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Good evening. The meeting will now begin. If we could all please stand for the invocation.

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Thank you.

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I

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am going to suspend the rules and I'm going to move resolution R48 to the front of the agenda tonight.

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Mr.

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Hamlin, if you'd conduct a roll call, please.

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Okay, I do the roll call.

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Mr. Zookal, president.

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Miss AFA,

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Mr. Zookal, Mr. Napoli.

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Here, Ms. Santos.

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Here.

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Mr. Gorillac.

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Here.

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Ms. Moda is absent.

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Mr. Henryx.

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Here.

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Hey.

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Ms. Montero is on the phone.

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Very good.

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R48.

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Okay.

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Okay, is suspension of the rules?

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I think you should get something from Ms. Montero,

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because you might have to do courtesy of the floor first.

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I hand on that.

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Thank you, right.

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Please return to table four.

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Okay, Ms. Montero,

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so Mr. Hendricks has requested suspension of the rules.

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And I guess the question is,

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is courtesy of the floor?

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Does it always need to be the first item of business?

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No, it could be conducted after the resolution is read and then discussed in vote at all.

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Okay, request to suspend the rules and place R48 at the beginning of the agenda by common consent.

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Yes, yes.

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Okay, thus R-48 is a resolution, let me get to it.

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R-48 is a resolution to protect and grant refuge to members of the LGBTQ plus community and people fleeing states with anti-LGBTQ plus laws to Claire's Allentown is safe and welcoming haven for the LGBTQ community and urges the county and state officials to support the legislation.

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And all council persons are sponsoring the legislation.

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Okay. Any comments from the Dias?

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Ms. Gorilla?

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Sure, yeah.

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So I'm definitely interested to hear.

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Looks like we've got some folks here in the public to hear their comments.

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But I'm just would like to thank my colleagues for voting for signing on

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to the resolution and I don't been here for like five years. I can't really recall many

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things that we all can agree on. So it's great to see that we can all agree on this. We've

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all read it and that we all agree to the language of it. We all agree to, it's a statement. We

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all agree. We understand that a resolution is a statement. It's not a law. And yeah, thank you.

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So this should be, you know, a pretty straightforward vote for tonight.

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Okay. Thank you. Anybody else?

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Okay. I will take comments. Mr. Allen, you have several.

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Yep. Yep. Amelia Conway.

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Good afternoon, Council. My name is Amelia Conway and I'm here today to speak in favor of Resolution 48.

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I'm a trans woman and I receive my transition-related care in Allentown.

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What's often missed in the headlines and clickbait news stories is the personal impact of transition.

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The lives made whole thanks to gender-affirming care, which is the big part of this resolution

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and being a welcoming city for LGBTQ residents.

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Access to this treatment.

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Not quite literally, made my life into one worth living. It was the antidote to the dysphoria

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or gender misalignment that had plagued me since puberty. For over 10 years, I had suffered

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in silence, an alien in my own body, night spent wondering why I had been born at all,

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and I tried to run from it. I tried to be the perfect son. It would have been easier. I didn't

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want to be trans. Being trans meant giving up the beautiful lie that I had been living my

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entire life. It meant embracing a painful truth and living that out in its place. But I

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I will say this, transitioning has been the single best thing that has happened to me in my life.

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It has been one of the most difficult things that I have done, simply because it has forced me to confront my insecurities.

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It has forced me to embrace who I am inside, and it has also forced me to be able to take a leadership role within my community.

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These are things that on my own, I would have no business doing.

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I simply would have listened to the powers that had that all dictated to me, said who I'm supposed to be, what rules I'm supposed to follow, and just embrace this identity.

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but the thing is that that wasn't me.

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I was acting year after year after year and it was exhausting.

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I'm fortunate because I'm 27 years old,

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I started transitioning when I was 23.

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And so I was able to actually have some effects in my body

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that did not, that could go against the needle puberty

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that I've been more born into.

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Unfortunately, that needle puberty, you know,

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it stuck with me.

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And there are some, my saying that's got me through transition

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is you do the best you can with what you have

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with where you're at. And that has been my philosophy just moving forward. And things aren't always

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going to be perfect. That doesn't mean we don't try. And I'd like to bring that same mentality here.

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There is a lot of chaos and craziness going on in the news right now as we can all tell. And this is

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a good first step forward to being able to make a stand for people like me. Because to be true,

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like there's threat to this care all across the country. Arizona recently,

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plan, parenthood, suspended care for even minors as well as adults.

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And I can tell you that missing a dose can be quite destabilizing, but being able to

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have access to this care has been literally life changing.

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So tonight, I really do urge you to please pass this resolution because it means a world

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to me as someone who receives their care in our own town.

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Because at the end of the day, trans rights are human rights, and it isn't just a matter

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protecting trans people, it's protecting our right to be and become the best versions of our

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selves we can be. Thank you. Thank you.

