Council - Regular Meeting

Meeting of the Newark Municipal Council on Wednesday, March 18. Please stand for the national anthem, the pledge of allegiance, and the invocation by pastor Jalil Morrow.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of The United States Of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, liberty and justice for all.

Could we whisper a word of prayer? Father, we thank you today for what you have done. And before we ask you for anything, we wanna thank you for everything. Father, we wanna thank you for the life that you have given us. Today as we have this meeting, God, we need understanding. Father, we ask that you give every voice a chance to be able to be heard. But, we ask that truth will come out. But in this season, have your way, God. We cannot do nothing without you, but with you, we can do all things. Cover each and every person in this room. But most of all, God, we ask you for clarity, wisdom, and understanding. In Jesus'

name, I pray. Amen. Amen.

In accordance with New Jersey law, adequate notice of this meeting has been provided to the Star Ledger, the Jersey Journal, and the public at large establishing the date, time, and location of this meeting. In addition, the agenda for this meeting was disseminated on March 13 and at the time of preparation and posted on the website of the city of Newark. Roll call.

Councilwoman Bey. Present. Council. Present. Gonzalez absent. Kelly.

Here.

Quintana? Absent. Ramos? Absent. Scott Rountree? Present. Sova? Present. Absent. President Trump?

Present.

Council president, council members, we're in the hearing of citizens portion of this meeting where each speaker will have five minutes to speak. When your name is called, please approach the podium and address the council members. The first speaker is Felicia Austin Singleton.

Perry.

Good evening, council audience

Good evening.

Home viewers. Felicia Austin Singleton, I told y'all that the housing authority was gonna bring y'all down. I told you. I told you that there was so much corruption. I came here in 2015 and and complained about it. There is a tape. I saw it. Y'all dealing with quasi modal government agencies. Y'all quit pro quoing. Whoever don't know what that means, it says, you do something for me, I do something for you.

Despicable. Despicable.

We knew the favors was going back and forth. We knew this. And yet and still, you did dirty bother residents, you favored developers, you did all kind of stuff, made contracts, deals at the expense of the residents' lives, rat, roaches, mice, slumlords, intimidation. The housing authority had nothing to do with the city of Newark. Somebody is going to jail.

It's ridiculous. And then y'all had that lady come up here and say that the Coward Eater Towers did not cost us anything we had because we had the other developer. We had no problems. Y'all sold the property for $23,000. When you went to a judgment lawsuit, you the judge made you give $23,000 flat plus an extra 50,000.

And then we had to pay for attorney fees. You are some lying, corrupt, evil, demonic people. As we have pipes busting, kids can't get equipment in their house, and y'all playing with people lives. You have the ordinance right there. You could have been suing these landlords and applying fines every day.

Right, Pat? We did it at Stratford, $100 a day, $500 a day, $1,000 a day. How long do we sit in that courtroom with El Nardo Webster? And it continued to be done. You made deals with these developers. Phil Scott is over there in the Iberia project. Y'all dirty.

Somebody

is going to jail. You're worried about what we were saying over here, and you know we was telling the truth. Tell that when you go ask for support. This ain't no campaign. If Felicia and I campaigned it for nothing but the residents, you have lied to us. Tom and Tom again with housing, play tit for tat games down there with your people at the expense of the residents. Residents pay attention. Pay attention. This ain't us flooding Facebook with nonsense. This is real.

When we say money is missing, it is real. And you tell me not to be angry. I'm angry. I earned my place to be at this damn mic. You don't need to be there. You never took care of the people. And this tape coming out, are you ridiculous? I've never been so mad at this mic. All bowed out. Y'all knew it and never said nothing about it. And the two verbiage, you better pray you don't go to hell. Come on, Padme Louise. It's not of God. It's the devil's playground. It's ridiculous.

And for years, we came and told you we came and told you that the shit wasn't right, and you still ain't do nothing about it. How dare you ask for a vote? How dare you?

Felicia Austin Singleton, touchdown. Thank

you for your comments. Next speaker.

Denise Davis.

Denise Davis. Not appearing.

Alif Mohammed.

Appearing.

Yeah. Five. Yeah. Let me just go with it.

I'll make a four,

five. Okay. I'm sorry, president. Mister president, can I can I give the one of these? I'm sorry? Can I give the clerk cloak one of these?

Why don't you wait for Sylvester comes around or ask John ask John to

Who's John?

Right here. Okay.

Wait a minute. Here you go. Here you go, young man. Thanks. Okay. Okay. One minute. One minute. Hey. Assalamu alaikum, Aliq Mohammed. Ramlama Barak. Some people missing, so I got that. I'll bring him to the office. Aliq Mohammed Court Street. Alif Mohammed, president of the Alif Mohammed School.

Mister Mohammed, I hate to say can you just pull the mic up a little bit so we can hear you?

Can't Alif Mohammed.

Much better.

Thank you. Alright. What I just hand out to you guys was a videotape of me and the mayor's brother. And in that videotape that people thought I was bluffing, It is talking the mayor's brother is saying about maybe violating seven statutes, state, federal. Before I start on that tape, I wanna apologize to two people.

Tracy Brantley, who I knew as a kid, he's my man, and I said some horrible things on there When I was at war with him over the barrackers, how do you say? I drink the coffee I

mean, with the Kool Aid, but

I couldn't drink the Kool Aid because I'm a Muslim and got gelatin in it. So I so I had I had some

what you

call gate aid. And I apologize to you, brother. I apologize because I said some horrible things. And then OG, Sean McCray, my brother also, said some hard things about you when you was running with your moniker. I was all the way in. You're gonna see on that tape. I was all the way in. Now that tape I just gave, and I'll give to the rest of the guys later. This tape is going to it went to tonight.

Just give me one second.

The tape went to special agent of North Office FBI, Brian Newark, special agent in charge, Stephanie Newark, the US Attorney General, Philip Lapardi, US Department of Justice, attorney deputy attorney general Todd Blanche, office inspector general senior officer Brian Harriston. Attention also, the new US attorney the New Jersey, attorney general. This is probably her first case. Essex County prosecutor, Theodore, New Jersey state police director, Essex County sheriff, Amir Jones, housing authority director, Lynne Spicer, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, two FBI agents that I was dealing with for the last two years. I didn't put their name here because I want them to stay anonymous.

CBS, Fox News, MS was now used to be MSNBC, ABC News, New Jersey Daily I mean, New York Daily News, NBC News, New Jersey twelve TV, Star Ledger, New York Post, New York Time Globe. Now anybody that would like to get a copy of it, I would like to give it to the candidates that's running first so you can see who you're running against. You can see them in person. I mean, in person.

And,

you you know, and then if not, let me tell you how. My phone number is (201) 259-8369. (201) 259-8369. You text wait a minute. Man, stay out of this, man. You know, you you straight. I'm a straighten this town out. You straight. Right? They got two straight. Right. Okay. Be quiet. Be quiet, man. You now you since you've been straight, you're talking like you're on their side. I had to hear all that for years about the Barackers with you. Oh, man. Anyway, you know they keep making me angry, Pat. (201) 259-8369. That's my number.

Text me. My email is alif, a l I f m u h a l m e d. That's my number. 1972, that's the great year I graduated from WeekwayHighSchool@gmail.com, and I'll get it to you. But I want the candidates to come to me first. Slide, could, could I give this I'm gonna step off. I got something for, my brother. Let me get out the way. I like my song.

Thank you for your comments. Next speaker.

Shaquille Moore.

Shaquille Moore. Mister Moore, appearing.

To the esteemed members of the city council of Newark and to the unbreakable undeniable people of Newark, I stand before you not just humble, but awaken. Awaken to the gravity of this moment. Awaken to the truth that history is not something we read about. It is something we write. And today, each of you holds a pin. But more than that, in this brick city, Newark, each of

you I'm sorry. Can you hold on? Hold on one sec. Excuse me. I'm not sure who the gentleman is, but if he can move so we can kinda see. We can't see mister Moore where you're standing. You could just stand to the right a little bit. Thank you.

Everyone is born with a brick. Everyone walks through life carrying it. And today in this chamber, in this moment of consequence and calling, I ask you, what will you do with a brick in your hand? You have a brick in your hand. Let that settle. Because a brick is not neutral. A brick does not wake. A brick is a choice. It can be used to build a home or break a window, to lay a foundation or to fracture one, to shelter the vulnerable or to strike them down. You have a brick in your hand.

And before we go further, let's ground ourselves in truth, not rhetoric, not comfort, but truth. After the February 18 council meeting, director Luis Yulario of homelessness and emergency services brought forward something rare in government, not just a plan, but a reckoning. A recognition that existence meant to serve the vulnerable must themselves be held accountable. That shelters must not only exist, they must function with integrity. That public funds must be matched with public trust.

This is not just restructuring. This is more architecture. And I acknowledge Council Member Bay's office and her senior member, Ronald, for choosing engagement over indifference, action over silence. But acknowledgment is not enough because outside these walls, there are people sleeping without shelter. There are families one paycheck away from the street.

There are children learning what instability feels like before they ever learn what security is. And the numbers cold, unfilling, undeniable tell a story we cannot ignore. Since 2021, homelessness in New Jersey has risen by nearly 15% each year. Last year, it reached a ten year high. This year, it has already surpassed that number. The word crisis is no longer a warning. It is a declaration. And still, you have a brick in your head. So I ask you with urgency that should echo in your bones, what will you do with it? Will you build?

Will you build a new work that stands taller because it refused to look away? A Newark that took its pain, its history, its hardship, and turned it into strength? Will you build in honor of those who endure the flames of the nineteen sixty seven Newark riots and still believed in tomorrow? Will you build for the families who suffered through the twenty sixteen Newark water crisis and the twenty nineteen Newark lead water crisis and demanded not just clean water but justice? Will you build for the students at the Newark School of Global Studies who have faced hatred and still show up, still learn, still dream?

Will you build a city that says, we remember and because we remember, rewrites? You have a brick in your hand or will you tear them down? Will you become the slow unraveling of everything generations fought to construct? History will not remember your intentions. It will remember your actions.

It will remember whether you built homes or excuses, whether you created pathways or barriers, whether you met crisis with courage or delay. You have a brick in your head. Every single person in this room, every council member, every voice within earshot, you are not bystanders. You are builders. Or are you destroyers?

There is no middle ground in a moment like this. Oh, choose. Choose to build a new work that is fortified against homeless, not with words, but with systems that actually work, shelters that serve, and policies that protect. Choose to build a new work that does not tolerate hate but uproots it. Choose to build a new work that confronts environmental injustice not as a headline but as a responsibility.

Choose to build a new work where every person, every race, every background, every story can stand and say, this city will not abandon me. You have a brick at your head, and with it, you carry more than weight. You carry legacy. So build something that will outlive you. Build something that will be spoken out with pride. Build something that when history looks back, it will say they did not falter. They did not fracture. They built. You have a brick in your head. Use it. And above all, never, never under any circumstances, give up on the city that built you.

Thank you for your comments. Next speaker.

Nadira Brown.

Appearing.

Good evening. Hello. Brown, Newark, New Jersey. I'm holding the phone a little weird because there was a comment made. Don't go to Facebook with your problems.

