[0:36] [Music]

[2:28] yeah

[2:46] [Music]

[3:58] he

[4:12] [Music]

[8:28] he

[9:11] okay somebody needs

[9:14] it I'd like to call to order City

[9:17] meeting for Monday September 11

[9:20] 2023 we have 20 items for consideration

[9:24] the CL please read item number one item

[9:27] number one for original consideration

[9:28] and ordinance approving and authorizing

[9:30] the supplemental Bond ordinance in the

[9:32] amount of

[9:35] 2,275 or

[9:37] 25275 th000 for the North ferry Street

[9:40] Pump Station discussed in committee with

[9:42] objection on consent item number two for original

[9:46] consideration a resolution calling for a

[9:48] public hearing of the 2022 Consolidated

[9:51] annual performance and evaluation report

[9:54] discussed in committee without objection

[9:55] on consent item number three item number

[9:58] three for original consent consideration

[9:59] a resolution calling for a public

[10:01] hearing of the proposed 2024 operating

[10:03] budget and the capital budget for the

[10:05] city of skty discussed in committee with

[10:07] objection and on consent item number

[10:09] four item number four for original

[10:12] consideration a resolution authorizing

[10:14] acceptance of funding from the New York

[10:16] State for the purchase of a new fire

[10:18] truck discussed in committee with

[10:20] objection on consent item number five for original

[10:24] consideration a resolution referring the

[10:26] draft ordinance establishing a six-month

[10:28] Mor atorium on the submission and

[10:30] processing of building permits

[10:32] certificates of occupancy certificates

[10:34] of use and land use approvals for smoke

[10:36] shop vape shops and tobacco or vape

[10:39] consumption businesses within the city

[10:41] of sken to the sken County Economic

[10:44] Development and planning department

[10:46] discuss and committee with objection on

[10:47] consent item number six item number six

[10:50] for original consideration a resolution

[10:53] authorizing an easement to Niagara

[10:55] Mohawk power Corporation DBA national

[10:58] grid for the installation of an overhead

[11:00] electrical service in Central Park for

[11:02] the new pool splash pad and ancillary

[11:05] facilities discuss in committee with the

[11:07] objection on consent item number seven for original

[11:11] consideration a resolution amending

[11:13] resolution 2023 029 to modify the time

[11:17] period for Miracle on Craig Street to

[11:18] secure required Financial commitments

[11:21] roll call by Mr palamini item number

[11:25] eight item number eight for original

[11:27] consideration a resolution amend in

[11:29] resolution 2022 224 to modify the time

[11:32] period for young women's Christian

[11:35] Association of skty DBA YWCA

[11:38] Northeastern New York to secure required

[11:41] Financial commitments roll call by Mr

[11:44] palamini item number nine item number

[11:47] nine for original consideration a

[11:49] resolution amending resolution 2022

[11:52] 024 or 224 to modify the time period for

[11:56] electric city food Cooperative

[11:57] Incorporated to to secure required

[11:59] Financial commitments roll call by Mr

[12:02] palamini item number 10 item number 10

[12:05] for original consideration a resolution

[12:06] amending resolution 2022 224 to modify

[12:10] the use of funds for SKC Community

[12:12] Action Program Incorporated roll call by

[12:15] Mr palamini item number 11 item number

[12:17] 11 for original consideration a

[12:19] resolution revoking the appropriation of

[12:21] American Rescue plan act funds for the

[12:24] stock a Association of New York new

[12:27] connected New York for a re

[12:28] revitalization project as authorized by

[12:32] resolution 2022

[12:34] 224 act funds for

[12:39] this revitalization project as

[12:42] authorized by resolution 2022 224

[12:45] discussed in committee with the

[12:46] objection on consent item number

[12:49] 12 item number 12 for a original

[12:51] consideration a resolution revoking the

[12:53] appropriation of American Rescue plan

[12:55] act funds for Proctors reopening safety

[12:58] upgrades as authorized authorized by

[13:00] resolution 2022

[13:03] 224 discuss in committee with objection

[13:06] on consent item number 13 item number 13

[13:08] for original consideration a resolution

[13:10] authorizing the sale of 4051 Street for

[13:14] 26,1

[13:16] 14851 roll call by Mr

[13:21] palamini item number 14 item number 14

[13:24] for original consideration a resolution

[13:26] authorizing the sale of 874 em Street

[13:29] for

[13:30] $553

[13:32] 24.11 roll call by Mr

[13:35] palamini item number 15 item number 15

[13:38] for original consideration a resolution

[13:41] authorizing the sale of 105 Congress

[13:43] Street for

[13:45] $2,777 and10 roll call by Mr palamini

[13:49] item number 16 item number 16 for

[13:51] original consideration a resolution

[13:53] authorizing the sale of 1040 wendle

[13:55] Avenue for

[13:57] $16,999 7 cents roll call by Mr palamini

[14:01] item number 17 item number 17 for

[14:04] original consideration a resolution

[14:06] authorizing the sale of 1038 Glennwood

[14:08] Boulevard for

[14:11] 35,500 discuss in committee without

[14:13] objection on consent item number 18 item

[14:16] number 18 for original consideration a

[14:19] resolution authorizing the settlement of

[14:21] a claim by Nicholas

[14:23] fio discussed in committee with

[14:25] objection on consent item number 19 item

[14:28] number 19 for original consideration a

[14:30] resolution recognizing the Junior League

[14:32] of sken and Saratoga

[14:34] counties this uh item will be taken out

[14:37] of order and presented

[14:38] by Mr

[14:42] palamini item number 20 item number 20

[14:45] under contract and Supply a resolution

[14:47] awarding the bid and contract for the

[14:48] 2023 Harley-Davidson police motorcycle

[14:51] to Brunswick Harley-Davidson

[14:53] Incorporated in the total amount of

[14:57] $298.9 this discuss in committee with

[14:59] that objection on

[15:03] consent if there's nothing more to come

[15:05] before the city council caucus I ask for

[15:06] a motion to adjourn moved by Miss

[15:09] Patrick second by Mr turo all those in

[15:12] favor I we are

[15:14] adjourn I'd like to call the city

[15:16] council meeting to order for Monday

[15:18] September 11th

[15:19] 2023 and I'd like to call on Reverend

[15:22] James Ki for the prayer

[15:27] invocation let us begin our evening on

[15:31] this solemn day this 22nd anniversary of

[15:35] the Attacks of September 11th 2001 in a

[15:38] moment of

[15:46] silence September 11th is a day of

[15:49] remembrance on this solemn anniversary

[15:52] pause to remember the many people who

[15:54] died in New York Virginia and

[15:57] Pennsylvania because of terrorist

[15:59] attacks recall the trauma and

[16:01] heartbreaking events that occurred that

[16:04] day and pray for those who lost their

[16:06] lives and those that continue to suffer

[16:09] we turn to you then Lord for the help we

[16:12] need give us hearts that seek to love

[16:15] all people regardless of race religion

[16:18] or nationality strengthen our hands to

[16:21] do the work that lasting peace requires

[16:24] help us to trust in you you are

[16:26] changeless and look after our needs we

[16:30] listen to these words from the prophet

[16:33] Isaiah we have a strong City he appoints

[16:36] walls and bworks for open the gates that

[16:40] the righteous Nation may enter the one

[16:42] who remains faithful you will keep him

[16:45] in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on

[16:48] you because he trusts in you trust in

[16:51] the Lord forever for he is God the Lord

[16:54] we have an everlasting Rock The Way of

[16:57] the righteous is smooth smooth oh

[16:59] upright one make the path of the

[17:01] righteous level

[17:04] amen like to call on council member D

[17:06] Tor for the Pledge of Allegiance I

[17:08] pledge allegiance to the flag of the

[17:11] United States of America and to the rep

[17:15] for which it stands one nation under God

[17:19] indivisible with liberty and justice for

[17:23] all thank

[17:27] you

[17:29] clerk could please read call the

[17:35] rooll Mr Mutan is absent Mr Toro here Mr

[17:39] Farley here Mr Williams is absent Miss

[17:43] Patrick here Mr palamini here M

[17:46] Porterfield

[17:48] here we have one out of order resolution

[17:51] uh recognizing the junior Leos

[17:52] connecting Saratoga counties and I call

[17:54] on Mr palini to present this

[17:57] resolution

[18:18] here may I have the floor you have the

[18:21] floor this is a resolution to recognize

[18:23] the Junior League of skincity in

[18:24] Saratoga counties whereas the

[18:27] association of junor leagues

[18:29] International is a global women's Civic

[18:31] leadership organization that was founded

[18:33] in

[18:34] 19901 by Mary Harman with the support of

[18:37] elanar Roosevelt and whereas the Junior

[18:40] League of skty and Saratoga counties J

[18:43] LSS was founded in 1932 by a group of

[18:46] SKC women including Katherine s or K

[18:50] rosendal and whereas J LSS has worked

[18:54] for more than 91 years to Build a Better

[18:56] Community by launching lasting impactful

[18:59] Community programs such as operation

[19:01] back to school kids in the kitchen

[19:04] discreet dignity community hospice the

[19:07] league room at Proctors Dominion house

[19:09] courta appointed special Advocates and

[19:12] children's grieving Center at Haven and

[19:14] whereas the Junior League of skincity in

[19:17] Saratoga counties is helping lead the

[19:19] efforts with ajli to launch the

[19:22] inaugural F the good day on September

[19:24] 14th

[19:26] 2023 and whereas find the good day as a

[19:29] special day of unity and compassion that

[19:31] aims to spread kindness uplift others

[19:34] and Inspire positive change across the

[19:37] capital region and the nation and

[19:39] whereas find the good day as an

[19:40] opportunity for individuals families and

[19:43] organizations to come together as change

[19:46] makers and create a ripple effect of

[19:48] positivity throughout our community it

[19:51] is a day to reflect on the goodness

[19:53] within ourselves and find inspiration in

[19:55] the acts of kindness we have witnessed

[19:57] and particip ipated in throughout the

[19:59] year and whereas the Junior League of

[20:01] skincity in Saratoga County invites

[20:04] everyone to make a difference on this

[20:06] significant day whether it is through

[20:09] acts of service volunteer initiatives or

[20:12] simply spreading positivity through kind

[20:14] gestures every contribution has the

[20:17] power to create lasting change and

[20:19] whereas the Junior League of SKC and

[20:21] Saratoga counties is honoring Mohawk

[20:24] Honda as their first find the good

[20:27] awarde for their commitment to the

[20:29] junior League's Mission and whereas

[20:31] Mohawk Honda serves as a valuable

[20:34] partner to dozens of community-based

[20:36] organizations throughout the region and

[20:38] has provided valuable resources and

[20:41] support to the junior League's operation

[20:43] back to school and discreet dignity

[20:45] programs now therefore be it resolved

[20:48] that the city of skincity and the city

[20:50] council and Mayor Gary R McCarthy pause

[20:53] in their deliberations to encourage all

[20:55] scadian to celebrate Thursday September

[20:58] member 14th as the Junior League of

[21:00] skinc and Saratoga counties find the

[21:03] good day and encourage all residents to

[21:05] find the good in our community I'd like

[21:07] to move this I'd like need a second

[21:10] please second by Miss Patrick all in

[21:12] favor I motion passes congratulations

[21:20] I the councilman just said would you

[21:22] like to speak so I don't have to I know

[21:24] that was like a a Hall of Fame level of

[21:27] uh words there but thank you very much

[21:30] to councilman palamini to Mayor McCarthy

[21:33] who has always been a a trusted and good

[21:35] friend to the Junior League of SKC and

[21:36] to the entire city council what an honor

[21:39] this is for us this is our first ever um

[21:42] do the good day and we thought no better

[21:45] way than to try to launch it here in

[21:47] these city council chambers so thank you

[21:49] all very very much for your ongoing

[21:51] support of our community programs and of

[21:53] our Organization for thank you

[22:02] [Applause]

