Council - Regular Meeting

Coming soon to Hackensack.

We will be perfect.

Can't do it. I'm not good enough.

I'm a baseball player now. You drop a pass, you run a mile. You miss a blocking assignment, you run a mile. You fumble the football, you will run a mile.

Perfection. This summer, champions rise under the stars. Let's go to work. From the slam dunk action of Space Jam, to the emotional journey of Inside Out 2, the inspiring story of Remember the Titans, and the ultimate underdog story, Rocky. Don't miss Movies Under the Stars at Atlantic Street Park.

Join us for sunset yoga.

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We are calling this meeting of the Hackensack City Council to order. It is Tuesday, June 30th, 2026. It is 531 p.m. If you can read the notice, please.

This meeting is being held in accordance with the Open Public Meeting Act, NJSA 10-4-6, et sec, notice of which was posted on the municipal website pursuant to Public Law 2025, Chapter 72.

Thank you. Roll call, please.

Mayor Gaines? Here. Deputy Mayor Toomey? Here. Councilman Carroll? Here. Councilwoman Clark-Collins? Here. Councilman Diaz? Here. We have a quorum.

Thank you. If everyone can please join us in rising for the flags. Thank you. I'm going to ask for a motion to approve the minutes of the June 16, 2026 council meeting.

I'll second.

All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions? OK. I'm going to ask for a resolution to go into executive session to discuss ongoing litigation matters involving attorney-client privilege, matters involving the purchase, lease, or acquisition of real property, and or any pending or anticipated litigation or contract negotiations. Can I have a motion?

I'll offer. I'll second.

All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions? OK. So just for the benefit of the public so everyone's aware, in October of 2025, since then, this has been our meeting format. We open up to the public at 5. We open up the meeting at 5.30, which is what we are required to do. We approve the minutes. We go into closed session. And we will return back at about 6.30. It's been the same format since October of 2025. So we will be back. around 6.30, hopefully no later than then. We're just going to ask for everyone to sit tight and we will be back as soon as possible. Thank you.

Coming soon to Hackensack.

We will be perfect.

Can't do it. I'm not good enough.

I'm a baseball player now. You drop a pass, you run a mile. You miss a blocking assignment, you run a mile. You fumble the football, you will run a mile.

Perfection. This summer, champions rise under the stars. Let's go to work. From the slam-dunk action of Space Jam to the emotional journey of Inside Out 2, the inspiring story of Remember the Titans, and the ultimate underdog story, Rocky, don't miss Movies Under the Stars at Atlantic Street Park.

Join us for sunset yoga.

Have you signed up for our Nixle alerts yet? Nixle keeps you up to date by text and email with instant updates from our Office of Emergency Management, so you can get important information when it matters most.

Get alerts about severe weather, emergency situations, road closures, severe traffic, criminal activity, and local events. Signing up is quick and easy. Text 07601 to 888777. That's 07601 to 888777. Don't wait. Sign up for Nixle Alerts today and stay connected to what's happening in Hackensack.

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Oh wait, I need to go, we're good. All right, thank you everyone for your patience. We are out of executive session. We are starting today with a proclamation. We have a proclamation for Carmen Moreno Olerte, who is celebrating her 100th birthday here in Hackensack. So I'm going to read this, and then I will go down and present. Whereas Carmen Moreno Alerte was born on June 13, 1926, in Barakia, Colombia, where she grew up alongside her sisters, Teresa Rogers and Ana Rosa Ibanez. And whereas throughout her life, Carmen devoted herself to her family, raising eight children, Carmen, George, Gladys, Ruth, Francita, Alejandro, Rosario, and Eduardo, and instilled in them the values of love, perseverance, and hard work. And whereas in 1967, Carmen left her homeland of Columbia in pursuit of a new life in the United States and ultimately became a United States citizen on September 28th, 1989. And whereas when settling in the United States, Carmen made Hackensack her home. and immediately began contributing to her community through her work at Electric Miniature and later at Power Might. And whereas Carmen established deep roots in the city, as her children and many of her grandchildren were educated through the Hackensack Public Schools. And whereas Carmen's legacy continues through her remarkable family, including 29 grandchildren, 42 great-grandchildren, and six great-great-grandchildren. whose lives are reflected, who reflect the strength, sacrifice, and devotion that have defined her century of life. And whereas, from Banerjee to Hackensack, Carmen's journey serves as an enduring testament to the values of family, hard work, and resilience. Now, therefore, I, Kasim Gaines, Mayor of the City of Hackensack, along with the entire City Council, do hereby congratulate Carmen Moreno-Alerte on the occasion of her 100th birthday and extend our deepest appreciation for the example she has set through a century of dedication to her family, her community, and the city of Hackensack. Congratulations. And we have this for you. We're going to ask you to come on up.

Come on up front, whatever's easy.

Or we can come down. We'll come down. Whatever's easy. Do you want to come up or do you want to sit down?

Yeah. Happy birthday. Thank you.

You're very welcome. Here you go. If you can come on up, we're going to take a picture.

Gracias. Thank you.

There you go. And this is for you. We're going to come over here.

Any family want to talk? No. I don't mind. Oh, do you know how?

Don't be shy. There are some cupcakes here in celebration, so just come up and grab one. We'll take like a little two-minute recess for people to grab a cupcake, and then we'll get started.

Oh, you're very welcome.

And anyone who's seen me knows that I'm not being humble.

I'm being serious. Okay. I am going to ask for our city manager's report.

Okay. Good evening, everyone. Just a couple of quick follow-ups from the previous meeting on June 16th. I know one of our residents, Bill from Kaplan Ev, was concerned about the veteran banner. I just wanted to report that the next batch of veteran banners has been placed with the vendor the next step is the vendor will be sending out the final proof for the resident to approve so once our office receives the proofs we will forward them to the residents to approve the final draft and then it'll be in production he was also not happy about the city construction code requiring concrete aprons on driveways and I followed up with our construction official. He said that is a normal code. It's done for a reason. The aprons take a lot more wear and tear. It's on an angle. And apparently that's the prescribed way that most municipalities address driveway aprons, requiring them to be concrete. uh mr serbo i know you had mentioned you were not happy about the four ton weight limit on spring valley you're probably aware of it i just want to make their other residents aware of it i did follow up and i was quite i was questioning the buses but apparently the georgia transit is exempt from that four ton weight limit restriction on spring valley So there's nothing that we can really do about the buses being on the roadway. I know you always have concerns that they're speeding. Police have reported to me that they've done targeted enforcements, and they have not come across any that they have written a violation for as of yet. But it's on their radar, so to speak. Mr. Smith, I'm not sure if you're here. Okay, you would reported that the street sign a prospect and golf was missing and you were absolutely correct that has been ordered through the sign shop and that will be Installed as soon as we receive it. Well, you also were questioning when the work at Anderson and Union will begin Checked with project management. There's no date set yet because that involves a grant and There's some more paperwork that has to go through with that. But once we have a start date I will certainly report to you on that. I I also just want to report extreme heat precautions in place for the next couple of days due to extreme heat. The recreation summer campsites at Columbus, Fushini, Palafine, and Stuy Park will be relocated to the M&M building. at 116 Hult Street on July 1st and July 2nd. That's tomorrow and Thursday. The notices have been communicated to the parents through emails, flyers, social media, and word of mouth. But just so in case anybody missed it, summer camp will be indoors for the next two days due to the extreme heat. Our annual Fallen Firefighters Memorial at Memorial Park, located at the corner of Main and Temple Avenue, will be held tomorrow, 6 p.m., July 1st, 6 p.m., at Memorial Park. Please join us if you can. Celebrate the 4th of July in Hackensack with a full day of fun at Vichini Park. Start the festivities with the Hackensack Police Department versus the Fire Department softball game at 10 a.m. and then enjoy food trucks and games at 4 p.m. followed by live music from Filet of Soul at 7.30 and the day concludes with Firework Show at 9 p.m. Summer Concert Series on the Green is every Tuesday in July and August at 7.30. The fun kicks off with Fleetwood Mac'd on July 7th. Visit hackensack.org for more concert details. And also, you can visit HACCPAC for the July programming on their website. That's all I have.

