[0:29] okay

[0:31] to convert gas light into electric and

[0:33] whereas his son Donald served as

[0:35] president CEO from 1982 to 1993 he grew

[0:40] a residential business and expanded into

[0:42] Light commercial industry grandson Larry

[0:44] stepped into lead from 1993 to 2008

[0:48] under his leadership the company grew to

[0:50] become the largest electrical

[0:51] contracting firm in the area and where

[0:54] as the business is now located as at 135

[0:57] Area Boulevard and the current president

[0:59] CEO Chris has been driving the business

[1:02] Forest since 2008 and like his

[1:04] predecessors is leaving his mark on some

[1:06] of the Region's most significant

[1:08] buildings and whereas for a 100 years

[1:10] connec hardware and electric has been

[1:12] lighting up the capital region as a

[1:14] premier Union El electrical contractor

[1:17] four generations of spans have proudly

[1:19] been at the home of skincity hardware

[1:21] and electric and each generation has put

[1:23] its Mark in the community the business

[1:25] has evolved immensely over the past 100

[1:27] years and on October 25th they

[1:30] celebrated their 100y year

[1:33] anniversary now therefore it be resolved

[1:35] that SKC city council and Mayor Gary R

[1:38] McCarthy du by hereby paus into

[1:40] deliberations to gradually concy

[1:42] hardware and electric on celebrating 100

[1:45] Years of business in the city's connec

[1:46] and to wish them continued success for

[1:48] many years quite the accomplishment

[1:51] would you so this resolution was

[1:53] previously passed at a earlier council

[1:55] meeting so there's no motion Rec needed

[1:57] would you like to congratul

[2:05] it's been an honor working in the city

[2:07] my whole career and uh being with

[2:09] everybody in this room working together

[2:11] and uh keeping our business our

[2:13] employees our customers happy um it's

[2:16] very appreciative of city council

[2:18] recognize our efforts and uh I love

[2:20] being a part of the community in the

[2:21] City's connecting

[2:23] so thank you another 100

[2:28] years I don't know about that but uh

[2:31] thank you so much for the honor we we so

[2:32] appreciate it it's been a long journey

[2:35] and um here we are 2023 100 years

[2:40] later no I guess what more could be said

[2:44] after another 100 years

[2:51] right take

[2:58] picture thank you

[3:04] again item number eight is the

[3:06] resolution recognizing breast cancer

[3:08] awareness month and I'd like to call on

[3:10] council member Patrick to present this

[3:12] resolution and if I could ask you to to

[3:14] please join us up

[3:16] here Madame President may I have the

[3:18] floor you have the floor thank

[3:21] you

[3:25] hello so breast cancer awareness month

[3:27] was actually in October um but we're

[3:30] going to recognize that uh this evening

[3:33] whereas breast cancer affects one in

[3:35] eight women in the United States every

[3:37] year and 2.3 million women worldwide and

[3:40] whereas about 30% of early stage breast

[3:43] cancers eventually metastasize spread to

[3:46] parts of the body away from the breast

[3:48] and there is a need for more research

[3:50] about Med metatastic

[3:53] disease and whereas according to the

[3:55] Centers for Disease Control and

[3:57] prevention breast cancer is the most

[3:59] common form of cancer diagnosed among

[4:01] women and the second highest cause of

[4:03] cancer death among women and although

[4:06] not as common men can get breast cancer

[4:08] as well and whereas regular breast self

[4:10] exams and annual medical exam and

[4:13] mammograms are important Tools in breast

[4:15] cancer detection especially early

[4:17] detection when cancers may be more

[4:19] treatable and whereas me mamography and

[4:22] x-ray of the human breast is recognized

[4:25] as the single most effective method of

[4:27] detecting breast changes that may be

[4:29] cancerous long before physical symptoms

[4:32] can be seen or felt and whereas in May

[4:35] 2023 the US preventive Services Task

[4:38] Force issued a draft update to its

