[0:02] particularly interested in the
[0:06] right
[0:09] [Music]
[0:19] s
[0:22] [Music]
[1:13] foreign
[1:22] [Music]
[1:54] thank you
[2:02] [Music]
[2:16] [Applause]
[2:16] [Music]
[2:17] foreign
[2:24] [Music]
[2:50] foreign
[2:53] [Music]
[3:32] thank you
[3:34] [Music]
[4:28] foreign
[4:57] like to call to order the city Caucus
[4:58] meeting for Monday February 13 2023
[5:02] we have 26 items for original
[5:04] consideration if the clerk would could
[5:06] please read item number one item number
[5:09] one for final consideration a resolution
[5:11] declaring that the amendment of chapter
[5:13] 264 Article 2 and chapter 264 attachment
[5:16] 2 schedule C
[5:19] use regulations for non-residential
[5:21] districts of the code of the city of
[5:23] Schenectady relating to banquet
[5:24] facilities private clubs or lodges will
[5:27] not have a significant impact on the
[5:29] environment discussed and committed with
[5:30] the objection and on consent item number
[5:32] two item number two for final
[5:34] consideration a resolution declaring
[5:36] that the amendment of chapter 264 the
[5:39] zoning of the administrative code of the
[5:41] city of Schenectady to oh overlay
[5:43] historic district to the existing C4
[5:45] downtown mixed-use district of 308 State
[5:48] Street sbl
[5:52] 39.71-3-15.11 is a type 2 seek Seeker
[5:56] action with no significant impact on the
[5:59] environment discussed in committee with
[6:01] the objective on consent item number
[6:03] three item number three for final
[6:05] consideration an ordinance to amend
[6:06] chapter 183 Article 2 of the code of the
[6:08] city of Schenectady discussed and
[6:10] committee with an objection on consent
[6:12] item number four item number four for
[6:14] original consideration a resolution
[6:15] calling for a public hearing
[6:17] four amendments to chapter 161 of this
[6:20] Schenectady city code regarding the
[6:23] collection of white goods discussed in
[6:25] committee without objection on consent
[6:27] item number five item number five for
[6:29] final consideration an ordinance to
[6:31] amend chapters 264 Article 2 and chapter
[6:34] 264 attachment to schedule C youth
[6:37] regulations for non-residential
[6:38] districts of the code of the city of
[6:40] Schenectady relating to banquet
[6:42] facilities and private clubs or lodges
[6:43] discussed and committed with objection
[6:45] on consent item number six item number
[6:48] six or final consideration an ordinance
[6:49] amending chapter 264 zoning of the
[6:52] administrative code of the city of
[6:53] Schenectady to add oh overlay historic
[6:56] district to to the existing C4 downtown
[6:58] mixed-use district of 308 State Street
[7:01] discussed in committee with objection on
[7:03] consent item number seven item number
[7:05] seven for original consideration a
[7:07] resolution authorizing the revision of
[7:09] fees related to public assembly
[7:10] inspections pursuant to the Schenectady
[7:12] city code subsection 204e discussed in
[7:16] committee without objection on consent
[7:18] item number eight item number eight for
[7:20] original consideration a resolution
[7:21] appropriating American Rescue plan act
[7:23] funds for sidewalk improvements discuss
[7:26] the committee without objection and on
[7:28] consent item number nine item number
[7:30] nine for original consideration a
[7:31] resolution authorized the mayor or his
[7:33] Destiny to apply for budget for and
[7:35] expend funds pursuant to the New York
[7:37] State health care and mental hygiene
[7:38] worker bonus program discussed in
[7:41] committee without objection and on
[7:42] consent item number 10 item number 10
[7:45] for original consideration a resolution
[7:46] authorizing a budget reappropriation
[7:48] within the 2023 general fund budget
[7:51] discussed and committed with the
[7:52] objection and on consent item number
[7:54] eleven item number eleven for original
[7:56] consideration a resolution authorizing a
[7:58] reappropriation to the 2023 capital
[8:00] budget discuss in committee without
[8:02] objection on consent item number 12.
[8:04] for original
[8:06] consideration a resolution authorizing a
[8:08] five-day public comment period for the
[8:10] allocation of two hundred thousand in
[8:12] cdbg CV funds for the small business
[8:15] assistance program discussing committee
[8:17] without objection on consent item number
[8:19] 13. item number 13 for original
[8:21] consideration a resolution authorizing
[8:23] the mayor of his designee to enter into
[8:25] an agreement with Bethesda house for a
[8:27] hundred thousand dollars for
[8:28] neighborhood stabilization rent rehab
[8:30] program discussing committee with the
[8:32] objection and on consent item number 14.
[8:35] for original
[8:36] consideration a resolution authorizing
[8:38] the mayor or his designee to enter into
[8:40] an agreement with the Schenectady
[8:41] Guyanese Community Center for fifty
[8:43] thousand dollars discussed in committee
[8:44] without objection and on consent item
[8:46] number 15. item number 15 for original
[8:48] consideration a resolution appropriate
[8:51] in an American Rescue plan act funds for
[8:53] grout Park improvements discussed in
[8:56] committee without objection on consent
[8:57] item number 16 item number 16 for
[9:00] original consideration and resolution
[9:01] appropriate American Rescue plan act
[9:03] funds for Simon's Park improvements
[9:05] discussed in committee with objection on
[9:07] consent item number 17. item number 17
[9:09] for original consideration a resolution
[9:11] declaring support for the New York State
[9:13] Clean Slate Act
[9:15] roll call by Mr palamini
[9:18] item number 18. item number 18 for
[9:21] original consideration a resolution
[9:23] amending resolution
[9:25] 2022-214 to apply a one-year time frame
[9:28] to the Aquatic Center and Miracle on
[9:30] Craig Street to scare Financial
[9:31] commitments to meet their respective
[9:33] project costs discussed in committee
[9:35] with objection and on consent item
[9:37] number 19. item number 19 for original
[9:39] consideration a resolution authorizing
[9:41] the mayor or his designee to enter into
[9:44] an option agreement with the capital
[9:45] region land bank or Society for various
[9:48] properties on and around Summit Avenue
[9:50] discussed and committed with objection
[9:52] on consent item number 20. item number
[9:54] twenty for original consideration a
[9:56] resolution authorizing the sale of 808
[9:58] Stanley Street for twenty eight thousand
[10:00] five hundred dollars discussed in
[10:02] committee without objection on consent
[10:03] item number 21 item number 21 for
[10:06] original consideration a resolution
[10:08] authorizing the mayor or to execute an
[10:10] agreement with CT mail Associates to investigate the
[10:14] feasibility of physically establishing
[10:16] the paper Street known as Revere Avenue
[10:18] discussed in committee with objection on
[10:20] consent item number 22 item number 22
[10:23] for original consideration a resolution
[10:25] authorizing the settlement of a claim by
[10:27] Maritza Brown discussed in committee
[10:29] without objection on consent item number
[10:31] 23. item number 23 for original
[10:33] consideration a resolution authorizing
[10:35] settlement of a claim by Niagara Monarch
[10:37] power Corporation doing business as
[10:39] National Grid discussed in committee
[10:41] with the objection on consent item
[10:43] number 24. item number 24 for original
[10:45] consideration a resolution authorized in
[10:47] settlement of a claim by Robert DeLuca
[10:49] discussed in committee with objection on
[10:51] consent item number 25 item number 25
[10:54] for original consideration a resolution
[10:56] recognizing Black History Month 2023
[10:58] this item would be taken out of order
[11:00] and presented by council member Farley
[11:05] item number 26. item number 26 for
[11:08] original consideration and resolution
[11:10] recognizing the NAACP Founders Day
[11:13] discussed and committee with objection
[11:15] on consent if there's nothing more to
[11:17] come before the city council caucus I
[11:18] ask for a motion to adjourn moved by
[11:20] Miss Patrick second by Mr mood of Aaron
[11:22] all in favor
[11:24] we are adjourned I'd like to call the
[11:26] city council meeting to order for Monday
[11:27] February 13 2023.