[22:09] have six six

[22:11] roll

[22:26] sales

[22:29] one two three four

[22:32] five six seven eight got it thank

[22:38] you thank

[22:41] you the clerk I like to ask for approval

[22:44] of the minutes of August 28

[22:49] 2023 mve by Mr

[22:52] Farley second by Mr Turell all in favor

[22:56] I if the clerk would please read read

[22:58] any Communications and

[23:05] petitions Communications presented to

[23:08] city council for Monday September 11th

[23:10] 2023 under official there were none

[23:13] under General there was an email from

[23:15] pety Boris stating that some people are

[23:16] allowed to speak While others are not

[23:19] the continuous word of the used

[23:21] marginalized and her feelings of

[23:23] betrayal regarding the Public's costs

[23:25] and why her social security retirement

[23:27] was cut by 45% under petitions there

[23:30] were none thank

[23:33] you this time we have privilege of of

[23:35] the floor related to the legislative

[23:37] agenda and I have two people signed up

[23:39] to

[23:41] speak first uh Judy W Meer from the

[23:44] Capital District tobacco free Coalition

[23:47] hello good evening I'm the director for

[23:49] the Capital District tobacco free

[23:51] communities and I just wanted to share

[23:53] some information I know you are

[23:55] considering um some work with um smok

[23:58] and vape shops in the city so I just

[24:01] wanted to share some information that's

[24:03] new um I know that you know

[24:07] that there's more tobacco and vape

[24:09] retailers in neighborhoods with the

[24:10] lowest income and we know that this

[24:13] leads to health disparities I years a

[24:16] year or so back we presented some

[24:18] information from neighborhood

[24:19] conversations that we had um we know

[24:22] that those with less education and less

[24:24] income smoke at much higher rates uh the

[24:27] state rate right now for tobacco use is

[24:29] about 12% those with education with low

[24:33] education with just a high school

[24:34] education smoke at a rate of about

[24:37] 19.4% those with incomes less than

[24:39] 25,000 smoke at

[24:42] 20.4% and those with mental distress at

[24:46] about 19% so we know that there's these

[24:49] Health disparities that occur we also

[24:51] know that tobacco retailers are not

[24:53] evenly um spread throughout the city and

[24:56] the county um we we know that

[24:58] municipalities can do things to address

[25:01] these Health disparities they can change

[25:03] how their City looks and I know you all

[25:05] are very um you know very well aware of

[25:08] that so by implementing policies that

[25:11] can limit the time place and manner of

[25:12] tobacco sales and there's about 19

[25:15] communities so far across New York state

[25:17] that have done licensing zoning have

[25:19] done things to limit where tobacco and

[25:21] vape retailers are the city of of

[25:25] Syracuse is the most recent one just

[25:27] last week they unanimously passed a

[25:30] resolution to have licensing for all

[25:33] their tobacco and vape retailers and

[25:36] with that licensing you they will not be

[25:38] allowed to have um a tobacco or vape

[25:41] retailer within 750 feet of a school of

[25:45] a public park or of another tobacco uh

[25:48] retailer Vape retailer and they also

[25:51] will have a process with that licensing

[25:54] for every two that close only one will

[25:56] be provided so ultimately the total

[25:59] number in the city of s Syracuse will go

[26:02] down um so I just wanted to share that

[26:04] information with you and let you know

[26:06] that if you have any questions you can

[26:08] always reach out to us we have a

[26:09] wonderful piece that goes through how

[26:12] municipalities can address um their vape

[26:15] shops their smoke shops and the like so

[26:18] thank you very much for the opportunity

[26:20] thank

[26:24] you Carol Delamar from The Stockade

[26:27] Association

[26:32] good evening mayor and city council um

[26:34] my name is Carol D marer and I am chair

[26:36] of the preservation committee for the

[26:38] stockid

[26:40] association

[26:42] um I I wanted to I'm here to comment on

[26:45] item number 11 um on the agenda which

[26:48] has to do with the revoke revoking of

[26:51] the arpa funds that were originally

[26:53] awarded to The Stockade Association um

[26:56] for a revitalization project

[26:58] what I want to make sure everyone who is

[26:59] aware of is that revitalization project

[27:02] is for the historic pumps northberry

[27:05] Street Pump Station I see on the agenda

[27:08] there's also the $25 million bond for

[27:11] the new building that new building bond

[27:14] does not include any funds for the his

[27:17] preserving protecting revitalizing

[27:20] making use of the historic pum station

[27:24] so but I want you to know that this the

[27:26] Stu associ a fully supports the money

[27:30] returning to the city because it is a

[27:32] city-owned building property and while

[27:34] was stock Association has been very

[27:37] active in in pursuing and making

[27:40] recommendations about this building we

[27:42] aren't in a position to do any work

[27:44] within within that so I want to make

[27:45] that want to make that clear um and but

[27:48] since the initial award was made back in

[27:51] September 2022 The Stockade Association

[27:54] preservation committee has been meeting

[27:56] with the city's staff

[27:58] about how this how to carry this project

[28:01] forward um we are aware that city city

[28:04] staff has begun discussions with an

[28:05] outside consultant to create bid

[28:08] documents for exterior maintenance work

[28:11] um restoring the historic windows in

[28:14] that building and for any of the

[28:17] exterior sort of repair of the the

[28:20] stucco and all that stuff the intent was

[28:22] that was coming out of the

[28:25] 750,000 but the other part of this

[28:28] um need is for an evaluation of the

[28:31] interior of this of this building um

[28:34] because in order to order in order to

[28:37] fulfill sort of the feasibility of the

[28:39] ReUse of that building that was spelled

[28:41] out in a in a report two years ago

[28:44] through technical assistant Grant from

[28:47] the preservation League that the city

[28:49] got it required quite a bit of work in

[28:52] understanding what needed to be done on

[28:54] the inside um so I want to so a lot of

[28:58] those tasks are outlined in that report

[29:01] that the city generated two years ago

[29:07] um so so back in March the stockage

[29:11] association preservation committee

[29:13] worked with the development office um to

[29:16] secure a grant from the preservation

[29:18] League to create a building condition

[29:20] report on the interior of that building

[29:23] the funds did not come to the city for

[29:25] that but we feel even though that um

[29:28] that that that funds

[29:30] $34,000 should come out of the 750 so we

[29:33] can move this project along the purpose

[29:36] of the condition report was to create

[29:38] planning documents because this is an

[29:41] extraordinary detailed

[29:43] project and so I want to make sure that is on clearly on the agenda of the