[4:41] mamogram recommendations proposing that

[4:44] women at average risk of breast cancer

[4:46] start mammograms at age 40 and have a

[4:49] mamogram every other year and whereas if

[4:52] you are higher than average risk for

[4:55] breast cancer have dense breast or have

[4:57] had breast cancer in the past your

[4:59] doctor May recommend that you also get

[5:01] other breast Imaging tests such as

[5:03] breast MRI or ultrasound and whereas in

[5:06] order to facilitate early diagnosis and

[5:09] prompt treatment of breast cancer in

[5:11] women and men public education awareness

[5:14] and understanding of the diseas is

[5:16] necessary now therefore be it resolved

[5:19] that the sked city council and Mayor

[5:21] Gary R McCarthy hereby pause in their

[5:24] deliberations to remind individuals to

[5:26] speak to their health care providers

[5:28] about breast cancer screening and in

[5:31] remembrance of those who have lost their

[5:33] lives to breast cancer and in support of

[5:35] those who are currently fighting this

[5:37] disease and of the more than 3.5 million

[5:39] breast cancer survivors in the United

[5:42] States um we pause to recognize breast

[5:44] cancer awareness month and I want to

[5:47] just mention that our skinc fire

[5:49] department has a uh Cancer Foundation

[5:52] our our two officers here are

[5:53] representing uh that here this evening

[5:56] and I'd love to ask you if you would uh

[5:59] take the microphone U may I uh get a

[6:01] motion to pass this resolution you make

[6:03] the motion I'll make the motion okay and

[6:05] so may I have a second second by Mr

[6:07] Farley all those in favor I motion

[6:10] passes

[6:16] congratulations uh tonight we're here on

[6:19] behalf of disc connect firefighters

[6:20] Cancer Foundation as everyone knows in

[6:23] this room cancer does not discriminate

[6:25] specifically breast cancer um we are

[6:27] very honored and proud to be the

[6:29] recipients of this award so thank you

[6:31] very much thank

[6:33] you to

[6:35] see thank you so

[6:41] much thank you thank you very much thank

[6:44] you

[6:49] again I'd like to ask for approval of

[6:51] the minutes from October 23rd

[6:54] 20123 mve by Mr

[6:58] Williams moved by Mr Williams second by

[7:01] Miss Patrick all those in favor

[7:04] I the clerk could please read any

[7:06] Communications and

[7:09] petitions Communications presented to

[7:12] the city council for Monday November 13

[7:14] 2023 under official from the mayor a

[7:16] list of appointments dated November 13

[7:18] 2023 under General there were none and

[7:21] under petitions there were none thank

[7:23] you I'd like to call on council members

[7:26] to provide any committee

[7:28] reports committee

[7:31] report this time we'll have privilege of

[7:33] the floor related to the legislative

[7:35] agenda and I have one person signed up

[7:38] to speak Robert

[7:47] Sanders good evening mayor council

[7:50] members

[7:51] um I see uh number two original

[7:55] consideration for public hearing on uh

[7:58] the Upper Union Street um I understand

[8:01] this great leaders businesses and you

[8:03] always got to do your thing up there but

[8:07] how however where I live in woodon okay

[8:11] there's Kings Road and I'm sure you've

[8:12] heard a lot about that

[8:15] there's you know where I live in saraphi

[8:18] apartments there's Megan Gardens there's

[8:20] Court Royal there's a lot of traffic

[8:22] going down that road it's just not the

[8:24] traffic but we don't get anything like

[8:28] this one bit at all all now I don't know

[8:30] if the woodon leader has to apply for

[8:33] that but why is your union always

[8:36] getting it you know um that's my main

[8:41] question uh haven't spoken in a while so

[8:45] I'm a little bit

[8:46] nervous but it's important that on

[8:50] King's Road there's been some things and

[8:52] I notic is

[8:53] about you know about Union Street but if

[8:56] there was another ESS for you for the

[9:00] people going down Kings Road there would

[9:01] be no speeding problem I said that to

[9:04] the president at the city council I