[11:31] and I asked Pastor Brad Jones to offer
[11:34] the invocation
[11:40] let us pray
[11:49] Lord God I may not be as dumb as I look
[11:51] and and we may not be as smart as we
[11:53] think we are but but regardless we look
[11:57] to you for wisdom for the the business of the city
[12:02] wisdom for doing what is right and just
[12:05] in your sight
[12:07] so Lord I do pray your wisdom and
[12:11] guidance
[12:12] for the mayor of Schenectady for the
[12:14] city council of Schenectady and for all
[12:16] who are in positions of authority and
[12:19] responsibility for the care and the the
[12:22] working of the city
[12:24] so that every decision made and
[12:26] considered
[12:29] would accomplish what is best
[12:32] for the people you love the people of
[12:34] this city
[12:37] so that the people
[12:40] can live lives that are are
[12:46] able to to work well and and to be in in
[12:49] safe keeping
[12:52] to to have peace in our streets
[12:56] we pray for First Responders for fire
[13:00] department for the police for those who
[13:03] work in in hospitals for the ambulance
[13:05] uh drivers and EMTs Lord we just pray
[13:09] that you would give them wisdom and
[13:11] discernment to do their work well
[13:15] Lord we pray that you would you would
[13:17] govern this city
[13:19] and for those entrusted with the
[13:21] governance of the people of this this
[13:23] great City we pray that you would grant
[13:26] them that that wisdom and discernment
[13:29] needed for this we ask all this in Jesus
[13:31] name amen amen amen
[13:34] students from the seat Center to lead us
[13:36] in the Pledge of Allegiance
[13:51] one nation under God indivisible with
[13:55] liberty and justice for all thank you
[14:03] if the clerk would please complete the
[14:05] Roll Call
[14:06] Mr motivaran
[14:08] Mr Toro here Mr Farley
[14:11] Mr Williams
[14:13] Miss Patrick Mr polymini Miss
[14:16] Porterfield here
[14:19] item number 26 will be taken out of
[14:21] order and presented by council member
[14:23] Farley
[14:24] it's a resolution to recognize Black
[14:27] History Month
[14:31] before please
[14:33] floor is yours thank you
[14:38] this time I'd like to call up Mr Dennis
[14:41] Richards
[14:55] someone switches I'd like you uh to
[14:58] receive and accept this uh Resolute to
[15:00] recognizing Black History Month for 2023
[15:03] whereas each February we acknowledge the
[15:06] struggles adversity strength and history
[15:08] of Black American Experience in the
[15:10] United States
[15:11] this year's theme is black resistance
[15:15] recognizes African-Americans resistance
[15:17] to Historic and ongoing oppression in
[15:20] all forms and has pursuit of
[15:22] self-determination and equality whereas
[15:25] Black History Month first originated as
[15:27] a part of an initiative by writer and
[15:29] educator Dr Carter G Woodson who
[15:32] launched a negro history week in 1926
[15:34] Wilson chose February for reasons of for
[15:38] tradition and reform as commonly said
[15:40] that Wilson selected February to
[15:42] Encompass the birthdays of two Americans
[15:43] who played a prominent role in shaping
[15:46] black history namely Abraham Lincoln and
[15:48] Frederick Douglass whose birthdays are
[15:50] the 12th and 14th
[15:52] whereas Black History Month remains a
[15:55] powerful symbolic celebration a time for
[15:57] acknowledgment reflection and
[15:59] inspiration despite an inequitable
[16:01] social system
[16:02] African Americans have found ways to
[16:04] survive advance and Thrive black
[16:08] Americans have struggled to protect
[16:09] their physical intellectual
[16:12] autonomy through Innovation lobbying
[16:15] litigation and legislation helping each
[16:18] other as a community these efforts have
[16:21] fueled and their perseverance and hope
[16:23] for our future
[16:25] black resistance strategies have served
[16:27] as a model for every other social
[16:29] movement in our country
[16:31] our nation has benefited from those
[16:32] efforts by progressing towards a more
[16:34] Equitable Society even though we still
[16:36] have a very far way to go
[16:39] African-American spirituals gospel folk
[16:41] music hip-hop rap have all been used to
[16:44] express struggle and hope and calls for
[16:46] solidarity to face racial oppression
[16:49] music has been used to illustrate
[16:51] societal ills and as a motivation for
[16:54] strength against harassment bringing
[16:56] attention to oppression black artists
[16:58] writers photographers and musicians who
[17:01] have participated in the Black Arts
[17:02] Movement the Harlem Renaissance the
[17:05] Chicago Black Renaissance or the
[17:06] soundtrack individual representation to
[17:08] resistance movements
[17:10] these individuals these individuals
[17:12] created art that supported the
[17:14] resistance movements but also provided a
[17:17] space for black people to express love
[17:19] and joy
[17:22] whereas during Black History Month
[17:24] throughout the year we reflect on more
[17:25] than 400 years of black history in
[17:28] America
[17:29] communities across the country paying
[17:31] tribute to generations of African
[17:33] Americans who struggled with diversity
[17:34] to fully achieve life liberty and the
[17:37] pursuit of happiness in American society
[17:39] black history is American history
[17:42] and now therefore be resolved down
[17:44] Schenectady city council our Mayor Gary
[17:47] R McCarthy do hereby pause in their
[17:49] deliberations to recognize the month of
[17:51] February of 2023 Black History Month
[17:54] black resistance in the city of
[17:56] Schenectady
[18:05] why this is so so relevant today for a
[18:08] couple reasons but Mr Richards is a
[18:11] Youth Development excuse me Mr Farley
[18:12] yes you have to move the resolution oh
[18:15] I'm surprised I got excited I can't wait
[18:16] to talk about this young man all right
[18:17] excuse me my I'll entertain a motion no would you like to move the resolution
[18:22] I would like to move the resolution may
[18:23] I have a second second by Mr Williams all in
[18:27] favor
[18:28] aye yay okay all right congratulations
[18:30] again
[18:33] I'm please please again I'm very sorry I
[18:36] get excited anytime I get to talk about
[18:38] extraordinary young people in our
[18:40] community
[18:41] um and Mr Richards is a Youth
[18:42] Development coordinator for the
[18:44] African-American history records project
[18:46] he also serves as an interview of those
[18:48] who hold these records of schenectady's
[18:50] African-American history his primary job
[18:52] is teaching the youth team skills
[18:53] necessary to become effective Warriors
[18:55] recorders and Liaisons of History
[18:58] um I had the absolute pleasure of of
[19:00] attending one of the events uh that Mr
[19:03] Richards and his team of people are to
[19:06] produce
[19:07] um and it was an amazing time it was
[19:10] something where I heard voices from all
[19:13] walks of life speak up against
[19:14] resistance and speak out against
[19:16] oppression and you sir have created not
[19:19] only a platform for that to happen but
[19:21] have inspired so many others to lift our
[19:23] voice so it is with a great great honor
[19:25] that I asked you to receive this
[19:27] resolution on our behalf okay
[19:32] thank you
[19:33] usually we don't do this but I'm going
[19:35] to ask you all to stand for this young
[19:37] man who has done such a beautiful job in
[19:39] our community
[19:43] would you like to say a couple words for
[19:45] you
[19:58] [Applause]
[20:05] uh first and foremost I want to thank
[20:07] councilman Farley for considering me for
[20:09] this resolution and also the rest of the
[20:11] council
[20:13] um to talk to them
[20:15] um
[20:16] I want to give a special shout out and
[20:18] thank you to members of my team uh
[20:21] Kareem to Ray starrkea King and William
[20:23] Rivas who have helped me along my way
[20:25] through this journey through poetry and
[20:27] African-American historic records
[20:28] project
[20:29] um what we do is we like Damani said we
[20:33] give uh we give people a space to share
[20:36] their voice and speak about the things
[20:38] that they are resisting against
[20:40] um I believe myself I am my very
