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I see him. We won't know till he gets up
here till we get if he's on there. You
said
I don't know. That's how last
I said it
about
I'd like to call the city caucus meeting
to order for Monday, June 23rd, 2025.
We have one public hearing this evening.
If the clerk could please read public
hearing number one regarding an
ordinance to amend article 7 trucks
section 248-85
of the Skynctity city code to exclude
trucks tractors and tractor trailer
accommodations over eight tons on Kings
Road from Albany Street to the city
line. Can you hear us back there? Okay,
we might have to turn off the AC. Okay,
we have to turn off the air
conditioning. That's what that means.
outside.
We have 11 items for original
consideration. If the clerk could please
read item number one. Item number one
for final consideration. An ordinance to
amend section chapter 248-18 of the
Skenctity city code to designate a
portion of Chrysler Avenue as a one-way
roadway. Discussed in committee without
objection on consent. Item number two.
for original
consideration. A resolution authorizing
the acceptance of the 2024 external
audit. Discussed in committee with
without objection and on consent. Item
number three. Item number three for
original consideration. A resolution
authorizing the sale of a vacant lot at
317 State Street for $1,500.
Discussed in committee without objection
on consent. Item number four. Item
number four for original consideration.
A resolution authorizing the sale of a
vacant lot at 529 Skenctity Street for
$2,500.
Discussed in committee without objection
on consent. Item number five. Item
number five for original consideration.
A resolution authorizing the sale of 535
Skenctity Street for $40,000. Discussed
in committee without objection on
consent. Item number six. Item number
six for original consideration. A
resolution authorizing the redemption
and withdrawal of 30 Chromemer Avenue
from foreclosure.
discussed in committee without objection
on consent. Item number seven is being
pulled from the agenda. Item number
eight is also being pulled from the
agenda. Return to committee. Item number
nine. Item number nine for original
consideration. A resolution authorizing
the settlement of a tax certiary action
by the owner of property located at 1612
Chrysler Avenue. Discussed in committee
without objection on consent. Item
number 10. Item number 10 for original
consideration, a resolution authorizing
the settlement of a tax certiary action
by the owner of property located at 2037
State Street. Discussed in committee
without objection on consent. Item
number 11. Item number 11 under contract
and supply. A resolution awarding the
bid and contract for the Franklin Street
cycle tract New York State DOT pin
number 1760.61 61 to Carver Construction
Incorporated in the amount of 2,89,174
discussed in committee with objection on
consent. If there's nothing more to come
before the city caucus, I'd ask for a
motion to adjourn. Moved by Mr. Move,
second by Mr. Williams. All those in
favor? I. We are adjourned. I'd like to
call to order the Skenctity City Council
meeting for Monday, June 23rd, 2025.
And I'd like to call on Pastor Francis
Rigger of Zion Evangel Evangelical
Lutheran Church for the prayer
invocation.
Shall we pray?
Father in heaven,
we come before you with humble hearts,
seeking your guidance and wisdom. As we
begin this city council meeting,
grant our city council members clarity
of thought and discernment.
As they consider the matters before
them,
help them to approach each issue with
open minds and compassionate hearts,
seeking solutions that will benefit all
members of our community.
We ask for your blessing upon their
deliberations
that they may make decisions that
reflect your will and promote the
well-being of our city.
May unity and understanding prevail
among us and may our collective efforts
lead to a more just and prosperous
community for all.
Thank you for being with us always.
In Jesus's name we pray. Amen. I'd like
to call on Corporation Council Maxine
Barash for the pledge of allegiance.
I pledge algiance to the flag of the
United States of America and to the
republic for which it stands, one nation
under God, indivisible, with liberty and
justice for all. Thank you.
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If the clerk could please complete the
roll call.
Mr. Toro.
Mr. Farley.
Excuse me. Excuse me. In the
chamber.
Okay. All right. Listen,
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we we're going to
do apologize. Thank you.
Okay. Thank you.
Okay. Listen, ma'am, but we're going to
have to ask you to leave that that
continues.
Mr. Farley
here. Mr. Mancini here. Mr. Muiveran
present. Miss Patrick here. Mr. Williams
here. Miss Porterfield here. We have one
public hearing this evening and reminder
that we've extended the comment the time
for com public comment of the public
hearing to four minutes and I also
respectfully ask that each person
comment only on the subject relevant to
the public hearing. Thank you.
If the clerk could please read the
All right. Public hearing number one is
regarding ordinance to amend article 7
trucks section trucks section 248-85
of the Skenctity city code to exclude
trucks, tractors, and tractor trailer
combinations over eight tons on Kings
Road from Alb Street to the city line. I
have one person signed up to speak.
Crystal Dionis
on the legislative agenda. Yeah. Okay.
You're welcome. We do have one written
comment from uh Tracy Collins.
From Tracy Collins, an email in favor of
the weight limit on Kings Road.
That's it. All right. I So I have no one
else signed to speak on public hearing
number one. So I declare that public
comment closed.
I'd ask for approval of the minutes for
June 9th, 2025.
Moved by Miss Patrick, second by Mr.
Mutiver. All those in favor? I. If the
clerk could please read any
communications and petitions.
Communications to the city council for
Monday, June 23rd, 2025. Under official
from Mayor McCarthy, a list of
appointments dated June 23rd, 2025.
Under general, there was an email from
Tracy Collins in favor of the weight
limit on Kings Road. Under petitions,
there were none. Thank you. I'd like to
call on council members to provide any
committee reports at this time.
we'll have privilege of
the floor related to the legislative
agenda. And I just want to remind folks
that
at this point in time, it's only you can
only speak on on items on the
legislative agenda. And I only have two
people signed up to speak.
The first is Sean Ratigan.
Um yeah, hi. I'm Sean Ratigan. Uh I just
wanted to voice my support for the
extension of the bike trail. Uh, I just
think that's really great that that's
moving forward and I'll keep it short.
Thank you.
Crystal Dion.
I'm sorry. Okay. So, you don't want this
one either. No. Okay. That's right. We
only have one other one, so I know where
you're going to want to speak. So, we're
good.
Okay.
All right. I have no one else signed up
to speak. So I declare the public
comment on the legislative agenda
closed.
This time I'd ask for approval of the
leg legislative consent agenda.
Moved by Mr. Mudarin, second by Miss
Patrick. All those in favor? I
this time we will have priv privilege of
the floor regarding general city
business.
And we have a number of people signed
up. I just want to remind folks first
and foremost that there are only three
minutes. When you get to the end of your
three minutes, if you're in the middle
of your statement or your sentence, I
will allow you to complete it, but then
you will have to um summarize your
comments and sit down so the next person
can um speak. I want to remind everyone
I know some of you don't come to our um
council meetings often. So I just want
to remind you if you signed up some of
the things that you agreed to that um
there will be no pro personal attacks on
council members, the administration
staff, other speakers or members of the
public which are unrelated to city
business and it shouldn't that will not
be tolerated. We ask people to profane
to refrain from profanity, vulgar,
inflammatory, threatening or abusive or
disparaging language. Should have read
this earlier. um any or racial, ethnic
or homophobic slurs, disruptive
outbursts, and other conduct that
disrupts or interferes with the orderly
conduct of the business of the evening.
Priv privilege of the floor should is
not an opportunity for debate and shall
not be the opportunity for a back and
forth exchange with council members or
other members of the public. Again, you
have three minutes to speak and please
direct all your comments to the chair.
Thank you.
The first person I have is Colin
McNamera.
Evening, city council. Um, I'm sure you
know why I'm here. I've been here
before. Uh, I just wanted to respond um
specifically to a few things that were
said at the last committee meeting uh
just last week regarding good cause
eviction. I went through and took some
careful notes upon a few things that
were said and I found some opportunities
that I think I can respond to that might
be helpful. Um, first, um, Mr. Williams
had said at the meeting, uh, I wrote
down, uh, I do not know the cost of
having to move and refining the sky of
Skenctity. Well, I did a little math to
try to get an idea of what that would
be. So, uh, according to Zillow, the
average rent for a two-bedroom in
Skenctity is $1,575,
which is up $275 over last year.
