, but you better get it. Okay? And you better
consult with your finance director. And I don't know if you even have one. So, uh, be responsible. Do some research. Do some homework. and uh stop approving everything that comes to
your disas and I'm going to end there. CP >> uh thank you Miss Vaughn. Um I would like for this ordinance specific ordinance 26013 Mr. Cherry um would you be able to come up and explain this and
what this surplus means for all of us who don't understand? Thank you. Uh, good evening, uh, members of council. Good evening, Madame President. Um, I believe what is being referred to as a surplus for the water utility. I I just
want to be clear that this ordinance is in reference to the city's budget, the current fund. This does not have anything to do with the water utility. And this does not increase the budget. It does not increase taxes. What this
does is every year the state of New Jersey has what is called an appropriations cap. And that essentially says that the total amount you spend uh the next year can only be 2% higher
than what you spent the previous year. And as we all know, especially these days, expenses sometimes go up more than 2%. So what this ordinance says is two things. one, you can spend up to three and a half% more instead of 2%.
And if you don't spend that much, it puts it in what is called a cap bank. So it says even if you don't spend that much, we're going to count your next year's budget as if you had spent that much. And when we don't adopt this, it
actually restricts our appropriations and causes us to have to go to DCA more often to say we can't make it at this limit. We've got to spend more. Our expenses are going up more. Um the one year we didn't adopt this ordinance,
we're actually still paying for. We'd have an appropriations cap that's somewhere between5 to7 million higher and we'd have to not be seeking DCA's permission to exceed that cap if we had continued to adopt these ordinances um
annually. And this is not unique to Trenton. This has nothing to do with um a positive or negative financial situation. In fact, municipalities that have plenty of revenue are adopting these kind of ordinances every year.
Municipalities that are in worse financial situations adopt this ordinance every year. Um DCA refers to it as the cost of living ordinance and it is recommended by DCA that we adopt these these ordinances.
>> Thank you so much, Mr. Chair. Appreciate it. Thank you. Moving forward. Uh, Mr. Garcia, >> are there any other members of the public that wish to speak to this ordinance at this time? Seeing none, madam president, if you want to ask for a motion to approve. >> May I have a motion to approve? >> So moved.
>> Second. >> Thank you. Roll call. Councilwoman Edwards. >> Yes. >> Councilwoman Feliciano, >> yes. >> Councilwoman Frisbee, >> yes. >> Councilwoman Gonzalez, >> yes.
Vice President uh Williams. >> Yes. >> And Council President Figuro Kenberg. >> Yes. >> Motion carried. Ordinance 26-16, Ordinance amending Chapter 132, property maintenance of the
code of the city of Trenton to add article 10 entitled long-term vacancy and stalled redevelopment properties to establish standard search charges and enforcement mechanisms for prolonged vacant and inactive
redevelopment sites. Are there any members of the public that wish to speak to this ordinance at this time? Seeing none, Madam President, if you want to ask for a motion to approve. >> May we have a motion to approve. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Okay, that was moved by
>> Williams CVP. >> Thank you. And the second >> Gonzalez. >> Thank you. Roll call. Councilwoman Edwards, >> yes. >> Councilwoman Feliciano, >> yes. >> Councilwoman Frisbee, >> yes. >> Councilwoman Gonzalez,
>> yes. Vice President Williams. >> Yes. >> And Council President Figuroa Kevinberg. >> Yes. >> Motion carried. Ordinance 26-17, ordinance prohibiting the parking of certain vehicles on city streets with
within the city of Trenton. Are there any members of the public that wish to speak to this ordinance at this time? Go right ahead. Robin Vaughn, 1100 Stson Avenue. I spoke to this ordinance, I believe, when it was on first reading. And of course,
major concerns. There's no city that allows businesses to park 24/7 in front of their uh businesses. Not and certainly nowhere in Mercer County and Princeton and nowhere else.
>> Miss Fawn, I'm sorry. This this was the previous ordinance that you're speaking to. So the businesses parking in front of their business, the the vehicles, the commercial vehicles. >> I thought that was it. >> That was all three. No. >> Oh, I'm sorry. Apologies. >> Okay. Okay. Thank you. >> Are there any other members of the
public that wish to speak to this ordinance at this time? Seeing none, Madam President, if you want to ask for a motion to approve. May we have >> so moved CP? I'm sorry. Yeah. So I I did the same thing uh Miss Vaughn did and mixed them
up. But um yeah, so after speaking to um some of the businesses, there were a lot of small businesses who reached out um in regards to this with concerns of them um being ticketed. Some have mainly the people that I heard from had vans and their issue was their van is their
business. Yes. but it is their vehicle that they have in front of their homes. So, it's not like anything that's large. So, they had a lot of concerns with that. So, I just wanted to, you know, just let that be known that there are some people who have some issues with this being in being not able to park in
front of their actual homes if they have a, you know, that's their working van, but it's also their form of trans transportation also. >> Thanks. >> Thank you. I mean, if it if it falls in one of these categories, I know myself and um uh Mr. Colli had gone back and
forth as well as um uh Director Bridges and as well as Mr. Santo about what would apply because the original ordinance as it read just applied to commercial vehicles with the name of the business on it and um ladder vehicles
basic ladder trucks. Um, and yeah, that that already applied that they could not park on residential streets from, I believe, 8:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. or 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. I forget exactly what it was. Um, so this was just to add some of those vehicles that did not um were not
in that initial ordinance. Um, 8 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. I'm sorry. Uh, that that's when they can park. Um, so basically we were just adding other vehicles that again did not have the business name or did not have a ladder truck or did not
have commercial plates. Um, and bas uh for the most part it's vehicles 19 feet in length and larger. >> So that's how this applies. >> Yeah. Yeah. I explained they just I feel like they they they are not >> um they're not excited about this one.
Okay. I just wanted to state that for the record because I did receive about seven or eight phone calls and emails about that. >> Okay. >> Thank you. >> Mr. Garcia, we could proceed. >> Oh, we have any Oh, C. Um, Council Vice President Williams. >> Okay. If my other colleagues would like to go first, that's fine.
>> Councilwoman Edwards. >> Oh, >> yes. So, if you guys honestly, if you guys could actually ask me when you're ready to speak instead of me just looking at your lights, that would be helpful. Council Vice President Williams. >> Okay. Um, I was just quick question. I know uh I'd asked before about dump
trucks and cement mixers. So I didn't um happen to see them listed clearly. So uh are we the way they decided not to add those in because it wasn't necessary or >> Mr. Mr. Clogi, wouldn't those apply to
trucks over 19 ft in length? Um, I had drafted several versions of this ordinance and the one that I handed in, my understanding is there were some additional changes made which I haven't seen. If the clerk will give me if there's a copy of the final ordinance,
I'll answer any questions you have. >> So, I I particularly did not see any additional changes to this. I think that there was a conversation as to um council vice president Williams um as adding those additional vehicles, but I
I was under the impression that they did fall under um the trucks that were over 19 ft. >> If I recall from docker review, I understand that there was some qu that was mentioned, but I don't recall being instructed to make any changes. >> Correct. >> All right. Well, then the ordinance
stands as it was written. Is there >> as it was written? And I believe I don't believe there was any changes. I'll hand it over to you, sir. Nor to >> council president. >> Yeah, council Luciano. >> Thank you. So, I do recall council vice president asking for two other kind of
vehicles or something being added to this. Um she spoke to an amendment or something. I do I do recall vaguely, but she did ask um for that >> when last when last we met. I thought at the last meeting, right? Yeah, she asked at the last meeting.
>> Council, please. You're absolutely correct. And I think what it was was that um they exceeded the 19 ft that is named in this ordinance here. I'm looking up here. The average dump truck is 20 to 30 feet in length.
>> So, it would exceed the 19 ft. >> Thank you. >> So, to not have to label it specifically. >> All right. Um, and it just just maybe for public works in the room just over time if it looks like we're also I don't know if they're smaller than 19, but with trucks of great weight that get
parked overnight, they really do damage our sidewalks and our streets. So, just not to affect this this ordinance at all. I think it's a good ordinance. >> Thank you, council vice. I mean what I'm looking at is yeah triacle heavy dump trucks are 26 to 30 ft long and the
standard tandem dump trucks are 20 to 26. Um if it would make you feel more comfortable to actually name those we can amend that on the on the deis if you'd like. We can name cement. >> I would appreciate just so it's identified or ma'am. That's fine. Um
Brandon um Mr. Garcia, if we are able to amend that to add dump trucks and cement trucks to this ordinance. Um, >> is there a motion to do so? >> So moved. >> Second >> notice. So that's moved by
>> council president. Council Luciano. >> Can we just amend letter C to say pick up trucks, pick up dump trucks, and whatever the other truck is? >> Yeah. Yeah, that's fine. Yeah, that that would be part of that. Yeah, we didn't go specific where it would be, but yes, thank you. >> Pickup trucks, uh, dump trucks, um,
cement trucks exceeding 19 feet in length. >> So, excuse me, council president. Uh, subsection E says trucks or vans of any type exceeding 19 ft in length. >> Exactly. Yes. >> So, any truck, whether it's a dump truck, a cement truck, or anything
that's more than 19 feet in length, would be covered by this. >> So, thank I mean that was my sentiment, Mr. Colloji. Um just trying to satisfy council on this ordinance. Um Council Vice President Williams, are you satisfied with that? >> Yeah, as long as Mr. Colloji legally,
we're I'm fine. Thank you, ma'am. >> Okay. Thank you. We could leave it alone. Mr. >> That motion withdrawn. >> Yes. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> With that being said, roll call. Councilwoman Edwards, >> yes. >> Councilwoman Feliciano,
>> yes. >> Councilwoman Frisbee, >> yes. Councilwoman Gonzalez. >> Um, I am going to abstain. >> Noted. Thanks. >> Vice President Williams. >> Yes. >> And Council President Figuro Edenberg.