[20:42] existence is a resistance to the
[20:44] establishments that bind us by different identities and I do my best to
[20:49] help people share their experiences as
[20:51] well so I'm very thankful to receive
[20:53] this resolution from the city and I look
[20:56] forward to seeing everybody's faces at
[20:58] our next open mic on February 24th at
[21:00] Electric City Barn
[21:02] thank you
[21:14] and as for approval of the minutes for
[21:16] January 23 2023
[21:21] motion by Mr Williams
[21:24] second
[21:27] by Mr Farley all in favor
[21:30] aye
[21:31] the clerk could please read any
[21:32] Communications and petitions
[21:38] Communications presented to city council
[21:40] for Monday February 13 2023 under
[21:43] official there were none under General
[21:45] from Camille sassanowski two emails
[21:48] dated January January 23rd and February
[21:50] 10th asking each of the council members
[21:52] to look out for the well-being of
[21:54] citizens of Schenectady urging them to
[21:56] vote against the Clean Slate Act
[21:59] from Reverend Nicole Dees Jean Simone an
[22:02] email encouraging council members to
[22:04] support the Clean Slate act to help
[22:06] people gain access to employment housing
[22:08] education and other Essentials as they
[22:11] start start over and re-enter public
[22:13] life after incarceration
[22:15] from David jackaloni an email and letter
[22:18] addressing the arpa funds for sidewalk
[22:20] improvements and the creative Outdoor
[22:21] Advertising presentation he asked that
[22:24] the funds for the sidewalk Improvement
[22:25] not be approved without getting real
[22:27] numbers and cogent explanations because
[22:29] it will cost the city much more than
[22:31] expected and had questions to be
[22:34] thoughtfully considered before the start
[22:35] of the negotiation for the creative
[22:37] outdoor advertisings
[22:39] for Martin Allen Greenberg an email in
[22:41] support of the Clean Slate act there are
[22:43] a variety of safeguards in the
[22:45] legislation to ensure that the
[22:46] community's safety is maintained and
[22:49] that the benefits outweigh any
[22:50] disadvantages
[22:51] under petitions there were none thank
[22:54] you Cloudland council members for any
[22:56] committee reports
[22:59] this time we'll have privilege of the
[23:00] floor related to the legislative agenda
[23:02] so anything that's on the legislative
[23:04] agendas when people will be able to have
[23:05] the opportunity to speak we ask I have
[23:07] two people who they're signed up to
[23:09] speak and I ask that um no one speak on
[23:11] anything that's not on the legislative
[23:13] agenda first person is Claudia Kavanaugh
[23:20] good evening
[23:24] tonight you're going to be voting on The
[23:26] Clean Slate bill that's being
[23:30] proposed in legislature
[23:32] I hope that you consider the employers
[23:35] and Property Owners when you're doing
[23:37] this in reading about your clean slate
[23:41] act I didn't read the categories where
[23:44] you were not going to add you know I
[23:47] could understand like small pot offense
[23:49] or something like that but you have some
[23:50] very serious people who were
[23:52] incarcerated and they've been paroled or
[23:54] in trying to get their lives back
[23:57] together that's fine
[23:59] but I do think that in order to have a
[24:03] society where people you know have
[24:06] informed consent
[24:08] if I have property and I want to know
[24:10] who I'm running my property to
[24:13] and I'm not the only one who feels that
[24:15] way
[24:16] and it's not being mean to anyone or but
[24:20] you you when you make decisions in life
[24:22] you have to live with your decisions
[24:23] even if they do mean incarceration and
[24:26] you are
[24:27] you know freed later or whatever the
[24:30] society needs to know especially
[24:32] employers and people that are renting
[24:36] property to you need to know that
[24:39] I don't think it's wrong at all and I
[24:42] just wanted to also ask
[24:45] with all the other problems in this city
[24:47] would not one eighth grader in this
[24:49] entire city passing a standardized math
[24:51] test
[24:53] this is what you're going to concentrate
[24:55] on trying to pass the Clean Slate you're
[24:58] gonna really you should be working with
[25:00] the city's uh the school district to see
[25:03] what you could do to help these kids
[25:05] a couple of you on this panel always
[25:08] talk about marginalized people what's
[25:10] more marginalized and not being able to
[25:12] pass a math test in eighth grade
[25:15] so something's very wrong
[25:18] I I think you're you're you're
[25:21] Focus needs to be someplace else
[25:24] something that will improve and and pro
[25:27] benefit the entire city if you have a
[25:30] whole population of children who can't
[25:32] write a cogent essay who can't do
[25:35] standardized math
[25:36] you're going to turn you're turning out
[25:38] an entire generation of marginalized
[25:41] people whatever that means
[25:44] and I think that maybe you should
[25:47] um just kind of put out there what you
[25:50] will allow and what you won't allow in
[25:52] your proposal for This Clean Slate bill
[25:55] because I think that the society you owe
[25:58] it to people owe it to society to know
[26:00] who they're dealing with employers need
[26:02] to know
[26:05] I I just hope that at some point that
[26:08] you guys get past and I'm so tired of
[26:10] every single time I read an article
[26:12] about the city council it's black people
[26:15] white black I have never in my life
[26:18] heard so much about race in my life as I
[26:21] have since this Council I I got to tell
[26:24] you I was born and raised in this town
[26:29] think about something that benefits the
[26:31] entire city
[26:33] and that's an educated population
[26:37] thank you
[26:38] Anthony Alexander
[26:48] I'm about to date everybody
[26:51] um
[26:52] can I let you saying about the children
[26:54] but it ain't up to it's a community
[26:58] raised to help raise these kids because
[26:59] when I grew up there was somebody that
[27:01] gave me a hand up to help me
[27:03] we got away from that because we got
[27:05] stuck in our own self it's raising about
[27:07] thinking about ourselves and still
[27:09] thinking about these babies
[27:10] I'm a parent of seven but I raised more
[27:13] than seven of differations different
[27:15] nationalities because that's how my
[27:17] grandmother raised me
[27:18] I give a damn about the people I give a
[27:20] damn about these kids I don't been to
[27:22] prison
[27:23] and I'm in a situation now I'm in that
[27:25] catch 22. if I get an apartment
[27:29] where I'm at they pay the substantial
[27:32] amount of money but DSS only gives 378
[27:36] to get a place to live
[27:38] that still leaves me home as if I get a
[27:40] job
[27:42] see my point so is it for the people to
[27:45] be to get their own place out of the
[27:47] 1500 that you're giving so I want y'all
[27:49] give seven eight hundred dollars to that
[27:51] person so they get a one a bedroom until
[27:52] then get on their feet
[27:54] but like she said I agree with it ever
[27:57] since I've been up here it's more races
[27:59] up here and I'm from the south Florida
[28:01] where it's racing but since I've been
[28:03] here this race dividing we're supposed
[28:05] to be Unified
[28:07] that's where it supposed to be we all
[28:09] here for a common cause guess what I
[28:12] mean it means some of this stuff for a
[28:14] clean stretch for clean slate amend some
[28:16] of this stuff you ain't got to agree
[28:17] with everything but some of the stuff
[28:19] okay one step at a time
[28:22] let's get the foot in the door tell all
[28:24] of us to have a chance to get a job so
[28:25] we ain't got to worry about if I get a
[28:27] job I'm homeless the next day
[28:30] enjoy
[28:32] thank you
[28:36] I have no one else signed up to speak so
[28:39] I declare the public comment on the
[28:40] legislative agenda closed
[28:43] we have one item for roll call
[28:50] item number 12.
[28:53] but the clerk would please read
[29:01] item number 12 for original
[29:03] consideration a resolution authorizing
[29:06] nope it's not 12. that's all no
[29:14] item number 17 item number 17.
