[0:00] Heat. Heat.
[0:15] [Music]
[1:06] Test test First,
[1:47] Testing one, two, one, two,
[2:05] pretty good.
[2:24] Heat. Heat.
[2:42] Test two.
[3:04] Test test.
[4:12] [Music]
[4:35] Hey. Hey. Hey.
[5:12] test.
[5:48] [Music]
[5:58] Test test.
[6:20] Huh?
[6:36] What do you
[7:00] [ __ ]
[7:46] Testing one, two, three. Testing one,
[7:49] two, three.
[8:16] Test test.
[9:18] Yes.
[9:21] [Music]
[11:46] Hey, hey, hey.
[11:50] [Music]
[12:10] Heat. Heat.
[12:54] [Music]
[13:32] Thank you.
[13:37] [Music]
[13:54] I graduate from
[14:57] [Music]
[16:22] Thank you.
[16:35] [Music]
[16:57] Hey, hey, hey.
[17:39] [Music]
[19:03] Hey,
[19:05] [Music]
[19:14] hey, hey.
[19:27] [Music]
[20:20] [Applause]
[20:23] It's just
[20:36] [Music]
[20:46] Oh yeah.
[21:16] All right, here we go.
[21:19] Where's our crew?
[21:25] Here's Dorine.
[21:31] You want water, please? John, you want
[21:49] That's good.
[21:51] [Applause]
[22:12] How are you?
[22:42] [Music]
[22:45] I don't know that
[22:48] I'm surprised.
[23:12] All right.
[23:52] Hello.
[24:08] Sorry.
[24:13] Don't you work?
[24:26] [Music]
[24:46] You want me to take a picture? No.
[25:02] I forgot.
[25:32] [Applause]
[25:33] These are the other cities.
[25:38] You're going to be
[25:40] this good summary.
[25:56] your name off
[25:59] the end. Give me until the end of the
[26:01] year.
[26:12] I don't know if somebody actually
[26:22] a lot of things been happening.
[26:27] Not tonight.
[26:35] One minute.
[26:38] We can still follow.
[26:59] Okay, time to follow. Okay,
[27:03] stick around.
[27:07] I'd like to call to order the Skodki
[27:09] City Council committee meeting for
[27:11] Monday, June 16th, 2025.
[27:14] I know we have a very full room here and
[27:16] maybe some of you have never been here
[27:17] for a process before. So, I'd like you
[27:19] to know that there is no comment from
[27:21] the public tonight. Um, and if you have
[27:23] to need feel like you need to have
[27:24] conversation, we'd actually take you in
[27:26] the hallway because the room is so
[27:28] crowded that people want to be able to
[27:30] hear what what said around the table. Um
[27:33] but and we do have time before we get to
[27:35] that piece of the agenda. So we're going
[27:37] to begin with a presentation of our
[27:40] annual audit and I'd ask Mr. Gamma to
[27:42] please come forward.
[27:46] Good evening council. Looks like we have
[27:48] a full house today. Everybody wants to
[27:50] hear about the 2024 city audit. Yes.
[27:54] I have John Talasi here from Kuzac and
[27:56] CPA. He'll be reviewing all the key
[27:58] points. John, you want to take it from
[28:00] here?
[28:03] Okay. Uh, thank you all for having me
[28:05] here tonight. I want to start out by
[28:06] saying thank you to the mayor and city
[28:07] council for having me here tonight and
[28:09] also to your entire team that helps us
[28:11] out during the audit. We really
[28:12] appreciate everything that they do.
[28:14] Special uh thanks to Liz Nelson who's
[28:16] our main point of contact during the
[28:17] audit as well team. Uh they do a great
[28:20] job during the audit and we'll thank for
[28:22] everything that they do. Um so our
[28:24] ultimate responsibility during the audit
[28:26] is to issue an opinion on your financial
[28:27] statements as to whether they're
[28:28] materially stated and whether they're in
[28:30] compliance with accepted accounting
[28:32] principles otherwise known as GAP. So
[28:34] our audit takes place in three main
[28:36] phases. So our first main phase pre-
[28:38] audit phase which takes place in
[28:39] December. Uh what we're doing during
[28:41] this phase we're reviewing your internal
[28:43] control processes testing those internal
[28:45] control processes performing variance
[28:47] and budget analysis. We review the city
[28:49] council meeting minutes and we complete
[28:51] our internal risk assessment. Uh the
[28:53] next major phase of our audit takes
[28:55] place in mid-March. Um, we use the
[28:57] information we gather during the pre-
[28:58] audit phase and we develop our audit
[29:00] programs, test account balances to
[29:02] verify if they're materially stated. The
[29:05] third phase of our audit is the
[29:06] reporting phase where we review the
[29:08] financial statements prepared by your
[29:09] senior accountant and we report on the
[29:11] final results. So the draft financial
[29:14] statements that you have in front of you
[29:15] are a 78page document overall. Uh,
[29:17] they're comprised of several major
[29:19] parts. So the first major part is going
[29:20] to be your management discussion and
[29:22] analysis. This is a required un audited
[29:25] section of your financial statements
[29:27] which they highlight the summary I'm
[29:29] sorry they highlight the summary of
[29:31] operating results and other financial
[29:33] highlights. Um if you're unfamiliar with
[29:34] the financial statements is a good read
[29:36] overall. Pages 8 through 10. This is
[29:39] your independent auditors report. We
[29:40] issue our opinion on the financial
[29:42] statements.
[29:43] It is important to note that your
[29:45] financial statements are on the fund and
[29:47] account group level only uh exclusive of
[29:49] the non-current governmental asset
[29:51] account group. We are pleased to say
[29:53] that we have once again been able to
[29:54] issue an unmodified opinion on your
[29:56] financial statements. So this is the
[29:58] highest level of assurance that we can
[29:59] give you. It's considered a clean
[30:00] report. We had no reportable issues and
[30:02] no funding.
[30:04] Pages 11 through 13. These are your
[30:06] governmental fund balance sheets and
[30:08] statements of revenues, expenditures,
[30:09] and changes in fund balance.
[30:14] No.
[30:15] Oh, okay. Sorry. So your approximated
[30:17] operating results for the year end of
[30:19] December 31st, 2024. General fund fund
[30:22] amounts were unchanged due to AR loss
[30:24] revenue. Water fund had a deficit of
[30:27] 759,000.
[30:29] Sword fund had a surplus of 3.7 million.
[30:32] Recreation fund surplus of 168,000.
[30:35] Special grants and revenue had a surplus
[30:37] of 17,000. Capital projects had a
[30:40] deficit of 10 million due to
[30:41] expenditures of the capital projects
[30:44] funded with bond proceeds. So highlights
[30:46] of your 2024 general fund activity and
[30:49] approximated figures. Prior year tax
[30:51] collections exceeded expectations by
[30:53] 952,000.
[30:55] Casino revenue exceeded expectations by
[30:57] 287,000.
[30:59] The property sales fell below
[31:00] expectations by 2.3 million. Sales tax
[31:03] revenue exceeded your expectations by
[31:05] 1.8 billion. Insurance recoveries
[31:08] exceeded expectations by 1.5 million.
[31:11] Adult use cannabis revenues were a total
[31:12] of $683,000. Those exceeded expectations
[31:16] by 383,000.
[31:18] City also received $1.2 2 million in
[31:20] unbudgeted AIM funds during the year on
[31:23] federal ARPA funds that were utilized
[31:24] during the year were $18.5 million 4.6
[31:28] million of which were utilized to give
[31:30] the general fund ARPA offset loss for so
[31:34] overall we feel that management does a
[31:36] good job with their reserves fund
[31:37] balance in the general fund is $18.9
[31:39] million with $6.6 $6 million of
[31:42] restricted funds at the end of the year.
[31:44] So details of the restricted and
[31:45] assigned fund balance can be found on
[31:47] page 53 of your financial statements.
[31:50] Band borrowings during the year have
[31:51] been increased by $10 million to fund
[31:53] capital projects.
[31:57] There was an overall decrease of $9.9
[32:00] million in the city's net pension
[32:01] liability for underfunded ERS and PFRS.
[32:04] balance at the end of the year was a
[32:05] liability of $7.1 million for ERS and a
[32:08] liability of $35.7 million for PFRS. Uh
[32:12] during 2024, the city also elected
[32:15] additional benefits under section 384E,
[32:18] the New York State Retirement Law, which
[32:20] is allowing them to amvertise the past
[32:21] service costs for the next 10 years.
[32:23] This was an increase to your net
[32:25] long-term debt of $7.1 million. Total
[32:28] OPED liability is decreased by $51
[32:30] million to $243 million. these uh Gazsby
[32:34] statements 68 and 75 require that these
[32:36] items the net pension liability and also
[32:39] the OPED liability are recorded on your
[32:40] financial statements. These are for lack
[32:43] of a better term considered paper
[32:44] liabilities are recorded be they are um
[32:47] required to be reported on your
[32:48] financial statements but they don't
[32:49] affect any of the um you know current
[32:51] operating resource. Page 14 this is your
[32:54] custodial fund as required by Gazby
[32:56] statement 84. The footnotes of the
[32:58] financial statements can be found on
[32:59] pages 16 through 59. Uh what these do is
[33:02] they detail the significant accounting
[33:03] policies of the city and also your zero
[33:05] account balances on basic financial
[33:07] statements. Pages 60 through 66 these
[33:10] are the required supplemental financial
[33:12] information includes the budget actual
[33:14] reports PRS and PFRS pension assets or
[33:17] liabilities and also the overhead
[33:19] details and the ratios. Pages 67 through
[33:23] 78. This is your federal single audit.
[33:24] Since the city expended more than
[33:26] $750,000 in federal funding, we are
[33:29] required to have what's called a federal
[33:30] single audit. We are required to rotate
[33:32] major high-risisk programs every three
[33:34] years. Uh this year we selected the lead
[33:37] hazard mitigation grant, Department of
[33:38] Transportation grants and also the ARPA
[33:40] funding. We noted no material weaknesses
[33:43] or significant deficiencies within these
[33:45] uh grants. We feel the city has good
[33:47] internal controls over your federal
[33:48] grant reporting and compliance as well.
[33:51] uh the remaining ARPA funds that the
[33:53] city has required to be expended by
[33:55] December 31st, 2024 or obligated and
[33:58] dispersed by December 31st, 2026. City
[34:01] has obligated these funds as of December
[34:02] 31st, 2024.
[34:07] So from an overall accounting and
[34:08] control standpoint, we feel the city's
[34:10] doing a great job overall. Some great
[34:12] people on your team. Uh controls are
[34:14] well, they're operating as designed. Uh
[34:16] we also do issue what's called post
[34:18] governance letter at the end of the
[34:19] audit. It's a require communication the
[34:20] end audit if there was any issues or
[34:22] concerns during the audit. We did have
[34:24] one comment in that letter um which
[34:26] regarding old MVP receivables and the
[34:28] collection process of those. There was a
[34:30] recommendation made for that which was a
[34:32] repeating comment from previous years as
[34:33] well. And the only remaining item that
[34:36] we have here in audit is to complete a
[34:38] form SFSAC with the Federal Census
[34:40] Bureau. Um this is a required form that
[34:42] has to be submitted to them uploading
[34:44] all the information for the federal
[34:45] single audit. um that will be done after
[34:47] the audit is formally accepted and we
[34:49] can uh complete that process. So as I
[34:51] said the audit went very well overall
[34:52] very pleased with the results. So I'd be
[34:54] happy to take any questions on the audit
[34:56] process or members as well.
[35:01] So we often hear during budget season uh
[35:04] discussions around how much and should
[35:06] we tap into the general fund balance.