Bring it to the council. So since I've been I did a couple of Facebook lives. I said, well, why don't I do my live while I'm doing the council? Because either way, I don't get any results. I've been coming up here for the past few years bringing up my concerns, but I've noticed, like, during the day meetings, you know, on my breaks, on my lunch when I get to view it since I'm employed somewhere else, I'm not able to attend during the day.

I've noticed there's just been a lot of sly comments. I've been to a meeting recently with elected assemblyman Jacozay Ayame, and he made a statement. Now we could be in our feelings, but we don't need to stay in our feelings. I think a lot of you forgot you've been elected to do a job. I think you forgot that you're public servants.

I think you forgot that people are human beings and they're going through something because I've been coming here, you ain't did nothing. I told you about all the different situations, the problems that's going on. So what's the follow-up? What are we doing? Please don't come back with I thought it was resolved. Oh, please don't come back while I sent you to somebody. If you keep sending me to the same person that's not getting it resolved, let's get another person. You got a whole house of navigator that works in this building, Joe Black. She out here helping the people, not getting no recognition, answering the people questions, trying to follow-up. Joy Black, housing navigator in this building.

I hope that's her title, but at the same time, you keep sending people to 110 William Street. What they doing? See, the problem is you're in charge, you know, one of your duties to make sure these offices are operating correctly. Hello. That's one of the responsibilities that you have. But I don't think you all know because for the comments that came out this week that you sit up here and help someone, you put them in a hotel for a week to go back to the rats. Come on now. What about those that's dealing with no heat, inhabitable, illegal conversions? What are you doing? You shaking your head, but you're the first one to sit up here and go after people talking about I've been doing this.

I'm tired. You know how many reports I have on file? I sent you emails with the legislation, with the law, ain't nobody do nothing. Well, how do I expect you to understand when you sat up here and got new shields? Because we the corner store right now, looking like bulletproof. You so afraid of the residents, you gotta keep this up. Like, come on now. You're wondering why so many people running. It's not personal, but you got a job just like a job. You got your warning.

Next thing is suspension. Next thing is elimination. Don't come back with, oh, well, we worked on it. You said to the lady, why did she show her apartment? Well, if it wasn't no problem, she wouldn't have to show it. You gotta understand people are intimidated when you go back to them. You ain't did nothing. You did more for your career than you did for the constituents. But yet, I still ain't getting no help, and I'm out here helping the people. So if I have limited resources and I can help, you got access.

Well, let me give you a suggestion. You party with some assembly, the senate. Maybe if you would've helped your congress girl, she would've understood putting people out was wrong, but she out in the street talking about throw a bow, but you like help my sister. But you ain't helping none of us residents. I don't wanna see nobody go to jail. Don't get me wrong, but at the same time, you enabled her to think she could go out here and do that. What? That's why you think you comfortable sitting in his seat because my councilman can't even look me in my face. He sat up here, made all these flyers. I'm helping the people with these bad landlords. He called me about a month ago talking about his office. What's your address? What? After

two years?

It's about four now. I don't even know what else to say to you guys. It's not about me running. I'm running because I'm tired of asking you for help. So my grandmother taught me, do it yourself.

And I wanna thank you for your time. Please don't come back with the rebuttal, with the smartness. You got my number. Call me there. Don't do it here. Have a good evening.

Thank you for your comments. Next speaker.

Miriam Bay.

Appearing.

Miriam Bay. Good evening. My name is Miriam Bay, and, I just wanna say one thing before I get into what I wanna say. When we come up to speak, because I'm a Newark resident, I work for the city, I'm so grateful that I do that I'm able to service residents in the city. And what I wanna say is thank you mayor Baraka.

You wanna know why I'm saying thank you to mayor Baraka? Because he gave me the opportunity to work in reentry. He gave me that opportunity. And the reason why I'm saying this tonight is because when people get opportunities, things may go differently than what you expected. I thought that since I am qualified to do the job that by now we would have had a model reentry program.

Okay? But since thank you, mayor Baraka, because people will give you opportunities. So under the people that that that that that's working under them, they don't give you the opportunities. Okay? So this is what I know for sure and I want everyone to please remember this because everybody is going through something.

But it's how we go through it that makes the difference. Okay? And this is what I know for sure. God put me in that position here because he knew that I would be able to help so many brothers and sisters, and I have done it. And I have documentation for all the years that I've been here doing that job.

And for whatever the reasons are that those who don't wanna don't want me to do the job, it don't matter. Because when they told me I could not do resumes for clients, it didn't bother me because I still did it. Okay? When they told me that I could not see brothers and sisters coming home from from East Orange Probation, I still did it because that's what the mayor was paying me for. Not just the mayor, it's what the community is paying me for because I have the experience.

Not only do I have the experience, I got the education. And this is why another thing I wanna mention. I know people come up here and talk about how people be sleeping to get their positions. Okay? And I'm not disagreeing with that because I came here a couple of years ago to to say that that may be true, but I'm not one of them. Okay? So don't put us all in that category. Alright? Many of us females have come here and we are qualified for the position. Okay?

And when people come up here and and talk about what they're talking about, it's really talking about having the better quality of life. That's what it is. And we have to keep on doing that. And just like the mayor is holding me accountable, we're supposed to hold you accountable as well. And I'm leaving you with this. Let pain be your

teacher. Okay? And

let healing be your graduation. Don't get bitter. Get better. You know why? Because everything that we go through, we're growing through. Okay? Just like 50¢ says in many men, we're going through what we gotta go through because we have to become who we're destined to be. Because God has a plan for all of us. For all of us. You all are sitting up there.

God has a plan for you. Okay? And finally, I wanna thank councilman Kelly for your assistance because, you know, I sent those pictures to you about the slumlords because our block has never looked like this. It's gotten just a teeny tiny bit better. But what that showed me, councilman, is that we gotta stay on them. And not only do we have to stay on them, we have to stay on you as well to make sure that the job is being done. Alright? Because we want our children to see that they are special. Them seeing the way that this city looks and everything is not good for them.

Come on now.

Let's remember the purpose that God has for us. That's why I'm not angry at nobody. I'm so grateful and thankful to god for the experience because having the experience, god is blessing me with a whole lot of other things. Thank you.

Thank you for your comments. Next speaker.

Sheila Montague. Appearing.

So hello, everyone. Hello, counsel. Hello, counsel president. Hello. I wish that Anibal was here. I had a speech prepared, but I just wanna talk about a few things, pointedly. A few years ago, I came here, and he said that he had an educational group of some sort. Now I think I spoke to you about it too. And I said that I wanted to be a part of a part of it because as a twenty five year educator, I knew that I had something to contribute. It never happened, and here we are with four out of five of our students failing.

And on top of that, we have an educational district, right, with 1,600,000,000 that is failing to just educate kids on a third grade level. Now those students not only matriculate out into population, not understanding civics because it's not taught, but even worse for the generation, their parents, that it happened before the generation before, they don't even get the opportunity to have forums inside the schools even though they passed the ordinance or a law local law to have the kids vote still without teaching adequate civics, and their parents weren't taught it. And even though these polls are located in their schools, we as candidates still don't get a chance to go there and address the community. Right? And so that is monopolizing and exploiting the community.

That's one thing I wanna share that needs to be reflected upon. The second thing, our behavior as a whole is very immature when it comes to politics, and we see that in the East Ward. I ran in 2022. I watched the East Ward collectively come together as a model of what needed to be done in terms of political maturity and say, no. We're not gonna run your candidate.

We have our own candidate, and I ended up winning that ward. And that's a big deal to me because at the end of the day, I still believe in democracy. I don't think it was fair that this how we do politics is just not right. The mayoral debate was not had, and nobody up here advocated for that. Even though you it's important to establish the relationships between each other, it's still important to recognize that you're here in representation of some of you for the entire city, some of you for individual wards.

And with that, I wanna say I went to the central ward debate. I love debate. For those of you who know me, I participated my entire life. I I think the I need to say that the heckling that went on, just to piggyback off what Marion Bay just said, the children are watching. Right? And they don't see us they don't need to see us constantly in a state of ugliness, especially when there's so much killing going on. It's so much ugly that they do see. And what I saw, it was embarrassing. And don't get me wrong, I represent for the best of us, and I represent for the least of us. But at the same time, this is something we need to reflect on and do better because it was embarrassing what I saw. And you did it with

your chest out. You did it with

your it is I I don't I don't understand the mindset of it. And that's why I really don't even like to come down here because some of you look and you look attentively, and I do appreciate that. But some of you just look like next, like you're really not beaten by that. Some of y'all wouldn't even be up here if it wasn't for your crooked parents that was here before you. And then you have a nerve to try to ostracize other people in this community like myself, not the only one who maybe I didn't know my birth mother or my birth father and my grandparents raised me.

But who are you to act like you're better than? Hello. Who are you to shun constructive criticism when it's offered? I'm a cancer survivor. It's important what I do with my life post that situation.

And if I take the time to come out here, and some of you walk past and don't even speak, because you get mad that I come down here and I share my thoughts, And I do have legitimate thoughts about 90% of the homeless that exist being here in the city of Newark, and people really don't seem to care about it. I do have thoughts that this city council sat here and allowed Westside High School to have a Bunsen basketball event. But, again, we can't go in the event into that school and just freely talk to parents about who's running. There's a lot of things that I wanna, you know, talk about. I never have time to reach them all, but I'm just saying the the Rawls Spivy case that took place, thank god nobody passed.

There were no fatalities, but it's not attent enough attention being brought to Wally Bay. I was one of the people who, for twenty years, fought to get the CCRB here, they got here like a paper tiger with no subpoena power. And and and and you guys let that go because the mayor allowed for it. We have to do better. Walee Bay deserves justice. Thank

you for your comments. Next speaker.

Reginald Turner.

Reginald Turner not not appearing.

Shakir McDougal.

I I believe I saw mister McDougall. Yes. She there he is appearing.

Hey, family. Excuse

me, sir. I have some documents. Can y'all please pass this around, mama? Can you help me out? Take one, pass it down. This is for the council, please. That's not. And it's everything is in English. K? Everything's in I'm sorry? Oh, I'm sorry. This is for the council members. I'm sorry. I'll make sure I get something for the clerk, though. Can we please make sure that something gets copied for the clerk? I do apologize. I'm not trying to leave nobody out. This is definitely about all or no. Just let me know when I can begin. Actually, can I begin once everybody has paperwork so that we're all oh, can we pass them on this side, please? Thank you, mama. I'm sorry. I do apologize.

I get it.

I wasn't sure how many people was gonna be here, I didn't bring a thousand. But I'll make sure they they they they out, though, out and about in the city. Just let me know when, I can begin.

Mister McDougall. Mister McDougall. We're gonna start your time. Go ahead. Yep. Let's go, mister McDougall.

Okay. Good evening council president, members of the council, and residents of Newark. My name is Shakira McDougall, and I'm a resident of Assis County who cares deeply about the future of Newark and trust between community and those who want to protect it. Over the past several years, Newark operated under a federal consent decree designed to improve accountability and transparency within the Newark Police Division. That process wasn't easy, but it helped rebuild public confidence.

