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[14:15] like to call to order the city Caucus

[14:18] meeting for Monday July 24th 2023

[14:22] we have four items for original

[14:24] consideration if the clerk would please

[14:26] read item number one item number one for

[14:29] original consideration a resolution

[14:30] calling for a public hearing on a

[14:32] moratorium on smoke and vape shops and

[14:35] similar uses in the city of Schenectady

[14:37] for purposes of developing modifications

[14:39] to the zoning ordinance regarding such

[14:41] uses

[14:42] discussed in committee with objection on

[14:44] consent item number two item number two

[14:47] for final consideration a resolution

[14:49] authorizing the abandonment of a portion

[14:50] of large Street

[14:52] this will be Mr palomini roll call

[14:55] be a roll call vote

[14:58] item number three for original

[15:01] consideration a resolution authorizing

[15:03] an amendment to the collective

[15:05] bargaining agreement 2021-2025 between

[15:07] the city of Schenectady and afscme

[15:10] Council 66 local 1037a

[15:13] discussed and committee without

[15:15] objection on consent item number four for original

[15:19] consideration a resolution amending

[15:21] resolution

[15:22] 2023-136 regarding an endorsement of the

[15:26] Schenectady Inner City

[15:30] clinical conservation for the Southern

[15:32] Pine Community recovery program Grant

[15:34] discussing committee with objection and

[15:36] our consent

[15:39] if there's nothing else to come before

[15:40] the city council caucus I ask for a

[15:42] motion to adjourn move Aaron

[15:54] Reverend James konicky for the prayer

[15:56] invocation

[16:04] Heavenly Father we come before thee in

[16:07] our need grant that we welcome the

[16:10] stranger the Immigrant for we once were

[16:13] as well Strangers In a Strange Land

[16:16] grant that the scourge of addiction and

[16:19] addiction-related deaths be removed from

[16:21] our city provide healing where needed

[16:23] and comfort for survivors as well in thy

[16:27] great grace help us in accomplishing our

[16:30] common mission of service to your people

[16:32] give us always thy Abundant Blessings

[16:34] amen

[16:36] like to call council member Patrick who

[16:38] is the Pledge I pledge allegiance to the

[16:41] flag of the United States

[16:45] [Music]

[16:47] one nation under God indivisible with

[16:52] liberty and justice for all thank you

[17:01] if the clerk would please read the I'll

[17:03] call the roll

[17:06] Mr muchiveran

[17:08] Mr Farley

[17:12] absent Mr Williams is absent Miss

[17:15] Patrick

[17:16] Mr palamini Miss Porterfield here

[17:22] the clerk would be please read excuse me

[17:24] I've asked for approval for minutes of

[17:26] July 20 July 10 2023.