[35:08] Looking at page two where you're talking
[35:11] about the measures of strength. Can you
[35:12] just expand on that? We've been on the
[35:14] council for four years. So there's
[35:15] understanding more of what goes into
[35:17] what's the specific section that you
[35:18] have? Uh so is the general fund
[35:20] continued and yeah so that would be in
[35:24] the management's discussion and
[35:25] analysis. So what they're doing is
[35:26] highlighting the specific strengths of
[35:27] the city of the overall fund balance the
[35:30] ability or you know the need to use the
[35:32] fund balance or the need not to. So what
[35:35] we're seeing is that the city does not
[35:36] have to dip into their fund balance
[35:38] significantly to to fund operations. So
[35:40] you're finding external sources whether
[35:42] that be property tax revenue or sewer
[35:44] charges the specific funds and the
[35:45] individual funds are self sustaining
[35:48] within themselves. So they're being a
[35:49] they're able to generate a good enough
[35:51] money to cover operations over time. Now
[35:54] follow question is there a percentage
[35:57] that uh delineates like that excellent
[36:01] rating that you said um before staying
[36:03] in this threshold is preferred for this
[36:05] optimal rating? I don't think so. I
[36:07] think it's an overall just a general
[36:08] feel from your budgeting standpoint. So,
[36:10] how much money do we need? Do we foresee
[36:12] future projects to use? You know, is
[36:14] there something coming up down the
[36:15] pipeline? Significant capital projects,
[36:17] significant improvements about to
[36:19] happen, what's going on within the city
[36:21] that we need to plan for. And I think
[36:23] the city does a really great job in
[36:24] identifying those items and putting
[36:26] money aside for those items as well.
[36:28] Thank you, sir.
[36:30] I did have a question regarding the
[36:32] economic factors since this is a city
[36:33] report. Um I noticed that we're also
[36:35] talking about the county being the
[36:37] fourth growing the fourth fastest
[36:39] growing. So do you have any um data on
[36:41] how fast the city is growing within city
[36:44] you mentioned the county? Um we don't
[36:46] have any data in there. So the
[36:47] management discussion analysis is not an
[36:49] audited section. It's a required part of
[36:50] your financial statements. Um but it's
[36:52] not an audited part of your financial
[36:54] statements. So while we do perform
[36:55] limited procedures over that we're not
[36:57] essentially verifying the accuracy
[36:59] unless you're really out of line. So
[37:01] ultimately that's something that your
[37:02] team has put together and say here's
[37:04] some of the highlights that we have
[37:05] overall. So you could definitely expand
[37:07] on that if you wanted to if you wanted
[37:08] to add some additional information or
[37:10] you know that's really your section
[37:12] that's management's opening section and
[37:14] say you know here's all the highlights
[37:15] the significant things that happened to
[37:17] us here the good bad things we foresee
[37:20] in the future as well. And I also read
[37:22] the part where it said about the um and
[37:24] we know that we don't we're not in
[37:25] charge of the pilots and we don't create
[37:28] um you know we don't decide on those but
[37:30] does the audit taking look at how the
[37:32] pilot impacts our overall budget? Um we
[37:35] don't from the audit standpoint. So it's
[37:37] more of dealing with materiality. So
[37:39] we're dealing with material issues. So
[37:41] is it a material item? Is it something
[37:43] that is the pilot paid? Is that
[37:46] receivable? We have to verify the
[37:47] accuracy of that amount that's
[37:49] outstanding. So we're looking to verify
[37:50] the accuracy of the assets, the
[37:52] liabilities, and any of the the equity
[37:55] items as well. So ultimately, we're not
[37:56] looking at the specific contracts for
[37:58] the pilots, but we are looking to see if
[38:00] the amounts which you're saying are
[38:02] paid, you know, if they're not paid, why
[38:04] are they not paid? So we're kind of
[38:05] going through that process as well.
[38:09] I have a question on the uh the water,
[38:11] the sewer, and the recreational fund.
[38:14] the um the increase in the fund balance
[38:16] for the water 8.5%
[38:18] the sewer 30.55%
[38:21] and the recreational fund 12.4%.
[38:24] Can you expand on that a little as to
[38:26] why it's it's good that it increase but
[38:28] then why for those why the extended of
[38:31] those numbers? Well, I think there was
[38:33] there's a few different scenarios that
[38:34] happened during the year. Um so
[38:36] specifically in the sewer fund um there
[38:38] was an overall you know a significant
[38:40] surplus within the surf fund but that
[38:41] was primarily based on a few one-time
[38:43] items. So these were past charges rate
[38:46] changes other adjustments that happened
[38:48] during the year. There was also
[38:49] increases in rates in the sur rates as
[38:51] you know so that helped to fuel that as
[38:53] well. But ultimately I think it was you
[38:55] know we're taking that money putting it
[38:57] aside within the reserves within those
[38:58] funds. So if there's projects down the
[39:00] road that are um you know we know are
[39:03] going to happen city setting aside that
[39:05] money to make sure that those projects
[39:06] can be ultimately funded without using
[39:08] current resources. So we're setting the
[39:10] money aside currently for future
[39:11] projects as well. But to answer your
[39:14] question fully why those percentages are
[39:16] going up primarily because of surpluses
[39:19] and good overall management of the
[39:21] expenditures. You get money coming in
[39:23] going out.
[39:26] Any other questions?
[39:32] So, so the final item will be once you
[39:34] approve the financial statements, I'll
[39:35] send the management representation
[39:36] letter over to Derek, have that signed
[39:38] and then we'll finalize the statements
[39:40] as well.
[39:43] Thank you. Great. Thank you for having
[39:45] me.
[39:51] Are we moving to adopt any need a motion
[39:54] to adopt the budget specifically or
[39:56] adopt the budget? I'll let you take your
[39:58] bet, Mr. Finance.
[40:00] So, yeah. So, we'll um we'll move a
[40:03] motion to adopt the u the 2024 audit
[40:07] statement.
[40:09] Second. All in favor? I. Thank you.
[40:17] Um I'd like to open health and
[40:19] recreation. We have one item on the
[40:21] agenda this evening and that is a
[40:23] discussion of um some really exciting uh
[40:26] new programs that are going to happen uh
[40:29] four programs that are going to happen
[40:30] this summer. Um and I'd like to ask um
[40:34] Mr. MCO and our guest Heather Sen to
[40:36] come up and and tell us a little bit
[40:38] more about that program.
[40:48] Thank you, Mayor. from the resident
[40:49] council. We came here tonight with
[40:51] Heather Sen from the United Way. Uh
[40:53] Heather approached me back in March
[40:54] about some programs that she would like
[40:56] to bring into the park in conjunction
[40:58] with our summer programs. So, we met
[41:00] what two or three times about them. We
[41:02] discussed they have a really great
[41:03] program lined up for us this summer.
[41:05] They're going to come into all our
[41:06] parks. And I don't want to steal
[41:07] Heather's thunder because she worked
[41:08] really hard at this.
[41:11] Um thank you everyone and thank you
[41:13] Council Patrick for inviting me to to
[41:15] share this information out with everyone
[41:17] tonight. Um, so we uh I'm I'm coming to
[41:22] you with uh from the United Way of the
[41:23] greater capital region, but also a
[41:25] member of the summer mills collaborative
[41:26] across eight counties and skinnity is a
[41:28] really special county for us here in the
[41:30] collaborative. Um so as Bill mentioned,
[41:33] we approached um him earlier this this
[41:36] year to talk about like how can we
[41:37] collaborate specifically around summer
[41:39] nutrition programs for kids. Um, several
[41:42] of our partners run some of the meals
[41:44] programs and several of our partners
[41:46] also run activities for kids during
[41:48] summer months. So, how could we maximize
[41:50] these great resources for kids and
[41:52] families and work together? Um, and so,
[41:54] Bill was sharing about um all of the
[41:56] great activities going on in the parks
[41:58] and so we saw it as a natural kind of
[42:00] connection point. So this summer we will
[42:02] be um offering summer meal block parties
[42:05] uh four times throughout the summer at
[42:07] our four signature parks here in in
[42:10] Skinnctity. So um they will be on
[42:12] Tuesdays, so every other Tuesday this
[42:14] month. And I brought the schedule here
[42:15] with me to share out um with you all
[42:17] tonight. Um and we'll be alternating
[42:19] between um lunch times and um evening
[42:23] hours so that we can kind of try to see
[42:25] what works best for families uh
[42:27] throughout the summer. Um so these uh
[42:29] block parties will feature the summer
[42:31] meals um sites and all of our summer
[42:34] meals partners will be there. There will
[42:35] be fun activities for kids and families.
[42:37] Um there will be food for the entire
[42:39] family. Uh there will be u a lot of
[42:42] community partners. We have 15 community
[42:43] partners assembled uh in these in these
[42:45] block parties that will be sharing out
[42:47] resources and programs for kids and
[42:49] families throughout the summer. Um and
[42:50] so we're really excited to be able to
[42:52] offer this this summer and it's all
[42:54] free. Um you don't have to sign up. you
[42:56] just show up and enjoy the the evening
[42:58] or the afternoon with us. Um, and we
[43:00] really hope that you can help us get the
[43:01] word out so that we can have as many
[43:03] families participate as possible this
[43:05] summer. Again, we're trying to maximize
[43:07] um great resources for kids and families
[43:09] uh that are happening in our community
[43:10] and highlight the wonderful um programs
[43:12] happening in the park, too. So, it's a
[43:14] natural connection point and we're
[43:15] really excited to partner.
[43:19] Does anybody have any questions or
[43:21] comments? And I know Heather brought
[43:22] some um flyers for all of us as well
[43:25] that she can she can handle. Anybody
[43:27] have any questions or
[43:30] Oh, sorry. I'm like looking around. Will
[43:34] this work um with uh uh the meals on
[43:37] wheels, the children lunches through
[43:39] Sycamore. Um Yeah. Yes. Right. Um so
[43:43] Sycamore collaborative is running the
[43:44] summer meals program. Um the school
[43:47] district is running the farm to family
[43:48] meals program and they are also um going
[43:51] to be at the same summer meal sites as
[43:54] well. So there'll be multiple ways to
[43:56] feed kids to feed their whole family to
[43:58] feed any community member that that
[44:00] comes to to these programs. So yes,
[44:03] Sycamore is providing the the meals.
[44:05] Yep.
[44:06] And the school district is providing the
[44:08] lunches for they're they're basically
[44:10] making the lunches for for
[44:13] will the will there be any um anything
[44:16] for uh residents to take home any canned
[44:20] goods any fresh fruit vegetables
[44:23] something like that be there as well?
[44:25] Yes. So, the farm to family meals
[44:26] program is basically operating like a uh
[44:30] um a green market, right? Um and so
[44:32] they'll be at several sites throughout
[44:34] the city this summer. And I did not
[44:36] bring their schedule because they're
[44:37] just finalizing it, but it will be
[44:38] available soon. And so, basically, you
[44:40] just show up and um that you can
[44:43] basically fill a bag full of fresh
[44:45] produce, milk, eggs, proteins. Um and it
[44:49] will change throughout the summer. So,
[44:50] as new vegetables are being harvested,
[44:52] they'll be on the truck. Um, and then
[44:54] you know, basically it's a it's a four
[44:56] choice. So if there's something that you
[44:57] don't like, you don't have to take it.