Thank you. OK. Before we move on to public comment on agenda items, I just want to take a moment and address everyone here, address everyone who's watching for a moment. So I'm going to ask for everyone to indulge me. Tomorrow, July 1st, marks exactly one year since this entire city council and I were sworn into office. One year ago, we stood here as a newly elected team, chosen by you to completely replace the previous council and chart a new direction for Hackensack. I want to take a moment to acknowledge that over the past 364 days, we have achieved a tremendous amount, and it is work that I'm incredibly proud of. Over this past year, we have aggressively secured a $1.4 million grant to build a new park on Main Street. We brought back vital community enriching programs for our seniors. We resurrected both the Recreation Advisory Board and the Rent Stabilization Board to ensure our residents finally have a voice in their own city government. Our police department has actively started holding regular community meetings. And just as we promised, we made sure that election time wasn't the only time you would see us out in the community. At least one of us has accepted almost every single invitation we have received over the past year. Because to us, there is nothing more important than showing up and meeting our community exactly where they are. We have communicated honestly and transparently, even when it has been inconvenient. We hit the ground running, and we did all of that after having been handed a truly wicked deck of cards when we assumed office. When we ran for office, we did so out of a deep concern for the affordability of our city. We had a genuine fear that we communicated loudly, that continuing the policies of the previous administration, policies that had been left in place for 12 years, would ultimately price longstanding Hackensack residents out of their homes. After all, all of us sitting up here are taxpayers and residents as well. We feel the exact same pressures that you do. And regrettably, this year's tax bill confirmed our worst fears. this bill which reflects last year's spending is the final financial bill for the previous council's choices while it reflects the inherited mismanagement and fiscal decisions of the outgoing administration we are not looking the other way and we are offering true transparency we have dug in And we have taken massive proactive steps to safeguard our community and change how Hackensack operates. If you want to see a clear difference in the governing practices of this council and the previous one, you only need to look at what they were doing in the final meetings of their administration and what we did in the first meetings of ours. Our predecessors spent their final meetings working hard for developers. approving three last minute pilot agreements for 30 years, 30 years, and 15 years, all after the election. This was rushed through so late in the game that the previous mayor didn't even have time to sign one of the agreements. This administration spent its first few meetings rescinding those ordinances. We did so under the firm belief that any deals negotiated under the gun in the waning days of an administration that knew it wouldn't be there for the fallout of their decisions deserved strict scrutiny. They also spent their last few months in office rushing to start construction on a 10-year-old concept to build a costly sports dome that would have had utility to only a small portion of the community. They were hoping that they could create a permanent fixture for Johnson Park, whether they were sitting here when it opened or not. We spent our first meetings analyzing its true cost and value, and we stopped a project that would have been too costly to build, too costly to staff, and wouldn't have served enough of our neighbors. And speaking of costs, Even though the previous administration was communicating on an almost daily basis throughout the first half of 2025, they never sounded the alarm about the true fiscal status of this city. While they were painting a picture of perfect financial health, healthcare costs were silently skyrocketing under their watch. During their final six months in office, monthly medical claims ran an average of 94% higher than the prior year, completely blindsiding this city's budget. Because Hackensack is self-insured, those runaway claims directly forced a 48% spike in our excess loss insurance premium, a massive $2.6 million penalty left on our doorstep the day we took office. But we didn't just complain about it. We addressed it. We immediately launched a strict audit of our out-of-network provider payments. By enforcing strict baseline oversight, we crushed that 94% monthly spike down to a negligible 5% for the rest of the year. We then added a secondary zero cost out-of-network screening agent this past January to move it down even further. Today, our medical claims are actively dropping, making Hackensack an exception across the entire state. While we can't change the 2025 numbers that form this current tax bill, Our intervention has already secured a drastically lower insurance premium to protect all of our pockets in 2027. While we were looking at health care, tax appeals were in the millions and pilots, which took dozens of rateable properties off the tax rolls, were driving down commercial valuations in this city for the fourth consecutive year. Our predecessors didn't just fail to be transparent. They lied. They projected fiscal health while draining our reserves and over projecting anticipated revenue in their 2025 budget to cover over their failed policies. They intentionally waited until after the election to introduce their budget. Later than they had ever introduced a budget in their entire 12 years of being in office. Because they knew they had only one of two options. Doing the responsible thing, which would have been introducing a budget during an election season that required a modest tax increase, was never an option for them. Instead, their options were, A, win the election and do the necessary tax increase afterwards, or B, lose the election, do everything possible to keep the tax increase as low as possible, and guarantee that their successors would have to balance the books and bear the brunt of a massive increase. But let's be clear about that second option. They didn't just choose to punish the five of us sitting up here. They chose to punish every single taxpaying person and entity in this city. Through their votes and deliberate actions, they forced all of us to see an extreme jump in our bill. This increase could have been split between 2025 and 2026, but instead, they pushed the entirety of it onto us, all of us, right now. And while they were playing games with your tax bill, they were failing to hold developers accountable for the millions they owed this city. These were people who claimed to be fiscal hawks. But we ordered an audit upon taking office and uncovered that they had allowed 12 separate developers to fall into default, shortchanging our taxpayers by a staggering $5.4 million in unclaimed pilot revenue. Some of these arrears date all the way back to 2018. If we hadn't looked for it, they never would have bothered to. It's amazing to all of us that while everyday residents face harsh penalties if they pay their property taxes late, the previous administration never thought to make sure the developers they championed were paying their fair share that they agreed to pay. Our administration is proactively cleaning up the mess we inherited. And our commitment is that developers will pay in full, on time, every time. This administration has not granted a single pilot to a developer for luxury rentals. We are not anti-development or anti-growth, but we are strongly opposed to policies or procedures that contribute to pricing Hackensack residents out of their homes. Furthermore, we are actively working toward bringing true affordable housing to Hackensack, something our predecessors failed to do throughout their entire 12-year tenure. We are legally pursuing every single dollar of that $5.4 million that we are owed by developers in default. Our demand letters are already working. One developer has already hand delivered a million dollar check to the city. Another has agreed to pay nearly five hundred thousand dollars. And to date we have collected or are on the road to collecting through commitments about two million dollars of that money already. We have aggressively secured over eleven point five million dollars in grants for crucial infrastructure flood mitigation and park improvements. all at zero local tax impact. And in doing so, we even uncovered $136,000 in grant money that was awarded to the city but was never claimed because the prior administration failed to file basic paperwork. We are tightening our belts right here at City Hall, excluding the inherited health care and utility increases left behind. We have successfully reduced the rest of the municipal budget, including salaries and daily operations, by six figures. This standard of direct action applies to every crisis we have faced this year. When we stepped in, we discovered a pattern of severe cost cutting and declined equipment requests that have allowed our critical snow removal fleet to completely atrophy. Out of the nine large trucks needed to clear main roads, only one vehicle was in reliable condition during our storm. The rest were up to 35 years old and actively unsafe. Rather than deflecting, we admitted that Hackensack fell short, historically, and we fast tracked a solution by using a dormant storm trust fund to put new plow equipped vehicles and tight space machinery directly onto our streets. Similarly, when Hackensack was blindsided by a school budget shortfall, we stepped in and authorized a one-time payment to prevent the mid-year disruption of our students' and families' educational experiences. This was because we have a moral responsibility to our children because they are residents of Hackensack too. And because it protected taxpayers by avoiding a state monitor and safeguarding local property values. And I commend the council for taking action on that. We have also restored a critical quality of life service that our community deserves, bringing back two times a week garbage pickup for our neighborhoods, which we will all appreciate, especially now in the summer. To help provide immediate support to our community on an individual level, the city of Hackensack will be actively making information available regarding the state's Senior Freeze, Anchor, and Stay New Jersey programs. We want to ensure that our seniors, working families and individuals living on fixed or modest incomes can access every dollar of relief available. As a city council, we are not resigned to this tax bill being reflective of Hackensack's future. We are digging in and we are doing everything within our jurisdiction to ensure that all of our neighbors have the ability to live here for as long as they would like. We have officially returned to proper fiscally responsible budgeting practices to lock down long-term structural stability. None of the work that we accomplished this year would have been possible without an incredible dedicated team. And on our one year, I just want to extend a massive debt of gratitude to our city manager, our city attorney, our clerk's office, every single public employee who has worked tirelessly for Hackensack over the past 12 months and before. And I definitely want to thank the rest of the council for their unwavering strength and commitment to our shared vision of a better Hackensack. But let's be honest, there is still more work to do. We are working around the clock to ensure that we continue to provide the absolute best service we can at the lowest cost possible. You simply cannot invest in a community without investing in its people. That means our focus must remain fixed on both affordability and your quality of life. The previous administration had 12 years to make decisions that shaped the course of this city. Up until their very last day, they tried to make their failed policies permanent, even after the people of Hackensack clearly spoke and said they wanted to go in a different direction. I understand the deep desire for us to fully undo a dozen years of damage in just 364 days. Turnaround takes time. And we are actively moving as deliberately and aggressively as we can to make Hackensack a place where everyone who wants to live here can afford to live here and truly enjoy living here. Facts are pesky things. They don't care about whether it's an election year and all knots eventually come to the comb. Now we are at the comb and we are doing the heavy necessary lifting. We are fully confident that our residents will continue to see the fruits of our collective labor because we know without a shadow of a doubt that Hackensack's best days are ahead of us. Thank you. With that, I'd like to ask for a motion to open to the public on agenda items only. So this has been the format since October 2025. So just in the event that you haven't been here since October 2025, we have two public comment sessions. The first is for any item that's on the agenda. When you come up, I'm just going to ask for you to give your first and last name. I'm going to ask for you to state what item on the agenda that you're speaking to. and state your municipality. I will keep time for you, and when we get to three minutes, I will ask you to bring your point to a close, and I ask that you respectfully do that. And if you have a topic that you'd like to raise and you'd like for us to hear, there is a second public comment that'll be not that long from now, and that's on any topic that your heart desires, okay? Can I have a motion to open to the public on any agenda item?