[29:48] people that are that are working on this

[29:51] at the city level it's a

[29:53] $34,000 grant proposal that was received

[29:56] by preservation AR from preservation

[29:58] architects who did the original re reuse

[30:02] feasibility study of that of that

[30:04] property and we just feel it's like it

[30:06] they're very familiar with the property

[30:08] and it would be a good use of 34,000 out

[30:11] of the

[30:12] 750 to to move that project along I need

[30:15] you to summarize please the the our

[30:17] original proposal and award from the

[30:19] city was to seek funding to repurpose

[30:22] this historic Pump Station into a

[30:23] community interpretation Center event

[30:26] space similar to what's in some of our

[30:29] other Parks I'm sorry I really hate to

[30:31] interrupt you again but your time is

[30:32] I've let you go over your time so

[30:34] where's the lights for all this oh we

[30:35] don't they I don't know what that

[30:36] happened to the lights anymore I

[30:38] apologize thank

[30:42] you I have no one else signed up to

[30:44] speak for public on the public comment

[30:46] on the legislative agenda so I declare

[30:48] that public comment

[30:51] closed I at this time I ask for approval

[30:53] of the legislative consent

[30:55] agenda motion by Miss Patrick second by

[30:58] Mr

[31:01] Farley all in favor I okay we have eight

[31:05] items for roll

[31:11] call First is item number

[31:15] seven if the clerk would please

[31:23] read item number seven for original

[31:25] consideration a resolution amending

[31:27] resolution 2023 029 to modify the time

[31:31] period for Miracle on Craig Street to

[31:32] secure required Financial

[31:45] commitments is there any

[31:49] discussion

[31:51] call all right move I need a motion to

[31:55] move that Mr Po second by Mr turo all in

[32:01] favor okay so this point in time we'll

[32:04] have the roll call Mr Toro no Mr Farley

[32:11] yes Miss Patrick

[32:14] yes Mr palamini no Miss Porterfield yes

[32:19] so the motion

[32:24] fails okay item number eight for original

[32:30] consideration a resolution amending

[32:32] resolution 2022 224 to modify the time

[32:35] period for young women's Christian

[32:37] Association of SKC DBA YWCA North

[32:41] Eastern New York to secure required

[32:43] Financial

[32:44] commitments I need a motion to move that

[32:47] Mr palamini to the agenda second by Mr

[32:50] Turell all in favor

[32:53] I roll call yes we need a roll call

[32:58] discussion oh is there any discussion

[33:00] for the roll call all right okay Mr Toro

[33:05] no Mr Farley yes Miss Patrick yes Mr

[33:11] palamini no Miss pteri yes so we need

[33:15] just for for the audience we need at

[33:17] least four votes to pass it so that

[33:19] motion that motion also

[33:24] fails item number nine need a motion to

[33:27] move this Mr

[33:30] palamini second by Mr tur all in favor

[33:34] I any

[33:36] discussion the clerk would please read

[33:38] the call the

[33:41] role Mr turo

[33:44] no Mr Farley yes Miss Patrick yes Mr

[33:50] palamini no Miss Porterfield yes motion

[33:54] the item fails item number

[33:59] 10 need a motion to M Mr pal movees it I

[34:03] need a second second by Mr Turell all in

[34:06] favor

[34:07] I is there any discussion on this

[34:11] item the clerk would please call the

[34:13] rooll Mr Toro no Mr Farley yes Miss

[34:19] Patrick yes Mr

[34:22] palamini I want to explain the votes on

[34:25] these last several resolutions including

[34:28] this one so I'll speak to this one in

[34:32] particular we had an arpa process put in

[34:35] place uh last year uh and quite frankly

[34:41] it was never followed we had a review

[34:44] process asked people to go through the

[34:46] process of taking their their time and

[34:49] reviewing

[34:50] applications in which we were supposedly

[34:54] going to look over those and talk over

[34:56] them that never happened uh we came

[34:59] together and all of a sudden money was

[35:01] being doled out at that time or shortly

[35:04] later I should say a series of

[35:08] contingencies were put in place to

[35:10] actually designate the money to various

[35:13] organizations such as um the connect the

[35:17] action Community Action

[35:20] Program the contingencies were put in

[35:23] place for basically a year to allow the

[35:27] organizations to meet the requirements

[35:30] to get the

[35:33] money some of these organizations came

[35:35] back asking for more time uh others

[35:38] didn't may not even know that they could

[35:41] do that um there's other applications

[35:45] where the original application has been

[35:48] changed completely from what has been

[35:52] now given money

[35:53] for or allowed money for that that's not

[35:57] fair to organizations who've put in

[36:00] applications whose uh funding might not

[36:04] have happened if you change your

[36:06] application from the initial to the end

[36:09] you should be put back into the pile and

[36:11] looked at with the entire group none of

[36:14] that happened everything here has been

[36:18] arbitrary four months here 6 months

[36:20] there it it it's completely pulled out

[36:24] of the air and yes the organizations

[36:27] asked for some of those but again the

[36:31] fairness and and the process here

[36:33] following our procedures just didn't

[36:37] happen and to those organizations that

[36:40] didn't get funded you should look into

[36:42] this

[36:44] seriously I mean you you've been not

[36:47] awarded money other organizations were

[36:50] awarded money for a a a proposal that

[36:53] was put in that was completely changed

[36:55] and still allowed the

[36:57] money this entire arpa procedure has

[37:01] been screwed up from the the start and

[37:05] it's really Troublesome I understand

[37:08] these resolutions will pass likely in

[37:11] two weeks when other members of the

[37:14] council

[37:15] attend but the reality is there's a process that we need to to

[37:21] hold to and we just didn't do that we

[37:23] didn't even come close it was just

[37:26] willy-nilly

[37:27] here's I like this

[37:29] group I'm going to give money to that

[37:31] group and so forth and just completely

[37:35] arbitrary So my answer is

[37:38] no Miss Porterfield thank you I just

[37:42] like to lend some clarification to the

[37:44] statement that was just made first of

[37:46] all there was a process and let's also

[37:48] keep in mind that during this all of

[37:51] this um there things change people's

[37:54] timeline change things in increased so

[37:57] for people to come for to ask for an

[37:59] extension just makes sense for us to

[38:01] consider that and that have this hard

[38:03] and fast role the two hard and fast

[38:06] dates that we have are from the um from

[38:09] the federal government which say by the

[38:12] end of sept by the end of 2024 we must

[38:15] have allocated all of the money and by

[38:17] the end of 2026 all of that money must

[38:21] be spent one of the things we did with

[38:24] this arpa was to try to make sure that

[38:26] organization who don't normally get an

[38:28] opportunity to be funded or have that

[38:31] opportunity to be funded and we are

[38:33] working with those those organizations a

[38:35] large amount of the money as you all

[38:37] know has gone to the city and the city

[38:39] has the capacity to do those things and

[38:42] every council member who sits here today

[38:44] had an opportunity to participate in the

[38:48] process and if they felt that the

[38:50] process wasn't all they wanted it to be

[38:53] had an opportunity to uh instead of

[38:55] offer criticism to offer some solutions

[38:58] to the things they thought were not

[39:00] working well so our staff has been

[39:02] working with the um and we have our

[39:05] staff has a lot to do and this is

[39:07] additional on top of what they already

[39:09] do so our staff has been working

[39:11] diligently with these organizations and

[39:14] let me also State these are

[39:15] organizations that have been serving our

[39:17] community for a very long time and doing

[39:20] a very lot a lot of good work in the

[39:22] community and serving people who really

[39:24] need the help one thing I've said from

[39:27] the beginning of these coid funds is it

[39:29] h Co impacted every single person in

[39:33] this world not just in this country so

[39:35] when this money came

[39:37] in we had discussions about how that

[39:39] money should be spent and I was very I

[39:41] feel felt strongly then I feel strongly

[39:44] now that not all of it necessarily had