[44:59] If there's something that you like a
[45:00] little bit more than something else, you
[45:01] can take a little bit more of that as
[45:03] well. And who are your partners? Who are
[45:05] our partners? Um, so the city is a
[45:08] partner. Um, the the county is
[45:10] definitely a partner. The school
[45:11] district, Sycamore Collaborative, create
[45:13] community studios. Um, New York
[45:16] Folklore. We're really excited this
[45:17] summer. The Panaffrican Orchestra is
[45:19] joining us at the block parties. It'll
[45:21] be an invitation to kids to join and and
[45:23] participate. Um the Children's Museum of
[45:25] Saratoga is a partner. Um the Green
[45:27] Market's a partner. Coral Cornell
[45:29] Cooperative Extension, Food Pantries,
[45:31] Capital Region Vegan Network, the
[45:33] Skinctity County Food Council, Square
[45:36] River Center, lots of partners, and
[45:38] there's always room for more. So if
[45:39] there are other organizations that want
[45:40] to get involved, we'd love to have them
[45:42] come and join them. So it's it's
[45:44] somewhat of a resource fair as well as
[45:46] um the meal the meal program. Please
[45:48] support me. So you mentioned a little
[45:49] bit about the blocks. Can you expand on
[45:51] that in terms of what's going to happen?
[45:53] I heard about the entertainment, but I
[45:55] know that in the past the summer, excuse
[45:57] me, the school district has had a summer
[45:58] enrichment program. Yes. So that's
[46:00] educational. And is this including any
[46:03] of that or is that not something that's
[46:04] going to happen this year? Um so for the
[46:06] enrichment program, I know that some of
[46:08] the kids will be coming to the park. It
[46:11] it'll be during certain days the school
[46:12] district will bring us kids to various
[46:14] parks where we're going to be staffing
[46:15] with the youth program. Um, we haven't
[46:17] really finalized that yet, but we're
[46:18] just waiting for schools to get done
[46:20] with and finalize what they're going to
[46:21] be bringing the kids to us. That'll be
[46:22] Hillers, Central Park, Jerry Burell, and
[46:25] Steinways.
[46:27] And then for the activities during the
[46:28] block parties, a lot of our partners are
[46:30] bringing uh STEM based activities. So,
[46:32] for example, create community studios.
[46:34] We'll be doing a lot of art um based
[46:36] activities. The children's museum has a
[46:38] lot of fun and naturebased activities as
[46:41] does the Skhair River Center. So,
[46:42] they're all um a lot of the activities
[46:44] are hands-on and it's a way to engage
[46:45] the whole family, the whole community.
[46:47] Um and it's and then um there will be
[46:49] fun things for kids to take away as well
[46:51] um in addition to to the meals that will
[46:53] be provided. Thank you, Mr. Crowley. So,
[46:57] I just want to highlight the fact that
[46:58] on the fresh produce truck or school
[47:00] district though that is connected to
[47:02] city school district kind of led
[47:03] initiative, they're always looking for
[47:05] people to just kind of jump on the truck
[47:07] and help distribute some of their fresh
[47:09] produce, you know. So if anyone's
[47:11] interested in that, please reach out to myself or anyone else
[47:13] connecting the city school district.
[47:16] Uh did that include I know we spoke
[47:18] about the donor of the free food for
[47:20] families. Yes. Yeah. So one of our um
[47:23] community partners came forward uh and
[47:25] they have said that they would really
[47:26] like to sponsor meals for adults um
[47:28] because one of the limitations of the
[47:31] summer meals program is it's only for um
[47:33] youth 18 and younger. Um and so uh we
[47:36] wanted to make sure at the block parties
[47:38] at the very least we could feed everyone
[47:40] who shows up. And so we have a donor
[47:42] that um it is the good sheeperd Lutheran
[47:45] church. They are sponsoring meals for
[47:47] anyone that comes to the block parties.
[47:49] And so we'll have special meals for the
[47:51] block parties. You can think like
[47:52] cookouts, things like that. The school
[47:54] district will be making those meals for us. Um and we'll be able to serve
[47:59] anyone who comes. And so we're really
[48:01] excited this this year to be able to
[48:02] offer that. We're really thankful to
[48:04] Libya Lutheran Church for for their
[48:06] generous um donation to be able to do
[48:08] that.
[48:10] Would you just mention the kickoff?
[48:12] Absolutely. So to kick off this summer
[48:15] um a Sycamore Collaborative is
[48:17] organizing on June 30th from 12:00 to 3
[48:20] at Jerry Burell Park. Um a kickoff
[48:22] celebration. You know, it's kind of the
[48:24] start of summer. It's the start of
[48:25] summer meals and the start of all these
[48:26] great programs happening around the
[48:28] city. Um so we will be at Jerry Burell
[48:29] Park. Um it'll be a ceremony of of sorts
[48:33] around 12:30. Um and then it'll just be,
[48:36] you know, a run really fun time with the
[48:38] community. So again, we hope you can
[48:40] join us for that, too. Um there'll be
[48:42] all of these partners that I talked
[48:43] about earlier assembled. Um and and
[48:46] we're really excited to to start another
[48:47] summer uh with kids and families in in
[48:50] the community. That's great. Anything
[48:53] else from any comments or questions?
[48:57] Okay. Thank you so much. You want to we
[48:59] can hand those out? Absolutely.
[49:06] Thank you. Thank you so much.
[49:14] I'm sorry. Oh. Oh, sorry. Um, is there
[49:18] anything else to come before Health and
[49:19] Recreation? And if not, I'd look for a
[49:22] motion to adjurnn
[49:24] from Health and Recreation. Okay. So,
[49:26] move. Second.
[49:28] Okay. All in favor? I. Thank you. Sorry.
[49:33] No worries. Okay. I'd like to call the
[49:36] court to order government operations. We
[49:37] have one item on the agenda today and
[49:39] that is a discussion around uh Skenctity
[49:42] opting into the good cause eviction. Um
[49:45] so as council members know, we have had
[49:47] we've been visited by people at the rail
[49:49] at our last uh uh council meetings um
[49:52] talking about the importance of housing
[49:54] and housing stabilization. uh in the
[49:57] city of Skenctity. Um good cause
[49:59] eviction um has been uh opted in um by
[50:03] our neighbors over in Albany to try to
[50:06] increase housing stabiliz stabilization
[50:08] for families for our most vulnerable
[50:10] populations. Um and so I wanted to bring
[50:13] that for to the council um to give you
[50:15] an opportunity for us to kind of have an
[50:17] open thought exchange around why this
[50:19] order would not be a good idea for us to
[50:21] do.
[50:22] Any questions on that?
[50:35] So, absolutely provide my uh feedback. I
[50:37] would say just taking the optics of the
[50:40] room. It's definitely a uh
[50:44] I can tell there's a lot of emotion. Um
[50:47] and it's unfortunate how the
[50:49] conversation I think has manifested. uh
[50:52] just in us presenting this one
[50:53] discussion topic to the city where it
[50:55] seems as though we're putting one side
[50:57] against the other tenants against
[50:59] landlords and sincerely from my uh
[51:02] experience with getting myself smart on
[51:05] this topic and hearing a lot of the
[51:06] feedback and comments from the rail and
[51:08] also in the conversations candidly that
[51:10] I've had with people from both sides
[51:12] definitely I'm still learning myself but
[51:14] the reason why I support good cause
[51:16] eviction is because of the protections
[51:18] in place for tenants and I say that
[51:21] within a framework of information that
[51:24] I've received over the last few days in
[51:26] preparation for this conversation um
[51:29] predominantly has a um higher majority
[51:33] of renters and I think that is something
[51:34] that is non-debatable and we all
[51:35] understand and respect that. Um, the
[51:38] reason why I support this is because of
[51:40] the work that my wife does as a social
[51:42] worker, but also hearing about the the
[51:44] resounding impacts of having unstable
[51:46] housing. And as we entertain
[51:48] conversations around this table talking
[51:50] about the living conditions within the
[51:52] city of Skenctity, uh housing is
[51:54] absolutely an apparent uh survival need.
[51:57] And I think it's arguably uh a necessity
[52:01] uh to require safe, affordable, and
[52:02] adequate housing for individuals. Um,
[52:08] as I look at why I think the the core
[52:10] tenants of good cause eviction resonate
[52:12] most with me, it's because of the
[52:14] protections and um
[52:19] the legal recourse that it presents to
[52:20] tenants. And I think as we have this
[52:24] conversation at the table, I look
[52:25] forward to hearing where the rest of the
[52:27] council stands. Um but sincerely looking
[52:30] at the last information that was
[52:32] compiled from our 2020 to 2024 um HUD
[52:35] analysis uh just reading from this
[52:38] caption and I can pass this information
[52:40] around. It identified housing problems
[52:42] as housing cost burdens, severe housing
[52:45] cost burden, substandard housing
[52:46] overcrowding and severe overcrowding.
[52:49] and it highlights uh that 53.3% of the
[52:53] city's connected renters experience
[52:54] housing problems and 33.3% experienced
[52:58] severe housing problems. And as we've
[53:01] attempted to have discussions at this
[53:02] table about rent stabilization, which
[53:05] was met with an overwhelming resentment
[53:07] from individuals in this room, I think
[53:10] it's important to ask why are we so
[53:12] opposed to having this conversation that
[53:14] we all can recognize is important? Is
[53:17] housing a luxury or is it a need? And
[53:19] how do we ensure that these protections
[53:21] that are put in place for tenants do not
[53:23] come at the overwhelming expense of
[53:25] landlords? However, this sincerely is a
[53:28] rebalancing of power for tenants and I'm
[53:30] being explicit in that. I do not think
[53:32] that is of a a negative sentiment to get
[53:35] around.
[53:37] I look forward to having conversations
[53:39] throughout the week with some of our
[53:40] landlords to better understand their
[53:41] opinions and and sentiments around the
[53:43] topic. Um, but sincerely what I've read
[53:46] and I ask everyone to actually read the
[53:48] law and not interpret it from secondhand
[53:50] accounts. In my understanding of the
[53:53] law, it provides landlords the ability
[53:55] to still evict evictable people. It
[53:58] still provides landlords the ability to
[53:59] control their properties. However, there
[54:02] are stipulations in place to ensure that is not coming at the overwhelming
[54:06] expense of tenants who at this point are
[54:08] living day to day, week to week, month
[54:10] to month without knowing whether they
[54:12] have uh long-term tenency regardless of
[54:17] how they uphold the standards for that
[54:20] uh residency resident or dwelling. Um so
[54:23] I'm just one comment as of right now,
[54:24] but I always present myself as being
[54:26] objective. Um, but what I've seen so far
[54:29] leads me to be in support of this. Now,
[54:32] whether we pass anything out of this
[54:33] committee, I think is a long shot. So,
[54:35] as the conversation morphs, I just want
[54:38] to remind people that um, sincerely we
[54:41] are here to ensure that we empower all
[54:43] members of our community. Um, but I do
[54:45] think it is important to put a
[54:47] heightened emphasis on our tenants with
[54:50] renters being a majority and the city's
[54:53] faculty. Thank you, Mr. Williams.
