[0:00] [Music]

[0:28] he

[0:30] [Music]

[0:58] yeah

[1:05] [Music]

[1:28] yeah

[1:33] [Music]

[1:59] [Applause]

[2:07] [Music]

[3:28] e

[3:58] know

[4:28] e

[6:42] [Applause]

[6:58] for

[7:58] spe

[8:28] e

[8:58] spe

[9:28] e

[10:28] whe

[10:58] that

[11:27] you

[11:57] to

[12:27] e

[13:27] you

[13:57] for

[14:09] mayor do that

[14:27] after

[14:57] spe

[15:27] e

[15:50] would everyone please take their

[15:57] seats

[16:27] e

[16:47] thank you

[16:50] so welcome and happy New Year

[16:53] everyone thank you all for being here

[16:56] I'd like to call the organizational

[16:57] meeting of the city of skincity to order

[17:00] for Tuesday January 2nd

[17:03] 2024 I'd like to ask everyone to rise

[17:06] for the invocation by Reverend William

[17:08] ly Hamilton of Friendship Baptist

[17:25] Church let us

[17:27] pray gracious God our Father we invoke

[17:31] your presence into this place on this

[17:34] occasion that we come with bowed down

[17:37] heads to lift up those who have been

[17:40] selected and elected to serve in various

[17:43] capacities in the city of connecti we

[17:46] ask your continued blessing upon this

[17:48] city but we ask your special blessing

[17:50] upon mayor McCarthy we thank you that it

[17:53] is the will of the people that he will

[17:56] continue to serve where he has already

[17:59] served with great distinction he served

[18:02] honorably honestly in humility and great

[18:06] integrity and we ask that you would

[18:08] continue to lead him as he leads this

[18:11] great City we ask that you would

[18:13] continue to Grant him the wisdom the

[18:15] discern discernment the determination

[18:17] and courage as he faces the challenges

[18:20] of the May of skincity we ask your

[18:23] blessing God upon the council leaders

[18:25] grant them the wisdom the foresight the

[18:28] selfless desire to gather and work

[18:31] together for the betterment of the

[18:33] citizens of SCCY may they forever be

[18:36] mindful that it is a privilege to serve

[18:39] in skty and the citizens

[18:41] ofcity again we ask your blessing upon

[18:44] those who have gathered and those who

[18:46] are in the city of skincity please give

[18:48] us the spirit to work together in

[18:51] brotherly love to continue to live

[18:53] together and in

[18:56] peace make us

[18:59] mindful that when one suffers the city

[19:02] suffers that when one is elevated the

[19:04] city is elevated God we expect great

[19:08] things in the city of sky for I have not

[19:11] seen nor ear has heard nor has it

[19:13] entered the minds of man what God has

[19:16] for the city of skincity and those who

[19:18] continue to serve with Godly wisdom

[19:21] bless us grant us we pray

[19:27] amen

[19:29] I now ask Cadet King Cadet Rosario Cadet

[19:33] Marx and Cadet rahan of this connec High

[19:36] School rooc color guards to present the

[19:50] colors I now call upon fire chief Don

[19:53] Marino to lead us in the Pledge of

[19:57] Allegiance

[20:00] a pledge allegiance to the flag of the

[20:03] United States of America and to the

[20:06] Republic for which it stands one nation

[20:10] under God indivisible for liberty and

[20:14] justice for

[20:20] all thank

[20:27] you

[20:35] and I ask mayor McCarthy to come forward

[20:37] to take his oath of office his oath will

[20:39] be administered by The Honorable Matthew

[20:42] J sanusi everyone please be

[20:57] seated

[21:12] thank

[21:27] you

[21:33] ra your

[21:35] repeat I Gary R McCarthy do solemnly

[21:39] swear I Gary R McCarthy do solemnly

[21:43] swear that I will support and uphold the

[21:46] Constitution of the United States that I

[21:48] will support and uphold the Constitution

[21:51] of the United States that I will support

[21:53] and uphold the constitution of the state

[21:56] of New York that I will uphold the

[21:58] constitution of the state of New York

[22:01] and the charter and laws of the city of

[22:04] SK and the charter and the laws of the

[22:06] city of skincity and that I will

[22:09] Faithfully discharge the duties as mayor

[22:12] of the city of scity and that I will

[22:14] Faithfully discharge the duties as mayor

[22:16] of the city of sken to the best of my

[22:19] ability to the best of my ability so

[22:21] help me God so help me God

[22:24] congratulations thank

[22:26] you

[22:36] [Applause]

[22:52] congratulations mayor McCarthy thank you

[22:56] I now ask M DOR Doro to come forward her

[23:00] oath will be administered by her

[23:01] daughters D Donata raphaela and

[23:04] Gabriella

[23:26] Doro

[23:42] Tor Tor swear swear that I

[23:47] support that I will support the of the

[23:50] United States of the United States the

[23:53] Constitution of the state of New York

[23:55] the constitution of the state of New yor

[23:58] and the charter of the city of SK and I will

[24:03] Faithfully discharge the duties and I

[24:06] Faithfully discharge the duties of the

[24:09] office of of the office of city council

[24:13] member SK city council member the city

[24:17] of in the city of SK according to the

[24:20] best of my ability according to the best

[24:22] of my

[24:26] ability

[24:43] good evening I stand before you

[24:45] tonight good evening I stand before you

[24:49] tonight humbled by the faith you placed

[24:51] in me I was elected because I had so

[24:54] many of you absolutely right here in

[24:56] this room working with me

[24:58] and we'll continue to need your help

[25:00] moving forward this is our city but most

[25:03] importantly it's our home I look forward

[25:06] to working under mayor McCarthy's

[25:08] leadership and alongside my city council

[25:11] members and all the dedicated employees

[25:15] of the city of

[25:16] skty I just like to thank my dear

[25:18] friends John palami Dave balk and Bob

[25:22] and marielen brem for their guidance

[25:24] support and Leadership throughout my

[25:26] campaign I I'd also like to thank so

[25:28] many of you that walked with me Bill

[25:30] Masa and his beautiful granddaughter

[25:32] Clarissa they were by my side almost

[25:35] constantly I'm grateful to so many of

[25:37] you especially my amazing daughters

[25:39] Donata rafhaela and Gabriella for their

[25:42] encouragement love and support I look

[25:44] forward to working with each of you for

[25:46] the next four years thank

[25:48] [Applause]