I'll offer. I'll second.

All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions? Okay.

Good evening, you all. Sergei Tolstoy, Hackensack. Number one, I'd like to say, as always, it's about the children, the families, and the community.

I'm sorry, before you get started, Mr. Tolstoy, if you can just state what item on the agenda. 184.26. Thank you.

And including 163.23, it seems, or 26. Okay, thank you. As it was stated before, pilots are those 30-year free money given to developers And I have three properties. I was never given 30-year interest-free money. So that's why pilots are one of those devils in the details type of state statues that's out there. In terms of the council, I commend you for what you've done in the first 364. But I'm just going to bring back some things that I've heard. So just so if you can respond later on. Developers are completely welcome to build, but they must pay conventional property taxes like ordinary citizens. Hackensack is now a highly desirable, valuable real estate market where pilots may have been necessary to spark revitalization a decade ago. But the city no longer needs to aggressively subsidize corporate developers at the expense of residents. When developers argue that the city was stowing away millions in guaranteed pilot revenue for otherwise vacant land, it was cited that using internal analysis, say like One Essex Street, pilots have brought in about 66 million for the guaranteed 30 years they got that, while standard conventional property taxes over that same period would have given the city $102 million. Pylons meant actively leaving tens of millions on the table in terms of dollars. And basically, what was lastly said was that continuing to hand out, nah, it's time for developers to pay their fair share to offset the traffic, the school overcrowding, and other issues that are being spread upon us by the city's recent luxury apartment boom. So based upon those things, I want to know, because now we're hearing the same cries, because we're going to be talking about resolutions 163.23 and 184.26, if they're passed, that once again, we're lining the pockets of these elite developers at the expense of pickpocketing the taxpayers. It seems that pay to play is still in effect. But we gotta change this Titanic deck because it needs to be reshuffled. Thank you. Thank you.

Anyone else from the public wishing to speak on any agenda item? Okay, seeing none, motion to close to the public on agenda items.

A second.

All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions? OK. So I don't want there to be any misconception. Before we get to the second read, I just want to make very clear, and Mr. Tolstoy, I appreciate you mentioned at one point in your recap a luxury apartment boom. The resolution that you addressed is for 100% affordable housing. I think the antithesis of luxury apartments. I'm going to ask for some of our professionals to speak on this in just a moment. Every municipality in the state of New Jersey has a legal requirement to build affordable housing. And the state of New Jersey has certain programs that are different from what we have seen implemented 28 times under the previous council. It is a different form of financial agreement that is specifically for affordable housing developments to have the city remain in legal compliance with our affordable housing obligation i am not going to talk outside of my depth so i'm going to ask for some of our professionals that are well versed in this but i just want to make sure that there's clarity for everyone as to what's being discussed and voted on in just a moment so i don't know if um who wants to just give a to wendy if you wanted to come high level mike if you wanted to

No, you can do it now.

I think now it's fine. Just to address it.

Just identify yourself and your role in the city, please, Mike.

