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[0:11] Hey.

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[0:29] Hey. Hey.

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[0:39] Hey,

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[0:50] hey, hey.

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[2:22] Thank you.

[2:26] I'd like to call the city city caucus

[2:28] meeting to order for Monday, June 9th,

[2:30] 2025.

[2:33] We have one public hearing this evening.

[2:34] If the clerk would please read public

[2:37] number public hearing number one for the

[2:39] redirection of a portion of Chrysler

[2:41] Avenue from a two-way street to a

[2:43] one-way street from the intersection of

[2:45] Crane and Main Street to Ostrander

[2:47] Place. Discussed and committed with

[2:50] objection on consent. Item number two.

[2:52] for original

[2:53] consideration. A resolution calling for

[2:55] a public hearing for weight limit

[2:57] postings on Kings Road.

[3:00] Discussed in committee without objection

[3:02] on consent. Item number three.

[3:06] Item number item number two for original

[3:08] consideration. A resolution authorizing

[3:11] fee waivers for exterior building repair

[3:13] permits discussed in committee without

[3:16] objection on consent.

[3:20] Yes, Mr. uh Williams.

[3:24] On item number two, you roll call. Yes,

[3:26] ma'am. Okay. Thank you.

[3:30] Item number three. Item number three for

[3:32] original consideration. A resolution

[3:34] recognizing the celebration of Junth,

[3:36] 2025.

[3:38] Discussed in committee with objection on

[3:39] consent. Item number four. Item number

[3:41] four for original consideration. A

[3:43] resolution recognizing Caribbean

[3:44] American Heritage Month.

[3:47] Discussed in committee with objection.

[3:51] And on consent, item number 4A for

[3:53] unanimous consent. Item number 4 A for

[3:55] unanimous consent. A resolution

[3:57] supporting funding for Belmont Pop

[3:59] Warner program.

[4:01] I need a motion to place item number 4A

[4:03] on the floor. Moved by Mr. Williams,

[4:07] second by Mr. Mancini. All in favor?

[4:11] Okay. Is there any objection to item

[4:13] number 4 A?

[4:17] Since there's no objection to this item,

[4:19] may I have a motion to place it onto the

[4:20] consent agenda?

[4:22] Moved by Mr. Farley,

[4:26] second by Mr. Mancini.

[4:29] All in favor?

[4:33] If there's no objection, we can go uh we

[4:35] can put this on the consent agenda.

[4:39] If there's nothing more to come before

[4:40] the city council caucus, I ask for a

[4:42] motion to adjourn.

[4:44] Moved by Miss Pat uh moved by Miss

[4:46] Patrick, second by Mr. Williams. All in

[4:47] favor? We are adjourned. I'd like to

[4:50] call the city council meeting to order

[4:52] for Monday, Octo Excuse me, October June

[4:54] 9th, 2025.

[4:57] And this afternoon, we do not have

[4:59] anyone to um to offer up the prayer.

[5:02] However, I would like to us to stand.

[5:04] I'd like to offer this prayer for the

[5:05] community.

[5:13] Dear Lord, I bring the people of

[5:15] Skenctity to you today. I pray that you

[5:18] give everyone comfort, companion, ando

[5:20] companionship and hope. Please surround

[5:22] us with your love and care and make us

[5:24] feel your presence in our lives. Lord,

[5:27] help this council to be an instrument to

[5:28] seek out, to help, and to give uh

[5:32] support where is needed. God, I ask that

[5:34] you open the eyes of others to give a

[5:36] hand on the back to those who they come

[5:38] in contact with. I pray that you bring

[5:40] people together into their their lives

[5:42] who can be supportive and encouraging

[5:43] and that you would open up opportunities

[5:45] for them for to form meaningful

[5:47] relationships. Help us Lord to find joy

[5:49] and fulfillment in our lives and our

[5:52] duties that you've assigned to us

[5:53] despise despite what we may go through.

[5:56] Thank you God for the gift of community

[5:58] and how you bring people together. We

[6:00] pray that you will use us to bless

[6:02] everyone in our midst and to show them

[6:04] all love and compassion. Amen. Amen. I'd

[6:08] ask uh council member Patrick to lead us

[6:10] in the pledge.

[6:12] I pledge algiance to the flag of the

[6:15] United States of America and to the

[6:18] republic for which it stands, one nation

[6:21] under God, indivisible, with liberty and

[6:25] justice for all. Thank you.

[6:37] [Music]

[6:42] Thank you. If the clerk Yes. If the

[6:45] clerk could please complete the roll

[6:46] call.

[6:48] Thorough absent. Mr. Farley here. Mr.

[6:52] Mancini here. Mr. Muver. Present. Miss

[6:55] Patrick here. Mr. Williams here. Miss

[6:59] Porterfield here.

[7:03] We have one public hearing this evening

[7:05] and I just want to remind everyone that

[7:07] the public comment period for um

[7:10] on public hearings is four minutes and I

[7:12] ask also ask that you respectfully only

[7:14] speak to the subject of the public

[7:16] hearing itself. Thank you. I have four

[7:19] people who are signed up to speak for

[7:21] the public hearing.

[7:23] number one is regarding

[7:25] the redirection of a portion of Chrysler

[7:27] Avenue from a two-way street to a

[7:29] one-way street from the intersection of

[7:30] Crane and Main Streets to Ostrander

[7:33] Place.

[7:35] So, the first person of the four to

[7:37] speak is Chamele Davis.

[7:48] Good evening. I've been in two accidents

[7:51] on that road. Uh it's very small. It's

[7:55] hard for three cars to fit and there's

[7:56] parking on both sides. I believe it

[7:59] should be changed to a oneway. All

[8:02] right. Well, thank you.

[8:08] Marawn Dobs.

[8:15] I agree. It should uh be changed to a

[8:17] oneway. All right. Thank you,

[8:22] Ellie Pepper.

[8:29] Good evening, Mayor, Council President,

[8:31] City Council members. I totally agree

[8:33] with making that a one-way street. It's

[8:35] really dangerous to go down that street

[8:36] when it's two-way. Um, if everybody's

[8:39] parked on one side, it's really hard to

[8:41] get out of the way of somebody coming

[8:42] towards you. Thanks.

[8:45] Thank you very much,

[8:48] Dean Morabado. Thank you.

[8:54] Good evening, Mayor, Madame President,

[8:57] members of the council. Uh, yeah, it is

[9:00] a dangerous uh situation right now. I've

[9:03] driven on that street many times. It's

[9:04] really difficult. and reading through

[9:07] the surveys that were given out to

[9:09] people, it seemed like it was uh

[9:11] unanimously

[9:13] uh felt that this should be a one-way

[9:16] street. So, I agree with that. Thank

[9:18] you. Thank you.

[9:23] I have no one else signed up to speak,

[9:25] so I declare the public hearing um

[9:28] comment period on public hearing number

[9:29] one closed.

[9:31] I'll ask for approval of minutes for

[9:33] March 27th, 2025. Motion by Miss

[9:36] Patrick, second by Mr. Williams. All

[9:38] those in favor? I.

[9:41] The clerk could please read any

[9:43] communications and petitions.

[9:45] Communications presented to the city

[9:47] council for Monday, June 9th, 2025.

[9:49] Under official, there were none. Under

[9:51] general from PD Boris, two emails

[9:53] regarding the public hearing. She is

[9:55] interested in finding out the reason for

[9:56] the redirection of traffic and how the

[9:58] data was collected. She also noted that

[10:00] she still has not been able to find her

[10:02] belongings and under petitions there

[10:04] were none. Thank you. Call on council

[10:08] members for any committee reports.