[29:22] for original
[29:24] consideration a resolution to clear and
[29:25] support the New York State Clean Slate
[29:27] Act
[29:29] need a motion
[29:33] Mr Mr bear in second
[29:36] Mr Williams any discussion
[29:42] okay if the clerk could please call the
[29:44] roll
[29:46] Mr motiveran yeah
[29:49] Mr Toro
[29:51] no Mr Farley yes
[29:54] Mr Williams
[30:02] I thought it was important to build upon
[30:04] how this meeting started and
[30:06] highlighting the important message of
[30:08] wisdom and discernment truly I felt
[30:10] moved to say a few words and I wanted to
[30:12] highlight that it's important to not
[30:14] allow our fears to be at the detriment
[30:16] of others who have already paid their cost for the transgressions
[30:24] and I would like to be very clear that
[30:25] it's not taking what they did to end up
[30:27] at their current predicament or stance
[30:28] in life lightly that's to understand
[30:30] that there was a cost
[30:32] that the expectation to be eligible for
[30:34] this legislative item is to be paid in
[30:37] full with continued service
[30:40] so for me I wanted to point out a
[30:42] situation that happened with with an
[30:44] individual that just came to the rail
[30:47] where it's an assumption was made about
[30:49] me and what I'm not doing and that's
[30:51] specifically why we're here
[30:53] I have the opportunity to respond or
[30:56] provide more context but how often do
[30:58] individuals
[30:59] who we are highlighting to address have
[31:02] the opportunity to have a similar
[31:03] conversation where they can truly speak
[31:05] to what they've done and how
[31:07] rehabilitative they are
[31:09] more times than not that that
[31:10] opportunity is not given
[31:12] and as individuals that are advocating
[31:14] for the betterment of all individuals in
[31:16] this community
[31:18] if we hear of a process or procedure
[31:20] that is not effective we're not working
[31:22] it is our responsibility it is Our
[31:23] obligation to take a moment to pause
[31:26] deliberate and understand what can we do
[31:28] to improve the functionality of
[31:30] something that is already in place
[31:33] so I'm proud to say that I'm in support
[31:35] of this
[31:36] and I look forward to the efforts that
[31:38] us as a council can continue to do to
[31:40] address the needs of this community
[31:45] yes
[31:46] thank you Miss Patrick
[31:51] Mr palamini
[31:53] where's the Clean Slate for the victims
[31:58] and their families
[32:00] there is none
[32:01] it continues forever
[32:04] even acts that are so-called minor
[32:08] stick with the individuals for the rest
[32:11] of their lives
[32:12] families have been destroyed
[32:15] because of actions of others
[32:19] individuals have had their lives turned
[32:21] upside down and destroyed
[32:24] because of action actions of others
[32:28] there's no clean slate for those
[32:30] individuals
[32:31] there's no making something a little
[32:33] easier for them
[32:35] those people have had their lives turned
[32:38] upside down
[32:40] forever
[32:41] and it's impacted them in ways that
[32:44] cannot be measured
[32:48] this just doesn't make sense
[32:51] how can we look those individuals in the
[32:53] eye and say
[32:56] yeah we're going to give Clean Slate for
[32:58] people that impacted you
[33:05] I just don't see it
[33:07] I vote no
[33:10] it's Porterfield
[33:14] Kavanaugh brought up a few points about
[33:15] what's in the legislation and and I
[33:17] encourage you all to read it because
[33:18] there are some stipulations in them that
[33:20] tell you who and cannot who and
[33:22] um with individuals this will not impact
[33:24] and cannot benefit if you from it so sex
[33:27] offenders are not covered under this I
[33:29] just want to make that clear and also if
[33:31] someone
[33:32] um is working with a vulnerable
[33:33] population they can still have access
[33:35] children and older adults they can still
[33:37] have access to people's uh criminal
[33:39] background so I just wanted to and also
[33:42] law enforcement still has access to this
[33:45] so we just want to make sure that we
[33:46] we're understanding this is not just a
[33:49] carte blanche in everybody and it
[33:50] applies to everyone regardless that is
[33:52] not the case I also want to point out
[33:54] the fact that several months ago we this
[33:57] Council approved funding for a housing
[34:01] in the city where ex-offenders formerly
[34:05] incarcerated people could live and the
[34:07] majority of the people on the that irons
[34:09] Council now were on this Council then
[34:11] and voted in favor of that so it just I
[34:15] find a little puzzling that we're
[34:16] allowing some people to benefit and then
[34:18] when it comes to maybe another for
[34:21] whatever reason
[34:22] um
[34:22] I'm not sure the difference in in folks
[34:25] Minds that we're going to vote
[34:26] differently so
[34:28] um in addition to that we I believe that
[34:31] we need to give people another chance
[34:32] and there's there are things put in
[34:34] place that you have to serve your time
[34:37] and then wait three years after all time
[34:39] is served and everything is done if you
[34:41] had a misdemeanor and then seven years
[34:43] if you've had a felony so that gives you
[34:45] enough and nothing and you cannot within
[34:47] that time
[34:48] have had another offense and been
[34:51] interaction with the law enforcement so
[34:54] there are systems in place there are
[34:55] things put in place it's not just you
[34:57] know you could just get it and you don't
[34:59] have to
[35:00] um I'm going to use the word prove that
[35:02] you um are ready to contribute to
[35:05] society and that you've you know you're
[35:07] sorry for what you did and you're
[35:09] willing to continue to move forward and
[35:10] contribute to society so with that I
[35:13] vote Yes
[35:16] so motion passes four to three
[35:20] [Applause]
[35:25] thank you
[35:29] I'd ask for approval of the legislative
[35:32] agenda
[35:34] moved by Mr mood of Aaron second by Mr
[35:36] Williams all in favor
[35:40] this time we'll have privilege of the
[35:42] floor regarding General City business
[35:44] I have eight people signed up to speak
[35:50] first person is Leonard dimassi
[35:54] thank you
[36:01] [Music]
[36:06] hello everybody I'm here to speak about
[36:09] the swimming pool
[36:11] um when I read in the paper it's like
[36:13] doubled in costs it's 10 million plus
[36:16] I'm asking on the council president or
[36:19] anybody on the council
[36:21] what is going to be done with the
[36:24] existing swimming pool
[36:31] there's no plan for the existing
[36:33] swimming pool
[36:34] you're not going to tear it up you're
[36:37] not gonna you're just going to leave it
[36:38] there you're gonna
[36:40] what what's going to be done with the
[36:42] existing swimming pool so there are
[36:44] plans for the 16 pool but at this point
[36:45] in time you'll we just hear your
[36:47] comments and we can answer your response
[36:49] to you later but not at this moment
[36:51] well it's hard to speak about a subject
[36:53] matter that I can't the paper doesn't
[36:56] discuss either
[36:58] so I'm going to say if you have the
[37:01] existing swimming pool
[37:04] you already have the bathrooms close by
[37:06] you have the picnic areas right there
[37:10] you have the Pavilion there I would fix
[37:13] a filtration system and I think
[37:15] everybody's smart enough on this Council
[37:17] that they can handle a geese problem
[37:20] with all the rest of the money
[37:22] I would say look at the casino
[37:26] and see if you can get some way to
[37:28] operate like you have at the golf course
[37:30] a concession from Memorial Day to Labor
[37:33] Day
[37:34] and if it's not viable tear it down
[37:37] and if you're going to keep the park
[37:39] Administration Building
[37:41] empty tear it down make it a green area
[37:45] that's what a Park's for
[37:47] Greenery we always talk about the
[37:50] environment
[37:51] actually cut down a SWAT the land it was
[37:54] good to knock down the stadium it was
[37:55] never going to be used David's sake
[37:57] against long gone there's nobody that's
[37:59] Savvy or smart in our community we can
[38:01] do a project like he did
[38:04] so let it go back to Forever Wild
[38:08] it's like you know Schenectady is not a
[38:11] rich city when you get all this money
[38:13] you gotta can't think you're rich
[38:16] spend it wisely get the most out of it
[38:21] if you start doing projects and you
[38:23] don't even have to and you're going to
[38:24] leave the old swimming pool there it's
[38:26] going to cause the taxpayers more money
[38:28] down the line
[38:30] so I think of all of you you know you're
[38:33] smart people use your brains and get the
[38:37] most for your money and don't have any
[38:39] costs out occur further down the line
[38:43] that's all I have to say thank you
[38:49] Reverend Nicole John Simone
[38:57] good evening
[39:00] first I want to thank members from the
[39:04] council for attending the NAACP
[39:06] community prayer tonight which was at
[39:08] practice theater thank you for your
[39:10] support of that event we will also be
[39:11] having a black history program at The
[39:13] Bridge Church on the 26th that starts at
[39:16] 2 p.m and you are all invited to attend
[39:20] um I want to say this uh first I want to
[39:22] say thank you for passing to have a
[39:25] resolution to support the Clean Slate
[39:27] Act