[54:57] So, um, I'm definitely I'm looking
[55:00] forward to hear feedback from other
[55:01] council members, but I think it's as we
[55:03] talk about what good cause of action is,
[55:06] it's equally important to talk about
[55:07] what it's not. Um, and so again, to Miss
[55:10] Williams, it's important to read the
[55:12] legislation, this is not um a law saying
[55:15] that you cannot evict people from um
[55:18] your property if they're there and
[55:20] they're not paying to stay there. you
[55:22] know, I would not support anything
[55:24] knowing that your uh the landlord has an
[55:27] obligation to uh take care of the
[55:30] property and pay for the property. I
[55:31] wouldn't support anything that would
[55:33] allow someone to stay in your property
[55:34] without making payments or someone
[55:36] that's damaging your property or
[55:38] violating your lease. Um I think that
[55:40] the reality is I know that the reality
[55:43] is that there are a good amount of our
[55:46] people that live in the city of
[55:47] Connecticut. I think it's 7,590
[55:51] evictions since March of 2020. It's like
[55:54] a lot of people are being asked to leave
[55:56] their homes for reasons um that uh are
[56:00] not good reasons. And this is uprooting
[56:02] families. Um this I remember during the
[56:06] pandemic and I didn't make the
[56:07] connection until I started doing a
[56:09] little bit of research here. um working
[56:11] in the school district, working with
[56:12] families who were housing insecure
[56:14] during the p pandemic. Those are the
[56:16] people that were the most vulnerable. Um
[56:18] those are the people who were um
[56:20] contracting COVID at a much higher rate
[56:22] than counterparts. And so and as well as
[56:26] not just the um
[56:30] let's find
[56:35] so not only was uh impacting our most
[56:39] vulnerable population in that way also
[56:42] realizing you know we were talking
[56:44] earlier about the meals that were
[56:45] getting delivered to people. um a lot of
[56:48] people who were in the greatest of need
[56:49] to get some of those food and meals
[56:50] delivered to them were were living in
[56:52] really substandard housing that was
[56:54] unsafe housing that left them not only
[56:57] you know susceptible to co 19 due to
[56:59] people being evicted and the families
[57:01] having to kind of double up in shared
[57:03] spaces um and really close quarters
[57:06] there are also u u you know really the
[57:09] people that are living in housing
[57:11] conditions that are just unsafe and that
[57:15] is just compiling upon one another. So,
[57:16] there's a lot of different reasons why I
[57:19] support good cause fiction. Um, and I do
[57:21] so uh pretty explicitly and very uh and
[57:25] after really researching the issue and and recognizing that there are some
[57:29] pretty key uh misunderstandings, if you
[57:31] will, that are being communicated out to
[57:33] the public around this. Um, and I would
[57:35] love to, you know, use today as a way to
[57:38] kind of just debunk some of those
[57:39] things. So, again, if someone is not
[57:41] paying their rent, they can be evicted.
[57:43] If somebody is damaging your property,
[57:44] they can be evicted. um and if someone
[57:47] is breaking your lease, they can be
[57:48] evicted. So again, this is not something
[57:51] that we're just, you know, allowing
[57:52] people to stay in someone's property
[57:53] without paying their rent. However, um
[57:57] all of our rights come with a community
[58:00] responsibility and ownership of of of
[58:02] the property, no different than
[58:04] ownership of of of your vehicle or
[58:07] ownership of, you know, anything that
[58:09] you own. There are community
[58:11] responsibilities um that come with that
[58:14] ownership. You can't just operate your
[58:16] vehicle any way you see fit because
[58:20] there's uh lives of other people at
[58:22] risk. You can't op, you know, you own
[58:25] your garbage. You we talk a lot about
[58:26] the garbage. We can't just It's my
[58:28] garbage. I own it. I could just put it
[58:29] out any day I want. It's mine. I can
[58:31] just put it out there. Well, it is
[58:33] technically your garbage. You do own it.
[58:35] You can you know you you it technically
[58:37] could do that. However, you know that
[58:39] the city doesn't allow you to do so
[58:41] because we understand how one person's
[58:43] actions even over things that they own
[58:45] can interact and can impact uh the
[58:47] larger community. So, that's why I
[58:49] support uh cause eviction and um
[58:51] hopefully um I'll be able to hear from
[58:53] my other council members on what their
[58:55] ideas or thoughts are on this. So, I
[58:58] open the floor. Thank you, Mr. Williams.
[59:08] Sorry. So, I've also been doing some
[59:11] research um and it's such, you know,
[59:13] it's not something that's easily uh
[59:16] understood. I guess I'm coming down um
[59:19] against root cause eviction. Um I think
[59:22] that we have to be protecting our
[59:23] tenants as well as our landlords. Think
[59:26] one of the things is that um I worry
[59:29] that we'll have some landlords who might
[59:32] want to be um who are fearful of this um
[59:35] passing who might rush to try to sell
[59:38] their properties um maybe for less than
[59:41] what their properties are worth. I think
[59:42] it would have implications for our tax
[59:44] base overall um if that if that was to
[59:47] happen. Um I know that SCAP um this the
[59:51] connecting community action program is
[59:54] uh also not in favor of good cause
[59:56] eviction. Um they feel that I think um
[1:00:00] that
[1:00:02] landlords need ways to sort of
[1:00:05] reasonably
[1:00:06] um help their help their tenants. First
[1:00:08] of all, I want to back up and say that
[1:00:10] again when I think about our landlords,
[1:00:12] for the most part, I think that um here
[1:00:15] in Skenctity, a lot of our landlords are
[1:00:17] not folks that um you know are carrying
[1:00:20] huge amounts of properties with them. I
[1:00:22] think most of them are probably
[1:00:24] bluecollar immigrant uh population. Um
[1:00:27] and I think that this would you know
[1:00:29] this would really affect them. um not
[1:00:31] being able to raise uh the rent more
[1:00:33] than 5% for example might not be able to
[1:00:36] cover some of the costs as the cost of
[1:00:38] living has increased um you know more
[1:00:41] than that I think I think that would be
[1:00:43] bad for the landlords in that sense as
[1:00:45] well I think SCAP uh seems to be against
[1:00:48] good cause eviction um because they want
[1:00:52] to make sure that the folks that are living in bad conditions don't
[1:00:56] have to live in bad conditions for a
[1:00:58] really long sustainable period of time.
[1:01:01] We have to remember that our court
[1:01:02] system here has I think three justices
[1:01:05] that would be uh handling these cases.
[1:01:08] There's only certain days of the month
[1:01:10] um that they handle the cases. So it
[1:01:12] could be that because every case would
[1:01:14] have to get adjudicated through the
[1:01:16] court system, um we might find that
[1:01:18] people are um
[1:01:22] you know that the landlords are needing
[1:01:23] to go without rent for 8 n 10 months um
[1:01:27] because the the court system is going to
[1:01:29] get so backed up um trying to adjudicate
[1:01:32] every single uh case as opposed to cases
[1:01:35] that just have to do with um you know
[1:01:40] bed bugs or um someort or living
[1:01:43] condition that that would exist. Um
[1:01:47] trying to look at all of my notes here.
[1:01:49] Um
[1:01:52] those are the primary the primary um
[1:01:55] reasons. I mean I think the tax base is
[1:01:58] really something that we have a
[1:01:59] responsibility as city council to really
[1:02:01] be paying attention to. We know that um
[1:02:04] we might be facing a budget again going
[1:02:06] into the 2026 budget year that's going
[1:02:09] to be a tough one for us. Um, so I think
[1:02:12] that if we have things that are going to
[1:02:14] negatively affect the the tax base that
[1:02:16] that's not a good idea. Um, that's
[1:02:20] pretty much uh everything that I have
[1:02:23] been thinking about and reading about.
[1:02:26] Thank you. Thank you. Um I I just so
[1:02:28] quickly as far as just to address some
[1:02:31] of the things you said as far as people
[1:02:32] being rushed to sell like landlords
[1:02:34] being rushed to sell their property once
[1:02:36] again um a landlord who is rushing to
[1:02:39] sell the property because the city is
[1:02:42] saying that you must provide a certain
[1:02:44] standard of living um for people who
[1:02:47] live in your property. Um I don't think
[1:02:50] that that's the type of landlord um who
[1:02:53] uh I would be necessarily concerned
[1:02:55] about leaving the city. Um, honestly,
[1:02:58] people are living in in in in subcar
[1:03:02] conditions. Um, you do have a obligation
[1:03:06] to address that. And I think that it's
[1:03:09] very low I think it's a very low
[1:03:12] expectation to have for a landlord to
[1:03:14] make sure that people tenants that are
[1:03:16] living in her house are living um in conditions that are minimally safe.
[1:03:21] So, as far as the court system goes, I
[1:03:23] don't see how back up the court system.
[1:03:25] Um, I think right now anytime you're
[1:03:28] trying to convict a tenant, you need to
[1:03:30] take the court anyway. Like that's that
[1:03:31] that's the process. Um, I if I think
[1:03:34] about and I don't have the numbers for
[1:03:36] Albany right in front of me, but Alany
[1:03:38] um I believe it was Albert Hudson has a
[1:03:41] very uh the court system had I think it
[1:03:45] was 30% less people um that were that
[1:03:49] these cases were going to court since
[1:03:51] enacting this. So to your point, I think
[1:03:53] it it does pretty much the opposite of
[1:03:55] that, but that is definitely something
[1:03:57] um I can understand why that would be a
[1:03:59] concern, but I think that this actually
[1:04:00] does the opposite of that.
[1:04:03] Yes. So um definitely I wanted to to
[1:04:07] make sure to I think it's been framed
[1:04:08] well that this is not against the
[1:04:10] landlords, but is putting in place some
[1:04:12] protections for tenants. Um, you know, I
[1:04:15] think one of the reasons that this came
[1:04:16] about is because of the level of
[1:04:17] homelessness and also the high rent that
[1:04:19] we happen to have in our in our
[1:04:20] community at this point in time. Um, and
[1:04:23] it went over the reasons for evictions.
[1:04:25] I've heard from landlords as well as
[1:04:26] tenants about their positioning on it.
[1:04:29] And um with ju just paraphrasing mostly
[1:04:32] from what I hear from landlords is that
[1:04:34] they feel like we are going we are
[1:04:36] basically deciding for them how much the
[1:04:39] rent they can charge and how they that
[1:04:41] they cannot put people out and that is
[1:04:43] not the case. You still have reasonable
[1:04:45] ways to to evict people. I won't call it
[1:04:47] putting them out to evict people for
[1:04:49] non-payment of rent is what I've heard
[1:04:50] from a lot of landlords that people
[1:04:51] aren't paying their rent. Well good
[1:04:53] cause eviction if you're not paying your
[1:04:55] rent you still get evicted. It doesn't
[1:04:56] matter. um that's not one you can't say
[1:04:59] I want to say and I'm not going to pay
[1:05:00] my rent and I I understand that um also
[1:05:03] from a lot of landlords that did happen
[1:05:04] during co so this that that is um put
[1:05:07] away from that's no longer a um concern
[1:05:11] and after this law was passed though I
[1:05:13] do believe that there should be
[1:05:14] limitation on rent increases I have to
[1:05:16] say that I've heard of some of the rents
[1:05:18] that people are paying in in some of the
[1:05:19] neighborhoods and it's really well
[1:05:21] beyond what the median income is of our
[1:05:24] of the city of Skenkity and so we have
[1:05:27] to to do something so that people are
[1:05:29] able to live.
[1:05:31] I look at it like this. If you're a
[1:05:33] landlord and you want to have a steady
[1:05:36] tenant, if your rent is at a place where
[1:05:39] they can afford it and they're not
[1:05:40] having to get evicted every so often,
[1:05:43] then we should if the rent is a place
[1:05:46] where you can keep your tenant
[1:05:48] continuously. And I would think as a
[1:05:50] landlord and I've spoken to landlords
[1:05:52] who agree that I want to have a tenant
[1:05:53] that stays with me for months if not
[1:05:55] years. And so um therefore you're not
[1:05:59] you're lose landlords lose money because
[1:06:02] they have to if they're evicting people
[1:06:04] that means your property is not rented.
