[0:00] Heat. Heat.

[0:02] [Music]

[1:01] Heat. Heat. N.

[1:10] Hey. Hey. Hey.

[1:12] [Music]

[2:58] Heat. Heat.

[3:04] [Music]

[3:53] Hey,

[3:54] [Music]

[4:03] hey, hey.

[4:07] Heat. Heat. N.

[4:09] [Music]

[4:32] Hey, hey, hey.

[4:33] [Music]

[5:11] [Applause]

[5:11] [Music]

[5:41] Heat. Heat.

[5:45] [Music]

[6:03] Heat. Heat.

[6:05] [Music]

[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]

Schenectady City Council Meeting, June 9, 2025

Transcript