[39:29] you know one of the hardest things
[39:31] I've ever had to do was forgive the
[39:35] person who killed my mother's youngest
[39:36] sister
[39:37] her name was Patricia Ann Bowens my
[39:40] favorite
[39:42] who was shot and killed in Philadelphia
[39:45] um and I had to come to terms with the
[39:47] fact that the person who killed my aunt
[39:50] deserved forgiveness
[39:52] and that's something I dealt with
[39:54] um
[39:55] as a Christian it's something I also
[39:56] dealt with mentally emotionally in a
[39:59] whole lot of different ways and our
[40:01] prison system is supposed to be a
[40:02] rehabilitation system at least that's
[40:04] what they say and at some point that's
[40:06] got to work we gotta trust it and we got
[40:08] to give people Second Chances
[40:10] uh one thing that I do
[40:12] appreciate about that legislation is
[40:15] that people do have to
[40:16] you know wait three years or seven years
[40:18] to prove that you know they are willing
[40:21] to be um productive citizens in society
[40:23] and um so I I think that I appreciate
[40:27] you guys seeing the positive impacts
[40:29] that it could have and then
[40:31] um the person has left but that comment
[40:34] about the education
[40:38] 2.3 million New Yorkers are going to be
[40:41] impacted if this legislation is passed
[40:43] and be able to have a fresh start and a
[40:46] good number of those 2.3 are parents
[40:50] how much better could a child do in
[40:51] school if their parent could get a job
[40:54] if their parent could come out of being
[40:57] incarcerated and actually fully be
[41:00] their parent
[41:03] you know so you got to look at the
[41:06] positives of this and stop acting like
[41:08] these kids aren't dealing with the
[41:10] situations that their parents are
[41:12] dealing with in regards to incarceration
[41:15] and so it's
[41:19] and having been a teacher as well
[41:24] um I was an educator that was my first
[41:25] degree before theology
[41:27] so I was a teacher
[41:29] how many
[41:30] children were so excited
[41:35] when their parents were able to go home
[41:36] but did not realize the stress that
[41:38] their parents had to deal with because
[41:39] they couldn't get a job
[41:41] that's a reality
[41:43] for a lot of these children you wonder
[41:44] why these children can't succeed is
[41:46] because they're stressing about things
[41:47] they don't need to stress about
[41:49] and that includes having parents that
[41:52] cannot get jobs because they've been
[41:54] incarcerated and this is the last thing
[41:55] I want to say
[41:57] um
[41:58] there are certain crimes
[42:00] no there are certain things that when
[42:03] they were in my community were a crime
[42:05] but when they went to other communities
[42:06] they became a sickness
[42:09] I think about the number of people that
[42:11] are going to come out of prison who went
[42:12] to jail for having a nickel bag or for
[42:14] selling weed and they're going to come
[42:15] out and find smoke shops smell it
[42:17] smelling marijuana and making lots of
[42:19] money off of marijuana while they still
[42:21] have to have a record
[42:24] so when marijuana and opioids were a
[42:27] problem in my community it was a crime
[42:28] but as soon as it went to other
[42:30] communities it became a sickness
[42:32] people have a right to be free
[42:35] thank you
[42:38] [Applause]
[42:41] Rebecca palova Rebecca
[42:50] thank you
[42:52] um
[43:00] 20 years ago I took in three kids
[43:04] whose parents
[43:06] whose family life would have been very
[43:08] different
[43:10] if this had been afforded to them
[43:19] it's been a tough
[43:21] 20 years
[43:24] a really tough 20 years
[43:27] because all they really wanted were
[43:29] their biological parents
[43:36] I moved up to Schenectady 10 years ago
[43:41] as a single parent of four
[43:46] and it wasn't
[43:50] an easy Journey
[43:54] but I will say
[43:59] that in my time here the greatest
[44:02] support that I had within the school
[44:06] district
[44:07] was Damani Farley
[44:11] I
[44:17] for any one of my children
[44:21] and especially my most challenging who's
[44:24] 22
[44:26] and
[44:28] I pray every day
[44:30] that she
[44:33] stays out of trouble
[44:38] but she'd be a lot worse off
[44:41] if it hadn't been for countless
[44:44] late nights and weekends
[44:48] when I could
[44:50] call the money and ask him to support me
[44:54] with my daughter
[45:00] when I say
[45:02] she wasn't easy
[45:05] I love her with every
[45:08] bone in my body every piece of my being
[45:11] but she
[45:13] has had to overcome a lot of struggles
[45:19] and it
[45:21] offends me
[45:23] the degree to which
[45:27] the newspaper slander that is currently
[45:30] out there
[45:32] on the Integrity of someone who
[45:35] has unmatchable hours in this community
[45:40] with not just my child but so many
[45:44] others
[45:46] and that's all all I've got
[45:51] [Applause]
[45:54] thank you
[45:56] Sean Young
[46:05] uh good evening I'd also like to thank
[46:08] the council the mighty Farley
[46:10] specifically for the resolution of Black
[46:12] History Month that young brother that
[46:13] I've seen him grow a lot in these years
[46:16] and he was
[46:17] as deserving of that award as anyone I
[46:20] could think of so I want to thank you
[46:21] for that I also I want to thank you for
[46:23] the resolution for passing the
[46:24] resolution Around clean slate
[46:26] um I believe that that piece of
[46:28] legislation is uh
[46:30] is a step in the right direction of
[46:32] addressing some historic
[46:34] um some issues that have lasted
[46:35] throughout history I heard a couple
[46:37] things while I I was sitting down
[46:39] listening I was supposed to sign up for
[46:40] the other time to speak but I didn't but
[46:42] you know a couple people got up here and
[46:44] said that they never heard so much about
[46:46] race I find that interesting that they
[46:49] never heard some that never heard so
[46:50] much about race and then the correlation
[46:53] with having the most people of color
[46:54] sitting in our city council ever now
[46:56] races all of a sudden an issue that is
[46:59] being brought to the Forefront is
[47:00] because it's not something that has been
[47:01] talked about before because the people
[47:03] that are representing minions Community
[47:05] who have been out without a voice are
[47:07] now here
[47:08] education is important our kids
[47:11] Reverend Nikki already spoke to that
[47:13] like having people having family that
[47:17] can support their kids that can live in
[47:19] good neighborhoods that can good good
[47:20] jobs that's important to our kids
[47:24] um sanity to their safety their
[47:26] well-being and for them to get education
[47:28] the district has to do a lot better as
[47:30] well but it's important to have our
[47:32] parents at home
[47:34] and I also want to address the fact that
[47:35] we talked about victims and victims and like how does something last forever
[47:39] do you know that most people that
[47:42] incarcerated are victims themselves
[47:45] they have suffered through something
[47:47] they were the kids in broken homes
[47:51] okay they were the kids or the teenagers
[47:54] or the adults who were who were
[47:56] who suffered through violence some of
[47:59] the indicators some of the indicators of
[48:01] violence and incarceration alone the
[48:03] shame and more violence
[48:04] where do we see that more than anywhere
[48:06] but then some of the most impoverished
[48:07] communities in our city
[48:09] so I want you to to think about that and the fact that this goes on forever
[48:15] we want a community
[48:17] that's good for everyone
[48:19] we want a community that holds people
[48:21] accountable
[48:23] holds the individual accountable holds
[48:26] the institutions accountable holds
[48:28] Society accountable when it's been wrong
[48:30] we always we look back we are
[48:31] celebrating Black History Month today
[48:33] and we're acknowledging history
[48:36] how has that history impacted our
[48:38] community we know how it's impacted our community
[48:42] and this is this legislation is doing
[48:45] something about it it is a step in the
[48:47] right direction for the betterment of
[48:49] the entire Community we want people to
[48:52] have good jobs that's Economic
[48:54] Development right we want people to be
[48:56] homeowners
[48:58] right that's Public Safety we want
[49:01] people to be in their families doing
[49:03] what they're supposed to do for their
[49:05] kids for for the other family members
[49:08] that's a community
[49:10] and I am almost you know as sick and
[49:13] tired as everyone else where we're in a
[49:15] situation where we ignore history
[49:17] where we want to just say keep punishing
[49:18] them keep punishing them keep punishing
[49:20] them and so we can get the same thing
[49:22] over and over and over again
[49:26] recidivism rates 40 plus percent right
[49:30] now right people are being left out of
[49:32] opportunity there are there's tons of
[49:34] jobs right now employers are telling we
[49:36] have jobs for people we can't feel we
[49:39] need people in those jobs give them the
[49:41] opportunity this is not about making
[49:42] anyone unsafe
[49:44] seven years for someone with a felony
[49:46] that gets off parole or probation three
[49:48] years for a misdemeanor after probation
[49:51] that's a long time
[49:53] they paid their dues give them the
[49:55] opportunity thank you thank you