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Hi, hello. My name is Robin. I receive gender

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affirming care at the Southside LVHN clinic. I'm also a volunteer and a number of organizations in

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Allentown and the community organizer. I'm grateful that the council is poised to pass a resolution

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to further protect our queer and trans community. I hope we view this as a start and a beginning and

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not an end goal. After all, Alentown has been a leader in anti-discrimination protection

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since the passing of the first LGBTQ plus non-discrimination ordinance in the state. I learned

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just a day ago that some groups are also here to be urging the city to consider raising

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them in one wage. These issues are not separate. No one can reasonably live in Alentown for

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$7.25 an hour. All our communities are struggling, but I've directly seen an increase in querying

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trans people struggling to make rent afford food and pay utility bills. I hope this council

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consider how to change this. We cannot truly be a haven for anyone if we do not

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create, continue to create more equity in all areas. We have slum words like

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hymen charging exorbitably high rent placing our communities in even more

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financially precarious situations and then who have the guts to ask on house

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people living intends to relocate. We need so much more. This is life or death for

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our communities and I'm so glad we're here to take this step but I urge the council

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to pass this resolution and continue to think about what more we can do for queer and trans people.

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Thank you so much.

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Thank you.

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Chris Brownway.

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Good evening, Honourable Members of the City Council.

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Thank you for allowing me to speak.

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My name is Christa Brownway and I serve as the Interim Executive Director of the Bradbury

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Sullivan LGBT Community Center, which proudly serves and advocates for the rights, health,

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and dignity of LGBTQ plus individuals and families in our community.

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I'm here tonight to urge you to support the resolution for

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Alan Town to be safe and welcoming Haven for the LGBTQ plus community.

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This resolution will affirm our city's commitment to keeping the LGBT community.

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LGBTQ plus health care safe, accessible, and free from discrimination or government interference. Across the country, LGBTQ plus communities, especially transgender and non-barionary individuals are under attack. State legislators are advancing laws that ban gender affirming care, criminalized providers, and strip away fundamental rights. These actions not only jeopardize lives, but also send a chilling message that LGBTQ plus people are not worthy of care, safety, or belonging.

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We cannot allow that message to take root here, not in our city, not in Allentown.

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In the city of Allentown, we have the opportunity and the responsibility to lead with compassion and justice.

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A resolution in support of LGBTQ plus people is more than symbolic.

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It is a statement that our city values health equity recognizes the diversity of our residents and

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refuses to be complicit in harmful systems.

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LGBTQ plus people deserve to access the care they need, whether it's mental health support,

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gender affirming treatment, HIV prevention, or reproductive health care, without fear, shame,

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or barriers. In 2024, statewide LGBTQ plus health needs assessment, 40% of all respondents

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identified the need for access to affirming care. Affirming health care services save lives.

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It improves mental health outcomes and builds a stronger, more resilient community for all.

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This resolution would publicly affirm that LGBTQ plus residents are seen, supported, and protected.

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It would signal to health care providers, institutions, and policy makers that our city stands firmly on the side of dignity and inclusion.

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And it would help to ensure that no one in our community is left behind simply because of who they are, who they love, or how they express themselves.

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I urge this council to adopt this resolution that protects and affirms LGBTQ plus people.

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In doing so you will help safeguard the health and well-being of some of our city's most vulnerable and most vibrant residents.

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Thank you for your time, your leadership and your commitment.

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Oh, Liz Bradbury.

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I

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am the chair of the Lehigh County Human Relations Commission and the CEO of Keystone Equality, the statewide LGBT political organization.

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I'm so encouraged that all seven of you have signed on to this important right-to-care

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resolution at a time when the very fundamentals of democracy are being challenged by the

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hateful actions of the Trump administration.

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You are the voices of hope.

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Kareen Goodwin and Councilwoman Santos asked me to craft the language of this resolution

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so that it could be clear, direct, and something we could all get strongly behind, so that the

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language really would assert policy to protect the health care rights of LGBTQ plus people,

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especially transgender people in Allentown, and I'm proud to have done so. All municipalities

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can use the language and pass this resolution, which of you is old enough to remember the height

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of the AIDS epidemic. The year was 1990, 35 years ago, and Candida, you were at the very

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We held to fight and advocate and plead for the tiniest bit of recognition by the U.S.

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President Ronald Reagan wouldn't even say the word AIDS until four years into the epidemic

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and wouldn't even address it until two years after that.

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As our dear friends were dying every week, and Udina, we're championing the rainbow gains

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so that fact could pay for the funerals of our cherished friends.

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We felt and were so powerless.

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we were so powerless. The government had turned its back. All we could do was

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blend trees along the High Creek to honor the dead. Who among us? Who among our

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comrades? In our fight against AIDS, what have imagined Candida that today you

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would be a member of Powerful Longtime member of Allentown City Council as an

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out lesbian? Who would have imagined that the federal government today wouldn't

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just not be talking about LGBT health care rights, but actively trying to bar LGBT people,

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especially transgender people, from even being able to access fundamental health care

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at all, even criminalizing doctors who were providing our people care, who among the angels

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of the ones we lost would have imagined that a powerful local resolution that would protect

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the health care of LGBT people, especially including trans people, would come into your hands today

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for which you have the power to sponsor.

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Councillor and vote. Through you, Candida, and each of those of you who have stood up to sponsor this resolution, all of you, especially Councilwoman Natalie Santos, who wasn't even alive during the AIDS epidemic, but who had the moxie to bring this resolution forth. You all can make it so that our community doesn't have to feel powerless like it did 35 years ago. Because of your support today, you are a great city council.

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So this is the best of government in action.

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You're knighting together to stand up for what is right.

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This is why I'm proud to be part of the city of Allentown.

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Proud that you have put your actions ahead of deluded empty words and

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for the rights and protections of the city's citizens without a single step back.