>> Yes. >> Motion carried. Moving on to resolutions. Madam President, are there any resolutions that you or the council wishes to extract from potential consent agenda this evening? I do understand that there are some that we will be going into executive session. several
that will be going into executive session for which I imagine will require a roll call vote. I'll defer to one of the uh attorneys. >> Council President, >> Council Feliciano, >> thank you. >> Um this one is going to be minor, but
2662. >> Me too. Me too. >> Uh 2647. >> 2648. >> Hold on. Hold on one second. Councilwoman, hold on. Uh 260 >> 062
>> 047 048. Thank you. >> One sec. Uh >> okay. Thank you >> CP. I have >> Yes. 62. >> Okay. >> And just a small uh addition to 66 if
everyone's in agreement. >> 66. >> One sec. One second. Second. Where's 66? It's a um Oh, I got it. Under um director Harris >> and 26062 as well.
>> 062. Okay. Anyone else? Perfect. Thank you. Okay. 26062. >> Thank you. So, um, based upon feedback that we heard tonight, uh, I'd be, uh,
if if it's the pleasure of the council and councilwoman Gonzalez where we would amend this to say which would prohibit ICE law enforcement officers because that's who we speaking to, right? >> Yes. But I also wanted to include all I
know our current police officers don't use masks, but it was like to any police like >> Yeah. prosecute whoever. >> Council President, >> yes, this is >> Yes, Mr. Collie. >> This isn't our own uh enactment. What we're doing here is we're expressing
support for a bill that's before the legislature, S3112. And I don't have the bill in front of me, but my recollection is it prohibits any federal, state, county, or local law enforcement from either wearing masks or
disguising themselves during their official duties. and their interaction with uh the public except for very limited exceptions uh undercover operation, a medical situation. So um this was drafted by the legislature and
we're expressing support for the bill as a whole. >> So then to that point, can we I mean when we see it, can you say federal, state, local, county, whoever? >> Yeah, it says the bill itself I know it
says for his law enforcement >> office in ICE like specifically I think ICE is clearly subsumed within the ambit of federal state county or local law enforcement officer >> it's listed on and whereas but it doesn't say ICE I I would agree um again
this is we we would be ask we would be supporting a bill >> right >> asking the legislature to amend the bill based on our support of and to be very candid I respectfully submit I don't think the legislature has the ability to govern federal law enforcement, but that's for the legislature to figure
out. >> Okay. And then just one thing, the spelling of insure should be e n s u r e. Thank you. Consent for me. >> Yes. >> Thank you, council woman. >> Thank you, council. Consent. Okay. Thank you. Consent.
>> Yes. I apologize. Yes. So with this same bill, the same resolution, I don't see where it says so if they don't, what are do we have something in place? What are the repercussions? How do we enforce this if we see them in our community?
>> Um what what does the community have as a um an alternative? If they see them in the community, what do they do? What what could they do? Well, if if this passes the legislature, it's going to be
a law in the state of New Jersey. And if someone violates the law, they're subject to punishment as a disorderly persons under the disorderly person statute. They're subject to a fine. They're actually subject to potential jail time. Now, how is that going to
play out? You know, I have no idea. I mean, are the Trenton police going to arrest an ice guy if he comes in with a mask on >> and charge him with a disorderly person's offense? And he I you know, this this all >> it was developing law. The question is, as Mr. Bridges, you know, raised, does
the state have the authority to regulate ICE and to impose these restrictions. The courts are going to eventually get to all this and we're going to find out. But right now, just taking it a step at a time. Let's say this is a good idea and see where it goes. Thank you, Mr. Colloji.
>> Thank you. >> Thank you. Thank you. And and just to be clear, this is this is a resolution in support of what the legislation correct does with regards to this. Thank you. >> Um all right, moving forward, Mr. uh Garcia, we are on to
um 26047. Councilwoman Feliciana. >> Thank you, Madam President. Just a quick question here. I see we're taking money from the from the crossing guards and then communication salaries and wages and then money from the rent
stabilization board salary um and wages. Just some clarity on what's happening, right? And then we're moving like you know 3.5 mil from
from police salary and wages as well. um give us some context just so we're all clear on what exactly is happening. Was that due to positions not being filled? >> Um good evening uh Colin Cherry assistant
business administrator. There are a variety of reasons depending on the particulars. uh the police salary and wage that 3.5 million almost in its entirety is going into the salary and wage adjustment program which is what it
was for last year. We're just moving it into that uh line so we can put it in the trust for salary wage adjustment. Um these other things, some are unexpended balances and small amounts. Some the salary wages are typically because uh
position wasn't filled or was only filled later in the year but had been budgeted for the whole year. So whatever was unexpended um and just for the public edification just to be clear this is regarding calendar year 2025. So
these are the budget year that has passed. So, we know for a fact that these are the dollar amounts that are uh unexpended and we're kind of moving them into the places that need them or um in the case of the salary and wage
adjustment putting them there so that they can be put in the trust and used uh in the future once contracts are settled. >> And the communication salary and wages, what does that deal with? uh that is the police department's
um division of communications. So those are some unexpended uh balances both for positions that remain unfilled or are working to be filled but had some portion of the of the year in calendar year 25 when they
were not filled. >> Okay. And then okay so to the two part where it's the salary and wage adjustment program it's to account for guess what when contracts are settled or whatever and then you all have to
>> spread the money. >> Yeah. So that that uh trust that line item and the trust that accompanies it are used to pay retropays essentially once contracts are settled so that we have a bunch of a surplus of funds that
we can utilize so we're not looking for those funds in the budget year when the contract gets settled. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Of course. >> Consent. >> CP can I just ask one quick question? It's It's not.
>> Thank you. Um, Mr. Cherry, it's really just um because she just brought up the the Where was it at? Um, the crossing guards. Are we How many vacancies do we still have for that? A lot. >> Give me the crossing guards.
>> I know this isn't a police word, but I just figure because there's been several people that reach out about the crossing guard positions, but I'm just curious as to how many we still have left. Um, I just spoke with the director. We have about 25 vacancies. However, we
have a number of applications and uh, individuals are currently going through the background check process. >> Oh, okay. Yeah, I was going to say there's been several people that reached out. So, I was just curious. Okay. >> We have a a good number. We we've seen a surge in applicants. Okay. >> So, we're just going through the process. So, we do expect those
vacancies to be filled. Okay. >> Uh, they just have not been filled >> as of today. >> Gotcha. Thank you so much. Thank you, Mr. Cherry. I mean, I know that a number of um schools have reached out with needs for crossing guards that they don't have them. So, appreciate that.
Thank you. Um any other questions, >> council president? >> Yes, council. >> I'm sorry. So, then we're taking the money from the crossing guards, spreading it into these other accounts over here. So, when we see the new budget coming up, we'll see another line item for crossing guards for the for the
next year. Yes, you're going to still see a line item for crossing guards. Um I don't have the that item in front of me, but I suspect that the number hasn't changed from what was uh requested last year. We
just this represents unexpended funds. So where we weren't able to fill those vacancies, so there was funding authorization left over and we're just moving that money over to places that needed it for last year. And how come we weren't able to fill the positions?