[10:12] Okay.

[10:14] So we'll have privilege over the floor

[10:16] related to the legislative agenda.

[10:19] So I just want to make a few things

[10:21] clear. I see there's uh there are people

[10:22] signed up who may not have been here for

[10:24] our process before. So I just want to

[10:25] give some clarifying um direction.

[10:29] The privilege of the floor is three

[10:30] minutes and you would speak to on the

[10:33] legislative uh agenda item that you came

[10:36] here to speak about. At the end of the

[10:38] three minutes, if you're still within

[10:40] your comment and you need to just finish

[10:42] it up, I will allow you to do that, but

[10:44] we ask that that you not go over um an

[10:47] extended period of time.

[10:50] So, for this um comment and you have and

[10:52] let me just also say we left the sheets

[10:55] out there. We asked people to sign up

[10:56] ahead of time. So the names I will be

[10:58] calling are names who have signed up to

[11:00] speak at this particular time on this

[11:03] particular um agenda item

[11:06] and we will not be entertaining any

[11:08] beyond that.

[11:11] Thank you.

[11:12] So, I have

[11:15] seven, eight people signed up to speak.

[11:18] And the first person, Earl Walker,

[11:22] Wallace, Wallace, Earl Wallace.

[11:25] Um, am I correct that the um on agenda

[11:28] item 4A, you're considering uh

[11:30] supporting Pop Warner? That is correct,

[11:32] sir. That's the uh I'm from the

[11:34] Republican party and I would like to

[11:36] address that issue. Been involved with

[11:37] youth programming my entire life. been a

[11:39] high school English teacher, played Pop

[11:41] Water football up in Saratoga Springs,

[11:43] been a city resident since uh 1989.

[11:46] I would um request that we would um

[11:48] encourage parents to support Pop Water

[11:51] and that we don't do it as a city

[11:53] council with public funds. Uh how many

[11:56] sports will we end up supporting? I

[11:58] believe that um it's better for the

[12:00] community if parents are involved in

[12:02] raising the money. Perhaps the city can

[12:04] help the parents raise the money by um

[12:07] encouraging uh donations through a a

[12:09] city council website. But u my main

[12:12] thing is I would like to see that um

[12:14] left to the parents and we don't want to

[12:16] get our sports programs into a

[12:18] politicized program where perhaps maybe

[12:20] the next council may come along and

[12:22] decide that they're going to encourage

[12:24] certain coaches to be involved with the

[12:26] program because they're getting public

[12:28] money. Thank you. Thank you.

[12:34] Alyssa Hill.

[12:42] Good evening. I'd like to speak on

[12:44] behalf of the Belmont Cheer Program. Um

[12:48] I am one of the I am a co-coordinator of

[12:50] the cheer program along with Immani

[12:52] Racor and I've been doing this for about

[12:55] at least three years now. I've been

[12:57] coaching for four. And I just wanted to

[13:00] say that our cheer program significantly

[13:03] lacks in being successful because we

[13:06] lack the appropriate equipment that we

[13:08] need to be successful comparable to

[13:11] other programs in the area. Um for

[13:14] example, there are programs like Colony

[13:16] Pop Warner who charge $350 for

[13:19] registration. um we will never charge

[13:22] that high because we know the needs of

[13:24] our families in this community and we

[13:27] that's why we have consistently kept it

[13:29] pretty much the same price. We've we've

[13:31] gone up a little bit this past year but

[13:33] we we don't really want to move it any

[13:35] higher because we know that our families

[13:37] cannot afford that and it has shown um

[13:40] in previous seasons. We also um we lack

[13:44] as far as where are the funds would go for cheer related. It would be

[13:48] towards new uniforms uh cheer mats

[13:51] especially um it is hard to practice if

[13:54] anybody knows anything about

[13:56] cheerleading but it's hard to practice

[13:57] stunts and get more competitive because

[14:00] we don't have the cheerleading mats that

[14:02] we need. We also don't have anywhere to

[14:04] store them. Um we

[14:07] you know we work hard every year to fund

[14:09] raise. You know, a lot of people have

[14:11] mentioned, you know, ask doing community

[14:13] fundraisers. We already do that um

[14:15] multiple times a year in different ways.

[14:17] Um and there's still a a lack of funds

[14:20] needed. Um and a lot of families

[14:22] struggle to um support the expensive

[14:26] travel that is required with um the

[14:30] competitiveness of the program. you

[14:32] know, as as the further that cheer or

[14:34] even football moves on, um the farther

[14:36] we go and it gets more expensive. And

[14:39] so, it's just always been a struggle for

[14:41] um the cheer program alone um is is

[14:44] really personal to me. I I started at

[14:47] Belmont when I was 5 years old as a

[14:49] mascot and cheered all the way up

[14:51] through high school. And I um would love

[14:55] to keep it a competitive and successful

[14:57] program for our community because a lot

[15:00] of times, you know, Pop Warner is the

[15:02] only program that people can afford.

[15:04] When I was young, I wanted to do

[15:05] all-star cheerleading and my family

[15:07] couldn't afford it and many people can

[15:09] afford it. Um so I just want to really

[15:11] emphasize that it's not we're not asking

[15:14] for funds just just to ask for them. Um,

[15:17] we truly do think that we can be even

[15:21] more successful with the funds that we

[15:23] would be receiving. And I know on on

[15:27] behalf of the football program, they too

[15:30] um have have been successful in the

[15:32] past, but just imagine how much farther

[15:34] we could go if we had the support from

[15:37] the city and the community um more than

[15:40] what we do now. Thank you. Thank you.

[15:49] DC Dunle.

[16:01] Good afternoon. My name is DC Dunle. I'm

[16:03] here on behalf of the youth that you see

[16:04] sitting behind us. I know many of you

[16:07] city council name members personally

[16:09] through my mentor, Walter Simpkins. And

[16:12] on behalf of Walter, one thing I'd like

[16:13] to make very clear is we're not beggars

[16:15] in the marketplace. That's not why we're

[16:17] here. We're not asking you to fully fund

[16:19] our program. We're asking you to support

[16:21] our program. There's a lot of funding

[16:23] that goes into this program that's not

[16:24] in the budget, such as mental support,

[16:26] emotional support. A lot of us coaches

[16:29] bring kids to and from practice on our

[16:31] own dollar that we don't include in

[16:32] this. We fund kids playing that's not

[16:35] included in that budget. So, there's a

[16:37] lot of other costs that aren't

[16:38] associated with it. And sitting in these

[16:40] past two meetings is real disheartening

[16:42] hearing how much objection there is to

[16:44] supporting the youth of this city is you

[16:46] guys are all in these positions because

[16:48] you come to us to vote for you and now

[16:51] you're looking the youth in the face

[16:52] specifically you because all the other

[16:54] members from what I understand are in

[16:55] agreement with moving this forward but

[16:57] specifically you miss Patrick is real

[16:59] sir you have to address the chair you

[17:01] can't all right Marian I apologize

[17:04] so it's extremely disheartening hearing

[17:07] that there's so

[17:09] resistance to supporting the youth and

[17:12] consideration for what's going to be

[17:13] happening next year when we're trying to

[17:15] figure out what's going on right now. We

[17:16] we're we're turning away the fact that

[17:18] kids are hungry right now because other

[17:21] kids may possibly be hungry a couple

[17:22] months from now, hypothetically

[17:24] speaking, or next year we should

[17:25] consider it when right now the problem

[17:27] is at hand. And considering the fact

[17:29] that the money is already there, but you

[17:31] don't know what to do with it or you

[17:32] don't know where it's going is, those

[17:34] are exact words. We don't know where

[17:36] it's going. I don't understand what the

[17:38] problem is is

[17:40] we're we're counting the cost, but what

[17:42] does it cost not to support these kids?

