[0:00] Heat. Heat.
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[1:01] Heat. Heat. N.
[1:10] Hey. Hey. Hey.
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[2:58] Heat. Heat.
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[3:53] Hey,
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[4:03] hey, hey.
[4:07] Heat. Heat. N.
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[4:32] Hey, hey, hey.
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[5:11] [Applause]
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[5:41] Heat. Heat.
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[6:03] Heat. Heat.
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[7:04] This is not
[7:32] Thank you.
[7:36] I'd like to call the city city caucus
[7:38] meeting to order for Monday, June 9th,
[7:40] 2025.
[7:43] We have one public hearing this evening.
[7:44] If the clerk would please read public
[7:47] number public hearing number one for the
[7:49] redirection of a portion of Chrysler
[7:51] Avenue from a two-way street to a
[7:53] one-way street from the intersection of
[7:55] Crane and Main Street to Ostrander
[7:57] Place. Discussed and committed with
[8:00] objection on consent. Item number two.
[8:02] for original
[8:03] consideration. A resolution calling for
[8:05] a public hearing for weight limit
[8:07] postings on Kings Road.
[8:10] discussed in committee without objection
[8:12] on consent. Item number three
[8:16] item number item number two for original
[8:18] consideration a resolution authorizing
[8:21] fee waiverss for exterior building
[8:23] repair permits discussed in committee
[8:26] without objection on consent.
[8:30] Yes, Mr. uh Williams call
[8:34] on item number two. Roll call. Yes,
[8:36] ma'am. Okay, thank you.
[8:40] Item number three. Item number three for
[8:42] original consideration. A resolution
[8:44] recognizing the celebration of Junth,
[8:46] 2025.
[8:47] Discussed in committee with objection on
[8:49] consent. Item number four. Item number
[8:51] four for original consideration. A
[8:53] resolution recognizing Caribbean
[8:54] American Heritage Month. Discussed in
[8:57] committee with objection.
[9:01] And on consent, item number 4A for
[9:03] unanimous consent. Item number 4 A for
[9:05] unanimous consent. A resolution
[9:07] supporting funding for Belmont Pop
[9:09] Warner program.
[9:11] I need a motion to place item number 4A
[9:13] on the floor. Moved by Mr. Williams,
[9:17] second by Mr. Mancini. All in favor?
[9:21] Okay. Is there any objection to item
[9:23] number 4 A?
[9:27] Since there's no objection to this item,
[9:29] may I have a motion to place it onto the
[9:30] consent agenda?
[9:32] Moved by Mr. Farley.
[9:36] Second by Mr. Mancini.
[9:39] All in favor?
[9:43] If there's no objection, we can go u we
[9:45] can put this on the consent agenda.
[9:49] If there's nothing more to come before
[9:50] the city council caucus, I ask for a
[9:52] motion to adjurnn.
[9:54] Moved by Miss Pat uh moved by Miss
[9:56] Patrick, second by Mr. Williams. All in
[9:57] favor? We are adjourned. I'd like to
[10:00] call the city council meeting to order
[10:02] for Monday, October uh excuse me,
[10:03] October June 9th, 2025.
[10:07] And this afternoon, we do not have
[10:09] anyone to um to offer up the prayer.
[10:12] However, I would like to us to stand.
[10:14] I'd like to offer this prayer for the
[10:15] community.
[10:23] Dear Lord, I bring the people of
[10:25] Skenctity to you today. I pray that you
[10:28] give everyone comfort, companion, and
[10:30] companionship and hope. Please surround
[10:32] us with your love and care and make us
[10:34] feel your presence in our lives. Lord,
[10:37] help this council to be an instrument to
[10:38] seek out, to help, and to give uh
[10:42] support where is needed. God, I ask that
[10:44] you open the eyes of others to give a
[10:46] hand on the back to those who they come
[10:48] in contact with. I pray that you bring
[10:50] people together into their their lives
[10:52] who can be supportive and encouraging
[10:53] and that you would open up opportunities
[10:55] for them for to form meaningful
[10:57] relationships. Help us Lord to find joy
[10:59] and fulfillment in our lives and our
[11:02] duties that you've assigned to us
[11:03] despise despite what we may go through.
[11:06] Thank you, God, for the gift of
[11:07] community and how you bring people
[11:09] together. We pray that you will use us
[11:11] to bless everyone in our midst and to
[11:13] show them all love and compassion. Amen.
[11:17] I'd ask uh council member Patrick
[11:19] to lead us in the pledge.
[11:22] I pledge algiance to the flag of the
[11:25] United States of America and to the
[11:28] republic for which it stands, one nation
[11:31] under God, indivisible, with liberty and
[11:35] justice for all. Thank you.
[11:47] [Music]
[11:52] Thank you. If the clerk Yes. If the
[11:55] clerk could please complete the roll
[11:56] call.
[11:59] Absent. Mr. Farley here. Mr. Mancini
[12:03] here. Mr. Muver present. Miss Patrick
[12:06] here. Mr. Williams here. Miss
[12:09] Porterfield here.
[12:13] We have one public hearing this evening.
[12:15] And I just want to remind everyone that
[12:17] the public comment period for um
[12:20] on public hearings is four minutes and I
[12:22] ask also ask that you respectfully only
[12:24] speak to the subject of the public
[12:26] hearing itself. Thank you. I have four
[12:29] people who are signed up to speak for
[12:31] the public hearing.
[12:33] number one is regarding
[12:35] the redirection of a portion of Chrysler
[12:37] Avenue from a two-way street to a
[12:39] one-way street from the intersection of
[12:40] Crane and Main Streets to Ostrander
[12:43] Place.
[12:45] So, the first person of the four to
[12:47] speak is Chamele Davis.
[12:58] Good evening. I've been in two accidents
[13:01] on that road. Uh it's very small. It's
[13:05] hard for three cars to fit and there's
[13:06] parking on both sides. I believe it
[13:09] should be changed to a oneway. All
[13:12] right. Well, thank you,
[13:18] Maron Dos.
[13:25] I agree. It should uh be changed to a
[13:27] oneway. All right. Thank you,
[13:32] Ellie Pepper.
[13:39] Good evening, mayor, council president,
[13:41] city council members. I totally agree
[13:43] with making that a one-way street. It's
[13:45] really dangerous to go down that street
[13:46] when it's two-way. Um, if everybody's
[13:49] parked on one side, it's really hard to
[13:51] get out of the way of somebody coming
[13:52] towards you. Thanks.
[13:55] Thank you very much,
[13:58] Dean Morabado. Thank you.
[14:04] Good evening, Mayor, Madame President,
[14:07] members of the council. Uh yeah, it is a
[14:10] dangerous uh situation right now. I've
[14:13] driven down that street many times. It's
[14:14] really difficult. and reading through
[14:17] the surveys that were given out to
[14:19] people, it seemed like it was uh
[14:21] unanimously
[14:23] uh felt that there should be a one-way
[14:26] street. So, I agree with that. Thank
[14:28] you. Thank you.
[14:33] I have no one else signed up to speak,
[14:35] so I declare the public hearing um
[14:38] comment period on public hearing number
[14:39] one closed.
[14:41] I'll ask for approval of minutes from
[14:43] March 27th, 2025.
[14:45] Motion by Miss Patrick, second by Mr.
[14:47] Williams. All those in favor? I.
[14:51] The clerk could please read any
[14:53] communications and petitions.
[14:55] Communications presented to the city
[14:57] council for Monday, June 9th, 2025.
[14:59] Under official, there were none. Under
[15:01] general from PD Boris, two emails
[15:03] regarding the public hearing. She is
[15:05] interested in finding out the reason for
[15:06] the redirection of traffic and how the
[15:08] data was collected. She also noted that
[15:10] she still has not been able to find her
[15:12] belongings and under petitions there
[15:14] were none. Thank you. Call on council
[15:18] members for any committee reports.