[39:46] to be spent on City projects but those

[39:48] organizations who lost funding uh lost

[39:51] staff and all all those things during

[39:53] coid would have the opportunity to do

[39:55] move forward the projects that they

[39:57] needed to move forward so that is what

[39:59] we did I still feel that we did that

[40:02] properly and um I will vote Yes on

[40:09] this the motion fails we don't have

[40:11] enough votes thank

[40:14] you item number

[40:16] 13 I need a motion to move it Mr

[40:21] palamini second by Miss Patrick all in

[40:24] favor by okay um any discussion on

[40:30] this

[40:33] discussion all right then we'll have the

[40:36] vote Mr Toro

[40:39] no Mr Farley yes Miss Patrick yes Mr

[40:44] palamini no Miss Porterfield yes motion

[40:52] fails item

[40:55] number

[40:57] that was number seven right 14 item

[41:01] number 14 that's

[41:04] right I need a motion moveed by Mr

[41:09] palamini second by Mr Toro all in

[41:12] favor any discussion on this

[41:16] item the clerk would please call the

[41:19] role Mr Toro no Mr Farley yes Miss

[41:24] Patrick yes Mr par

[41:26] no Miss Porterfield

[41:29] yes the resolution

[41:31] fails item number 15 any a motion to

[41:34] move this to the agenda move by Miss

[41:36] Patrick second by Mr palamini all in

[41:39] favor

[41:41] I any discussion on this

[41:44] item the clerk could please read the

[41:46] role call the role Mr Toro no Mr Farley

[41:52] yes Miss Patrick yes Mr palamini no Miss

[41:57] Porterfield

[41:59] yes and item number

[42:03] 16 motion by Miss Patrick second by Mr

[42:05] palamini all in

[42:07] favor is there any discussion on this

[42:11] item the clerk please call the role Mr

[42:14] Toro no Mr Farley yes Mr Patrick or M

[42:20] Patrick

[42:21] yes Mr

[42:25] palamini so just so the the audience and

[42:29] people watching at home understand

[42:31] usually housing sales go relatively

[42:34] smoothly no issues at all these four are

[42:38] quite different these houses were

[42:41] foreclosed on by the

[42:43] city um and to me this sets a very bad

[42:49] precedent now just because we've done

[42:51] something in the past doesn't mean we

[42:52] need to continue doing that but in this

[42:55] particular case

[42:56] we're creating an incentive not to pay

[42:59] your taxes what we have here is four

[43:02] houses that were foreclosed and and I'll

[43:05] speak to this one on Wendel Avenue for

[43:09] example and it went through the

[43:10] foreclosure process it has started the

[43:14] city has the

[43:16] property so now the council has decided

[43:20] that they want to allow the homeowners

[43:25] or some family member the ability to

[43:29] purchase the home back by paying the

[43:32] back taxes any fees and $1,000 on top of

[43:37] that now some might say well hey this makes the city whole well does it

[43:43] the fact is in order to get a

[43:45] foreclosure it takes generally speaking

[43:48] 3 years some of these houses were much

[43:51] longer uh certainly because of coid that

[43:55] not the um the problem with the

[43:58] homeowners in this particular case but

[44:02] during that time we've always been told

[44:05] that if you pay your taxes if everybody

[44:07] paid their taxes and did it on time we'd

[44:10] have a 10% tax cut so what we have now

[44:14] is people who haven't paid their taxes

[44:17] now having their house financed or their

[44:20] lifestyle financed by the city and that

[44:23] city is paid by the rest of the

[44:26] taxpayers so as taxpayers we are now

[44:30] financing the lifestyle the housing of

[44:34] these individuals who've had their house

[44:36] foreclosed

[44:38] on because for several years they didn't

[44:41] pay their taxes so instead of having

[44:44] extra money the city had to either

[44:46] borrow which in case the city has to uh

[44:50] pay interest on that and the rest of the

[44:53] taxpayers instead of getting addition

[44:56] services or a tax cut now didn't get any

[45:00] of that because we have a a number of

[45:04] individuals not paying their

[45:07] taxes so what we have is the rest of the

[45:11] city

[45:12] financing individuals the city as acting

[45:16] as a bank in

[45:18] essence that's just not right but it

[45:22] gets

[45:24] better at least one of the individuals

[45:26] if not more wants to sell their house so

[45:30] now we've acted as essentially a pseudo

[45:33] morgage company where we've

[45:37] paid interest we've not allowed they

[45:40] didn't pay their taxes so we've taken

[45:43] that and they've lived there for free

[45:47] and now we'll profit on the

[45:50] sale where's the fairness in that to the

[45:52] rest of the city

[45:54] taxpayers

[45:58] and the other issue is we haven't

[46:02] created any sort of policy we are doing

[46:05] this without any policy put into place

[46:09] so therefore anybody who wants to write

[46:11] a letter in and says hey my property

[46:15] taxes I'm at

[46:16] foreclosure I had circumstances you

[46:19] should uh look at these and allow me to

[46:23] purchase my house back

[46:27] well we have no grounds now to turn

[46:31] those individuals

[46:32] down because we didn't create a policy

[46:35] first so if the casino decides not to

[46:38] pay their property taxes or some other

[46:41] business owner and a bunch of property

[46:43] owners what does that put the financial

[46:46] situation of the city in it puts us in

[46:49] complete chaos and on the verge of

[46:53] bankruptcy the argument will be well we

[46:56] don't want to create

[46:57] homelessness that argument holds no

[47:00] water if these individuals are coming up

[47:03] with the money whether it's themselves

[47:06] or from somebody else to pay off the

[47:10] mortgage um the uh foreclosure

[47:14] costs then they had money presumably to

[47:18] live

[47:19] elsewhere several of these individuals

[47:22] also had

[47:23] opportunities to get help and they

[47:29] refused so this is just a bad precedent

[47:33] it sets a bad example and it really

[47:36] creates a situation where we're now

[47:39] acting as a

[47:40] bank and that's just not fair to the

[47:43] rest of the city and I vote

[47:45] no thank you Miss Porterfield thank you

[47:48] just want to add some clarity to the

[47:50] statements first of all I just want to

[47:52] say there were extenuating circumstances

[47:54] where the individual idual who were

[47:56] forclosed on are not the ones that the

[47:59] property is being sold back to so I just

[48:01] want to make that 100% clear and most of

[48:04] them were elderly people and their

[48:07] families found out the situation they

[48:09] had gotten themselves into and I will

[48:11] say I don't want to create a homeless

[48:13] situation for anyone but especially for

[48:16] elderly people so I don't think it's

[48:19] beyond reason that a city council would

[48:22] get them all of the taxes back so it's

[48:25] not as Mr palamini has stated that we're

[48:27] not getting the taxes and they have a

[48:29] free ride they are paying every dollar

[48:32] that they owe and we've also as added

[48:34] additional money that they have to pay

[48:36] in addition to court costs so this is

[48:38] not a free ride and we are not asking

[48:41] tax payers to pick up the dime for for

[48:44] individuals yes we did consider these

[48:46] PKS they came to us and as I told you

[48:48] they had extenuating circumstances there

[48:49] were older people they didn't do what

[48:52] they should have done their family found

[48:53] out didn't want to see their family in

[48:55] the street and we did take that in

[48:57] consideration didn't give them any kind

[48:59] of deal or anything like that to but you

[49:02] have to pay every single penny so um we

[49:05] have done this in the past and Mr

[49:07] palamini knows and he probably voted for

[49:09] it yes at the time because there was an

[49:11] extenda circumstance so um you know Mr

[49:15] palamini talks about you know we the

[49:17] taxpayer when frankly Mr ta Mr palamini

[49:20] is now paying his taxes in roddam so you

[49:23] know that's all of us that are here that

[49:27] are taxpayers as well are to consider

[49:29] this so I just want the public to know

[49:32] that is although it sounds like we're

[49:34] asking you to pay something for someone

[49:35] else we are not they are asked to pay

[49:37] that and another thing is they will

[49:39] never be able to be in this situation

[49:41] again it is not something that can

[49:42] happen over and over and over again so

[49:45] we in we I beg your

[49:48] pardon okay I'll something no no when it's your time you certainly can so