[17:44] What does it cost to turn these kids

[17:45] away from sports? What does it cost to

[17:46] have these kids on Chrysler app right

[17:49] around the corner from the football

[17:50] field where you're trying to make it a

[17:51] one-way street? There's a lot of a kid

[17:54] was just killed around the corner who

[17:55] could have been in something positive or

[17:57] doing something else. So, when we invest

[17:58] in the youth, you see different results.

[18:01] I myself am an alumni of Belmont Pop

[18:03] Warner as a child. My mother never paid

[18:05] for a single year of me playing Pop

[18:07] Warner. But here I am giving my time

[18:09] four to five days a week investing in

[18:11] these youth, investing my own dollars,

[18:13] investing my own time. And that's what

[18:15] comes back from investing in youth. Now

[18:18] t-fold return. And we're not asking you

[18:21] to, like I said, we're not asking you to

[18:24] carry the program because that's going

[18:25] to be done regardless. Speaking on the

[18:27] parents should be involved in it not

[18:29] becoming a city problem. The parents

[18:30] been supporting this program for 50

[18:32] years. We haven't asked for a dollar for

[18:33] 50 years. So you can't say what we

[18:36] should be doing when we've already

[18:37] proven the success of what we've done.

[18:39] We haven't the the program goes on with

[18:41] or without you. So as the

[18:44] representatives of this city, it's your

[18:46] guys's responsibility to support. We're

[18:49] not asking you to carry it. We're just

[18:50] asking you to support. And the amount of

[18:52] resistance that goes into support is

[18:54] extremely disgusting considering that

[18:56] these children that you're saying don't

[18:58] need it are the same children whose

[19:00] parents you're asking for to vote for

[19:01] you. the same children's parents are

[19:03] putting you in the position to deny

[19:05] them. I I I really don't get it as a

[19:08] member of this city. So clearly I need

[19:10] to be more involved with uh what's going

[19:12] on down here in these city council

[19:14] meetings. And it's not directly a jab at

[19:17] anyone personal, but it we got to do

[19:20] better. Is Belmont slogan one team, one

[19:23] family. And right now you're turning

[19:25] down the entire family because you're

[19:26] concerned about families we don't even

[19:29] know of. Your time is expired. Huh? Your

[19:31] time is expired. That was a fast three

[19:33] minutes, Marion. But it doesn't put on

[19:36] your own iPhones if you think mine is

[19:38] wrong. Okay, you can we can all do that.

[19:39] But your time has expired. Thank you.

[19:41] You're welcome.

[19:45] [Applause]

[19:49] Shamel Davis.

[19:56] Good evening again. I um I just want to

[19:59] mirror the remarks from DC Dunker. I'm I

[20:03] am I am wholly disappointed and uh I

[20:07] feel like you guys should be ashamed.

[20:09] The city should be ashamed that you you

[20:11] talk about spending $3 million on

[20:14] sprinkler systems and golf courses and and and all the organizations that

[20:19] get reoccurring funding without having

[20:21] to prove or show anything. But yet you

[20:23] got an organization that say that's been

[20:25] doing it like they said 50 years by the

[20:28] self helping the youth with or without

[20:30] the city and the one time they come to

[20:32] the city is nothing but resistance. It

[20:34] is shameful and disgusting man. That's

[20:37] all I got to say.

[20:44] Mars.

[20:52] Hi, my name is Marshawn Dobs. I just

[20:55] like to say, you know, um this is

[20:58] definitely my son's been playing for

[20:59] three years and he loves this sport.

[21:02] has been nothing but good to

[21:04] him. Um it does encourage a lot of the

[21:07] kids to stay out the streets. It

[21:09] encourages him to um you know, have good

[21:12] grades in school. Um we're definitely

[21:15] disappointed with certain things. Um

[21:18] there's like they said there's 250 kids

[21:20] that play and there's many of parents

[21:23] that do vote and we are noticing who we

[21:27] should vote for. So uh yeah, I'm just

[21:29] letting that be known. Thank you. Thank

[21:31] you,

[21:34] [Applause]

[21:37] Ellie Pepper.

[21:45] Somebody's really tall. Good evening

[21:48] again. Um, I am in total support of

[21:51] finding some way to provide funding for

[21:54] the Belmont Pop Warner organization.

[21:58] And if other sports organizations come,

[22:00] that's fine. That's okay. Let's let's

[22:02] hear it. Uh, let's support our youth.

[22:06] We're always talking about youth not

[22:08] having anything to do, youth hanging out

[22:10] on the streets. This is something that

[22:12] uh provides a good opportunity and

[22:14] frankly of all the places where my tax

[22:17] dollars could go, this is one place I

[22:19] would like to see it go. Thank you.

[22:26] Calvin Tyron.

[22:32] Hello. How you doing tonight? My name is

[22:33] Calvin Trion. I'm a lifelong resident of

[22:35] Skenctity, New York. This my son right

[22:37] here. This was his first year playing uh

[22:39] football for the Belmont program. I

[22:42] noticed uh a lot of positive attributes

[22:44] that he gained from the time that he

[22:46] spent at the program this year. And

[22:48] honestly, Belmont is a like a DNA of

[22:51] Skenctity. Like it's a part of the

[22:52] fabric of the community. Like my my

[22:55] stepfather, he's a uh he's a lifelong

[22:57] city resident. He's a part of the team

[22:59] that was undefeated in the 70s. Like he

[23:01] still pulls out his book and tells me

[23:03] about it to this day. like it's is

[23:06] really a part of our community. So, I

[23:07] feel like we got to put a little more

[23:09] importance on Belmont specifically. I

[23:11] know there's other sports programs. I'm

[23:13] not trying to take away anything, but

[23:14] Belmont is really a important part of

[23:16] our fabric of our community for one. And

[23:19] for two, I feel like we need to exhaust

[23:21] all options on investing in the youth so

[23:23] we can actually get these kids to to

[23:25] stick around. A lot of a lot of kids

[23:27] don't they they want to go somewhere

[23:29] else to play football or oh let me go to

[23:31] Gilderland cuz they got this and let me

[23:33] let's let's worry about here keep our

[23:35] kids in this community and then when

[23:37] they grow up to be adults they'll come

[23:39] back and invest again in this community.

[23:41] You know what I mean? Like so we can

[23:42] move forward with that type of stuff. Um

[23:45] in and in general like I said the

[23:47] Belmont program is just positive. The

[23:49] coaches are doing a lot of uh amazing

[23:51] things. They've always done amazing

[23:52] things and not everybody's going to be a

[23:55] professional athlete, but I was a a

[23:57] member of Belmont as well. And there's

[23:59] just certain things you learn as in

[24:01] sports being a part of a team and just

[24:03] discipline and other things like that our youth is in my opinion lacking

[24:08] in this current generation. And so, like

[24:09] I said, I would feel like in my opinion,

[24:11] I feel like we need to invest um exhaust

[24:14] all options in investing in the youth.

[24:16] And that's just that that was my small

[24:17] piece what I had to say. Thank you for

[24:19] the time. Thank you.

[24:22] [Applause]

[24:27] William Kent.

[24:38] Good evening. Uh my name is William

[24:40] Kent. I am the current president of

[24:42] Skenctity Belmont Pop Warner. I'm also a

[24:45] lifelong city resident as well. I grew

[24:46] up playing Pop Warner. My father was a

[24:48] coach, which really got me into it and

[24:50] helped me fall in love with the game.