[15:22] Okay.
[15:24] So we'll have privilege over the floor
[15:26] related to the legislative agenda.
[15:29] So I just want to make a few things
[15:31] clear. I see there's uh there are people
[15:32] signed up who may not have been here for
[15:34] our process before. So I just want to
[15:35] give some clarifying um direction. The
[15:39] privilege of the floor is three minutes
[15:42] and you would speak to on the
[15:43] legislative uh agenda item that you came
[15:46] here to speak about. At the end of the
[15:48] three minutes, if you're still within
[15:50] your comment and you need to just finish
[15:52] it up, I will allow you to do that. But
[15:54] we ask that that you not go over um an
[15:57] extended period of time.
[16:00] So for this um comment and you have and
[16:02] let me just also say we left the sheets
[16:05] out there. We asked people to sign up
[16:06] ahead of time. So the names I will be
[16:08] calling are names who have signed up to
[16:10] speak at this particular time on this
[16:13] particular um agenda item
[16:16] and we will not be entertaining any
[16:18] beyond that.
[16:21] Thank you.
[16:22] So, I have
[16:25] seven, eight people signed up to speak.
[16:28] And the first person, Earl Walker,
[16:32] Wallace, Wallace, Earl Wallace.
[16:35] Um, am I correct that the um on agenda
[16:38] item 4A, you're considering uh
[16:40] supporting Pop Warner? That is correct,
[16:42] sir. That's the uh I'm from the
[16:44] Republican party and I would like to
[16:46] address that issue. Been involved with
[16:47] youth programming my entire life. been a
[16:49] high school English teacher, played Pop
[16:51] Warner football up in Saratoga Springs,
[16:53] been a city resident since uh 1989.
[16:56] I would um request that we would um
[16:58] encourage parents to support Pop Water
[17:01] and that we don't do it as a city
[17:03] council with public funds. Uh how many
[17:06] sports will we end up supporting? I
[17:08] believe that um it's better for the
[17:10] community if parents are involved in
[17:12] raising the money. Perhaps the city can
[17:14] help the parents raise the money by um
[17:17] encouraging uh donations through a a
[17:19] city council website. But u my main
[17:22] thing is I would like to see that um
[17:24] left to the parents and we don't want to
[17:26] get our sports programs into a
[17:28] politicized program where perhaps maybe
[17:30] the next council may come along and
[17:32] decide that they're going to encourage
[17:34] certain coaches to be involved with the
[17:36] program because they're getting public
[17:38] money. Thank you. Thank you.
[17:44] Alyssa Hill.
[17:52] Good evening. I'd like to speak on
[17:54] behalf of the Belmont Cheer Program. Um,
[17:58] I am one of the I am a co-coordinator of
[18:00] the cheer program along with Immani
[18:02] Racer and I've been doing this for about
[18:05] at least three years now. I've been
[18:07] coaching for four. And I just wanted to
[18:10] say that our cheer program significantly
[18:13] lacks in being successful because we
[18:16] lack the appropriate equipment that we
[18:18] need to be successful comparable to
[18:21] other programs in the area. Um for
[18:24] example, there are programs like Colony
[18:26] Pop Warner who charge $350 for
[18:29] registration. um we will never charge
[18:32] that high because we know the needs of
[18:34] our families in this community and we
[18:37] that's why we have consistently kept it
[18:39] pretty much the same price. We've we've
[18:41] gone up a little bit this past year but
[18:43] we we don't really want to move it any
[18:45] higher because we know that our families
[18:47] cannot afford that and it has shown um
[18:50] in previous seasons. We also um we lack
[18:54] as far as where are the funds would go for cheer related it would be
[18:58] towards new uniforms uh cheer mats
[19:01] especially um it is hard to practice if
[19:04] anybody knows anything about
[19:06] cheerleading but it's hard to practice
[19:07] stunts and get more competitive because
[19:10] we don't have the cheerleading mats that
[19:12] we need. We also don't have anywhere to
[19:14] store them. Um we
[19:17] you know we work hard every year to fund
[19:19] raise. You know, a lot of people have
[19:21] mentioned, you know, as doing community
[19:23] fundraisers. We already do that um
[19:25] multiple times a year in different ways.
[19:27] Um and there's still a a lack of funds
[19:30] needed. Um and a lot of families
[19:32] struggle to um support the expensive
[19:36] travel that is required with um the
[19:40] competitiveness of the program. you
[19:42] know, as as the further that cheer or
[19:44] even football moves on, um the farther
[19:46] we go and it gets more expensive. And
[19:49] so, it's just always been a struggle for
[19:51] um the cheer program alone um is is
[19:54] really personal to me. I I started in
[19:57] Belmont when I was 5 years old as a
[19:59] mascot and cheered all the way up
[20:01] through high school. And I um would love
[20:05] to keep it a competitive and successful
[20:07] program for our community because a lot
[20:10] of times, you know, Pop Warner is the
[20:12] only program that people can afford.
[20:14] When I was young, I wanted to do
[20:15] all-star cheerleading and my family
[20:17] couldn't afford it and many people can
[20:19] afford it. Um so I just want to really
[20:21] emphasize that it's not we're not asking
[20:24] for funds just just to ask for them. Um,
[20:27] we truly do think that we can be even
[20:31] more successful with the funds that we
[20:33] would be receiving. And I know on on
[20:37] behalf of the football program, they too
[20:40] um have have been successful in the
[20:42] past, but just imagine how much farther
[20:44] we could go if we had the support from
[20:47] the city and the community um more than
[20:50] what we do now. Thank you. Thank you.
[20:59] DC Dunle.
[21:11] Good afternoon. My name is DC Dunle. I'm
[21:13] here on behalf of the youth that you see
[21:14] sitting behind us. I know many of you
[21:17] city council name members personally
[21:19] through my mentor, Walter Simkins. And
[21:22] on behalf of Walter, one thing I'd like
[21:23] to make very clear is we're not beggars
[21:25] in the marketplace. That's not why we're
[21:27] here. We're not asking you to fully fund
[21:29] our program. We're asking you to support
[21:31] our program. There's a lot of funding
[21:33] that goes into this program that's not
[21:34] in the budget, such as mental support,
[21:36] emotional support. A lot of us coaches
[21:39] bring kids to and from practice on our
[21:41] own dollar that we don't include in
[21:42] this. We fund kids playing that's not
[21:45] included in that budget. So, there's a
[21:47] lot of other costs that aren't
[21:48] associated with it. And sitting in these
[21:50] past two meetings is real disheartening
[21:52] hearing how much objection there is to
[21:54] supporting the youth of this city is you
[21:56] guys are all in these positions because
[21:58] you come to us to vote for you and now
[22:01] you're looking the youth in the face
[22:02] specifically you because all the other
[22:04] members from what I understand are in
[22:05] agreement with moving this forward but
[22:07] specifically you miss Patrick is real
[22:09] sir you have to address the chair you
[22:11] can't all right Marian I apologize
[22:14] so it's extremely disheartening hearing
[22:17] that there's so
[22:19] resistance to supporting the youth and
[22:22] consideration for what's going to be
[22:23] happening next year when we're trying to
[22:25] figure out what's going on right now. We
[22:26] we're we're turning away the fact that
[22:28] kids are hungry right now because other
[22:31] kids may possibly be hungry a couple
[22:32] months from now, hypothetically
[22:34] speaking, or next year we should
[22:35] consider it when right now the problem
[22:37] is at hand. And considering the fact
[22:39] that the money is already there, but you
[22:41] don't know what to do with it or you
[22:42] don't know where it's going is, those
[22:44] are exact words. We don't know where
[22:46] it's going. I don't understand what the
[22:48] problem is is
[22:50] we're we're counting the cost, but what
[22:52] does it cost not to support these kids?