[25:56] you

[25:59] I would now now like to call Mr Joseph

[26:02] manini to come

[26:03] forward his oath will be administered by

[26:06] the urban wise men and executive

[26:09] director of community fathers Mr Walter

[26:14] [Applause]

[26:26] Simkins

[26:32] hi Joseph man hi Jose who Solly swear that I will support the

[26:39] Constitution of the United States that I

[26:42] will support the Constitution of the

[26:43] United States the Constitution of the

[26:45] state of New York the constitution of

[26:47] the state of New York and the charter of

[26:49] the city of scity and the charter of the

[26:51] city city connected and that I will

[26:53] Faithfully discharge and I Faithfully

[26:56] discharge the office the duties of

[26:58] office of connect city council member of

[27:01] connect city council member in and for

[27:04] the city of SKC in andity conect

[27:07] according to the best of my ability

[27:21] EXC I'll I'll I'll be quick but there's

[27:24] so many people I'd love to acknowledge

[27:26] I'll try to get to that but I chose Mr

[27:28] Simpkins I've known Walter for so so

[27:30] long and be becoming a member of the

[27:33] council feels like coming home for me um

[27:36] I served this community for close to 30

[27:38] years in probation and social services

[27:41] and did a lot of wonderful work with so

[27:43] many partners uh the police department

[27:45] your nonprofit agencies Social Services

[27:48] the judges I've really gotten to know so

[27:50] many people and seeing so many of you

[27:52] here now is is a blessing to me and one

[27:56] thing Walter said to me was was really

[27:57] stuck to me it's probably the best

[27:59] compliment I could ever have is he says

[28:01] Joe I've known you how many years um and

[28:04] you haven't changed your heart's always

[28:06] in the right place you always want to

[28:07] make a difference in the communities

[28:08] here and I really respect that and uh

[28:11] Walter and I got to spend a week in the

[28:13] Bronx when I left the city and took a

[28:15] job as a commissioner down uh to look at

[28:18] a good Community program and I really

[28:19] got to know him there as well um so I'm

[28:22] really grateful I I want to thank my

[28:25] campaign manager Maxine barage

[28:28] I met um through a meeting and how she

[28:30] was supportive I um I had a lot of

[28:32] losses during Co both my parents my

[28:35] brother and his wife passed away this

[28:36] year uh well last year and it was very

[28:39] difficult and there were times I had my

[28:41] some of my own health issues and I did I

[28:43] wanted to drop out and her Relentless

[28:46] and ruthless compassion to keep me going

[28:48] and say Joe you still have a lot to

[28:50] offer and her strategies really made a

[28:53] difference um Mariam um and dman who

[28:56] approached me and John and asked me to

[28:57] run um cuz I know I know them all from

[29:01] the city and um I took that

[29:04] on being accepted by the Democratic

[29:07] party the mayor um Dorene Carmel getting

[29:11] to know everyone Carl I got to sat next

[29:13] to during the debate thoughtful and and

[29:15] straight it's been a great experience

[29:19] um my brother Chris my daughter Marielle

[29:23] her boyfriend St Andrew how are you Chris mom dad and and and Don were

[29:31] looking at we did it um so I'm looking

[29:34] forward to serve in this community I I'm so blessed to see so many friendly

[29:39] faces I'm really looking to get to work

[29:41] with every member of of this of this

[29:44] Council and and our public servants as

[29:46] well thank

[29:56] you

[30:00] I now call on Miss Carmel Patrick her

[30:02] oath will be administered by The

[30:04] Honorable Vincent

[30:26] versachi

[30:40] [Music]

[30:44] I say your name I caral Patrick do Solly

[30:48] swear do solemnly swear that I will

[30:50] support that I will support the

[30:52] Constitution of the United States the

[30:54] Constitution of the United States

[30:57] New York of the state of New York the

[31:00] city Charter of the city the city

[31:02] Charter of the city of and I will

[31:05] Faithfully discharge and I will

[31:06] Faithfully discharge the duties of the

[31:08] office the duties of the

[31:11] office City Council of SK City Council

[31:15] in and for in and for the city of SK the

[31:18] city of SK according to the best of my

[31:20] ability to of my

[31:23] ab

[31:26] congratul

[31:35] [Applause]

[31:45] well hello

[31:49] everyone I'm honored to have been

[31:51] elected for a second term on the conc

[31:54] city council thank you to everyone who

[31:56] came out to to vote which is such an

[31:58] important right that we have here in our

[31:59] country and I think we we see that all

[32:01] the time more and more as Time Marches

[32:04] On and everyone that supported our

[32:06] Democratic team I'd like to thank meline

[32:09] Thorne my campaign manager for her

[32:11] advice and guidance this year and Eileen

[32:13] handlan my treasurer for being so

[32:15] attentive to every detail and keeping us

[32:17] running smoothly thank you as well to my

[32:20] best bfff Terry scales roller who

[32:23] stepped in for my husband tonight to

[32:25] hold my parents' Bible for my swearing

[32:27] in it meant a lot to me to have her here

[32:30] to do so as well as to have her husband

[32:33] Bill roller with me tonight and of

[32:35] course thank you to judge Versace it was

[32:37] an honor to be sworn in by you for a

[32:39] second time many of you know that I had

[32:42] to unexpectedly schedule a knee

[32:44] replacement right in the middle of

[32:46] campaign season thank you to the entire

[32:49] campaign team who went door too

[32:52] addressed postcards delivered lawn signs

[32:54] and more your support meant so much to

[32:56] me me and I won't forget your kindness

[32:59] finally I can't thank my husband Bill

[33:01] Patrick enough he couldn't be with us

[33:03] tonight he's away teaching this week

[33:05] besides taking care of me after my

[33:07] surgery which was no small task that

[33:10] when I was able to go door too in the

[33:12] last several weeks of the campaign Bill

[33:15] drove around following us so that I

[33:18] wouldn't have far to go when my knee got

[33:20] too tired to keep on walking I'm so

[33:22] grateful for his love and his care to my

[33:26] city council colle colleagues I believe

[33:28] we are all here for one reason to make

[33:32] sure that we are serving our City's

[33:34] residents well keeping that goal in mind

[33:38] I look forward to collaborating with you

[33:39] all and with mayor McCarthy to keep

[33:42] skc's progress moving forward thank you

[33:46] [Applause]