Now that the consent decree has ended, the question before us is simple, what happens next? Do we allow that progress to fade over time or do we take steps to preserve what's been built on? Because when a formal standard is removed, what remains is whatever we choose to put in its place. And recently, it took one heartbreaking tragedy to make the gap visible to everyone. Now through this process, the goal has simply been to shape something that's practical, balanced, workable.

Tonight, I'm presenting the Public Trust Act, which focuses on transparency and accountability following critical incidents involving law enforcement. This isn't about anti police. It's about supporting public trust, clear communication, and consistency when it matters most. When serious incidents occur, officer involved shootings or in custody deaths, the community looks for clarity. And respectfully, like many residents, I've seen the recent footage that has been released.

And moments like that reinforce how important it is to have clear processes, consistent communication, and transparency when these situations occur. And beyond the process, they are real families navigating real loss in real time, not in thirty day timelines, but in days, hours, while preparing to lay loved ones to rest. Because the public doesn't just deserve to see the footage, the public deserves the ability to verify. The public trust act outlines a few straightforward steps. First, timely public communication.

Within forty eight hours, the city would issue a preliminary statement confirming that the incident occurred and identifying the investigative authority consistent with New Jersey AG directives. Second, evidence preservation, ensuring that body worn camera footage and related digital evidence are preserved to maintain the integrity of investigations. Third, ongoing transparency through a public dashboard and regular reporting so residents can understand how incidents are handled over time. Fourth, early intervention and officer wellness. Supporting both accountability and officer well-being as part of a balanced approach.

These are not new concepts. They are widely used practices and the intent here is simply to make sure NORT continues building on the progress that it has already made. And from a practical standpoint, much of this can be supported through existing systems and resources focusing more on alignment than expansion. And where additional support is needed, there are funding opportunities and city to city resources available to help implement best practices like these. Newark doesn't have to start from scratch.

We can build smarter by learning from what's already working. But ultimately, strong public safety depends on trust between the community and the residents. I've shared this proposal broadly including with members of this council and the mayor's office because this is about moving all of Newark forward together. I appreciate the time, you've taken to review this, and I welcome the next step, whether that's sponsorship, further discussion, or formal review. Shout out to captain James George.

Passed this through him first. He checked it. So what you got was the preliminary. What you have now is the revised version after he's already checked it. I'm not sure if the next step is to check it with the law department, make sure it coincides with that. But, yeah. You know, it's just like having a supervisor and then the supervisor's not there, we know how that is. You know, not everybody's on point as much as they would be with the supervisor. So the new supervisor's gonna be the community. We don't have the federal oversight.

There's no need for that no more. But the community oversight is really important. So I just wanna make sure that we have that process in place. We have a system in place to make sure, god forbid, somebody acts stupid again and try to embarrass this city. But there's a process in place that's not just case by case discretion, but it's a system that we know, like, okay, there's a system to check-in how many strikes this person got. Have they received any officer wellness? You know, it's not about punishment. It's about progress. Thank you.

Thank you for your comments. Next speaker.

Trenton Jones.

Is he here? Mister Jones? Yeah. There he is. Appearing.

I'm not gonna be long, councilman. You could just run my start running my time.

Can you give this to

the council? And this one needs to go directly to the VA. This goes to the VA, and I go to the rest of the council. Yes. It's nine.

Good evening, council president and council, members. My name is Trenton Trenton Jones. 18th Avenue, Newark, New Jersey. The reason I'm here is for transparency, And this has everything to do with the city clerk Keisha Daniels, who I've known for some years and had a great deal of respect for, but I don't know what is actually going on. This is what I wrote to the clerk.

Dear madam clerk, I hope this message finds you well. I am formally requesting public records in accordance with New Jersey state law specifically. I am seeking the following information, the salaries and titles of staff members and council Patrick counsel's office, and I said, you can redact their names. I said, all correspondence involving former city clerk Lewis former city clerk Kenneth Lewis related to the complaints, denials, petitions, rejections, and all parties involved in former sharp former mayor Sharp James run for council at large in '22, specifically one document from attorney Anthony Mack requesting that former clerk Ken Lewis level criminal charges against former mayor Sharp James dated 03/13/2022. Another document I requested was the expenditures from the hedge fund going back to 2014 to current.

I also requested a copy of my Essex County Democratic Committee certificate. Right? And the clerk's office said that they don't know what that is. Another thing I requested on the twenty seventh of last month was the zoning board meeting where a council member, a campaign manager act that actually sits on a board with one of the developers in the South Ward was seeking a variance for a location that the councilman current currently has his campaign headquarters on. So I spoke up at that meeting where the developer told many lies in that meeting, and I requested this document from the clerk's office, and I have not received that document as yet.

Also, at that zoning board meeting, there was a conflict as I brought up many issues that were going on, and the the the guy oh god. Munford, he had to recuse himself from vote from voting because of the conflict of interest. Today, I I requested these documents nearly a month ago. I got them about forty minutes before I came to to the podium, I guess, but all the documents weren't there. So as it relates to the documents as to former mayor Sharp James, I have one of the documents.

I actually just gave it to the corporate count not corporate counsel, the VA. But I was gonna give it to to you all, but I'd rather him just take a look at it. No. It's it's on it's on it's on it's on the table right there. But transparency in this city is the reason why a lot of people don't have faith in this city anymore, and this is one of the reasons why one of the reasons that I'm running for South Ward councilman.

And not only that, last year when I filed a lawsuit against the city of Newark was because the city clerk denied me information that was public record. And it wasn't until one week before I went to court that this document magically appeared. And I felt as though 53,000 residents in the Central Ward should not have been without representation. I just think we have a transparency issue here, and this almost used a curse word, but I just think that this needs to be fixed, and I I thank you all.

Thank you for your comments. Next speaker.

Jamar Youngblood.

Appearing.

Jamar Youngblood,

I'm speaking tonight based on direct conversations with residents across our city, and I just wanted to make sure these concerns are brought directly to our council members as well. Please excuse my directness, but it is clear that this council is not focused on passing laws that protect residents. It is also clear that you have not shown the courage to speak up when the administration is wrong, and here's why that is concerning. I saw your new campaign flyers that shows the mayor at the top and eight of you listed underneath. It, it presents all of you as one unified team aligned with the mayor.

That tells voters you will support the mayor's agenda for another four years instead of acting independently to protect residents. And to the residents listening, the mayor only needs five out of nine council votes to pass his agenda. Right now, eight members of this council are on his side, and that means there's no real check on his power. This means our mayor will be able to keep doing whatever he wants, and no one will hold him accountable. And what makes this worse is that our council members are elected to protect residents and to act as a check on a mayor who abuses his power.

Instead, our council members are choosing to support him without question. So I am asking residents to reconsider voting for anyone using the slogan, continue moving north forward in the May. That slogan now represents or that slogan now represents alignment with corruption and not accountability, allegedly. I also wanna talk about our recent legislative activity. This administration has been in office since 2014, and one of the most significant pieces of legislation passed during that time was created to protect undocumented residents.

That matters, but native residents also need protection. And and here are examples of legislation that could be introduced right now to protect us. At councilman Bay And Rountree, there are women who do not feel safe working in city hall and in other city departments. Expand and enforce the 2019 protections against workplace sexual harassment introduced by Gail Chaneyfield Jenkins. Councilman Quatana, you work closely with seniors and women.

Please introduce a legislation that protects seniors and single mothers from slumlords and unsafe housing conditions. Councilman Kelly, there are streets in the West Ward covered in trash. Please introduce legislation that fines property owners who fail to maintain their properties. There are many opportunities to pass meaningful legislation, but instead this council is choosing alignment over responsibility. And my last message is to outsour organizations and individuals operating in North using public funding.

I am asking you to stay out of our local elections. Many of you understand the real issues in our city and speak about them privately, but publicly, you promote this administration because your funding depends on it. If you are not a Newark resident, you should not influence our elections while benefiting from our taxpayer dollars. Newark, we need to take control of our city now. Waiting another four years is not acceptable. Thank you.

Thank you for your comments. Next speaker.

Queen Danisha Clyburn.

Appearing.

Queen Danisha Clyburn, I don't wanna spell it again. I think y'all heard it yesterday. For the record, it says Quintana on the back of my jacket. Talking I'm to the people because that's who's listening. We are not related to Quintana. That's his the council. Let's make that very clear. We do own 14 McDonald's where I

It's Clyburn. Please please speak to on the microphone.

Thank part of your ordinance, sir?

We can't hear you, and it can't be recorded if you speak in that direction. So if you speak to the mic, we can hear you.

They're the one can you stop my because we're going back and forth. Stop my time. All

I just want to do is be able to hear

and keep people in the audience

to able to hear. Continue with your comments.

Again, like I said, the people over here are the ones that are listening, so that's who I'm talking to. Because when we get over here and start talking to them, it's like we're talking to nobody or we're being rebuttal. I don't know how many times I have to say to a person because I don't really come here, but I'm coming here now every council meeting. I wanna thank Keisha Daniels for the reminder of a ordinance that I I wasn't clear of, and that was the only question that I had that day when you insist on putting me out. I just want to know what was a part of the agenda.

But I think there's 25 people that's listed. You should send them all that same reminder to let them understand that they can't blur out why they're not speaking or if they weren't speakers because it's only fair. Multilemon men, you need to get a lawyer because if you didn't get the same letter that I got, you need to lawyer up my guy. You should've got a reminder first just like I did. Maybe they just don't wanna play with certain people.

And if I'm that certain people and I'm special, I wanna say thank you to all of y'all. At the end of the day, when I leave from here, after I get to this mic, I get phone calls. Now I had to go to another house that is in South Ward. I need your I don't need your number for me, Pat. I need it for a South Ward resident that stays at 2 Dash 12 Hillside Avenue in North New Jersey where it looked like it's the whole building gonna cave in eventually. Please and thank you. There's another one, Southwood. I forget her name. She's in my inbox. This is all day for me.

I had somebody that worked for the city that said to me, oh, the phones ring all day when we're downtown at the City Hall. Mines ring all day too when I don't work for none of y'all, period. All day long. I don't get paid for y'all, and I'm glad I don't because I can say what I want, do what I want, when I want. Y'all gotta get out your feelings. Y'all said your mayor said because I'm a add the 10 people because he forgot about him and the nine of you. There's 3,010 people that work for the city. Right? But you got over a 100 and something thousand people that are your bosses. You're looking at your bosses.

We pay taxes. We pay your salary, and all we ask is that you respond. And I'm gonna say one more time to the eastward. You're doing a good job because when you step up to your team and you make them react because you did, and I'm gonna keep saying it and remind you, listen. I'm a very fair person. If I see you doing something good, I'm a acknowledge you. Marion Bay, we had a conversation yesterday. I hope that we're different. We ought to turn I'm sorry. Amina Bay. I'm sorry. Let me get the names right. It's starting to sound the same to me. Your meeting was canceled because I gotta rebuttal you. It was canceled from yesterday because it would've been yesterday because I don't wanna look like a liar. Okay? It's supposed to be the April 1. We gotta stay in contact. I got a lot going on. I don't get paid to do your job.