[22:54] What does it cost to turn these kids
[22:55] away from sports? What does it cost to
[22:56] have these kids on Chrysler app right
[22:59] around the corner from the football
[23:00] field where you're trying to make it a
[23:01] one-way street? There's a lot of a kid
[23:04] was just killed around the corner who
[23:05] could have been in something positive or
[23:07] doing something else. So, when we invest
[23:08] in the youth, you see different results.
[23:11] I myself am an alumni of Belmont Pop
[23:13] Warner as a child. My mother never paid
[23:15] for a single year of me playing Pop
[23:17] Warner. But here I am giving my time
[23:19] four to five days a week, investing in
[23:21] these youth, investing my own dollars,
[23:23] investing my own time. And that's what
[23:25] comes back from investing in youth. Now
[23:28] t-fold return. And we're not asking you
[23:31] to, like I said, we're not asking you to
[23:34] carry the program because that's going
[23:35] to be done regardless. Speaking on
[23:37] parents should be involved in it not
[23:39] becoming a city problem. The parents
[23:40] been supporting this program for 50
[23:42] years. We haven't asked for a dollar for
[23:43] 50 years. So you can't say what we
[23:46] should be doing when we've already
[23:47] proven the success of what we've done.
[23:49] We haven't the the program goes on with
[23:51] or without you. So as the
[23:54] representatives of this city, it's your
[23:56] guys's responsibility to support. We're
[23:59] not asking you to carry it. We're just
[24:00] asking you to support. And the amount of
[24:02] resistance that goes into support is
[24:04] extremely disgusting considering that
[24:06] these children that you're saying don't
[24:08] need it are the same children whose
[24:10] parents you're asking for to vote for
[24:11] you. the same children's parents are
[24:13] putting you in the position to deny
[24:15] them. I I I really don't get it as a
[24:18] member of this city. So clearly I need
[24:20] to be more involved with uh what's going
[24:22] on down here in these city council
[24:24] meetings. And it's not directly a jab at
[24:27] anyone personal, but it we got to do
[24:30] better. Is Belmont slogan one team one
[24:33] family. And right now you're turning
[24:35] down the entire family because you're
[24:36] concerned about families we don't even
[24:39] know of. Your time is expired. Huh? Your
[24:41] time is expired. That was a fast three
[24:43] minutes, Marian. But I said, put on your
[24:46] own iPhones if you think mine is wrong.
[24:48] Okay, you can we can all do that. But
[24:49] your time has expired. Thank you. You're
[24:51] welcome.
[24:55] [Applause]
[24:59] Shame Davis.
[25:06] Good evening again. I um I just want to
[25:09] mirror the remarks from DC Dunker. I'm I
[25:13] am I am wholly disappointed and uh I
[25:17] feel like you guys should be ashamed.
[25:19] The city should be ashamed that you you
[25:21] talk about spending $3 million on
[25:24] sprinkler systems and golf courses and and and all the organizations that
[25:29] get reoccurring funding without having
[25:31] to prove or show anything. But yet you
[25:33] got an organization that say that's been
[25:35] doing it like they said 50 years by the
[25:37] self helping the youth with or without
[25:40] the city and the one time they come to
[25:42] the city is nothing but resistance. It
[25:44] is shameful and disgusting man. That's
[25:47] all I got to say.
[25:54] Maran Dobs.
[26:02] Hi, my name is Marshawn Dobs. I just
[26:05] like to say, you know, um this is
[26:08] definitely my son's been playing for
[26:09] three years and he loves this sport.
[26:12] has been nothing but good to
[26:14] him. Um it does encourage a lot of the
[26:17] kids to stay out the streets. It
[26:19] encourages him to um you know, have good
[26:22] grades in school. Um we're definitely
[26:25] disappointed with certain things. Um
[26:28] there's like they said there's 250 kids
[26:30] that play and there's many of parents
[26:33] that do vote and we are noticing who we
[26:37] should vote for. So uh yeah, I'm just
[26:39] letting that be known. Thank you. Thank
[26:41] you,
[26:44] [Applause]
[26:47] Ellie Pepper.
[26:55] Somebody's really tall. Good evening
[26:58] again. Um, I am in total support of
[27:01] finding some way to provide funding for
[27:04] the Belmont Pop Warner organization.
[27:08] And if other sports organizations come,
[27:10] that's fine. That's okay. Let's let's
[27:12] hear it. Uh, let's support our youth.
[27:16] We're always talking about youth not
[27:18] having anything to do, youth hanging out
[27:20] on the streets. This is something that
[27:22] uh provides a good opportunity and
[27:24] frankly of all the places where my tax
[27:27] dollars could go, this is one place I
[27:29] would like to see it go. Thank you.
[27:36] Calvin Tyron.
[27:42] Hello. How you doing tonight? My name is
[27:43] Calvin Trion. I'm a lifelong resident of
[27:45] Skenctity, New York. This my son right
[27:47] here. This was his first year playing uh
[27:49] football for the Belmont program. I
[27:52] noticed uh a lot of positive attributes
[27:54] that he gained from the time that he
[27:56] spent at the program this year. And
[27:58] honestly, Belmont is a like a DNA of
[28:01] Skenctity. Like it's a part of the
[28:02] fabric of the community. Like my my
[28:05] stepfather, he's a uh he's a lifelong
[28:07] city resident. He's a part of the team
[28:09] that was undefeated in the 70s. Like he
[28:11] still pulls out his book and tells me
[28:13] about it to this day. like it's is
[28:16] really a part of our community. So, I
[28:17] feel like we got to put a little more
[28:19] importance on Belmont specifically. I
[28:21] know there's other sports programs. I'm
[28:23] not trying to take away anything, but
[28:24] Belmont is really a important part of
[28:26] our fabric of our community for one. And
[28:29] for two, I feel like we need to exhaust
[28:31] all options on investing in the youth so
[28:33] we can actually get these kids to to
[28:35] stick around. A lot of a lot of kids
[28:37] don't they they want to go somewhere
[28:39] else to play football or oh let me go to
[28:41] Gilderland because they got this and let
[28:43] me let's let's worry about here keep our
[28:45] kids in this community and then when
[28:47] they grow up to be adults they'll come
[28:49] back and invest again in this community.
[28:51] You know what I mean? Like so we can
[28:52] move forward with that type of stuff. Um
[28:55] in and in general like I said the
[28:57] Belmont program is just positive. The
[28:59] coaches are doing a lot of uh amazing
[29:01] things. They've always done amazing
[29:02] things. And not everybody's going to be
[29:05] a professional athlete, but I was a a
[29:07] member of Belmont as well. And there's
[29:09] just certain things you learn as in
[29:11] sports being a part of a team and just
[29:13] discipline and other things like that our youth is in my opinion lacking
[29:18] in this current generation. And so, like
[29:19] I said, I would feel like in my opinion,
[29:21] I feel like we need to invest um exhaust
[29:24] all options in investing in the youth.
[29:26] And that's just that that was my small
[29:27] piece what I had to say. Thank you for
[29:29] the time. Thank you.
[29:32] [Applause]
[29:37] William Kent.
[29:48] Good evening. Uh my name is William
[29:50] Kent. I am the current president of
[29:52] Skenctity Belmont Pop Warner. I'm also a
[29:55] lifelong city resident as well. I grew
[29:56] up playing Pop Warner. My father was a
[29:58] coach, which really got me into it and
[30:00] helped me fall in love with the game.