[1:06:06] That means that then if there's damage
[1:06:08] to your property then your property has
[1:06:10] to be fixed up. So you're still losing
[1:06:12] money. So, and the landlord landlords
[1:06:14] I've been speaking with, it's like we
[1:06:16] would love to have landlords. We would
[1:06:18] love to have tenants who are long-term
[1:06:19] and um keeping the rent as a reasonable
[1:06:21] amount would definitely do that. Um and
[1:06:25] land right now, as I said, is the
[1:06:27] balance of power between the landlords
[1:06:29] and the tenants. And um just want to
[1:06:31] state for me personally and I would say
[1:06:33] probably for all the city council, we're
[1:06:34] not against landlords, but we are trying
[1:06:36] to find a way that tenants can stay in
[1:06:40] their homes who are following all of the
[1:06:42] rules who are not creating nuisances who
[1:06:45] um and that landlords are also then um
[1:06:47] repairing their reason um doing
[1:06:49] reasonable repairs to their to their
[1:06:52] property. So um in looking in doing the
[1:06:55] research that I did, I saw that
[1:06:57] sometimes u Mr. the corporation council
[1:06:59] um um that
[1:07:03] small small landlords are defined a
[1:07:05] certain way in New York City they're
[1:07:06] defined one way which would not be the
[1:07:08] same here so my question actually is for
[1:07:12] you in in if we were considering this
[1:07:15] would we be in the position of dealing
[1:07:16] of deciding what a small landlord would
[1:07:19] look like right I mean uh madam
[1:07:22] president I mean the the law says 10
[1:07:26] units or or less less across the state
[1:07:29] of New York. Um, cities such as Albany
[1:07:32] that you mentioned earlier is one in the
[1:07:35] state, one or less. So, the the statute
[1:07:39] says 10 or less across New York State
[1:07:42] localities have been stating one or
[1:07:46] uh no more than one unit anywhere in the
[1:07:48] state of New York. So, it there's two
[1:07:51] things that the opting into this
[1:07:54] legislation. One is how many you know
[1:07:56] how do how what's the definition of
[1:07:57] small landlord
[1:08:00] the state definition
[1:08:02] 10 or less or you know anywhere in
[1:08:05] between one or 10 and then the fair
[1:08:09] market uh the uh the FMR percentage
[1:08:14] which is also at the discretion of
[1:08:16] locality
[1:08:19] FMR
[1:08:21] is the fair market rent 245 is the state the state rate 245%
[1:08:32] of the rent right which in this county
[1:08:35] according I'm getting this information
[1:08:37] from the New York State Department of
[1:08:39] Housing and Community Renewal April uh of this year's report on two
[1:08:48] page uh the FMR 245 for let's say a
[1:08:53] onebedroom I'm just picking out the
[1:08:56] figure. One bedroom is $2.45 is uh
[1:08:59] $3,014.
[1:09:03] Four bedroomedroom it goes up to $4,829.
[1:09:07] But that is the county and not the city
[1:09:09] because yeah, it's it's done it's done
[1:09:11] at the county level. So I mean that
[1:09:13] changes that changes the numbers. That's
[1:09:15] the numbers that we go by. So if we're
[1:09:17] as we enter this discussion, we need to
[1:09:19] look within the city because the county
[1:09:20] we have parts of our county that are
[1:09:22] more wealthy than and more affluent than
[1:09:24] the city of Skenctity. So, is there a
[1:09:26] way for us to really determine that or
[1:09:28] get that from either um from the um from
[1:09:33] the controllers's office or from the New
[1:09:34] York State Attorney General's office who
[1:09:36] also has um you know given the uh
[1:09:38] information on what good cause eviction
[1:09:40] looks like because I think it's
[1:09:41] important that we look if we're talking
[1:09:43] about the city that we look at the city
[1:09:45] numbers.
[1:09:47] Understood. But the fair market rate as
[1:09:50] defined as as the department of
[1:09:52] community the state agency far fair
[1:09:55] market rent is determined by the US
[1:09:57] department of housing and urban
[1:09:58] development by county. So it's it's by
[1:10:01] county. So there's no way to get the
[1:10:03] city information. I don't know if
[1:10:05] there's but I'm just saying the fair
[1:10:06] market rate is 245. Now, if you want to
[1:10:09] go above 245
[1:10:11] of fair market rate, for example, the
[1:10:13] city of Albany is at 345. The city of
[1:10:16] Rochester there is at 245, which is what
[1:10:19] is set in the statute. Um, that's up to
[1:10:22] you what you all need to, you know,
[1:10:24] determine. So, but the the fall back is
[1:10:28] fair market rate by the by the county.
[1:10:31] Well, I I would I'd like to look into
[1:10:33] and have us look into what it is for the
[1:10:35] city. It just makes sense that we can't
[1:10:36] have this this larger conversation about
[1:10:39] the county when we're really only and
[1:10:40] our only jurisdiction is within the
[1:10:43] city. I believe the city of Albany did
[1:10:45] based on the city too. I don't think
[1:10:47] that they I believe that's how they got
[1:10:50] um
[1:10:52] Yeah. So, I'd say just to make sure
[1:10:53] we're clear about the community that
[1:10:55] we're advocating for. If we're talking
[1:10:56] specifically about renters, we're
[1:10:57] talking about a medium household income
[1:10:59] of $44,000, which is not a lot of money.
[1:11:03] And and one of the points I wanted to
[1:11:05] just respond to Miss Patrick uh
[1:11:08] understanding that our landlords might
[1:11:10] reflect a certain demographic not
[1:11:12] comparable to other municipalities that
[1:11:14] have enacted this in addition to the
[1:11:16] small land the small landlord
[1:11:17] definition. Owner occupied uh dwellings
[1:11:21] are exempt as well. So there are
[1:11:23] considerations for different uh
[1:11:24] conditions. Um but sincerely just posing
[1:11:27] a rhetorical question um we often talk
[1:11:30] in extremes. So, if you have a renter
[1:11:32] who is promoting illegal activity or is
[1:11:35] not paying their um their their rent or
[1:11:38] disregarded their lease now and in good
[1:11:41] cause eviction standards, they could be
[1:11:43] evicted. That is something that exists
[1:11:45] right now today. But on the opposite, if
[1:11:47] you have a landlord that is openly not
[1:11:50] um maintaining their property at the the
[1:11:54] uh appropriate conditions and you have a
[1:11:56] tenant who uses the mechanisms in place
[1:11:58] today to highlight that egregious
[1:12:01] behavior, they are susceptible to
[1:12:03] retaliation and retribution
[1:12:05] for for for saying and advocating for
[1:12:08] the lifestyle and well-being of
[1:12:09] themselves and often times other
[1:12:12] generations within their household. Um,
[1:12:14] and if we're continuing to highlight
[1:12:15] just who this this community or who this
[1:12:18] most inadvertently impacts, um, I do not
[1:12:22] know the cost of having to remove and refined housing within uh, the city
[1:12:27] of Ski, but providing a tenant 30, 60,
[1:12:31] 90 days,
[1:12:33] it is difficult to impossible.
[1:12:36] Um, so again, I think this is
[1:12:38] rebalancing the power in a way that is
[1:12:40] appropriately done. Um and again there
[1:12:43] are considerations for for both sides
[1:12:45] all aspects but if we are trying to
[1:12:47] improve uh and ensure that there is u
[1:12:50] adequate housing I think from the
[1:12:54] conversation that we've been having the
[1:12:55] majority of our tenants in the city of
[1:12:56] Connecticut would not rise to alarming
[1:13:00] or or having to force uh landlords to
[1:13:03] require eviction access. This is how do
[1:13:05] we make sure that these protections
[1:13:06] exist for everyone
[1:13:09] there. Yeah. Thank you. As we um discuss
[1:13:12] this option here, we should be mindful
[1:13:15] of COVID 19. There are some landlord who
[1:13:19] have never recovered from COVID 19. Some
[1:13:23] of them are thousands of dollars.
[1:13:25] They're also and why there you know some
[1:13:29] people took advantage of the co 19
[1:13:31] situation. I'm not I'm not against
[1:13:33] tenants. I'm not against landlord. But
[1:13:35] there are good tenants. They're bad
[1:13:37] tenants. They are good landlords.
[1:13:38] They're bad landlords. So, let's be
[1:13:40] mindful of what we do here in terms of
[1:13:42] the economic impact that's going to
[1:13:44] happen in the city. We hate to see what
[1:13:47] happened during CO when people were not
[1:13:49] paying. Landlord were out of money. We
[1:13:51] foreclosed on many of the properties
[1:13:53] them and we're going to have them back
[1:13:54] and we're going to put them on the
[1:13:56] market and we're going to sell them in
[1:13:57] couple months here. But let's be mindful
[1:13:59] of that. What we need to do is also make
[1:14:01] sure to drive that educational component
[1:14:03] to educate tenants, educate landlord
[1:14:07] what their needs are, what their
[1:14:08] responsibility on both side are in terms
[1:14:11] of tenant and landlord. So they work
[1:14:13] together. We have an agency like SCAP
[1:14:15] who is saying that they not they're
[1:14:17] against opting in this for this option.
[1:14:21] There are a lot of reason why they might
[1:14:22] want to do that but uh we need to find
[1:14:24] out why you know get to the bottom of
[1:14:26] why they want to do because they force
[1:14:28] our knowledge they're dealing with the
[1:14:30] situation every day and they are putting
[1:14:32] people in in houses. So those are things
[1:14:35] that we need to address and in terms of
[1:14:36] rental fees going up. Yes, it's
[1:14:39] happening across the city. Why? Because
[1:14:41] we have been raising taxes. We have been
[1:14:43] raising um water sew and garbage. So
[1:14:46] those costs eventually as we mentioned
[1:14:49] will trickle down to the tenant and this
[1:14:51] is what we we're seeing here. So we need
[1:14:53] to address all of that as we move
[1:14:55] forward. Let us not let's be careful of
[1:14:59] not putting tenants against landlord and
[1:15:01] landlords against tenants. Let's make
[1:15:03] sure whatever we're doing here works
[1:15:05] best for our city and as we try and the
[1:15:09] economic impact and ensure that we have
[1:15:10] adequate housing for our tenant. Yes,
[1:15:13] we're having um almost all the
[1:15:16] apartments that are rented are are
[1:15:19] inspected by code enforcement for rental
[1:15:21] certificate. So they are a standard and
[1:15:24] I know for a fact that there is a
[1:15:25] there's an aggressive approach approach
[1:15:27] from code enforcement to make sure these
[1:15:29] apartment are code compliance
[1:15:33] before they rented and if they're not if
[1:15:35] they're rented without certificate
[1:15:37] rental certificates they cannot evict.
[1:15:40] is my understanding that you can't do
[1:15:41] eviction until you have a rental
[1:15:43] certificate. So there there is a play
[1:15:45] there that um we have to be careful what
[1:15:47] we're doing. Yes, the apartment is
[1:15:48] rented. The apartment is in code
[1:15:50] compliance. They're renting. Let's think
[1:15:53] about the educational part to make sure
[1:15:55] that we educate both the landlord and
[1:15:56] the tenant of how they need to treat
[1:15:59] others.
[1:16:01] So I guess um the responsible matter. U
[1:16:05] so in terms of SCAP um I've only heard
[1:16:08] here that Scap's against it. I
[1:16:09] personally would like to see because
[1:16:10] that's just who I am what Scap has to
[1:16:13] say about this in their reasons that
[1:16:15] they um they are against I would love to
[1:16:17] have have seen that you know if that was
[1:16:19] information that could have been before
[1:16:20] us tonight but I'd like to see that and
[1:16:22] in terms of co co was I mean I agree
[1:16:25] with people being put out because they
[1:16:27] didn't pay the rent that's just you know
[1:16:30] you you should pay your rent if you have
[1:16:31] the ability to pay your rent you should
[1:16:32] pay your rent so I don't think co is now
[1:16:34] and I know that people were impacted by
[1:16:36] co um so this is not that and um so when
[1:16:40] people now if you don't pay your rent
[1:16:42] you get to you go to court you get
[1:16:44] evicted if you are damaging people's
[1:16:46] properties that I spoke with the
[1:16:47] landlord as recent as early this morning
[1:16:50] if you're um damaging property you you
[1:16:52] get you know they can put you out if
[1:16:54] you're doing something illegal in their
[1:16:56] property you can you know you can get
[1:16:57] evicted so there are um things in place
[1:17:00] that also protect landlords this is just
[1:17:03] not only about making sure that tenants
[1:17:06] are treated fairly there are parts of
[1:17:07] this are in And let me also say, I don't
[1:17:09] know if everyone that's in this room,
[1:17:11] which whichever side of it that you're
[1:17:13] on, if you haven't read the legislation,
[1:17:15] if you haven't read the law, I suggest
[1:17:17] that you do that and it may it may
[1:17:19] change your positioning on things. But I
[1:17:21] always encourage people that if you know
[1:17:24] there's a subject that you're passionate
[1:17:25] about one way or the other, that you
[1:17:27] really make sure that what you're um
[1:17:29] what your understanding of it is your
[1:17:31] understanding of it, not another
[1:17:32] person's understanding or interpretation
[1:17:34] of it. So, I um I agree that we
[1:17:37] definitely need to as we're moving
[1:17:39] forward consider both the landlord and
[1:17:41] the tenants, but we definitely we've
[1:17:44] talked about this a lot about the
[1:17:46] increase of um of increase of rents. And
[1:17:49] so, I guess in that case, when we're
[1:17:51] doing our budget, we'll be talking about
[1:17:52] the other increases that we do that will
[1:17:54] be impacting tenants and then therefore,
[1:17:57] excuse me, impacting landlords and
[1:17:58] therefore trickling down to tenants.