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Thank you very much.

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Good

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evening,

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Councilmembers. Thank you all for sponsoring this resolution. It really sends

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a message that's important to our community. My name is Karin Goodwin. I'm Executive Director

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and Founder of Eastern Pennsylvania Trans Equity Project. I leave High Valley based on profit

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with a mission of supporting and empowering transgender, gender expansive and intersex

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Pennsylvania's. Last week, I had the honor of speaking to the Human Resources Committee

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about a number of facts and statistics related to the importance of ensuring that transgender

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people have access to affirming care here in this city. I provided information about how

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people are fleeing other states and coming to Pennsylvania, including Allentown, to seek

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life-saving care.

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I spoke about how prosecutors in other states are pursuing and charging those people and

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their health care providers with crimes, while in other cases they're trying to revoke

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parental rights of those who are seeking life-saving care for their children.

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And I spoke about how those same prosecutors have gone after organizations like the Trans

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Sullivan Center for referring people to gender-affirming clinics and care.

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I'm not going to bore you with statistics today.

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Instead, I'm going to give you an update on what's transpired in just the last seven days.

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Over the last week, the number of anti-transgender bills introduced across the country has increased

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to an astonishing 854.

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In the past week, Pennsylvania health care providers and networks, including those based

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here in the Lehigh Valley, have taken action to scrub their websites of any information

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related to providing transgender-affirming health care.

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In the past 48 hours, a major health care provider in Arizona and others across this nation

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have joined UMPC here in Pennsylvania and pre-compliant with the Trump regime's executive

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of orders, even though they have been stayed by the courts.

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And in the past 24 hours, the regime in Washington has launched a tip line that is encouraging

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people to report medical providers if they offer gender affirming treatment to transgender

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people, care that's not only life-saving, but is also 100% legal.

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people's lives are at stake, and now is not the time to be shy, now is not the time

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to be reticent, now is the time to reinforce and update the city's non-desgravementation

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ordinance for the 21st century, now is the time to ensure that the city's human relations

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committee is fully staffed, now is the time to take action to present, to protect transgender

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gender and queer people who are living in and seeking life-saving care in Allentown.

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Now is the time to stand up for what is right.

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I look forward to your positive vote this evening.

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Thank you.

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Dietrich.

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Hi, good evening.

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I wanted to speak tonight in support of protecting the rights of LGBTQ members of the city.

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Queer and trans people are losing their rights at a federal level rapidly, terrifyingly fast.

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and we have to attempt to protect those rights in this city now before they're completely stripped federally.

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Trans youth are at a significantly higher risk of suicide and gender affirming health care.

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This is literally life saving. It keeps people alive. I urge everyone here, and it seems like you all will, to vote in support of this resolution. Protecting queer and trans people is the absolute bare minimum we can do. And if nothing else, this resolution sends a message that the city supports its trans and queer community members and that in and of itself is worthwhile. Thank you.

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So

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I'm reading Christine and it looks like Horton's scene, so it's definitely Christine.

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My handwriting is not fantastic.

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Hello, my name is Dr. Christine Hartigan.

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I'm a licensed psychologist.

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I practice in Allentown providing transgender affirming care.

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So I'm so happy to see that this has come across this resolution.

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I also provide continued education and I help other clinicians become competent in providing care to the community.

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I was here back in 2017 to speak in favor of the conversion therapy ban for youth.

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And I hope that the council will continue that legacy sounds like it goes back even farther than that of protecting this community.

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As everyone has said, the care that we provide has been under threat recently.

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and we need to know that we can keep providing this life-saving care to our

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clients. Gender affirming care is not a new concept and we have standards that

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are on the international level that we follow to make sure that we're giving

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our clients the best care that we can. The standards of care originally came out

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in 1979. They're most recently updated in 2022. There is a lot of research

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backing up, doing this care, and then it's safe and effective and life-saving for clients.

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Additionally, psychologists also follow APA's guidelines for psychological practice.

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So we have a lot of research backing up what we do, and we know that limiting access to this care

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is incredibly detrimental to individuals, especially transgender individuals. It can lead to

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increased rates of anxiety, depression, substance use,

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and has several people have already mentioned

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even suicide.

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So this is life-saving care, then we know it works.

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And I hope that you all vote to pass this resolution.

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Thank you.

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Sheree's Capri.

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Good try.

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Hello there.

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My name is Saris Capri.

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Saris or Saris.

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I live in Bethlehem, but my last position,

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my last employment was in Allentown,

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and I received gender from in care in Allentown.

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I have only known that I was a trans woman for about six months and I was trying to think

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of what I could provide to convince this council of passing this legislation, but it seems

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like you all don't need that much convincing, which is great.

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The experience, they say it takes a village to raise a child.

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when I was a child I didn't know that I was a trans child. I want to convey how

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isolating the experiences. I was told by my parents and my grandparents and most

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of the people that I was raised around that I was supposed to be a boy. I move

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forward and my parents say oh you're just not trying hard enough let me send you

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to in all boys high school. There's this disconnect that builds and builds. You make it into this

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high school and you feel completely disconnected from the people who are supposed to be right

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there next to you having the same or similar gender experiences. I know this isn't something

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that happens to everyone, but I'll say from my personal experience, my parents saw me hanging

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out with people who weren't gender conforming and they were like, I don't like those people.