Assuming that finding a new place
requires first month's rent and security
deposit, that would be $31.50 in order
to move. If you needed a 15 foot U-Haul,
that's $30 a day plus fees, mileage, and
gas. We'll call that around $80. then
another $20 for an apartment
application, assuming that you apply to
only one place and get it on the first
try, which almost never happens. So, all
told, best case scenario, you're looking
at around 3250 to have to relocate on
the fly. To say nothing of any lost
wages you might suffer from having to
take a day off work or what have you in
order to move. So, uh, a cool 3,300
laying around is something most folks
don't have, especially when living
paycheck to paycheck. And if that
eviction can be avoided, it should be.
Um, President Porterfield at the last
meeting mentioned the there's a lot of
talk over the fair market rent standard
for the county. Um, I was slightly
surprised at the amount that that was
discussed, but I wanted to just point
out that that applies within the law to
a relatively narrow exemption. There are
15 exemptions from the good cause
eviction law. Number 15 discusses uh
exemptions for properties that are over
245% at baseline of the fair market
rent. That is what I like to call the
luxury exemption. So that's for very
highpriced things. Uh in the city of
Skenctity, 245% of the fair market rent
for a two-bedroom would be apartments
whose rent is over 364315 a month, which
is not a lot of housing stock in
Skenctity. I'm sure they exist, but that
would apply to a relatively small trench
of cases. Um, Miss Patrick said at the
last meeting, uh, that under good cause
eviction, this this really did jump out
to me and it's worth responding to, that
every eviction must go to court with
good cause eviction. And as I believe
Mr. Farley said, every eviction already
has to go to court. You can't remove
anyone from their home without getting a
court order to do so. These cases are
already in court. Any landlord who
attempts to remove someone without going
to court is not only circumventing the
law, they are in fact committing a
crime, a class A misdemeanor. So, uh,
these are already in court. That doesn't
change.
Um,
I would
want I wanted to talk about the CURA
study. Miss Dtora, you mentioned that
last time, the Center for Urban and
Regional Affairs research report. And
the one that I found when I went looking
into that was a Cura study from March
3rd, 2025 called the good case for good
cause. Your time is expired. Absolutely.
Um, that's all I have to say. Thank you
very much.
And also one other reminder, I noticed
there are a number of signs in the
audience. Your signs cannot block the
view of the people who are seated behind
you. Just want to remind you of that.
Chris Morris
That's right. That's where you go.
Good evening, Mayor, Madame President,
and city council members.
As most of you know me, I'm Chris Morris
and co-founder and director of Slick,
Skinnctity Landlords influencing Change.
We are Skenctity's only organized group
of landlords, property managers, and
realtors. And for 14 years of monthly
meetings, it has always been Slick's
mission to provide information and
connections through guest speakers plus
group research and interaction.
We value our ongoing relationship with
the many entities throughout the city
that are involved with our business and
we hope to continue on that path.
It's important to note that we just
can't do anything we want to, anything
we we please. Small landslords are
continually dealing with the financial
impact of new laws levied by the state
as well as everinccreasing restrictions
and costly requirements levied by local
legislation and code enforcement.
Many feel the old adage, you can't judge
a book by its cover, applies to the
April 2024 New York good cause eviction
law, article 614
and the changes that are that have
happened in that law since then are very
important.
So tonight, our focus is on the
unintended consequences of good cause.
You'll hear of the negative impact it
will have on the very purpose of our
business to provide affordable safe
housing for tenants and a sustainable
livelihood for landlords and investors
in Skenctity.
I want to share this little short
statement that we had received from one
of our longtime small rental prop senior
owners uh who couldn't be here tonight.
Quote, she said, "As a member of Slick,
I'm forwarding this letter to you
expressing my opposition and concern
regarding could cause eviction. Please
understand that the profit margin is
tiny to begin with and would put me in
the red and in a deep financial crisis
leading to the potential of having to
big letters walk away from my property
which is something I would never have
dreamed of to have to deal with. Thank
you she says for your attention in this
matter. So with that brief poignant
perspective on this issue, ladies and
gentlemen, I urge you to consider all of
the up andcoming arguments against this
legislation. And I want to thank you for
listening. Bye-bye. Thank you.
[Applause]
Harleen Andress. Harleen Andress.
Good evening, Mayor McCarthy, Council
President Porterfield, and council
members. I am Harleen Andress, a member
of Slick, a licensed real estate broker
who owns a property management company.
In my role as property manager, I
represent the landlord, but I feel a
sincere responsibility to every person I
rent to to ensure that they will
experience safe, affordable, and quiet
enjoyment of their apartment home.
Sometimes, despite requests and
warnings, there are tenants who continue
to be chronically loud, disorderly, and
disruptive.
Finally, the only recourse is to end the
tenency either by eviction or by
non-renewal of the rental agreement.
Under the good cause eviction law, I
would have to prove my reasons for
seeking eviction. How do I prove that?
Do I ask the other tenants to appear in
court and testify against the offending
tenant? Should I put the tenants who are
being disturbed at risk by asking them
to do this? Should I expect them to lose
time from work to appear in court? And
what about after court? Since they all
live at the same address, they have to
return home and confront the people that
they testified against. I think what
will happen more realistically is that
these people will not go to court. The
tenants who are being disturbed will
simply begin to look for another rental
unit. And as a result, many lives will
be disrupted and the bad behavior will
be allowed to continue. I implore you to
say no to good cause eviction. There is
no good cause for bad behavior and we
need to protect all of the tenants, not
just a few.
Thank you,
Hillary Snare. Please, with the signs.
Hillary Snare.
Good evening, Mr. Mayor and members of
the council. Um, can't hear me. I'll go
closer. I'm Hillilary Snare and I'm a
tenant in downtown Skenctity. I
understand the intent of this law. We
all want to protect vulnerable tenants.
But let's be clear, good cause eviction
is not the right tool.
Instead of helping, we will make
landlords become stricter.
Landlords will raise rents faster and
they'll avoid renting to anyone who who
seems like less like more of a risk
because once the tenant is in, they may
never get their unit back. And even when
the lease ends, I believe the people who
will suffer the most will be the ones
with low credit scores and the ones who
need a second chance. the law will shut
the door on them before they even get a
key. If you truly want to help others,
support rent assistance programs, tenant
education, and mediation,
not program, not laws that drive housing
providers to create higher
qualifications and ultimately drive them
out of the city. Good cause might sound
like justice, but in bad practice, it's
just bad policy for all of Skenctity.
Thank you. Thank you,
Canon Ryan.
Uh, good evening, council members and
mayor and others. Uh, my name is Canyon
Ryan. I'm the executive director at
United Tenants of Albany. Um the reason
that I'm here is to talk about good
cause eviction where we have it in
Albany. Um we were the first to pass it
in 2022. It got struck down by the state
um due to preeemption and um in 2024 the
law was finally formalized in the state,
you know, the legislature during the
budget to allow municipalities opt into
good cause eviction. Since Albany has
opted in, 16 municipalities have also
opted in, including a Republican town
called the town of Fishkill. Um, it's
not a partisan issue. Um, unless we're
just thinking of partisanship in terms
of tenants and landlords. The reason
that Albony Pass could cause eviction is
because rents have been increasing
exponentially and wages have not. Um,
when we passed the law, two things that
a city can consider and and alter are
the fair market rent exemption, which
Colin has already talked about, the
245%. In Albany, we did 345% just to
ensure that the maximum number of
tenants were um eligible for the
protection. And the other thing that a
municipality can consider is the
definition of a small landlord. In the
city of Albany, we defined a small
landlord as those with one rental unit
being a single family home where
tenants, you know, where there's a
tenant. Um but if the landlord had two
rental units, then they were no longer
considered a small landlord. I just want
to clarify too any um owner occupied
unit any any owner occupied building of
less than 10 units is already exempt. So
this has to be particular to the rental
portfolio. And that may seem hard on
small landlords, but the reason that we
qualified it as those with one rental
unit is because it's difficult for a
city without a very strong and robust
code system for tenants to know whether
or not they have these protections or
attorneys to know if they have these
protections. um especially with limited
liability corporations which are
intended to obiscate actual ownership.
So tenants are going to have a really
difficult time determining if they have
these protections. And what these
protections do is set a rubric and
expectation for landlords and tenants
when they enter into an agreement that
the landlord will make repairs and the
tenant doesn't have to fear being
evicted. Um it's really difficult for
tenants to raise a retaliation claim if
they feel like when they raised the code
enforcement issue, they were then
immediately offered an eviction notice.