Dapri Kelly, I never got my 400 and something dollars from the landlord that I asked you to get my money back from at all. I never got a text back, but you did respond when you did, and I wanna say thank you. Because it seemed like we have to praise you guys for the money we already pay you for on top of that. But when we do the work as a community, we don't get no praises. We get, oh, they just running their mouth or they just saying this. I'm not a liar. I got receipts in my phone. And for that comment from Utah, you better be careful, Dipri Kelly. I love you, but I gotta tell you the truth. I heard that lady because I took him. I picked him up. After your aid and him got into it, I broke them up at the Bellsburg Conservancy. Me. There was a conversation. I recorded it.

I told you I'm dangerous with my phone. Don't play with me. I got three of them, and one is always recording because y'all be lying or maybe fabricating or telling a story. I don't know. But I love my community. There is nothing I wouldn't do for my people. I get out of my bed. My boss called me this morning. Girl, when do you sleep? I got problems at every McDonald's, and I get up out of my bed, and I go there, and I sit there until I can solve them. If I can do it, y'all can do it. It's more y'all y'all say than it is over here, but you got over a 100 and something thousand bosses understand that we exist. Thank you.

Thank you for your comments. Next speaker.

Lisa Richardson Parker.

Appearing. Yeah. Miss Parker.

I got caught up. Lisa Parker, good day criminal cult that's running our government. Newarkers, elect a clown, expect a circus. Let me say it again. Elect a clown, expect a circus.

We witnessed the circus at the number drawing for candidates that numbers were bracketed for team Baraka, candidates. We also witnessed the circus led by the mayor's brother, his bully crew, and the city employees to cheer on the candidates, a disgrace. What happened to this building and these chambers? It used to represent decency and decorum. We don't have that no more.

Let's talk about the snow removal, potholes, garbage, high rents, high property taxes, no jobs for Newarkers, kids are not educated, crime, no public safety, and the list goes on. This week, the news featured the deplorable conditions that residents live in at Villa Victoria. The elected, they concern they were more concerned about their public image instead of being public servants to help residents. On on February 17, there was a meeting at the Symphony Hall to bust the residents from Villa Victoria to hear concerns from by the mayor, UCC code enforcement, the health department, economic and housing development, and others. And you Louis Lularo is useless because he do more advocating for developers than helping residents in me.

What did these agencies and mayors do to address the residents' concerns? Not a damn thing. It's election season. They want your vote but not help residents. The same landlords that contribute to their campaign to get elected are allowed to have to not fix it, the deplorable living conditions.

And I wanna thank George Matthias from South Orange. Thank you, George. Shout out for calling the news. Newarkers, May 2026 will be the most important election for changing of the criminals that are running our government. Twelve years, three terms with team Baraka, nothingness.

Three strikes, you're out. The mayor, I came here twelve years ago and told you, I'm going to keep coming back until you do right by my people. I kept my promise, but for the mayor, your legacy will always be criminality, corruption, indictments, dirty water, dirty streets, incompetence, bankrupt, and a broken city. No one became mayor when you did. You didn't have you didn't move the city forward, and I can't reimagine what you have destroyed because what we need to do is vote Baraka out.

He doesn't deserve your vote. Newarkers deserve better. Please join me in supporting Gail Chaneyfield Jenkins two way for a better central ward, Jamal Youngblood for mayor, Donna Jackson at large, and my dear Nadira Brown. At the end of the day, you have been detached from the community since COVID when you put them screens up there, them partitions, because you don't have no interest in none of the things that we come to the podium with. Louise, Louie, and Crum, you was at Society Hill a year ago, January.

Gave it to the the woman, that's supposed to represent us, Assembly and Senate, to write legislation to help the suffering people up in Society Hill with their taxes. You've done nothing. And at the end of the day, we deserve better. Vote or rocker out.

Thank you for your comments. Next speaker.

Shay Coulter.

Shay, I don't see Shay. Is he here? Is that him? Okay. Alright. Appearing.

Good evening, North residents, mister president. This evening, I rise. I had a busy afternoon, but I'm here today by the grace of god. To the honorable 360,000 to to 500,000 residents, we greet you in a peace and blessings and peace and power and protection to all of your families. Mister president, today I rise as a citizen, father, and worker here to discuss education, social justice, and the infrastructure dilemma that Newark currently is at important crossroads of.

In education, mister president, I took the train down to Edison, and I'm speaking to some of New Jersey's residents from other nations, and they tell us that they don't mix the gifted and talented kids with the kids who just don't care. Those students have become a distraction to the students who are actually there to learn, there to grow, there to preserve legacy, there to bring us out of this desperate, depressed, destructive slave state that we're getting from our media daily, showing our kids to be robbers and lawbreakers. Those boys and girls who are high performance, their parents should be meeting with you all and the other school government people to see how we get those kids separated from the kids who are in a complete distraction. I'm saying it as a parent, not as a candidate. I'm saying it as a parent, the regular construction worker that will not surrender child safety in all five wards.

We're done with it. Tell the criminals to stop going to the schools to tell us what they got in trouble for. We wanna know the restored man or woman that God made them, who their mama birthed. That's who we wanna know, and that's the change we wanna see in North. We wanna say that because as we trickle into infrastructure, the potholes, mister president, we could have 10 drones flown flown all around the city, not to invade our fourth amendment rights as daddies and mommies and uncles, but for it to literally just surveil the streets that are in need of our pothole crew, sister at large Rountree, the only one who probably get reelected to for the the teams to be deployed there based on what Silva was saying, us using our resources for what we need them, leveraging city resources for actual, change and solution.

We saw a little bit of that with the snow, but it wasn't enough time for, that to ripple to all departments. We're still a government incomplete because we don't have the fiscal municipal board. Mister president, speaking to you and and reaching out to our great clerk who's been great to some degree, but stern on other, matters, the fiscal board operates in the finance department. We have so many tax abatements. We don't have the school board negotiating any of the repayment of the abatements.

We're not talking about hundreds of thousands of dollars. We're talking about hundreds of millions. As Deborah Salters, as Sheila Montague, as Jamal Youngblood has explained to you, when our city goes delinquent in tax payments, that not only underfunds our school district from your malfeasance, but it makes it twice as hard for us as families who are out here whether we're busing, driving, Ubering, it doesn't matter. We're in the daily trenches of it. Step parents, mommies, daddies, foster parents, we all are dealing with it.

And y'all are promoting a slave state, which we as parents push back against. The slave state must come to an end. And I mean that in every fiber of my existence do it all, whether it's a hundred forty fifth in Lenox or broad in market. The same applies. We're not elevating those on the yellow bus to manage the block anymore.

We're going back to gifted and talented manage both the community and the government. And I'm saying to that out of love, cousin, do it all. Yes. Mu'taz on the ballot, organic black man. Whoever else is on it, we have to use this last minute of my civic participation to go back to the fiscal board, whether it's senior housing that we are in a deficit in or if it's the funding that we need for gap funding on some of these other pet projects y'all need.

Y'all need to get that from outside of Newark money, external money, and not the money that you need for your fiscal budget. Mister president, y'all had the audacity to win the governor's house and turn right back around and let the, republicans, who are not necessarily mob republicans, play y'all at the state level? Why have we become the laughing stock of the state and have them asking us why we are submitting budgets late? And I'm looking in to the spiritual father through trying to be a good Christian, looking at my councilman, that don't make no sense. I'm not staying stuck on stupid as no civic man. And that's it. I don't got nothing else to say.

Thank you for your comments. Next speaker.

Nuneera El Bomani.

Appearing.

Trump. Them. Get them. Get them. Train the swamp. I'm gonna keep on saying it. Get them. Oh, they started me already. First of all, I wanna say the prophet said, whoever amongst you see an evil action, then let him change it with his hands by taking action. If he cannot, then let him let him do it with his tongue by speaking out.

And if he cannot, then do it with his heart, and that is the weakest of the faith. So, Ali Muhammad, you're doing what's right. Alright. Based on what prophet Muhammad said, I'm gonna continue to say, if you don't wake up, rise up, and take action regarding the conditions we are living under, I'm gonna continue to say there's gonna be consequences. I have repeated this over and over and over and over again.

We are under siege. We are under siege by corrupt politicians. We are under siege by corrupt police. We are under siege by corrupt invaders, illegals who who they defending. We are under siege by our own very own community thugs. We are at war, and we gotta do whatever's necessary to defeat this war. And whoever we gotta use to by any means necessary to get rid of these individuals. Drain the SWAT. Come on, Trump. Come on, Haber.

Come on, whoever is gonna help drain this SWAT. Come on. Bring it on. You failed electives. You have left Norcos way behind. We're underwater. You don't care about us and neither do your supporters. We are living under the worst conditions that I ever seen under any administration in the history of my time here in the city of Newark. The worst. You are the worst of the worst homegrown failures.

No other way to describe you. Failure. Any failed elected official running for office, running for election, who put illegals, who put outsiders outside of noggers and Americans, you deserve to not have a seat nowhere in politics. Nowhere. We've been calling out Newarkers first since we've been coming to this podium, and you haven't done one iota of it.

Fail leadership, no other way to describe you. When you see him come knocking on your door, run. Run, dorkers. Run. Shut your doors. You won't come to my door. You don't even wanna look me in my face because I I listen. You are a a travesty. And I warn people when you got in office, radical rally rass. You was gonna flip the script, and you you you ain't even wait a year.

You ain't even wait a year when you sat down with Kiss the Ring or Booker and and and Joey D. Not even a year you turned your back on the individuals who paved these streets, walked these streets, protest throughout these streets. You are a foul homegrown disgrace. And all of you who who coincide with them. A disgrace. That's what you are. A budget. A billion dollar budget. What's in

it for

Newarkers? Slum politicians, slumlords, budget deficit by this failed corrupt BA who came in here with a federal investigation for hiding subpoena papers. Come on behind me again. Come on. Come on. Bring it on. Bring it on. Budget deficit, light budgets every year since he's been in office. Poverty, high unemployment, homelessness, eviction tsunami. You name it. We got it.

Thank you for your comments.

Next speaker. Deborah Solters.

Appearing.

The result is worry for the people. Line one a for a better day, brand new day for mayor of the city of Newark. You know, we're looking at all of these living conditions, right, that we've been talking about since I'll I'll only go back to '22 when I had to force the council people to come to Georgia King Village and still didn't go through the apartments, you know, the fights that we've been in all this time. So it's not new. This is not new information.

There's not something new that's been brought to you, but it's election season. Every election season, something acts like it's going to get done because you have a plan to the plan for the next plan. Right? But the plan never comes to fruition because once the people vote you back in, it's like, oh, I forgot about you again for another four years. So, Norkers, I'm saying to you, you have the power to fire these folk.

Fire them. You can't go to your job and not do your job and still keep your job. You talked about a raise. You might get a quarter, a dollar, make dollar 50 if you're doing good just for being there. You don't get a 3%, 5%, 8% raise retroactive, but yet this council has done that. But you know this. So so already today, it's temporary appropriations from the '26 budget that we don't have yet. This is what we do every year, and this is how we wind up in a deficit every year because we're taking money from something that we don't have already. Right? Already on the agenda.

Then we have Quieter Towers for for only god knows why you all are you know, for I I do know why. Because it was, Amiri's legacy or he wanted to see this thing come to pass. So we gave away the building for twenty three thousand. Did we ever get our $5,000,000 CBDG funds back? I asked that last time and nobody had an answer for me. After I was told, oh, no.

We weren't in litigation.