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I'm going to try and make you go with other people.

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This influence continued throughout my life, the influence of the community pushed me

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to not come out until the point in my life that I'm currently at.

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I think this community is incredibly important and it's something that I've really appreciated

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about out on town.

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I didn't mention, but I grew up on Long Island, the town that I went to high school in just recently passed a ban on...

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Any trans people, trans children, playing on sports teams, they can find any school district

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this is Nassau County I'm talking about. So, to come from an environment like that into

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a community like this where there are multiple organizations established community organizations

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that support trans people, that support LGBTQ people, they say that it takes a village

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a child, and they also say that it takes that transition is kind of like a second puberty.

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I'm incredibly grateful to have the LGBT support in this community, the organization.

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And I think that in order to make this town, the strongest town, it can be, and to look

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the barbarism of the current administration directly in the eyes and say no, we will not

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change. I think those should be all in town's top priorities right now, in resisting fascism,

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and I think passing this legislation is a great first step. Thank you.

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Thank you. My name is

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State Representative Josh Siegel and I want to commend all of you for bringing this very important

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resolution forward and I do recognize that unanimity on council especially in this day and age is not easy

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so I applaud all of you for coming together to speak one voice. I think it's more important now than ever

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than our local legislative bodies lead by example.

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We know that help and any degree of tolerance respect and dignity is not going to emanate

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from the federal government.

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We see administration in DC that I think is animated by chaos, cruelty, and corruption.

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And frankly, we've seen this tale as old as time.

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The goalposts of hate always shift, but the goal remains the same, frankly, which is to

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distract from a deeply unpopular and divisive agenda.

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There is no constituency for tax cuts for the rich or slices to Medicaid.

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And so in order to distract from that, we find a vulnerable group of people and we put

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a target on their back.

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I stand before you tonight as the son of an out-game man and a brother of a transistor.

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And I want to make sure that families like mine and Allentown know that they're loved,

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they're respected, and they're welcomed.

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It has never been they, them, versus you.

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It has always been us, versus the wealthy, versus the elites, versus the oligarchs, it

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is us, versus musk.

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And resolutions like this help counteract that narrative.

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I don't think that life is a zero-sum game to try to elevate and acknowledge the hardship

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of one community does not diminish or disrespect or disregard the hardship of another.

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Our trans and our LGBTQ community are hurting, they're suffering, and resolutions like

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this are so important.

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As a state legislator I can tell you, I've introduced legislation at the state level to create

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a shield law around gending a firm in care in Pennsylvania and protect our healthcare

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providers from out-of-state prosecutors.

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Those bills will never see the light of day because our Republican Senate won't move them.

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Last year we passed the Fairness Act which would have ensured that folks seeking housing or employment in Pennsylvania could not be discriminated against because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.

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We passed that through the House, it cannot run in the Senate because they will not take it up.

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Even our Constitution still defines marriage as between a man and a woman despite the fact that over a decade ago the Supreme Court ruled that the law of the land was love is love.

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It is more important than ever now that our local bodies, our counties, and our cities

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speak with one voice to push back on this hateful narrative that the reason for people's

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hardship in life is that trans kids want to belong and play sports with their friends

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nothing could be further from the truth or that the reason that someone else is suffering

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is because we want to make sure that everybody can participate in this economy and gain access

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to housing.

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We can do both.

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We can build an economy of abundance where everybody has access to good jobs and health care and housing and we can make sure that everyone no matter who they are or what they choose to identify as or who they love can access it all the same.

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So I applaud you for this courage tonight for being a beacon of hope in a world full of darkness.

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It's time that this body leave by example and you are doing that tonight as one voice and I commend you.

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Thank you.

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Good

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evening, members of the council. My name is William Grecky. I am returning from last week to essentially restate my piece as my opinions on the matter have not changed.

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And I would like to give my perspective to anyone who was in present.

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I'm a lifelong member of Allentown. I've lived there my whole life.

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graduate of Billing 21 class 20.

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Item 22, valvictorian, currently employed by the Da Vinci Science Center, as you can tell by my fashion statement today, I came here right after work. I'm currently teaching an afterschool science class at Trexor Middle School, which has a young trans woman in it. Over the course of the last three months, I've watched her confidence increase in class in someone adjacency to reuse of HRT. The provider idea I know, but I presume it is a healthcare organization within our valley.

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And I just want to say I am impressed and happy to hear that all of you have sponsored this resolution.

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And I hope that we continue to sponsor resolutions like this and pass bills like this in the future.

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As we said by my fellow members of the public, this is a great first start.

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Let's keep going from here and sparking the confidence of hundreds of thousands of young people in our school system and that live throughout the city of Valentine.

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Thank you.

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I'm here in favor of the bill as well, but while we're fighting for these race, we also have to make sure that these race are implemented in the city of Allentown just a few weeks ago.

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My friend, Danny Negron, was fired after being here for 19 years.

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The reasons why is because someone who is known to be a liar against other employees in

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the city of Alissa made up lies about my brother, Danny Negron, who is a transgender

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man.

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This organization, this administration is not for the LGBTQ plus community.