Um before the city of Albany opted into
Good Cause Eviction, I was renting from
a trust and this big management company
was overseeing, you know, the entire
ordeal and they didn't renew my lease
and there's no reason for that. I've
never been behind on my rent before and
so I ended up pulling my back, which my
back is still messed up. If you could
see me walking up today, it's this like
continual issue. Um, but my lease wasn't
renewed and there was no cause. And so
what we had to do is I had to move in
with my partner who I I like them, but I
liked having my own space, too. And we
had to pay 3,500 each to move into a
three-bedroom, which we didn't need, but
I had to move. And they were living with
me at the time in our one-bedroom. Um,
so it's very difficult, you know, for tenants to not know what's coming
next. And I think that the reason that I
was served a non-renewal was because I
had raised the issue of a non-functional
stove for three months in a row. Um, I
think that I was just considered a
problem tenant for trying to stand up
for my rights. And good cause eviction
allows tenants to bring these issues to
their landlord without fe fearing a
retaliatory eviction. I need you to
summarize, please.
Am I out of time? Yes. Okay. Um, good
cause eviction empowers tenants to
utilize the protections that they have
without fearing a retaliatory eviction.
It's a basic rubric for landlords and
tenants to understand what kind of
agreement they're entering into. Thank
you.
[Applause]
First initial B, last name Francis.
Good evening. My name is Bevon Francis.
I am a tenant organizer at United
Tenants of Albany. Um, I work with the
tenants across Albany uh to form unions
and fight for their rights. Uh, two
unions that I worked with were Danker
Village and Bleecker Terrace Apartments
where tenants were receiving rent
increases in ranging from 2003, $300,
$400 increases. But fortunately, because
we have good cause eviction, which um
put the cap at 8.38%,
we were able to keep those tenants in
their home and give them a fair rent
increase. I personally am a tenant. I
pay 50% of my income to rent and back in
October, my landlord wanted to raise my
rent by 10%. Um, I was able to use good
cause eviction as a defense and get the
8.38%
which saved me $15 a month, uh, a little
over $150 for the year. But when you're
living paycheck to paycheck, that kind
of money actually really matters. Um,
good cause eviction is a a law that says
that you have to have a good cause to
evict, right? What is a good cause to
evict? If somebody's not paying the
rent, that is a good cause. If somebody
is being a nuisance, that is a good
cause, right? If you're having police
activity at your house, that is a good
cause. A judge is going to rule that you
have to you have to leave. What is not a
good cause is you don't like the way I
look. You don't like the music I listen
to. um you don't like that I've been
calling code because there's mice in my
apartments, right? Or because you just
want to raise the rent. You get me out
and then you can raise that rent to two
grand a month. Then you're not violating
a good cause eviction law that way,
right? Um good cause keeps people in
their home. It kept me in my home. It
guaranteed my lease renewal. Um because
once I challenged my landlord against
the rent increase, he did not want to
renew my lease. And then I had to remind
him that good cause allowed me a
guaranteed me a lease renewal um as long
as I was obeying the terms of my lease,
paying my rent on time, and being a good
tenant, which I am. Uh we get calls on
our hotline at United Tenants of Albany
from people in Skenctity. We get calls
from people down in Queens, New York. Uh
we're very um unique in the services
that we provide and we hear from folks
all over the state. We get a lot of
calls from Skenctity, hundreds of calls
from Skenctity where people's rent has
been increased by two three $400 and
they can't afford the rent. They want to
know if we can help them pay their rent.
And unfortunately we can't help folks
pay rent in Skenctity. Um our
organization can only help in Albany
County. And I don't have anything I can
tell them other than I'm sorry. But
there is absolutely nothing that we can
do. Your landlord has no law preventing
them from raising your rent that much.
Um, and then we see people losing their
homes and having to move. We've seen
quite a few people actually have to go
into a homeless shelter because they
could not afford rent here in Skenctity.
Um, and that is all. Thank you,
Mina Badu.
Good evening, Mayor McCarthy, President
Porterfield, city council members. I am
Mina Buddhu, a member of Slick. I'm not
a big landlord or a corporation. I'm a
small property owner. I rented out an
apartment. I take care of the building
and I know my tenant personally. I I
keep the rent low. I want to be a good
landlord. The good cars eviction law
portrays me as the enemy. It assumes
that if I want to end a lease, I must be
doing something wrong. It give tenants
the power to stay indefinitely, even if
the relationship between us stop working
or if they begin damaging my property. I
got into this business to build
financial security for my family. If
this proposal passes, I may be forced to
stop renting altogether. I know many
other small learners who feel the same.
Please think about the real people who
have a financial stake in the community.
We the property owners don't have the
option of packing up, leaving a mess
behind, are moving on onto the next
apartment where in many instances the
new landlord was never told about the
last rental and why it is ended. Please
say no to good cause eviction. Thank
you. Thank you,
[Applause]
Laurian Gagny.
Good evening, Mayor McCarthy, President
Council Marian Porter and city council
members. My name is Laurian Gier and I'm
a real estate broker here in Skenctity.
I want to focus on the economic impact
of the good cause eviction law. These
rules may seem tenant friendly in the
short term, but they are disastrous in
the long-term housing market. When you
restrict a landlord's ability to manage
their property or raise rent reasonably,
you discourage investment, developers
and landlords and small business owners
start pulling out. Properties are sold
or left vacant. New housing is never
built. That leads to one thing, fewer
apartments, higher rents.
If we want to be and have affordable
housing, we should make it easier, not
harder, to build and maintain rental
units. This law sends the opposite
message. It says to investors, don't
come here. Please oppose this bill and
support policies that grow, not shrink,
our housing market in Skenctity. Thank
you. Thank you,
Pearl Hawk.
Good evening everyone. My name is Pearl
Ha. I am a broker in the city of
Skenctity.
Yeah,
I'm also a longtime Slick member. I
appreciate the opportunity here to share
some thoughts and concerns on the good
cause eviction.
First, New York has already had strong
tenant protection laws. Evictions
require court approval and tenants have
legal remedies when tenants are treated
unfairly. You just heard representatives
from some organizations. They are having
protecting and representing the tenants.
Okay.
Adding more layers of regulation, no
matter how well intended, can lead to
unintended consequences, such as higher
rent to offset risk and stricter
screening that can shut out the very
tenants that you're trying to protect.
Second, we've seen what happens
elsewhere. In Kingston, the policy
triggered lawsuits and delays in
implementation. In Peripsy, landlords
raised credit and income requirements,
making housing harder to access for
those who need it the most.
Third, our court system is already
overwhelmed. Implementing good cause
eviction would likely mean longer
delays, more legal expense and slower
resolution of dispute, hurting both good
tenants as well as good res re
responsible landlords.
Skynctity deserves policy that strike a
fair balance. Let's work together on the
resolutions. Please no good cause
eviction.
Thank you,
Sean Ratigan.
Um, yeah. Hi, I'm Sean Ratigan. Um, and
I want to thank the city council for
bringing up good cause for discussion
last week. Uh, one of the discussion
points that kept coming up was
additional costs that landlords need to
bear that might cause them to raise the
rent. And while city taxes are accounted
for in good cause as a reason that
landlords might raise the rent, it made
me upset how big of a part of the
discussion this was. Oh. Oh. Uh, sure.
Um, try putting the microphone closer to
your mask. Oh, yeah. Actually, I can
pull that down, too. Is that is that
better? Yeah. All right. Should I just
start from the top? Well, quickly. All
right. I want to thank the city council
for bringing good cause up for
discussion last week. One of the
discussion points that kept coming up
was additional costs for landlords. Um,
well, city taxes are accounted for in
good cause as a reason that landlords
might raise the rent. It made me upset
how big of a discussion point that was.
Um, I'd like to share some numbers from
my mortgage uh payment. in contrast. So,
I bought a house in 2023 and I pay the
bank uh $1,975
a month or $23,700
a year. Of that payment, my city taxes
are only $3,600 a year and my school
taxes are $2500 a year. From 2023 to
2024, my city taxes went up 2% or $71.
Uh, from 24 to 25, my my taxes went up
4.3% or $150.
I don't know about you, but like if I
could find an apartment where the rent
only went up by $150 a year, that would
be amazing. Instead, I have to buy a
house because every year my landlord
wanted to increase the rent by 10%,
which was over $150 per month. I really
don't think that the city taxes are the
reason that landlords are raising their
rent.