[1:18:01] Thank you. I just want to highlight that
[1:18:02] in the in the legislation as it is right
[1:18:04] now as it is right now a landlord uh
[1:18:07] increasing uh the rent based on taxes
[1:18:10] and fees from the city is allowable. So
[1:18:13] again, um I would just
[1:18:16] encourage people to look at the
[1:18:18] legislation and then maybe point out if
[1:18:20] you're a landlord and you're reading it
[1:18:21] from that perspective, go through the
[1:18:23] legislation and maybe identify something
[1:18:25] that that's within the legislation that
[1:18:29] goes against a practice that you're
[1:18:30] having now. And I would and I would uh
[1:18:34] make the probably unsafe assumption that
[1:18:36] if you were to do that, you'd recognize
[1:18:38] that
[1:18:40] the legislation as it uh at the level of
[1:18:42] the tax right now is supporting you
[1:18:45] being a a good landlord and uh supplying
[1:18:49] people with a a safe, reasonable place
[1:18:51] to live. I I I would imagine that
[1:18:54] there's some people who might be
[1:18:55] speaking against this right now, but if
[1:18:58] they looked at their practices and their
[1:19:00] practices might align with the
[1:19:02] legislation as it stands right now. So
[1:19:03] again, I would just encourage people to
[1:19:05] do so. Mr. Williams, uh, is there an
[1:19:08] important clarification to Mr. Muniver?
[1:19:10] I find that you're often opponent of
[1:19:12] codeman. So I imagine if Mr. Princey's
[1:19:14] listening, hearing an accolade given to
[1:19:16] his organization would be really
[1:19:18] wellreceived. Can you just clarify?
[1:19:20] You're saying you are confident and I
[1:19:22] would ask how confident in code
[1:19:23] enforcement's abilities to adequately
[1:19:25] make it around the entire city to ensure
[1:19:27] that every rental property is up to
[1:19:29] appropriate standards. Let let me
[1:19:31] correct you on that. I'm not against
[1:19:33] code enforcement. I'm against the way
[1:19:35] how they conduct business. Okay? So, let
[1:19:37] me clarify that to you. I'm not against
[1:19:39] code enforcement and we are very
[1:19:40] supportive of the program, but I would
[1:19:43] like to see a a level playing field when
[1:19:45] they go out there to do inspection and
[1:19:47] to apply the code evenly. And when they
[1:19:49] don't do that, I have a problem with
[1:19:50] that.
[1:19:53] And I have come they're they're doing
[1:19:55] good work, no doubt about it. But they
[1:19:57] have some officers who does not apply
[1:19:59] the code evenly. And I expect them when
[1:20:01] they go out and do their rental
[1:20:02] inspection which is a must in order to
[1:20:04] rent apartment that they will make sure
[1:20:06] that the apartment is in code compliance
[1:20:09] before they issue the rental certificate
[1:20:11] and to proceed with that because most of
[1:20:13] the agency like I would say section 8 or
[1:20:15] DSS will require rental certificate and
[1:20:18] the court require rental certificate now
[1:20:19] in terms of the according to
[1:20:22] so just further you saying from your
[1:20:26] opinion you feel that that is done to
[1:20:29] optimal standards throughout the entire
[1:20:30] say just yes or no. Let's not go down
[1:20:33] with this brother. Okay, we're here to
[1:20:35] discuss according here. You're not we're
[1:20:36] not discuss it with me here. Okay.
[1:20:40] Let's let's let's let's be sensitive
[1:20:42] here. So, excuse me. Pardon me. So, uh
[1:20:45] no audience no audience participation.
[1:20:50] Thank you. Okay, Mr. Chairman just the stat you know for the statute under what we're talking about it it
[1:20:58] does refer to the county shall refer to
[1:21:00] the county so the benchmark of you know
[1:21:04] if 245 or the market rate is in the
[1:21:07] statute as to the county. So that's the benchmark that you have to be aware
[1:21:10] of. That's the measuring point that's in
[1:21:13] the statute and that the division of
[1:21:14] community and housing renewal uh uses
[1:21:17] when they publish the reports.
[1:21:20] If the council, you know, the two things
[1:21:22] as I indicated before that the council
[1:21:24] has
[1:21:27] discretion in and oped into this law is
[1:21:30] one the percentage of fair market value.
[1:21:33] The statute says 245 and I gave you the
[1:21:35] figures there and the how to define the uh small landlord under the under
[1:21:42] that. This has to be done by local law
[1:21:45] which is a lot more complicated and you
[1:21:47] know drawn out process than ordinance
[1:21:49] and definitely a resolution. Um there's
[1:21:52] got to be you know at least one public
[1:21:54] hearing uh the municipal home rule law
[1:21:57] section 20 because we have a chief
[1:21:59] executive officer as a mayor as the
[1:22:01] mayor um allows him to have a public
[1:22:05] hearing before he reviews the ordinance
[1:22:08] under certain timelines.
[1:22:10] The council can certainly always call
[1:22:12] for a public hearing on its own. Um but
[1:22:17] um the d the draft of the legislation
[1:22:21] opting in would would need to have and
[1:22:24] the council would have to come to an
[1:22:26] agreement or the committee would have to
[1:22:28] come to an agreement whether it wants
[1:22:30] how it defines small landlord and
[1:22:33] whether it wishes to go above the FMR of
[1:22:36] 245%
[1:22:38] as is indicated by the statute. So I
[1:22:41] just want to it's it's a local law
[1:22:43] process. So there's at least one public
[1:22:45] hearing u before the chief executive. If the council wants to have its own and
[1:22:50] it can and there's certain time time
[1:22:52] frames involved and because of the next
[1:22:56] committee cycle I don't think we have
[1:22:57] our next committee cycle until early
[1:23:01] July. So I'm just throwing logistics out
[1:23:04] there, you know, for for you to
[1:23:06] consider.
[1:23:07] Appreciate that. Um Mr. Mr. Tur
[1:23:12] everybody's Yeah. Sure. Okay. So, just a
[1:23:14] few things. So, um participating in
[1:23:18] neighborhood association meetings for
[1:23:20] years. Um this going to almost every
[1:23:23] slick uh meeting for years. So, I do
[1:23:27] hear the the the sides of both. Um I do
[1:23:30] want to say that you know small
[1:23:32] landlords should be our small
[1:23:34] businesses. A lot of them are there
[1:23:36] because this is uh additional rental or
[1:23:40] additional uh income to their job that
[1:23:43] they have or they're actually creating
[1:23:46] some um generational wealth for their
[1:23:51] families moving into other generations.
[1:23:54] Um these individuals uh these landlords
[1:23:58] um you know 10 units and under are there
[1:24:01] because
[1:24:03] it's their livelihood. Um, so we want to
[1:24:07] make sure that they're able to have a
[1:24:09] small business in the city as well as
[1:24:11] anyone else having a small business in
[1:24:12] the city. Um, just a few things. I I've
[1:24:16] read the law. I've been hearing about
[1:24:17] the law um for many years uh starts down
[1:24:21] in in in the city uh with 10 units and
[1:24:24] over. Um, but here what they're also uh
[1:24:28] considering as a um here is seasonal
[1:24:32] rentals. I don't know. any of you guys
[1:24:35] have read that as far as um what they're
[1:24:37] considering small small businesses.
[1:24:40] Okay. Uh seasonal rentals, any type of
[1:24:43] um uh anything really coming in as far
[1:24:47] as um you know people renting out their
[1:24:49] homes. All right. So those things all
[1:24:51] come into effect. Um I think uh this
[1:24:55] CURA which is center for urban and
[1:24:57] regional affairs um they do important
[1:25:00] research as far as economic analysis on
[1:25:03] what what what it's going to do to our
[1:25:05] economy and we've spent how many years
[1:25:07] growing our economy um building building
[1:25:10] a skinnity that we're all proud of. So
[1:25:13] those are all things that come into play
[1:25:15] that we really need to be we need to be
[1:25:17] aware of. Um I will agree with Mr.
[1:25:21] Mudaron on you know, you know, we need
[1:25:23] to raise taxes and we said right along
[1:25:25] that this would trickle down to the
[1:25:27] tenants. Each and every one of us uh
[1:25:29] heard that here, but it's it's not fair
[1:25:31] that the landlord should have to lose
[1:25:33] money owning a rental property and
[1:25:36] that's what's happening to a lot of
[1:25:38] them. As far as our tax base, um if
[1:25:41] these properties are can't be
[1:25:43] maintained,
[1:25:45] um they lose value, which goes against
[1:25:47] our our um it could shrink the property
[1:25:51] values uh and reduce the overall tax
[1:25:54] revenues to our city, and we don't want
[1:25:56] that. Um, you know, I hear, you know, a
[1:25:59] lot of, uh, landlords might want to sell
[1:26:02] their properties, uh, right away opening
[1:26:05] up the door for individuals, you know,
[1:26:08] larger corporations or businesses to
[1:26:10] come in, absentee landlords from
[1:26:12] wherever, out of state, downstate,
[1:26:14] upstate. um and not being able to um
[1:26:18] with who don't have the same values that
[1:26:21] most of our small landlords here in the
[1:26:23] city do who really care about uh the
[1:26:26] individuals that they're renting to um
[1:26:29] making the uh proper repairs and
[1:26:33] maintenance on these buildings. So
[1:26:35] again, I mean, I'm definitely looking at
[1:26:38] the overall um you know, and I think all
[1:26:41] of us struggle to pay taxes, to buy
[1:26:44] food, um you know, to pay rent, to make
[1:26:47] a car payment, you know, things things
[1:26:49] are things are not good. So at this
[1:26:53] point, um again, I I be in favor of our
[1:26:55] small landlords who are small business
[1:26:58] owners trying to promote um a good
[1:27:02] thing. And another thing I'd like to say
[1:27:04] is um small property owners are actually
[1:27:06] part of the solution for fair and equit
[1:27:09] equitable housing. And if you think
[1:27:11] about it, you know, you got a two
[1:27:13] family, three family um you're you're
[1:27:16] actually taking people in who need to be
[1:27:18] taken in from the city and and and
[1:27:20] living in in good conditions. So they're
[1:27:23] part of the solution. Um and that's
[1:27:26] about Thank you, Mr. Terrell. I want to
[1:27:30] agree with a lot of what you said. I
[1:27:32] believe that um that you're correct um
[1:27:35] as far as uh small landlords and the uh
[1:27:38] and how they contribute to our local
[1:27:40] economy. I guess where my question is
[1:27:44] would be what in the legislation um
[1:27:47] would make you brought the point around
[1:27:49] um the properties not being maintained?