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They use this as a platform to get votes and I want everybody to open up their eyes because

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this is just an agenda, more of an agenda on his end and on the end of this

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administration. I can tell you of countless people before Danny and a grown

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who were part of the community, who there has been another supervisor that's

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sitting here today that was discriminating against this person during the

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time that they were FMLA. They were on FMLA and I can tell you because that was

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that representative, that HR representative that was handling that case. So while

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we're fighting for rights across the country, we have to make sure that we take

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care of home first and let's start getting the people out who don't need to be here who are

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using the community for both and both for the right people. Thank you.

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Okay. Mayor, you wanted to

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speak? Yeah, if I have it, please give me the opportunity. So I have a few things I want to say,

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but I think that I think it was Amelia who said it very, very well and I think it's an incredibly

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helpful context for everything that we do here and correct me if I'm wrong Amelia, but you said

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But you do the best you can with what you have and where you're at, that accurate, you got it?

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We have a responsibility that City of Valentine's create a safe clean and healthy environment

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that promotes the well-being of all our residents and gives our folks an opportunity to get ahead.

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You know, and certainly this community knows that safety is more than just physical safety.

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We're talking about more than public safety.

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We're talking about psychologically-safety.

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We're talking about emotional safety, and that's what you have in front of you now is an opportunity to provide for more than simply the public safety, but towards the emotional safety of a community of people here in Ellison.

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I asked, created a message earlier today about an estimate of the number of transgender people that live in Ellison.

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and I think that estimates across the country are that anywhere between one and two percent

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of the population identifies as transgender, which would make the number here in Allentown

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and the thousands.

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But there are thousands of people that you and I represent who are looking for safety.

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And that's our fundamental duty as city leaders.

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You heard it many times that this is a time it's marked by uncertainty.

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and rapid change, Corinne points out a number of things that have changed just in the past seven days.

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And we now have to stand up and provide clear guidance to the people that we serve

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and a clear message to let them know that they can find safety in the city of Allentown.

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We have a responsibility to create an environment where people feel like they're truly blown.

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I don't know.

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Discussion of inclusivity, and welcoming is more than, as many people said tonight, just words. It has to be more than that. It has to be action as well. I want to especially thank Councilwoman Santos for your leadership in this. I have a definition of leadership that I picked up from, I think it was Marshall Gans that talked about leadership being the accepting the responsibility to empower people to

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to achieve shared value in times of uncertainty.

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And I think that you brought this resolution

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to a city council with no support.

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And your leadership led to seven members

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supporting that resolution.

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So I thank you for that.

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I don't want to applaud you for doing that.

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And many people did tonight as well.

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It's also led to, we looked at the five,

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really five bullet points that you put out there

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as policy and have started a craft policy now at the City of Allen's townland that would

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prohibit criminal prosecution or administration penalty against individuals and

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you have more detail there but against individuals who are seeking gender affirming

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health care that would prohibit city personnel from imposing penalty or criminal prosecution

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on individuals who are coming from states where this type of health care has been criminalized,

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and a policy that declines requests and seeks not to facilitate the collection of any

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information related to gender-forming health care. So that policy is underway. You've

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even in advance of council passing the resolution urging us to adopt policy, we're beginning

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coming from, and we can see how important that is.

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I think that Liz made a very good point that it's now up to us to not turn our back on

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a community, particularly in times of crisis.

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This is a group of people here in this room, and there's many, many, many hundreds of other

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people in the city of Allentown and in the Lehigh Valley who are looking for that stability

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right now we're looking for safety and you are now committing to safeguard and support

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every individual and you're recognizing validating those inherent rights and I want to thank you for

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that. I do want to say a couple things though. First, and Corinne mentioned the Human Relations

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Commission, there are a lot of people that I'll turn and address you all, there's a lot of people in

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this room who are residents of the city of Allentown and all you have to do is put it in

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application to the Human Relations Commission, and we'll consider that application.

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We have, I think, seven vacancies on the commission right now, and I think there's a single

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nomination in front of Council tonight to fill one of those vacancies, but there's many

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more vacancies and very few people are willing to raise their hand and say yes, I will serve.

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So, I will happily entertain anybody's application who's here tonight.

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I want

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to also thank Councilor Representative Siegel, and I think that should be a message

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to everybody here as well, is that representation matters at all levels of government.

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It's not just the cities who are here to be the ultimate check on administrations that

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are systematically removing the rights or individuals.

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We have to make sure that we have protections at the state level as well.

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so I'm grateful that Councilman Siegel has stood up and done what he can to protect folks.

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We've heard so many beautiful stories of people who feel more seen, who feel more

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part of a community. After having received care, I'm going to make sure that you can continue to

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receive that care legally here in the state of Pennsylvania and all the time we'll stand up and

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protect you, but I'm going to make one more ask of you and that you don't just advocate

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at a local level.

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That we ultimately as a city have responsibility, the policies that we enact have to be consistent

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with the laws of the city of Hamilton, and that's up to city council to pass legislation that

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creates new ordinances.

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So continue to advocacy for laws that protect your rights at the city level.

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continue that the city has to follow the laws of the state, so you must also advocate at the state level to not just support the type of legislation that Councilman Siegel is pursuing, but also fighting against legislation that would systematically dismantle your rights that you see in a Republican-controlled Senate.