>> I my understanding is that we had some some ders of applications for a period of time. Um but we have since received a quite the ground swell of interest. So we're very very hopeful that we'll be
able to fill them for this year. >> Thank you. >> Consent. Okay. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Cherry. Um, Council Feliciano, was it 26048 or 49? >> 48. >> 48. Thank you. >> I'll be quick. Just so it says here in
the title, uh, the authorizing of the temporary emergency budget appropriations, right, of the fund of 110,000. >> Yes. >> Uh, >> never mind. I was looking at the 69,998, but it said including Yeah. I mean, 6
69. Never mind. I'm good. Thank you. Consent. Thank you, Councilwoman. >> All right. Uh, moving forward, we have 26066. Councilwoman Gonzalez. >> Yes. Just real quick, um, I just want to
see, can we add, um, two to the list to have a representative um, for the Ecuadorian Association and the Trenton Multicultural Society, which is pretty much um, our Asian community. Council President,
>> Councilwoman McDonald. Oh, >> so Councilwoman Gonzalez, excellent question. The thing is there's only >> 15 >> 15 >> um there's only 15 that can be that can
be added. Um, if it's the administration's pleasure, we'd have you'd have to look to to >> take something off >> to put something on. But these meetings don't restrict other people from coming
to the meetings. >> Yeah. No, no, no. I I get that. I'm just or maybe we can amend it to increase the amount of people or on the board because you don't. >> So then we would have to go back to the original ordinance that I presented and then we'd have to increase it there to increase it here. But I don't have a
problem, you know, doing that. We can do that at the next meeting. So let's look into that. What were the two that you asked for? >> Yep. Okay. >> Who can you say the names again? >> Um it was the Ecuadorian Civic Association and then Trenton Multicultural Society. That's pretty
much um our Asian population. >> Council President, if I may just clar point of clarification. >> Um under the enabling ordinance, we're capped at 15. >> I know that's so if we were to >> um amend this to increase it. That would
be kind of um backwards. We would have to amend that enabling ordinance. We're not doing that. Director Bridges. Well, I just asked her to just tell me the name so I knew what they were. I just said that we will go back and amend the original ordinance to 17 and then we can run this back again if it's the
administration's pleasure to add those two and then we're good. >> So >> I just wanted the names of what she wanted. That's all. So we're fine. >> You're not going to consider it today then. Is that >> No, no. We're going to leave it like it is today, but then when we for the next meeting, we'll amend the other ordinance
to 17 and then we'll bring it back with the other two to add to the list. So, if if I'm clear, we are going to Are we going to >> to move this resolution today and then do an amendment to the ordinance and then presents another resolution with the other two? >> We're going to we're going to table
this. >> We're going to No, we're going to we're going to do this today. >> Okay. >> And then I'm going to present an amendment to the original ordinance to increase the number to 17. Right. >> And then at the same time, once we do that, then we can after that time, then
we can add the other two. Yeah. >> Yeah. That that's what I was saying. >> But tonight is as is council. >> So tonight as is amend the ordinance and then add you two add another do another resolution with two additional but tonight just like this. >> That's what I thought. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Yep.
>> Thanks EP. >> Proceed. >> Um and having said that uh there's no more questions to the docket. We can proceed. Mr. Garcia. >> Excuse me. Certainly, Madam President. At this time, then if you would like to
ask for a motion to approve a consent agenda consisting of 26062. One moment, please. 26067. We'll take a motion to go into executive there afterwards.
26068 26047 048 excluding 049 through 0456 excluding 057 including 26063
064 4 058 059 26-60 and 20 26-066 61 and 65. >> May we have a motion to approve and 69. Oh, I'm sorry.
>> Oh, I'm sorry. And 69, the walk- on. Thank you. >> Yes, the walk on. Yes. Thank you, Councilwoman Frisbee. Yes. >> Motion. >> So moved. Second. >> Thank you. We got Oh, I'm sorry. Council President. >> Yes. >> We got 063, too, right?
>> Yes. >> Yes. >> That's in there. Okay. Yes, ma'am. Good. Thank you. >> Roll call. Councilwoman Edwards. >> Yes. >> Councilwoman Feliciano, >> yes. >> Councilwoman Frisbee, >> yes. >> Councilwoman Gonzalez, >> yes.
>> Vice President Williams, >> yes. >> Council President Figuro Kenberg, >> yes. >> Motion carried. On to ordinances for first reading and introduction. Ordinance 26-005, ordinance authorizing the sale of
city-owned property commonly known as 340 Rutherford Avenue and identified on the city tax as block 4403 lot 34 pursuant to NJSA 481213C to Vladimir Castillo for the sale price
of $12,500. May we have a motion to approve? So moved. Second. >> Roll call. Councilwoman Edwards. >> Yes. >> Councilwoman Feliciano. >> Council President. >> Councilwoman Feliciano.
>> I just want to be clear with these. Now the Y'all met about this, right? >> Yeah. >> That's why we're looking at it. We met about them, but they're still the older um ordinances, but we did meet about them. Yes. >> Okay. >> But they on here because y'all good with
them being on here. >> That's the question, >> right? >> Okay. Yes, then. Councilwoman Edward said yes. So, yes, then >> to first. >> Thank you. >> And then, so I'm going to piggyback on that. So the old ordinances,
those are going to be presented to us and that's going to be in a very timely manner. >> Correct. >> Okay. Yes. Um so I just wanted to be clear um I I did make it clear that I was allowing all these ordinances for
the property sales on the on the docket um for council to vote accordingly. I understand that things will be changing moving forward. My position for these older ordinances remains the same. Um, and I have made that abundantly clear. I
am abstaining. Thank you, Council President. I'm sorry. >> I mean, are y'all good with it or not? >> I'm sorry all, but with all due respect, we got a motion on the floor at this time. It's to vote or not to vote. >> Thank you. My turn.
>> Yes. Yes. Mhm. >> Thank you, >> Vice President Williams. >> Yes. >> Council President Figuroa Kevinberg. >> CP. No.
>> Council President, >> abstain. >> Noted. Thank you. That motion carries. Ordinance 26-009. An ordinance authorizing the sale of city-owned property commonly known as 408 and 440 Walnut Avenue identified on
the city tax map. It's block 26602 lots 30 and 14 pursuant to NJSA 481 1213C to Napoleon Pitts for the sale price of $23,650. And Madam President, if you want to ask for a motion to approve.
>> Motion to approve. So moved. >> Second. Roll call. Councilwoman Edwards. >> Yes. >> Councilwoman Feliciano. >> Yes. >> Councilwoman Frisbee. >> Yes.
>> Councilwoman Gonzalez. >> Yes. Yes. >> Vice President Williams. >> Yes. >> Council President Figuro Genberg. >> Yes. >> Noted. Motion carried. Ordinance 26-10, ordinance authorizing the sale of
city-owned property, commonly known as 444 to 446 West Hover Street, identified on the city tax map as block 2301, lots three, three, and two, pursuant to NJSA 481213B5
to Robin S. Washington for the sale price of $2,000. >> CP, maybe I have a motion to approve. So moved. Second. >> Thank you. Roll call. Councilwoman Edwards, >> yes. >> Councilwoman Feliciano,
>> yes. >> Councilwoman Frisbee, >> yes. >> Councilwoman Gonzalez, >> yes. >> Vice President Williams, >> yes. >> Council President Figaro Kenberg, >> yes.
>> Ordinance motion carried. Ordinance 26-11. Ordinance authorizing authorizing the sale of city-owned property commonly known as 468 Riverside Avenue and identified on the city tax map as block 3103 lot 25 pursuant to NJSA 481213C
to Kim Moore for the sale price of $20,000. Madam President, if you want to ask for a motion to approve. >> Oh yes, we have a motion to approve. So move. Second. >> Thank you, >> Mr. Garcia. Yes. Quickly, before we
proceed with these, I just want to be clear on my council. Um, these properties were on the docket prior. They had been pulled. They had been moved back on. We had asked for certain things in the HD subcommittee of what we want for these properties moving forward. Um, having said that, we are
hopeful that those things moving forward will be put into place. These were older applications. So that's I agree to allow these on the docket. Um and that's why they are here. And I, as I said, I would allow my council to vote accordingly as
you have been the past year or so. Um that's why these are on the docket. I am still not comfortable myself and how they were being put forward before and that's why I am maintaining my abstension. Just wanted to be clear. Mr. Garcia, you can proceed.
>> Certainly. Uh, I believe we're at roll call. Councilwoman Edwards, >> yes. >> Councilwoman Feliciano, >> yes. >> Councilwoman Frisbee, >> yes. >> Councilwoman Gonzalez, >> yes. >> Vice President Williams,
>> yes. >> And Council President Figuro, >> abstain. >> Noted. Motion carried. Ordinance 26-12. Ordinance authorizing authorizing the sale of city-owned property commonly known as 560 North Clinton Avenue and identified on the city tax map as block
21902 lot 4 pursuant to NJSA 481213C to Kim Moore for the sale price of $10,000. >> Madam President, if you want to ask for a motion to approve. >> We have a motion to approve. So moved. Second.
>> Roll call. Councilwoman Edwards. >> Yes. Councilwoman Feliciano, >> yes. >> Councilwoman Frisbee, >> yes. >> Councilwoman Gonzalez, >> yes. >> Vice President Williams, >> yes. >> Council President Figuro Kevin, >> abstain.
>> Noted. Motion carried. Ordinance 26-18, ordinance authorizing the sale of city-owned property commonly known as 16 Murray Street and identified on the city tax maps block 2605 lot 26 pursuant to
NJSA 481213C to Rammon Jimenez for the sale price of $13,000. >> May we have a motion to approve? So moved. Second. >> Thank you. Roll call. Councilwoman Edwards,
>> yes. >> Councilwoman Feliciano, >> yes. >> Councilwoman Frisbee, >> yes. >> Councilwoman Gonzalez, >> yes. >> Vice President Williams, >> yes. >> Council President Edenberg, >> abstain.
>> Noted. Motion carried. Ordinance 26-9, ordinance rescending the sale of city-owned property previously authorized to Luis Pesantes and Renee Reyes pursuant to ordinance
25-054. >> May we have a motion to approve? So moved. >> Second. >> Thank you. Roll call. Councilwoman Edwards. >> Yes. Councilwoman Feliciano,
>> yes. >> Councilwoman Frisbee, >> yes. >> Councilwoman Gonzalez, >> yes. >> Vice President Williams, >> yes. >> Council President Figuro Keber, >> abstain. >> Notice. >> Council President. >> Yes, ma'am. >> Can I just ask a quick question?