There was also a lot of talk about how
small landlords are small businesses and
part of the economy. I just like to
point out that the tenants who live in
Skenctity are arguably a larger point
part of the economy. Sorry, I just
um if the tenants can't afford to live
here, then the people that makes Skaki a
great place will have to move. And that
just sounds super boring.
Good cause isn't radical. Good cause
already has carveouts for small
landlords, city taxes, large
improvements to the buildings. City
taxes are really a drop in the bucket
when it comes to my budget. Uh housing
is by far my largest burden. And since
I'm lucky enough to have a mortgage, at
least I get equity out of that huge
chunk of my paycheck, which is 50% of
it. Um tenants need protections, and
good cause is protections. I'm pleading
with you all to please put the majority
of people's interests forward and
protect the tenants who live here. Help
tenants stay in their homes. Thank Thank
you,
[Applause]
Robin English.
My apologies.
Good evening, mayor, madame president,
and city council. My name is Robin
English. I have been a tenant in
Skenctity for 20 years. Chris Morris,
director of Slick, was my next door
neighbor. We lived in a beautiful little
complex where she was property manager
for 17 years. I began attending monthly
Slick meetings with Chris and took on
the job of hospitality. I hear all about
the re rental business and its
challenges. Last year, my complex was
sold to a new owner with their owner
property management. Unfortunately,
there is minimal attention to the
property and it has changed
dramatically. Although I'm not all happy
with the lack of upkeeping, I have
considered moving. I'm very concerned
about what will happen to me. I know I'm
sorry. I know how close I am to having
my life disrupted if I feel that I have
to move, but I cannot find a place that
fits my particular needs. Since I've
heard all the discussions on the law on
this law, I'm aware of the unintended
consequences of the good cause eviction
law and how it can actually hurt
prospective tenants. When landlords know
they won't be able to raise rents or
remove a tenant without legal battle,
they start screening more aggressively.
That means more applicant rejections
impacting lower income tenants,
students, and those with lower credit
scores and others. Landlords may raise
rents sharply between tenants and
protect themselves from future
limitations. Ironically, a law meant to
protect renters should make it harder
for new renters to find housing. I'm
really worried about my own future.
Thank you very much. Thank you,
Muhammad Haz.
Muhammad Hz.
Good evening, Mr. Mayor, Madame
President, council members. My name is
Muhammad Hafes. I'm a landlord's connect
in Skenctity.
I'm here to speak about the uh about in
opposition to the good cause eviction
claw. If the law passes in Skenctity, it
will result in the following.
One, the increase in operating cost
because eviction will take a lot longer
to complete. Two, rent will increase
because of the operating cost increase
to the landlord. We're not talking about
2% taxes that he was gentleman was
talking about here. Talking about the
material costs. If you go to the Home
Depot,
things have quadrupled. Things have
quadruple in price. Talking about labor
costs. Talking about legal costs. Try to
hire a lawyer to to do an eviction for
you. It cost you hundreds of dollars,
maybe thousands.
Uh number three, evicting problem tenant
will become more difficult, prolonging
the suffering of the neighboring tenant
in the building. and further result in
the increase of police and fire
department calls. I experienced that
myself. I had a problem tenant that was
there during corona and after corona it
took us months and months and so many
calls to the police and fire department
phony calls to the police and fire
department or when they ca when they
came they basically couldn't do
anything. Number four, landlord will
start leaving more rental unit vacant
decreasing the number of rent of uh of unit available to rent in the city.
Five, some landlords will stop renting
altogether and that will that they will
start talking about uh unit conversion
further reducing the number of available
units for rent uh making it even harder
for renter for renter to find apartment
in skenctity. Six, if skenctity
landlords stop selling their properties,
absentee landlord would take over
impacting the rental market in
Skenctity. Uh number seven, the higher
cost of rental business will cause fewer
investment in new housing development in
Skenctity.
Though it may appear to be helping
tenant, the law make makes it makes the
law will make it finding affordable
housing a lot harder for the tenant. So
please do not vote for the good cause
eviction in Skenct. Thank you. Thank
you.
Holly Law. Holly Law.
Good evening, city council members. Mr.
Mayor, I am a Skenctity resident and
homeowner of 17 years. The apartment in
my home is currently occupied by my mom.
And while I hope that arrangement goes
on forever, it is entirely possible that
I will end up renting at some point to
someone who didn't give birth to me. I'm
here tonight because I feel strongly
that good cause eviction is a win-win
for Skenctity. The criticism of good
cause seems to me to fall largely into
two buckets. One, predictions of dire
outcomes for the city, including
renters, and two, a conviction that
whatever benefits renters must
necessarily hurt landlords. So, first,
the predictions of dire outcomes. You've
heard them from other people. I'm not
going to list them all, but good cause
has been adopted by more than a dozen
New York municipalities, and it's been
the law in New Jersey since the 70s. So,
if these dire outcomes were going to
happen, surely critics would be able to
provide clear and compelling evidence of
them. Without actual evidence of these
bad outcomes from these other places, I
would like to suggest that these
arguments be disregarded.
Second, the idea that anything that
benefits renters will necessarily harm
landlords. This is called zero sum
thinking and it's a particularly
corrosive mindset when it comes to
making decisions for a whole city where
we are interconnected in so many
complicated ways. There is social
science research that supports the idea
that some people are hardwired to zero
some thinking. that if you present
people with a situation that is
objectively beneficial to all parties,
like for instance, John sells his car to
Mary for a price that he is happy with
and Mary buys John's car for a price
that she is happy with. And social
science researchers will then ask people
who won that interaction and there are a
significant number of people who will
say John. John won that interaction.
John definitely won. Mary definitely
lost. Even though objectively they both
won, that interaction was beneficial to
both. And I mentioned this research just
to point out that just because certain
people believe they will lose when
others gain doesn't mean that's
necessarily objectively accurate. I
think some landlords may be stuck in
this zero sum mindset and it makes them
unable to see the benefits that would
acrue to all of us, landlords included,
if the whole city were to have more
stable housing, a friendlier and more
welcoming rental culture, and therefore
more demand for rental units. Good cause
eviction would be a win-win for
Skenctity. Thank you. Thank you.
[Applause]
Ed Laven Jr. Ed Leven Jr.
This is city business, but it's not
about rentals. I beg your pardon. This
is city business, but it's not about
rentals. Okay. You talk about whatever
you'd like. Well, I was involved in a
small claims court case. I won a default
judgement on 1016, 2019. I get one piece
of paper in regular mail with a court
date and time of 9:10 2020 9:00 a.m.
There is no affidavit or proof of
service. Defendant cannot come back to
the court without valid reason why she
did not appear on 101619.
Also, she must show some proof of why
she should win case. This must be in
motion. No judge can act on a motion
without proof of service. This is
obstruction of justice and most
certainly no judge can vacate a default
judgment and say lean was satisfied 11
days before a trial. Frost signed the
two motions first waited out by clerk.
Need proof of service.
Frost signed the second motion also
without affidavit or proof of service.
With Frost signing improper motions and
Falotico acting on improper motions,
which no judge can act on a motion
without proof of service, this makes it
a conspiracy to deprive me of my
constitutional rights of due process and
crime 18 USC 242.
Belico goes further and vacates default
judgment in committing the crime of 18
USC 1509, obstruction of courts. No one
vacate or dismiss another judge's
decision without a proper hearing and
evidence to do so. I've been before this
mayor and city council several times.
They are complicit after the fact
because I have left them the proof and
nothing has been done to these two
corrupt judges. Mayor, county attorney,
district attorney, US attorney, all know
about the crimes of these two judges.
The mayor has kept me out of the
newspaper and off the news channels. The
mayor pays very well for corruption.
Valico tears down a building on State
Street. proper authority to do so and
mayor makes him a judge.
You also appointed TP Frost. I went to
John D. Augustine, Miles Reed of the
Gazette. The Augustine was publisher and
president. Miles Reed was editor. As I
said, mayor pays well for corruption.
The CBTA paid 300,000 for parking spaces
to the Gazette. John D. Augustine now
owns the Gazette. Commission on Judicial
Conduct threw my paperwork away after I
told them they must base their decisions
on the rules of court and the laws of
the Constitution or they too could be
charged with obstruction of the
governmental administration.