428
00:39:56,950 --> 00:39:59,970
The state has to follow the rules of the

429
00:40:00,000 --> 00:40:29,380
United States. And that's where we also must continue to work, and make sure that nobody takes away your existence and your right to be a human being. So it's somewhat on city council, but it's a lot on you and it's a lot on us as well to continue to be involved. With that said, I want to thank you again, council of incentives and thank all of city council for taking up this resolution and for supporting our administration in

430
00:40:29,380 --> 00:40:33,100
and making sure that all of our residents feel safe

431
00:40:33,100 --> 00:40:35,320
and that their well-being is promoted

432
00:40:35,320 --> 00:40:36,060
in the city of Hamilton.

433
00:40:36,460 --> 00:40:36,740
Thank you.

434
00:40:37,460 --> 00:40:38,200
Thank you, Mayor.

435
00:40:44,300 --> 00:40:45,220
Danny, good girl.

436
00:40:55,360 --> 00:40:56,200
Hello, everyone.

437
00:40:57,480 --> 00:40:59,680
Okay, so I see that you guys are talking about the LGBT

438
00:40:59,680 --> 00:41:00,740
and so on.

439
00:41:01,140 --> 00:41:01,980
Let me just tell you guys real quick

440
00:41:01,980 --> 00:41:02,840
that I've got three minutes, right?

441
00:41:03,340 --> 00:41:05,540
So I've been reporting corruption and so on

442
00:41:05,540 --> 00:41:06,440
and everything, right?

443
00:41:06,640 --> 00:41:09,800
So about the city, because I had pros

444
00:41:09,800 --> 00:41:15,080
with access to bathrooms, uniforms and fit me right because I don't have a curvy

445
00:41:15,080 --> 00:41:19,140
or whatever, sexy body or something like that. So it was hard for me to find clothes

446
00:41:19,140 --> 00:41:26,520
my size, even shoes. So I had problems to get accommodated so I could perform my job safely

447
00:41:26,520 --> 00:41:32,140
and be productive and make changes to this city and clean up this event, nasty neighborhoods.

448
00:41:32,420 --> 00:41:38,560
But anyways, so when Matt Tork started an office, I was able to email him and so on so I've

449
00:41:38,560 --> 00:41:44,640
been emailing him, his administration, everyone up in human resources, everyone in his office.

450
00:41:45,140 --> 00:41:48,760
I've been reaching out to everyone and anything and everything for years.

451
00:41:49,060 --> 00:41:51,640
And when he started in office, he did a darn thing.

452
00:41:51,980 --> 00:41:57,160
But he and his management got me fired in the worst way.

453
00:41:57,600 --> 00:42:03,220
I got a sexual harassment case on my name, which I never did because I do respect women just

454
00:42:03,220 --> 00:42:04,080
because I'm a transgender.

455
00:42:04,080 --> 00:42:07,100
I mean that I want to slope up every female that's in my path.

456
00:42:07,100 --> 00:42:11,360
So I had reached out to him, I reached out to everyone to the point that whenever they

457
00:42:11,360 --> 00:42:17,000
seen me in City Hall it was Q's of being a lawyer, so I was watching these cameras here

458
00:42:17,000 --> 00:42:19,920
every time that I would come here and speak out of the wrong doors.

459
00:42:25,720 --> 00:42:29,200
So anyway, so I've been reaching out to Matt in his administration, he has done anything.

460
00:42:29,540 --> 00:42:32,240
He's not for the LGBT, he's not here for the Latinos.

461
00:42:32,720 --> 00:42:37,360
I'm Puerto Rican, I'm 50 years old and because of them, I lost my medical, I lost my mental

462
00:42:37,360 --> 00:42:37,680
health.

463
00:42:37,680 --> 00:42:43,520
I lost my, everything, my dignity, who the hell is going to hire a 50-year-old trans man?

464
00:42:44,040 --> 00:42:47,660
Okay, so he says that he has a trans child or something.

465
00:42:48,200 --> 00:42:53,320
Okay, so he should have been compassionate and he should have investigated what was really going on.

466
00:42:53,900 --> 00:42:58,700
And I gave him names, I gave him where, how, why, and I gave him everything.

467
00:42:58,860 --> 00:43:06,340
The details of everything and everyone that was corrupt in the city that has abused me for years.

468
00:43:07,560 --> 00:43:10,800
To the point, I got multiple injuries and all that stuff because I had any initiations

469
00:43:10,800 --> 00:43:14,340
because people, these employees thought that I was a joke of the day.

470
00:43:14,860 --> 00:43:19,100
But anyway, so I just want to say that Matt's work is done here for the LGBT community.

471
00:43:19,740 --> 00:43:19,760
Okay?

472
00:43:20,400 --> 00:43:24,660
And like I said, as him having a child that's transgendered as he says, he should have been a little

473
00:43:24,660 --> 00:43:29,500
bit more compassionate and underserved that these people that have reported him to all the

474
00:43:29,500 --> 00:43:31,280
ones that have been abused me for years, okay?

475
00:43:31,280 --> 00:43:36,960
So his job to do as a leader as somebody that protects us all including the community

476
00:43:36,960 --> 00:43:42,600
And all hasn't done that anything I got like I said fired in the worst way I lost everything and anything now

477
00:43:42,600 --> 00:43:46,700
They put a block on my unemployment. I can even get my unemployment because they don't want to release the block

478
00:43:46,700 --> 00:43:50,320
And I did it every pain is that because I have sweated blood cleanings

479
00:43:50,320 --> 00:43:55,120
It's filthy alleys. I know other city employee would touch and so to this day they don't do none

480
00:43:55,120 --> 00:43:57,460
But I was the one that was cleaned all this syringe

481
00:43:59,480 --> 00:44:12,140
infested areas, so he is not for the LGBT community nor Latino, so do not. I'm telling you, if you choose this guy, he is going to destroy his own, because he destroyed me, and I was one of the people that had reached out to him.