>> So, on this rescending of the one, right, it said the structure had worsened. They had subsequent inspections and evaluations, right? It was an imminent hazard, blah blah blah. Are they doing inspections on these
properties before now we're even doing these sales? Like is the city doing inspections on them? >> So council >> because I know that there was a question before where you were questioning about they were saying that it only takes $100,000 to approve all of these
properties and that was like a standard number. >> But how do we get to that number if no one goes out and inspects the properties to come to that number? And now here we are reading this that says the structure is worsened. It's hazardous. They got to fully demolish it.
What now is the fix as far as inspections? Are they are they doing them or not? >> Thank you, Councilwoman. That was exactly my question. Um the short answer is yes. Um Miss Vasquez, could you speak to this, please? Good evening, council president, members
of council. Yolanda Vasquez, interim director of housing and economic development. For this particular property, there was an eminent hazard for the two 271 Tiger Street. Um, we had a person come in, they wanted to purchase it.
Now, we can't get in contact with that person. So we needed to move forward, resend this so that we can stabilize the property. >> But um Miss um to that it did say that the the
property was in such a disarray or incapacitated or hazardous um that that was the reason. It wasn't because we couldn't get in touch with these people. That's how the ordinance reads because they would not come forward to do any work to the property. So once we saw they weren't coming
forward, it came into an imminent hazard and we were going to have to step in. >> All right. So this this wasn't presented before in the HD subcommittee that it wasn't that it was because they weren't coming forward. It was presented because they didn't really know what they were getting into or they did because it was
sold asis or what have you, which was a concern. >> Let me I'm sorry. Let me clarify. It was explained to this applicant what they had to do. >> Mhm. Once they saw what they had to do, they were not going to come back to do it. They wanted to do the work by
themselves without hiring a licensed contractor and for this type of job. They were not qualified. >> But did they vocalize that that we are not going to go forward with the sale of this property because it's too much for us as stated in this ordinance?
>> Yes, they told one staff member, Miss Pabone. >> Okay. Okay. because like I said that they just didn't come back forward to complete the sale and saying because of these hazardous conditions the property cannot
be safely transferred or conveyed in its current state are two different things. >> So we need this ordinance to relate exactly why the reason is that this is being rescended. >> Okay. >> Council Luciano,
>> did you have a question? >> No. >> Okay. So, thank you. So, for everything that's going to be done to this place, because it's it's a wreck, is the value to to do whatever is going to be done greater than $100,000?
>> Definitely. >> Right. So again, then is the question when these people are coming out to purchase these properties, are you all doing inspections on your end or are you requiring the people to have an inspection done that maybe they take in
the that fee? Somebody should be inspecting this stuff to see what's going on. Is that happening or are we just flat out saying everything is $100,000? Yeah, go ahead and buy it. and then they're just kind of left out there because we've already had a situation like this with somebody already before
where you know it it we ended up putting in additional monies to help this rectify their issue. Are you is your department doing inspections on the properties when people come out to buy? >> We are currently doing inspections now. Also moving forward we're going to be
requesting for quotes for the repairs to be submitted to council. >> Right. Okay. And then with that then to verify that they would have the funds to be able to do everything. The the whole thing is and again I just I just want to say this um on record to be clear,
right? Um thank you for all the meetings that we've had in the discussions that we've had. While we do want to make sure that these properties move in the city and we do want people in the city to own properties and be homeowners and all of that, we want to make sure that they are
making good decisions in what they're doing. So the city wants to move it because we want this the the property back on the tax ro at the detriment of the residents. That that's my standpoint on it, right? And so that's why when we were meeting and just grilling down to
say produce this for us and produce this for us and produce this for us. Again, it would then go back to the fact of saying if we had proper leadership in the Hed department in the form of an HED director, and it's not a slight
against anyone. and I know that you're acting and thank you for doing your part, interim director Vasquez, and for everything you do. But if we had adequate leadership in the Hed department that could take things like this, it shouldn't have taken council going back four, five, six, seven,
eight, she's still abstaining from stuff like it shouldn't take all that for us to get to where we need to be to make this right for the residents in the city. It's nice to have it on the tax roll. with that. But I want people to know and make good conscious decisions
when they're going and buying this stuff and make sure that we do our due diligence um to make sure that that happens. So I just wanted to say that um out loud yet again on the record so that we're all clear. But I thank you now for now implementing doing the um
inspections and everything. I appreciate that. I think that that things may hopefully get better um with that being done. Thank you. Thank you, Council President. Um, Director Bridges, I have a quick question. Um, given given um, interim director uh, Vasquez's kind of
testimony that, you know, they kind of just didn't come back. Um, but then the language is in this ordinance. Um, can you just kind of speak to are you comfortable with us maintaining this ordinance as it reads or should something be amended in it?
>> Well, if I could just get a point of clarification, the sale has not been completed yet. Is that correct? So I think a key part that's missing to to answer your question um I am fine going forward if we want to amend it to say because the um proposed purchaser has not come forward to make this structure
safe the city is thereby rescending it so we can make it safe. Reason being this is still city-owned property and it's an imminent hazard and if it is not secured and someone should get hurt or it should fall whatever the case may be we are liable. So the the real thrust and the real reason that this recision
is coming before you is not so much the vetting or the inspection or the ability to the person is not coming to make this place safe and we because we own it have to make it safe or we will be sued for any injuries there. So to the extent we want to add some language just to reflect that that would be fine. It's not a substantive major change. It's
more clarifying why we're rescending it. >> Director So thank you. Um I do you have a question? >> Oh go one quick one quick question. Hold on. So before I I I go to them. So we would essentially be making a motion to
resend the vote to accept the ordinance and then making a motion to amend it and then redoing our votes. Would that would be how we'd have to proceed? >> This would be rescending the the sale that was approved by council. You're basically resend. But I mean we already voted this. We already went across the
board to vote to to introduce it. Would we have to rescend the introduction to amend it or no? No. Okay. >> I mean, I'm I I I personally the best practice be to to vote on it as is, as it's written. We now have clarification. The public has heard what the reason behind it is and why we need to do it.
So, I mean, I think it accomplishes the same thing. We want to add um due to an action by the proposed purchaser, we can do that as well. >> So, we can amend it before second reading basically. >> Yes. Okay. Um any my council colleagues have any further questions? >> Okay. Thank you, Mr. Garcia. We could
proceed. Thank you. Ordinance 26-20, an ordinance amending ordinance 25-148, which created the position of economic development representative for for the
department of housing and economic development, division of economic development. >> May we have a motion to um approve? So move second. >> Roll call. Councilwoman Edwards.
>> Yes. Councilwoman Feliciano, >> yes. >> Councilwoman Frisbee, >> yes. >> Councilwoman Gonzalez, >> yes. >> Vice President Williams, >> yes. >> Council President Figuro Edenberg,
>> yes. >> Motion carried. Ordinance 26-21, an ordinance authorizing the conveyance of city-owned property located on South Broad Street and identified on the city of Treton tax map as block 1630 uh 16308
lot 8 and to the county of Mercer NJS NJSA 481213 for compensation $42,800. May we have a motion to approve? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Um really quickly um before you do the
roll call. Um I just want to thank the city of Trenton and the county of Mercer for this. Um this was presented um and the the city of Trenton with the county of Mercer did a great negotiation um to come to this amount for $42,800
for this property that they are going to rehabilitate. Um, so I'm I appreciate both parties. You can proceed. >> Roll call. Councilwoman Edwards, >> yes. >> Councilwoman Feliciano, >> yes. >> Councilwoman Frisbee, >> yes.
>> Councilwoman Gonzalez, >> yes. >> Vice President Williams, >> yes. >> Council President Figuro Kevinberg, >> yes. >> Motion carried. >> Council President, >> yes. Counciloman Feliciano, >> when we we get through these last two,
can we just before we break, just have somebody from the administration just briefly explain the ownership of the Eagle Tavern so that everyone understands exactly what happened with that if you don't mind once we get through these two here. >> Yes, ma'am. >> Thank you.
>> Yep. >> Proceed, Mr. Garcia. Ordinance 26-22, ordinance authorizing the transfer of city-owned property identified on the city of Trenton tax map as block 1601
lot 6.01 6.02 6.03 03 and all right Fru Huh >> Fruacher >> Y >> Fruenacher Alley pursuant to NJSA 4812
AG to the county of Mercer for the sum of $1. >> And we have a motion to approve. So moved. Second. >> Roll call. Councilwoman Edwards. Sorry, I was um wondering
Nothing is missing. abstain. >> Noted. Thank you. Councilwoman Feliciano. >> Yes. >> Councilwoman Frisbee. >> Yes. >> Councilwoman Gonzalez. >> Yes. >> Vice President Williams. >> Yes.