[49:55] that the city council did decide to do

[49:57] that to take into consideration the

[49:59] extenuating circumstances for these

[50:02] families and to all allow them to retain

[50:05] their um property by paying back all of

[50:08] the taxes not some not a portion and in

[50:12] addition to that they have to pay every

[50:13] closing cost that goes along with it and

[50:15] there's an additional that the city

[50:16] council put with it so I think that in

[50:19] trying to keep people in their homes

[50:21] it's some it's a good thing that we're

[50:22] doing we talk about the shorting hous uh

[50:25] excuse me the housing shortage that we

[50:27] have and all of those things so all of

[50:29] that take in consideration that we've

[50:30] gone through coid people have gone

[50:32] through all of this yes we did allow

[50:34] these people to return have these homes

[50:36] returned to individuals but not the ones

[50:38] that they were foreclosed on so just

[50:40] want to make that 100% clear with that I

[50:43] vote

[50:44] Yes the measure fails we do not have

[50:46] enough votes to pass it thank

[50:54] you this time it's privilege of the

[50:57] flooor regarding General City business I

[50:59] have five people who have signed up to

[51:02] speak uh Mark and Marge laqua I always

[51:06] I'm not sure if I say that

[51:12] properly good evening um honorable mayor

[51:15] and honorable city council uh I'd assume

[51:19] that we come up here to to give thanks

[51:21] to everybody um I'm one of the people

[51:23] the last one that Mr pal just spoke on

[51:25] number 16 um and you know when someone's

[51:29] on disability when someone's not able to

[51:32] pay their things they going through a

[51:33] pandemic and they're living paycheck to

[51:36] paycheck even less than that to the

[51:37] point she can't pay for her own diabetic

[51:40] medication you have to consider people

[51:42] Mr pal Mar and rest of the city council

[51:45] consider people you may not have that ex

[51:47] that extenda circumstance you never been

[51:49] there never felt it but consider people

[51:52] have a heart there's an underbelly in

[51:55] this world world but people are trying

[51:56] to do the right thing we were scrambling we got the money to pay

[52:01] everything back plus whatever they added

[52:04] on so I was I thought it was going to be

[52:05] a

[52:06] congratulatory and thank you to the news

[52:08] connecti but Mr pal Mar I I really am

[52:12] disheartened to hear what you had to say

[52:14] you don't consider people and I hope you

[52:16] do from this point I pray to God for you

[52:18] and everyone us I pray to God for you to

[52:20] that you open your hearts up we are as

[52:22] connected Deans we've been here for 12

[52:23] years and for one one small time when

[52:27] people could not afford to pay their

[52:28] taxes so that they could survive and you

[52:31] want to throw them out their houses on

[52:33] the on outside it's not right I ask you

[52:36] open your hearts up open your eyes up

[52:38] and see what's going on in Connected you

[52:40] want to change you put Billboards for

[52:41] news connecti let it be that there can

[52:45] be policy there can be precedent but let

[52:47] it start now and as our dear president

[52:51] said these are other people who are

[52:53] stepping in to help the family it's not

[52:55] that they're abandoning them we're not

[52:57] saying forget you I don't I'm not

[52:59] putting a dime out for you the taxpayers

[53:02] are not seeing anything and truly

[53:04] speaking if you took a a a whole

[53:06] countywide vote they would vote in favor

[53:09] because they don't want to see people on

[53:10] the streets the homelessness I just came

[53:13] from Texas the other day for a funeral

[53:14] homelessness all over the country is

[53:17] egregious but for a place like Upstate

[53:19] New York the place that hous the people

[53:22] that takes care of people you need to

[53:23] show that you're here to help the

[53:27] people I have nothing you know else to

[53:30] say I thank you I love you all with my

[53:32] heart and God bless you all thank you

[53:34] thank

[53:35] you Ed Le

[53:41] Jr good evening Mr Mayor chairwoman

[53:44] Quarterfield council members I'm here

[53:47] for another council meeting knowing full

[53:49] well none of you will do anything for me

[53:51] the criminals are not in the streets

[53:53] they're in the office and for the work

[53:54] for the city of skincity because it is

[53:57] far more important to cover up for the

[53:59] crimes of these three judges that

[54:01] corruptly deprive me of my

[54:02] constitutional rights and committed

[54:04] obstruction of justice in the process

[54:07] the same crime the mayor is guilty of by

[54:09] not meeting with me and acting on the

[54:11] crimes and proven in these meetings it

[54:13] makes all of you and the mayor complicit

[54:15] after the fact especially when the mayor

[54:17] keeps my ethic complaints out of the

[54:20] Gazette the mayor is responsible for the

[54:23] enforcement of laws in the city of his

[54:25] concy and to ensure Justice is provided

[54:28] kind of hard to do his job when he is

[54:30] covering up for the

[54:32] criminals same thing you council members

[54:34] are doing you all swear an oath to the

[54:36] Constitution when all of you do nothing

[54:38] it becomes a conspiracy to deprive me of

[54:40] my constitutional rights and the mayor

[54:43] is keeping me out of the Gazette no

[54:45] matter there are other ways to expose

[54:47] you I knew before I came to the first

[54:49] meeting all of you would do nothing for

[54:51] me what have any of you done for the

[54:53] 1100 St Clair pensioners who have worked

[54:56] 10 to 50 years at St clar's why would

[54:59] the mayor do anything for me he has done

[55:01] nothing for the 1100 innocent workers

[55:04] victimized in concy by the Catholic

[55:06] church has the Mayor found some money

[55:08] from the budget has the mayor City

[55:11] Council Members held a fundraiser

[55:13] started to gofund me

[55:15] anything what did you do have I sh say a

[55:17] prayer for

[55:19] him the mayor and City Council Members

[55:21] want to distance themselves from the

[55:23] criminals and will do nothing for the

[55:25] innocent victims maybe because someone

[55:27] will find out the mayor and council

[55:29] members are not here to help they are

[55:32] only here to cover up and keep it out of

[55:34] the news you are all part of the problem

[55:37] not the

[55:38] solution thank you thank

[55:42] you Tom

[55:45] capano hope I didn't really mess it up

[55:47] too

[55:50] bad Mr mayor council members I'm here

[55:53] tonight Tom capuano to express my

[55:56] concern about the leaking sanitary sewer

[55:59] pipes that have been contaminating the

[56:01] Hans Groot kill the levels of bacteria

[56:05] are dangerous for everyone living in the

[56:07] area along that Creek and even more

[56:11] dangerous for those taking drinking

[56:13] water from sources

[56:15] Downstream I attend Sunday services at a

[56:19] church right next to this Creek and our

[56:22] ministers shared with us a letter from

[56:25] the city of

[56:26] skincity written several months ago that

[56:29] reads in part like this quote sample

[56:33] collecting and testing for the Hans gr

[56:35] kill will continue through July the

[56:39] samples will be collected from a

[56:41] selection of storm structures in the

[56:43] watershed

[56:44] area it goes on to say that MJ