[30:02] Um, a lot of these people that you see
[30:04] here, uh, I either met through the
[30:06] program or I grew up within the city as
[30:08] friends and as community members. And
[30:11] we've come together to honestly do
[30:14] something special. So, I just want to
[30:15] touch on something that the gentleman
[30:17] had said prior to me uh, a couple uh,
[30:21] people back um, about parent
[30:23] involvement. What you're seeing right
[30:25] here is parent involvement. This is community
[30:29] involvement. Uh we could talk about
[30:31] differences in communities and about
[30:33] single family, single parent households
[30:35] in one community to the next and what
[30:37] that might look like for a single mother
[30:39] with four kids that's working two jobs
[30:41] to be able to help fund raise or to be
[30:43] able to kick out extra money for their
[30:44] kid to be able to do something different
[30:46] or a city in Skenctity that a median
[30:48] household income is $55,000 to a median
[30:51] household in Saratoga that's $101,000.
[30:54] Right? So, apples to oranges when we're
[30:56] talking about certain things. And um I
[30:59] do genuinely appreciate the the the
[31:01] conversation that took place, right?
[31:03] That doesn't mean I also appreciate
[31:04] everything that was said, but I
[31:06] understand, right, that there's always
[31:07] going to be multiple sides to a uh to a
[31:10] discussion and any type of a debate. But
[31:12] what I'll say is there's no debate in
[31:14] this. And um the kids participating in
[31:16] our program are benefiting not just as
[31:19] athletes. They're benefiting as people
[31:21] because of the people that you see right
[31:22] here. These people every day pour into
[31:24] these kids. They're giving rise. We none
[31:26] of us make a dollar doing what we do.
[31:28] But we do it because we're rich morally,
[31:30] because we're rich with love. We're rich
[31:32] with family. And that's what we talk. We
[31:33] don't say one scene, one family for no
[31:35] reason. There's nobody in here I
[31:36] wouldn't give the shirt off my back for.
[31:38] And they would do the same for me and
[31:39] anybody in my family. So it goes a lot
[31:41] deeper than that. And also like we talk
[31:43] about kids having things to do and being
[31:45] productive members of our community,
[31:46] right? So the thing is we have a certain
[31:49] amount of kids that are already
[31:50] participating. We would like to continue
[31:52] to grow that. From 2021, when I first
[31:54] took over the program, we only had about
[31:56] six, seven teams total. That includes
[31:57] cheer, tackle, flag, everything. Now,
[32:00] we've more than tripled that across the
[32:02] board. We're continuing to get more and
[32:04] more engagement with kids. And that's
[32:06] the idea. We want to get more kids
[32:07] involved. We want there's over 10,000
[32:09] kids in the school district in Skenctity
[32:11] alone. We would like to try to make a
[32:12] bigger and bigger dent in that every
[32:14] single year. So, yes, we're asking for
[32:16] some funding this time around, but that
[32:18] doesn't mean we're not sustainable. I
[32:19] can guarantee you this. We will continue
[32:21] to grow. We will continue to push and we
[32:22] will continue to work together as a unit
[32:25] and we will do great things and we
[32:26] appreciate any and all support that you
[32:28] all offer and we thank you for that.
[32:30] Thank you.
[32:33] [Applause]
[32:40] All right. I have no one else signed up
[32:42] to speak, so I declare the public
[32:44] comment on the legislative agenda
[32:46] closed.
[32:53] He was there.
[32:59] Oh, sir, you were asking. You were
[33:02] looking.
[33:03] You You'd have to move to the
[33:05] microphone.
[33:12] Is this to speak about something that's
[33:14] on the agenda? Um,
[33:17] it's not on it's not about anything
[33:19] that's on the legislative agenda. Okay.
[33:21] So, well, we will give you an
[33:22] opportunity to sign up for general city
[33:24] business. That's not right now. And I'll
[33:26] give the sheet back to the council
[33:27] member. They you can sign up for that.
[33:28] That's at the end of the meeting if it's
[33:31] not on the agenda.
[33:36] So, I'll call you for that. It's not
[33:38] right now.
[33:40] Thank you.
[33:49] This time ask for approval of the
[33:50] consent legislative consent agenda.
[33:53] Will my Mr. Williams
[33:56] second by Oh, wait. Uh second by Mr.
[33:59] Mutiver.
[34:01] All in favor? I. We do have one item for
[34:05] roll call
[34:07] and the clerk could please read item
[34:09] number two.
[34:14] for original
[34:15] consideration, a resolution authorizing
[34:17] fee waivers for exterior building permit
[34:20] repairs.
[34:24] I need a motion by Miss Williams. Second, by Mr. Mancini.
[34:34] Is there any discussion on this item?
[34:39] Yes, Mr. Williams.
[34:46] I just wanted to clarify my comments
[34:47] that were made during the committee
[34:48] meeting. Uh my um opposition to this is
[34:52] based on just wanting to have a better
[34:53] understanding of what it represents. uh
[34:55] there seems to be just some um not
[34:58] clarifying details and sincerely if we
[35:01] are looking to have these types of um
[35:04] cost savings for a specific population
[35:06] building them into the budget I think is
[35:08] a more appropriate manner with this
[35:10] being in its fourth iteration or fourth
[35:12] year um definitely with ensuring that it
[35:15] is meeting the tangible needs of our
[35:16] homeowners as in hearing some
[35:18] conversations around this in our past
[35:20] meetings of trying to entice uh
[35:22] redevelopment and renovation within the
[35:24] homes where it is so verly needed. Um,
[35:27] just wanting to have just some of those
[35:29] tangibles outlined to include potential
[35:31] marketing to ensure that everyone knows
[35:33] and understands what the program is and
[35:35] then also what it isn't. Thank you. Any
[35:39] further discussion?
[35:41] If the clerk could please call the role.
[35:43] Mr. Farley. No. Mr. Mancini? Yes. Mr.
[35:48] Muan? Yes. Miss Patrick? Yes. Mr.
[35:52] Williams? No.
[35:54] Miss Porterfield. Thank you. First of
[35:56] all, I would like to just to explain my
[35:58] vote. So, I view this legislation from
[36:01] the lens of giving a an incentive to
[36:03] homeowners and owners of rental property
[36:05] in Skenctity and how we treat other
[36:08] investors in the city. Developers and
[36:10] business investors who seek to do
[36:12] business in the city of Skenctity are
[36:13] given various incentives to entice them
[36:16] to have their business located here.
[36:18] There are tax credits, discounts on
[36:20] supplies and materials, pilots, payment
[36:23] in lee of taxes, and sometimes just the
[36:25] benefit of being well connected. Most of
[36:28] our residents do not have those those
[36:30] resources available to them. Even within
[36:34] the within the New York State budget of
[36:36] 2026,
[36:38] it was recognized that the general
[36:39] public needed to have the ability to
[36:41] purchase single and two family homes um
[36:44] before res before institutional real
[36:46] estate um investors. And therefore they
[36:49] added article 16 to the real property
[36:51] tax law which states that one to two
[36:54] family residents must be listed for sale
[36:56] to the general public for 90 days before
[36:59] institutional investors can take it can
[37:01] take um can bid on it. So considering
[37:05] all of that and that our while we
[37:07] incentivize um major real estates and
[37:10] developers I think we should also take
[37:12] this opportunity to um invest in our
[37:15] local homeowners.