>> Council President Figuro Edenberg. >> Yes. Motion carried. >> Mr. Garcia. Um, uh, Miss, uh, Councilwoman Edwards noted abstension may also apply to 26021. Could we do that vote again? >> We get a motion for reconsideration of
the ordinance. >> May we have a motion for reconsideration of ordinance 26021? >> So, move. >> Thank you. Roll call. Councilwoman Edwards. >> And this is just a rec. This is for reconsideration.
>> Yes. >> Councilwoman Feliciano. >> Yes. >> Councilwoman Frisbee. >> Yes. >> Councilwoman Gonzalez. >> Yes. >> Vice President Williams. >> Yes. >> Council President Figuro Kenberg. >> Yes. >> Thank you. And if uh we've got a motion to approve.
>> May we have a motion to approve? >> So move. >> Second. >> Hold on one second here. >> That was moved by Feliciano, second by Frisbee. Correct. Thank you. And roll call once again. Um,
Councilwoman Edwards, >> abstain. >> Thank you. Councilwoman Feliciano, >> yes. >> Councilwoman Frisbee, >> yes. >> Councilwoman Gonzalez, >> yes. >> Vice President Williams, >> yes. >> Council President Figuro Keber,
>> yes. >> Motion carried. Uh, ordinance 26-023, ordinance authorizing the sale of city-owned property identified on the city of Trenton tax map as block 11403,
lot 4.01, pursuant to NJSA 4812G to the county of Mercer for the sum of $139,500. >> May we have a motion to approve? So move. >> Second. Roll call. Councilwoman Edwards. >> Abstain.
>> Noted. >> Councilwoman Feliciano. >> Yes. >> Councilwoman Frisbee, >> yes. >> Councilwoman Gonzalez, >> yes. >> Councilwoman William, um, Vice President Williams, >> yes.
>> And Council President Figuro Kberg, >> yes. >> Motion carried. And I just want to check with the attorneys very quickly. I only asked for a motion to reconsider the ordinance. The vote had passed. Am I okay with the latter vote now in that in
that order? Thank you. Thank you. Um, thank you to the law department for that. And Madame President, at this time I believe we reached the point of public comment. >> I agree. Yes, we can. >> Can I have the public comment clipboard,
please? Based on the amount of individuals listed, you will have a Yes, there are. Madam President, we have 10 individuals listed for public comment. Public comment will be five minutes for each individual, I take it. >> Correct. >> You may address any item that you wish.
The council is not obligated to respond. >> Thank you. >> First person listed is Kevin Sirinberg. I hope I got that correct. Thank you. Please state your name and address for the record. You're going to want to hit
that little red but that's the one. >> Kevin Sarberg, 1502 Lamardon Road, Trenton. Uh I came here tonight to just let everybody know the Trenton Sewer Authority is leaking in one of its towers. Um you don't see it all the time because like the last three weeks it's frozen, but during the summer months
when there's no rain, New Jersey occasionally has dry weather. and the road that I come in on is wet. Um, this was years ago. They actually did work on that same tower and the problem was fixed, but now lately it's it's leaking
and you could see frozen brown ice around a door around the tower. So, I apologize. I'm just letting you know that I drive through that when it melts and it's just one of those things where you go home, you pick up your kids, I'm
hitting a car wash every other day and it's it's not good. So hopefully there's enough funding to take a look at that and hopefully and sorry to bring it upon everyone here. I don't know who to call. I don't want to go into the sewer authority and start knocking on doors.
It's just it's it smells. So, God bless the people that work there. Um, can't thank them enough. You know, they do a job that nobody wants to do. So, um, but there is a serious situation on one of the towers. There's three towers and one
of them's leaking. >> Thank you, >> Mr. Samberg. Thank you so much. Um, you're 1502 L. You were down at the marina, correct? >> It's Stock Island. >> Yes. >> Yeah. Correct. >> Okay. Uh, director um, uh, what Trent Waterworks is here. You can speak to him directly.
>> Thank you so much. Thank you so much, Brennan. He's >> Patricia Allen. No, not here. Deborah. Deborah. Hold on. Okay. Marge Cwell Wilson.
Victory or Rosari. Right. Victor, 19 Morland Avenue. Again, it's a pleasure. A few uh it's about three or four things I want to say real quick. But first of all, to uh the Reverend Jesse Jackson passed away today. Uh
appreciate his work with the Nation of Islam. even though he had a uh denounce Mr. Farcon due to pressure, political pressure when he was uh seeking the nomination for president, but I still uh respect his work all going way all the way back to uh uh the Reverend Martin
Luther King and he's been criticized by uh many black people and uh now day. But anyway, my point is uh uh on due to uh uh black history month uh honor the
reverend Jesse Jackson again uh LA Parker in his article today. There was a few articles I want to speak on, but this one, the res resurgence of the nword in modern America, that's an extension of what they call the hip-hop uh generation or culture. And then that's comes also from the an extension
of what they call the uh u cultural violence that comes from in ' 80s and uh now uh Mr. L. A. Parker thinks that's a a big issue to write about instead of uh the war of good and evil and the destruction of the uh blood land of Gah
I call the trib what is called the trib all right and you should be talking about that and repealing the executive order 11727 that Jahuba put in place for that purpose to destroy that particular group of people the tribe of Shabbass which is the bloodline of God and Jesus supposed
to come from and so is the black messiah and then on top of that uh Mr. the Mr. Austin Edwards and Corey McNair that I maybe maybe Mr. Austin you may have been involved in a few events but as far as
uh putting out in the paper that anybody involved with police uh uh corruption to come see him he will represent maybe last year and Mr. So Cory McNair was a police officer for 10 years. You know these two individual want to you know jump up and run for mayor like it's
something easy to do without really having as far as I'm concerned knowledge about knowledge with in politics whatever profession they're in. Yes. But in politics now like Miss Edwards and um she put the work in and she has nice staff that she's worked with and uh so
forth. I think that's very disrespectful. And uh along with uh uh the nword so-called nword that we're using these days that's back here at the end of the article Mr. Uh Parker says
that uh welcome to Trenton and uh where the realities of discrimination, descent and distance reveal uh after sport event uh leads to discovery of despite great intention to create a more perfect union. We may
never figure out our issues of race. Racis race is a falsehood just like crime in America and race on planet earth. that was some devised by uh Lucifer against uh uh the tra Elohim which is you know the blood it's a
people uh the devil and Elohim are actually people and one is against the other and that's happening today so to just disregard God the devil God and the devil and make racial issue that we can't uh resolve or we have to resolve it you got to recognize there's a god
and there's a and there's a devil and there's a people that are pro and people are pro devils and in between are the atheists and those who strat the fence and this kind of thinking will never get anything resolved and that's what I have to say. Thank you.
I have M. Is that Palmer? Miss Horn, you reading this you Good evening, Mary Horn Parkside Avenue Trenton. That's uh I just want to speak to 2647 again in
reference to the crossing part uh issue. Um as president of the Oakland Civic, I also get calls. As a matter of fact, I believe I initiated uh the issue here at city council. Uh
it's imperative that we fund the crossing guards. And I'll tell you why. Because firstly, they're are the eyes and the ears to the police department. Children,
first, second grade are crossing themselves across busy streets. Also, they're being bullied going to school, in school, coming from school. now they're not going to school.
So, I would I would I would really press the issue about funding the security of uh the uh crossing guards because they are very well needed here in the city.
And also uh just to expound on this real quick because I made a comment about it. Social media is putting out false narratives and creating facades about Trenton Waterworks. There is nothing wrong with our water.
And who's ever doing this, whatever media is doing this, they should be investigated and prosecuted to the fullest. We're talking about a public water utility here. It creates widespread panic unnecessarily.
We know who's doing it basically some people and we know why would they're doing it. But I say again there's nothing wrong with our water and they they could never say that and you will never see that in there because it's not true. So
again I believe this the people who are putting these false narratives out on social media should be investigated and prosecuted. Thank you for your time. Candy Taurus. Where was it? Three.
Kendia Torres, 215 Stacy Avenue. I'm here tonight representing over 100 residents who have signed a petition both online and in person calling for a common sense policy change, the mandatory use of body worn cameras for
all city housing, zoning, and code enforcement inspectors. I'm here because our current system relies too heavily on he said she said accounts. When an inspector enters a home, they hold the power to decide if a family remains or if they need to
relocate. That level of authority requires the protection of an objective, verifiable record. Acting for these body cameras are not about surveillance. It is about accountability, fairness, and compassion
for the tenants. The cameras will provide an objective record of what was observed. It ensures when hazardous living conditions are reported. There is undeniable proof of what the city saw. For responsible landlords, most property
owners want compliance, not conflict. Cameras will eliminate hearsay. When a violation is documented, the landlord sees exactly what the inspector saw, removing the guesswork and fostering mutual accountability. For city inspectors, this will protect staff from
false accusations of misconduct and backs up professional enforcement with facts rather than impressions. It will likely decrease the volume of complaints for both sides and ensure that the city has the necessary grounds to address any internal ethics or performance concerns.
This proposal supports every stakeholder involved. By implementing body warn bodywn cameras, the city provides a layer of legitimacy that often deescalates conflicts. This is about clarity, trust, and justice. The 100
plus residents who sign this petition just want to breathe. They want to know that when the city enters a residence, the truth is being recorded. I respect respectfully urge this council to place item on an upcoming agenda.