[56:47] engineering and the city with closed

[56:50] circuit TV and dieet testing will come

[56:52] up with some answers about about where

[56:55] the pollution is coming from most

[56:58] significantly the letter closes like

[57:00] this I quote a report summarizing the

[57:04] results will be prepared and provided to

[57:07] the city in late August 2023 end quote

[57:13] I've looked on the website it could be I

[57:15] just didn't find the results but if they

[57:18] have come in uh I would like to know how

[57:21] to how to access them and uh uh I urge

[57:26] the city to make those results public

[57:30] and that way discussions can begin

[57:34] immediately on how to address the

[57:38] contamination thank you thank

[57:45] you Tom

[57:53] Kennedy

[58:05] good evening

[58:07] everyone uh I wish I can better terms

[58:10] but I

[58:11] can't uh first like to start off with

[58:13] the tax thing you overheard me say why

[58:16] not when you said well they can't do it

[58:18] again unless I know unless there's a

[58:21] policy that's been established then why

[58:24] can't they do again but I would like to

[58:26] thank uh councilman P manyi for at least

[58:29] looking out for the taxpayers in the

[58:31] city uh there's a lot of people out

[58:33] there who can't pay their taxes they

[58:35] scrim there's a lot of older elderly

[58:37] people that go out eating so they make

[58:40] sure that they pay their tax for I know

[58:41] a lot of them so there's a lot of people

[58:44] out there that are

[58:45] hurting let's let's face it Biden's uh

[58:47] Biden's America is not putting food on a

[58:50] table for many people so I don't want to

[58:52] hear about you know I I understand we

[58:54] everybody has to have a heart and you

[58:56] want to have uh you want you want to do

[58:57] this establish a policy cuz then

[59:00] everybody can be not just the your

[59:02] friends and your donors and your buddies

[59:05] everybody in the city is connected so

[59:09] that's what I got to say about that and

[59:10] we'll deal with we'll deal with the

[59:11] media and the rest of it um I by the way

[59:15] I'm the chairman of the Republican party

[59:18] as far as the uh arpa money I want to be

[59:21] very clear uh I heard the the uh

[59:26] Council president's uh I don't I don't

[59:30] know how to describe it but uh her U

[59:36] remarks her take there thank you I

[59:39] appreciate it I'm kind of a little

[59:41] remarks I'll give that to you um what

[59:45] we're going to do as a party is we're

[59:47] going to ask for United States Treasury

[59:49] Department to look into your process I

[59:52] think again there's a lot of people have

[59:54] a lot of problems with the way you

[59:56] didn't follow the rating of the things

[59:59] you pick Cherry Picked again your

[1:00:01] friends donors buddies people who work

[1:00:04] on your campaigns etc etc so we're be

[1:00:08] asking for them to take a look at it and

[1:00:11] uh we can you can uh give them your

[1:00:13] remarks I'm sure they will Enlighten uh

[1:00:16] the fellows in DC secondly uh another

[1:00:20] issue it seems like we got a lot of

[1:00:23] them I think we can all agree that the

[1:00:28] emergency uh Communications in the city

[1:00:31] is essential for the safety of our

[1:00:33] people I think when you look at the U

[1:00:37] our heroes are out there every day

[1:00:39] firemen or First Responders our officer

[1:00:42] our police officers uh that is their

[1:00:44] Lifeline many times in a terrible

[1:00:47] situation it's also Lifeline of our city

[1:00:50] residents that are in trouble so when we

[1:00:53] get reports that

[1:00:55] councilman Farley hared and

[1:00:58] harassed a city employee responsible for

[1:01:02] the communications because some car that

[1:01:05] either he owns or doesn't own or knows

[1:01:07] or whatever car was towed let me see if

[1:01:11] I can get this

[1:01:12] right words to the effect do you know

[1:01:15] who I am Iden then identifies himself as

[1:01:20] councilman Dean fary now I don't know if

[1:01:22] these things are true I I can just say

[1:01:25] the reports that we got from people

[1:01:28] who've been affected by this now what I

[1:01:32] would ask for is simply the city du a

[1:01:39] investigation you

[1:01:41] have you know Gary who I think about

[1:01:44] today Charlie Mills I used to see him

[1:01:47] for lunch every once in a while great

[1:01:50] guy tell you like it is so I think of

[1:01:53] him today

[1:01:57] uh I called my congressman three times

[1:02:01] the Washington office when I was over

[1:02:03] there in Albany

[1:02:05] picketing never heard from

[1:02:07] Paul I didn't really expect to he's not

[1:02:11] really good at getting back to Veterans

[1:02:13] World War II veteran disabled combat

[1:02:16] veteran myself went to try to see him

[1:02:19] never could accomplish it so I hope that

[1:02:23] well he's another

[1:02:24] darling of of the political

[1:02:28] system so the only way he'll leave is if

[1:02:31] he

[1:02:32] expires or he decides not to

[1:02:39] run I want to read I got a fan club

[1:02:42] going well it's the same person two

[1:02:44] letters I want to read the

[1:02:46] letter I got it Saturday morning I tell

[1:02:48] you I get a good chuckle out of it keep

[1:02:50] those letters coming if you're watching

[1:02:52] Mr busy person shows up at committee

[1:02:55] meeting council

[1:02:58] meeting knows knows nothing

[1:03:04] issues knows nothing issues are dumb

[1:03:08] Dum well I'm not so dumb that I don't

[1:03:10] know that dumb ends with a be stay home

[1:03:14] nobody cares what you say senior said I

[1:03:18] got to laugh at this the senior centers

[1:03:20] are centers are

[1:03:22] open I probably will run into them there

[1:03:25] if I was to go and who knows you know

[1:03:27] you never know what's in your future so

[1:03:30] come on down introduce yourself now

[1:03:32] where is 12309 that that's that's a

[1:03:35] better neighborhood isn't it you and who

[1:03:36] somebody here in 12309 that's where it

[1:03:39] comes from I'm thinking they're over

[1:03:41] there in nkuna or some place but I'm

[1:03:43] glad they're watching me and they know

[1:03:45] where I go when it comes to the meetings

[1:03:47] and I'll continue to do it because it's

[1:03:49] my civic duty and there's a lot that

[1:03:52] could be corrected the only thing thing

[1:03:54] is they need to line up here can't do it

[1:03:57] by myself an army of one it's hard to

[1:04:00] pull off thank you

[1:04:04] Mariam thank you Mr

[1:04:08] Harper I have no one else signed up to

[1:04:10] speak for public comment on City

[1:04:12] business so I declare this

[1:04:15] closed this time any miscellaneous

[1:04:17] business of the

[1:04:22] council I'm Miss Patrick

[1:04:28] well I just wanted to say I'm

[1:04:29] disappointed that those measures failed

[1:04:31] this evening I think that we had uh

[1:04:34] quite a lengthy discussion at our

[1:04:36] committee meetings last week uh where we

[1:04:39] went through all of this and certainly

[1:04:41] we all uh can disagree on issues but I

[1:04:43] also think that as public servants it's

[1:04:45] important for us to understand that

[1:04:47] sometimes you can make arbitrary

[1:04:48] decisions I think also we discussed

[1:04:51] setting policy around the um notion of

[1:04:54] foreclosure um and I'm sure that that

[1:04:56] discussion will happen uh in a future

[1:04:58] committee meeting I'd like to see that

[1:04:59] happen um but I think that we all