[37:18] I understand what Councilman Williams is
[37:19] saying that we need to build it into our
[37:21] budget and that we do need to have some
[37:23] understanding on how it's how it's done
[37:25] going forward. I and I appreciate that
[37:27] and I just want homeowners to know we
[37:29] appreciate that the property owners who
[37:30] are investing in improving in their
[37:32] property and they should also be aware
[37:34] that when there's major improvements
[37:35] that go beyond the aesthetics of
[37:37] painting, fixing painting, uh peeling
[37:40] paint, broken rails, etc. or beyond the
[37:42] aesthetics, if there's major
[37:44] improvements that could co cause a rise
[37:46] into into the assessment of their
[37:48] properties, but that's something they would want to take on. So, I think
[37:51] there's a upside to that in terms of the
[37:54] increase in assessment because they've
[37:55] improved their property, but also
[37:57] because renters are getting their
[37:59] properties uh improved as well and that
[38:02] um we are giving some incentives to our
[38:04] small um to our landlords and small
[38:06] property owners. So, with that, I vote
[38:08] yes.
[38:10] And the motion passes 4 to two.
[38:17] At this time, we'll have privilege of
[38:19] the floor regarding general city
[38:20] business.
[38:25] And I have six people signed up to
[38:27] speak.
[38:30] The first person is Sean Ratigan.
[38:40] Um yeah, hey, good evening. Um my name
[38:44] is Sean Ratigan and um I've spoken here
[38:47] before on how as a homeowner in
[38:49] Skynctity, protecting tenants with good
[38:51] cause eviction is important to me. And
[38:54] today I'd like to speak on the
[38:56] importance of care and respect when
[38:59] operating in the housing business. When
[39:01] your income depends on providing a roof
[39:04] over someone else's head, you'd better
[39:06] take their living conditions and their
[39:08] life circumstances seriously. These are
[39:11] people's lives we're talking about.
[39:13] Their home, their community, where their
[39:15] children go to school, and where they
[39:16] play sports.
[39:18] When a landlord decides decides to evict
[39:21] a tenant, they're deciding to uproot one
[39:23] or more people's lives. This shouldn't
[39:26] be something taken lightly. This should
[39:28] be something
[39:30] This shouldn't be a decision made
[39:32] without a good cause.
[39:34] Tenants deserve safe, affordable, stable
[39:37] housing. Tenants should know that
[39:39] Skenctity has their back if the landlord
[39:41] files an eviction for something other
[39:43] than non-payment, violating the lease,
[39:46] violating the law, or taking the unit
[39:48] off the market. Tenants shouldn't fear
[39:51] landlords retaliating against them with
[39:54] eviction for arbitrary reasons or
[39:56] because they requested repairs on their
[39:58] apartment.
[40:00] Landlords, when you get into the
[40:02] business of someone else's housing, you
[40:04] better be putting people before profits.
[40:07] I bought a house because I couldn't put
[40:09] up with my landlord raising the rent
[40:11] exorbitantly every year when I renewed
[40:13] my lease. And now I have 15 years of
[40:16] relatively stable housing payments to
[40:18] the bank.
[40:19] because the city taxes, they really
[40:21] don't go that go up that much every
[40:23] year. So, it's kind of wild to me that
[40:26] landlords who have the outright capital
[40:28] to purchase property or the credit to
[40:30] get long-term stable loans and then use
[40:32] the rents paid to them every month to
[40:34] pay those loans back will still increase
[40:37] the rents, refuse or ignore repairs,
[40:39] suggest terrible repair options, provide
[40:42] underinsulated units, take months to
[40:46] repair an elevator, or per perform any
[40:48] other repairs that deeply impact the way
[40:50] tenants live. Good cause eviction still
[40:54] lets landlords file evictions. It's not
[40:56] going to make it harder to evict a
[40:58] tenant or for a justifiable reason. And
[41:01] in good co in California, good cause law
[41:04] helps speed up courts by getting rid of
[41:07] bunk no fault eviction cases. Skenctity
[41:10] city council good cause eviction is good
[41:13] for the city's operation. It's good for
[41:16] the community. It's good for the people
[41:18] that actually live here. Why shouldn't
[41:20] we afford our 57% renter community these
[41:24] protections? Please put the people
[41:26] first. Thanks. Thank you,
[41:29] [Applause]
[41:34] Earl Wallace.
[41:36] I respect the wave. Okay, sir. No
[41:38] problem. Ellie Pepper.
[41:51] Good evening again, Mayor, Council
[41:52] President, and City Council members. Uh,
[41:55] just for the record, I'm Ellie Pepper,
[41:56] and I live in the Eastern A
[41:58] neighborhood. I have lived here for 30
[42:00] years.
[42:02] Uh since New York's emergency rental
[42:06] assistance program protections ended in
[42:08] January of 2023,
[42:11] Skenctity has likely seen over 3,500
[42:15] eviction filings based on an average of
[42:18] about 175 filings per month. That's more
[42:22] than 3,500 families brought into court,
[42:24] many of whom were paying rent and
[42:26] following the rules, but still face
[42:28] losing their homes without a clear
[42:30] reason. We also know that eviction is a
[42:33] leading driver of homelessness. In a
[42:36] single school year, more than 500
[42:38] students in the Skenctity School
[42:40] District were identified as homeless.
[42:42] That's not just a statistic. It's a sign
[42:45] of families living in crisis and kids
[42:47] struggling to learn without stable
[42:49] housing.
[42:51] Good cause eviction is one way we can
[42:54] prevent this. It says that landlords
[42:56] must have a valid reason like
[42:58] non-payment of rent or a serious lease
[43:01] violation before evicting someone. It
[43:05] also gives tenants the right to
[43:06] challenge extreme rent hikes. This isn't
[43:09] about stopping rent increases
[43:11] altogether. It's about preventing sudden
[43:15] abusive increases that are meant to
[43:17] force people out.
[43:19] And to be clear, this isn't rent
[43:22] control. Good cause doesn't freeze
[43:25] rents. It doesn't set prices. Landlords
[43:28] can still raise rent reasonably each
[43:30] year and still pursue eviction for a
[43:33] cause. The law also exempts small owner
[43:38] occupied buildings with fewer than four
[43:40] units.
[43:42] We've seen how this works elsewhere. In
[43:44] New York City, since good cause
[43:45] protections were enacted in April 2024,
[43:48] eviction filings have dropped
[43:50] significantly down to about 9300 per
[43:53] month compared to 15,000 per month
[43:56] before the pandemic. In California, a
[43:59] study showed that cities with just cause
[44:01] eviction laws saw statistically
[44:03] significant drops in eviction filings.
[44:07] And in Albany, tenants use local good
[44:09] cause rules to stop 50 to 100% rent
[44:13] hikes and stay in their homes. These
[44:16] policies work. They keep people housed
[44:18] and they reduce the number of evictions
[44:20] flooding our courts.
[44:22] Skenctity has the chance to do the same.
[44:25] With thousands of eviction filings just
[44:27] since last year, we can't afford to keep
[44:29] waiting. We need this protection in
[44:31] place now for our families, for our
[44:34] neighborhoods, and for the future of
[44:36] this city. I urge you to vote to opcon
[44:40] skenctity into the good cause eviction
[44:43] law. It's not that radical. It's fair.
[44:47] It's tested and it's necessary.
[44:50] And also, I support funding for Belmont
[44:52] Pop Warner. Thank you.
[45:01] Dean Morabido.
[45:08] Hello again all. I am Dean Morabido,
[45:12] 30-year city resident.
[45:15] Um, and I would encourage you also to
[45:16] opt into good cause eviction. It's uh,
[45:19] it seems like the thing to do. It should
[45:22] be done. I also wanted to comment on the
[45:25] Belmont Pop Warner. Um, I was able to
[45:29] attend the committee meeting and heard
[45:31] their presentation by the members of Pop
[45:33] Warner and uh, it seems like it's
[45:38] uh, already uh, supported through the
[45:41] community and through the parents and
[45:44] uh, I I see no reason to have the
[45:47] committee uh, city council not supported
[45:50] as well emotionally and financially.
[45:53] It's it's a good thing for kids to do.