I had to get up here and and bring all the documentation. So somebody wanted to buy the building for 2,700,000.0. So instead of selling it to them, you gave it away along with the whole house and caboodle and kid, you know, everything. So then when that didn't work out, you turned around and tore the building down. What sense does that make? It does not benefit We The People. And nothing that you do benefits We The People. You pass legislation for everyone but We The People in the city of Newell. And we've been telling you this. We've been we've been fighting this fight from the water to the houselessness to the joblessness to the unfair wages.

We are so far behind on jobs. We are not ready for this construction boom that's here. We had a a a deputy mayor that was supposed to have jobs, have us ready for this construction boom. We are fifteen, twenty years behind and the jobs are coming. The tunnels are being built. The bridges are being built, but we don't have people who are ready for the jobs. And then and what are we supposed to do? The rents are through the roof because of deals that are being made. Somebody laid 55,000,000 down for the, 1,400, unit project down here with not adequate parking. All of these things that we've gone through.

Right? But we also had an opportunity to recall your butts out of here two years ago and people sat on their hands. So those of you who sat by and waited for your turn while my city burned, now you wanna pop out here. Where were you when we were asking for our men to stand up? When you only had a few women on the line fighting for everything. This is not a game. This is serious. You got people running for paychecks, for attention, for I'm a show rise. Don't you this man don't care. How you gonna show him?

When he used you, abused you, and tossed you away like a used condom should've told you something then. What you gonna show him? These folk don't care about you posturing. There are many of you that are in the way. Let's just call it what it is. Like Paul said, all things are lawful, but all things are not expedient. You can do what you want, but should you do it? Uh-uh. Alright. Should you be in the way? Hold yourself accountable the same way we're holding this council accountable. If you're in the way, get out of the way so that we can get these folks up out of here. It's not about your personal best or you making history. We're talking about people making changes. We're changing lives.

We're not up here looking for our own accreditation. We're in this fight because people's lives are on the lump. Because what makes you better than this administration that's here? If you out here trying to make a name for yourself and make history, we making changes.

Thank you for your comments. Next speaker.

Opal r Wright.

Appearing.

Good evening. My name is Opal Arbright. Was just gonna say good aft good evening to council people. Excuse me. This is time running.

He said that the president has to be here. Alright. My name is Opal Wright. I reside at Vanderpool Street in Newark. And I would like to begin with

okay.

I'm concerned with two things and one I might mention first. I will mention first. Because that is that the president the president of The United States is according to me, he's been according to the record, he's been in office for at least fourteen months, and we are United States citizens and we practice democracy. And we shall work. We should at this, you know, at this time, we should be at least willing or able to begin.

We should work these next three years as citizens that can take the place of the presidency, take the you know, at least be able to do the the work that he's not doing. We should be able to do these the at least the order of things should be under the control of the US citizen to the point that I'm trying to at least try to inform is that there is our citizen is basically the citizens are able to at least use our communication device at the not a communication, but our internet or connect with congress and be able to at least read what is coming before the congress and be able to respond. And this should be this should be taken as a a form of work. And we we should be if we can do this work for the next three years, we should be entitled or we should be able to receive at least a $100 credit to each person, each citizen that is doing the job that the president is not doing. And we also have The US, United States is is at least we conduct our labor that we provide is at least it is considered to be paid we are to be paid at least two times, at least in one month so that we could have a quality a quality life of the standard at least a quality life here in this in this country.

And so I was just concerned with being able to he said that that ours that the slaves were that it was the birthrights for the slaves. And it is time for him to be able to agree that we must get in contact. We must make the connection and take this as an opportunity to do this job. And the second concern is with our title 10, the bureau this is the law. The Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, which are with entitled 10.

There's information on our budget for the Bureau of Consumer Protection for consumer Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection. There is in section ten seventeen, there's the funding and it's specific about the monies that are in the budget for each of the local cities so that we could be able to contact and receive that protection.

Thank you for your comments. Next speaker.

Latoya Jackson Tucker.

Appearing.

Good evening, Latoya Jackson.

Good evening.

Tucker. I'm running for the public school board for the one year unexpired term, and my ballot position is b one. So I'm a read this. I read it every time I come here because I wanted to soak through my whole entire community. I'm, like, in the middle of all of this, loving all of y'all that I don't feel like y'all not telling the truth.

I just want y'all to tell the truth in a way that we could get along if it is at all possible. I have come I know auntie. I have come to the frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element in my community. It is my personal approach that creates the culture. As a part of my village, I possess tremendous power to make my community life miserable or joyful.

I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration. I can embarrass or empower, hurt or heal in all situations. It is my response that decides whether a crisis will be escalated or de deescalated, my community be humanized or dehumanized. I do make a difference. So I just wanna piggyback on my boy, Shakur Shakur Madoogle, with this public safety issue because it is one.

I went through public safety and wanted to know how they was ran so I could understand how to advocate for my people. Now I have a situation with my son that the joint task force BON is basically putting on North North putting on them, but yet and still, it's been thirty one days today that my son is still sitting in the county. So I just need my message today is for all my black and brown men and women that take positions that y'all have to dance for us. There's no other way. Like, we looking like clowns.

We are. We're moving the way that we are moving, and y'all it's people up here that has helped me. So I don't want y'all to look at me like that, like I don't appreciate you, Patrick Council, Amina Bay, Dupree Kelly, Lawrence Crump, and auntie Rountree. That's my auntie. I appreciate you all, but we can no longer go along to get along. Everybody that I put on my page, I'm gonna vote for them. My vote hasn't changed because I support the people that support me, but I'm tired. Like, I'm fighting for our black men. I'm fighting for y'all to have a reason to understand that y'all could reach and jump out the window. I do it.

Like, everybody's supposed to be scared. The law enforcement, they'll come and get you. I'm waiting for them. I really am because it's a shame the way that we get declarated and be put in these offices, and then we don't understand the significance of us operating for our community the proper way. Like, I'm I'm very upset and disgusted.

And although I know y'all sitting on positions and it's ethics, I just ran for the one year unexpired term because I'm sure that they have me up against the ethics committee because there's no way I could sit in a seat and see all that's going on and not speak as candid as I do. I'm living this stuff, so there's no way that I can make it pretty for y'all, Pretty for anybody no matter what title they have on them because god made us all, so we are created equal in that way. We get declarated by these systems. So I like, I know that I'm not fighting y'all. I'm fighting these systems.

And mister Anibou Ramos, I have never said nothing to you, but I am. I meant the your pick for the school the school board. He's a pastor. I had to hold my tongue because I was raised in the church. So I didn't he made sure that he did not say anything because people starting to talk and they know who I am. They know my mouth. Some people scared to say stuff. Others will approach me that's God fearing or whatever, but stop playing in our face. Y'all gotta accept for Hassani, that whole slate is BS with a capital b's, and I'm a say that. I talked to them.

They're unpolished. I know I'm unpolished. We know that I have college credits but don't have degrees, but the people that y'all put up before us to govern our children, like, please stop playing with us. I've been to court with the North Public School Board and and watched them put paper, conjure up all this stuff to get my son out that school, do administrative transfers, and all that. Please stop playing with us in that way. It's a shame, like, for contract money or to be able to dictate whatever, and then you endorsing Josephine. Like, I have a issue with that. A big one.

Thank you for your comments. Next speaker.

Lamar Foam.

Appearing.

That's right. The jig is up. Lamont Vaughan, New Jersey. I'll begin tonight by saying justice for Wally Bay. You've seen the release of the video.

I'm pretty sure you all watched it, and I'm still, wondering how we can watch that video, and how we can see that this officer was not in any kind of public immediate danger, neither did Waleed Bay present any immediate danger to members of the public. And not only that, that he had space to move out of Waleebay's driving off path. Right? And even when Huawei Bei drove off, he just just kept shooting like like a public shooting, firing squad. Right?

And he's still suspended with pay. Suspend him, please, without pay or fire him. You all have the power to do it. Ladies and gentlemen, residents in the city of Newark, I'm a breeze through this quick. The book of Revelations in the bible chapter 13 talks about a hypocritical form of government.

It presents a picture of a beast that has the face of a leopard but the feet of a bear. Right? And what that suggests real quick is that these people will be your friends in your face. They'll tell you what they want. You wanna hear everything you wanna, get done. They'll say yes to it and yes.

Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.

But when they walk away from you, you will be crushed. That has been the pattern of the governments all over The United States Of America. Unfortunately, we are living under this system called capitalism, and under the system of capitalism, money is the king. You can call on the FBI, DEA, Haber, call them in from New York and Cincinnati, round them all up to come drain the swamp, clean up the house. None of it is gonna work.

This is inherent in this system. And I'm gonna tell you why. The culture has been same thing with the police department. The culture has been created and has been allowed to fester, be perpetuated for so long that everybody who comes into it just has to be sucked up into it or be marked as an outsider. Now the truth of the matter is this, the city council has the power in this city.

The city council controls the purse. The city council's first obligation once convened after being elected is to do what? Appoint a president and determine how much you all and the mayor will get paid. Right? The city council's job is to legislate.

The city council's primary power is an oversight. You guys have the ability to oversee everything, every department, every function in this city, everything that the taxpayer dollars are allocated to, you all have the power to oversee it. Anybody who's not doing something right in this city, you all have the power to call them to this council, rip them apart, and get answers for the residents in this community. My name is Lamont Vaughn. I am on the ballot for councilman at large in this election cycle.

I am telling the residents of Newark as I go to their doors that I am different from every other candidate in this race for many reasons. I come from the bottom. President Obama said something years ago that I think rings true today. Change never happens from the top down. It must come from the bottom up. Nor the problem that we've been facing in this city is we've never elected anyone from the bottom of the bottom. Who? None of them. No. No.

No. We're talking about somebody from the bottom of the bottom. We're about a dropout. We're talking about somebody that's form. We are living in the city that has the highest dropout rates. Right? Schools of higher learning, professors, teachers, all of this around us, but we can't solve the dropout rate. You know why? Because nobody's talking to the dropouts. We're approaching things with this textbook approach. We need somebody intimately involved, and that's me.

Thank you for your comments. Next speaker.

Darnella Lee. Appearing.

Good evening, everybody.

Good evening.

I wanna thank the lord for waking us up this morning, blessing our family, our friends, the homeless, the needy, our families, and our enemies. What I wanna talk about, I'm a change. I wanna talk about Aisha Carter, the situation I watched yesterday, the pre meeting. And I just wanna talk about fair is fair, and we all know what it is. I first wanna say to you, I commend you.

To be so young, you're sharp, you're on point, you have your paperwork. I hope people as well. I just don't boast about it because that's not what it's always about. I couldn't get to it like I wanted, but I pointed her to directions. I gave her different people numbers because I couldn't get in touch, and I kept telling her to call this one.

Call that one. In the midst I had had to come down here the day that y'all was pulling the numbers with me to see Rountree. But in the fact of the matter that she had to leave for an emergency situation to get to her child, I'm appalled. We all know what's going on with the paperwork, how everything get missing. I've been dealing with my situation for five years.

Started out with 10 to 12 bodies just for the mayor to allow all these bodies to die well over a 100, and it's just not in 516 Bergen Street, but to do a cover up. And y'all allowed it. Last Thursday, I had Ketlin and I mean, not Ketlin. Ketlin had some people in the task force. I don't wanna talk about it because we still gotta give them time.