[17:31] mobile Miss Patrick second by Mr

[17:32] musubair all in favor thank you

[17:36] the clerk would please read any

[17:37] Communications and petitions

[17:46] Communications presented to the city

[17:48] council for Monday July 24 2023 under

[17:51] official there were none under General

[17:53] an email from Mark Baker president of

[17:56] the soft lights Foundation regarding the

[17:58] health hazard of LED street lights and

[18:00] under positions there were none

[18:02] thank you as council members for any

[18:05] committee reports

[18:09] we have announced privilege of the floor

[18:11] related to the legislative agenda and I

[18:14] have no one signed up to speak

[18:18] so I will declare the public comment on

[18:20] the legislative agenda closed

[18:23] ask for approval of the legislative

[18:26] consent agenda

[18:28] so

[18:30] moved by Mr motiver and second by Miss

[18:32] Patrick all in favor

[18:35] we do have a roll call vote

[18:37] we have a resolution

[18:40] if the clerk would please read item

[18:41] number

[18:43] two for final consideration

[18:46] a resolution authorizing the abandonment

[18:48] of a portion of large Street

[18:55] I'd like to move that make a motion that

[18:58] we table this item so that the language

[19:00] could be updated

[19:03] second all right all those in favor

[19:05] excuse me roll call

[19:11] Miss Patrick

[19:12] all right aye

[19:15] all right the motion path

[19:20] privilege of the floor regarding General

[19:22] City business

[19:23] I have seven people who are signed up to

[19:25] speak

[19:26] just to remind speakers that

[19:29] the time limit is three minutes

[19:32] first person is Ed Levin Jr

[19:39] good evening Mr Mayor Cherry woman at

[19:41] Porterfield council members Mr Mayor you

[19:43] are responsible for reinforcement of the

[19:45] law in the city and to ensure Justice

[19:47] you are mandated by your oath of office

[19:49] and the Constitution look into my

[19:51] complaint of obstruction of justice and

[19:54] treason by these three judges

[19:56] you and these council members are

[19:57] obstructing justice by covering up these

[19:59] crimes committed by these corrupt judges

[20:02] keeping me out of the newspaper on my

[20:04] ethics complaint is not ensuring Justice

[20:06] it is a cover-up

[20:08] and a conspiracy would probably be my

[20:10] constitutional rights it is also a crime

[20:12] committed by everyone in front of me

[20:14] please don't look into this I want you

[20:17] all to go down with valetico because you

[20:20] are all corrupt and you all belong in

[20:22] jail for obstruction of justice

[20:25] judges oath of office include the

[20:27] undertaking to uphold the laws and

[20:29] Constitution of the United States any

[20:32] judge violating such undertaking loses

[20:35] jurisdiction resulting in his orders

[20:36] being void and he himself commits a

[20:39] reasonable offense against the United

[20:40] States

[20:43] federal offense in the United States

[20:45] mispersion of treason is a federal

[20:47] offense committed when someone who has

[20:50] knowledge of the commission of any

[20:51] treason against the United States

[20:52] conceals such knowledge and does not

[20:54] inform the president federal judge State

[20:57] Governor or a state judge

[21:00] which none of you have done

[21:02] thank you

[21:05] Wayne Harper

[21:09] Mr Harper

[21:11] okay Matt nelligan

[21:17] okay Mr Harper is here

[21:25] I'm not up to speed

[21:27] hey John

[21:30] look I'm going to ask Gary there to give

[21:32] me a hand

[21:34] I want to talk to the folks that do the

[21:37] grass seeding

[21:38] where that hydrant was taken out months

[21:40] ago

[21:41] it needs some attention and I don't want

[21:44] to I want to speak to the people that

[21:45] actually do it

[21:47] so that we can have a discussion about

[21:49] it

[21:51] um so you could tell Donna

[21:55] I don't know I don't want him to just

[21:57] come I want him to call me I think

[21:59] that'd be the proper thing call get a

[22:02] hold of me we'll set up a time and then

[22:04] I can meet with the people that actually

[22:05] do the work

[22:07] what do you think you just can nod your

[22:09] head

[22:10] no you can't say nothing

[22:13] uh

[22:15] yeah I think I'll leave it there I've

[22:17] had a rough day

[22:19] okay thank you thank you

[22:23] Matt nelligan

[22:31] thank you president Porterfield

[22:33] right up the street at this very moment

[22:35] the skanky County Legislature is finally

[22:37] declaring a state of emergency regarding

[22:39] the New York City migrant crisis that's

[22:41] been going on for months now in the

[22:42] state of New York

[22:43] exactly two months to the day I called

[22:45] upon mayor McCarthy to put forward a

[22:47] resolution declaring a state of

[22:48] emergency here in the city

[22:50] he did nothing

[22:51] hundreds of undocumented immigrants now

[22:53] sit on our doorstep at the Super 8 hotel

[22:54] they came as I predicted they would

[22:56] courtesy of the Democratic mayor of New

[22:58] York City Eric Adams

[23:00] still mayor McCarthy did nothing

[23:03] Glenville passed a resolution calling on

[23:05] the county to act on this matter still

[23:07] we did nothing

[23:08] doing nothing it seems is what we do

[23:10] best at this point some of the city did

[23:12] do something however a gentleman named

[23:14] Danny alasha he owns the Schenectady in

[23:16] the Suites

[23:18] or on the same time the Rotterdam Hotel

[23:19] displaced American citizens some of them

[23:22] homeless some of them destitute

[23:25] to replace them with undocumented

[23:27] immigrants Danny was offered the same

[23:28] deal by the city of New York

[23:30] he said no

[23:32] the only reason we're not in the same

[23:34] position today is Rotterdam tonight is

[23:36] the courage of Danny alasha if our

[23:38] do-nothing mayor had his way we would be

[23:40] dealing with the same crisis that

[23:41] Rotterdam is right now

[23:43] this will not be a new Schenectady until

[23:45] we have a new mayor thank you

[23:49] Tom Kennedy

[23:52] [Music]