[33:55] again

[33:59] and I call on Mr Carl Williams his oath

[34:02] will be administered by The Honorable

[34:04] Maran

[34:11] [Applause]

[34:25] Porterfield

[34:28] [Music]

[34:43] you Solly swear you solemnly swear that

[34:45] I will support the Constitution of the

[34:47] United States that I'll support the

[34:48] Constitution of the United States the

[34:50] Constitution of the state of New York

[34:51] the constitution of the state of New

[34:53] York the charter of the city of SKC the

[34:55] charter of the city and I will

[34:57] Faithfully discharge the duties and I

[34:59] Faithfully discharge the duties of

[35:01] office of Sky City council member office

[35:03] of Sky City Council in for the city of

[35:06] SKC and for the city of skty according

[35:08] to the best of my ability according to

[35:10] the best of my ability so help me God so

[35:12] help

[35:14] [Applause]

[35:25] me

[35:42] uh thank you so much uh firstly to the

[35:44] voters who came out to support me uh it

[35:46] definitely is a a weird uh uh

[35:49] understanding to accept just that so

[35:51] many people like I could not even count

[35:52] on my hands just elected to see me

[35:54] continue to do this good work that we

[35:57] are uh challenged to do day in and day

[35:59] out uh I wanted to take a moment to just

[36:00] singularly thank my wife Michaela and

[36:03] our two daughters zah M Malia uh for uh

[36:06] attending this journey with me that I

[36:08] have proactively uh decided our family

[36:10] to go on truly um serving as a council

[36:14] member is not something that I'm able to

[36:15] do by myself as you've seen I wear a lot

[36:18] of different roles the one that I

[36:19] prominently wear the the proudest is

[36:21] that of father and husband uh definitely

[36:23] to my daughters who've only known me as

[36:25] a council member I hope that that

[36:26] they'll truly understand the capacity of

[36:29] the work that I elect to do with my

[36:30] colleagues uh I definitely proactively

[36:33] look forward to serving collaboratively

[36:35] with the the Tage of the mayor uh to

[36:37] make sure that we can best serve the the

[36:38] members of our community uh but

[36:40] ultimately I cannot stand here tonight I

[36:42] do not stand here tonight uh without

[36:44] knowing that our household is truly in

[36:45] good hands with my wife so truly thank

[36:47] you uh for making this journey more

[36:49] tolerable uh and I definitely know there

[36:51] are a lot of trying nights there have

[36:54] been some long meetings Jo that they

[36:57] there some long

[36:58] meetings But ultimately uh understanding

[37:01] to the the to the words of Miss uh Doro

[37:04] and Miss Carmel uh definitely being in

[37:06] the right hearts and minds and

[37:08] understanding that these roles that we serve to do voluntarily uh it is is a

[37:13] responsibility that we need to take

[37:15] further fervently and and confidently um

[37:18] so definitely I think my message for

[37:20] 2024 is I I confidently stand here

[37:23] looking to to proactively address the

[37:25] issues and needs of our community uh and

[37:27] definitely doing that in in a unified

[37:29] and collaborative and cohesive front so

[37:31] thank you uh I know we've said a lot of

[37:33] words over the last few years and now

[37:34] it's time for Action so thank

[37:46] you I will now take the roll call for

[37:49] the connected city council Mr

[37:52] Toro Mr

[37:54] Farley Mr manini pres Mr M Baron pres

[37:58] Miss Patrick here miss Porterfield here

[38:01] Mr Williams here and now ask for a

[38:05] motion appointing a city council

[38:13] president Mr

[38:19] Toro thank you is there a second on the

[38:21] motion second motion

[38:25] okay

[38:27] are there any

[38:31] discussions I will now put the motion to

[38:33] appoint Miss Maran Porterfield as city

[38:35] council president to vote Mr

[38:38] Toro

[38:40] yes Mr Farley yes Mr Mancini yes Mr muin

[38:47] yes Miss Patrick yes Miss Porterfield

[38:50] yes Mr Williams

[38:54] yes the motion carries unanimous ly

[38:56] naming Miss Porterfield as council

[39:00] [Applause]