[1:05:02] discussed the fact that um they were

[1:05:05] extenda uh circumstances with those

[1:05:08] foreclosures I think we all understood

[1:05:11] and as uh the gentleman here said I

[1:05:13] think we all were trying to have a heart

[1:05:16] and understand that um you know like it

[1:05:19] is it's not black and white everything

[1:05:21] that happens um we talked about the fact

[1:05:23] that we might have been setting

[1:05:24] president but we also um did say that we

[1:05:27] needed to make sure that we were um you

[1:05:30] know thinking with our hearts thinking

[1:05:32] with our heads but also understanding

[1:05:34] that we were going to need to have some

[1:05:36] guidelines going forward but also have

[1:05:38] some flexibility as city council people

[1:05:40] and as public servants um I'm very

[1:05:44] disappointed about some of the arpa

[1:05:45] decisions that that failed this evening

[1:05:47] especially in light of the fact that one

[1:05:49] of them in particular is preventing

[1:05:50] homelessness another one is preventing

[1:05:52] food insecurity and another one is um

[1:05:55] working with people who are victims of

[1:05:57] domestic violence so I have to also say

[1:06:00] I didn't think the process was a good

[1:06:01] one necessarily uh that we followed

[1:06:04] right from the start of the Opera funds

[1:06:06] but I do think that last week we put a

[1:06:08] lot of consideration into these uh

[1:06:10] decisions and again um I can think in

[1:06:13] one of those instances where the

[1:06:15] organization itself had actually had to

[1:06:17] wait so long for us to make a decision

[1:06:20] that they had actually taken care of um

[1:06:22] what they needed which was in fact coid

[1:06:25] supplies um so in changing their

[1:06:27] proposal to something that all of us

[1:06:29] actually voted on for a few weeks ago uh

[1:06:32] to give them money for that very same

[1:06:35] project um you know which is going to

[1:06:37] prevent homelessness um it's just

[1:06:40] disappointing so I just wanted to say

[1:06:42] that uh thank you anybody

[1:06:45] else Mr

[1:06:48] palamini so in regards to the

[1:06:51] Foreclosure certainly nobody wants to

[1:06:54] have anyone kicked out of their house

[1:06:57] that's absolutely The Last Resort and is

[1:07:01] a horrible

[1:07:02] situation but the fact

[1:07:05] is we didn't create a

[1:07:07] policy it is

[1:07:10] arbitrary and without the policy anyone

[1:07:13] can now come

[1:07:16] forward what do you tell the elderly

[1:07:20] lady in Hamilton Hill that says to me

[1:07:24] John I have to pay my taxes you know I'm

[1:07:26] struggling food costs are up but I'm

[1:07:30] doing

[1:07:30] it the Widow the widower in the north

[1:07:35] side who John come look at my

[1:07:39] property look I'm keeping it up nice I

[1:07:42] want the neighborhood to be

[1:07:45] proud but I'm struggling

[1:07:49] too or the Widow in Belle viw

[1:07:55] who to even though it's been years since

[1:07:58] her husband

[1:08:00] died

[1:08:02] is at the mere mention of him

[1:08:06] cries and is struggling

[1:08:09] to pay the

[1:08:12] bills but is making sure she pays the

[1:08:16] mortgage we have to consider those

[1:08:18] individuals as

[1:08:20] well that's having a heart too

[1:08:25] and without the policy in place prior to

[1:08:28] doing these

[1:08:30] things we've now created a bad

[1:08:35] situation

[1:08:37] period now you want to mention paying

[1:08:40] taxes in reram I also pay taxes on my

[1:08:44] address in

[1:08:45] skety unlike you who accepted benefits

[1:08:49] you shouldn't have received so if we

[1:08:52] want to go down that road we can

[1:08:54] mhm but the reality

[1:08:57] is people are struggling they're doing

[1:09:00] the right

[1:09:01] thing and we should have created a

[1:09:03] policy

[1:09:04] first that would have prevented anything

[1:09:08] going forward in terms of unequal

[1:09:11] treatment or unethical

[1:09:14] Behavior probably not the right word but

[1:09:17] I'll stick with

[1:09:19] it so here we have a situation where yes

[1:09:24] we have a heart for people but we also

[1:09:26] have a heart for those individuals that

[1:09:28] I spoke about who are paying their taxes

[1:09:32] and are

[1:09:34] struggling

[1:09:36] this the arpa situation you want to say

[1:09:39] oh well you could have put things

[1:09:42] forward we did you just ignored them

[1:09:44] just like the application the of the

[1:09:46] review process we told you some things

[1:09:49] you chose to go forward with

[1:09:51] anyway that's fine

[1:09:55] but if you want to correct things at

[1:09:56] least get it

[1:10:01] right Mr

[1:10:08] Farley not even sure where to start here

[1:10:11] okay so I guess we'll start talking

[1:10:13] about the arpa funds um you know the ARA

[1:10:18] funds that the city has received was a

[1:10:20] response to a once in a generational

[1:10:23] crisis that did impact the entire world

[1:10:26] that's why that money showed up um when

[1:10:30] you have that type of uh money show up

[1:10:33] to the city it's really important that

[1:10:34] we

[1:10:35] recognize the money doesn't belong to

[1:10:38] City

[1:10:39] Hall the money belongs to the people and

[1:10:43] the effort that you

[1:10:45] saw the unprecedented effort that you

[1:10:47] saw to engage the community in a way

[1:10:50] that hasn't happened before was a way to

[1:10:52] respond to be be responsive to the needs

[1:10:55] of the community and include their voice

[1:10:57] in the

[1:10:58] process and if it didn't go

[1:11:01] perfect guess what that's what happens

[1:11:05] when you try to be Innovative and you

[1:11:07] don't allow tradition to stifle

[1:11:10] Innovation when you're welcoming people

[1:11:12] into a

[1:11:15] process I find it

[1:11:17] troubling to hear Mr Palin's point of

[1:11:20] view on

[1:11:22] extensions for

[1:11:25] nonprofits who apply for this funding

[1:11:28] knowing that he was a part of the same very governing body that voted

[1:11:32] unanimously to double the price of the

[1:11:35] Central Park Pool to almost to the $210

[1:11:39] million and we did that in good faith

[1:11:41] understanding that during the process

[1:11:44] price of materials have gone up as well

[1:11:46] as availability for those materials so

[1:11:49] it's important that when you give these

[1:11:51] type of statements that you provide

[1:11:53] their appropriate context so if you're

[1:11:55] going to make those type of

[1:11:57] considerations and understanding for the

[1:12:00] city then you are morally I would say

[1:12:05] obligated to make the same type of

[1:12:07] considerations if not more for those

[1:12:10] small nonprofits who are doing the very

[1:12:12] work on the ground in the community

[1:12:15] every

[1:12:16] day I would also

[1:12:19] say to this conversation around

[1:12:22] foreclosures

[1:12:25] what I would say to

[1:12:27] the people that you talked about and the

[1:12:30] lady in Hamilton Hill and the Widow in

[1:12:34] Belleview I would like to

[1:12:37] say you have a body a governing body

[1:12:42] that not only is responsive to your

[1:12:44] needs but takes into

[1:12:46] consideration the fact that there was

[1:12:48] just a

[1:12:50] pandemic and that if you are in a

[1:12:53] position to now pay your taxes in full

[1:12:57] that's the part that we need to talk

[1:12:59] about this is not a hand out this is a

[1:13:01] hand up which makes our city

[1:13:04] whole and keeps people's in their house