[23:57] good evening everyone

[24:00] my name is Tom Kennedy I live in

[24:01] Woodlawn

[24:02] you know I watched uh with some trepidation in the last committee

[24:10] meeting we had

[24:11] and maybe you had I'm sorry and

[24:16] there was discussion about changing

[24:19] the zoning laws for the new

[24:22] location of the Cannabis place

[24:25] now

[24:26] for those of people who aren't familiar

[24:29] with it there are

[24:31] a lot of residents that are

[24:33] don't like where it's at now

[24:36] there's nothing we can do about that horse is out of the barn

[24:40] I was just at my doctor's today and he

[24:42] told me that there's some people and he

[24:44] lives he's a doctor on Union Street

[24:46] there's some people that won't walk on

[24:48] that side of the street because they're intimidating this is usually the

[24:53] older uh older residents

[24:55] uh

[24:58] if you take a look at right next to it

[25:00] there's a picture

[25:01] there's a dance studio there and then

[25:04] there's a salon on the other side you

[25:07] can't see it but there's an elementary

[25:08] school very close to there

[25:10] so I think

[25:13] for those people who were in this

[25:16] Council

[25:18] who kept talking about lenses

[25:20] there's only one lens that we should

[25:22] have and that lens should be the

[25:25] residence of Schenectady

[25:30] the problem that we have is that every

[25:32] time I come in this place we're looking

[25:35] at the wrong lens

[25:37] the lens here is that we have to make

[25:39] sure that the kids

[25:41] that the older people

[25:44] that people have businesses in Union

[25:46] Street

[25:48] Unfortunately they have to live with

[25:50] that there

[25:52] but let's not have that again and I'm

[25:54] being told the next place is downtown

[25:55] Schenectady

[25:57] and I don't care if some council member

[25:59] here watch one of those buddies to have

[26:02] a place down on on State Street that's

[26:05] not where it should be that's for

[26:07] families and for residents

[26:10] and businesses

[26:12] and I tell you

[26:13] well we better start looking at is the

[26:16] nuisance that this marijuana is causing

[26:19] in this city because I don't think

[26:20] anybody could walk around here on summer

[26:22] league it was absolutely disgusting you

[26:25] couldn't go anywhere without smelling

[26:27] marijuana

[26:28] and that you had kids with babies you

[26:30] had a young uh girls with babies in

[26:33] their hand that had to suck in that

[26:35] smoke is ridiculous

[26:37] so I understand that you know that the

[26:41] Democrats you know thought it would be a

[26:43] good idea to do uh marijuana as a recreation thing

[26:50] I only have to find some way to spend

[26:51] you know find money to spend on their

[26:53] spending tax

[26:55] agenda

[26:57] but I would hope that this city council

[26:59] would put the residents of a city of

[27:02] Schenectady first

[27:03] and make sure that the next place if God

[27:07] forbid there is a next place

[27:09] that it's in a position where it doesn't

[27:11] impede business or affect children

[27:15] and or older residents

[27:18] and that's my only message tonight thank

[27:20] you thank you

[27:23] Rod Huber

[27:30] hello everybody I was here for maybe

[27:32] about a month ago and I talked about

[27:35] some things and I didn't get a call back

[27:37] from anyone am I chaplicker or what you

[27:41] know it's just awful

[27:44] my main concern is the roads

[27:46] nobody does anything

[27:49] you get 10 million dollars for a pool

[27:52] that you're going to use three months

[27:55] where are the taxpayers what are we

[27:58] going to get out of it anything and they

[28:01] call this new Schenectady really all

[28:04] they care about is at the casino and

[28:05] maybe Upper Union Street and whatever

[28:09] but I wish somebody would call me maybe

[28:11] we can get a plan in place and another

[28:14] thing it's too bad that these Council

[28:16] meetings aren't televised anymore

[28:18] because then the rest of the taxpayers

[28:22] would know what is going on

[28:24] it's very sad