[24:52] Um, a lot of these people that you see

[24:54] here, uh, I either met through the

[24:56] program or I grew up within the city as

[24:58] friends and as community members and

[25:01] we've come together to honestly do

[25:04] something special. So, I just want to

[25:05] touch on something that the gentleman

[25:07] had said prior to me uh, a couple uh,

[25:11] people back um, about parent

[25:13] involvement. What you're seeing right

[25:15] here is parent involvement. This is community

[25:19] involvement. Uh we could talk about

[25:21] differences in communities and about

[25:23] single family, single parent households

[25:25] in one community to the next and what

[25:27] that might look like for a single mother

[25:29] with four kids that's working two jobs

[25:31] to be able to help fund raise or to be

[25:33] able to kick out extra money for their

[25:34] kid to be able to do something different

[25:36] or a city in Skenctity that a median

[25:38] household income is $55,000 to a median

[25:41] household in Saratoga that's $101,000.

[25:44] Right? So, apples to oranges when we're

[25:46] talking about certain things. And um I

[25:49] do genuinely appreciate the the the

[25:51] conversation that took place, right?

[25:53] That doesn't mean I also appreciate

[25:54] everything that was said, but I

[25:56] understand, right, that there's always

[25:57] going to be multiple sides to a uh to a

[26:00] discussion and any type of a debate. But

[26:02] what I'll say is there's no debate in

[26:04] this. And um the kids participating in

[26:06] our program are benefiting not just as

[26:09] athletes. They're benefiting as people

[26:11] because of the people that you see right

[26:12] here. These people every day pour into

[26:14] these kids. They're giving rise. We none

[26:16] of us make a dollar doing what we do.

[26:18] But we do it because we're rich morally,

[26:20] because we're rich with love. We're rich

[26:22] with family. And that's what we talk. We

[26:23] don't say one scene, one family for no

[26:25] reason. There's nobody in here I

[26:26] wouldn't give the shirt off my back for.

[26:28] And they would do the same for me and

[26:29] anybody in my family. So it goes a lot

[26:31] deeper than that. And also like we talk

[26:33] about kids having things to do and being

[26:35] productive members of our community,

[26:36] right? So the thing is we have a certain

[26:39] amount of kids that are already

[26:40] participating. We would like to continue

[26:42] to grow that. From 2021, when I first

[26:44] took over the program, we only had about

[26:46] six, seven teams total. That includes

[26:47] cheer, tackle, flag, everything. Now,

[26:50] we've more than tripled that across the

[26:52] board. We're continuing to get more and

[26:54] more engagement with kids. And that's

[26:56] the idea. We want to get more kids

[26:57] involved. We want there's over 10,000

[26:59] kids in the school district in Skenctity

[27:01] alone. We would like to try to make a

[27:02] bigger and bigger dent in that every

[27:04] single year. So, yes, we're asking for

[27:06] some funding this time around, but that

[27:08] doesn't mean we're not sustainable. I

[27:09] can guarantee you this. We will continue

[27:11] to grow. We will continue to push and we

[27:12] will continue to work together as a unit

[27:15] and we will do great things and we

[27:16] appreciate any and all support that you

[27:18] all offer and we thank you for that.

[27:20] Thank you.

[27:23] [Applause]

[27:30] All right. I have no one else signed up

[27:32] to speak. So I declare the public

[27:34] comment on the legislative agenda

[27:36] closed.

[27:43] [Music]

[27:49] Oh, sir, you were asking. You were

[27:52] looking.

[27:54] You You'd have to move to the

[27:55] microphone.

[28:02] Is this to speak about P something

[28:04] that's on the agenda? Um,

[28:07] it's not on it's not about anything

[28:09] that's on the legislative agenda. Okay.

[28:11] So, well, we will give you an

[28:12] opportunity to sign up for general city

[28:14] business. That's not right now. And I'll

[28:16] give the sheet back to the council

[28:17] member. They you can sign up for that.

[28:18] That's at the end of the meeting if it's

[28:21] not on the agenda.

[28:26] So, I'll call you for that. It's not

[28:28] right now.

[28:30] Thank you.

[28:39] This time ask for approval of the

[28:40] consent legislative consent agenda.

[28:43] Will my Mr. Williams

[28:46] second by Oh, wait. Uh second by Mr.

[28:49] Mudin.

[28:51] All in favor? I. We do have one item for

[28:55] roll call

[28:57] and the clerk could please read item

[28:59] number two.

[29:04] for original

[29:05] consideration, a resolution authorizing

[29:07] fee waivers for exterior building permit

[29:10] repairs.

[29:14] I need a motion.

[29:17] by Miss Williams. Second.

[29:22] by Mr. Mancini.

[29:24] Is there any discussion on this item?

[29:29] Yes, Mr. Williams.

[29:36] I just wanted to clarify my comments

[29:37] that were made during the committee

[29:38] meeting. Uh my um opposition to this is

[29:42] based on just wanting to have a better

[29:43] understanding of what it represents. uh

[29:45] there seems to be just some um not

[29:48] clarifying details and sincerely if we

[29:51] are looking to have these types of um

[29:54] cost savings for a specific population

[29:56] building them into the budget I think is

[29:58] a more appropriate manner with this

[30:00] being in its fourth iteration or fourth

[30:02] year um definitely with ensuring that it

[30:05] is meeting the tangible needs of our

[30:06] homeowners as in hearing some

[30:08] conversations around this in our past

[30:10] meetings of trying to entice uh

[30:12] redevelopment and renovation within the

[30:14] homes where it is so verly needed. Um,

[30:17] just wanting to have just some of those

[30:19] tangibles outlined to include potential

[30:21] marketing to ensure that everyone knows

[30:23] and understands what the program is and

[30:25] then also what it isn't. Thank you. Any

[30:29] further discussion?

[30:31] If the clerk could please call the role.

[30:33] Mr. Farley. No. Mr. Mancini? Yes. Mr.

[30:38] Muan? Yes. Miss Patrick? Yes. Mr.

[30:42] Williams? No. Miss Porterfield. Thank

[30:45] you. First of all, I would like to just

[30:47] to explain my vote. So, I view this

[30:50] legislation from the lens of giving a an

[30:53] incentive to homeowners and owners of

[30:54] rental property in Skenctity and how we

[30:57] treat other investors in the city.

[30:59] Developers and business investors who

[31:01] seek to do business in the city of

[31:03] Skenctity are given various incentives

[31:05] to entice them to have their business

[31:07] located here. There are tax credits,

[31:10] discounts on supplies and materials,

[31:12] pilots, payment in lie of taxes, and

[31:14] sometimes just the benefit of being well

[31:16] connected. Most of our residents do not

[31:19] have those of those those resources

[31:21] available to them. Even within the New York State budget of

[31:26] 2026,

[31:28] it was recognized that the general

[31:29] public needed to have the ability to

[31:31] purchase single and two family homes um

[31:34] before res before institutional real

[31:36] estate um investors. And therefore they

[31:39] added article 16 to the real property

[31:41] tax law which states that one to two

[31:44] family residents must be listed for sale

[31:46] to the general public for 90 days before

[31:49] institutional investors can take it can

[31:51] take um can bid on it. So considering

[31:55] all of that and that our while we

[31:57] incentivize um major real estates and

[32:00] developers I think we should also take

[32:02] this opportunity to um invest in our

[32:05] local homeowners.

[32:08] I understand what Councilman Williams is

[32:09] saying that we need to build it into our

[32:11] budget and that we do need to have some

[32:13] understanding on how it's how it's done

[32:15] going forward. I and I appreciate that.