482
00:44:12,600 --> 00:44:14,640
So he's no good. Thank you for your talk.

483
00:44:37,020 --> 00:44:45,220
Okay, well Quinn Allen here of what's really going on in America anyway as I said

484
00:44:45,220 --> 00:44:52,520
last time if you passed this bill protect the procedures for anyone 18 and over

485
00:44:53,680 --> 00:44:59,980
because quite frankly you should be minimum of 18 to half

486
00:45:00,000 --> 00:45:04,640
We have any kind of procedure, any other medical procedure.

487
00:45:06,860 --> 00:45:21,480
If you're under 18, if it's, if someone is under 18, they should go see a therapist and, and what things out, because usually, it's.

488
00:45:32,000 --> 00:45:34,760
I'm not going to have a break like that.

489
00:45:36,720 --> 00:45:37,740
Go on, sir.

490
00:45:37,880 --> 00:45:38,480
Anyway,

491
00:45:41,810 --> 00:45:52,610
so, so yeah, under 18, I would say, let the adolescents work things out, and when they become 18, they will have.

492
00:45:52,610 --> 00:45:59,730
more informed decisions because there were kids who were regretting the

493
00:45:59,730 --> 00:46:07,510
decisions throughout this nation, thousands, tens of thousands and one of them is

494
00:46:07,510 --> 00:46:11,450
a national news right now, Chloe Cole.

495
00:46:17,350 --> 00:46:23,950
Yes, so yeah, I've been keeping an eye on

496
00:46:23,950 --> 00:46:34,510
this issue for a long time and I so but yeah but you know what I will treat

497
00:46:34,510 --> 00:46:44,780
everyone as a human being Danny knows it thank you and so

498
00:46:46,860 --> 00:46:48,640
yeah that so my

499
00:46:48,640 --> 00:46:56,520
position hasn't changed so but so yeah 18 and over do whatever you want it's

500
00:46:56,520 --> 00:47:05,800
your body, you're an adult, you do whatever you want. When you're under 18, you know, any

501
00:47:05,800 --> 00:47:14,000
other medical procedures usually have to go through adults anyway, like parents and doctors

502
00:47:14,000 --> 00:47:17,220
is installed, so I'll leave that.

503
00:47:17,940 --> 00:47:18,540
Thank you.

504
00:47:19,160 --> 00:47:21,800
Oh, how can you care when here's big band?

505
00:47:22,560 --> 00:47:24,020
Okay, I'm not banding.

506
00:47:24,280 --> 00:47:25,620
Kelly, Kelly, Kenny.

507
00:47:26,280 --> 00:47:26,760
Kelly, Kenny.

508
00:47:35,200 --> 00:47:36,120
Yes, good evening.

509
00:47:36,300 --> 00:47:37,640
My name is Dr. Kelly Kenny.

510
00:47:38,120 --> 00:47:41,040
I am an emeritus professor of higher education

511
00:47:41,040 --> 00:47:42,280
from Kittstown University.

512
00:47:42,280 --> 00:47:46,120
I spent 34 years there and another six years

513
00:47:46,120 --> 00:47:47,840
at DeSales University.

514
00:47:48,080 --> 00:47:50,900
So effectively December 31st.

515
00:47:50,900 --> 00:47:54,600
I retired after 40 years in higher education.

516
00:47:55,950 --> 00:48:03,520
I am extremely appreciative to the Council for this resolution and for your support of

517
00:48:03,520 --> 00:48:04,460
this resolution.

518
00:48:04,960 --> 00:48:14,700
And I speak on behalf of countless numbers of students coming to this area from all over

519
00:48:14,700 --> 00:48:22,680
the country and wanting to know LGBT students wanting to know that they're going to have

520
00:48:22,680 --> 00:48:31,460
a safe and comfortable college experience if they are here for college at our two local

521
00:48:31,460 --> 00:48:38,440
institutions, Cedar Crest as well as Mulemberg, but then the other local institutions of

522
00:48:38,440 --> 00:48:43,300
Cookstown, Moravian, Lafayette, Lehigh, and even

523
00:48:43,300 --> 00:48:44,740
DeSales University.

524
00:48:45,180 --> 00:48:49,060
So again, I'm extremely appreciative on behalf of all college

525
00:48:49,060 --> 00:48:52,620
students and their families quite honestly who want to know

526
00:48:52,620 --> 00:48:56,840
that when there's students come here for four

527
00:48:56,840 --> 00:48:59,980
year or even a graduate level experience that they're

528
00:48:59,980 --> 00:49:02,960
going to be in a safe and welcoming environment.

529
00:49:03,200 --> 00:49:04,600
So thank you all once again.

530
00:49:05,720 --> 00:49:06,260
Thank you.

531
00:49:21,200 --> 00:49:29,840
I just wanted to thank everyone for coming out and mostly everyone's already said it but thank you council persons and folks for your leadership and

532
00:49:29,840 --> 00:49:42,070
for sight seeing what's happening nationally and knowing that it is the responsibility of local bodies of government to respond during times of crises.