Let's move forward with leg with legislation that protects our residents, supports our inspectors, and ensures that no one in the city is left in the dark. Thank you. Robin Washington. >> Good evening, city council. Robin
Washington, 447 West Hanover Street. Uh, first I would like to acknowledge that I did see 444 446 on the agenda for the first reading first reading and I appreciate that. Um,
and I understand that there has to be a second reading before it's approved. So, I'm anticipating that as well. The issue that that which is really a long-standing issue for me is in the time that it has
taken six years plus to get uh approval to purchase this property. Just yesterday, I'm seeing folks that come into my community that don't look like me that are assessing city-owned properties, which
uh what you know, a few months back I was informed that the goal for the city is to have city-owned properties as opposed to having these individuals that don't live in the city who just come here for profit um come in, barely get
the properties to pass and they routinely rotate people in and out. just in the area that I live in, I'm aware that there's four properties that proper inspections could not have been done
because the house that uh I purchased next door to my house, I had to have four lead inspections when the house was completely empty, all new flooring, all new paint, but it took four times in
order for this to pass without anybody living in it. at least two of these properties across the street from my house. People have moved out at the beginning of January and somebody's in there at the end of January. So I, you
know, maybe it's just me and not understanding how it took almost four months for my property to be approached the housing inspection, but the lead inspection was a whole another ball game. So, and that took almost four
months. So, I'm trying to figure out how with less than four weeks, these individuals that don't look like me, that come into the city with out of state tags can come in, purchase properties, have people going in and
out, and an inspection allegedly has been done. that with this new uh law that lead testing is mandatory for rental apartments or rental rental properties. I'm trying to figure out the
fairness and of it all where I have to go through so many changes to rent out my properties, but yet folks that don't look like me, don't live in the city can just come in and just repeatedly rent to folks. To me, I think it's them taking
advantage of certain people who may not be able to uh rent properties in other areas. Not that my area is a bad area. I live in a decent neighborhood, but I think that they're probably being taken advantage
of because how can you move somebody out the the the the end of December, beginning of January, and then on January 27th, you have a whole new tenant moving in. I will address this issue during the day
uh because I'm going to be requesting OPRA, that's the Open Public Records Act, to get information on these landlords who are basically absentee slum lords. Thank you.
Robin von Robin Vaughn 1100 1100 Styverson Avenue and um I just want to remind everyone that the city of Trenton and our municipal charter. We're under the Faulner Act, strong mayor, council, form
of government, and we're nonpartisan. We are a nonpartisan government. And I have noticed throughout the past several months that many folks on this council has been acting in violation of that
covenant that they're literally out here campaigning for a particular political party and they're using their council title to do it. Okay? So take note on that. And and
that's unethical and actually can be criminal. And it's very interesting that the county exec was here today when he had an interest on the docket. He's an executive and he in violation and he
knows Jan Benson knows that the city of Trenton is nonpartisan. So that's why I say that the county commissioners and the residents and taxpayers of Mercia County need to ensure that we align with the 16 other
municipal counties in our state to eliminate the job of the county exec executive. So I look at he's in Hamilton. He came from Hamilton Township. I had some dealings with him in 2018 when he and
his colleagues on the state legislature sponsor a bill to uh create Mercer Regional Waterworks. And now he's the executive and still putting his thumb on the scale for his municipality in Hamilton Township along with the former president of Hamilton
Council uh Anthony Caribelli who is the director. He serves three roles. He's the director of economic development of Mercer County. He is the sits on the council of Hamilton Township which is
also the redevelopment agency of that municipality and he's a council member. He needs to be investigated and there should be an audit of how much redevelopment went into Hamilton Township during the period when he
served in those three capacities. Okay. So, and Dan Benson is a part of that corruption. And I'm going to just read uh an email that I received from one of the most esteemed attorneys in the state
of New Jersey at the time and probably country. uh he served our city of Trenton but he's now since passed on and he represented the city when in the Supreme Court case with Trenton Waterworks in
2010 where that we won. Okay, this email came from Ed McManaman, Edward McManaman and he wrote and he and to all my other council colleagues and at the time John Morelli and Mr. Colloji was here as well
and the clerk was Dwayne Harris and he said, "Robin, you did not ask or raise this last night or in our email exchange, nor did you particularly ask my opinion or advice, but to complete the explanation on the
subject of the transfer of surplus from the city's water utility to the city as a revenue for use in its current fund, rather limited to 5% or not." The principal reason that the budget law and
the water supply act provide for such transfer of some of the water utility surplus is because the city owns the utility. And as I pointed out last night, if the utility revenues are
insufficient for whatever the reason due to collections or rates to meet the obligation of the utility, it is the city taxpayers who bear the responsibility to make up any shortfall. It does not fall to the taxpayers of the
other of the outside towns. that risk is all on the city. And he goes on to say, if you if the state seeks to prevent us transfers, I'm sorry, if the state seeks to prevent
such transfers as part of theou, you should fight or at least oppose that effort for a very legitimate substance substant because in doing so, they the state
would have missed the point of The rationale for such transfers being the financial return. The financial return that is >> for the owners of the city associate Austin Edwards.
All right. Good evening all. Uh first, uh brother, uh if you need my contact information, happy to connect with you. Uh but as you all know, my name is Austin Edwards. Uh and I first want to start off saying that uh speaking about trust
and trust is the most valuable currency that any city has. And right now in our community that trust is being worn down every time that our public money is being moved, reassigned or redirected without clear explanation.
When funds are allocated one way and then quietly reallocated another. when projects are announced, but the financial uh trail becomes difficult to follow when residents are left asking basic questions where their tax dollars
actually went. People notice and they remember. That erosion of trust becomes very real when these questions arise around places that are part of our shared history and especially in our identity. When the public hears about missing or
unaccounted for funds connected to places like the Eagle Tavern, when concerns surface around money tied to ERC Museum. These are not just line items in a budget. They're cultural landmarks. There are community treasures
and they are institutions that belong to us, the people. Now, I'm glad that these items 63 and 64 were either pulled or resolved somehow tonight. But when the public cannot clearly see what happened to the money that was connected with
them, it sends a larger message. It sends a message that transparency is optional. A message that accountability is negotiable. a message that residents are expected to simply accept uncertainty about their
own tax dollars. This is not acceptable. We shouldn't have to hear on Facebook that one day money is pulled, that somehow that it is supposedly met, that it may be up for, you know, jeopardized
again, and that the next day it's solved, and that we, the taxpayers, actually don't have to show up to city hall to argue uh to solve this problem again. There's a famous line in the movie Any Given Sunday, show me the money.
But that's not just a movie quote. It's a demand for proof. Proof that promises match reality. That public resources are handled with integrity. That government is working in the open and not behind closed doors. And that's
exactly what the people of this city are asking for right now. So, like I've done with the Department of Justice reports that came out last year, I will make sure that I opra these records and reports to see where the hundreds of millions of dollars that we've received
over these past many years have gone. And as you all know, I'm running for mayor and I'll make sure that I put forth a Trenton transparency dashboard similar to what we see with our current Governor Cheryl's New Jersey report card. similar to our Baltimore mayor
Brandon Scott city hall status report card and many others across the United States because that's common practice across our nation. But that's not what we're doing here in Trenton. It's time for a change. So I ask you
once again, as we all are saying loud and clear, show us the money. Thank you. Madam President, I did have another individual who prior who after I received the clipboard uh would like to go for public comment, but for my own
personal clarification um she inquired if there was a parliamentary rule that states or prevents uh her from requesting to come up at this time. I want a clarification from the attorneys. At what point is it appropriate for us to deny public
comment once this is received? >> And requests after that are subject to denial. Is that correct? >> Would a request after after that point be subject to denial? And would is that legally appropriate? something. >> Okay. So, going forward then I'll ask
the council president for whether uh that's the um if if it's her wish to for additional public comment. >> Mr. Garcia, if denial is the rule, then let's proceed with that. >> Subject to denial. That's the rule apparently and it
apparently is a ground rule set here within this chambers. >> Thank you, Mr. Garcia. Let's let's proceed at this time. Um before we go to civic comment, I would like somebody from the administration, either chief of staff, um Jim Beachch, or Mr. Cherry to
please come up and explain to us um who the Eagle Tavern, who owns the Eagle Tavern, and what this negotiation with the ARP funds between the county um looks like. Um if you might please explain to either one of you. Thank you
to the public. >> Good evening, Council President, Council. Jim Beachch, chief of staff. Uh, as the mayor had explained earlier in the, uh, meeting, um, the funding, the $7 million that the
city received from EDA was effectively divided between the Eagle Tavern, which is 100% owned by the city of Trenton, and the uh, Robing Wireworks, which is also 100% owned by the city of Trenton.