[9:06] texted her and I told her that so I

[9:07] wanted to say that and Mr parley lived

[9:10] over in Wood La for some time he knows

[9:12] what I'm saying so it's not wood law

[9:14] it's not you know Union Street it's

[9:17] Belleview it's The Stockade everybody

[9:19] has an issue I just want to say that

[9:22] it's a good idea and next year I think

[9:24] everybody should get on the action thank

[9:26] you thank

[9:28] you

[9:29] I have now no one else signed up to

[9:31] speak so I declare the public comment on

[9:33] the legislative agenda

[9:35] closed I'll ask for approval of the

[9:37] consent leg legislative consent

[9:41] agenda motion by Mr Farley second by Mr mudaron all in favor I thank

[9:50] you uh now we'll have privilege of the

[9:52] floor regarding General City business

[9:53] and I have two people signed up to

[9:57] speak jeie

[10:01] or good evening mayor and council

[10:04] members I'm jeie or I know you've seen

[10:06] me here before I'm the program manager

[10:08] for Capital District tobacco feed

[10:10] communities and for the past few months

[10:12] I know that the city council has been

[10:14] considering how to address the

[10:15] proliferation of smoke and vape shops in

[10:18] the city whether it's through moratorium

[10:19] or through zoning and my colleague and I

[10:22] have been attending these meetings to

[10:23] provide information on how the number

[10:25] and location of tobacco retailers

[10:26] matters to Community Health and in

[10:29] August I spoke about the

[10:30] disproportionate presence of tobacco

[10:32] retailers in low-income neighborhoods

[10:34] with Hamilton Hill having more than five

[10:36] times the tobacco retailers per capita

[10:38] as Nuna in September my colleague

[10:41] presented on the fact that low income

[10:42] communities have a higher proportion of

[10:44] tobacco retailers located near schools

[10:47] increasing youth exposure to Tobacco

[10:49] marketing and promotion and increasing

[10:51] the likelihood of tobacco use among

[10:54] youth in October I spoke about the

[10:56] importance of considering all retailers

[10:58] that sell tobacco on vape shops in the

[11:00] city not just vape and smoke shops that

[11:02] primarily sell these products today I

[11:05] bring you preliminary data gathered in

[11:07] the city of SKC that supports the fact

[11:09] that the location and density of all

[11:12] licensed tobacco retailers including

[11:14] convenience stores gas stations discount

[11:16] and grocery stores influence young

[11:18] people to start and hinder young adults

[11:20] who want to quit from

[11:22] quitting our team just completed visits

[11:25] to 31 licensed tobacco retailers located

[11:28] within5 UND ft of one or more schools

[11:31] and the highest poverty ZIP codes in the

[11:33] city of

[11:34] SKC we observed an alarming number of

[11:36] violations of state law 16 were related

[11:40] to the sale of flavored Vapes containing

[11:42] nicotine which was banned by state law

[11:45] in um last year and then 19 related to

[11:49] the display of exterior tobacco ads

[11:51] which are also banned by state law

[11:53] within 1,000 ft of schools all have been

[11:56] or 1500 ft of schools I'm sorry all have

[11:58] been reported to the connected County

[12:00] Public Health

[12:01] Services we also observed an alarming

[12:03] amount of marketing and promotion that

[12:05] were perfectly legal legal legal but not

[12:08] necessarily good and actually not good

[12:10] for public health and we observe tobacco

[12:13] displays that take up one half or more

[12:15] of the space behind the checkout counter

[12:17] in 75% of the stores we visited and

[12:20] that's important because everybody has

[12:21] to come to the checkout and that's where

[12:24] young people and people who are trying

[12:25] to quit um have to go in order to check

[12:28] out of the store

[12:29] we also observed exterior and interior

[12:31] ads that were disproportionately for

[12:33] flavored cigars and cigaros which are

[12:35] increasingly popular among high school

[12:37] students particularly among

[12:39] African-American male