I've been to city police, sheriff, state
police, found one of state trooper that
filed my complaint. The DA told him
there was no crime. You could go no
further. FBI and US attorney's office
both said the exact same thing to me.
This is not something we're going to
look into. When they refused to file my
complaints, you do realize you live in
New York. When you have mayor running
for a fourth term, Fatika was running
for Supreme Court. I went to the
attorney grievance committee regarding
DA, County Attorney Gardner, and US
attorney Barnett. They could find no
misconduct.
I also went to election board letting
them know how you were covering up for
Falatico. Not uh surprisingly, they
could find nothing wrong. No response.
Oh, your time is expired. Please
summarize.
It's time to go to Pan B.
Thank you.
Paty Dio Prasad.
I am short.
Good evening, Mayor McCarti, city
president for the field and city council
members. My name is Patio Prasad. I'm a
Skenct City resident. Skenctity is a
city that's rebuilding. We've seen
growth downtown and neighborhoods come
back indeed. But that progress depends
on investment, on people like me
choosing to put our money, time, and
energy into restoring housing. Stop.
Good cause eviction sends the opposite
message. This tells that would be
investors and landlords that even if you
follow the law and keep rents fair, the
city will make it very difficult for you
to remove a tenant from your property.
Why would anyone invest under those
conditions?
Why would they t take a risk on that
property downtown that is a block away
and needs $50,000 in repairs?
This law will co would cause
good local law landlords to walk away.
Guess who will move in? Predatory out of
town buyers who don't care about the
community only profit. If you care about
revitalizing skinnity,
don't cut off the people that is doing
the work. Say no to good cause eviction.
Thank you. Thank you.
Jamaica Miles.
So, let's get quick with some
clarification. The Kingston Pikipsy
lawsuits that were referenced were about
rent control, not about good cause. It's
completely unrelated. Um, by the way,
going to court is the law, so we're
supposed to do that. And good cause
would reduce the number of court cases
because it eliminates frivolous filings
and holds landlords accountable to real
standards. I am not just a lifelong
skenkity resident. I am also someone who
has been impacted by renting in the city
of Skenctity. Forced out of apartments,
afraid to call code enforcement, needing
to relocate every year for multiple
years, and experiencing extremely high
rent. Let's start with me being born on
Hamilton Hill in 1974. By 1980, my
parents had to move to 953 Albany
Street. By 1988, at the age of 14 years
old, it was the first time that I was
homeless. But let's jump ahead. 1881
State Street, I actually was able to
live there for 7 years from 20 from 2002
to 2009. Then I had to move to Cutler.
That was less than a year. Plymouth A,
less than a year. Rugby Road. I lived
there almost a year, but there was a rat
infestation and they wouldn't take care
of it. So, I moved to another apartment
on Rugby Road less than a year. Then
over to Brandy Wine A and we've only
made it to 2015. Do I need to go on? How
many of you currently rent in the city
of Skenctity? How many of you have ever
rented in this city? Which neighborhoods
do you currently live in or have you
ever lived in? Mine span almost the
entire city. How many young people at
Seat Center live in rentals right now?
How many attendees of our public
libraries are housing insecure? Is every
senior that is living in the city of
Skenctity living in a safe, stable,
affordable, and secure housing unit? I'm
not just someone who lives there. I'm
also someone who has been on the ground
speaking to residents for years being
told that the number one issue is and
continues to be housing safety,
security, and affordability. I am here
to urge this council to opt into New
York State's good cause eviction law
because this legislation is not just
necessary. It is long overdue. Our
housing isn't being wellmaintained right
now. It is already difficult to get an
apartment right now. So, if folks are
worried about whether or not it's going
to get more difficult, y'all ain't
rented in this city. We already have
absentee landlords. We already have
apartments that aren't being inspected
and don't have rental certification. We
already have tenants who are being
illegally evicted without going to
court, which is against the law to a
body that likes to be law in order. And
the worst part, many tenants don't even
know their rights. So yes, we do need an
education piece. Good cause can help us
to fix this. It brings clarity. It
brings standards. It empowers tenants to
speak up and holds neglectful property
owners accountable. For those of you
that are good property owners, God bless
you and thank you for what you do. There
is zero evidence that the tax base has
suffered in any good cause community.
What has suffered is community stability
when we fail to act. New Jersey since
1974, where's the evidence? So the
question is not should we wait. The
question is how many more people will
you allow to suffer while we do nothing?
So make process make the process
forward. Move the process forward to opt
into good cause. Don't let fear and
misinformation guide this city's
decision-making. You summarize, please.
I am summarizing right now. Don't let a
good policy die because of political
games. And don't ignore the people who
need strength, compassion, and
leadership right now. Thank you,
[Applause]
Kathy Sullivan.
Down with the signs. Kathy Sullivan.
She must have left. Trisha Pedro.
Hello everyone on the city council. I'm
Trisha Pedro. I had signed up to speak
about um 317 State Street. Just wanted
to introduce myself. Um it's not about
this. So I just wanted to say that I am
a mother of eight and I live here in
Skenctity for over 20 years. I am a
business owner. I love Skenctity. I came
here just doing my own little thing and
Skenctity have embraced me. I do a lot
of community events and just I love the
people in Skenctity. So, I wanted to use
the space so that I can have business
owners like myself just get together and
make money in the city of Skenkity and
just just work with the foot traffic
that's already going through downtown
Skenctity. So, I just wanted to let you
guys know that I'm trying to give you
like a face to the name, introduce
myself. That's all. Thank you. Thank
you,
[Applause]
Valerie Triano.
Good evening, city council members. I'm
here today in support of connected opt
into the good cause eviction law. As a m
me member of this community, as a
neighbor, and as someone who believes
that housing is not just a commodity,
it's a human right. First, I want to
thank council member Farley for
introducing the good cause eviction
resolution to committee this past Monday
and to thank council members Farley,
Williams, and Porterfield for bringing
such thoughtful facts and statistics to
the conversation.
Your leadership matters
because right now in connectity, there
are families living in fear. Fear of
being pushed out of their homes, not
because they did something wrong, but
because they dared to speak up about
mold, broken heat in winter, or leaking
ceilings. Fear that if they ask for
repairs, they'll find a notice taped to
their door telling them they have 30
days to get out. That is not justice.
That is abuse of power. The good cause
eviction law is our opportunity to say
no more. No more retaliatory evictions.
No more families torn apart by greed. No
more mothers lying awake at night
wondering where their children will
sleep next month. This law doesn't
punish good landlords. It protects them
and ensures that small local landlords
can continue offering affordable housing
without being crushed by corporately
owned buildings jacking up rent
citywide.
It keeps housing fair, competitive, and
rooted in our comm community in the
community. This law does not allow
tenants to abuse the system. Landlords
will still be able to evict for
non-payment,
destruction of property, or illegal
activity. They can still raise rent so
long as those increases are fair and
based on actual costs. Owner occupied
homes with 10 or fewer units are exempt.
Let's be clear, good cause isn't
radical. It's reasonable. It's humane.
It's overdue. And it works. New Jersey
has had a version of this law for nearly
50 years and not only has it protected
renters renters. It's outpaced New York
in housing construction. This law is not
anti- landlord, it's
pro community. It's pro- stability. It's
pro dignity. Let's lead with compassion
to put people over profit. Let's make
connectity a city where no one loses
their home just for speaking up. where
housing isn't a constant fight but a
foundation to build our lives upon.
Thank you for your time for listening
not just with your heart. I mean not
just with your ears but with your
hearts. Thank you. Thank you
Rach.
Hello. I came to uh speak on behalf of
Trisha Pedro. Um she's been an amazing
community member who is well loved um by
the Skenctity community and as the uh
director of the Hamilton Hill Arts
Center, we've worked together often to
put on community events and I just
wanted to support her purchase of the
property. Thank you. Thank you,
[Applause]
Ellie Pepper.
Good evening, Mayor, Madame President,
city council members. I've lived in the
city of Skenctity for 30 years as a
homeowner. Uh, I'm here to urge you to
opt into New York's good cause eviction
law because our city's renters urgently
need this protection and responsible
landlords have nothing to fear from it.
15 cities in the state have already done
it. So, let's do it. More than half of
all households in Skenctity and in
neighborhoods like Mount Pleasant and
downtown.