But when I come to the mic and I talked about them going next door at the mold department and cleaning out and scraping, I just said it. Didn't believe they do that. When I went up to open the thing, the thing was open, y'all. I took pictures, but I got so much going on to bring y'all open the side that they said I was didn't have it clean, my side. Scrape came back. Same as her pictures. She got a a a autistic child. My nephew is autistic. He's 29, 28, functionable. He went to Camden.

He had the helmets, went through all I take that personal. I'm thinking, bring it in the safe house to hook up a child machine. Y'all got safe houses. Y'all coulda did that. I have been offered spots to go as well as her. You can't offer me a spot where the mold is already there. You can't offer me a spot where it's already I know where my spot's at. Now I gotta go learn the other spot that y'all done covered up for about a year. You take the little white little white things, whatever it comes through. Y'all know what it is.

These are people lies. You talk about mold, lead, asbestos. The kids can't learn. You talk about twelve and three and four grades, that's been like that since me and Dana Rome been doing this. We gotta get on it. Everybody know the problem. What we're with her now. So what is the solution? She need to be put into something brand new because she should be afraid to go behind something that's been patched. She got children.

Think about that. Let's not think about politics right now. Let's think about the safety and the care of these kids. Not just her, Atisha Davis, his other kids, other Nadeira Brown. She came to the right to complain to help. I help all the time. I'm in a situation where I can't help like I want to because my mind is all over the place. I gotta do go here, think about this, getting to thirty day, getting this and this and that. But I am one of the ones that God appoint me to help people. I don't know no other way. I get that from my mother. It's in my family, my sister Elaine. That's what we do. So we gotta help her. She mentioned miss Amina Bay paying her rent.

She mentioned everybody, Keanna, everybody. But I said, let's go here. My sister oh, I went there. Okay. Let's go to Roundtree. She didn't get there. Let's not put the blame on somebody. Let's do something. Let's do something to help her. Get that in a place so I can use the machines so she can have a peace of mind. Because I know what it is when your mind is all over the place when you're thinking about others because that's what I do. I give bags because I care about people. Let's care. Let's show some all the names who's been here at the mic. It's like the Epstein survivors are here to talk about it.

What about the ones that can? We should give her recognition that she's here to talk about it. Let's help her. It was the thing North do something. A lot of y'all up there, y'all help. I'm talking about the ones that don't. Let's get together and help her. Help Atisha.

Thank thank you for your comments.

Please.

Next speaker.

Rodney Davis. Appearing.

Good evening.

Good evening.

I'm totally confused. You know? We live at a standard like this in Newark. Standard should be up here. The, the the gas pipe on Magazine Street in East Ward, total incompetence. I know the lady that own the house. I know the contractor. In the city of Newark, I know they do it in the building department, engineering. I don't know what happened. You have to have a mark out. You have to you just don't go out there digging. You have what we call in the state of New Jersey, United States Of America, a mark out. The mark out tells you where's the gas line at and where's the water. I don't know what what happened. We got a total incompetence.

We live at a standard like this. We gotta come back to a standard like that. Let's not forget about the snowplow, you know, just because the the water water washed it away. You know? It all begins at the top. Can't blame the directors if you ain't got another apparatus. Just think the men and women of DTW. Any construction site, before you send the people out there to work, you make sure they have, the proper equipment. In the city of Newark, you don't have the proper equipment. There's no excuse for that. You gotta you gotta be ready. This ain't not move your car. When you move the car, you see the car. Total incompetence, total, confusion. The people don't want to do, you know, you ain't got your garbage can.

Go to Home Depot. Buy your own garbage can. Don't wait for the people to buy a garbage can. You know, get your own garbage can. Make it may make a deal with Home Depot. Every residence buy it in bulk to get it cheaper. Right now, we got total incompetence. Time to stop fooling around. Time to stop having cushion. It's more than your little city vehicle riding around not paying for gas, car insurance, parking.

You know, they're giving out illegal tickets left and right, right and left. But you guys don't get you don't see it. You don't see it. Giving out tickets because they feel like and then the cops, they're not properly trained. They nobody this traffic and signal traffic and signal gotta have a a seminar, a learning session with the Newark police officers to write out a ticket. They don't even know how to read the error. See, the error will go one way to copy you the ticket for the wrong way. You know, that got that gotta stop. I mean, what you gonna do? You can't balance the why you ain't got a balanced budget in the first place?

You're supposed to have a balanced budget. You know that. You gotta have a balanced budget. Maybe get off the laptop and get a balanced budget. You know?

You over there. Right there on the laptop. Now I'm gonna listen to the ladies talk. I just told I just told Donna, you wanna get some stuff done, get some women. Women, you know, you need to get it done for you. I depend on y'all. I won't get nothing done. Now, what you call? You have sleep anyway. I don't know why you came here. Bell's here. I talk louder for you, Eric. You know? We gotta put the DPW. And, if your mother was here, first of all, we'd had everything we needed because she don't wait.

She ain't gonna wait till the snow start and then make some videos in March April. She gonna have everything. She gonna be asking questions because she know what the deal is. She know this day gonna come. She not gonna wait for the day to come. Gotta get back on our game right here. We're load and gotta stand it right here. Gotta get back up here. I'm not here to hurt your feelings you don't like because I'm running against your man and them. That's your man gotta get on his job. This is we the city of Newark never had so many people running before. This is a this is a a election like no other. Everybody and their mother running because they they pissed off. Gotta get back on the game. You know?

Inshallah. Yo. They they you know, everybody running, and, some people said I'm fed up. I don't know who gonna be the councilman at large. I told somebody, you know, you figure Rountree and Quintana, probably would win it. But you got so many other little powerhouses running. It might go to a runoff. I don't know who gonna win. You know what mean? And you shouldn't think that you got it like that because you don't. You know I mean? Don't get too comfortable. Stay frosty.

Next speaker.

Donna Jackson.

Appearing.

Lies, more lies, and lies. Let's go. Boy, boy, boy, in that

corner, you should have

never ever tried to answer me because you can't. Incompetent, uncapable, can't negotiate, can't do nothing. So shut your mouth, Raz Baraka, because you don't know what you're talking about. You never even answered the question. You made yourself look like a idiot that you are, and y'all all take the glory with them. Donna Jackson, hell raiser for New Jersey, North New Jersey, West Ford resident about to take over the whole city. Let's go paperwork number two. And I'm telling y'all tonight, shut up. Mister Pennington, shut up. Don't answer me because y'all lie all the time.

Let these people know they're gonna get laid off June 1. Stop waiting. Let these people know they're not getting their retro pay. Stop lying. How in the world are we appropriating $83,000,000 for one month? January 2026. What y'all doing? Where's the money? How we $800,000,000 in debt with the state? Don't sit there looking at me.

Y'all just finished paying fines. I just owe counsel money because we don't have this right. So now y'all put us in a position 2024 and 2025, but not approved by the state. You don't even need to work on 2026 because we ain't got no money. Better tell these officers something. You better tell these firefighters something. People trying to go get pension money ain't none. Look at this litigation tonight. This is because y'all allowed this building to be run like a whorehouse. Everything.

How we paying $575,000 as a settlement to miss Woods? How are we paying $80,000 to the estate of Malcolm? That means the man was here, did some work, and you let the man die. Now you won't give it to his family. Probably why he died because he had no money because y'all won't give a damn. Settlement again. 900,000. David Burgos, what's that about? I don't know who he is. Give him his damn check. You ain't got the money to pay that either. I guess that's why all this gotta come out the insurance fund. Settlement. Mister O'Neil, 182,000. It's on your agenda, so don't get mad at me.

I'm reading y'all stuff. Now, mister Baraka, you wanna play games with me? I'm not the one Negro because I know what I'm talking about, and this all falls on y'all because you allowed it. I mean, you was the only one who wasn't here, but this all fall on y'all. All of it because you allowed it, team Baraka. Touchdown, illegal motion on the field. Illegal motion on the field. All of y'all. 100 and yes. I do. A 198 $1,900,000. I'll give you paperwork. Calm down. Relax. The shelters had to sue y'all because you didn't pay them.

Come on now. Talk about it, Donna Jackson. And let me tell you to all my children on TikTok, all of y'all nine to 15 have been reaching out to mama Donna, I did not get the check. And I'm not gonna get the check because the boy don't got the check. They wanna know if I got the check. I gotta tell them, mama Donna didn't get the check because the boy don't have it. So mister Baraka, when I said $5,000,000, let me undress you tonight. Your office and miscellaneous funds for the year 2025, you sorry sack of suds, $69,000,000 in miscellaneous. And that's why the state rejected the budget and y'all know it. Y'all know it.

So there probably was $60,000,000 for 2024. Y'all allowed it. Now I got the 2026 paperwork. Let's go. Let's go.

Raz, I need a job. Oh my god.

Sex for hire. You damn right. All day long. Why the water department? The water department. $12,000,000 miscellaneous. Why? Why? Miscellaneous for what? What we stealing? We ain't fixed one treatment plan yet. We ain't fixed the dam up there yet. We had a fire up there, and you keep allowing these contractors. I it's nothing but God that them two babies in that East Ward didn't die the other day. But this ain't the first explosion.

This ain't the second explosion. Right on South Orange Avenue in Littleton, they wiped out the whole Internet, Roman construction. Y'all keep letting these un incompetent, non permit having people operate in this city because that's what y'all do. You putting people's lives in jeopardy. I was in court all day today with this young lady right here. Got there at 08:00, we ain't leave till one. Y'all don't have the right to let people suffer in this city. People been coming to this mic, and you have done nothing. Y'all better find this money, and kids

keep calling me because we Next want to speaker.

Anthony D'Angelo.

Let me say how much

I can Angelo. I do not believe he's here. Not appearing.

Malik h Cooper.

Mister Cooper, preparing.

Great day, everyone. Great day.

Just

so we're on the same page, city council and whatever the young lady is that name that says people's name. Daniels. Keisha Daniels. My name is Malik.

My apologies.

Thank you so much. I appreciate it. See how that works? We can work together. Right? You say what you want, you get it. See how I said what I wanted and I got it. Right? That is a problem. I'm sitting here, and and and I I had another topic, and I couldn't get it copied and put out.

And I said, you know what? The universe don't want me to talk about that yet. The universe wants me to talk about everything that everybody else is talking about today. It it it it is 2026. The young lady, Didi Lee, been telling y'all for five years or so that there's mold in these complexes. Yes or yes? Great day. Yes or yes. Right? Because I'm talking to my teachers.

My teachers cannot hear a a acknowledgement from my teachers. My teachers say yes. We've been telling you. Now my problem is this, Villa Victoria. How long do they have to say it before our kids end up on the same deathbed as the seniors?

How long and how many times will they have to tell you for you to react when our children become the common denominator? I know y'all not allowed to answer. I'm a let you know when I get in city council, I need y'all to be able to say everything you say because I'm a sit up there praying to give you an answer. Because this is not about you sitting and listening. This is about you teaching.