[32:18] And I just want homeowners to know we

[32:19] appreciate that the property owners who

[32:20] are investing in improving in their

[32:22] property and they should also be aware

[32:24] that when there's major improvements

[32:25] that go beyond the aesthetics of

[32:27] painting, fixing painting, uh peeling

[32:30] paint, broken rails, etc. beyond the

[32:32] aesthetics if there's major improvements

[32:34] that could co cause a rise into into the

[32:37] assessment of their properties, but

[32:39] that's something they they would want to

[32:40] take on. So, I think there's a upside to

[32:43] that in terms of the increase in

[32:44] assessment because they've improved

[32:46] their property, but also because renters

[32:48] are getting their properties uh improved

[32:50] as well and that um we are giving some

[32:53] incentives to our small um to our

[32:55] landlords and small property owners. So,

[32:57] with that, I vote yes.

[33:00] And the motion passes 4 to two.

[33:07] At this time, we'll have privilege of

[33:09] the floor regarding general city

[33:10] business.

[33:15] And I have six people signed up to

[33:17] speak.

[33:20] The first person is Sean Ratigan.

[33:30] Um yeah, hey, good evening. Um my name

[33:34] is Sean Ratigan and um I've spoken here

[33:37] before on how as a homeowner in

[33:39] Skenctity, protecting tenants with good

[33:41] cause eviction is important to me. And

[33:44] today I'd like to speak on the

[33:46] importance of care and respect when

[33:49] operating in the housing business. When

[33:51] your income depends on providing a roof

[33:54] over someone else's head, you'd better

[33:56] take their living conditions and their

[33:58] life circumstances seriously. These are

[34:01] people's lives we're talking about.

[34:03] Their home, their community, where their

[34:05] children go to school, and where they

[34:06] play sports.

[34:08] When a landlord decides decides to evict

[34:11] a tenant, they're deciding to uproot one

[34:14] or more people's lives. This shouldn't

[34:16] be something taken lightly. This should

[34:18] be something

[34:20] This shouldn't be a decision made

[34:22] without a good cause.

[34:24] Tenants deserve safe, affordable, stable

[34:27] housing. Tenants should know that

[34:29] Skenctity has their back if the landlord

[34:31] files an eviction for something other

[34:33] than non-payment, violating the lease,

[34:36] violating the law, or taking the unit

[34:38] off the market. Tenants shouldn't fear

[34:41] landlords retaliating against them with

[34:44] eviction for arbitrary reasons or

[34:46] because they requested repairs on their

[34:48] apartment.

[34:50] Landlords, when you get into the

[34:52] business of someone else's housing, you

[34:54] better be putting people before profits.

[34:57] I bought a house because I couldn't put

[34:59] up with my landlord raising the rent

[35:01] exorbitantly every year when I renewed

[35:03] my lease. And now I have 15 years of

[35:06] relatively stable housing payments to

[35:08] the bank.

[35:09] because the city taxes, they really

[35:11] don't go that go up that much every

[35:13] year. So, it's kind of wild to me that

[35:16] landlords who have the outright capital

[35:18] to purchase property or the credit to

[35:20] get long-term stable loans and then use

[35:22] the rents paid to them every month to

[35:24] pay those loans back will still increase

[35:27] the rents, refuse or ignore repairs,

[35:29] suggest terrible repair options, provide

[35:32] underinsulated units, take months to

[35:36] repair an elevator, or per perform any

[35:38] other repairs that deeply impact the way

[35:40] tenants live. Good cause eviction still

[35:44] lets landlords file evictions. It's not

[35:46] going to make it harder to evict a

[35:48] tenant or for a justifiable reason. And

[35:51] in good co in California, good cause law

[35:54] helps speed up courts by getting rid of

[35:57] bunk no fault eviction cases. Skenctity

[36:00] city council good cause eviction is good

[36:03] for the city's operation. It's good for

[36:06] the community. It's good for the people

[36:08] that actually live here. Why shouldn't

[36:10] we afford our 57% renter community these

[36:14] protections? Please put the people

[36:16] first. Thanks. Thank you,

[36:19] [Applause]

[36:23] Earl Wallace.

[36:25] I respect your wave. Okay, sir. No

[36:28] problem. Ellie Pepper.

[36:41] Good evening again, Mayor, Council

[36:42] President, and City Council members. Uh,

[36:44] just for the record, I'm Ellie Pepper

[36:46] and I live in the Eastern A

[36:48] neighborhood. I have lived here for 30

[36:50] years.

[36:52] Uh, since New York's emergency rental

[36:56] assistance program protections ended in

[36:58] January of 2023,

[37:01] Skenctity has likely seen over 3,500

[37:05] eviction filings based on an average of

[37:08] about 175 filings per month. That's more

[37:12] than 3,500 families brought into court,

[37:14] many of whom were paying rent and

[37:16] following the rules, but still face

[37:18] losing their homes without a clear

[37:20] reason. We also know that eviction is a

[37:23] leading driver of homelessness. In a

[37:26] single school year, more than 500

[37:28] students in the Skenctity School

[37:30] District were identified as homeless.

[37:33] That's not just a statistic. It's a sign

[37:35] of families living in crisis and kids

[37:37] struggling to learn without stable

[37:39] housing.

[37:41] Good cause eviction is one way we can

[37:44] prevent this. It says that landlords

[37:46] must have a valid reason like

[37:48] non-payment of rent or a serious lease

[37:51] violation before evicting someone. It

[37:55] also gives tenants the right to

[37:56] challenge extreme rent hikes. This isn't

[37:59] about stopping rent increases

[38:01] altogether. It's about preventing sudden

[38:05] abusive increases that are meant to

[38:07] force people out.

[38:09] And to be clear, this isn't rent

[38:12] control. Good cause doesn't freeze

[38:15] rents. It doesn't set prices. Landlords

[38:18] can still raise rent reasonably each

[38:20] year and still pursue eviction for a

[38:24] cause. The law also exempts small owner

[38:28] occupied buildings with fewer than four

[38:30] units. We've seen how this works

[38:33] elsewhere. In New York City, since good

[38:35] cause protections were enacted in April

[38:37] 2024, eviction filings have dropped

[38:40] significantly down to about 9300 per

[38:43] month compared to 15,000 per month

[38:46] before the pandemic. In California, a

[38:49] study showed that cities with just cause

[38:51] eviction laws saw statistically

[38:53] significant drops in eviction filings.

[38:57] And in Albany, tenants use local good

[38:59] cause rules to stop 50 to 100% rent

[39:03] hikes and stay in their homes. These

[39:06] policies work. They keep people housed

[39:08] and they reduce the number of evictions

[39:10] flooding our courts.

[39:12] Skenctity has the chance to do the same.

[39:15] With thousands of eviction filings just

[39:17] since last year, we can't afford to keep

[39:19] waiting. We need this protection in

[39:21] place now for our families, for our

[39:24] neighborhoods, and for the future of

[39:26] this city. I urge you to vote to opinity

[39:31] into the good cause eviction law. It's

[39:34] not that radical. It's fair. It's tested

[39:38] and it's necessary.

[39:40] And also, I support funding for Belmont

[39:42] Pop Warner. Thank you.

[39:51] Dean Morabido.

[39:58] Hello again all. I am Dean Morabido, the

[40:02] 30-year city resident.

[40:05] Um, and I would encourage you also to

[40:06] opt into good cause eviction. It's uh,

[40:09] it seems like the thing to do. It should

[40:12] be done. I also wanted to comment on uh

[40:15] Belmont Pop Warner. Um, I was able to

[40:19] attend the committee meeting and heard

[40:21] their presentation by the members of Pop

[40:23] Warner and uh, it seems like it's

[40:28] uh, already uh, supported through the

[40:31] community and through the parents and

[40:34] uh, I I see no reason to have the

[40:37] committee uh, city council not supported

[40:40] as well emotionally and financially.