[45:56] It's a good thing for kids to be
[45:58] involved with their parents and the
[46:00] parents to be involved with their kids.
[46:02] Uh it's just a good thing and I support
[46:05] it totally. Thank you. Thank you.
[46:09] [Applause]
[46:14] Bridget Savage Savage Spies.
[46:22] Hello. Uh my name is Bridget Savage
[46:24] Spies. Um, I live in Albany and I
[46:27] volunteer organizing tenants throughout
[46:29] the capital district. And so I wanted to
[46:32] um give some context on what good cause
[46:34] has done for Albany um so that um you
[46:37] guys can understand the reason why um I
[46:40] think it's a good idea to pass in
[46:41] Skenctity as well. Um while organizing
[46:44] tenant unions and working with tenants
[46:46] in the capital district, I've seen some
[46:47] pretty appalling conditions um largely
[46:50] in
[46:52] um
[46:53] large properties owned by multi-million
[46:56] dollar corporations um that are based
[46:59] out of state um and have very little
[47:02] tangible um tangible support in the um
[47:06] in the property itself.
[47:09] um these these multi-million dollar
[47:12] corporations frequently buy up these properties. Um they don't develop
[47:17] them, they don't improve them. Um and
[47:19] they frequently increase rent by 30 to
[47:21] 50% on um families and community members
[47:25] who are already living there. Um in
[47:28] 2022, one of the largest housing
[47:31] complexes in Albany was purchased by one
[47:33] of these companies. Um, several of the
[47:35] tenants there eventually got fed up with
[47:37] the extreme lack of maintenance. There
[47:39] were rodents everywhere throughout the
[47:41] building. Um, and they were refusing to
[47:44] send exterminators in to fix the
[47:46] problem. Um, they had broken appliances,
[47:49] mold throughout the building. Um, and
[47:51] none of it was being addressed. And so
[47:53] these tenants came to the United Tenants
[47:55] of Albany and tried to form a housing
[47:58] um, a housing union in order to address
[48:00] these problems with management
[48:02] collectively and head on. um because
[48:04] they weren't being addressed in these
[48:05] one-to-one conversations.
[48:08] So, after Alby's good cause protections
[48:11] were struck down, um one of these tenant
[48:14] organizers received a bill for a
[48:16] received a $600 a month rent increase.
[48:20] Um, and so she was then forced to
[48:24] continue she she was able to continue to
[48:26] live in her home paying $600 more a
[48:29] month um temporarily, but she still had
[48:33] mold in her bathroom and her kid with
[48:35] asthma was still sick. Um, and this is
[48:39] the kind of thing that good cause
[48:40] prevents. um is parents and community
[48:44] members are able to stay in their homes
[48:46] without predatory rent hikes just for
[48:48] asking for basic living conditions. Um
[48:52] this winter though with good cause
[48:54] protections back in Albany now that we
[48:56] could opt into them through the state.
[48:58] Um there was a better story where heat
[49:01] went out in an 80 plus unit complex in
[49:03] the center of downtown Albany. um those
[49:06] residents called United Tenants and
[49:08] concerned that if they made a complaint
[49:09] to code enforcement that they would be
[49:12] subject to these predatory rent
[49:13] increases that other places had seen. Um
[49:16] they had good reason to be concerned
[49:18] about this. Um but United Tenants was
[49:20] able to reassure them that good cause
[49:22] would protect them in the case that they
[49:24] made a complaint to code enforcement
[49:25] about it being the middle of January and
[49:28] their rooms being 50°.
[49:31] Um,
[49:33] this is what good cause can do for a
[49:34] community. Landlords that are present in
[49:36] the community, maintain their property,
[49:38] and raise rents just to keep up with
[49:39] their costs are not affected by good
[49:41] cause eviction protections. Your your
[49:43] time has expired. Okay. Thank you.
[49:45] You're welcome.
[49:47] [Applause]
[49:53] Patricia Reed.
[50:00] I'm sorry, it's Patrice.
[50:11] Hi, my name is Patricia Reed.
[50:15] We can hear you. Okay,
[50:18] before I start, can I give all these
[50:20] papers to you guys?
[50:45] My name is Patricia Reed. I was here
[50:48] last year uh July 1st, 2024.
[50:53] I'm trying to I've been trying to open
[50:55] this business in Skenctity, the park of
[50:58] Central Park, city of Skenctity like
[51:00] since 2022.
[51:03] So I remember all these faces. Hopefully
[51:06] you guys remember me. I was here trying
[51:09] to see if I can open a small business in
[51:13] city of connected. But the city of
[51:16] sketed has been giving me run around
[51:19] like, "Oh, you do this, do this." I did
[51:22] everything the city of Skencted asked me
[51:24] to do. I even paid for his insurance.
[51:27] They told me to pay for insurance. I
[51:29] paid for the insurance. I got all that
[51:31] done up to uh last year,
[51:37] July 15th,
[51:39] Miss Marion, I I sent an email to follow
[51:42] up to what was going on. and she sent me
[51:44] an email say somebody from the city will
[51:47] send me something to see where we can
[51:51] start the business. So from that time
[51:54] 2024
[51:56] the 15th I've been following up. I've
[51:58] been coming here saying oh can I speak
[52:01] to the city council? I was always told
[52:04] or leave your number they'll call you
[52:05] back. I never got a call back. Mr.
[52:09] Alfonso
[52:11] I always uh email him. I never got an
[52:14] email back.
[52:16] So I'm here to see what's going on. Why
[52:20] I can't get an opportunity to open a
[52:22] business at Central Park in Skenctity.
[52:25] I'm not bring like something bad. I'm
[52:28] trying to bring something good for the
[52:30] community in the city of Skenctity. So
[52:32] why I can't get that chance to open that
[52:35] business in the city of Skenctity.
[52:37] And it's been like since 2022. I did
[52:40] everything the city of skeleton asked me
[52:42] to do. It's like now today I didn't I
[52:46] didn't even have anything. So I like I'm
[52:49] just going to go over there to see
[52:51] what's going on, what I can do. What
[52:53] else can I do for me to be able to open
[52:55] a business in cities connected? This is
[52:58] a small business. It'll be good for the
[53:00] community. That's what I think. I think
[53:03] it'll be good for the community and is
[53:05] for everybody. kids, older people can
[53:09] use it. So that's why I gave you the
[53:12] paperwork so that you guys you can
[53:14] remember me the last time I was here.
[53:18] So I would like to have the opportunity
[53:21] to open it a small business central park
[53:25] city of Skenctity and if there's any
[53:28] reason why I can I would like to know
[53:30] that too.
[53:33] Thank you. Thank you.
[53:37] [Applause]
[53:43] I have no one else signed up to speak on
[53:45] public comment and regular city
[53:46] business. So I declare this public
[53:48] comment period closed.
[53:52] This same is this time entertain any
[53:54] miscellaneous business of the council.
[53:56] Mr. Williams.
[54:02] Uh thank you. I sincerely just wanted to
[54:04] go before Mr. Harley. Um, with regards
[54:07] to the the Belmont program and before I
[54:09] make any comments regarding that, I
[54:11] sincerely want to thank everyone for
[54:12] coming out to speak. Although my
[54:14] comments will be directed to the the
[54:16] president, um, it takes a good effort
[54:19] and a confidence to come and speak at
[54:21] the podium. I think a lot of people take
[54:22] it uh or undervalue how uncomfortable it
[54:25] is to speak in this type of setting, but
[54:26] sincerely sharing your opinions wherever
[54:29] they reside, I take vigorous notes and I
[54:31] do it for a reason because I care. uh
[54:33] and your perspective helps me understand
[54:35] how to advocate for my position. Um but
[54:37] I want to speak specifically to the
[54:39] young men and women that are in this
[54:41] room. Although my back is to you
[54:42] sincerely, uh your your hearts are are with me right now. Um these seats
[54:48] that we sit in, they have term limits.