Sure. My name is Michael Mistretta. I'm a professional planner. I've been representing the city of Hackensack with respect to its affordable housing obligation for a number of years. What you have tonight in front of you is an ordinance to adopt a pilot for a 100% affordable housing project. This is required as part of the application, the developer's application to the state of New Jersey for what's called 9% tax credits. It's a very competitive program, and without this ordinance, that development is not going to move forward at the state and federal level seeking federal dollars. This project is part of our constitutional obligation to provide affordable housing for low very low and moderate income households in the city of hackensack every municipality in new jersey almost every municipality but not everybody participates but we have actively as a city participated Last year, we adopted, as required by law, by the amended Fair Housing Act, we adopted our fourth round affordable housing plan. It was approved by the planning board and endorsed by the city council. That plan was then submitted down to the state. We met all of the laws and requirements of the amended Fair Housing Act. Inside of that plan, that housing plan, is a number of mechanisms that are required by the city to show how are you gonna meet your number? How are you gonna meet your obligation? And what we're doing tonight is facilitating a 100% affordable housing project. There are no market rate units in this project. We get credit for every one of the units. We get affordable housing credit for every one of the units in this development. Like I said, it's 100% affordable. And this is only one of the mechanisms, one of the many funding mechanisms that the developer needs in order to construct this project. Because again, there is no market rate units to help pay for all of the development and land costs.

Mike, if you don't mind, I'm just going to ask if and just to just to clarify, and then I'm going to ask, I think we're I think we're good on it when you might be spared. But I because this is a part of a larger mechanism that the state has in terms of funding. This is an application process, as you said, and so if the funding does not move forward from the state and federal level at those other levels, then essentially that's where this lies.

Correct. We're essentially backstopping the application and providing assistance with the application is part of this ordinance that developers submitting an application down to the state to the hmfa to obtain funding to for the project and what this does is dips into and uses part of our affordable housing trust fund which the city has those monies can only be used for approved affordable housing construction and rehabilitation I think we're good.

I just wanted to give a little bit of overview. Wendy, did you want something?

Yeah, I just wanted to chime in. Just a little bit more of a differentiation with pilots.

Wendy, just identify yourself with the record and your role in the city.

Oh, I'm sorry. Wendy Rubenstein-Kiroga. I'm with the Skirinski Law Firm and serve as affordable housing counsel for the city of Hackensack. Thank you. So just another differentiation between the pilots that were being discussed before, the luxury buildings, whatnot, incentivizing development of property that perhaps wasn't. This is operating under a completely different statute. This is coming under the Fair Housing Act that gives the authority for this particular financial agreement or pilot. So it really truly only happens to subsidize affordable housing.

Thank you.

Thank you both. Thanks. Okay. I'm going to move on to new business and ask for a, sorry, resolution 184-26.

Resolution 184-26 is the final adoption of Ordinance 11-2026, an ordinance of the City of Hackensack in the County of Bergen, New Jersey, to execute a financial agreement between the City and K Group Hackensack Venture Urban Renewal LLC in connection with real property known and designated as 15, 17, and 21 Hyler Street, block 10719, lots 15, 16, and 17, along with a portion of lot 1 on the official tax map of the city of Hackensack, New Jersey. This ordinance has been published according to law and now calls for a public hearing.

Thank you. Motion to open to the public on this ordinance and this ordinance only.

I'll offer.

Second.

All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions? Any member of the public wishing to speak on this ordinance and this ordinance only? Seeing none, motion to close to the public on this ordinance.

I'll offer. I'll second.

All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions? Can I get a motion to adopt resolution 184-26?

I'll offer. Second.

A roll call, please.

Deputy Mayor Toomey.

Yes.

Councilwoman Clark Collins. Yes. Councilman Carroll. Yes. Councilman Diaz. Yes. Mayor Gaines. Yes. Be it resolved by the City Council of the City of Hackensack, County of Bergen, and State of New Jersey that ordinance number 11-2026 has passed its second and final reading and is hereby adopted.

Thank you. Resolution 185-26.

Resolution 185-26 is the introduction of ordinance 12-2026, capital ordinance for the city of Hackensack in the county of Bergen, New Jersey, authorizing an ordinance for certain capital acquisitions and appropriating $400,000 and providing that such sum, so appropriated, shall be raised from the fund balance in the general capital fund of the city of Hackensack.

Thank you. Can I have a motion, please?

Second.

Roll call, please.

Deputy Mayor Toomey.

Yes.

Councilwoman Clark Collins. Yes. Councilman Carroll. Yes. Councilman Diaz.

Aye. Yes.

Mayor Gaines.

Yes.

Be resolved that the above ordinance, being ordinance 12-2026, as introduced, does now pass on its first reading, and that said ordinance shall be considered for final passage at a meeting to be held on July 14, 2026, at 5.30 PM, or as soon thereafter as the matter can be reached at the regular meeting place of the city council. And at such time and place, all persons interested be given an opportunity to be heard concerning said ordinance, and that the clerk be and he is hereby authorized and directed to publish said ordinance according to law with a notice of its introduction and passage on first reading and of the time and place when and where said ordinance will be further considered for final passage.

Thank you. Consent agenda, please.

The following items are considered to be routine in nature and will be enacted in one motion. Any items requiring expenditure are supported by a certification of availability of funds. Any item requiring discussion will be removed from the consent agenda, and consent agenda items will be reflected in full in the minutes, including any exceptions and or additions. The consent agenda includes resolution 186-26, resolution authorizing payment of bills. Resolution 187-26, resolution authorizing tax refunds. Resolution 188-26, resolution authorizing the renewal of liquor licenses for the 2026-2027 license term. Resolution 189-26, resolution authorizing the inclusion in the Bergen County Community Development Program. resolution 190-26 resolution authorizing the execution of an agreement with the county of bergen to supersede the cooperative agreement dated july 1st 2024 and amendments thereto establishing the bergen county community development program Resolution 191-26, resolution requesting approval of items of revenue and appropriation NJSA 40A colon 4-87 for bulletproof vest grant. Resolution 192-26, resolution requesting approval of items of revenue and appropriation NJSA 40A colon 4-87 for sustainable jersey grant. Resolution 193-26, resolution authorizing the award of state contract for the purchase of police tasers and body worn cameras. RESOLUTION 194-26, RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING ENTERING INTO A MASTER LEASE PURCHASE AGREEMENT WITH THE TAX EXEMPT LEASING CORPORATION FOR THE LEASE OR PURCHASE OF TEN POLICE VEHICLES. RESOLUTION 195-26, RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE RELEASE OF ESCRO FUNDS FOR VARIOUS PROPERTIES. RESOLUTION 196-26, RESOLUTION QUALIFYING PROFESSIONAL SERVICE PROVIDERS AND AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR TO EXECUTE CONTRACTS WITH SUCH QUALIFIED PROFESSIONALS. resolution 197-26 resolution authorizing the award of a co-op contract for real estate and asset management consultant services resolution 198-26 resolution authorizing the city of hackensack to enter into a youth worksite agreement with greater bergen community action for part-time summer recreation camp counselors and authorizing the city manager to execute employment agreements with said camp counselors Resolution 199-26, resolution authorizing the settlement of the workers' compensation matter filed by Tyrell Glover, pending in the New Jersey Division of Workers' Compensation, case number 2022-24476. Thank you.

Can I have a motion to adopt the consent agenda?

I'll offer. I'll second.

Roll call, please.

Deputy Mayor Toomey.

Yes.

Councilwoman Clark-Collins.

Yes.

Councilman Carroll. Yes. Councilman Diaz. Yes. Mayor Gaines. Yes. Consent agenda passes.