One of the conditions of that grant to the city was basically to separate the management of those two projects. So the management of the Robing Wireworks project is being run by the city and the
management of the um Eagle Tavern project is being run by the county. However, none of this changes the ownership of those properties. Even though MCIA is running the project, it
continues to be a um property owned by the city of Trenton and after the project is completed will continue to be owned 100% by the city of Trenton. The reason that we are transferring the money to MCIA is because they're running
the project. So, they need to manage the funding. But again, the property remains the city of Trenton's property. >> Thank you. Appreciate that. Okay. Moving forward, Mr. Garcia, um again, before civic comment, I'd like to take um a
moment of two moments of silence. First, I'd like to take a moment of silence um to commemorate Reverend Jesse Jackson. Quick moment. Thank you. Um secondly, I'd like to take a second moment of silence to commemorate Engine One Captain Howard
Bennett of Camden um the Camden firefighters who um passed recently um while on duty in Camden um while tending to uh a fire boat. May we please have another moment of silence. Thank you. And I want to um I want to
commend um Trenton Fire Department for uh attending the funeral of uh Captain Bennett and in solitude. Thank you very much. Okay, we may proceed with civic comment. Mr. Garcia, >> Madame President, you may proceed with
any individual you wish. >> Councilwoman Edwards. >> Good evening, everyone. I don't have too much to say tonight other than um thank you council president for those moments of silence. I too had thought of uh Mr. Reverend
Jesse Jackson all day today and the contributions that he made to not only the black community but America in general and the civil rights movements that he was a part of and I thank him for his service.
I want to give a quick update. We have a Trenton Waterwork Works ad hoc committee meeting next Tuesday and hopefully we'll have some updates. I gave some updates at the last meeting on you know the capital improvement plans and moving forward with some of those things in the
funding uh for the lead line program and other things that we have been addressing all year long with funding the roof and funding other repairs uh that we have had already approved. So hopefully the next meeting we'll have some more updates and I'm hoping that we
get to meet the new commissioner at this meeting. As far as the HD ad hoc committee meeting that we had last week, we do have uh we have those bi-weekly. We have begun vetting the properties as you have heard tonight with the ones that we had
passed tonight. We had spoke to the administration about the lack of an attorney. We learned that an attorney was recently hired full-time with the administration and she has begun working. But in the meantime, in that in
that time frame up until she was hired, they have been working with and still working with other law firms. I believe there are three attorneys working on closing the properties that we had already approved uh from council to sell
to buyers. There is also a realtor that is working on these properties with the administration and hopefully, you know, with addressing this backlog, giving another month or so, we can begin accepting applications again to for
people to purchase city owned properties. But in our conversations, we talked about the need to require inspections by the buyers. So, in any private sale, depending on the type of mortgage mortgage loan you have, you would be
required to do an inspection out of your own at your own expense when you're purchasing a property. And also, if you're using uh a renovation renovation loan, you're required to hire your own contractor to determine what the
estimated scope of work would cost. So, we talked about implementing these these type of processes into the process to make sure everyone that is purchasing these properties as well as the city has an understanding of how much is going to
cost and the affordability and making sure that they have proof of funds for these projects so that we're not selling properties and then have to rescend them like you saw earlier tonight. So we spoke about that and I believe at the next week's meeting we'll have a
followup on that conversation as well to make sure these in these inspections and these scope of work estimates are being included. also to make sure that the quotes that they are receiving is from a licensed
registered and insured certified contractor company or or business to make sure that there's no under the table unlicensed people uh handling these properties so that we're not seeing them coming back. So, those are
all of my updates for tonight. Um, happy Black History Month everyone and have a good evening. Thank you, Councilwoman. Councilwoman Feliciano. >> Thank you, Council President. I'll be brief tonight. Thank you everybody for coming out tonight. Thank you um the
council for doing what it is we do. Um we heard different uh viewpoints tonight from different residents and I thank everybody for what it is that you bring to the table. Um certainly dialogue is good and I'd like to hear where people are coming from, right? whether we agree
or disagree or whatever. One thing is um I do like to clear up any misconceptions or thoughts about the intention of why things are happening a certain way, which is why I asked for them to come up about the Eagle Tavern and so on and so forth. We're looking for a forward
progression in the city of Trenton and we're looking forward to getting things back to being restored. And sometimes partnership is a part of that. It's not giving anything up. It's partnering to make it better. Then the other part is to enter to that
point, right? I know we're not supposed to engage back and forth. We have lawyers here on staff that ensure that what we're doing is legal. So, it's not like we're out here just doing it willy-nilly. Just to be clear when it
comes to um the part about Let me let me get my mind back on track. Trying to get my mind back. Yeah. So, so we do have elections coming up and I do want to say this.
I love the people that want to come out and talk about what's going on with the city or what they perceive at certain times, but I need people to talk all the time, not just when it's election time. I need people to come and and listen to the meetings when it's not election
time, but to see what it is we're doing all the time. When it comes to showing the money, we know where the money went. We know where the money is. we asked the questions, but if people were present and paying attention, then they would know that. And so when we talk about transparency and we talk about
leadership and we talk about folks wanting to step in and take the helm of whatever position that it is that they want to take, they should be advocating within their respective positions all the time and not when it's convenient to their agenda to their agenda. And so I
just wanted to put that out there when it comes to council members that may be advocating for certain people. I am Councilwoman Crystal Feliciano, but I'm also Westward 10 Democratic Committee woman as well. I am a citizen here in
the US. I could vote and all that good stuff and I can vote for who I want to and represent who I want to when I want to. What I do in these council chambers is one thing and when I do the street is something else. So, I just want to put that out there as well.
Thank you to the council for approving the remaining members of the senior citizen advisory council. I appreciate us getting that done and now we can start having the meetings so that we can start addressing some of the issues that
need to be handled. Thank you to the council for approving the multicultural heritage board members so we can start meeting to get that ball started rolling to get that done. Um, Councilwoman Gonzalez, we will make that amendment and then get everybody on board. And
that is just simply not to cost the city any more money, but to help the city with the rich, vibrant resources that we already have within the respective cultures that exist here in the city. They can come together and talk about what we want to see collectively. and
we're giving the people input into the processes that we're bringing forward and we're honoring everybody that's here. So, I'm excited for that to happen. Thank you to the council just for being who you all are. Thank you for pushing through the comments, the criticisms.
Thank you for pushing through the hard decisions, right? Thank you for thinking and taking a step back and making the adjustments that have to be made when we have to abstain from things that maybe we didn't catch to go around. council. When we talk about the foresight and the forethought of this council, we are
doing the work. And then when it comes to the people on social media, I was looking at the clock. When it comes to the messaging on social media, all I could say is don't believe the hype. Come to the meetings. Come and be
present and ask us questions. Stop listening to the noise and the people that want to agitate and start problems. Some people come to do the work. Some people's workers could be miserable and create chaos and nonsense.
It's up to you to decide who you're going to listen to, but we're always right here. We're always ready and we're always accessible. Thank you for coming out. One last thing, don't cut me off, please. I just ask those that believe in the Lord or a higher power, pray for
me and my family. My grandmother has been uh put in hospice care and so uh she's 103 years old. And so in between doing everything that I do, um
I just ask for those that that do believe just keep me and my family in prayer um during this time as we weather the storm. Thank you. God bless you. >> Thank you, Councilwoman, Councilwoman Frisbee. >> Thank you, Madam President. And we do
lift you up, uh Councilwoman Feliciano, and your family as you're going through these trying times. I do want to remind people that this uh February is heart healthy month. So, please make sure that you are tuning into your body. It's also Black History Month. And I found a
interesting post that was put on Facebook that I found to be offensive and I would remind people >> to be careful what you post cuz when you put it out there, you can't take it back. And um I'm I'm going to let that
rest cuz most people already know where that is. whether it's we're talking about it was extremely offensive and um there was not a place for you to put happy Black History Month in there. Um I want to congratulate all of those who appointed this evening to the various
boards. I want to also thank um those who presented on this evening um in JHSP. Really good information. I uh will take a lot of it to heart. I also want to say to those who come to Stir a Pot, when you come in late and you leave early,
you're going to miss a whole lot of information. We didn't pull anything. We didn't table anything. If you'd have stayed, you probably could have got some more information. But I'm just going to say it. Um just because someone comes to the microphone doesn't mean that what
they have to say is true. I've said that part. Um I want to just um again I want to thank Reverend Jesse Jackson for his global and local and global outreach. There are a lot of people who have been impacted by him. Thousands many who have
been who owe them owe their freedom to him because he advocated and got them out. To Miss Robin Washington, I am so glad we finally got your property on um this evening. I'm looking forward to the second reading. I am really excited
about that. You have no clue. Um I want to thank our county clerk, um Mercer County Clerk, um Diane Gerowski and our city clerk, Mr. Brandon Garcia. They came out to my um Westport community conversations
uh last week and I'm very appreciative. We got a lot of great feedback from that. A lot people didn't want to go home. We had to put them out. Um, Miss Mary Horn, I want to thank you for your comments because um, I am in agreement that people go around and they're putting out false narratives and I agree
they should be investigated. Um, that is a crime when you as we have a lot of folks come in with uh, their hidden agendas, they put out false narratives and they should be investigated. I 100% agree with you. I do want to thank our county exec for making his presence, his
assistance known. Um many of you if you think back we did not have a lot of support from our county. We are now getting an abundance of support. It is making a difference in what we don't
have here, what we cannot otherwise do on our own. So to County Exe Dan Benson and his team, I want to thank him for his leadership. I hope that he stays in office for a decade to come and I'm grateful for his leadership right now
and I'm even more grateful for that he and the mayor are working together to make Trenton stronger. Um, with that I think I am done. I want to thank everybody who came out. Even if I don't agree with your comments, I'm appreciative for everybody coming out
and for um just being here. You know, this is what the city is about. I'm I'm grateful for um our West Ward. We're having that that three-way the traffic lights that have been down for a while. We are now moving that. So now that is
uh in the works of getting repaired. We know that's been a long time coming and yes, I 100% agree we should keep and I'm glad that we are keeping the money for our traffic guards in um our budget. Um with that, I want to thank our
directors. I thank our city clerk. Thank all of you who came out. Our my colleagues who we work so very well together um have moments that we aren't together but um grateful for it still the same portion of the city's uh mission statement is recognizing that the people of Trenton have made us
guardians of the public trust. We are committed to govern with integrity and fiscal responsibility to seek excellence in the city's operations and to serve all the city's people with respect and compassion. I thank everyone for coming out and get home safely.
