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[0:01] [Applause]
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[0:11] Hey.
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[0:29] Hey. Hey.
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[0:39] Hey,
[0:42] [Music]
[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]