[49:58] [Applause]
[50:02] Kelly Williams
[50:13] uh good evening everybody it's actually
[50:16] been a long long time since I've
[50:18] actually attended one of these forgot
[50:20] how fun they were
[50:22] I haven't said that uh the reason I'm
[50:25] here I have a lot going on health issues
[50:26] things like that is we all have various
[50:28] things but I too was troubled last week
[50:32] when I read a couple articles popped up
[50:34] on the phone and the it was almost like
[50:37] one was written by Fox News the other
[50:40] one CNN you know two different stories
[50:43] but a lot of different the same message
[50:45] uh an incorrect message and then just
[50:48] message was being sent the one article
[50:51] pointed out to me because it started
[50:53] with the word Schenectady failed
[50:56] and I read the rest of the article and I
[50:58] started thinking about
[50:59] Schenectady family especially when it
[51:02] came to the school district
[51:04] four years ago our daughter went into
[51:07] seventh grade in the school
[51:09] and within the first week we never saw
[51:11] her again
[51:13] not the daughter we sent
[51:15] because of the conditions the things
[51:18] that were happening The Bullying the
[51:22] constant badgering the aggressive nature
[51:26] the Blind Eye
[51:28] the staff with their hands tied
[51:33] I spent three quarters of that that year
[51:37] seeking parent and parent conferencing
[51:40] seeking mediation
[51:42] seeking any and everything possible
[51:46] but when I sat there at the end of the third quarter right course towards
[51:51] the end of it
[51:53] in the morning the day after my daughter
[51:56] was attacked
[51:58] that I'm in there right there bottom
[52:01] basement school I see three security
[52:03] four teachers a principal and two
[52:05] guidance counselors
[52:07] and there was yet another person new to
[52:10] the whole situation presenting
[52:11] aggression towards my daughter
[52:14] I made the mistake thinking this was
[52:16] their
[52:17] playing field they'll take care of this
[52:21] and in front of me my daughter was
[52:23] attacked
[52:26] that's where Schenectady failed
[52:29] I literally had to pull her out of
[52:31] school and said there's no way you could
[52:34] ever even make me believe that my
[52:36] daughters you can guarantee my
[52:38] daughter's safety
[52:39] principal agreed with me immediately no
[52:41] argument
[52:43] then funny enough the solution to
[52:46] continue the education was to send her
[52:49] to Washington Irving where all the
[52:51] people that were her attacking her were
[52:53] currently at
[52:54] I was beside myself
[52:56] to say I was upset angry
[52:59] I I'm pretty sure most of us here are
[53:02] parents
[53:03] uh nobody here would want any of their
[53:05] children to go through it either today
[53:07] in the past in the future
[53:10] so
[53:11] because of everything you know we're
[53:13] looking at the same school I'm looking
[53:15] at what homeschooling would would do how
[53:19] it would rearrange the family
[53:22] and that was going to be stress within
[53:25] itself I didn't know how I was going to
[53:27] be able to continue efficiently the
[53:29] education of my daughter
[53:31] eighth grade came a lot of speculation
[53:34] no one's really getting back in touch
[53:36] with me uh it took me almost all the
[53:38] fourth quarter just to get a tutor to
[53:40] help her finish her seventh grade year
[53:42] to be able to meet at a public library
[53:44] closer to us I'm going to need you to
[53:45] summarize sir I'll be very quick then
[53:49] what happened was
[53:51] Mr Farley came into the picture
[53:54] Mr Farley his team his his culture
[53:58] brokers
[53:59] they came to the picture they came to
[54:01] our house they spoke with us they spoke
[54:03] with the teachers they spoke with the
[54:05] principal they put in place to allow her
[54:08] to feel safe again
[54:10] to allow her to continue in Prosper in
[54:13] her education to have the plans to have
[54:16] the goals that she has now
[54:19] the very insinuation
[54:22] of any impropriety of this man that has
[54:25] given more than I would say most I have
[54:27] ever seen
[54:29] is not only inappropriate it is
[54:31] downright disgusting
[54:33] and I wanted to make sure that this
[54:35] experience was put into the minds for
[54:38] anyone that has anything to think about
[54:40] it or make decisions in the future
[54:42] this man is a blessing to the community
[54:44] there are pillars in the community when
[54:47] you take down the pillar you're weak in
[54:48] the community
[54:50] I need you to thank you
[54:52] [Applause]
[54:57] Robert Sanders
[55:06] good evening
[55:08] Madam president council members
[55:11] it's been a while
[55:12] I came here to address you
[55:15] um over just by what everybody's
[55:17] addressing you about it's the city and
[55:20] its problems and if anyone believed
[55:23] inequality it's been me I worked in the
[55:26] public defender's office 15 years
[55:29] I'm a disabled person
[55:32] I'm a lobbyist for Fathers and Families
[55:34] of New York State I want everybody to
[55:37] have equality and it's a problem today
[55:41] and uh
[55:43] you know what you just passed I agree
[55:46] with 100 because you know everybody
[55:48] should start at the same starting point
[55:51] an end at the same ending point
[55:54] but what I'm here to say is you know
[55:57] Schenectady the city of Schenectady the
[55:59] county I'll put it in the county too you
[56:02] know we got to have the same
[56:04] distribution level and what I'm getting
[56:07] at is our children
[56:09] and probably Mr Farley knows is better
[56:11] is they're our main goal here and the
[56:14] city I said this council member mood of
[56:18] Aaron and the president
[56:21] we should have uh Children and Families
[56:23] board here or a committee why we don't I
[56:27] don't know
[56:28] I mean I've asked for it and as
[56:31] lobbyists
[56:33] up in Albany you know why don't we have
[56:36] this we see where our problems stem from
[56:38] the group
[56:40] and the gentleman that just spoke he's
[56:43] telling you about his little girl
[56:45] okay you people are passing these well
[56:49] we're going to get 50 000 but that's the
[56:50] house this that this that I want money I
[56:53] want to go back to Greg Fisher my
[56:55] president I want to say my city is going
[56:58] to give Fathers and Families of New York
[57:00] State money Schenectady
[57:02] okay but you know what now I know you
[57:04] know this is new for you actually we've
[57:06] been around for a while
[57:08] but I want to do that but you know our
[57:10] children are our future I said this 30
[57:12] years ago
[57:14] okay but you know what you're not doing
[57:16] that you're not really looking at that
[57:18] no I had people say well you should go
[57:20] to the county
[57:22] well you know what
[57:23] I hate to say the county really isn't
[57:26] taking the lead and when I talk to the
[57:28] council I know the council's listening
[57:30] and I know right here in the city of
[57:32] Schenectady the city of Schenectady is
[57:35] actually going to do something and
[57:37] they're not really looking at me and
[57:38] listening to me I know you don't want to
[57:40] hear from me
[57:41] but this is something like you got you
[57:44] know you got a city review board on the
[57:47] police you got all kinds of committees
[57:48] this is something that needs to happen
[57:52] because you know if you've got a pins
[57:54] problem if you've got CPS we're eating
[57:56] Woodlawn or you got a problem on the
[57:58] hill or you got it over in Bellevue with
[58:01] sex offenders I ran for counsel I know
[58:03] where they're at okay
[58:06] you know why you need to do this because
[58:08] you guys you're running next year this
[58:11] year
[58:12] you know why you need to know this even
[58:14] if it's the county that does it because
[58:17] you know why even the county legislators
[58:20] there's district one in District Two
[58:22] they're running in this area but like I
[58:25] said fat me okay they're going to go to
[58:28] every city council
[58:31] in all of New York because our children
[58:34] and it's just not guys it's women it's
[58:37] grandmothers it's everybody
[58:39] so it's it's like your dad you know I
[58:43] knew your dad well he was a good man
[58:45] great man
[58:46] you know and it's everybody
[58:48] this is what comes first our children
[58:51] are coming first and so they should be
[58:54] you know something that's on the city
[58:55] council's agenda and I want to speak to
[58:58] the mayor about this I've seen him cut
[58:59] out a little early but this this is an
[59:01] important item and I got a lot more
[59:04] talks about I know the timer just went
[59:06] off I don't want to take up too much of
[59:08] your time but this is something that
[59:10] really should be I don't know how the
[59:11] president runs her schedule or anything
[59:13] like that
[59:14] but this is something that really needs
[59:16] to be addressed and come next year you
[59:19] know I'll be a bit a little bit more
[59:22] proactive about how I do things but I
[59:25] appreciate your time your patience have
[59:27] a good day God bless you
[59:29] thank you
[59:34] [Applause]
[59:35] Mark Marva Isaacs
[59:40] she's she was there I guess she's gone
[59:42] okay uh Janice Rouse
[59:47] foreign
[59:54] I wanted to talk a little bit about just
[59:57] the atmosphere of the city council in