Thank you. OK, with that, we're going to move on to our second and final public comment. Any member of the public wishing to speak, please come forward. State your full name. State what municipality you are in. You can direct your comments to me. And I will keep time for you. And when time starts to conclude, I will ask you to bring your point to a close. And I just ask that you respect the time limit. Thank you.

Yes. I'm sorry.

I'm so sorry. A motion to open to the public.

Second.

All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions? Thank you. Sorry, sir.

Yes. My name is James Angler. I live at 460 West Anderson in the city of Hackensack. And my reason for coming down here is because I received this, which you're talking about tonight, this letter. I took a whole day to open this up because I knew it wasn't good news. And I just want to say my taxes have gone $4,000 in the past three to four years on the 1953 Cape Cod house that needs a lot of work. When I moved to Hackensack, I didn't realize I was gonna be run into this, because I don't understand city politics, state politics, except New Jersey does not have a good reputation as far as being a credible when it comes to things like taxes and all this kind of stuff. I can remember growing up in the 70s in Wayne, we never had this kind of a problem. People couldn't live, regular working people, and now it's become completely unaffordable. How do you, $12,000 a year on the Cape Cod, built in 1953, that needs a ton of work. I mean, you must have just bulldozed the whole damn house up, bulldoze it over. Why bother fixing it up? I mean, it's great. I really appreciate all the hard work you guys did. You guys didn't create this mess. But it's just getting worse and worse. It's increasing astronomically on working people. I worked for years in the oil industry. I used to work for Hess, Bogota. And now I was working in Bayonne for years. The same thing. They were building and building and building just like they're building up over here. And I used to think... great, maybe the taxpayers will finally get a break. But instead of taxpayers getting a break, taxes skyrocketing on everybody. It's incredible to me. And it's like, yeah, everybody else, I never hear of taxpayers ever get a break. So I was wondering, you know, maybe somewhere down the line when things drain out, maybe you can give taxpayers a break. But as far as like affordability, New Jersey, I tell people, I used to work around people from all over the world. You've never seen, on the Kill Van Coll, ships coming in, all kinds of people working from all over the country, all over the world. They could not believe the taxes that New Jersey people pay. It's mind-blowing to them. And the fact that people who lived here for years and years got to move to be able to live somewhere else It's ridiculous. I mean, memories, people's memories. My parents had to move down to South Carolina after living there all their whole lives. You know, and they moved down to South Carolina. It's not right. So I'm not going to say any more. You guys are doing a great job. Thank you to the mayor and to the city council for addressing these issues. But I'm just bringing up, I know it's not just New Jersey. I mean, Hackensack, with the taxes rising up. One of the things that the governor ran on was affordability. And it's not affordable. It's not affordable. It's not affordable to who? The rich? Maybe to them, not to the working people. They can't continue with the inflation and the crazy things going on with this war in Iran. And it's just going to continue going up and up. So that's all I got to say. I just want to come down. I never come down here. This is the first time I ever did this.

We appreciate you making your voices heard. Thank you, Mr. Zegler.

Well, I appreciate you for bringing it up. Thank you. Thank you very much.

I'd like to give five seconds moment of silence for Gustavo Rocha and Chase Sedano. So on June 10th, high school freshman was hit on his e-bike in Middletown, New Jersey, and then he eventually died of his injuries on Saturday, June 13th, 2026. He was riding near the corner of Newman Springs Road and Jumping Brook Road at about 524 on June 10th when the collision occurred. Then on June 14th, Another teen was hit and killed on his e-bike. He was a sophomore wrestler at St. Augustine High School and was hit by a UPS truck in South Hampton, New Jersey. And then yesterday, a 13-year-old was killed, and then his passenger, actually the driver was injured, the 13-year-old was killed. when the moped they were riding crashed into a truck in Flushing, Queens. And it happened in the middle of the afternoon between 45th and 46th Avenues on 62nd Street in Flushing. So as the summer heats up, you know, we got that MVC e-bike directive, but they're not even in place with their own self. I'm just saying again, Hackensack needs to step up as a county seat in Bergen County. We gotta make sure our borders, anybody that's riding has a helmet and is doing the right thing because This summer's not gonna be that good with all these e-bikes getting now revved up. So I like to say we gotta get the police patrols, warnings, looking for those illegal tags, tinted windows, and other activities that they're doing out there. We gotta step it up. And if we need the Bergen County prosecutor to give us these authority to do these Friday night stop and checks, we gotta do it. And I'd also like to thank for this week's paper shredding event, those that came out. DPW, recycling coordinator, she did a perfect job. I'd like to thank HPD that stepped up. They were out there helping. And then the Hackensack Fire Department, they were doing their thing. And then we have the DPW workers, the strongest that need to get paid. They were out there also. So it was a good turnout and a good event. And I'd like to thank also Mayor Gaines for showing his support and showing up. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you.

I'm Richard Serbo on Spring Valley Ave. And I want to thank the city manager for at least addressing what the problem is there and the the state exempts their buses from all of that correct is that what you're saying that's fine So you do what you want. Government does what they want. Another thing you do what you want is the air conditioning is too cold in here. We pay for it, okay? Taxpayers pay for... We're paying the bill for this freaking air conditioning in here, okay? And you just blow it hot. All government buildings do that. The library is freezing cold because, oh yeah, it's free. It's a free pass, OK? And we're tired of it, OK? That's that. OK, as my tax bill came today, ouch, OK? It really went up high, OK? And I know you're going to, you know, talk it away with what the past administration did. OK, but that's a serious charge you're making. And your speech just prior to this, that was a serious damn charge to a previous city council and mayor that were here quite a while. Why don't you call them in? Maybe they should have to be, maybe they should have to testify here. Have them come in. Hey, answer some questions. That's a serious freaking charge that you made, okay? That's awful. What's that?

We'll send out an invite.

Yeah, send out an invite. We would love to have them come in.

It is a serious charge. And so what about the financial department when it comes to that tax misunderstanding, the pilot payment? Why was that not caught by the financial department? And what's going on? You know what I'm saying? It's confusing. And now this is one year. You're in office, OK? Now, can we ask maybe the city attorney, can we use a statute of limitations now, like they do in the law, about you complaining about the previous administration. So it's one year. How many years do they get, Mr. Malagir? Two years. I'm sorry.

As it says on the screen, all the questions and comments have to be directed to me. But if there's a question for him, I'll give you some time.

All right. So what is that? A classroom sort of a browbeat? Don't sue it, because we don't need that.

It's just an ordinance. I'm just asking for you to comply with it. Thank you.

OK. All right. So why didn't the financial department mention that? And why did this just go on without any knowledge of anybody? Mr. Mangan is here for years, correct? I'm not implicating him, but what's going on here? You're making it sound like everybody was in the dark, and you're the...

man on the horse the white horse saving all of us now correct is that what you're doing mr server we're a little bit over time i gave you some extra time because i interrupted you but we're past time thank you okay One last thing is. Mr. Servo, once again, I'm going to ask for you to comply. I gave you some extra time. I'm going to ask for you to take your seat.

You wear other hats in this.

Mr. Servo, I'm going. It's OK. It's all right. It's OK. Mr. Servo, I'm going to ask for you to take your seat. You had time. You had extra time. I'm going to ask for you to take your seat. You're showing your guilt. I'm going to ask for you to take your seat. Thank you.