[39:16] president thank you and first of all I

[39:18] would like to thank God for the

[39:19] opportunity to be here another year

[39:22] there are some people who we lost in

[39:25] 2023

[39:27] so before I start my remarks I just ask

[39:29] for we all to give a a moment of silence

[39:32] and to remember those that we lost in

[39:44] 2023 thank you first of all I'd like to

[39:48] say happy New Year to everyone and thank

[39:50] you for being here this evening I'd like

[39:52] to congratulate the mayor on being

[39:54] elected to a new term and to all the

[39:55] council members who were reelected as

[39:57] well as welc M welcoming Mr manini to

[40:01] his first term on the city

[40:03] council with every new year be comes an

[40:06] opportunity to start aresh and so we as

[40:09] a council now have that

[40:11] opportunity we can reflect on the things

[40:13] that we accomplished in 2023 and there

[40:16] may be some who think that we didn't

[40:18] accomplish a lot but in fact if you look

[40:20] at our record you'll see that we agreed

[40:23] on more than we disagreed on because we

[40:25] just have to talk about the elephant in

[40:26] the room

[40:27] but we and one of the things I just want

[40:29] to note something that we did that is

[40:31] probably has not happened here before

[40:33] but has happened in other communities is

[40:35] our participatory budgeting where we

[40:37] allowed residents of the city to

[40:40] determine how we spent the arpa funds

[40:42] that were going to come in it wasn't a

[40:44] smooth ride but it was a ride where we

[40:47] learned some lessons and then people who

[40:48] don't normally benefit from the money

[40:50] that comes through the city were able to

[40:52] benefit and to do things within their

[40:54] different organizations so thank you to those who submitted

[40:57] applications thank you to those who um

[41:01] received funding and and continued with

[41:03] their project and thank you for those

[41:04] who took the time and effort to review

[41:06] some of those applications we really

[41:08] appreciate it and without our community

[41:10] it would be difficult to do that the

[41:11] work that we do the other thing that

[41:14] happened most recently is having the tax

[41:16] exemption raised the amount of tax

[41:18] exemption raised for seniors that is

[41:20] going to benefit some of the most

[41:22] vulnerable populations in our city the

[41:25] seniors and the lower income people but

[41:27] now we took the opportunity with the

[41:29] leadership of councilman Williams to

[41:32] actually to do that and so now those

[41:34] folks who maybe have been suffering a

[41:35] little bit because they lost their

[41:36] exemption because of the rais in Social

[41:38] Security are now going to be able to

[41:40] benefit from that again I want to thank

[41:43] all of the leadership here the police

[41:45] chief the mayor the fire chief chief

[41:48] Divine and all the city staff for

[41:50] continuing to work with us as we go

[41:52] through um making sure that we run the

[41:54] city to the best of our ability we

[41:56] really could not do it without

[41:58] you the council took some time last week

[42:01] to sit and reflect on what last year was

[42:04] like what the last few years were like

[42:06] and how we would move forward into

[42:09] 2024 and I want to thank you all for

[42:11] taking the time to do that because the

[42:14] true measure of character is when you

[42:16] are willing to have authentic meaningful

[42:19] conversations accept difficulties and

[42:22] respon and accept responsibility for

[42:24] what we've each added to the challenge

[42:26] that we faced and resolve to overcome

[42:29] them all and to do better since this is

[42:31] a council that gives out resolutions a

[42:33] lot we resolved that we would work

[42:36] together for the benefit of our

[42:38] community that we would not let outside

[42:40] influences make help make um a

[42:43] difference with us and determine how we

[42:45] treat each other but that we we work

[42:47] together because the city and is

[42:49] counting on us so I thank you all for

[42:52] that I look forward to working with you

[42:54] and I thank you for the opportunity

[42:56] you have given me to again be the

[42:58] council president and I know that we're

[43:00] going to have a wonderful year Mr manini

[43:03] thank you for being a part of this I'm

[43:05] sure I know that you thought about it

[43:07] for a while but but thank you for saying

[43:10] yes nonetheless and for those have

[43:12] continued to serve and chosen to

[43:13] continue serve I look forward to working

[43:15] with you thank you very

[43:18] [Applause]