Um, so there's more than half of all
households in Skenctity are renters. And
in neighborhoods like Mount Pleasant and
downtown, it's more than 75 or even 90%.
That's a lot of people who are renters
in this city. The majority of those
buildings are owned by absentee
landlords, many of whom don't live in
Skenctity and some don't even live in
the state.
And something that started all the way
back in 2018 and finally we've seen um
what it led to just this past year, but
that's seven years later. I just want to
point that out.
The city fined one absentee landlord,
Alh Hawk LLC, more than 665,000
for dangerous conditions across multiple
properties, homes with no heat, no
maintenance, no regard for the people
living there. And still many attend many
tenants are afraid to speak up because
right now they can be evicted for any
reason or no reason at all. good cause
eviction would change that. It doesn't
stop landlords from evicting tenants who
don't pay rent or break their lease. It
just says if you're doing everything
right, you can't be thrown out without a
valid reason. And it protects tenants
from retaliation if they report unsafe
conditions.
It also puts a check on unreasonable
rent increases.
So, just to put a clear point on the
amount that can be increased right now,
inflation in our region is 3.4%.
Under good cause, a rent increase is
presumed unreasonable
if it is higher than 5% plus the
consumer price index.
So, if you put that together with the
inflation rate right now in this region,
you're looking at an 8.4%
increase as being reasonable.
That doesn't um block rent increases. It
just ensures that they're fair. If a
landlord has rising costs and needs to
raise rent more than that, they can
still do it. They just need to justify
it if it leads to eviction for
non-payment.
Now, I want to speak directly to
concerns about small landlords. Is that
my time up already? Wow, God, that went
so fast. Um, I know many of them care
deeply about their tenants and are part
of the communities they're they serve.
And good cause does not prevent them
from making a living. It doesn't stop
evictions for valid reasons. Doesn't
freeze rents. In fact, many of the worst
violations and most aggressive evictions
in Skenctity come from large absentee
owners, not local landlords. It's about
targeting abuse, not punishing
responsible property. I need you to
summarize. We already have strong
enforcement tools, but those don't mean
much if tenants are afraid to file a
complaint. Good cause gives renters the
confidence to speak up, and it helps
stabilize neighborhoods by stopping
unjust evictions before they happen.
Thank you. Thank you.
Dean Nabado,
I will try to speak fast. Uh, good
evening, uh, madame president, city
council members, and mayor. Uh, my name
is Dean Morabo, and I live in the city
of Skenctity. After listening to the
discussion last Monday by members of the
council regarding opting into or out of
good cause eviction,
uh it appeared to me that those voices
uh against good cause had very
unconvincing arguments
uh to vote for opting out. Um I'll give
some examples.
uh
landlords will be rushing to sell their
properties leading to corporation
corporations buying up properties and
creating uh absentee landlords. This is
uh only speculation
and word of mouth and it's a form of
fear-mongering.
Uh also landlords suffered during COVID.
Well, tenants did as well. Where is the
compassion for them?
Small landlords are small businesses
trying to create generational wealth.
Uh will that be on the backs of the
tenants? Is that what it's about? Uh
this sounds a lot like colonialism to
me.
Uh it was stated landlords are part of a
solution. Taking people into their
properties to give them a place to live.
I thought that I heard that landlords
are small businesses.
Landlords are building a skenctity we
can all be proud of.
Is this to the exclusion of an already
disenfranchised population of the city?
Uh landlords were compared to other
small businesses in the city. People
need to feel safe and secure in their
properties they rent um which should be
affordable, clean and properly
maintained by landlords.
These are not things small businesses in
other small businesses in the city are
uh required to provide.
It's not fair that landlords should lose
money for owning rental properties.
Well, good cause isn't about taking
money away from landlords. It's about
providing perfection protections for
tenants. So, in conclusion, I'd like to
say that people who become landlords do
so as a choice. Uh people need a place
to live. It's not asking too much for it
to be affordable, clean, and
appropriately maintained by the people
that own the property. Thank you. Thank
you.
[Applause]
First name looks like Laurel and the
last name starts with a G.
I beg you pardon.
It sound it looks like it.
And could you just please your state
your full name because I am unable to
read your last name. No problem. My name
is Laurel Barnes. Good afternoon, good
evening, mayor, madame president, and
city council. Um, I was going to speak
about something different, but now that
I heard about this good cause uh
eviction,
I've been a resident of Skenki for over
20 years. I've been in different
apartments. Um, I've been in my last one
right now for going on 12 years.
I have never been late on my rent.
Our apartment building got bought by an
LLC after our landlord who was just a
single landlord owning a few places who
was actually compassionate and kind.
Someone else bought it. Now he calls me
a troublemaker.
I was telling him about what was going
wrong with my neighbor downstairs
and the other neighbor on the other side
of the building. He has threatened to
not reloom my lease next year. And his
lease, all it is is a piece of paper
saying, "Do you still want to live here?
Sign here." No rules, no nothing.
I don't think it's fair. I'm telling him
something that's happening. I'm not
trying to be a troublemaker.
It's just the truth. And he hardly ever
comes by.
I'm also under section 8. He's also
raised the rent because of section 8
uh over $150 the first time. I rent a
one-bedroom apartment and now it's $900.
I'm afraid to tell him that my bathroom
sink is leaking. I'm afraid to ask him
for another refrigerator because it's
starting to go.
I'm afraid to tell him about the heat.
The the radiator starts leaking like
crazy and I have it's ruined the rug
that I have in my kitchen. I'm afraid to
tell him anything because I'm afraid
he's going to get me out and not renew
my lease. And it's not fair. They should
not have the right to just say, "You're
a troublemaker. Time to get out. I can't
afford to move anywhere. I have to live
where I'm living. It's it's a great
area. I feel safe there."
And it's it will not help also my mental
health. I suffer from severe depression
and that will make me go downhill.
Not a good idea.
Because back in 2009,
I left my house in Scotia. And this was
5 years after my mother passed away, who
I took care of till the day she died.
I walked towards the Scotia Bridge
intending on jumping.
Two police officers, who I still don't
know their name,
saved me from doing it. I went to Ellis
for a month and a half. I have no memory
of what was going on and I'm happy where
I am, but I'm afraid to say anything.
Thank you. Have a good night.
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
Chris Petro Carly.
Good evening, esteemed members of the
council. My name is Chris Petra Carly. I
actually have never encountered someone
who pronounced it right the first time
correctly. So
uh I am as connected resident. I am
actually not a tenant. I am a homeowner.
But I was once a tenant and I was able
to stably live in an apartment for 7
years before I was able to afford my
house. I was only able to afford my
house because of that stability. And I
implore you to vote yes on good cause so
that we can maintain stability for our
tenants in this time of economic strife.
We need to understand that everybody who
contributes to the community, everybody
who works, everybody who's a barista,
who works at a Lowe's as a salesman, who
makes entertainment online, whatever,
anybody who works for a living needs to
be able to call someplace their own, to
be able to live somewhere without the
threat of randomly being pushed out on
the street because the landlord
suspected they might be gay or because
they just don't vibe with the person in
there. Good cause will prevent people
from just being thrown to the wolves.
Thank you for your time. Thank you.
[Applause]
Bridget Bridget Savage Spice.
Hello. Uh my name is Bridget Savage
Spees. Um I am with the capital district
DSA um and I work on the housing
committee um helping to bring um
legislation like this to places
throughout the capital district um uh
including Skenctity. So, um I wanted to
talk a little bit about the um the way
that good cause has existed in not only
the places in New York that have passed
good cause, but also in California, in
New Jersey, and in um other
municipalities in which they have um
similar protections to good cause or,
you know, verbatim good cause
protections. Um, a little while ago, the
University of Minnesota Center for Urban
and Regional Affairs published a report
um because several of their professors
were wondering, you know, I keep hearing
this thing from landlords where they say
that if we pass good cause um then there
will be no new housing development and
that will drive up rental prices. Um,
and that's something that I have heard
here today a lot. Um, and so they did
this study because they wanted to find
out is that true. Um they looked in
California, in New Jersey. They compared
um the they compared areas with good
cause to areas without good cause that
have similar, you know, that are similar
in their geographic area, similar in
their income and their GDP, all sorts
of, you know, um similarities. And they
determined that it did not have any
effect on new construction. Um so with
that study in mind I think um we can
determine that it's unlikely that it
would in skenctity if it hasn't anywhere
else. Um I would also like to um lay out
the idea that I want to make it
extremely clear that good cause eviction
protections do not impact landlords who
are in the business of providing safe
and affordable housing. Um, if that's
what your goal is as a landlord, then I
commend you for that. And this law
should not impact you because you
um you will not be
uh you if you are not trying to evict
tenants retal in a retaliatory manner,
you will not be impacted by good cause.