My name Anthony Toppin, living at the cell all my life. I'm a common no more fan. I need help, the scoreboard. Field five, the light is working, I mean, the box is working, but the scoreboard is not working at all. We had three games, 12 shots we gained last week, two worked, I mean, worked one time, and the next two, it didn't work, it didn't work. And I got the model, I got the number, and you're gonna take one of your key, We don't got the key for the door, so we need you to look at the scoreboard and the box. The red light is on, but the scoreboard is not working at all. That's all. Okay, you want a key now, and the number, and the model, everything. The number, they open at eight to five every day, Monday to Friday. Thank you.

So, Mr. Todd, before you go, I'm going to ask for you just to... If you want to hold on to that piece of paper, that's fine. And maybe just the clerk can take a picture of it just so he can have the information if you want to hold on to the original. But we just want to make sure that we have the information so we can look into that. The manager can look into that. All right. Thank you.

Good evening, everyone.

I'm here because I sent a letter to you and city manager. Sorry, you name just Bridget Bridget Hackensack sent a letter to you and the city manager about the meeting of June 16th about the DPW workers. I didn't get a response from you guys. I was looking for a respond that it was received at least. I'm hoping that that conversation will happen with those DPW workers. And I'm hoping for change. Because speaking to one of them and being told that they were offered $48,000 is an insult. A complete insult. When you got people in here making six figures. That is an insult to those workers. So let us kind of look at the budget again and let us go through it because if we gave the school 6.5 to save jobs, let us do the same thing for the workers that do that work diligently on a two-week basis every day of the week. okay so let us have that conversation the other conversation that i want to say is let us start with the politic thing like the blaming the last administration for what they did let's talk about what's here right now okay let us talk about the transparency and let us keep governing that way so when you're governing let's govern with the accountability and let's govern without the politic conflicts i don't want to hear about what lasted i was there i know about the affordable housing i was there I'm the one that did the research. I'm the one that knew about the pilot programs and what was going to come down the pipeline, but nobody wanted to listen. But that's fine. Now we're here. You guys have corrected it. I'm happy for you. Pat yourselves on the back one time, because that's all you need to get, and then let's move on and let's put accountability in what the community actually needs. the other part is tom i spoke to you this afternoon um lisa did send out a letter so we will be meeting on tuesday at one o'clock i hope you'll be part of that conversation okay thank you so kindly and have a wonderful evening thank you

Good evening. My name is Teresa Yarborough. I'm a longtime resident here in Hackensack. And I just want to make a few comments. I was here back in October when you guys rescinded three of those pilots, which I was very happy about. Not to go over past wrongs or whatever, but it just kind of gets to me about all the pilots and no benefits that we receive there was no infrastructure done there was nothing done for the schools and there was very little affordable housing and any of those buildings and that is so disheartening to think that now we're paying for that you know and it does not sit right with me as you know so I just want to make those comments and you know I hope that we will continue to see transparency within this government. I am unaffiliated because I have become so disenchanted with the local government as well as the presidency and all the other governments. I did not even vote in the primary because I didn't feel it was necessary. There was no one up against either one person, but I do plan on working. in November for the election. So hopefully we will see some changes all the way around in New Jersey.

Thank you.

Ann Peconia Hackensack. It's okay.

Ann Peconia Hackensack.

I'm a little confused about the pilots. Are you telling us that they didn't generate any tax revenue at all? Or are you telling us that they didn't generate the amount that was required that got us into this mess?

I'll address it during the comments at the end. In just a couple minutes, I'll address it.

I'll answer it. OK. Well, that's my, I really just had that question, because I'm confused. I thought that the pilots did generate money. It just wasn't quite as much. And you're saying that there's a $1.6 million deficit? Is that what got us here?

No, I'll address it. I'll address it. I'll address your question. But if you've got more, you've got time.

No, you can go ahead and address it.

Okay. I'm going to wait for everyone to do their comments and then we'll address afterwards. Okay. But I will address your answer, your question.

Okay. Can I ask you one other thing unrelated to the pilots? Sure. They're doing a lot of work on Hamilton and Anderson on the roads. I'm not sure what it's all about, but I'm wondering, is that going to feed into Brook Street and Byrne Street and to the circle?

I know they're doing replacing sidewalks. I'll ask for the manager to answer. I'll be consistent. I'll ask for him to answer at the end, too. OK. Thank you.

Thank you.

What was your name one more time? Just for me. Ann. Ann. OK. Thank you.

How are you doing? Hi. Scott Lennox. I live very close to her. I'm on West Lookout. Recently retired. I'm not happy about the tax bill, but I'm a Hackensack resident for 64 years. 64 years, been through the whole thing. Fannie Meyer Hillers, middle school, Hackensack High School. I worked for Alison Zari. I built buildings around town. It's all good. My only issue was this winter. I live on the border of Hackensack and Maywood. A lot of people can't park in Maywood, so they park in Hackensack. That happens a lot. They catch them, they don't catch them. I think if you gave people tickets, they wouldn't do it so much, but that's another story for another day. My issue was with the winter. People parking overnight from other streets, from Maywood, because I believe Anderson, it's no parking with snow-covered roads. I guess I'm a secondary type street. I don't know how that all works, but it caused a lot of grief with the cars parked with the plows. Because then people would come in after the snows and they were digging out their cars, throwing the snow on the sidewalk that I just shoveled. So that happened like three or four times. And it's a lot of work because I have like 160 feet or whatever a sidewalk. So that was my only concern if that could be addressed might be less work and aggravation in the future for maybe could have no parking when snow covered, you know or at some point.

Thank you miss Lennox thanks Sir.

I'm Margo Cooper. A friend of mine, one of the on-air people at ABC Television, called me to say hi. I was asked, where am I living now? I said, Hackensack. She said, hmm, keep me posted. Eyewitness News digs deeply into their stories, especially those with certain specs. The last council meeting was unbelievable. A supervisor of DPW spoke from his heart about the treatment of his guys. It is very evident that the individual in charge of DPW lacks respect and other things toward persons in that department. absolutely inexcusable. You don't do that to human beings. The council may or may not be aware as to what is and has been happening for quite some time. Corrections need to be done immediately. If you want people to enjoy and be happy and be good workers in Hackensack, treat them with respect. Evidently, it's lacking and it is inexcusable. I wasn't raised that way and I'm quite sure many of you were not raised that way. The individual not naming names who is responsible should be called to task as our elders used to say and be accountable. You don't treat other people the way employees have been treated. There are both sides of a problem. The council needs to check with the person in charge of DPW Talk to the employees. They are the recipients of the problems in that area. So, as I said, we need to respect and treat other people as human beings. A person who is supervisor is not above that and should not be permitted to be above that. You wouldn't take it. And the guys in DPW don't take it. They're good. They work hard. They're out there in the snow, in the heat. They are courteous. They work hard. So that should be some type of value as far as Hackensack is concerned. And as I said, I worked in television for many, many years. That's a reason why I'm still connected. So as I stated, one of my friends asked me to keep them posted. I will hear of things, other people will hear of things as to what the status will be. If they need to be called, They'll be called. I hope not. So like the old folks used to say, just take care of business. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Cooper.