[43:24] much this Porterfield would you please

[43:26] take the

[43:49] chair Mr John mutar has been selected to

[43:53] serve as the majority lead leader for a

[43:55] term commencing January 2024 until

[43:58] December

[44:00] 2025 this time I'd like to ask for a

[44:02] motion for city

[44:05] clerk motion by Miss Patrick second by

[44:08] Mr

[44:09] Mancini all in

[44:11] favor no Miss Michael has to I'm sorry

[44:13] has to take a roll call Miss Michael

[44:15] would you please take the roll call

[44:16] naming you as city

[44:18] clerk Mr Toro yes Mr Farley yes Mr

[44:25] Mancini

[44:26] yes Mr muan yes Miss Patrick yes Miss

[44:31] Porterfield yes Mr Williams yes thank

[44:36] you motion passes unanimously thank

[44:40] you may I have a motion designate this

[44:43] The Daily Gazette as the official

[44:45] publication for the city of skincity

[44:48] motion motion by Mr manini second by

[44:51] Miss Patrick all in favor

[44:54] I

[45:07] theed okay we'd like to have the

[45:09] benediction by Reverend Brad

[45:17] Jones wait excuse me the mayor will do

[45:21] his state of the city before the

[45:24] benediction

[45:27] out I need down

[45:35] there I was going to take a lot of

[45:37] pressure off

[45:40] me that uh want to thank everyone for uh

[45:43] coming out tonight uh can everybody here

[45:46] is significant your contributions to the

[45:49] city and community that we all love and

[45:54] appreciate uh thank uh Greg Caroline uh

[45:58] judge sanusi for administering the oath

[46:01] Classics connect success story product

[46:04] of City Schools moved out of the area

[46:08] practice law at a higher level came back

[46:11] here served at the DA's office was city

[46:13] court judge and has served this

[46:15] community's distinction as a county

[46:17] court judge and so Matt I thank you for

[46:21] uh your role in uh humbling experience

[46:24] just administering the oath to me

[46:26] tonight uh judge Caruso is here uh judge

[46:31] Versace uh judge Divine who we give a

[46:34] couple different titles to depending on

[46:36] what role he's in but uh thank you for

[46:39] uh your work uh uh Tom Isabella Dave

[46:43] balk uh forign members of the city

[46:45] council long distinguished Service uh

[46:48] thank you for joining us uh father isopo

[46:53] uh Reverend Hamilton Reverend Jones

[46:56] again thank you for the work that you do

[46:58] in your respective uh roles within the

[47:01] clergy in this

[47:03] community

[47:05] uh assemblyman Santa Barbara it's great

[47:08] to see you uh we always like state

[47:11] legislators to join us every time if you

[47:14] could come if you could bring a check

[47:15] though we appreciate you

[47:18] more but uh I've had the

[47:21] opportunity uh my role in the city is to

[47:24] sit in all three seats here out in the

[47:27] audience the deis the council seats the

[47:31] deis looks the most impressive but they

[47:34] are not the most comfortable seats

[47:36] they're big they're a little bit awkward

[47:38] to move around in the city council seats

[47:41] are really the best seats in this

[47:45] chamber and unfortunately where the

[47:48] public sits they are the worst seats

[47:50] they are I don't think any of the

[47:52] churches have any that are quite as bad

[47:54] as these pews that are here and so

[47:58] taking that into consideration I won't

[47:59] make my remarks too long tonight so that

[48:03] you don't have to uh sit here longer

[48:06] than you would like to but uh I want to

[48:08] thank the department heads and the city

[48:11] staff for the work they do every day for

[48:14] the residents of our city uh it's really

[48:17] a great team and it's really producing

[48:19] significant

[48:22] results even though the budget process

[48:24] this year was longer than than any of us

[48:26] would have liked the tax bills that

[48:28] we're sending out now reflect a 1 cent

[48:32] per thousand reduction in the tax rates

[48:34] for

[48:35] 2024 and what that means is that we have

[48:38] cut taxes seven out of the last nine

[48:40] years even though that the slight

[48:43] increase because of

[48:45] covid and the uh financial status of the

[48:48] city is sound our assessed value of

[48:50] property in the city continues to

[48:52] steadily rise with a total value this

[48:55] year of

[48:57] 2.47 billion

[49:00] dollar uh our garbage collection is one

[49:04] of the great Services we provide our

[49:06] residents the adopted budget requires us

[49:09] to deal with

[49:10] jackpots that's the slang term used by

[49:13] staff for people who put out an

[49:15] excessive amount of trash in front of

[49:17] their property we must find a formula

[49:20] that fairly allocates the additional

[49:22] cost they generate back to those

[49:24] individuals that uh and locations that

[49:27] generate it you look at just that one

[49:30] example there again all too often that

[49:32] happens here in the

[49:34] city the rates on the slide uh also came

[49:39] in actually as we were finishing the

[49:40] budget coming in from our contractors

[49:43] and vendors uh Municipal Solid Waste

[49:47] commonly referred to as

[49:49] MSW has a over 35% increase from what we

[49:54] paid last year year in

[49:56] 2023 and

[49:59] recyclables are going to go up over

[50:02] 125% and you have to remember for the

[50:04] recyclables we used

[50:06] to do it basically at a break even Point

[50:10] some years it would cost us a little bit

[50:12] some years we'd make a little bit of

[50:14] money based on the value of the tin

[50:17] plastic and glass that were the primary

[50:19] components that were being

[50:22] recycled now it costs more to do the

[50:27] recyclables than it does for

[50:30] MSW and so it's the whole area that we

[50:34] have to rethink how we approach and how

[50:37] do we deal with it and this week I'm

[50:40] going to appoint a working group that

[50:41] will include council president

[50:43] Porterfield and public service and

[50:45] utility chair Doro to review our current

[50:48] service model with Associated costs and

[50:51] benefits I'll direct that they provide a

[50:54] report and recommendation to the city

[50:56] council and myself for the February 20th

[50:58] committee meeting of the city council so

[51:01] that we can enact appropriate

[51:03] legislation or fee structure to again

[51:05] hold those individuals accountable that

[51:07] drive our

[51:10] costs a significant amount of our cost

[51:13] and demands for services are driven by

[51:16] what I label is high needs individuals

[51:18] and high needs

[51:20] locations we send code enforcement

[51:23] police the fire department the Bureau of

[51:25] service

[51:26] to locations that social services

[51:28] medical resources and other community

[51:31] providers are also being sent to

[51:35] unfortunately many times one provider

[51:38] does not know the other is dealing with

[51:41] that situation or that individual or

[51:44] family I'm Shifting the responsibility

[51:47] of director Matt Douglas who has done a

[51:49] great job with crime analysis and

[51:51] support of the police department to use

[51:54] his skill set on a city-wide basis we're

[51:57] collecting a lot of information and data

[52:00] and with Mr Douglas's