Um good cause has a number of um a
number of carveouts in it as well that
address some of the concerns that I've
heard. Um so any building that's built
before 2009 uh that's built after 2009
is exempt from good cause which is one
of the reasons why it doesn't impact new
development. Um it doesn't impact um
owner occupied buildings. So small
landlords renting out their apartment
attached to their garage or anything
like that are not impacted. Um it does
not impact um
landlords with a portfolio under a
certain size which can be determined by
the council. In Albany, we set that as
one um because of the LLC loophole in
which landlords frequently own uh many
buildings under all different LLC's. And
so it is hard to determine um how many
units they really have, but um that is
up to you to determine. The um good
cause in Albany when it was passed
decreased the number of eviction cases
going to court. Um so for the reasons
that it will decrease eviction burden,
it will decrease the burden on our
eviction courts, it will not um impact
increases in housing stock and it should
not impact any landlord who's providing
safe and affordable housing. I urge you
to pass good cause. Thank you. Thank
you,
Rocky Palmer.
Hi council members, Mr. Mayor, and
council president.
Sorry.
Um, I've been a a small-time landlord
for most of my life. I've been doing
this since I was a kid with my
grandfather and my father. Um, very
against this um proposed optin to the
good cause. Um, just going to be very
concise. Uh, I think it will dis
disroportionately affect small
landlords, not these big large corporate
outfits. Um it's going to be longer
court times, more expenses, lost rent,
and will discourage uh new landlords to
enter the business. Um there are already
protections in place to protect tenants
uh New York State. Um
and we also have the rental certificate
program as well in the city. I really
believe the uh the true um
uh the true intention of this law is to
usher an arcane New York City New York
City style rental regulation and
control. Uh I think it's kind of like a
soft start and from there more laws can
be added or more laws can be introduced
or this law can be you know adjusted or
made worse. Um, and again, I I really
believe if we wanted to lower rents, uh,
we should invent in incentivize building
new units and not buy these big
corporate outfits whose rents are going
to be out of reach for mo most, uh,
people in Skenctity, but, uh, just
normal small-time investors, and we
could do this by reducing regulations,
fees, red tape, and generally just
encourage new construction. Thank you.
Crystal Dwayne.
Hello. Hello. If you don't mind, I'm
just going to set a timer. It's 3
minutes. It is three minutes. Okay. Can
everybody hear me?
No. Can you hear me now? Okay. I just
want to make sure everybody can hear.
That's all. It's very hard to hear in
the back. So, okay, I set my timer. Um,
I am here just asking for transparency
within the community in regards to the
uh lack of clean drinking water, a basic
human right. I have been a resident for
my entire life basically in Skenctity,
born and raised. Um, this is a bag of
medication. This is just some medication
that I have to take on a regular basis.
Um, it's appalling to me that in the
city of Skenctity that we are only
required to actually sample our water
once per calendar year. And in 2024, I
don't know if everybody has had a chance
to actually read what the contaminants
are in there. In 2024, we had 48
contaminants alone, which cause cancer,
leukemia,
respiratory effects on your body, brain
cancer, soft tissue problems, a plethora
of problems that some you can't even
fix. these two that I just happened to
look up. Benzene, which is the first on
the list of the actual 2024
uh drinking water report, can cause
blood disorders, leukemia, cancer. Uh
our male population, believe it or not,
is at a higher risk from for uh
contaminated water. Um, and then females
uh inevitably suffer from hormonal
problems, breast cancer, and so on and
so forth. What I'm asking that we do as
a community, I don't know about you, but
everybody in my family has been a
lifelong resident of Skenctity and in
one facet or another has been affected
by health problems. If I could just do a
little demonstration here. How many
people here in this room take more than
one medication?
Okay, another thing. How many people
remark? How Okay, I'm sorry. How many
people in this room by yourself, your
family member or someone has been
diagnosed with cancer recently?
There is a statistic out here on the
national uh cancer institute that uh
Skynctity is actually getting 580 more
cases on a yearly basis and that is
stating that that is actually stable for
us. While granted that's not in the
thousands, 580 is way too many. 580 is
affecting people's, you know, long-term
jeevity of their life. It's cutting it
shorter. We need to do something
in our community to assist the people
and by giving and providing clean
drinking water. Chloroform itself is in
there and that was listed as not a
violation. I know that your timer went
off. So, yep. Thank you. You're welcome.
I have no one else signed up to speak,
so I declare the public comment of city
business closed.
At this time, any miscellaneous business
of the council.
Everyone had an opportunity to sign up.
I'm sorry. Everyone had an opportunity.
to sign up at the beginning of the
meeting. This that I've called every
name that's on the list.
I've called every name that was on the
list.
I called every name on the list. We
asked people to sign up at the beginning
of the meeting.
Miscellaneous business of the council.
Mr. Mr. Williams.
Thank you. I uh initially just wanted to
uh appreciate and tell everyone that uh
took the courage to come up here and
speak regardless of your position and
what issue you're speaking to. It is uh
definitely something that uh takes
people back. Uh it is a form of speaking
that people aren't usually used to but
it shows your passion towards your
issues which is why I take a lot of
notes because I value that time that you
spend with sharing your candid thoughts
with us and sincerely I present myself
as someone that's objective. Uh so with
respect to the conversation of good
cause eviction, uh sincerely looking at
it from a standpoint of the lived
experience that I had throughout my
life, not just within the city of
Skenctity, but just as uh um
as someone that grew up not with a
stable home, um but also looking at the
merits and hearing both sides of the
facts and also hearing uh some candid
conversations from people that I
consider very close to me, I can't seem
to get away from the fact that I I'm a
huge supporter of it. Uh on this very
context, good cause eviction keeps good
tenants in homes and holds poor
landlords accountable. And
my understanding of that is that with a
marginal administrative cost to
landlords, it ensures that your actions
taking place, the morality of the
decisions that you can impact
individuals over. Uh we heard from uh
two individuals who I'm not going to
name speak from their hearts about their
lived experiences and what unstable
housing does for the community. In a few
months, we are going to have the
conversation of how much overtime do we
allow to increase police and fire
departments. And in very few instances
do we have the ability to be proactive
instead of reactionary. Stable housing
improves the quality of life of a
community. And it has been said
abundantly
that this is something that is good for
the city of Skenctity. I urge everyone
regardless of what side of the
conversation we're on to look at the law
because as I hear a lot of the
misinformation, there are protections in
place for illegal behavior, for breaks
and lease. Um there are protections in
place for maintenance costs above the
10% number that you are uh that was
cited multiple times with justifiable
reasoning and that is where I think a
lot of the the the headache and
knee-jerk reactions come come from. It
is now having to justify your actions.
But we continue to hear from tenants
since I've been an elected official year
after year of the struggles of having
instable housing in a city where rents
are continuing to rise. We tried to have
the conversation of rent stabilization
that was met with an utter no. We are
trying to bring the conversation of good
cause eviction that is also met with an
fervorable no. What are we to say to the
majority of this community who is
sitting on the tenant side of this who
is crying out for help.
We continue to hear that New York has
some strict protections for tenants. But
looking at the case study of connectity,
you are also hearing about tenants that
are saying, "Were those protections for
me?" And that is not something that is
debatable. These are lived experiences
that we hear meeting after meeting and
then we hear from our advocacy groups
event after event. Housing continues to
be the number one priority for not just
city of Skenctity residents, but for
residents within the state of New York.
I applaud the legislature for passing
this type of law. The only push back
that I have was making it opt-in. I
think it is a requirement for us to have
this conversation. I thank Mr. Farley
for presenting it. And I look forward to
having a candid factual discussion next
week about the merits of where each of
my peers stand because sincerely this is
impacting lives. It truly is. Um housing
is a fundamental right. I have had the
luxury due to my military um experience
and military career to have had the
ability to use the VA home loan. If not
for that, I guarantee you I would be
sitting on that side of the room as a
tenant. sincerely uh saying the right
thing sometimes is unpopular, but
looking at the case studies that we've
seen from the municipalities that have
opted in, looking at the proven records
from states that are continuing to do
this work based on the logic that we've
heard, those communities should be in
disarray.