Good evening, Doug Garofalo, Anderson Street Hackensack. I don't normally get up and speak at these meetings anymore, but I'd just like to first off commend all of you, congratulate you on the past year and your anniversary of your, almost of your swearing in. Tim, Alison, thank you for continued service, all of you. And I commend all, everyone here, month after month and every other week, everyone's here. exercising their rights of free speech and being able to come up, and half the people here won't agree with whatever you're saying, or half of them will, but it's great that everyone's here. I'd just like to comment that this blame game, okay, Mayor Gaines is presenting it the proper way because day in and day out, all across social media, especially now that the tax bills came out because he wants to clear the air in the proper forum here where everyone should be that's on social media that never show up except for a couple of you probably. This is where it should be done. This is where it should be done, not out there where no one can see your face because of emojis and avatars and all that stuff. So Mayor Gaines had to speak what he said. I came in partly into his speech talk. I was in the hallway respectfully staying out not to interrupt anything. But he had to say what he had to say. And he cleared the air because you don't have back and forth on social media to say all this. So Mayor, continue all the great work you're doing. The rest of you, same thing. Thank you very much for your service. Thank you. Thank you.

Good evening, everyone. My name is Salvador Ruiz. I've been mailman over here for 32 years here in Hackensack. I've been here in Hackensack about 43 years, probably prior you guys were born, right? Many of you, I know you don't have that age. My concern about talking about the last administration is right and what you're doing is right because all these new beautiful buildings, what we have since I've been in Hackensack, I DON'T THINK THEY PAY ENOUGH TAXES SO WE DON'T HAVE ENOUGH MONEY TO GO INTO, YOU KNOW, THESE KIDS GOING TO SCHOOL ALSO FROM THESE BUILDINGS, RIGHT? AND IT'S NOT FAIR THAT WE'RE PAYING RIGHT NOW THESE BILLS LIKE 15 TO 19% MORE THAN WHERE IT USED TO BE. NEVER HACKING SET LIKE THIS BEFORE. IF THEY PAY NOT MONEY, WE WOULDN'T BE LIKE THIS. IN THIS SITUATION, AND THESE BUILDINGS, THEY HAVE KIDS GOING TO SCHOOL, AND I DON'T THINK SCHOOL IS HAVING VERY BAD SITUATION RIGHT NOW FROM WHAT I HEARD, AND THAT'S NOT FAIR EITHER. SO THAT'S WHAT THE REASON ALL OF US, THAT'S WHAT WE'RE HERE FOR. I would like to talk about on our streets, you know, a lot of people with the speed. We have, we should need a bumper speed in some of the places like South Hackensack. Very important because a lot of animals get killed all over the place. even, you know, little squirrels, you know, I find on the streets every time. That's not fair. People are spitting it out. I don't know if they're drunk or whatever, especially on 2nd Street. People can get killed in there, Mr. Gaines. No, that's not fair for people running from drunk and all over the streets that have been working here in Hackensack, Bogota, Little Fairway, because we mail men all over the place. And that's In South Hackensack, they did a good job, and I think we need that one in Hackensack if you want to take concerns about it. Thank you so much. And now this is my first time to, you know, probably the second time that I see your faces, and I'm glad to have you guys over here as well.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Good evening, Marty Smith, Prospect Avenue, member of the Condo Co-op Advisory Board. Can you tell us if the athletic coaching staff for football, baseball, soccer and basketball are trained in CPR in case a medical emergency occurs? And does the coaching staff maintain a defibrillator at practice sessions and at games? And do they have training in the use of this device and under what conditions it should be used? A resident, you thought I was just gonna talk about this and not traffic, right?

You keep us on our toes. Whatever you want to talk about, Mr. Smith, it's all you. Go ahead.

A resident has informed me that the flashing traffic pedestrian crossing sign on Salem Street at Fashini Park has not been working for quite a while. Traffic department, I think, should look into that to bring that back online. At the last council meeting, we talked about the upgrades to Atlantic Street at Prospect Avenue. And I mentioned at that time that the current device in place there, a pedestrian safety device, was a waste of money. It overhangs the street. There just are not enough pedestrians who use that intersection on a daily basis. That device should have been installed on Prospect Avenue and Johnson Place, Thompson, because there are between 50 and 100 pedestrians daily who cross that street. what we think should be done at atlantic and prospect is the installation of flashing stop signs this would serve three positive factors number one it would reduce speed on prospect avenue between beach street and essex street because traffic would be slowing down for the stop signs at Atlantic before proceeding on to Essex in both directions. The second factor is that pedestrians would not have to press any buttons to bring a pedestrian safety device into action because the stop signs would be stopping vehicles. And the third positive factor that might occur with the stop signs there is that traffic coming off of Atlantic that now has difficulty because of the constant movement of vehicles between Beach Street and Essex Street now would be coming to a stop and giving exiting vehicles from Atlantic Street an opportunity to make safer turns onto Prospect Avenue. So that's our suggestion. I don't know if you would want to move that device that's currently at Atlantic to Thompson, but I think it's a waste being at its local location now. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Smith. Thank you. Anyone else in the public wishing to speak? Oh, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I know you said it was just your first meeting, so I just wanted just to orient you. So there's once you've spoken, but if you want to speak to Mr. Smith afterwards, or if you want to share, I think you have a thought on this. If you want to share a counterpoint or another idea on this, then after the meeting, the city manager is usually available. You can just speak to him afterwards. But just because everyone gets one bite. In the hospital, a lot of people work in that way.

And it's very important to have that place in there like that because hospital is a lot of

Thank you, sir. OK, thank you so much. All right, so seeing no one else from the public, I'm going to ask for a motion to close to the public. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions? OK, Deputy Mayor.

Yes, good evening everyone and thank you for joining us tonight. I'm going to keep it very light by saying thank you for your patience and understanding while we continue to work through the difficult task of cleaning up the mess that we inherited. As the mayor clearly and eloquently explained. So there's not much more I can say on that, except Mr. Servo, when I opened up my envelope, my tax envelope, i can't say in public what i said so there you go i'd like to wish everyone a happy fourth of july please stay hydrated and safe and we hope to see you at our celebration at fashini park on saturday thank you thank you complimentary

So I understand that many people want us to focus on the future rather than the past. I agree that our primary responsibility is to move our community forward. At the same time, we cannot ignore past decisions if they have ongoing financial or operational impacts on our residents. Reviewing previous budget mismanagement and other issues is not about assigning blame or settling political scores. It's about understanding what happened, correcting any remaining problems, and putting safeguards in place so the same mistakes are not repeated. So yeah, we're going to go back to the past and we're going to keep talking about the past because the past is what got us here. And you need to understand what's going on. And that's the only way you're going to understand is if we keep going back to the past and explaining, this is how we got here. This is what we're doing now to correct the problem. And that's all I'm going to say about that. As far as air conditioning, I'm glad you brought it up. Because tomorrow and Thursday, it's going to be over 100 degrees. So for those of you who maybe don't have air conditioning, that institution that he was referring to called the library, it has free air conditioning. So by all means, go there if you need to cool down. There's also the malls that offer free AC so that you don't have to be overheated. Unfortunately, like they are in France right now, they don't have any AC units. So appreciate that.

Thank you. Thank you, sir.