[40:43] It's it's a good thing for kids to do.

[40:47] It's a good thing for kids to be

[40:48] involved with their parents and the

[40:50] parents to be involved with their kids.

[40:52] Uh it's just a good thing and I support

[40:55] it totally. Thank you. Thank you.

[40:59] [Applause]

[41:04] Bridget Savage Savage Spies.

[41:12] Hello. Uh my name is Bridget Savage

[41:14] Spies. Um, I live in Albany and I

[41:17] volunteer organizing tenants throughout

[41:19] the capital district. And so I wanted to

[41:22] um give some context on what good cause

[41:24] has done for Albany um so that um you

[41:28] guys can understand the reason why um I

[41:30] think it's a good idea to pass in

[41:31] Skenctity as well. Um while organizing

[41:34] tenant unions and working with tenants

[41:36] in the capital district, I've seen some

[41:37] pretty appalling conditions um largely

[41:40] in

[41:42] um

[41:43] large properties owned by multi-million

[41:46] dollar corporations um that are based

[41:49] out of state um and have very little

[41:52] tangible um tangible support in the um

[41:56] in the property itself.

[41:59] um these these multi-million dollar

[42:02] corporations frequently buy up these properties. Um they don't develop

[42:07] them, they don't improve them. Um and

[42:09] they frequently increase rent by 30 to

[42:11] 50% on um families and community members

[42:15] who are already living there. Um in

[42:18] 2022, one of the largest housing

[42:21] complexes in Albany was purchased by one

[42:23] of these companies. Um, several of the

[42:25] tenants there eventually got fed up with

[42:27] the extreme lack of maintenance. There

[42:30] were rodents everywhere throughout the

[42:31] building. Um, and they were refusing to

[42:34] send exterminators in to fix the

[42:36] problem. Um, they had broken appliances,

[42:39] mold throughout the building. Um, and

[42:41] none of it was being addressed. And so

[42:43] these tenants came to the United Tenants

[42:45] of Albany and tried to form a housing

[42:48] um, a housing union in order to address

[42:50] these problems with management

[42:52] collectively and head on. um because

[42:54] they weren't being addressed in these

[42:55] one-to-one conversations.

[42:58] So, after Alby's good cause projections

[43:01] were struck down, um one of these tenant

[43:04] organizers received a bill for a

[43:06] received a $600 a month rent increase.

[43:10] Um, and so she was then forced to

[43:14] continue she she was able to continue to

[43:16] live in her home paying $600 more a

[43:19] month um temporarily, but she still had

[43:23] mold in her bathroom and her kid with

[43:25] asthma was still sick. Um, and this is

[43:29] the kind of thing that good cause

[43:30] prevents. um is parents and community

[43:34] members are able to stay in their homes

[43:36] without predatory rent hikes just for

[43:38] asking for basic living conditions. Um

[43:42] this winter though with good cause

[43:44] protections back in Albany now that we

[43:46] could opt into them through the state.

[43:48] Um there was a better story where heat

[43:51] went out in an 80 plus unit complex in

[43:53] the center of downtown Albany. um those

[43:56] residents called United Tenants and

[43:58] concerned that if they made a complaint

[43:59] to code enforcement that they would be

[44:02] subject to these predatory rent

[44:03] increases that other places had seen. Um

[44:06] they had good reason to be concerned

[44:08] about this. Um but United Tenants was

[44:10] able to reassure them that good cause

[44:12] would protect them in the case that they

[44:14] made a complaint to code enforcement

[44:15] about it being the middle of January and

[44:18] their rooms being 50°.

[44:21] Um,

[44:23] this is what good cause can do for a

[44:24] community. Landlords that are present in

[44:26] the community, maintain their property,

[44:28] and raise rents just to keep up with

[44:29] their costs are not affected by good

[44:31] cause eviction protections. Your your

[44:33] time has expired. Okay. Thank you.

[44:35] You're welcome.

[44:37] [Applause]

[44:43] Patricia Reed.

[44:50] I'm sorry, it's Patrice.

[45:01] Hi, my name is Patricia Reed.

[45:06] We can hear you. Okay,

[45:08] before I start, can I give all these

[45:10] papers to you guys?

[45:35] My name is Patricia Reed. I was here

[45:38] last year uh July 1st, 2024.

[45:43] I'm trying to I've been trying to open

[45:45] this business in Skenctity, the park of

[45:48] Central Park, city of Skenctity like

[45:50] since 2022.

[45:53] So I remember all these faces. Hopefully

[45:56] you guys remember me. I was here trying

[45:59] to see if I can open a small business in

[46:03] city of sket.

[46:05] that the city of sketched has been

[46:08] giving me one around like oh you do this I did everything the city of

[46:13] sketed asked me to do I even paid for

[46:16] his insurance they told me to pay for

[46:18] insurance I paid for the insurance I got

[46:20] all that done up to uh last year

[46:27] July 15th

[46:29] Miss Marion I I sent an email to follow

[46:32] up to what was going on and she sent me

[46:35] email say somebody from the city will

[46:37] send me something to see where we can

[46:41] start the business. So from that time

[46:44] 2024

[46:46] the 15th I've been following up. I've

[46:48] been coming here saying oh can I speak

[46:51] to the city council? I was always told

[46:54] or leave your number. They'll call you

[46:55] back. I never got a call back. Mr.

[46:59] Alfonso

[47:01] I always uh email him. I never got an

[47:04] email back.

[47:06] So I'm here to see what's going on. Why

[47:10] I can't get an opportunity to open a

[47:12] business at Central Park in Skenctity.

[47:15] I'm not bring like something bad. I'm

[47:18] trying to bring something good for the

[47:20] community in the city of Skenctity. So

[47:22] why I can't get that chance to open that

[47:25] business in the city of Skenctity.

[47:27] And it's been like since 2022. I did

[47:30] everything the city of Sken asked me to

[47:32] do. It's like now today I didn't I

[47:36] didn't even have anything. So I like I'm

[47:39] just going to go over there to see

[47:41] what's going on, what I can do. What

[47:43] else can I do for me to be able to open

[47:45] a business in cities connecting? This is

[47:48] a small business. It'll be good for the

[47:50] community. That's what I think. I think

[47:53] it'll be good for the community and is

[47:55] for everybody. kids, older people can

[47:59] use it. So that's why I gave you the

[48:02] paperwork so that you guys you can

[48:04] remember me the last time I was here.

[48:08] So I would like to have the opportunity

[48:11] to open it a small business central park

[48:15] city of Skenkity and if there's any

[48:18] reason why I can I would like to know

[48:20] that too.

[48:23] Thank you. Thank you.

[48:27] [Applause]

[48:33] I have no one else signed up to speak on

[48:35] public comment and regular city

[48:36] business. So I declare this public

[48:38] comment period closed.

[48:42] This same is this time entertain any

[48:44] miscellaneous business of the council.

[48:46] Mr. Williams.

[48:52] Uh thank you. I sincerely just wanted to

[48:54] go before Mr. Harley um with regards to

[48:57] the the Belmont program and before I

[48:59] make any comments regarding that I

[49:01] sincerely want to thank everyone for

[49:02] coming out to speak although my comments

[49:05] will be directed to the the president um

[49:08] it takes a good effort and a confidence

[49:10] to come and speak at the podium. I think

[49:11] a lot of people take it uh or undervalue

[49:14] how uncomfortable it is to speak in this

[49:16] type of setting but sincerely sharing

[49:17] your opinions wherever they reside. I

[49:20] take vigorous notes and I do it for a

[49:21] reason because I care. uh and your

[49:23] perspective helps me understand how to

[49:25] advocate for my position. Um but I want

[49:28] to speak specifically to the young men

[49:30] and women that are in this room.

