[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.

Schenectady City Council Committee Meeting, June 16, 2025

Transcript