[1:00:00] regards to you know the Clean Slate act
[1:00:03] you know thank you for passing it four
[1:00:05] of you who voted for it
[1:00:08] um you know sometimes I think about this
[1:00:10] legislation and I think about America
[1:00:12] because you know America has been given
[1:00:16] a clean slate act
[1:00:18] um you know the crimes that were
[1:00:19] committed through slavery and so forth
[1:00:21] and so on we all realized that that was
[1:00:24] wrong I don't think any of us would
[1:00:26] differ from that that you know that
[1:00:29] slavery was wrong and what has been
[1:00:33] caused as a result of the oppression
[1:00:36] that um people of African-American
[1:00:39] descent had faced in this country you
[1:00:42] passed a resolution this evening
[1:00:45] um on black history month and the
[1:00:48] beginning of that resolution talks about
[1:00:50] and I'll read each February I'm gonna go
[1:00:55] right here where it says the strength
[1:00:57] and history of Black Americans
[1:00:59] experiences in the United States this
[1:01:01] year's theme is black resistance
[1:01:03] recognizing African Americans resistance
[1:01:06] to historical and ongoing oppression in
[1:01:09] all forms in pursuit of
[1:01:11] self-determination equality
[1:01:14] when we started this when you start your
[1:01:17] um session you do the Pledge of
[1:01:18] Allegiance in the pursuit of happiness
[1:01:21] you know for all Americans and you know
[1:01:24] my mother used always told me that for
[1:01:26] much for those that much is given much
[1:01:29] is required
[1:01:31] for those who need more should get more
[1:01:34] and as a result of our historic
[1:01:37] oppression against the people all
[1:01:41] elected officials whether you're black
[1:01:42] white blue green or yellow whether
[1:01:45] you're a Republican or a Democrat or a
[1:01:47] liberal we got to get to a place so we
[1:01:49] need some healing in America we need to
[1:01:52] do the right thing this is enough this
[1:01:53] is not about Republicans Or democrats
[1:01:55] this is about what's right we cannot
[1:01:59] keep holding people down for their
[1:02:01] entire life for mistakes made it does
[1:02:04] affect all affects the children it
[1:02:06] affects families it affects communities
[1:02:08] I need to address their chair I need to
[1:02:10] address the chair yes it affects
[1:02:12] communities it affects us all in many
[1:02:14] different facets just like the
[1:02:16] historical oppression that has happened
[1:02:18] in many different facets so I'm saying
[1:02:21] to you as elected officials let's start
[1:02:24] looking at some empathy y'all let's
[1:02:26] start looking at what's right and stop
[1:02:30] all of this partisan and black and white
[1:02:32] stuff it's got to stop
[1:02:34] we have at-risk Youth and we we know we
[1:02:37] put that on our agenda because there are
[1:02:39] at-risk parents there are parents that
[1:02:41] may have made mistakes early on in life
[1:02:43] and as a result they paid their price
[1:02:45] they went to prison they did whatever
[1:02:46] they had to do everybody is not bad even
[1:02:50] though they may have made some mistakes
[1:02:52] but we as America we want forgiveness
[1:02:55] but we're not willing to give it and I'm
[1:02:58] saying to you it's time as politicians
[1:03:01] that we all voted whether I voted for
[1:03:05] you you you it doesn't matter somebody
[1:03:07] voted for you that's why you're here
[1:03:09] so I'm asking you to stand up do the
[1:03:13] right thing and next time we have a vote
[1:03:16] and something important is this it's not
[1:03:18] going to be four to three it's going to
[1:03:21] be if there's seven people sitting here
[1:03:22] it should be seven
[1:03:24] so I thank you for your time thank you
[1:03:27] [Applause]
[1:03:32] now for Tompkins Alfred Tompkins
[1:03:46] good evening everyone
[1:03:48] thank you for
[1:03:50] your work and
[1:03:53] the things that you do in our community
[1:03:55] and how you Faithfully serve in the
[1:03:59] midst of adversity
[1:04:02] I was thinking about this I was reading
[1:04:07] this article last week
[1:04:09] and about my friend
[1:04:12] Domani Farley
[1:04:14] we've worked together for a while
[1:04:18] and
[1:04:19] when I first started working for the
[1:04:22] school district
[1:04:23] I remember being in a number of
[1:04:26] situations he and I where we were
[1:04:30] out
[1:04:32] after the hours of our work
[1:04:36] and helping families
[1:04:40] and and and I think of
[1:04:43] um how we so easily reached into his
[1:04:47] pocket and
[1:04:49] um I know he'd be a little embarrassed
[1:04:51] me telling you this but these are those
[1:04:55] are some of the things that we don't get
[1:04:58] out of that article those articles that
[1:05:01] were written
[1:05:03] um trying to tear down his character
[1:05:06] I think of Damani in his work as a man
[1:05:10] in the community as a father as a
[1:05:14] husband
[1:05:16] um he's had quite an impact on our
[1:05:19] community he's had quite an impact in
[1:05:23] the in the lives of of you've heard of
[1:05:26] families
[1:05:28] um Untold number of of parents and
[1:05:31] children
[1:05:32] it would be one thing if it was
[1:05:35] something that I read about or I heard
[1:05:37] about but
[1:05:40] um many situations
[1:05:42] we were in the midst of
[1:05:44] and so I watched how this man worked
[1:05:49] and
[1:05:51] um and so from that perspective I could
[1:05:54] see that it was an honorable guy
[1:05:56] a guy with a testimony among people
[1:06:02] um and his testimony of that show that
[1:06:07] revealed that he was a person who cared
[1:06:10] and who cared for people loved this
[1:06:14] community
[1:06:15] and so that that's that was exciting to
[1:06:20] see and encouraging to for me to see
[1:06:22] I've been a resident uh all my life here
[1:06:26] in Schenectady very proud of Schenectady
[1:06:29] all of its challenges and bumps and
[1:06:32] bruises and all of that stuff raised my
[1:06:35] family and so
[1:06:38] my youngest child is is 36 and and as I
[1:06:43] said we have four children
[1:06:45] and so
[1:06:47] um we've been at it a while and to see
[1:06:51] someone rise up in the ranks that was
[1:06:54] that's caring as Mr Farley was really
[1:06:58] encouraging so thank you thank you
[1:07:06] I have no one else signed up to speak so
[1:07:08] I declare the public comment of City
[1:07:10] business closed
[1:07:12] at this time any miscellaneous business
[1:07:14] of the council
[1:07:19] okay seeing none
[1:07:21] oh
[1:07:25] go ahead Miss Patrick
[1:07:29] missed that for a second sorry about
[1:07:31] that I wanted to
[1:07:33] um thank everyone for coming out tonight
[1:07:36] um I wanted to remind folks about the
[1:07:39] programs that we have going now five
[1:07:40] days a week for seniors to find a
[1:07:43] nutritious meal and some socialization
[1:07:45] with one another and you can certainly
[1:07:48] find that that schedule in The Gazette
[1:07:51] on Saturdays actually I wanted to
[1:07:54] congratulate the nine new officers who
[1:07:56] just graduated from zone five and we'll
[1:07:58] be joining our force and wish them the
[1:08:01] best as they move into their roles
[1:08:04] um
[1:08:05] I wanted to say again that our
[1:08:07] Schenectady shares program we had our
[1:08:09] last official sort I thank councilwoman
[1:08:14] detoro for working on that project with
[1:08:16] me
[1:08:17] um as well and this huge volunteer
[1:08:19] committee that we've had we probably our
[1:08:21] goal was fifteen thousand pounds of food
[1:08:23] and personal hygiene items I think we're
[1:08:25] going to probably be at like 19 or 20
[1:08:28] 000 pounds when we get our final figure
[1:08:30] spent a few hours there this morning
[1:08:32] sorting and unloading trucks and loading
[1:08:34] trucks Etc to go to any number of food
[1:08:37] pantries across the county with really
[1:08:39] and the schools with a lot of good food
[1:08:42] and good items so I'm very pleased with
[1:08:47] how that came out and I want to tell
[1:08:48] everybody that there'll be a phase two
[1:08:50] I'm not sure what that will be yet but
[1:08:52] we also will be doing this program
[1:08:54] annually
[1:08:56] I wanted to comment on the housing piece
[1:08:59] that I think that we passed I think
[1:09:01] you're talking about Cara house at
[1:09:03] Bethesda house that I think we supported
[1:09:06] as a council I think that's what you
[1:09:09] were referring to and it is transitional
[1:09:11] housing for uh recently incarcerated
[1:09:14] folks and I think you know Bethesda
[1:09:17] house is choosing to as part of this uh
[1:09:20] Capital project that they have
[1:09:23] um house folks and I think that that's
[1:09:24] uh great and I think that's why we all
[1:09:26] supported that that initiative I think
[1:09:30] we heard a lot tonight
[1:09:33] um I think as I said last time and as I
[1:09:36] heard spoken by many people I think it's
[1:09:39] really imperative that this city council
[1:09:41] continue to do the work that it does on
[1:09:43] anti-poverty anti-hunger on education on
[1:09:47] Workforce Development
[1:09:49] supporting the organizations like safe
[1:09:51] house and ywca's domestic violence
[1:09:53] supporting programs like the homes
[1:09:55] program that allows people to purchase
[1:09:58] houses
[1:09:59] or Habitat for Humanity the support that
[1:10:02] we give there so I think those things
[1:10:04] are very very critical to all of our
[1:10:06] residents that we continue doing the