[1:13:08] while we heard our entire city talking

[1:13:09] to us about the housing crising that

[1:13:11] crisis that we're facing right

[1:13:13] now so I would like to tell them that we

[1:13:17] listen to you we care and based on the

[1:13:21] information that you've given us we're

[1:13:23] being responsive but unfortunately I

[1:13:25] can't say that to the theoretical person

[1:13:28] that you're making up your head or the

[1:13:30] really real person that is listening

[1:13:33] today I'm not really

[1:13:36] sure how

[1:13:39] we get to a place where someone

[1:13:43] is putting together the resources to

[1:13:47] save their home in the midst of a

[1:13:49] housing crisis and we prioritize our

[1:13:52] commitment to bad

[1:13:55] practices that will only amplify the

[1:13:58] very housing crisis that's on our hand

[1:14:00] when we don't have

[1:14:02] to I invite you to be really clear about

[1:14:06] when you make these statements and sound

[1:14:08] like it's some fiscally irresponsible

[1:14:10] thing when you know it's not the city

[1:14:12] the the first thing here is that the

[1:14:14] city is made whole and people get their

[1:14:16] home that's called a win-win doesn't

[1:14:19] happen often in politics but when it

[1:14:20] does we really should grab a hold of it

[1:14:22] and celebrate the fact that we are being

[1:14:24] Equitable responsive to the needs of the

[1:14:26] people that live in the city the people

[1:14:28] that live in the city because it's their

[1:14:33] money thank

[1:14:35] you

[1:14:37] mayor thank you Madame President it's a

[1:14:44] always interesting to come to us

[1:14:46] connected city council

[1:14:48] meeting uh just on the Central Park pool

[1:14:51] the pool cost really didn't didn't

[1:14:53] double uh it was additions to the pool

[1:14:56] that drove it up so I think the actual

[1:14:59] pool costs were up about 30% but uh

[1:15:02] Community input and uh investment in the

[1:15:05] future brought the price tag up and uh

[1:15:08] it'll be something that I think when we

[1:15:09] look back in 10 years and 20 years that

[1:15:12] people will say we made the right

[1:15:13] decision to make that investment on the

[1:15:17] uh sampling of the creek through the GE

[1:15:20] plot uh we did map out a timeline for

[1:15:23] that to be done by the end of August uh

[1:15:28] High Water Events dilute the

[1:15:30] effectiveness of the

[1:15:31] sampling and so the uh rain uh this

[1:15:35] summer has slowed that process down but

[1:15:39] uh the report is being compiled put

[1:15:41] together uh and again that condition has

[1:15:44] existed for decades uh we're working on

[1:15:48] it to identify where the sources are

[1:15:50] coming into that Creek uh they could be

[1:15:54] in the city uh they could be one of our

[1:15:56] neighboring communities uh but it's a

[1:15:59] slow methodical process to track it back

[1:16:02] and then to be able to put in place uh a

[1:16:05] solution for that uh want to thank

[1:16:09] everyone who came out this weekend we

[1:16:11] did the health fair around City Hall

[1:16:13] Stockade art show the Greek Fest the

[1:16:16] Italian Fest council member Doro thank

[1:16:19] you for that the uh Caribbean fest uh I

[1:16:22] think that was the maybe the largest

[1:16:24] crowd I've seen in Central Park since

[1:16:27] I've been there uh I know Mr Mutan spent

[1:16:30] a lot of time on that apparently had to

[1:16:32] take tonight off to rest up from uh all

[1:16:35] his uh efforts on that but uh again it

[1:16:39] is really a great day for the community

[1:16:41] where we get to see uh the strengths we

[1:16:43] get to see the diversity people come out

[1:16:45] have a good time and generally the

[1:16:48] weather was cooperative uh little bit uh

[1:16:51] warm but not as warm as it has has been

[1:16:54] and so I thank everybody who made that

[1:16:56] possible uh especially the city staff in

[1:16:58] terms of supporting it but again it's a

[1:17:01] uh just a good Collective message for

[1:17:03] the city of SCCY thank you madam

[1:17:05] president thank you mayor and I I want

[1:17:07] to Echo those comments it was a

[1:17:09] wonderful I I made almost all of them uh

[1:17:11] events we had around the city and it was

[1:17:13] just really wonderful to see all the

[1:17:14] diversity that we um have within our

[1:17:17] city and people who came to to be a part

[1:17:19] of that it was just a great great

[1:17:21] weekend um all the different foods and

[1:17:24] you know people just having a really

[1:17:25] good time and I heard no incidents and

[1:17:27] sometimes you know when there's MTH

[1:17:28] crowds you think perhaps but people were

[1:17:30] just enjoying themselves so much it was

[1:17:32] wonderful to see and really wonderful to

[1:17:34] be a part of so I congratulate all the

[1:17:36] groups that put those things together

[1:17:38] because they clearly took a lot of work

[1:17:40] um so thank you for that I just wanted

[1:17:43] to just remind folks that this Council

[1:17:45] uh operates by majority rule so anything

[1:17:48] that passes as though sometimes it's

[1:17:50] presented as though uh Madam president did that it takes a majority

[1:17:54] of people on the council to make move

[1:17:56] these things forward we have discussions

[1:17:57] we move them forward or as you saw

[1:17:59] tonight sometimes things don't move

[1:18:01] forward so this is a a group decision

[1:18:03] that we make um and to Mr Kennedy's

[1:18:06] point if you have a person who has a

[1:18:08] concern please have them uh give their

[1:18:11] concerns directly to City Hall I

[1:18:13] appreciate you bringing that here um but

[1:18:16] we can't operate on hear say so if that

[1:18:18] person would like to make that um

[1:18:20] complaint certainly um ask them to do

[1:18:23] that so we could look into

[1:18:26] it um and also in in terms of uh people

[1:18:30] that um in terms of council members and

[1:18:32] people saying that you know they they

[1:18:34] have different needs we all or most of

[1:18:37] us know about the different programs

[1:18:38] that are out there so when someone comes

[1:18:40] to you I encourage you to say if you're

[1:18:42] in need of food there's this program to

[1:18:44] help or that program to help so that we

[1:18:46] can make sure that we direct them to

[1:18:47] that we know that we have a lot of needs

[1:18:49] in our city which is why we also have

[1:18:51] those programs in our city which is also

[1:18:53] why we fund those programs in our city

[1:18:55] so I encourage people to do that I know

[1:18:57] that people have needs and the reason

[1:18:59] that these particular properties came to

[1:19:01] our attention is because not because

[1:19:03] they're our friends or our donors or all

[1:19:05] the other things that are said but there

[1:19:07] are people that came to us that said

[1:19:08] this is my

[1:19:10] situation um so I just you know want

[1:19:12] people to understand that we are a

[1:19:14] council that

[1:19:15] listens and addresses

[1:19:17] issues and there are people who would

[1:19:20] want you to believe otherwise but one

[1:19:23] thing I can say about us is we come up

[1:19:25] with Solutions and not just problems so

[1:19:28] I thank you again all for coming and

[1:19:30] with that entertain a motion to adjourn

[1:19:32] mve by Miss Patrick second by Mr Farley

[1:19:34] all in favor we are adjourned have a

[1:19:37] good

[1:19:46] night

Schenectady City Council Meeting, September 11, 2023

Transcript