[49:31] Although my back is to you sincerely uh

[49:33] your your hearts are are are with me

[49:36] right now. Um these seats that we sit

[49:39] in, they have term limits. Um but

[49:41] sincerely the blood, sweat, the

[49:43] investments that are being poured into

[49:45] you uh that last a lifetime. And as you

[49:48] can tell, a lot of the people that are

[49:50] doing this work now were in your seats.

[49:52] So take this seriously and it is not for

[49:56] you to begin because I already know you

[49:58] are doing this good work of being

[50:00] shepherds and ambassadors for the legacy

[50:03] that you're pouring into. But you are

[50:05] that legacy also right now. Uh so as we

[50:07] look at justifying the continued

[50:10] investment into these types of efforts,

[50:12] I think it requires us viewing how we

[50:14] fund things in this municipality from a

[50:17] standpoint of if we proactively address

[50:20] issues, do we have the discussion of

[50:22] continuing to fund our overtime at an

[50:24] excessive level? Uh and that is only one

[50:27] facet of why I think looking at things

[50:29] through a different lens um provides us

[50:32] opportunities to address the needs of

[50:33] our community in a different way. Uh so

[50:36] as we enter uh the year of 2026 uh and

[50:40] those budgeting needs are being taken

[50:41] into consideration, understand what is

[50:44] potentially about to happen with this

[50:46] upcoming vote. And regardless of where

[50:49] our council stands, understanding that

[50:51] there are people in this room, there are

[50:52] people outside of this room that love

[50:53] you. So hold on to that and carry

[50:56] forward properly.

[51:00] Thank you.

[51:02] [Applause]

[51:08] Mr. Farley.

[51:11] Thank you, Madam Chair. Um, first I want

[51:13] to thank everyone that came out today

[51:14] and has been out and has come out in the

[51:17] past to uh address city council. Um,

[51:20] this seat that we sit in um comes with

[51:23] tough decisions that have to be made and

[51:25] these should always be spirited

[51:26] conversations um but not mean-spirited

[51:29] conversations. And I am what you call a

[51:33] street shooter, if you will. I say what

[51:36] I mean and and then try to mean what I

[51:38] say. When I'm calling

[51:41] someone in, it's important that you

[51:43] recognize I am addressing a behavior and

[51:47] I'm criticizing a behavior and not a

[51:49] person. And that is our obligation, what

[51:53] we're obligated to do when we sit in

[51:55] these seats to exchange ideas with one

[51:58] another and say, "Hey, I disagree with

[52:00] that." Or, "Hey, this doesn't align with

[52:03] who we say we are um publicly." And I

[52:06] think that those are tough. That's a

[52:09] tough standard to be held to, but that's

[52:11] the exact standard that we ought to be

[52:13] held to in our position. And to disagree

[52:17] with me on a position doesn't make you a

[52:20] disagreeable person. Um, and there are

[52:24] part of this job, if you will, is giving

[52:26] concessions and and and making

[52:28] compromises. Um, I'm always willing to

[52:31] do that. That's what we saw happen

[52:34] today.

[52:35] However, there's certain areas that we

[52:37] can we can't afford to compromise on and

[52:40] that is definitely our youth. there.

[52:43] That money that is invested, not the

[52:46] cost that we're spending, but the

[52:48] investment

[52:49] that dollar stays in our community. Not

[52:52] only does it enrich the lives of our

[52:53] young people, it also relaxes some of

[52:55] the money that we have to spend being in reaction to lack of programs like

[53:01] Belmont. That comes at a cost, too. So,

[53:04] I just want to really uh uplift the fact

[53:06] and I appreciate um uh the committee

[53:09] members um and Miss Patrick engaging in

[53:11] this conversation in a way that did not

[53:15] uh shut out the ideas of people, but was

[53:18] uh willing to really listen, compromise,

[53:20] and be responsive um be a responsive

[53:23] leader. That's what I uh aspires all to

[53:25] continue to be. And I just again deeply

[53:28] appreciate Belmont, the work you're

[53:29] doing in one team, one family. Thank

[53:31] you. Thank you.

[53:34] [Music]

[53:36] [Applause]

[53:39] Miss Patrick,

[53:42] thank you. Yeah, I think um I agree with

[53:44] what Mr. Farley said. I had actually

[53:46] written down a very similar statement

[53:48] about um you know sitting at this table

[53:51] means that you have to make difficult

[53:53] decisions and difficult choices. Um and

[53:56] that's just goes along with with the job

[53:58] that goes along with the job of being

[54:00] part of a team. um that we have to be

[54:02] working together and uh listening to

[54:04] each other and listening to each other's

[54:06] uh thoughts and and opinions as well. Um

[54:10] I did compromise uh today. Um I do hope

[54:15] that folks understand that um you know

[54:17] this is a one time that ARPA funding

[54:19] that we used um Miss Patrick

[54:23] the ARPA funding that uh we used today

[54:26] is uh not going to be here uh after this

[54:29] year. So, uh, you know, I hope folks

[54:32] understand that this was a one-time

[54:34] grant. Um, the idea that I came in with

[54:37] tonight was that when we start to

[54:40] discuss the 2026 budget, um, under the

[54:43] direction of our parks director, um, I

[54:47] think we need to think about what we

[54:48] want to do for youth recreation. Um that

[54:51] is my committee health and recreation

[54:54] and we spend a lot of time uh talking

[54:56] about our fields, talking about our

[54:58] parks, talking about the golf course

[55:01] where indeed we made an investment into

[55:03] the golf course um which is one area of

[55:06] the city where we generate revenue uh

[55:09] through the golf course. So that was a

[55:11] sound investment in something that had

[55:14] not been uh worked on for years. Um so I

[55:18] think that uh next year we will have to

[55:21] think about this um in terms of all the

[55:23] youth activities. Mr. Farley and I met

[55:26] uh on a committee that was working on

[55:29] youth programs in the city well before

[55:31] either one of us was on city council.

[55:34] Um, and I think that it's important for

[55:37] us to continue to understand that

[55:39] anything we do, we have a very robust

[55:42] summer recreation program planned in our

[55:45] parks this summer. Um, and hopefully

[55:48] those opportunities will um, help the

[55:52] youth that come, whether they're coming

[55:53] to swim in the pool, whether they're

[55:54] coming to play a sport, whether they're

[55:56] going to be coming and taking part in

[55:58] arts and crafts activities or ecological

[56:02] uh, environmental kinds of activities.

[56:04] Um, all of those kinds of things are a

[56:06] way to make sure that our youth are

[56:09] having um, robust opportunities this summer. Um, I also have to say that

[56:16] um it was really important to me uh that

[56:19] we were able to hire as many youth from

[56:21] our high school that we will be

[56:23] employing this summer. Um, that's really

[56:26] important to me because those kids are

[56:28] going to understand um and learn job

[56:32] responsibilities and job skills that

[56:34] will only go on to benefit them as they

[56:37] um continue um with their with their

[56:40] lives and their careers. um in our town.