[52:03] experience I'm looking to better manage

[52:07] the city resources and improve our

[52:10] messaging to the public as we identify

[52:13] those locations and individuals and work

[52:15] in a coordinated manner to deal with

[52:19] them in a truly solution-based

[52:24] process this outlines some of the work

[52:26] that Matt has done and it's an ezri

[52:29] platform again it allows to take data

[52:32] and use it in a graphical format that is

[52:35] easily understood by not only the public

[52:38] but people who are providing services in

[52:40] evaluating situations that we deal

[52:44] with in 2020 we saw historic lows in

[52:47] criminal activity due the co pandemic

[52:50] unfortunately we've seen a slight uptick

[52:53] in crime but the numbers need need to be

[52:55] put into perspective the graph shows the

[52:58] last 12 years our part one violent crime

[53:01] is still 22% lower than when I came into

[53:04] office in 2012 and our property crimes

[53:07] are 19% lower than

[53:10] 2012 and while we've all experienced

[53:13] individuals complaining about speeding

[53:16] within the city and it is an issue that

[53:18] uh commissioner and chief I assume

[53:20] you'll be working on when you leave this

[53:21] meeting

[53:23] tonight uh

[53:26] crash data is actually down over 8% over

[53:30] the last four years so that we're seeing

[53:33] some of the improvements that we're

[53:35] doing with traffic control devices some

[53:38] of the enforcement it is uh producing

[53:41] results and we would encourage people to

[53:44] again think about the actions that

[53:47] you're taking for speeding littering and

[53:49] some of the other nuisances that uh

[53:51] drive a lot of the complaints that come

[53:53] to City Hall

[53:56] SKC continues to develop and Implement

[53:58] Innovative and

[54:00] advancements uh to further enhance

[54:03] Community accessibility to

[54:05] information in mid 2023 the SKC police

[54:09] uh launched the first public facing

[54:11] dashboard again it was designed by Matt

[54:13] Douglas and as an ezri uh platform that

[54:18] can be publicly accessed via the city

[54:22] website this shows reported part one

[54:25] crimes in the city of skincity during

[54:28] the last 28 days uh crime statistics can

[54:32] be selected by neighborhood or by a

[54:34] specific type of crime and where we

[54:37] start to look at high needs individuals

[54:39] and high needs locations what we're

[54:41] looking to do is take the talent that we

[54:43] have in some of our crime analysts in

[54:45] the planning department across City uh

[54:48] departments and be able to graphically

[54:50] represent not only criminal activity but

[54:54] code enforcement

[54:56] uh Health Care other issues that may be

[54:59] arising so that we can tell the story

[55:02] and then also better focus resources in

[55:05] a collective manner to solve

[55:08] them uh we're doing a lot of uh things

[55:11] in public safety we've uh done Dax

[55:14] that's datadriven policing septad is

[55:17] crime prevention through environmental

[55:19] design there's a whole list of uh things

[55:22] that uh we've been doing

[55:25] the one that I'm most proud of and I

[55:27] think has the most significance is the

[55:30] Hub model and that's where we take and

[55:33] send uh fire paramedics police Social

[55:36] Services mental health professionals

[55:39] drug and alcohol counselers in a team

[55:42] format to evaluate and guide individuals

[55:46] to the appropriate support so that they

[55:49] may live with dignity and reduce their

[55:52] needs for police and fire and emergency

[55:55] room Services there individuals that

[55:57] having problems within the community

[55:59] some are homeless uh some are living in

[56:02] less and desirable

[56:04] circumstances but we have a coordinated

[56:07] effort that is going out in really

[56:10] transforming some of their lives and

[56:12] making a dramatic difference in the

[56:14] related Public Safety costs that those

[56:16] individuals

[56:17] Drive Patrol finder a product developed

[56:21] by a local company transfinder who CEO

[56:24] Tony civella is with us tonight thank

[56:27] you Mr civella for joining us this

[56:30] product is fully deployed in the Patrol

[56:32] Division and it's making our police

[56:34] officers more effective and accountable

[56:37] and again it's a platform where it's

[56:39] connected leading with a local company

[56:42] putting in place a management system

[56:46] that leverage police resources and so

[56:50] I'm thankful that uh Civello and his

[56:53] team allowed connect to to be part of

[56:55] that process and we again look forward

[56:58] to having that not only deployed fully

[57:01] within SKC but with other communities

[57:04] across the state and hopefully across

[57:06] the country so that he'll be able to

[57:07] hire a few more people here in the city

[57:09] of

[57:11] skinc this summer the city of sken and

[57:14] uh local community organizations hosted

[57:17] the 518 common Unity cup again uh local

[57:21] law enforcement Community organizations

[57:23] participated in a five-week summer

[57:26] series uh Sports series that kicked off

[57:29] during National Night Out the fire in

[57:32] the police department participated in

[57:34] multiple community events throughout the

[57:36] year and it just shows our ability to

[57:39] take law enforcement in uh firefighters

[57:44] and put them out interact with the

[57:46] public in non-emergency uh situations so

[57:51] they build a better rapport with them uh

[57:53] it breaks down hopefully any barriers

[57:56] that exist and hopefully also increases

[58:00] our ability to recruit individuals who

[58:03] may want to consider either a

[58:05] firefighting career or Police Services

[58:09] also within the fire department we have

[58:11] a drone initiative there we recently

[58:14] received a grant from the Larry

[58:16] Foundation which will replace the

[58:18] descending devices those are equipment

[58:21] that firefighters wear during interior

[58:24] attack on working fires if in fact they

[58:27] become a trap they are able to repel

[58:30] outside the building uh getting away

[58:35] from whatever the danger is uh we've had

[58:38] devices in place for about a decade

[58:40] these are new more modern ones that will

[58:42] be more efficient and less bulky for the

[58:45] uh firefighters out in the street and uh

[58:48] serving this

[58:49] community uh the replacement of our

[58:52] portable radios in the fire department

[58:54] uh in 2024 is going to be a much needed

[58:57] upgrade and will go a long way to

[58:58] improving our tactical operations within

[59:01] the fire

[59:03] department uh distressed property is

[59:06] still one of our big problems uh this is

[59:11] an example before and after uh just a

[59:14] few years we've reduced the number of

[59:15] vacant properties in the city of SKC by

[59:18] over

[59:19] 50% uh but again it drives our costs for

[59:23] code enforcement uh police fire and

[59:26] related expenses and on top of that the

[59:28] Lost Property Tax uh again it's a still

[59:33] a large problem for the community now

[59:36] having said still being a problem our

[59:39] record is fairly impressive where we've