[28:26] everybody have a good night thank you

[28:29] I'm sorry I know that you're leaving but

[28:31] I just want you to know that the council

[28:32] these Council meetings are televised

[28:35] they are televised

[28:39] um

[28:40] yeah it is but it's not 16 anymore but I

[28:42] if you leave your name and a phone

[28:45] number I can tell you how you can get it

[28:47] okay

[28:48] all right thank you

[28:52] Robin Barnhill

[29:01] good evening everyone

[29:03] um this is I'm Robin this is my husband

[29:06] Jerry

[29:08] um we live in Schenectady over 25 years

[29:10] and we own a house on Locust Avenue a

[29:14] beautiful home

[29:15] we spend a lot of money updating it and

[29:19] the reason why we're here because and

[29:21] I've been fighting this battle for over

[29:23] a year because we have a huge tree which

[29:26] is the city tree and it's overgrown and

[29:30] it's

[29:31] leaning on top of our roof and also

[29:35] I've lived in eight we live in 803

[29:37] locusts so 801 is actually that bad

[29:42] where the tree the limb of the tree is

[29:46] hitting

[29:47] the neighbor window and when it's a

[29:49] windy day out right and that's where her

[29:52] son bedroom is it's actually hitting the

[29:55] glass window

[29:56] and um I'm not asking for the treat if

[30:00] you cut down because I was told I went

[30:02] to General Services out on the first

[30:04] floor and like in the corner and I was

[30:06] told that it was a healthy tree that

[30:08] they would not put it down we're not

[30:09] asking for the city to cut down the

[30:12] healthy tree what we are acting is for

[30:14] them to at least trim it

[30:17] you know I'm like past the retirement

[30:21] age so I'm still working and I want to

[30:24] retire within the next year and I don't

[30:26] want to have to worry about

[30:28] the damage from the roof

[30:32] so I'm asking the city to please trim it

[30:35] and like I said I've been going back and

[30:38] forth over a year

[30:41] so that's what I'm asking

[30:43] thank you thank you

[30:49] Jamaica miles

[30:59] good evening I'm happy to have this

[31:01] opportunity to come and speak tonight

[31:03] and there are so many things to talk

[31:04] about but I'm gonna try to keep it brief

[31:05] one I'd like to remind folks I'm a proud

[31:08] business owner here in the city of

[31:09] Schenectady as a matter of fact our

[31:11] office is right across the street

[31:13] um and as a business owner it has been

[31:17] an interesting journey to recognize what

[31:19] it means to be a business owner here in

[31:20] the city of Schenectady and I appreciate

[31:22] that on Union Street there has been

[31:24] increased traffic and so I imagine that

[31:26] business owners want increased traffic

[31:28] for the individuals to come and stop at

[31:30] their shops and know what's happening

[31:31] going on there because we look for

[31:34] opportunities for individuals to invest

[31:36] in Schenectady and to open businesses so

[31:38] I hope that we can continue to do that

[31:40] with any multitude of businesses as it

[31:43] comes to the safety of our children we

[31:45] have bars and restaurants all throughout

[31:46] this city

[31:48] also people smoke cigarettes I don't

[31:51] like the smell of smoke not even one

[31:52] little bit not any cigarette or any type

[31:55] of smoke but I recognize that when we

[31:57] are in public places outside of our

[31:59] parks where children are and no one is

[32:01] supposed to smoke anything that we've

[32:03] not come to a position where we can just

[32:05] stop people from smoking walking down

[32:07] the street unfortunately that's not

[32:09] where we are but more importantly I want

[32:12] to talk about what's happening on Becker Street between Brandywine and

[32:16] Snowden it has long been known that

[32:19] speeding and aggressive driving happens

[32:21] down that street

[32:22] constantly on a daily basis Sean Young

[32:26] sent an email he's unfortunately not

[32:28] able to be here this evening talking

[32:30] about the most recent accidents that

[32:32] have happened one in June a child from

[32:36] Central Park was hit by a car