I said it the last time and I watched after you threw somebody out. You decided you wanted to teach. I'm not gonna say names. Yes. Am. South Ward Council, I watched the live after we left, and you wanted to tell everybody what they should do now. You felt like that was the time, and it was the most disrespectful thing you could have ever done because the time for you to do that was before the altercation. See the timing? Time is money. Right?

I'm gonna hit you with this other thing. We're gonna get you a little lesson. Part of the problem in this system system is that y'all are not doing what systems are made to do. System get y'all pen out. Another teacher on the mic.

System stands for save yourself time, energy, and money. I need to find out is the present council doing that? Is he doing that for the community? Anybody can tell me any one person on the council, including the including the mayor, including anybody that's dealing with him, let's just say it all and put it out because I've been tiptoeing not trying to say this stuff, but then you're looking at the women standing up as usual as usual. What happens now?

Again, our children end up the deficit. It's always gonna fall back on them. I found a little thing that says, you know, you got the little rose crack pipes, they in the store. Y'all ain't did nothing yet. The kids get to see the crackheads walk around the street smoking crack right out the store, and there is an ordinance that you can put together that the other cities just like Newark, Camden, Patterson, and all of these cities have an ordinance to stop the crack pipes from being sold in the stores. What is Newark doing? I asked. I found out. You they're using the crack too. Wow.

Wow. Okay. So when you're wondering what's happening in our community, I don't believe what the information I just said is because I'm actually walking around the community. I'm actually in the stores while you're sitting in your car riding around acting grand. There are people on the ground really loving on this community. Y'all should try some of that. Walk around. Use your feet, and some of you won't be fat.

Thank you for your comments. Next speaker.

Cassandra Duck.

Appearing.

Correct. Cassandra Dock. Let me first say thank you to all the women. It's Women History Month. I wanna thank all the women who have worked hard to try to improve the lives of all of us around this this this country, this world.

And, of course, you know, I believe in Jesus, so I wanna thank Mary for Jesus. Jesus. And I wanna say congratulations to Shabazz, Barrino, and company, Arti, and Michael b Jordan for winning the Oscar. Then I wanna say I wanna senator Teresa Ruiz, senator Scutari. Now, Scutari, I know you are responsible for making sure weed is illegal.

You pushed it for a long time. Senator Ruiz, I know that when we had the grand opening of the weed store in Newark, somebody sent me a picture. You went down there and you came out with a bag. I'm assuming it was your weed. But the both of you had to put something in your weed when y'all drafted bill s three five three zero.

S three five three zero. And I'm gonna assume that that was crack, sir. Yeah. Crack inside that weed. It had to be because there's nowhere in the world you would have drafted this bill.

This bill is talking about immigration tenant protection act. You wanna protect immigrant immigrants, noncitizen, you're saying to landlords, you cannot and I wish I had my glasses because I really wanted to read it. You're saying to the landlord, they cannot disclose a citizen's status. So you telling me as a owner, I cannot tell the law that somebody is in my on my property, in my unit illegal? It's the law.

And so, unfortunately, the senator Ruiz have a couple the senate has a couple of bills down there because all we seem to care about now is illegal aliens, immigrants, undocumented, whatever you wanna call them. Because y'all gonna cause this war between Americans and non Americans. And the president is not lying when he said they are committing fraud because they are. We know the brain sharks only take cash. They don't wanna take any other form of money because they're committing fraud because they don't wanna pay taxes.

We know that our Latino community that sell the ICEs, they don't wanna take nothing but cash, fraud. We know that our Jewish community, section eight, fraud. And then this Negro on the 2nd Floor had the nerve to say, you see something to his employees. Say something? When it comes to ICE, he had the nerve to say when the ICE was chasing their perpetrator, and the perpetrator, according to what the paper said, hit the car.

He said we're gonna take action. What action you gonna take? Because you ain't take no action in 2018 when your police was chasing somebody, dead perpetrator, and hit somebody. You didn't say you was gonna take action, but today, they up on 11th Street chasing somebody. What action you gonna take? Y'all think we're gonna sit around here and let y'all, come across, including at the federal level, Cory Booker, make it seem like illegal immigrants undocumented are more important than us? And lastly, senator, let me leave you with this. Think about Lauren Marshall. Lauren Lauren Marshall was coming home with her mother, her sister, and her sister's father with a truck. Mother got out to change the tire.

A truck hit her. Lauren's

six years

old because this happened two years ago, 05/08/2024. Lauren gets out the car, jumps on her mom, saying, mommy, be okay. She wasn't okay. She died. They went to court. The illegal, undocumented immigrant did not show up. He has a warrant. So he's probably somewhere else driving for somebody else, and she also wants these immigrants that's living in these units to get riddle assistance. Are y'all serious?

Thank you for your comments.

Yeah. Lauren Marshall.

Thank you for your comments.

Senator, every time you go to sleep, Lauren Marshall, the illegal thank

you for your comments.

Council president, council members, that concludes the hearing of citizens.

Thank you. Any anything from the council? Anything from the council? So I I will say one thing. Is there anything from just one thing. With regards to what, miss Clyburn mentioned in regards to two dash 12, I did get an email. I I did respond, and I have brought code enforcement in on that matter, and I'm gonna continue to follow-up with that. Anything from the administration? Anything from the administration? Okay.

Can we please get get some quiet so that we can hear the speakers? Thank you.

Good evening. Eric Pennington, business minister. Just a couple of things. There were a few comments about the the budget. Some erroneous statements, perhaps unintentional. Who who knows why? But the state does not allow an unbalanced budget. And since we have been here under mayor Baraka's leadership, we've never had an unbalanced budget. We have had every budget that we have submitted has been approved by the state, and we have operated under that budget. Right now, we have temporary appropriations because the budget, which is not due, has not been presented to the council yet, so it could not have been passed.

The 80 some odd million dollars, I think, that was referenced is about one twelfth of the budget that we will ultimately pass, which makes sense for one month's appropriation. So there's nothing untoward about that. And I suppose if anyone wanted information from my office, they could contact and I'll give a brief tutorial on why we have to have appropriations until the budget is passed. I'm I'm I'm fine with that. With respect to comments about Coweta Towers, which is a 100% affordable project that's going up in the Central Ward downtown in the Central Ward.

Just to respond briefly, the CDGBG funds, the community development block grant funds, which were allocated for the prior projects, has not been spent and is not missing. It just wasn't used for that project because the project did not go forward. There is now a pending sale for that property in the amount of about a half $1,000,000, which we expect the developer to move forward within the near term and develop that into a 100% affordable units. The property was demolished, which was part of each of the two plans to develop that piece of property because there were some safety concerns. So the city demolished that property to ensure the safety and integrity, of that of that building.

It will, you know, continue to move forward with that project with the hope that the development the actual shovels in the ground development will take place within the next within the next few months. So we expect that that will happen. The other allegations of general allegations that come out about fraud and corruption and those things, anybody can make those allegation when they come up here, but not one of the people that have made any reference to allegations of fraud or corruption or criminality has come forward with any specific information. The other one who came forward, I think, who who claims to have come forward with something is one of the first speakers who who handed out something that claims to be recordings, which just means he's snitch somewhere. And if that's what he is, that's what he is.

So be it. I mean, he's admitting that he's a snitch to some degree. We don't know what's on I don't know what's on there. But presumably, his information or him being an informant or a snitch has not had the impact that he expected. The other people who throw the threw out these allegations, they ought to come forward with some specifics. And as it relates to me, I stand by my record when I came in here. There are people who talk about some allegation about me eight years ago. If they can't come up with something better than what they say in these last eight years about my integrity, go ahead and keep on and and say what they wanna say. If they wanna come ahead and make an allegation that has any teeth to it, by all means, do so. If they

Miss Belmaty.

And if they

Please do not call out.

It's fine with me. Then they are subject to to litigation for defamation, and I'm fine with that. I don't know if anything else or anybody else has anything else for me?

Thank you.

You're welcome. Did you wanna I don't know if you wanna talk can I add something? I don't know if you wanted to talk about anything about the handicapped spaces. Or you wanna address that

now? Sure. Let's let's do that now.

Yeah. We have I thank the council for bringing to the administration's attention several complaints about applications for handicapped spaces, existing handicapped spaces being denied for having obstruction in their property. All those existing spaces, for whatever reason, that are being denied, unless, of course, it's because they don't live there anymore or they no longer are alive.

Miss Dock, please do not call out.

They will be grandfathered in. They will be approved. I am told that no signs have been removed. And if any of the council members have a specific location where a sign has been removed, please let me know, and I will have it replaced. But I've been told by engineering and our traffic signals department that no signs have been removed, that everybody who has has an active license and they have statutorily comply with every other requirement for having a handicapped space, it will continue. It will be grandfathered. The mayor has directed that, and we'll follow through on that.

Thank you. Court counsel.

Good evening. Kenyatta Stewart, City of North Corporation Counsel. There was a few comments in reference to, the unfortunate incident that took place a few weeks back when the, ICE agents were, chasing a vehicle. And I think people are a little confused about what the rules say in reference to police officers' ability to excuse me, Ross. Take it easy.

Miss Doc, do not call out anymore.

That people are a little confused about what the rules say in reference to law enforcement chasing people in vehicles. So let's just be clear about this. Law enforcement has the ability and can chase vehicles if they understand that that person in the vehicle poses a imminent threat to someone. Immediate imminent threat. So for example, unfortunately, if there's a law enforcement officer who witnesses or is re or responding to a carjacking or shooting or things of that nature, and they believe that the person is still in that process, they can chase that vehicle.

Right? They have to have the license, sirens on, and things of that nature. In a situation when it comes to the ICE agents, unfortunately, they were chasing a vehicle that did not pose a imminent threat. They indicated that the people that were eventually captured were involved in theft. That is against the rules.

You cannot do that. And the reason why they have those rules is because what we are afraid of is we're afraid that in that process of chasing the vehicle that is not an imminent threat and you cause harm to someone else, I e, accident and some kids get hurt, that is what we are afraid of. Unfortunately, we've lost people, to tragic accidents as a result of that. So that we're clear, what the ICE agents did were completely unlawful when it comes to New Jersey New Jersey law.

Thank you. Miss Doc, if you continue, we're gonna ask you to leave. I'll ask you to leave too, miss Bamani. Are you are you finished with this? Thank thank you. Let's go with the agenda.

Council president, council members, we are on page four of the agenda item five is reports and recommendations of city officers, boards, and commissions. Council as a whole to adopt.

Roll call.

Yes. Council?

Yes.

Gonzales?

Yes.

Kelly?

Yes. Quintana?

Yes.

Ramos?

Yes.

Scott Rountree? Yes. Silva? Yes. President Cromwell?

Yes. Ordinances on public hearing, second reading, and final passage. Six p s f a is an ordinance amending multi way stop intersections by designating 18th Avenue and South 13th Street as a multi way stop sign intersection in the South Ward, sponsored by councilman council, second by councilman Kelly. Is there anyone present wishing to be heard on this ordinance? Anybody

wishing to be heard on this matter? Yeah.

I just want her to say it again. Did she say on 18th Avenue and 13th Street, four ways? Cassandra Dock.

Designating 18th Avenue and South 13th Street as a multiway stop sign intersection.