[54:50] Um but sincerely, the blood, sweat, the
[54:53] investments that are being poured into
[54:55] you, uh that lasts a lifetime. And as
[54:58] you can tell, a lot of the people that
[55:00] are doing this work now were in your
[55:02] seats. So take this seriously and it is
[55:06] not for you to begin because I already
[55:08] know you are doing this good work of
[55:09] being shepherds and ambassadors for the
[55:13] legacy that you're pouring into. But you
[55:15] are that legacy also right now. Uh so as
[55:17] we look at justifying the continued
[55:20] investment into these types of efforts,
[55:22] I think it requires us viewing how we
[55:24] fund things in this municipality from a
[55:27] standpoint of if we proactively address
[55:30] issues, do we have the discussion of
[55:32] continuing to fund our overtime at an
[55:34] excessive level? Uh and that is only one
[55:37] facet of why I think looking at things
[55:39] through a different lens um provides us
[55:42] opportunities to address the needs of
[55:43] our community in a different way. Uh so
[55:46] as we enter uh the year of 2026 uh and
[55:50] those budgeting needs are being taken
[55:51] into consideration, understand what is
[55:54] potentially about to happen with this
[55:56] upcoming vote and regardless of where
[55:59] our council stands, understanding that
[56:01] there are people in this room, there are
[56:02] people outside of this room that love
[56:03] you. So hold on to that and carry
[56:06] forward properly.
[56:10] Thank you.
[56:12] [Applause]
[56:18] Mr. Farley.
[56:21] Thank you, Madam Chair. Um, first I want
[56:23] to thank everyone that came out today
[56:24] and has been out and has come out in the
[56:27] past to uh address city council. Um,
[56:30] this seat that we sit in um comes with
[56:33] tough decisions that have to be made and
[56:35] these should always be spirited
[56:36] conversations um but not mean-spirited
[56:39] conversations. And I am what you call a
[56:43] street shooter, if you will. I say what
[56:46] I mean and and then try to mean what I
[56:48] say. When I'm calling
[56:51] someone in, it's important that you
[56:53] recognize I am addressing a behavior and
[56:57] I'm criticizing a behavior and not a
[56:59] person. And that is our obligation, what
[57:03] we're obligated to do when we sit in
[57:05] these seats to exchange ideas with one
[57:08] another and say, "Hey, I disagree with
[57:10] that." Or, "Hey, this doesn't align with
[57:13] who we say we are um publicly." And I
[57:16] think that those are tough. That's a
[57:19] tough standard to be held to, but that's
[57:21] the exact standard that we ought to be
[57:23] held to in our position. And to disagree
[57:27] with me on a position doesn't make you a
[57:30] disagreeable person. Um, and there are
[57:34] part of this job, if you will, is giving
[57:36] concessions and and and making
[57:38] compromises. Um, I'm always willing to
[57:41] do that. That's what we saw happen
[57:44] today.
[57:45] However, there's certain areas that we
[57:47] can we can't afford to compromise on and
[57:50] that is definitely our youth. there.
[57:53] That money that is invested, not the
[57:56] cost that we're spending, but the
[57:58] investment
[57:59] that dollar stays in our community. Not
[58:02] only does it enrich the lives of our
[58:03] young people, it also relaxes some of
[58:05] the money that we have to spend being in reaction to lack of programs like
[58:11] Belmont. That comes at a cost, too. So,
[58:14] I just want to really uh uplift the fact
[58:16] and I appreciate um uh the committee
[58:19] members um and Miss Patrick engaging in
[58:21] this conversation in a way that did not
[58:25] uh shut out the ideas of people but was
[58:28] uh willing to really listen, compromise
[58:30] and be responsive um be a responsive
[58:33] leader. That's what I uh aspire us all
[58:35] to continue to be. And I just again
[58:37] deeply appreciate Belmont the work
[58:39] you're doing in one team, one family.
[58:41] Thank you. Thank you.
[58:44] [Music]
[58:46] [Applause]
[58:49] Miss Patrick,
[58:52] thank you. Yeah, I think um I agree with
[58:54] what Mr. Farley said. I had actually
[58:56] written down a very similar statement
[58:58] about um you know sitting at this table
[59:01] means that you have to make difficult
[59:03] decisions and difficult choices. Um and
[59:06] that's just goes along with with the job
[59:08] that goes along with the job of being
[59:10] part of a team. um that we have to be
[59:12] working together and uh listening to
[59:14] each other and listening to each other's
[59:16] uh thoughts and and opinions as well. Um
[59:20] I did compromise uh today. Um I do hope
[59:25] that folks understand that um you know
[59:27] this is a one time that ARPA funding
[59:29] that we used um Miss Patrick
[59:33] the ARPA funding that uh we used today
[59:36] is uh not going to be here uh after this
[59:39] year. So, uh, you know, I hope folks
[59:42] understand that this was a one-time
[59:44] grant. Um, the idea that I came in with
[59:47] tonight was that when we start to
[59:50] discuss the 2026 budget, um, under the
[59:53] direction of our parks director, um, I
[59:57] think we need to think about what we
[59:58] want to do for youth recreation. Um that
[1:00:01] is my committee health and recreation
[1:00:04] and we spend a lot of time uh talking
[1:00:06] about our fields, talking about our
[1:00:08] parks, talking about the golf course
[1:00:11] where indeed we made an investment into
[1:00:13] the golf course um which is one area of
[1:00:16] the city where we generate revenue uh
[1:00:19] through the golf course. So that was a
[1:00:21] sound investment in something that had
[1:00:24] not been uh worked on for years. Um so I
[1:00:28] think that uh next year we will have to
[1:00:31] think about this um in terms of all the
[1:00:33] youth activities. Mr. Farley and I met
[1:00:36] uh on a committee that was working on
[1:00:39] youth programs in the city well before
[1:00:41] either one of us was on city council.
[1:00:44] Um, and I think that it's important for
[1:00:47] us to continue to understand that
[1:00:49] anything we do, we have a very robust
[1:00:52] summer recreation program planned in our
[1:00:55] parks this summer. Um, and hopefully
[1:00:58] those opportunities will um, help the
[1:01:02] youth that come, whether they're coming
[1:01:03] to swim in the pool, whether they're
[1:01:04] coming to play a sport, whether they're
[1:01:06] going to be coming and taking part in
[1:01:08] arts and crafts activities or ecological
[1:01:12] uh, environmental kinds of activities.
[1:01:14] Um, all of those kinds of things are a
[1:01:16] way to make sure that our youth are
[1:01:19] having um, robust opportunities this summer. Um, I also have to say that
[1:01:26] um it was really important to me uh that
[1:01:29] we were able to hire as many youth from
[1:01:31] our high school that we will be
[1:01:33] employing this summer. Um, that's really
[1:01:36] important to me because those kids are
[1:01:38] going to understand um and learn job
[1:01:42] responsibilities and job skills that
[1:01:44] will only go on to benefit them as they
[1:01:47] um continue um with their with their
[1:01:50] lives and their careers. um in our town.