[12:40] youth we also observed that all the

[12:44] stores almost all the stores sold

[12:45] flavored cigars and cigaros in packages

[12:47] that sell for $150 or less this leaves

[12:51] tobacco products that are all too

[12:53] affordable for young people and they're

[12:56] very sensitive to price and that's very

[12:58] affordable

[13:00] uh we're currently compiling a document

[13:02] that will provide details and photos of

[13:04] what we observed in the field and at a

[13:06] future meeting we plan to take you on a

[13:08] visual tour of that tobacco marketing

[13:09] and promotion and what it actually looks

[13:12] like in the highest poverty

[13:13] neighborhoods in the city of skty and

[13:15] why it has such a profound impact on the

[13:17] people who live there we look forward to

[13:19] sharing our findings in more detail and

[13:21] welcome the opportunity to Dialogue on

[13:23] the various ways in which other

[13:24] communities across the state and the

[13:26] nation have been addressing the health

[13:28] iniquities resulting from the abundance

[13:29] of tobacco marketing and promotion in

[13:31] lower income neighborhoods thank you so

[13:33] much thank

[13:36] you Robert

[13:42] Sanders good evening my name is Robert

[13:45] Sanders I live in the city of

[13:47] SKC

[13:48] um I would just like to follow up on the

[13:51] last speaker because uh myself I smoked

[13:54] four cigarettes my whole lifelong I

[13:56] don't drink anymore I haven't drank 5

[13:58] years years um but cigarettes cigars all

[14:04] these things are probably no good for

[14:05] you I I smoke cigar every now and then

[14:08] but it's constitutional okay no matter

[14:11] what you think no matter how you do it

[14:13] it's constitutional you can do this now

[14:16] I'm not saying that we should put out

[14:18] ads they put out ads for gambling at the

[14:20] casino that's not the most healthiest

[14:22] thing for you but everybody has a

[14:23] freedom of choice I always hear my body

[14:26] my choice okay that's for everybody okay

[14:30] now besides just that I want to go on to

[14:34] another thing

[14:36] um you gave the uh resolution away for

[14:39] breast cancer awareness month um that

[14:42] you said was last uh month it was this

[14:46] month is for epilepsy epsol epilepsy

[14:49] awareness month okay you have the right

[14:51] colors

[14:52] on that's the color you know so um I was

[14:56] trying to find a tie that color I

[14:57] couldn't do it but I want to let you

[14:59] know that because so many people suffer

[15:01] from this ailment and well there's a

[15:04] month for everything and I'm sure you

[15:05] guys know it because you hand out the

[15:06] resolutions be it's St Patrick's Day for

[15:09] the Hibernians epilepsy is something

[15:12] that's

[15:13] uncontrollable okay and when I say that

[15:15] I mean it like this myself they had me

[15:17] on all this medication they had and now

[15:20] I'm down on just two pills and I told

[15:22] them for 25 years that it's was being

[15:25] overdosed not till I saw something by

[15:27] Angela Santa Barbara when he held out a

[15:29] Nar narcon thing that I know that I was

[15:33] taking too much medicine so I feel so

[15:34] much better today I am so much better

[15:37] today but it's just a stigma around

[15:40] epilepsy people's neurological

[15:42] conditions you know we tend to shake a

[15:44] little more get a little nervous odd

[15:46] things like that but it is something

[15:48] that's major not only in New York state

[15:51] but you know I should have hit the

[15:52] lottery because one in a million get one

[15:54] in a million get the lottery but it's

[15:56] something that's this month the color is

[15:59] purple so in two weeks I'll be back okay

[16:02] I'll see you all in purple have a good

[16:04] day thank

[16:09] you I have no one else signed up to

[16:11] speak so I declare the public comment of

[16:13] City business

[16:14] closed this time we'll have

[16:16] miscellaneous business from the

[16:19] council Miss

[16:21] Patrick I just want to thank everyone um