[59:41] sold over 800 properties my focus since

[59:46] I've been mayor is to prioritize the

[59:48] sale of city-owned properties to create

[59:50] primarily home ownership opportunities

[59:53] the sales of these properties have

[59:55] generated over $14.1 million and again

[59:59] have put back on the tax rols those

[1:00:02] coresponding

[1:00:04] houses uh this year Mount Pleasant will

[1:00:07] see a $9 million complete streets

[1:00:10] project that will include new

[1:00:12] streetscapes sidewalks bike Lanes Green

[1:00:15] Space and the rehabilitation of the

[1:00:16] Craig Street Bridge depal properties the

[1:00:20] Mosaic Apartments uh development on

[1:00:23] Crane Street will transform several

[1:00:26] Parcels of vacant land and buildings in

[1:00:28] the Mount Pleasant commercial Corridor

[1:00:30] into 60 units of new quality affordable

[1:00:34] housing this is the same developer that

[1:00:37] did the Joe Allen Apartments on Albany

[1:00:39] Street the $120 million Northside

[1:00:43] Village is complete and being rented out

[1:00:46] Bethesda House's new car house is open

[1:00:48] and providing Supportive Housing and

[1:00:51] emergency housing for adults

[1:00:53] experiencing homelessness

[1:00:55] again SKC continues to provide quality

[1:00:59] and affordable res uh housing to its

[1:01:02] residents the uh $2.3 million Restore

[1:01:07] New York award for the wedgeway building

[1:01:09] and that was the second largest in this

[1:01:12] region and the sixth largest in the

[1:01:14] state has enabled the restoration of

[1:01:16] this vacant blighted and historically

[1:01:19] significant structure in the heart of

[1:01:21] downtown to get underway from

[1:01:25] Rehabilitation and so it's a major

[1:01:28] project that makes a big difference in

[1:01:31] our downtown and we're just proud of the

[1:01:33] team that put that

[1:01:35] together uh this picture is the ribbon

[1:01:39] cutting of the new CDTA Mobility Hub on

[1:01:42] Lower State

[1:01:43] Street this was provided with CDTA and

[1:01:47] Senator Schumer lining up some federal

[1:01:49] money it provides bus service electric

[1:01:52] vehicle charging bicyc IC Le access in

[1:01:55] pedestrian

[1:01:57] amenities uh we also completed the

[1:01:59] sidewalk work on North College Street

[1:02:02] and there was drainage issues and Street

[1:02:04] improvements on North Center Street in

[1:02:07] the improvements to the Brandy Wine

[1:02:08] Avenue

[1:02:10] uh traffic Corridor will be completed

[1:02:14] this

[1:02:15] spring we have over $35 million of

[1:02:19] ongoing infrastructure projects going

[1:02:21] into

[1:02:22] 2024 The Rice Road water infrastructure

[1:02:25] improvements including three new water

[1:02:27] wells that will produce an excessive

[1:02:30] 9,000 gallons per minute which are made

[1:02:33] possible with a $3 million water

[1:02:36] infrastructure Improvement Grant uh

[1:02:39] Improvement act Grant from the New York

[1:02:41] State Environmental facilities

[1:02:43] Corporation these critical

[1:02:45] infrastructure upgrades will help

[1:02:47] improve the

[1:02:49] efficiency resiliency and sustainability

[1:02:52] of our water supply system which not

[1:02:54] only serves the residents of this city

[1:02:56] but multiple adjacent

[1:02:59] municipalities and also for general

[1:03:01] information uh the Kings Road Bridge

[1:03:04] rehab project we will formally close

[1:03:07] that bridge on Monday January 22 it will

[1:03:11] create some inconvenience but that will

[1:03:14] allow the project to be done in a more

[1:03:16] timely manner and actually at an overall

[1:03:19] lower cost so we uh appreciate people's

[1:03:22] tolerance and that inconvenience where

[1:03:24] they're going to be re-rooted uh off

[1:03:26] King's

[1:03:27] Road the Adaptive use uh reuse of

[1:03:30] historic buildings adds character to our

[1:03:33] community the Foster and Edison

[1:03:35] buildings are great examples of this uh

[1:03:39] home to the great Nest restaurant is in

[1:03:42] the Foster building the Edison banquet

[1:03:45] hall and both projects provide housing

[1:03:48] to new people moving into our community

[1:03:51] and if you've not stopped by the Armory

[1:03:53] Studio to see see the Claude Monae

[1:03:55] immersive experience please put that on

[1:03:58] your schedule and we have Ray leir one

[1:04:00] of the principles from uh the uh Armory

[1:04:03] joining us tonight thank you Mr leer for

[1:04:06] your

[1:04:07] work we continue to see an

[1:04:10] increase in the use of our online uh

[1:04:13] platform for residents to contact the

[1:04:16] city with issues or questions that see

[1:04:18] click fix if you don't have it on your

[1:04:21] uh phone sign up for it

[1:04:24] get it on the city

[1:04:27] website and after our second full year

[1:04:29] of deployment we're very happy with the

[1:04:32] utilization and look to continue promote

[1:04:35] its use by our residents is just one

[1:04:38] more way to better manage citizens

[1:04:40] request identifying problems and

[1:04:42] ensuring appropriate followup last year

[1:04:45] we successfully closed out over 1500

[1:04:50] requests thanks to a car's CV Grant we

[1:04:54] were able to expand our public Wi-Fi

[1:04:57] deployment into the north side Hamilton

[1:05:00] Hill between Seward place and Erie

[1:05:02] Boulevard and we will be turning on more

[1:05:04] in The Stockade area in the coming weeks

[1:05:08] I remind residents of the recent updated

[1:05:12] interactive WiFi map on our website to

[1:05:16] keep everyone posted and where we

[1:05:18] currently have this service there are

[1:05:21] over 250 access points currently shown

[1:05:25] on the map last year at this time we had

[1:05:27] about

[1:05:28] 115 and uh as we get into the uh spring

[1:05:32] months I expect to have over 400 total

[1:05:36] uh active sites in the

[1:05:40] city uh in the last 30 days our public

[1:05:43] WiFi has serviced between 1.9 and 2.9

[1:05:48] Million page requests every

[1:05:53] day this is allowing our citizens to

[1:05:56] obtain news information

[1:05:59] and access to things that they need to

[1:06:02] keep informed and have them provided

[1:06:05] basic knowledge in some cases it's a

[1:06:07] total of over 66 million hits happened

[1:06:11] in the month of December

[1:06:13] alone on the right side you of the slide

[1:06:16] you you can see the top destination

[1:06:19] categories while I'm talking about the

[1:06:21] uh Public Access there's also a par

[1:06:24] parallel secure side to that Network

[1:06:27] that we use for police fire and

[1:06:30] Municipal Services which allows us to be

[1:06:33] more efficient have uh greater access to

[1:06:37] information and again manage the

[1:06:40] resources of the

[1:06:42] city uh want to thank all the volunteers

[1:06:45] who helped organize the Capital District

[1:06:47] Drive electric week in sustainability

[1:06:50] fair to celebrate the National Drive

[1:06:53] electric week here in the electric city

[1:06:56] skty was the largest National Drive

[1:06:58] electric week event in the country by

[1:07:01] the number of registered participants

[1:07:03] for the second year in a row the fair is

[1:07:06] one of 215 events held in 22 cities