[1:01:54] Um so um that was a challenging
[1:01:57] discussion. Um I definitely came in uh
[1:02:01] prepared to not vote in favor of that
[1:02:03] funding. Um so I think that the
[1:02:06] compromise that we came to uh is a
[1:02:08] reasonable one. Um but I do think that
[1:02:11] all of our youth sports need to
[1:02:13] understand that they will continue to
[1:02:15] have to fundra as they all do um moving
[1:02:19] forward. Okay. Um, and I also want to
[1:02:22] say that um, again the Skenctity County
[1:02:25] Food Council is holding a food and
[1:02:28] poverty speakout on Wednesday, June 11th
[1:02:30] at 6:30 at the Roderdam Community
[1:02:33] Center. Um,
[1:02:35] this is going to be a real opportunity
[1:02:37] for folks to come out and really tell us
[1:02:40] um about what they're needing in terms
[1:02:42] of their in terms of food. as someone
[1:02:44] that volunteers quite extensively um
[1:02:47] fighting food insecurity in our in our
[1:02:49] city, in our county actually. Um this is
[1:02:53] just been this huge increase uh in the
[1:02:55] numbers of people that our food
[1:02:57] providers are serving every single one
[1:02:59] of them. There's 23 food providers in
[1:03:01] Skenctity County. But this is a chance
[1:03:03] for people to come out and talk about
[1:03:06] their needs. And let me tell you, when
[1:03:07] you hear people talk about um you know
[1:03:10] that food's sort of the last thing
[1:03:12] because they have to pay their rent,
[1:03:13] they have to pay their utilities, they
[1:03:15] have to pay for a car to get themselves
[1:03:16] to work. Um and so often they end up
[1:03:19] with no food um after they after they
[1:03:22] spend their money. So again, Wednesday,
[1:03:24] June 11th, 6:30 p.m. at the Roderdam
[1:03:26] Community Center. And the other piece is
[1:03:28] that the Skenctity County Food Council
[1:03:31] has a survey out as well um to try to
[1:03:35] get information uh about what people are
[1:03:38] experiencing in terms of um food costs,
[1:03:41] food insecurity, um how they're getting
[1:03:44] their uh nutritional uh needs met. Um
[1:03:48] and so I hope that folks will pay
[1:03:50] attention to that as well. It's all it's
[1:03:52] on Facebook. It's on uh the website uh
[1:03:55] for the for for the Skenctity Foundation
[1:03:58] and I encourage people to it's in
[1:04:00] English, Spanish and Arabic. So I
[1:04:03] encourage people to do that. And then
[1:04:04] again I also want to give I know we
[1:04:06] still have a few weeks but um we will be
[1:04:08] doing a reading of the Declaration of
[1:04:10] Independence again on July 4th at 10:30
[1:04:12] in the morning here at City Hall.
[1:04:15] Hopefully on the steps of City Hall.
[1:04:17] Hopefully it won't rain. Uh I'm feeling
[1:04:20] not so positive about that these days.
[1:04:22] Um, so I hope people will come out uh
[1:04:24] and celebrate the 4th of July with us as
[1:04:26] well. Thank you.
[1:04:29] Yes. Thank you, mayor.
[1:04:33] Want to thank everyone for uh coming out
[1:04:35] tonight. Discussion is always uh lively,
[1:04:38] thoughtprovoking, and good for the
[1:04:40] community. Yield the rest of my time.
[1:04:42] Madam President, thank you. I also would
[1:04:46] like to thank everyone for coming out
[1:04:47] tonight to making your voice heard on
[1:04:49] the various topics that we heard this
[1:04:50] evening. I appreciate the young people
[1:04:52] coming to see what the process looks
[1:04:54] like and the adults the work that the
[1:04:57] adults put in for you. Um so you know
[1:05:00] one day if you want to you could be
[1:05:02] sitting up here as well or sitting in
[1:05:03] one of those chairs. So if you stay in
[1:05:05] Skenctity we'd love to have that and we
[1:05:08] hopeful hopefully um people will
[1:05:10] understand that as we did our work today
[1:05:12] as we talked about what needed to happen
[1:05:13] or what was going to happen.
[1:05:16] Please appreciate the fact there was a
[1:05:18] person that entered the room with saying
[1:05:19] you know it was going to be an absolute
[1:05:21] no and so we were able to move to a
[1:05:24] compromise in our process. Often that is
[1:05:27] what we have to do. I personally am
[1:05:29] committed to giving helping you in any
[1:05:31] way possible to identify resources to
[1:05:34] raise the rest of your funds because I
[1:05:36] think I know that the work that you do
[1:05:38] is important. I've never had a child in
[1:05:41] Pop Warner but I've seen children that
[1:05:43] have come through. I've seen actually
[1:05:44] been to games. So, I know the work that
[1:05:46] you do is important and investing in our
[1:05:48] children regardless of the sport that
[1:05:50] they are in is extremely important. So,
[1:05:52] thank you for coming out. Thank you for
[1:05:54] having your voices heard and thank you
[1:05:56] for helping to help us to um to move
[1:05:58] this process along. To all the council
[1:06:00] members, I want to thank you for getting
[1:06:02] us to that point. Just one off record
[1:06:05] comment. One off the record. It's off
[1:06:07] the record that if you have goals in
[1:06:10] this chamber, the seats you want are the
[1:06:13] council ones. The public has the worst
[1:06:15] seats and those benches. The second
[1:06:18] worst are up here, but the city council
[1:06:20] members have the best. So,
[1:06:23] thank you, Madam President. You're
[1:06:24] welcome. Um, I just want to for those of
[1:06:27] you who missed the kids arts fest this
[1:06:29] weekend around city hall, it was
[1:06:31] wonderful. The rain came and but we
[1:06:33] didn't go inside. We put on our
[1:06:34] raincoats and we went outside and but it
[1:06:37] cleared up so it was great time and so
[1:06:39] for those parents who don't aren't aware
[1:06:40] of it every year it happens around city
[1:06:42] hall it's a great opportunity for kids
[1:06:43] to come out. I want to know note also
[1:06:46] this year they had a cultural addition
[1:06:48] to it that I'd not seen before. They had
[1:06:51] people come from the Irakcoy nation to
[1:06:53] come and do their um to to do a dance
[1:06:55] and to sing songs. So it was great
[1:06:57] exposure for the for for the community.
[1:07:00] So, I want to thank the folks that put
[1:07:01] that on and for all the uh vendors that
[1:07:03] were there at the kids arts fest. And by
[1:07:06] the way, everything is free to the kids
[1:07:08] coming just to, you know, have a good
[1:07:10] time in their community. So, that's
[1:07:12] another event.
[1:07:14] I want to um mention the Junth is coming
[1:07:17] up, the celebration of Junth on the 20th
[1:07:19] and 21st of this month. The 20th will be
[1:07:23] in Central Park. And as many of us know,
[1:07:26] Walter Simpkins, our dear beloved uh
[1:07:29] community member who has passed on,
[1:07:31] really led that. But so we want we will
[1:07:33] be there in his honor on the 20th in in
[1:07:35] Veil Cemetery. And then on the 21st, we
[1:07:38] will be in s in Central Park celebrating
[1:07:41] Junth. So asking everyone to please come
[1:07:44] out and to um participate in that. And
[1:07:47] uh to Miss Reed, I'm I'll speak to you
[1:07:49] specifically. Um, I believe my email to
[1:07:51] you was that corporation council was
[1:07:53] going to be looking into your your
[1:07:54] situation. I will review that email
[1:07:56] again and and follow up with you on that
[1:07:58] because I know that they were taking a
[1:08:00] look at at at your situation. So, um, if
[1:08:03] you want, we can speak after the meeting
[1:08:05] and I'd be glad to um to just give you
[1:08:07] more information on that. And I have
[1:08:09] nothing more to add to that. So, at this
[1:08:12] time, I ask for a motion to adjourn.
[1:08:14] Moved by everyone. Moved by Mr.
[1:08:17] Williams, second by Mr. Mutiver. All
[1:08:19] those in favor? I. We are journed. Have
[1:08:21] a good night.
[1:08:50] All right, I'll show again.
[1:09:01] [Music]
[1:09:10] Hey,
[1:09:12] [Music]
[1:09:20] hey, hey.
[1:09:22] [Music]