[56:44] Um so um that was a challenging

[56:47] discussion. Um I definitely came in uh

[56:51] prepared to not vote in favor of that

[56:53] funding. Um so I think that the

[56:56] compromise that we came to uh is a

[56:58] reasonable one. Um but I do think that

[57:01] all of our youth sports need to

[57:03] understand that they will continue to

[57:05] have to fundra as they all do um moving

[57:09] forward. Okay. Um, and I also want to

[57:12] say that um, again the Skenctity County

[57:15] Food Council is holding a food and

[57:18] poverty speakout on Wednesday, June 11th

[57:20] at 6:30 at the Roderdam Community

[57:23] Center. Um,

[57:25] this is going to be a real opportunity

[57:27] for folks to come out and really tell us

[57:30] um about what they're needing in terms

[57:32] of their in terms of food. as someone

[57:34] that volunteers quite extensively um

[57:37] fighting food insecurity in our in our

[57:39] city, in our county actually. Um this is

[57:43] just been this huge increase uh in the

[57:45] numbers of people that our food

[57:47] providers are serving every single one

[57:49] of them. There's 23 food providers in

[57:51] Skenctity County, but this is a chance

[57:53] for people to come out and talk about

[57:56] their needs. And let me tell you, when

[57:57] you hear people talk about um you know

[58:00] that food's sort of the last thing

[58:02] because they have to pay their rent,

[58:03] they have to pay their utilities, they

[58:05] have to pay for a car to get themselves

[58:06] to work. Um and so often they end up

[58:09] with no food um after they after they

[58:12] spend their money. So again, Wednesday,

[58:14] June 11th, 6:30 p.m. at the Roderdam

[58:16] Community Center. And the other piece is

[58:18] that the Skenctity County Food Council

[58:21] has a survey out as well um to try to

[58:25] get information uh about what people are

[58:28] experiencing in terms of um food costs,

[58:31] food insecurity, um how they're getting

[58:34] their uh nutritional uh needs met. Um

[58:38] and so I hope that folks will pay

[58:40] attention to that as well. It's all it's

[58:42] on Facebook. It's on uh the website uh

[58:45] for the for for the Skenctity Foundation

[58:48] and I encourage people to it's in

[58:50] English, Spanish and Arabic. So I

[58:53] encourage people to do that. And then

[58:54] again I also want to give I know we

[58:56] still have a few weeks but um we will be

[58:58] doing a reading of the Declaration of

[59:00] Independence again on July 4th at 10:30

[59:02] in the morning here at city hall.

[59:05] Hopefully on the steps of city hall

[59:07] hopefully it won't rain. Uh I'm feeling

[59:10] not so positive about that these days.

[59:12] Um, so I hope people will come out uh

[59:14] and celebrate the 4th of July with us as

[59:16] well. Thank you.

[59:19] Yes. Thank you, Mayor.

[59:23] Want to thank everyone for uh coming out

[59:25] tonight. Discussion is always uh lively,

[59:28] thoughtprovoking, and good for the

[59:30] community. Yield the rest of my time.

[59:32] Madam President, thank you. I also would

[59:36] like to thank everyone for coming out

[59:37] tonight to making your voice heard on

[59:39] the various topics that we heard this

[59:41] evening. I appreciate the young people

[59:42] coming to see what the process looks

[59:44] like and the adults the work that the

[59:47] adults put in for you. Um so you know

[59:50] one day if you want to you could be

[59:52] sitting up here as well or sitting in

[59:53] one of those chairs. So if you stay in

[59:55] Skenctity we'd love to have that and we

[59:58] hopeful hopefully um people will

[1:00:00] understand that as we did our work today

[1:00:02] as we talked about what needed to happen

[1:00:03] or what was going to happen.

[1:00:06] Please appreciate the fact there was a

[1:00:08] person that entered the room with saying

[1:00:09] you know it was going to be an absolute

[1:00:11] no and so we were able to move to a

[1:00:14] compromise in our process. Often that is

[1:00:17] what we have to do. I personally am

[1:00:19] committed to giving helping you in any

[1:00:21] way possible to identify resources to

[1:00:24] raise the rest of your funds because I

[1:00:26] think I know that the work that you do

[1:00:28] is important. I've never had a child in

[1:00:31] Pop Warner but I've seen children that

[1:00:33] have come through. I've seen actually

[1:00:34] been to games. So, I know the work that

[1:00:36] you do is important and investing in our

[1:00:38] children regardless of the sport that

[1:00:40] they are in is extremely important. So,

[1:00:42] thank you for coming out. Thank you for

[1:00:44] having your voices heard and thank you

[1:00:46] for helping to help us to um to move

[1:00:48] this process along. And to all the

[1:00:50] council members, I want to thank you for

[1:00:52] getting us to that point. Just one off

[1:00:55] record comment off the record. It's off

[1:00:57] the record that if you have goals in

[1:01:01] this chamber, the seats you want are the

[1:01:03] council ones. The public has the worst

[1:01:05] seats and those benches. The second

[1:01:08] worst are up here, but the city council

[1:01:10] members have the best. So,

[1:01:13] thank you, Madam President. You're

[1:01:14] welcome. Um, I just want to for those of

[1:01:17] you who missed the kids arts fest this

[1:01:19] weekend around city hall, it was

[1:01:21] wonderful. The rain came and but we

[1:01:23] didn't go inside. We put on our

[1:01:24] raincoats and we went outside and but it

[1:01:27] cleared up so it was great time and so

[1:01:29] for those parents who don't aren't aware

[1:01:30] of it every year it happens around city

[1:01:32] hall. It's a great opportunity for kids

[1:01:33] to come out. I want to know note also

[1:01:36] this year they had a cultural addition

[1:01:38] to it that I'd not seen before. They had

[1:01:41] people come from the Irakcoy nation to

[1:01:43] come and do their um to to do a dance

[1:01:45] and to sing songs. So it was great

[1:01:47] exposure for the for for the community.

[1:01:50] So, I want to thank the folks that put

[1:01:51] that on and for all the uh vendors that

[1:01:53] were there at the Kids Arts Fest. And by

[1:01:56] the way, everything is free to the kids

[1:01:58] coming just to, you know, have a good

[1:02:00] time in their community. So, that's

[1:02:02] another event.

[1:02:04] I want to um mention the Junth is coming

[1:02:07] up, the celebration of Junth on the 20th

[1:02:09] and 21st of this month. The 20th will be

[1:02:13] in Central Park. And as many of us know,

[1:02:16] Walter Simpkins, our dear beloved uh

[1:02:19] community member who has passed on,

[1:02:21] really led that. But so we want we'll be

[1:02:23] there in his honor on the 20th in in

[1:02:25] Veil Cemetery. And then on the 21st, we

[1:02:28] will be in s in Central Park celebrating

[1:02:31] Junth. So asking everyone to please come

[1:02:34] out and to um participate in that. And

[1:02:37] uh to Miss Reed, I'm I'll speak to you

[1:02:39] specifically. Um, I believe my email to

[1:02:41] you was that corporation council was

[1:02:43] going to be looking into your your

[1:02:44] situation. I will review that email

[1:02:46] again and and follow up with you on that

[1:02:48] because I know that they were taking a

[1:02:50] look at at at your situation. So, um, if

[1:02:53] you want, well, you can speak after the

[1:02:54] meeting and I'd be glad to, um, to just

[1:02:56] give you more information on that. And I

[1:02:59] have nothing more to add to that. So, at

[1:03:02] this time, I ask for a motion to

[1:03:03] adjurnn. Moved by everyone. Moved by Mr.

[1:03:07] Williams, second by Mr. Mutiver. All

[1:03:09] those in favor I we are journed. Have a

[1:03:11] good night.

[1:03:23] Interesting.

[1:03:40] All right.

[1:03:47] Fast.

[1:03:51] [Music]

[1:04:10] Hey. Hey.

[1:04:12] [Music]

Schenectady City Council Mtg 06 09 25

Transcript