So sincerely as we look at the facts and
as we looked at the lived experiences
from tenants in our community, I truly
believe that this ensures that good
tenants remain in place and it still
provides landlords the rights that they
are demanding that they still have um to
provide themselves a quality of life
that they are looking forward to as
well. Thank you. Thank you,
Mr. Farley. Thank you, Madam Chair. Um,
thank you, Mr. Williams, for your
comments. Uh, I I um agree with
everything you said. Um, and I just
think that this is something that's not
that complicated. It really isn't. And I
think sometimes people over complicate
things so they can hide in the
confusion. I've read through this front
and back. I've had real candid
conversations with landlords and
tenants. Um, and I am someone with
presented with new information is
willing to change my mind based on that.
I think that that is something that you
must be willing to do as a leader
whether it's popular or not. Um, I've
heard the stories about how these
horrible uh uh situations that landlords
are placed in from tenants not paying
their rent um through COVID and damaging
their property and being nuisance and
just doing things that where someone has
uh invested their life's savings into a
property and now the landlord has become
a victim of this unruly tenant. Um, and
those are things that I know happen.
Those are real things that happen. And
in good cause eviction, there are
provisions for every single thing that
people have been talking about.
I would just stress to people to please
go back, read this legislation, and ask
yourself,
would I do any of these things that are
on this list? And if your answer is no,
then not only should you not be against
this, but you should be coming out to
support it. I also want to say that, you
know, we on city council, I do believe
that we all are homeowners and sometimes
your proximity or lack thereof to an
issue can really impact how you receive
messaging. And I want us all to be
mindful of the people who are not in the
very uh privileged uh position that Mr.
uh Williams talked about.
I've been born and raised connectedity.
I've been here all my life and I always
heard a saying that might have not been
originated here but um first time I
heard it was here and that's all money
isn't good money. So when people talk
about you know the investments and
investments that people are making into
the city. I'm happy to hear about
investments but again all money isn't
good money. And if you're not going to
come here and provide a safe uh
respectable housing for people, then our
commitment to basic human dignity is not
and should not be for sale. Thank you,
Miss Patrick.
Thank you.
Yeah, I actually um was only able to buy
a home having worked in nonprofit all my
life um because I had an uncle that died
and very generously gave each of his
nieces and nephews uh money and that was
how my husband and I were able to come
and buy a home in Skenctity. But other
than that, I was mic closer. I can't
hear you. Can't hear it. Now I can now.
The mic's closer. Yeah. Okay. I was
saying that I only was able to buy a
home here um a after renting my entire
life because of my nonprofit career. Uh
because I had an uncle that passed away
and uh generously gave all of his nieces
and nephews. Uh he didn't have any
children. Uh so that was how we were
able to buy our house. So um I
definitely spent most of my life renting apartments. Um I wanted to thank
the school district for an incredible
event the other day. Skin Equity um
which they sponsored in the parking lot
over at their uh headquarters um which
was just a wonderful event. Lots of
community resources um that were there
um and it was a lot of fun dancing even
though it was really hot. Um but it was
great to see the community come out for that event. I also wanted to thank I
see I think Rachel's still here. Uh I
wanted to thank the Hamilton Hill Arts
Center uh for the Junth celebration uh
over the weekend. And that was also it's
just great to see people come out, but
also um you know all the resources that
are available from the people that table
at these events. Um it's it's really a
great a great opportunity for folks to
come and celebrate our community. Um I
wanted to uh give a little bit of
information. We really need those pools
that we have in our splash pads,
especially with the weather these days.
So, I wanted to mention that the
sheriff's department is going to be
doing IDs um over at the Central Park
pool uh this Friday, June 27th, from 12
to 300 p.m. Um if you don't have a
driver's license, if you need if you
don't have a school ID, um come and get
a a sheriff's ID. So, you'll be able to
uh come and use the pool. The Central
Park pool is going to open on Saturday,
June 28th at noon. Um, it's open Monday
through Friday, 8:00 am to 9:00 am for
lap swim only and then Mondays through
Fridays 12:30 to 6:30 for open swim and
Saturdays and Sundays from 12 to 6. Um,
our front street and quacken bush pools
are going to be open starting Monday,
June 30th, and they're going to be open
Mondays through Saturdays, uh, 12:30 to
6:30. All of the splash pads at all of
our parks that have them are up and
running now. So get out there and cool
down in a splash pad. Um our parks
director also um this is a report from
our parks director. Um uh all the summer
activities that we'll be having in our
parks are going to start on July 7th. Um
I wanted to mention that uh music haven
concerts in Central Park start on
Sunday, July 13th. All of those shows
start at 7 p.m. and the concession stand
opens at 6:00 p.m. And you can get a
list of all the concerts, all the films
at musichavenstage.org.
Um, and then finally, we are doing the
Declaration of Independence reading
again on the steps of city hall from
10:30 at 10:30 on July 4th. There are
other activities happening uh that day
around the city as well. I think
Elizabeth is here as well and uh has put
together some other activities for that
day also. And that's all that I have.
Anybody else? Thank you,
Mayor.
Thank you, Madame President. Appreciate
everyone coming out. It's always good to
have uh discussions
uh different perspectives. Hopefully, it
drives public policy to a uh higher and
better outcome than we we've gotten
without the discussion. Want to correct
uh any misimpression. The one speaker
tonight said city water is only tested
once a year. That is absolutely
incorrect. The water system, the city is
tested daily. We have a certified lab
here that tests not only the city water
but other municipalities. That's both
water and wastewater. Uh everything uh
meets or exceeds uh New York State
Department of Health standards and also
uh EPA standards. Uh again, Council
Member Patrick outlined the swimming
pools and the splash pads going through
a period of uh some extreme heat. Uh
would encourage people make sure you
stay hydrated. Uh don't do things that
are overexerting. Take it easy for the
next few days as the temperatures come
down. And if you have a neighbor who
might be a senior citizen or somebody
that uh uh might have a little bit of
difficulty getting through the high
temperature, check in on them, say
hello, make sure that they're doing all
right. Thank you, Madam President. Thank
you, Mayor. I'd also like to thank
everyone that came out this evening,
regardless of what side of the issue
that you're on today. I also appreciate
your respectfulness of each other uh as
you were speaking. um you know because
we all have different positions but
doesn't mean that we have to be enemies.
We just see things from a different
place. So I appreciate um how you how
things were handled this evening. Um I
do want to make a statement though at
our last committee meeting it was stated
that SCAP uh was was in favor of good
cause eviction and Scap put on their
city on their Facebook page that they
were neutral in this on in terms of this
legislation. So, I just want to make
sure that everyone if you haven't seen
it know that that is that is uh what
Scap has said.
Um I also want to uh remind Oh, let me
just tell you about Declaration Day.
Miss Patrick did mention the declaration
um of the reading of the Declaration of
Independence, but there are a number of
activities that are going on that day.
Uh it's called Declaration Day, Speak
Life into Liberty and Justice for All.
There'll be an 8:30 event um at
Riverside Park, uh 9:00 am at Yog Bliss
Yoga, the 10:30 reading of the
independent uh Declaration of
Independence on City Hall, and 11:30
Declaration Day down in Gateway Park
with Lady Liberty. Um uh 3:00 somatic
dance at Governor's Lane behind 17 Front
Street. And 4:30 there's a Fourth of
July cookout and potluck at Riverside
Park in Governor's Lane. So, for those
of you who um don't have other plans for
Fourth of July, here's an opportunity to
just have some fun with neighbors.
And uh just want to remind folks there
is no meeting next Monday. It is our
fifth Monday, what I always call the
city council's holiday, but um but I
there's also a meeting that day
regarding housing. So, if you're if
you're not going to be here, you can
also you could attend that meeting
that's regarding housing.
If there's nothing else to come before
the city council, I ask for a motion to
adjurnn. Moved by Mr. uh Farley, second
by Mr. Mancini. All those in favor? I We
are adjourned. Thank you.
not letting me speak. Thank you.
The very beginning
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