I'm not even going to entertain the rest of it. Yeah. And as far as taxes, it affects all of us, all of us sitting here. I didn't even open my bill yet so that it doesn't continue to happen. I just want everybody to have a safe holiday, and I'm hoping to see you July 4th. If you're going away, just be safe. Thank you.

Thank you, Councilwoman. Councilman.

I'm going to keep a try and keep it quick the mayor. Thank you that letter that was from all of us not only the mayor we all put that together and I hope that explains some of the stuff and yes, the shortfall of money that we have put on the burden of us the property owners Yes, I don't think it's fair. I don't think it's right. Um, I don't like the bill. I think the percentage is off. I could keep on going. So what we're trying to do is look back and I'm sorry, but yes, it's only been a year and we're looking back at 12 years of misappropriation of funds, pilot programs, side accounts that was supposed to be reserved so we are looking into that so I apologize but we all got that tax bill so we're going to try and do our best to make it better and again I forget who said it I wish the one tax bill on one of the quarters I get a $200 break might let us feel a little better hopefully in the future that could happen so thanks thank you for bringing that up and believe me it's all on our minds give us one more year it's only been a year and Wait for two and then after that you could actually think about who you're gonna vote for later on if not then you stay with us and we're doing the best we can for you and we will keep on doing that and the last thing Tomorrow of course, it's July 1st. That's the annual memorial at the fire department memorial on Main Street and don't know if anybody's went by there yet but they did a whole restoration what a beautiful job they did it's a shame that we're there for that reason and we're honoring the people that have died before and died during and they did a great job with that part so whoever was in charge of that fire department DPW city manager great job and that's it that's all I have thank you

sorry sorry sir sorry thank you good evening well after the statement from the from mayor gaines he didn't leave too much room to say anything else so thank you mayor looking back at our first year in office the main thing i feel is incredible grateful serving hackensack this past year has been a true honor and i love working side by side with my colleagues but most importantly with all of you we spent the last 12 months listening to your stories working through tough challenges and trying to make our neighborhood better for every resident We have made some great progress. I strongly believe that. But we still have a lot of work to do. Thank you so much for your trust, your feedback, and your love for our city. I look forward to everything we will build together in the years ahead. And I'm looking forward to see you at Fushini Park on Saturday, celebrating the 4th of July. Thank you, and good night.

Thank you. Before I go, I wanted to give Tom an opportunity, if you wanted to respond to anything. I forgot to give him the ball back.

Sorry. That's OK. That's OK. As far as Ms. with Brooke and Byrne Street, I actually texted our project manager just to try and get an update on that. I'm not 100% certain how far that construction project was going. understand it was originally to improve the drainage on those on those two streets there so I don't know if it's extending to Brooke and burn but I can certainly get the answer tomorrow and if you'd like to call me I could certainly give you that or I could report next meeting as far as Miss Cooper concerned about the DPW and the staff there I rest assured that we're we're as we speak we're currently compiling the collective bargaining agreements from 10 surrounding communities to compare the salaries that we pay versus other communities and we have a meeting scheduled with the unions and the supervisors down there to address their concerns and it's a it's a major concern from the mayor and council as well I know they're overly concerned about that so um that is going to get done very quickly and Mr Smith all of all the coaches have to take the Rutgers safety certification to coach for us, which involves a background check. I believe it involves CPR training as well. As far as defibrillators, I know we have defibrillators stationed at the parks. I don't believe any particular team carries their own defibrillator, so I'm not certain about that. But I know we have the defibrillators stationed at the different park facilities, and they are trained in that. that I'll forward your suggestion about the flashing stop sign at Atlantic and Prospect to Traffic Division, and as normal, I'll report back to you once I get an answer from them. And that's all I wanted to give information on. Thank you.

Thank you. OK. I will try and be brief. That's not my forte, but I'll try. So before I forget, I want to address the pilot question right away. So to be very clear, Pilot payments are not taxes. And this is an important distinction that I'm making. You may recall there was a lot of debate this time last year about, are they taxes? Are they not taxes? But there's a very important reason why that distinction matters. And we're all seeing that right now. When you're in the tax base, we all who are in the tax base bear the brunt of dramatic fluctuations. When health care skyrockets 94%, we all are in the pool of people that have to make that adjustment. When the city issues a pilot, that property comes off the tax rolls. And they make a fixed payment that is lower or perhaps especially in the beginning of a pilot agreement significantly lower than what they would be paying if they were taxed meaning the city is missing the revenue but more importantly when there are these fluctuations like everyone seeing in new jersey with health care and utility costs those people that are paying a fixed cost are not impacted by fluctuations at all. The previous folks were fond of saying, look at that empty lot, and now there's a building on it. That empty lot was generating close to zero, and now it's generating something, and something is better than nothing. But don't make it the empty lot. Notice they never used as an example Bruce the Bed King, which was a taxable property that was on the rolls. that when that came off the rolls, that raises taxes for all of us. When the former credit union site comes off the rolls, that's a taxable property. That's not an empty lot. Didn't see that in a mailer. But when that comes off the rolls, they don't show you what that building used to be paying and now what the tax exempt building is paying. The pilots, it's not that they aren't bringing in any revenue. And number three is when they fall into arrearages, we're missing revenue there. And how the arrearages occurred is because, much like everyone else, there's an estimate. They have an estimate of what they're going to make next year and what they're supposed to pay. If that estimate is off, The city is supposed to go back and sweep and collect the money that was past due. We're seeing that now with all of our tax bills. We're seeing that sweep, which is why the third quarter is higher than quarters one and two. That sweep wasn't happening. And so all of that trail off wasn't being collected. And that's what we're seeking to collect now and what we've started to collect. So I hope that that helps to clear it up a little bit. I promise I am going to try and be brief. And I'm just going to say there are things that continue to come up as words that we hear all the time. One of those is transparency. Transparency is how we got here and what we're going to do, as the councilwoman said. That's transparency. Sometimes we have to eat it, like the snow. And sometimes we have to say, this is how we got here. And it's a snowball effect of 12 years worth of, and maybe longer than 12 years, worth of decisions that were made. I wasn't here in 2018 to not collect those arrearages. I wasn't here in 2019, 2012. I wasn't here to collect those. So that's not on me. It's not on any of us. So, but the other thing is accountability. Accountability inherently requires looking at the past. That's what accountability is. I don't know any other way to have accountability. Accountability requires saying what happened and how are we going to fix it? And how are we going to try and hold accountable or fix systems? Accountability requires the past. It's a prerequisite for it. So we are going to, it's not about scores. We're not running for anything. We're here, like it or not, for the next couple of years. We're here. But there are decisions that were made that brought us to this point that, as people from the audience have said, some people have been sounding this alarm for years and saying, this is where we're going to end up for years, for years. And here we are. We are doing everything that we can to correct it because we live here. We pay. We have no pilots on our homes either. And we're doing our best. And as everyone has said, we understand the frustration. We are frustrated as well. That's why we ran. And unfortunately, what we predicted was accurate. And I can't apologize for that, nor can I refuse, stop, nor can I stop saying it. I said it for a long time out there. I'm not going to stop saying it because I'm up here. And with that, I'm going to ask for a motion to adjourn.

Second.

All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions? Thank you.