>> Thank you, Councilwoman Council Gonzalez. Thank you, Council President. I am going to be brief. Um first, um also prayers to uh Jesse Jackson, Reverend Jesse Jackson and his family and also to one of our own from Trenton,
uh Mr. Blackjack. We laid him to rest today and um he was definitely a cornerstone. He had one of our thriving business, a thriving business for a long time in the city of Trenton and he was laid to rest today. So, we just want to send prayers out to the family. Um, to
our county exec Dan Benson, as stated by my colleagues, we are grateful for the partnership. We are grateful that you see the the investment that is being made into the city and that you want to actually help us get this city up and running and um progressing in the right direction. So, we just want to say thank
you to him and his staff. Um, as far as Miss Torres with the body cams for the inspectors, um, I think that's a great idea and I know that some of the inspectors are actually in favor of it. So, um, it's something that maybe we can look at and, um, discuss, you know, in
the future. Um, to our, uh, interim director, Vasquez, I just want to thank you. Um, she's still here. Are you still there? Um, because I know you you did step into this role and everything that we have asked from you from council, you have done it. You have made the changes. you have found some things and you have
tried to correct them. Um I know last meeting you did provide us with inspector inspection sheets um for some of the properties that were coming before us. So I just want to say thank you because you are stepping into the role and have um made some changes that are in a positive and I just want to say
thank you. I know it's not easy with us going back and forth but you have definitely um done some great things. Um to the presenters, thank you so much for that information. I'm excited to know that they're in talks with the superintendent um to get them into our school system and also to uh present to
our our community. Um to the board members who stepped up to fill in those vacant seats, thank you so much for your time and for all of those who came out to speak today. Thank you for your comments and uh I think that's it for me tonight. Have a good night.
>> Thank you, Councilwoman. Council Vice President Williams. >> Thank you, Council President. Uh just also I have some items but I want to extend um my thoughts and uh keep Reverend Jackson in our prayers uh and his family. Uh he was the voice for
civil rights for our generation. Uh I'm Gen X and I saw a very interesting uh it was in seeing it today uh Sesame Street episode when uh he went to visit all the kids on Sesame Street and did his I am somebody speech and every single kid no
matter what they looked like. They recited it back in call and response. It just reminded me of the power that someone could have in positivity and trying to bring people together and recognize equality amongst each other. Um, so I just want to say uh thank you
to Councilwoman Feliciano for speaking out as you often do in your positivity and we certainly will keep your um grandmother and your family and our prayers. I know grandmoms are very very special. I I did not have the blessing of one but I know yours your grandmom is
very special to you. Um Miss Washington, thank you um for placing your trust. I know it might have gotten very small sometimes, but thank you for sticking with it and I'm glad to see that the properties came on tonight
and that's very important and you have inspired us to make sure we're doing better and that you held us to account. So, thank you. I also want to thank the Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness uh for the presentation on online extremism tonight and the council president for
allowing it on our docket. And um this was really important uh important to them also that the director of the department Mr. Halp was here. Uh they don't have a commissioner like other state department. So director is cabinet level for uh governor shur. So it was
great to have all of them here and now we all know a lot more that we need to share with others. Uh tomorrow night's northward citizens police advisory council meeting is at Galilee Baptist Church 440 Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard at 5:30. uh please come. Our
special guest will be Department of Health and Human Services Director Dr. Diego Manapelli and Department of Recreation, Natural Resources and Culture and Director Paul Harris. And they'll speak to us about their uh department's uh goals and their services
as well as uh their initiatives for 2026. So, it should be quite interesting. Um, I also want to extend my thanks and uh, my congratulations to my colleague, Councilwoman Gonzalez, for putting forth this resolution supporting
um, the law enforcement mask bill in the legislature. This is something it's not just in New Jersey. This is happening nationwide and municipally. And um, it's extremely important we take a stand on that and as Mr. Colloji said, uh, laws developing on that and we'll see how
that goes. But hopefully that bill will pass. Um, so regarding crossing guards, I would love to see more crossing guards. My colleagues have also spoken about that and it's really important that I think going into the next year, the remainder of this year, we advertise
a lot more to try to get uh crossing guards. There's a lot of folks, particularly seniors, who would like to give back, would like to do some things, but we have to reach them. And every school, every neighborhood deserves crossing guards. And I think there's probably some recruits in this in this
room right now that I think would be fabulous as crossing grid. So please consider it if you haven't already. And then uh finally just want to say thank you to everyone for being here tonight. Um because it's things like this meeting that you get to see the city grow. You
get to see the city move forward. No matter the negativity that's online or we see other places, this council, this city is achieving a lot. This administration is achieving a lot. We have hiccups, but it's happening. So, God bless. Uh, I hope you all come back
for the next meeting and, uh, please stay safe. Thank you. >> Thank you, Council Vice President. Good evening, everybody. Um, so before I get started, really quickly, I just remember to a former teacher of mine from Trenton Central High School, Mr. Anthony
Cerillo. He recently passed. I just want to acknowledge him. He was my uh history teacher and he was also my debate team teacher. So, I I I want to just acknowledge him and his passing. He was a great person, great individual. Um, I
don't always agree with all of my colleagues at the same time, but tonight I absolutely do. You all made some wonderful points and I'm I'm really really proud to serve on this council with with all of you. Um, we have definitely handled adversity extremely
well. Um, and we continue to do so. Um, thank you, Councilwoman Gonzalez, for bringing up Blackjack's passing. I mean, I didn't know that. That was definitely the spot in the south ward and aka death trap, but that was that was definitely the location. Um, so so sorry to hear
that, but he definitely left the legacy behind. Um, with regards to Miss Kendia Torres, yes, I do agree with you. I think this idea has been floated about the body warn cameras for the inspectors. Um, so hopefully we can further that
conversation, uh, move that forward and get something going. Um, budget allowing, um, and if we get more inspectors too, which is what we definitely need. Um, as far as HUD, I am so hopeful for these
property sales to go without a hitch. Um, I really am. I'm I'm, you know, I'm glad my council colleagues are moving things forward. Like I said, I have to always vote my conscience. I want everybody to know that. Um, like I said, I'm very very hopeful that these things will move forward and I will feel
comfortable as well. Um, other than that, uh, speaking to partisanship, I don't know what partisanship has to do with the city and the county's relationship with one another or doing business. Um, how we can align, uh, with business and
partnerships. I really don't understand what one has to do with the other. Um, we are the city of Trenton and we should be able to work with the county regardless of partisanship. um if if you know Mr. Benson was Republican, what would that mean? Would that means we still couldn't do business? I don't understand that. Um so I just wanted to
point that out and I'm thankful for his business. I'm thankful for him wanting to work with the city um and try to revitalize different parts of the city, which is something that we absolutely needed. U we have not had that. So um really really excited about that. Um there's just some things that people
just come to council, they just want to complain to complain. Um we're doing the work. We're moving the city forward. It is what it is. Um, other than that, the only other thing that I wanted to say, I think I said everything else, we cleared a lot of things up. Um, Southward Town
Hall CPAC on the 19th, which is Thursday, this Thursday at 8:24 Adeline Street at Holy Trinity Church from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. Please come. We have directors there. And we also have a representative with the county who's coming to speak about what the Medicaid and Medicare benefits look like moving
forward. if you have um Medicaid without Medicare, what that's going to look like for your loved ones, your elders, and their health care. Are they going to lose it with this federal administration? So, um please come if you can um to list it out. That's something that we all need to know
moving forward. I think it's going to hit us all in 2027 um unfortunately with this current administration. Other than that, thank you all for hearing us out. It was a great meeting everybody and I'd like to move forward so that we can move to executive session.
>> Second. >> Thank you. Roll call. Councilwoman Edwards. >> Yes. >> Councilwoman Feliciano. >> Yes. >> Councilwoman Frisbee. >> Yes. >> Councilwoman Gonzalez. >> Yes. >> Vice President Williams. >> Council President Figureroa Kenberg. >> Yes. Mr.
>> Garcia, can you let it We do anticipate a vote following executive session. >> Yes. >> Thank you. Thank Okay.