[1:10:09] work that we can to try to make sure
[1:10:10] that we're supporting people that need
[1:10:12] that help as much as possible
[1:10:15] and that's all I have tonight thank you Mr Farley
[1:10:20] okay so I'll start off by saying uh
[1:10:24] there was no one more surprised than me
[1:10:27] to read a headline that implied I was
[1:10:31] making um six hundred thousand dollars a
[1:10:34] year in
[1:10:37] to that you know the paper who kind of
[1:10:39] wrote the headline I guess you know it's
[1:10:41] going to backfire on you because maybe
[1:10:42] you don't know that my wife and I every
[1:10:45] Sunday buy multiple copies of that paper
[1:10:48] to clip coupons and among this new news
[1:10:51] it seems like honey if you're watching
[1:10:53] you can we can stop clipping coupons now
[1:10:55] because I didn't know that we were going
[1:10:57] to make that uh make that make that
[1:10:59] amount of money
[1:11:00] um I think in all seriousness you know
[1:11:03] uh it's
[1:11:06] a headline and we are people who are
[1:11:09] serving in government and you know being
[1:11:12] in the political Arena uh some things
[1:11:14] just come with the territory uh
[1:11:16] but I want to thank everyone who came
[1:11:19] out tonight in support of the Clean Slate support of me
[1:11:26] um I really appreciate that
[1:11:28] um I also want to oddly thank those who
[1:11:31] might have a different position on clean
[1:11:33] State and me
[1:11:36] specifically
[1:11:37] because even though it might have not
[1:11:39] been what their intention was what they
[1:11:41] did is they opened up a very important
[1:11:43] point of reflection for me
[1:11:45] um sometimes doing the work you're just
[1:11:47] doing it your head's down and there's
[1:11:48] one foot in front of the other but I
[1:11:50] have gotten all these emails and phone
[1:11:53] calls of people and families who have
[1:11:56] reached out you know how can we support
[1:11:57] how can we make sure that we set the
[1:11:59] record straight
[1:12:01] um and as a young man I learned that
[1:12:03] leadership is not about having the
[1:12:05] answers but it's also about having the
[1:12:08] courage to ask the right questions of
[1:12:10] yourself and others
[1:12:12] and the question that was answered
[1:12:16] um when I opposed to people why they
[1:12:17] felt the need to do that
[1:12:19] was
[1:12:21] just a heartwarming and very inspiring
[1:12:24] time for me to reflect on some things I
[1:12:27] even you know personally have forgotten
[1:12:28] uh
[1:12:30] so that was really a great thing for me
[1:12:32] to quite honestly have to experience
[1:12:35] um but it was all variations of the same
[1:12:38] thing and that was the theme of that was
[1:12:41] showing up
[1:12:44] and you know I
[1:12:46] started to think about the first parent
[1:12:48] who reached out when we go back to 2015
[1:12:51] where kids were walking over the bridge
[1:12:52] and there were they were being assaulted
[1:12:55] and it was making its way going viral
[1:12:57] and things like that and parents were
[1:12:59] afraid to have their kids walk home you
[1:13:02] know we showed up
[1:13:04] um you know I think about
[1:13:07] you know some of the times when you know
[1:13:09] when we were dealing with this pandemic
[1:13:11] here
[1:13:12] in the in our we're all afraid we didn't
[1:13:16] know what to expect and we had to stop
[1:13:19] kids from entering the school building
[1:13:21] and everyone had to go learn remotely
[1:13:25] um there were a lot of kids that that
[1:13:26] didn't work for and they needed a place
[1:13:29] that they could be in front of a
[1:13:31] certified teacher so I was a part of the
[1:13:34] collective we that created that space
[1:13:36] for them and multiple Paws around the
[1:13:38] city they needed us and we showed up
[1:13:43] when it was time yeah we showed up when
[1:13:48] it was time for uh we were dealing with
[1:13:51] um neighboring cities and all across the
[1:13:54] country you know where
[1:13:56] almost you know people are feeling
[1:13:58] burning down because there was the
[1:14:01] outrage and the expression of crying for
[1:14:04] justice over George Floyd's uh murder
[1:14:06] and the lack of accountability you know
[1:14:09] our neighboring cities were in a lot of
[1:14:11] trouble and small business owners were
[1:14:13] boarding up their shops here
[1:14:16] um our police were suited in riot gear
[1:14:18] um ready to you know engage a crowd of
[1:14:21] people and we were very concerned
[1:14:24] as people that lived in the community
[1:14:25] and so is our leaders
[1:14:28] um I was a part of that Collective we
[1:14:30] that stood in a breach there that made
[1:14:32] sure that leadership understanding that
[1:14:34] people's voices needed to be heard
[1:14:37] and we could do it
[1:14:39] without causing harm to people in
[1:14:42] property and businesses that lived here
[1:14:45] I was able to do that so once again we
[1:14:47] showed up
[1:14:49] um I just want to say that
[1:14:51] so no
[1:14:52] those words won't tear me down
[1:14:56] and they won't tear us apart
[1:14:59] because people who take that position
[1:15:02] they can't fathom they can't even begin
[1:15:05] to imagine what it is that holds me up
[1:15:07] and holds us together
[1:15:09] that is forged in love our
[1:15:12] responsibility to one another and that
[1:15:14] is reinforced by Time and Time and Time
[1:15:18] Again by showing up
[1:15:21] so I just want to say thank you for
[1:15:22] every everyone who's come out and said
[1:15:24] nice things
[1:15:25] um it was a pleasant thing to hear or
[1:15:28] how we've impacted people's life in a
[1:15:30] positive way and we're going to continue
[1:15:32] to do that and we're just going to
[1:15:34] continue to show up
[1:15:36] [Applause]
[1:15:47] thank you
[1:15:49] okay
[1:15:50] [Applause]
[1:15:52] you can take about the dinner afterwards
[1:15:56] so I just want to thank everyone also
[1:15:57] for coming out tonight speaking to
[1:15:59] whatever your position was on the things
[1:16:01] that were on our agenda tonight or
[1:16:03] anything that impacted City business
[1:16:04] altogether
[1:16:06] um so thank you for coming out and
[1:16:08] always voicing your opinion it's
[1:16:10] important for us to hear from you not
[1:16:12] only when there's things that are
[1:16:14] challenging but also there's things that
[1:16:16] you think that we could do things better
[1:16:18] or ways to improve things or you could
[1:16:21] even come and say hey you did something
[1:16:23] right we're not opposed to that either
[1:16:26] so um as I remind you this is Black
[1:16:28] History Month and there will be a
[1:16:30] program at um
[1:16:33] as the Christian Bridge Christian Center
[1:16:36] on the 26th at 2 p.m everyone's invited
[1:16:39] to come out and it should be very
[1:16:42] um very informative we're actually
[1:16:46] um honoring Educators in the in the
[1:16:49] Schenectady school system and the
[1:16:50] Schenectady school district from we're
[1:16:53] calling them Trailblazers so people like
[1:16:55] the very first president actually or
[1:16:57] African-American person that was um was
[1:16:59] hired by the school district so come out
[1:17:01] it's a wonderful history lesson and
[1:17:03] you'll maybe somebody we could see some
[1:17:04] of your former teachers or at least hear
[1:17:06] something about them so we invite you
[1:17:07] all to be there
[1:17:09] I do also want to offer my condolences
[1:17:12] to the family of Mr palamini and Mrs um
[1:17:15] Patrick for the their loss and their
[1:17:18] families
[1:17:20] and finally I just want to address
[1:17:22] something that was said today it said a
[1:17:24] lot about the you know they're
[1:17:26] constantly hearing about race and race
[1:17:27] and races as it relates to this Council
[1:17:30] I just want to bring up the fact that we
[1:17:32] don't write those articles we don't have
[1:17:34] control of what people say it's clear
[1:17:36] there is where a difference there's
[1:17:38] races different races here but that's
[1:17:40] not what we should be focusing on
[1:17:43] and what anyone should be focusing on
[1:17:45] we are here to do a job for all of you
[1:17:47] regardless you don't have to look like
[1:17:49] me I'm here to serve you and I believe
[1:17:52] that all of us
[1:17:55] I want to believe that all of us feel
[1:17:57] the same way so
[1:18:00] um please if you could help us in that
[1:18:02] and when people start talking about it
[1:18:04] in a very divided way about race talk
[1:18:06] about us as a council of elected people
[1:18:08] as Miss Rouse said
[1:18:11] you somebody elected all of us so we're
[1:18:14] all sitting here and we want to serve
[1:18:16] you
[1:18:16] um the city so keep that in mind and
[1:18:19] let's work together and let's not only
[1:18:21] let
[1:18:22] um
[1:18:23] the US
[1:18:26] honoring people of color during one
[1:18:28] month but throughout the year and let's
[1:18:30] honor all of us all the time we have
[1:18:33] other you know opportunities pup
[1:18:39] so I just wanted to say publicly that we
[1:18:41] really have to work together and let's
[1:18:43] do that and I believe it's possible
[1:18:45] let's put things behind us that have
[1:18:47] happened and let's move forward
[1:18:49] thank you for your time
[1:18:51] and that with that I'll ask for a motion
[1:18:53] to adjourn moved by Miss Patrick
[1:18:56] second by Mr
[1:18:58] Farley all in favor
[1:19:00] we're adjourned thank you have a good
[1:19:02] night