[16:25] who came out to vote last week it's very

[16:27] important in our democracy see that

[16:28] folks do vote so for everyone that did

[16:31] cast their vote uh thank you very much

[16:34] and um hope everyone will continue to do

[16:36] so in upcoming elections uh as the years

[16:39] go by and I just want to wish everyone a

[16:41] Happy Thanksgiving uh coming up next

[16:43] week as well thank you thank you Mr

[16:48] Farley thank you madam president I just

[16:50] want to again Echo thank everyone for

[16:52] coming out to speak I think um some

[16:54] information uh that we heard today was

[16:56] uh pretty compelling that and you know I

[16:59] urge uh my uh council members and the

[17:02] broader Community to just think about

[17:04] ways that we can um increase the

[17:06] likelihood of having a healthy Community

[17:08] I for one and all I'm all about freedom

[17:10] of choice for people I also know that um

[17:13] depending on the proximity um of

[17:16] available things in your community that

[17:18] can increase your likelihood to make a

[17:21] unhealthy Choice by just mere proximity

[17:23] and we want to make sure that we're

[17:24] being mindful um that we are uh

[17:27] designing um because city is in

[17:29] continual in design while designing

[17:31] Healthy Communities by uh increasing the

[17:34] likelihood of healthy choices and um

[17:37] decreasing the likelihood of unhealthy

[17:39] choices and anytime you have a community

[17:42] that it's easier to get um uh tobacco

[17:45] product than as a apple then that's not

[17:47] really uh the type of community that's

[17:49] not the setting conditions for a healthy

[17:51] Community um and with that respect

[17:53] understanding that we all make unhealthy

[17:55] choices from time to time because that

[17:56] is with our practives but but um just

[17:58] being mindful of the setting conditions

[18:00] for healthy Community thank

[18:03] you

[18:07] mayor thank you madam president

[18:09] appreciate everyone that came out uh

[18:11] also want to thank everyone who uh came

[18:13] out and Tuesday and voted encourage

[18:16] everyone to come out next Saturday for

[18:18] the holiday parade as we kick off the uh

[18:21] season in downtown SKC to come out enjoy

[18:24] the parade uh and then come back during

[18:27] the season to take advantage of the

[18:29] venues and the different activities that

[18:31] are happening not only in downtown but

[18:33] throughout the city of SKC thank you

[18:35] madam president thank you I'd also like

[18:37] to thank everyone that came out tonight

[18:39] and also to the all of the voters that

[18:40] came out to uh take part in doing their

[18:43] civic um Duty and I'd like to

[18:46] congratulate uh the reelected council

[18:48] members as well as our council member

[18:49] elect Joe Mancini and also the mayor to

[18:52] uh on being reelected so um as we move

[18:55] forward we have other things to do and

[18:57] for those of the were watching earlier

[18:59] I'm just going to mention that we are

[19:00] still in our budget

[19:02] talks and uh we do have another meeting

[19:04] coming up but we anticipate that it will

[19:06] be done within the week that's that's

[19:09] our anticipation I have to say we are

[19:11] much closer than we've been in week so

[19:14] uh keep I know that people have been

[19:16] sending at least to me comments and you

[19:18] know what things they're they have to

[19:21] say about how we're doing on the budget

[19:22] so you know continue to do that um but

[19:25] you know our goal is to do the absolute

[19:27] best budget for our city residents our

[19:30] businesses that are here and also to

[19:33] make sure that we um we are able to

[19:35] carry on the business of the city so uh

[19:37] just know that we are continuing to do

[19:39] that work and I'd just like to say Happy

[19:42] Thanksgiving to everyone and with that

[19:44] I'll ask for a motion to adjourn moveed

[19:46] by Miss Patrick second by Mr M all in

[19:50] favor we're adjourn thank

[19:55] you have a nice Thanksgiving

Schenectady City Council Meeting 11 13 23 REVISED

Transcript