[1:27:51] The spirit of the legislation is
[1:27:53] actually to ensure that properties are
[1:27:54] maintained. Um, so I'm wondering what
[1:27:57] part of the legislation would encourage
[1:27:59] our properties to be not maintained?
[1:28:02] Like what like where do you see that
[1:28:04] making that connection at? Well, I think
[1:28:06] if if you know landlords decide, you
[1:28:08] know, they can't um they can't raise the
[1:28:11] rent, you know, to something that they
[1:28:13] want, they have to pay the taxes, they
[1:28:14] can't afford to make um
[1:28:19] improvements to the they can't afford to
[1:28:21] make improvements to the property, um,
[1:28:23] and then they sell the property. So, um
[1:28:26] the individuals coming in are just not
[1:28:28] going to make the repairs and that's
[1:28:30] going to make for um the individual
[1:28:33] tenants who are moving in and still
[1:28:35] living there because also through this legislation is uh leases. There
[1:28:40] always has to be a lease now. So, the tenant always maintains a lease and
[1:28:45] now the the new landlord's not going to
[1:28:47] do anything and now the tenants stuck in
[1:28:49] a a situation where where things are
[1:28:51] unsafe for them. So there there it's
[1:28:54] just a whole
[1:28:56] Yeah. No, I was saying needs a lot of
[1:28:58] discussion and a lot of review and a lot
[1:29:01] of analysis. Sure. I guess I just like
[1:29:04] to highlight that it that's not how the
[1:29:07] legislation works. So, but I so there's being good concerns are being
[1:29:13] raised at the table and I want to be um
[1:29:17] intentional about considering those
[1:29:19] things and I think we all should but I
[1:29:22] really want to make the distinction
[1:29:23] between what we say versus what we mean.
[1:29:27] Um and what the legislation um how I
[1:29:30] understand it is
[1:29:33] ensuring that people have a place to live, a safe
[1:29:38] place to live. Um there's exemptions
[1:29:41] available for small landlords based on
[1:29:44] what our corporation council was talking
[1:29:45] about. That would be the perview of the
[1:29:47] council, which I think is something that
[1:29:48] we that we definitely have to consider.
[1:29:51] But I but when we get into um scenarios
[1:29:54] around like landlords not being able to
[1:29:56] maintain their property um and things
[1:29:59] like that, there's nothing in the
[1:30:00] legislation that prohibits that from
[1:30:03] happening. In fact, it it encourages
[1:30:05] that to happen. Um when we talk about
[1:30:07] neighborhood stabilization, one of the
[1:30:09] things that people think about the most
[1:30:10] when they purchase a home or property
[1:30:12] someplace is the school district. And I
[1:30:15] don't know if you guys know, but our,
[1:30:17] you know, our school district has been
[1:30:19] um working to increase our graduation
[1:30:21] rate. But if you look at a student that
[1:30:23] is um stays in Skenctity City School
[1:30:26] District from K to 12, do you know that
[1:30:29] the graduation rate is over something
[1:30:31] like 95%.
[1:30:34] So what that is what that data point
[1:30:36] will tell you is that when you have
[1:30:37] families that are not in transit, you
[1:30:39] know, that are not transient families
[1:30:41] that are not, you know, kind of
[1:30:43] suffering from subpar living conditions
[1:30:45] and are able to have stable housing, not
[1:30:48] only does it provide those neighborhood
[1:30:50] stabilization for that particular
[1:30:52] family, but it also makes our city a
[1:30:55] more desirable place for people to
[1:30:57] purchase a home, which therefore will
[1:30:59] benefit the local economy. So that's
[1:31:01] something that we have to acknowledge as
[1:31:03] well.
[1:31:05] I was just going to point of
[1:31:06] clarification. The legislation as it
[1:31:08] currently written, it allows for
[1:31:10] significant improvements. So I think
[1:31:11] what you're probably highlighting is
[1:31:13] that needs to be justifiable. Um you
[1:31:15] can't just say tomorrow I'm raising my
[1:31:17] rent by $100. It just ensures that there
[1:31:20] are considerations in place to how and
[1:31:22] why are you doing that? And again that
[1:31:23] is to empower tenants so that they are
[1:31:26] uh just um there's a less account for
[1:31:30] rent or price. Um but sincerely and I
[1:31:34] mean this with all consideration I think
[1:31:35] everyone well I know everyone at this
[1:31:37] table has a certain amount of power or
[1:31:39] influence and I would really want to
[1:31:41] hear from the mayor in this regard. uh
[1:31:44] sincerely uh Skenctity, we're only as
[1:31:46] good as our planning and understanding
[1:31:48] the long-term strategic focus of the
[1:31:50] city, I think, helps us ensure that our
[1:31:52] actions remain in tune with your uh
[1:31:55] vision and authority for the city.
[1:31:57] Certainly,
[1:31:59] thank you. Uh I would only ask that the
[1:32:02] council be consistent
[1:32:04] that uh Mr. Mavir's representation that
[1:32:08] we have a rental certificate program in
[1:32:11] place. It's generally recognized fairly
[1:32:14] comprehensive program that ensures safe
[1:32:17] and decent housing.
[1:32:20] We have tried for the last three years
[1:32:24] to get state enabling legislation, home
[1:32:27] rule legislation to make the eviction
[1:32:31] process contingent upon
[1:32:35] participation in the rental certificate
[1:32:37] program. That legislation did not pass
[1:32:41] until last week. So, it's passed the
[1:32:43] Senate in the assembly and will go
[1:32:45] forward to the governor now and would
[1:32:48] ask that soon the council does a
[1:32:51] resolution in support of that. I intend
[1:32:53] to advocate the governor's office to ask
[1:32:56] for her to sign that. But that
[1:33:00] option is actually going to be more
[1:33:03] restrictive and more resultsoriented in
[1:33:06] some of the things that you're
[1:33:07] considering. that is a two family house.
[1:33:10] I don't care it's owned by one person or
[1:33:12] whatever. If it doesn't meet the rental
[1:33:15] certificate program criteria and have a
[1:33:17] valid thing, they cannot go into small
[1:33:21] claims courts and start an eviction
[1:33:23] proceeding.
[1:33:25] And I would ask and we've tried that for
[1:33:27] three years. That legislation is going
[1:33:31] forward now. uh we have the option to
[1:33:33] actually put it in place and incorporate
[1:33:35] it in the overall delivery of housing
[1:33:40] within the city and to let that uh be
[1:33:43] kind of the cornerstone of what we're
[1:33:45] doing going forward.
[1:33:48] Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I I I agree with
[1:33:50] you um as far as uh that legislation and
[1:33:53] I believe that that legislation is
[1:33:55] really in line with the legislation that
[1:33:57] we're um discussing here today. Um, so I
[1:34:00] don't believe that it has to be an
[1:34:01] either or situation, but it should be a
[1:34:03] yes and situation. I would also speak to
[1:34:06] the fact around like we're using the
[1:34:08] term kind of um returning a level of
[1:34:10] power to tenants. Um, quite honestly, I
[1:34:13] don't I don't see it that way. I don't
[1:34:15] see that it it's providing um any power
[1:34:18] as much as is it protection. Um, and I
[1:34:21] think the distinction is important
[1:34:22] because um, as we talk about shifting
[1:34:26] power, that's something that we could
[1:34:27] shift from a landlord, shift to a
[1:34:29] tenant. Really, what we're saying is
[1:34:31] protection is the right term I I would
[1:34:34] frame it as because it's protecting
[1:34:37] people's livelihood. And that's a very
[1:34:40] different thing than saying, I'm giving
[1:34:42] you power over a person that owns this
[1:34:45] property. But saying I'm going to
[1:34:46] protect you and your livelihood, I think
[1:34:49] is is um is more in line with um was
[1:34:53] more in spirit of the legislation um as
[1:34:55] it's written right now. And again, you
[1:34:58] have people that will um speak against
[1:35:00] this um and I'm willing to hear their
[1:35:03] thoughts um and definitely willing to
[1:35:05] consider um their points of views. But I
[1:35:08] would again stress before you speak
[1:35:09] against it, if you are a landlord, look
[1:35:13] at the properties that you own. Look at
[1:35:16] how you engage with your tenants
[1:35:17] currently. And if your practices are
[1:35:23] outside of some of the things that are
[1:35:25] written in this legislation, well then I
[1:35:27] think that there's there's some um maybe
[1:35:29] some considerations that you need to
[1:35:30] make yourself. But I would imagine um to
[1:35:33] the mayor's point that we are setting a
[1:35:35] standard here in the city of Skenctity
[1:35:37] that most of you are already meeting if
[1:35:40] not exceeding. But there are people that
[1:35:42] are not. So, we cannot afford to paint
[1:35:45] landlords with a a broad brush and say
[1:35:47] every landlord um presents like this and
[1:35:50] provides this level of quality housing
[1:35:52] to people because all you have to do is
[1:35:54] take a walk up the street and you'll
[1:35:55] know that that's not true.
[1:35:59] Mr. Williams, so I say in my final
[1:36:01] comments, I would just ask that uh I
[1:36:04] think as a country we've lost the
[1:36:05] ability to have debates without being so
[1:36:08] uh hardly positioned where we're
[1:36:10] unwavering or unmoving. Uh so I look
[1:36:12] forward to having conversations with
[1:36:14] individuals from both sides of this
[1:36:16] conversation quite literally in this
[1:36:17] room. Um and I just ask that we
[1:36:19] challenge ourselves that engage
[1:36:20] different perspectives and also welcome
[1:36:22] differences and opinions. I think that
[1:36:24] is something that I prided our city on
[1:36:27] being able to do and I look forward to
[1:36:28] practicing that not just with this topic
[1:36:30] but many others throughout the rest of
[1:36:32] my career. Thank you Mr. Williams. So um
[1:36:36] just appear we're going to be moving
[1:36:38] forward with the hook this evening. So,
[1:36:41] um I think a lot has been said and
[1:36:43] everyone's been here to hear and I do
[1:36:44] want us um to to speak to the fact that
[1:36:47] there was some a mention made about
[1:36:49] investors. We already have a lot of
[1:36:51] people who live outside our city who are
[1:36:53] invested and own property. So, I don't
[1:36:56] um see this as as changing that dynamic.
[1:36:59] And um and in terms of and I don't want
[1:37:01] the fear mongering to be out there that
[1:37:03] like if we if we move this forward then
[1:37:05] all of a sudden we're just going to have
[1:37:07] all these vacant properties. I think
[1:37:08] that's a we don't want to, you know, we
[1:37:10] really want to talk in specifics and I
[1:37:12] think that's just the level of
[1:37:13] fearongering that we really don't want
[1:37:15] to do that people are going to rush to
[1:37:16] sell their properties and we should
[1:37:18] continue to have this conversation and
[1:37:20] yes, mayor, that legislation did pass
[1:37:22] and I I must um say thank you to the
[1:37:25] clerk's office because for three years
[1:37:26] straight they worked on it and Miss
[1:37:28] Michael followed up on that continually
[1:37:30] so we finally were able to get that
[1:37:32] through. Uh so I think we need to take
[1:37:36] into consideration uh this new
[1:37:38] legislation and al when I talk about the
[1:37:40] new legislation that's coming forward
[1:37:42] I'm talking about um that has to do with
[1:37:44] rental certificates and also take into
[1:37:46] consideration what we're talking about
[1:37:47] here with um the good cause eviction law
[1:37:50] and have that conversation and make it
[1:37:53] and come to a decision of how we want to
[1:37:55] move forward. But that mean would mean
[1:37:56] that all council members would also, you
[1:37:58] know, we just look at all of this. We
[1:38:01] could do it collectively, individually,
[1:38:03] but we just definitely need to have that
[1:38:04] conversation and and where we're going
[1:38:06] to finally end up on this. I think a lot
[1:38:09] of positive things have been said here
[1:38:10] today and that we have an opportunity to
[1:38:13] make a difference in the lives of our
[1:38:14] tenants as well as our landlords. And so
[1:38:18] Mr. Farley has brought this forward. So
[1:38:20] I'm going to have to ask I'm going to
[1:38:22] ask you how uh you would like to move
[1:38:24] forward. Those are my thoughts. Sure.