[32:39] child was hit by a car the good news is

[32:42] that child recovered she was able to

[32:44] return to school it was not just the

[32:46] trauma of that child but also of her

[32:48] friends who then were in fear oh my

[32:51] goodness is she going to be okay are we

[32:53] going to be okay and then let's go back

[32:55] just a couple weekends ago where at the

[32:58] corner of Linden and Becker two cars

[33:00] collided ended up on the property of a

[33:03] home at the corner of Becker and Linden

[33:05] inside that home less than 20 feet from

[33:08] where the cars were

[33:10] laid

[33:11] Roman miles Malia miles a mean Lane

[33:15] Aaliyah Lane and Emilian Lane five

[33:20] children were inside that building just

[33:23] feet away from two cars that crashed

[33:27] through a gate destroying the property

[33:29] just inches from the front door

[33:34] individuals have asked that speed humps

[33:36] be added onto Becker Street as well as

[33:39] additional stop signs there are plenty

[33:41] of police that police that area on a

[33:43] regular basis they are not stopping the

[33:45] cars at all hours of day but the humps

[33:48] that exist over about MLK they stop cars

[33:51] from going quickly we need those same

[33:53] humps on Becker Street and I am sure

[33:55] there are countless other streets in

[33:56] this city that would benefit from those

[33:58] humps as well so if safety of our

[34:00] children and our community and the

[34:02] property is a priority for this Council

[34:04] and our mayor please look at how quickly

[34:07] we can add speed humps to Becker Street

[34:10] as well as additional stop signs thank

[34:12] you

[34:17] I have no one else signed up to speak

[34:20] so I declare the Public Public comment

[34:23] on City business closed

[34:26] miscellaneous business of the council

[34:31] no one okay mayor it's all you

[34:36] thank you madam president I appreciate

[34:38] everyone when they come out in their

[34:39] thoughts and comments for the city I

[34:41] just want to remind people that uh we

[34:44] are preparing to hold an open

[34:46] competitive exam for police officers in

[34:49] the city of Schenectady both the

[34:51] generalist and then Spanish-speaking

[34:53] officers the last day to file for that

[34:56] exam is July 31st and the exam is going

[35:00] to be held on September 9th so we

[35:03] encourage individuals who are interested

[35:06] in a career in law enforcement working

[35:07] for the city to file for the applic or

[35:10] file the application for the exam take

[35:12] the exam and hopefully that we'll be

[35:15] able to hire him and they can join our

[35:17] Police Department thank you madam

[35:18] president thank you mayor I also would

[35:20] like to thank everyone for coming out

[35:22] tonight to voicing your concerns and I

[35:25] did mention at the last committee

[35:27] meeting about we all did get the email

[35:29] regarding the speeding and the accidents

[35:31] plural that happens on Becker street so

[35:35] um as I said then I'm not sure exactly

[35:36] what we could do about because the our

[35:38] city Engineers says that we have have to

[35:40] have traffic studies and all of that but

[35:41] I think we're in a very crucial time

[35:43] right now because we're seeing speeding

[35:45] all over the city so

[35:47] um I have to look into what can be done

[35:49] more immediately and definitely that's a

[35:51] conversation with the mayor I would like

[35:53] to miss um Mrs Barnhill I will refer the

[35:57] your concern onto the department that

[36:01] would take care of that and we could see

[36:03] hopefully we can get that taken care of

[36:07] just want to again thank everyone for

[36:09] coming wish you a good evening

[36:12] oh yes

[36:15] fifth Monday next Monday so there will

[36:17] be no meeting so everybody gets the

[36:19] Monday off and of course we'll be back

[36:22] here in August

[36:24] with that ask for a motion to adjourn

[36:28] Ed by Mr motiveran second by Miss

[36:30] Patrick all those in favor I we are

[36:32] adjourned have a good evening

Schenectady City Council Meeting, July 24, 2023

Transcript