[1:07:11] Nationwide all dedicated to advancing

[1:07:14] the cause of Electric Mobility so again

[1:07:17] it shows connecties leadership in an

[1:07:20] emerging technology in an area that uh

[1:07:23] again reflects the history and the

[1:07:25] future of this

[1:07:27] city we continue to take advantage of

[1:07:29] incentives and Partnerships as we build

[1:07:31] our infrastructure and expand our

[1:07:33] electric

[1:07:35] Fleet this chart shows a comparison of

[1:07:38] two City Vehicles one vehicle driven an

[1:07:41] average of 50 miles a week

[1:07:45] produces over

[1:07:47] 13,000 pounds of carbon

[1:07:51] dioxide a similar Electric vehicle

[1:07:54] driven the same amount of mileage

[1:07:56] produces only 2,000 lbs of carbon

[1:08:00] dioxide so it shows the dramatic impact

[1:08:03] that we can have on our environment and

[1:08:05] I appreciate the city council's support

[1:08:08] in working with the Departments as we

[1:08:10] look to add electric vehicles to the

[1:08:13] fleet uh the leader in that of course is

[1:08:16] uh Mr da at the golf course who has

[1:08:19] converted all the golf carts to electric

[1:08:22] vehicles well hopefully the rest of the

[1:08:25] city will catch up with you

[1:08:27] Matt I appreciate the city council's

[1:08:30] early support for the new pool in

[1:08:32] Central Park which will be open this

[1:08:34] summer it's Tak a little bit longer than

[1:08:36] we'd like but uh it's a Class Act it's a

[1:08:40] great facility and uh it's a major

[1:08:43] project which complements our previous

[1:08:45] investment in music Haven the ad diamond

[1:08:48] in the ongoing upgrades to our tennis

[1:08:51] courts we're happy to have completed

[1:08:54] Jerry Burell Park improvements in

[1:08:56] 2023 the park now has a new Splash Pad

[1:09:00] basketball court seating area lighting

[1:09:03] and public art this is possible because

[1:09:06] of support from the New York State

[1:09:07] Department of parks and recreation in

[1:09:10] sken county and it complements the

[1:09:12] investment made by the city of

[1:09:15] sken we have uh the pickle ball and

[1:09:18] basketball courts at Hillhurst Park and

[1:09:21] the tennis courts at Fairview Park were

[1:09:23] completed in

[1:09:25] 2023 these projects were designed with

[1:09:28] the input from the Belleview

[1:09:29] preservation Association in the Mohawk

[1:09:32] pickle ball league new projects this

[1:09:34] year are in Central Park for the

[1:09:37] Michigan Avenue in the Central Park in

[1:09:40] the Michigan Avenue tennis

[1:09:42] courts now I started by saying I

[1:09:44] wouldn't make my remarks run too long so

[1:09:47] I'm just going to give you a quick

[1:09:49] overview here the next slides list over

[1:09:53] 70 active grants and $84 million that

[1:09:58] we're managing to better deliver

[1:10:00] services and improve our city and so

[1:10:03] even if I just took a minute and one to

[1:10:05] would take 84 minutes which I'm not

[1:10:07] going to do but I just if you have any

[1:10:10] questions on any of these projects

[1:10:12] councilman manini who's been here about

[1:10:15] a day and a half now is fully briefed on

[1:10:18] this and we'll be able to give you a

[1:10:20] detailed update on the way out

[1:10:24] so so but again these don't happen by

[1:10:28] accident it's a lot of people working

[1:10:29] together uh really producing results and

[1:10:32] this is a beyond the arpa money that we

[1:10:36] have so again it's really something that

[1:10:38] the staff should be proud of and the

[1:10:41] resident should be thankful for in terms

[1:10:43] of the results that we're producing

[1:10:46] here it seems like uh every week you do

[1:10:50] another ribbon cutting for new

[1:10:51] businesses or one that is expanding in

[1:10:54] and this is a result of our great

[1:10:56] unified economic development team led by

[1:10:59] Ray Gillan and the Metroplex staff it's

[1:11:03] uh really an impressive record that we

[1:11:05] have our community organizations and

[1:11:08] leaders are consistently recognized for

[1:11:10] milestones and significant

[1:11:15] accomplishments uh there are always good

[1:11:17] things going on and connected with our

[1:11:19] many Community Partners something

[1:11:22] happening literally every day

[1:11:24] here our working together is what enable

[1:11:27] us to make so many good things happen I

[1:11:31] thank you for the opportunity to

[1:11:33] continue to serve as your mayor and look

[1:11:35] forward to a productive 2024 as we build

[1:11:38] on the impressive record we have in that

[1:11:41] we set standards that other communities

[1:11:43] look for to follow in our footsteps and

[1:11:48] Lady Liberty is back in downtown's

[1:11:52] connecties

[1:11:58] [Applause]

[1:12:01] thank you and enjoy your

[1:12:03] [Applause]

[1:12:22] evening

[1:12:29] thank you mayor I'd ask everyone to

[1:12:31] please rise for the

[1:12:39] benediction good evening and happy New

[1:12:41] Year uh I'm Brad Jones I'm the director

[1:12:44] or another name for head pastor at

[1:12:46] Christ Church in September I celebrated

[1:12:48] my 25th year um as as the recor a pastor

[1:12:52] there and it's been my privilege to work

[1:12:55] in the community of Hamilton hill our

[1:12:58] mission field uh but also in the

[1:13:00] greatest skincity area these past

[1:13:02] several years my benediction is in two

[1:13:04] parts one is a just a brief closing

[1:13:06] prayer for the leaders the elected

[1:13:09] leaders uh of this city that we've U

[1:13:12] recognized this evening uh but the

[1:13:14] benediction is actually a blessing on

[1:13:17] all the people of God um and I I'm going

[1:13:20] to share with you the benediction that

[1:13:24] Moses uh passed on to Aaron to to pray

[1:13:27] over the people um this is a something

[1:13:32] that uh my seven children grew up with

[1:13:35] every night before they went to bed my

[1:13:37] wife and I would actually sing this

[1:13:39] blessing and I'm going to um with uh

[1:13:43] apologies to any professional musicians

[1:13:45] here I'm going to I'm going to sing that

[1:13:46] benediction uh over you so first a brief

[1:13:50] prayer almighty God our heavenly father

[1:13:52] send down upon those who hold office in

[1:13:57] this city of

[1:13:58] skincity the spirit of wisdom charity

[1:14:00] and

[1:14:01] Justice that with steadfast purpose they

[1:14:04] may Faithfully serve in their offices to

[1:14:06] promote the well-being of all people

[1:14:08] through Jesus Christ Our Lord

[1:14:12] amen the Lord bless you and keep you the

[1:14:18] Lord make his face shine upon you and

[1:14:22] give you peace peace and give you peace

[1:14:29] forever the Lord be gracious to you the

[1:14:35] Lord turn his face toward you and give

[1:14:40] you peace and give you peace and give

[1:14:45] you peace

[1:14:46] [Music]

[1:14:47] forever and give you peace and give you peace

[1:14:57] forever amen and God

[1:15:01] [Applause]

[1:15:17] bless council members I need a motion to

[1:15:20] adjourn move on Miss Patrick

[1:15:24] second by Mr Thank You by Mr M all in

[1:15:27] favor council members we meet in

[1:15:52] 110

[1:15:55] [Music]

[1:16:03] yeah

Schenectady City Council Organizational Meeting, January 2, 2024

Transcript