Mister president and city council, municipal council is Jay Coulter. Again, I rise again as citizen on this six p s f a. I'm just speaking very briefly to you, mister, president. This is long overdue, and for some reason, I'm not certain if it's the municipal government not interfacing its data systems with the local board of education along with interfacing both of those governments' information with the state department of education and the state department of senior services. But where we have our, populations, who are been diagnosed with both Alzheimer's on the senior citizen side and then on the parent student side, al not Alzheimer's, but, in fact, falling on the spectrum of autism.

I think that there's not only a need for this stop sign, but several others, probably within all the respective wards. And I think that, even if we can't establish the funding for street lights in every area where there's a high higher concentration of senior citizens and, children who need that visual, safety delineation, we should at least have this, what's in this ordinance, a stop sign in some of those areas where we now have a crease on population. A cent the Central Ward would be an example of that because the population there is increasing, and there's still areas of the Central Ward that are operating traffic and signal standards that are, I would say, certainly within ten years behind in terms of population of both foot traffic and mode of traffic. Secondly, mister president, these kind of blinking stop signs, I am hopeful that not only do the Southward and Westward councilmen who are sitting have a more comprehensive discussion on this both for those other hot spots around their wards where there's a concentration of senior citizens both being those hold over the age of 65, the diagnosis of both the Alzheimer's side and then on the child side of everything ranging from autism all the way to other diagnosis, whether boys and girls who are in our special education population who are still gifted and talented.

Their humane gift of living life should not come at the expense of waiting for the engineering department to get funding. You all as legislators should be determining that and prioritizing that at the beginning of the budget year. I'm more independent these days than leaning republican or democrat, but y'all are make y'all are proving the points of the republicans a little bit

too Mister Coulter, please speak to the ordinance.

This is long overdue, mister president. That's what we champion. That's what we campaign, a clean government. I'm trying to speak to you in clean character, and respect will always be a two way street under this golden rule. Thank you, guys.

Thank thank you for your comments.

It's overdue.

You don't Next speaker.

Donna Jackson. I think we should put the flashing. My grandson who used to play Pop Warner football, and they used to practice in Westside Park. That intersection, I mean, the four way stop is a start, but it needs to slow down. Because from South 17th Street coming down, there's nothing slowing it down.

The traffic that is created and I know it's not here, but the traffic that's created at the school there on South 17th Street and 18th Avenue, Kipp, I think. Might be North Star. But the school that's there, it's North Star and South 17th, the crossing guard is overwhelmed at that intersection as well. So I think we need to flash it. And the reason I say that is because people are still flying down 14th Avenue. Bless you. People are still flying down 14th Avenue underneath the Ridge. Parkway. Even though we have signage, but they're still flying down especially at night, and they have the construction going on. I know that's not here, but I'm just using that as an example.

So I know that when I used to go out there with him and I see the games out there now and the kids out there playing, it needs to be flashing. Because as we are encountering all these different drivers that for whatever reason, not understanding what a stop sign is, they don't know if it's stop, they don't know if it's yield, they don't know if it's no turn on red, and so we're going crazy. I think the flashing red will give everybody a clear signal that you must stop. And I think that after we put this up, we need to monitor that area to make sure because those kids are crossing. Everybody doesn't get dropped off at the park.

Some of those kids walk home going towards 16th Ave as well as 18th Ave towards Springfield. So this is a good idea. What I would like to see is make those flashing stop sign. If you need the extra $20, I'll I'll get in and come back with it. But I think we need to seriously, you know, make sure that's flashing. Because when they fly down 18th Avenue, particularly to my sons and daughters that don't pay attention to the 25 mile per hour speed because we have a lot of those, not me, but them. We need to really slow it down on 18th Avenue coming into that intersection. Yes. Long overdue. Glad you're doing it, but let's make sure they see the stop sign before they get to the corner.

Thank you. Thank you for your comments. Next speaker.

Deborah Salters. And I'm gonna echo, what was said about the stop signs because not only are they running through them like they don't see them. So, I mean, it's one thing to put them up, but we need more police presence in these neighborhoods. Emily Akins has been getting up here for years talking about public safety. Literally, if the light turns green or if you're sitting at a corner, you can't just go.

You have to wait because people are just running through the streets. Like, there's there's no sign. There's no like, so I I agree with the blinking. We need we need it to be visible, but we also need police presence because it's as if the signs and signals like, what are we doing? And it's everywhere all over the city, so I'm glad this spot is one that's being taken care of.

But we need to make it visible, not just the sign, like Donna was saying, blinking, make it aware, but we also need and I'm gonna keep saying this. We also need police presence because even with the, the guards, the crossing guards, it's dangerous for them as well. These folk need to know that it's not just something blinking, but if you run through this stop sign, there's gonna be somebody there waiting for you because it's it's just lawless. It just is. Right? So that part of public safety, we need presence there as well.

Thank you for your comments. Next speaker.

Just to add to that, yes, the blinking on on stop signs, but, also, you need those, walkway signal lights too to to let you know that somebody's about to walk. You get the yellow blinking signal that the children or elders or community people are walking through. So they need to add more of those. And I wanna know, because you spoke about this, also the police presence. So why do we have so many on Ferry Street and East Ward as opposed to and I and I brought that up, and I take a lot of videos and we got

Why do you please speak to the ordinance.

Speaking to the ordinance No.

It's not. About Listen.

Listen. I I I just can't.

In the South Ward

She brought up police presence. So I'm saying that we need adequate, like, police like we got over in the East Ward because they got them all up and down and and every other block and they walking the beat. Okay? So she said something about it. I get up here and say you want so am I being picked on? Just just tell me right now, Larry Crum.

Absolutely not.

Are you are you picking on me? Because that's what it sound like. We are he. Oh, I don't know about him. But, anyway because I'm saying the same thing. The walkway light, they push the button, the yellow light signals that somebody's getting ready to walk. Could we get more of those in the community? Not only in that area, but also throughout. And what's the budget for that? Because we haven't seen, not a lot of those either.

So, can we get that in the community? Stop picking on them.

Thank you for your comments. Next speaker.

So I just wanted to know, Cassandra Dock, I just wanna know, will this project be done with the funds coming out of '7 r one dash c? Is that $25,000? I don't have glasses. Coming from PSE and G, is that what miss Daniels, I mean, you would probably be the one to know as well. These flights that are going up, are they will it be done with the funds that are given in this grant seven r one c from PSE and G?

Thank you for your comments. Any other speakers? No other speakers appearing with the administration just to answer that question. I said mister Adams director Adams is here. Oh, okay. Never mind. You got the BA respond.

Eric Pennington, business administrator.

Mister Stock. Mister Stock.

The answer is no. Funds will not be used from the PSE and g greenhouse gas funds for this project.

Thank you. Roll call. No. It's not coming from those funds. That's I'm sorry. That's it, miss Don. It's not coming. Roll call.

Council members Bay? Yes. Council? Yes. Gonzales?

Yes.

Kelly?

Yes. Mutana?

Yes.

Ramos?

Yes.

Scott Rountree?

Yes.

Silva?

Yes.

President Crump?

Yes.

Resolutions. Seven r one a through c are temporary emergency appropriations. A is for body armor, b is for the tree canopy initiative, and c is for sustainable Jersey grant. Council as a whole to adopt a through c.

With the noted sponsors on a, councilman Silva and Scott Rountree. Roll call.

Council members, Bay? Yes. Council?

Yes. Gonzales? Yes. Kelly?

Yes. Quintana? Yes. Ramos? Yes. Scott Rountree? Yes. Silva?

Yes.

President Trump?

Yes.

D is an external transfer, a reserve funds to pay outstanding obligations. Council as a whole to adopt.

Roll call.

Council members Bay? Yes. Council?

Yes.

Gonzales?

Yes. Kelly?

Yes.

Quintana?

Yes.

Ramos?

Yes.

Scott Rountree? Yes. Silva? Yes.

Yes.

President Trump?

Yes.

E through g are the use of state contracts for purchasing. E is for office furniture, f is for radio equipment, and g is for police equipment. Councils are hold to adopt e through g.

Roll call.

Council members Bay? Yes. Council? Yes. Gonzales?

Yes.

Kelly? Yes. Quintana?

Yes.

Ramos?

Yes.

Scott Rountree? Yes. Silva? Yes. President Crump?

Yes.

H is an RFP for competitive contracting to provide operations of the restaurant concession at Military Park. Council as a whole to adopt.

Roll call.

Council members Bay? Yes. Council?

Yes.

Gonzales? Yes. Kelly? Yes. Lucana? Yes. Ramos? Yes. Scott Rountree? Yes. Silva? Yes. President Trump?

Yes.

I as the extension of an emergency contract to extend the emergency contract for the reconstruction of the Bay Floor Fire Engine 5. Council to hold to adopt.

Roll call.

Council members Bay?

Yes.

Council?

Yes.

Gonzalez? Yes. Kelly?

Yes.

Kinkana? Yes. Ramos?

Yes.

Scott Rountree? Yes. Silva?

Yes. President Trump? Yes.

J and k are contracts with grant recipients to provide community based violence intervention and prevention in youth mentoring and or safe passage. J is for Ironbound Community Corporation, and k is Leaders for Life sponsored by Councilman Council, second by Councilman Kelly. Council as a whole to adopt j and k with sponsors.

Roll call.

Council members Bay. Yes. Council.

Yes.

Gonzales. Yes. Kelly?

Yes.

Quintana? Yes. Ramos? Yes. Scott Rountree? Yes. Silva?

Yes.

President Crumpkin? Yes.

L is application acceptance of grant funds to prepare a historical preservation plan for the rehabilitation and restoration of the interior of city hall. Council is a hold to adopt.

Roll call.

Council members Bay? Yes. Council?

Yes.

Gonzales?

Yes.

Kelly?

Yes.

Quintana?

Yes.

Ramos?

Yes.

Scott Rountree? Yes. Silva? Yes. President Trump?

Yes.

Seminar two a through f, a private sale and redevelopment agreement. A is new construction of a three and a half story residential building, all units designated to households earning 60 to 80% AMI. Council as a whole to adopt.

Mister president. Councilman Ramos.

Yeah. I'd I'd like to defer just so I have the opportunity to meet with the developer to go over this the project.

Alright. So a motion to defer. Roll call. As a whole? We do as a whole. Okay. Council

members Bay? Yes to defer. Council?

Yes.

Gonzales? Yes. Kelly?

Yes to defer.

Quintana? Yes. Ramos? Yes. Scott Rountree?

Yes. Silva?

Yes.

President Crumbs? Yes.

B is to rehabilitate the property into a tailoring shop offering customized tailor services and a training space for youth to learn tailoring, design, and entrepreneurship skills. Sponsored by councilman council, second by councilwoman Scott Rountree.

Roll call.

Council members Bay? Yes. Council?

Yes. Gonzales? Abstain.

Kelly? Yes. Quintana?

Yes.

Ramos?

Yes.

Scott Rountree? Yes. Silva?

Yes.

President Trump?

Yes.

C, to rehabilitate single family home to be owner occupied in the South Ward sponsored by councilman council, second by council president Trump.

Roll call. Council members Bay? Yes. Council?

Yes.

Gonzales? Yes. Kelly? Yes. Quintana?

Yes.

Ramos?

Yes.

Scott Rountree? Yes. Silva? Yes. President Klump?

Yes. Council as a whole to defer d through f.