[1:38:26] Thank you. Thank you, Madam
[1:38:27] President. So, what I how I would like
[1:38:28] to move forward is um I wanted to bring
[1:38:30] this up as a discussion piece today. I
[1:38:33] know that due to the fact that this is
[1:38:35] somewhat emotionally charged and there
[1:38:37] is a lot of information and a lot of
[1:38:39] misinformation floating out there, I
[1:38:40] want to give all my colleagues the
[1:38:42] opportunity to kind of delve deep into
[1:38:44] um uh the legislation as it currently
[1:38:46] stands, talk with uh people of the city
[1:38:50] um and then come back to the table. I
[1:38:51] will be bringing this back to the table.
[1:38:53] um at that point I will be bringing it
[1:38:55] back as a item to vote and trying to
[1:38:58] vote it out of vote it out of committee
[1:38:59] at that time. Um I also just want to
[1:39:02] highlight the fact that this is um
[1:39:03] something that has been in the process
[1:39:05] for years and years and at the state
[1:39:07] level there were major concessions that
[1:39:09] were given in order to get this to a
[1:39:11] place where it's passable. Um, so this
[1:39:14] isn't something that came from kind of,
[1:39:16] you know, just one side of the aisle and
[1:39:17] people just said, "Okay, this is what
[1:39:18] we're doing." There was a lot of
[1:39:19] concessions and negotiations to get this
[1:39:21] to a place where it was passable at the
[1:39:23] state level. Um, so, um, those
[1:39:25] considerations have been made and I, you
[1:39:27] know, we'll continue to make those, um,
[1:39:29] at our local level. So, uh, with that,
[1:39:32] I'll be bringing it back hopefully for a
[1:39:34] vote next cycle.
[1:39:38] So,
[1:39:40] that I guess I will accept a Motion to
[1:39:43] adjourn government operation.
[1:39:45] So second. All those in favor? I we
[1:40:19] Okay.
[1:40:28] Excuse
[1:40:39] me. The meeting's not over. So, we'd ask
[1:40:40] you to finish your conversation in the
[1:40:42] hallway.
[1:40:47] I know.
[1:41:07] Thank you.
[1:41:31] away from the door.
[1:41:38] I don't think we can close it though.
[1:41:40] Can we close?
[1:41:42] Okay. All right.
[1:41:48] You can close it.
[1:41:50] Can't lock
[1:41:52] it on. No.
[1:41:56] Would you tell? Yes. You can close the
[1:41:58] door as long as it's not locked.
[1:42:01] Are you leaving, Mr. Toro? Oh, I I I was
[1:42:06] I'm sorry.
[1:42:12] Okay. I'd like to order call or city
[1:42:14] development planning.
[1:42:16] We have nine items on the agenda. The
[1:42:19] first one is to award the bid and
[1:42:20] contract for the Franklin Street cycle
[1:42:22] track to Harbor Construction. Mr.
[1:42:26] Wallen, can you close it all the way
[1:42:28] down? Derek, did I close the
[1:42:34] Thank you.
[1:42:41] All right. Uh, what we have in front of
[1:42:43] us is the award bidding contract
[1:42:45] construction for the Franklin Street
[1:42:47] cycle track. This is a federal aid
[1:42:49] project that's been in the design
[1:42:51] development for a couple of years. Uh it
[1:42:54] continues the expansion of the Central
[1:42:56] Park Veil Trail connector from Vale Park
[1:42:59] down Franklin Street to Clinton Street
[1:43:01] right behind us. Um it is a separate
[1:43:04] cycle track which means that it'll be a
[1:43:07] separated area for bicycles only uh
[1:43:10] separate from pedestrians, separate from
[1:43:12] vehicles. Um kind of unique in the city.
[1:43:15] I think it'll be the only one at the
[1:43:16] time. Um, and I think even when Craig
[1:43:18] Street's done, this will actually be a
[1:43:19] little bit different than that because
[1:43:20] it'll be completely separated by curb
[1:43:23] area. Um, and if you know Franklin
[1:43:25] Street, Franklin Street is quite wide.
[1:43:27] Um, it's two block road essentially.
[1:43:30] That's two-way. So, we have some area
[1:43:32] there to use. Um, there will be no
[1:43:34] parking. There is no parking allowed
[1:43:36] currently on the Double Tree side. So,
[1:43:37] that will remain. And then the island
[1:43:39] will get a little narrower as you get
[1:43:41] down to um the next block where the
[1:43:44] parking lot is for the school district
[1:43:46] and the church. Uh and we'll have
[1:43:48] parking on both sides.
[1:43:53] This is a federal project, so it's 95%
[1:43:57] reimbursement to the city. The local
[1:43:59] share is paid for with our CHIPS
[1:44:01] funding. How many are we having funding
[1:44:03] for that? CHIPS funding is approved in
[1:44:05] the state budget. So we do have that.
[1:44:08] Thanks. Are there any questions? Um, Mr.
[1:44:11] Williams. Oh, sorry. So, we've been
[1:44:13] hearing a lot of uh comments around uh
[1:44:16] the bikability of the city of Santi. So,
[1:44:18] I imagine there's going to be a lot of
[1:44:19] residents that are thrilled with this.
[1:44:20] Can you just talk around um how this is
[1:44:22] incorporated into projects at least in
[1:44:24] size because you have said that there
[1:44:26] are just a lot of considerations that go
[1:44:28] into place uh to increase or to um
[1:44:30] include white lines. Sure. So this is a
[1:44:34] specific focus of a project because our primary focus in the city is
[1:44:38] expanding the central park veil trail
[1:44:40] connector. So uh on one end of it which
[1:44:43] is the bail end we have this project
[1:44:45] which is going to bring it to Clinton
[1:44:46] Street. The next step is going to be
[1:44:48] working with the green market on how we
[1:44:51] are going to get it down the last block
[1:44:53] of Franklin Street then in front of city
[1:44:55] hall to where it actually connects to
[1:44:58] Jay and Union which is the Empire State
[1:45:00] Trail. It's an on-road portion, but it's
[1:45:02] still the Empire State Trail. Uh, at the
[1:45:05] same time, you will work uh we are
[1:45:07] working on a design for federal aid
[1:45:09] project on the opposite end of the park,
[1:45:11] which is going to go from the uh Central
[1:45:14] Park environmental education or
[1:45:16] connecting environmental education
[1:45:17] center, the former casino building, all
[1:45:19] the way to State Street down Fair
[1:45:21] Avenue. So, those are essentially the
[1:45:23] two book ends of it. Um, and then once
[1:45:27] we have those two, those are our
[1:45:29] off-road trail. That's really what the
[1:45:31] focus is to provide it. So the the goal
[1:45:33] is going to be that someone can go from
[1:45:35] State Street and Fair all the way on a
[1:45:38] essentially dedicated path all the way
[1:45:40] to the Empire State Trail at Jay and
[1:45:43] Union. So, um, this project gets us
[1:45:46] closer. That project gets us much
[1:45:48] closer. And then we have that last
[1:45:50] couple of blocks which are going to be
[1:45:52] tough. And that's where working with the
[1:45:54] farmers market is going to be important
[1:45:56] because they like to use the area around
[1:45:59] city hall essentially like a parking
[1:46:01] lot. And having a large parking lot
[1:46:04] surrounding city hall is good to park
[1:46:06] trucks and vendors, but it is not
[1:46:10] advantageous for bicycles and
[1:46:11] pedestrians. So, we have to kind of work
[1:46:14] together on that one as we go. Thank
[1:46:16] you. Question.
[1:46:18] So, first of all, this this sounds cool.
[1:46:21] Question is, so this is does this
[1:46:24] um for bikes as well or just bicycles?
[1:46:28] Cuz I know that we're going to face and
[1:46:30] that's more of a something that we're
[1:46:31] going to have to discuss in city
[1:46:33] legislation is what what we want. Um
[1:46:35] we've actually discussed it on Craig
[1:46:37] Street a little bit um about posting it
[1:46:40] for possibly a speed limit because uh
[1:46:44] the Craig Street is going to link Albony
[1:46:46] Street with the school district and it's
[1:46:48] going to be an off you know off-road
[1:46:50] cycle track and what we're we are having
[1:46:53] conversations about the nervousness of
[1:46:55] having bicycles or or pedestrians in
[1:46:57] that area and then having people with
[1:46:59] even if they're you know electric they
[1:47:01] can still go 35 miles an hour on these
[1:47:03] areas and that we don't have any way to
[1:47:05] enforce it. So, we are trying to talk
[1:47:08] about if we can put a speed limit or
[1:47:10] something on there because there are
[1:47:12] different types of ebikes. There are
[1:47:14] ebikes that are meant for exercise with
[1:47:16] an electric assist, right? So, if you
[1:47:18] wanted to go up a hill and it's just too
[1:47:21] much, it'll help you. And there are
[1:47:22] ebikes that are essentially small
[1:47:24] motorcycles. And those are much much
[1:47:27] different than an ebike that's an
[1:47:29] electric system. So, it's something that
[1:47:31] we have to discuss as a as a city on
[1:47:34] what we want to do for the regulations
[1:47:35] that and I assume that we're going to
[1:47:37] have all types of vehicles using these
[1:47:40] areas. Um, this is also going to have a
[1:47:43] bike signal which is unique. So, you're
[1:47:45] actually going to go up to the bike path
[1:47:47] and have your own signal bike on it to
[1:47:50] tell you when to cross. So, I mean, this
[1:47:52] is where and this is where things are
[1:47:54] going right now with the bikes. Craig
[1:47:56] Street will also have that with the
[1:47:58] head.
[1:48:01] Anyone else? Motion on the table saw.
[1:48:03] Second it.
[1:48:05] No, she didn't make a motion yet because
[1:48:06] he had a question. So, his question came
[1:48:08] first. Now we need I'll make the motion.
[1:48:11] Second. All those in favor? I Thank you.
[1:48:16] Um the next item on the agenda is just
[1:48:19] to review the redirection of a portion
[1:48:20] of Chrysler Avenue from a two-way street
[1:48:23] to a one-way street from the
[1:48:24] intersection of Craig and Main Streets.
[1:48:26] Um public hearing was held on June 9th.
[1:48:29] We had I think we had four speakers
[1:48:33] and
[1:48:37] most people were in favor of it.
[1:48:40] So this time we need to to move it out
[1:48:43] of the committee. So, is there are there
[1:48:44] any questions or any further discussion
[1:48:46] on this?
[1:48:48] I move this second. All those in favor?
[1:48:50] I. Thank you.
[1:48:53] All right. Um
[1:48:56] the next item, item number three, is a
[1:48:58] reminder of the weight limit posting on
[1:49:00] Kings Road. There will be a public
[1:49:02] hearing on June 23rd, 2025.
[1:49:07] Uh the final items are all property
[1:49:09] sales which will be done in executive
[1:49:10] session. So at this point in time, I'd
[1:49:13] ask for a motion to recess. Some move
[1:49:15] second. All those in favor? We're
[1:49:17] recessed. So I'd like to call the order
[1:49:19] of the Queens Committee. We have three
[1:49:20] items on the agenda tonight. All of
[1:49:22] which need to be discussed in executive
[1:49:24] session. So I may have a motion to end
[1:49:27] executive session. I will second. All
[1:49:30] those in favor? I executive session.
[1:49:32] Members of the public will have to
[1:49:34] leave.