533
00:49:42,070 --> 00:49:59,970
We might not be able to do sometimes it, I feel helpless sometimes where it's like what do we do you see all this craziness with different groups of people being under attack and sometimes it feels like what can you do well we're in a position where

534
00:50:00,000 --> 00:50:06,380
We can try to do something. We might not be able to change the world, but maybe we can change

535
00:50:06,380 --> 00:50:12,560
talent town. Maybe we can help folks in talent town. So I hope that that's what this resolution

536
00:50:12,560 --> 00:50:18,600
does in conjunction with internal administrative policy change. That at least people in

537
00:50:18,600 --> 00:50:26,820
talent town will know that they are a little bit safer because they live here. The quote,

538
00:50:26,820 --> 00:50:35,560
I just kept thinking of when people were speaking, is Assad a Shakur, is, it is our duty to fight for our freedom.

539
00:50:36,440 --> 00:50:43,680
It is our duty to win. We must love and support one another, and we have nothing to lose but our chains, and I think that

540
00:50:43,680 --> 00:50:47,680
That quote applies to the situation, so thank you.

541
00:50:48,240 --> 00:50:49,740
Thank you.

542
00:50:49,860 --> 00:50:50,420
Thank you.

543
00:50:54,580 --> 00:50:56,320
Mr. Hanley, please conduct the vote.

544
00:50:56,940 --> 00:50:57,380
Ms. Napa.

545
00:50:59,060 --> 00:50:59,620
Yes.

546
00:51:00,920 --> 00:51:01,900
Ms. Girlock.

547
00:51:02,200 --> 00:51:02,420
Yes.

548
00:51:03,800 --> 00:51:04,700
Mr. Napoli.

549
00:51:04,960 --> 00:51:05,160
Yes.

550
00:51:05,580 --> 00:51:06,080
Ms. Santos.

551
00:51:06,420 --> 00:51:06,640
Yes.

552
00:51:07,040 --> 00:51:07,540
Mr. Zookoff.

553
00:51:07,680 --> 00:51:07,820
Yes.

554
00:51:08,220 --> 00:51:08,900
Mr. Hanrenks.

555
00:51:09,000 --> 00:51:09,180
Yes.

556
00:51:10,200 --> 00:51:11,960
Mr. President passes six out.

557
00:51:11,960 --> 00:51:12,600
We're

558
00:51:31,160 --> 00:51:35,040
going to take a five-minute break for those who are here for other items.

559
00:51:35,220 --> 00:51:38,560
Please remain if you wish the league, and we're more than welcome to it.

560
00:51:38,900 --> 00:51:41,580
Madam, Mr. Halisowski.

561
00:51:45,820 --> 00:51:50,460
John Halisowski, I worked with the city and I retired in 2005.

562
00:51:50,740 --> 00:51:53,580
One of the last members in the O'Neill pension.

563
00:51:54,340 --> 00:51:57,940
The pension was closed on, and around 1980, there are new members.

564
00:51:58,380 --> 00:52:00,020
No new members coming in.

565
00:52:00,880 --> 00:52:02,640
I'm not sure how many members are left.

566
00:52:02,640 --> 00:52:09,240
I'm not sure how much money is left in the pension fund, but I think it's a considerable amount.

567
00:52:09,820 --> 00:52:19,460
And with the way things are going now, and we haven't gotten an increase in 20 years that I'm gone,

568
00:52:20,480 --> 00:52:28,760
I'd like to say petition council to give us last remaining only members an increase.

569
00:52:29,300 --> 00:52:34,720
what happens I don't know how many people are in there left probably less than a hundred and I know there's got to be about

570
00:52:34,720 --> 00:52:42,040
$10 million or something like that and I'm not sure the number figure it but what happens when the last one of us dies

571
00:52:42,040 --> 00:52:45,820
Does the city take that money? I mean I would

572
00:52:47,580 --> 00:52:50,200
Hope you give us old timers a

573
00:52:51,060 --> 00:52:51,540
Increase

574
00:52:53,340 --> 00:52:57,480
That's it. That's all I want to say. Okay. That's

575
00:52:58,760 --> 00:53:03,240
We'll have to look at that being the finances here and those are something they can think about

576
00:53:03,240 --> 00:53:08,580
Boy, what's that? I said there's someone here from the finance department and perhaps that'll be something

577
00:53:08,580 --> 00:53:13,700
I can't hear that good anymore. This the city rule my ears. President Hendrix the I think

578
00:53:14,860 --> 00:53:20,220
Contra controller glacier would know this that the op-ed the board is a public meeting and

579
00:53:20,220 --> 00:53:23,720
You should probably attend to one of those op-ed board meetings and

580
00:53:29,460 --> 00:53:38,500
I think I think what I know only meeting years ago and then with the pandemic and I have problems at home with my wife and stuff.

581
00:53:38,640 --> 00:53:40,700
The first chance I got to come out at night.

582
00:53:41,080 --> 00:53:42,920
So I come out.

583
00:53:42,980 --> 00:53:43,800
What are the meaning?

584
00:53:44,180 --> 00:53:50,660
You know, I know the last time when I was on the board, I got an increase for the retirees.

585
00:53:50,660 --> 00:53:51,500
John, you know what?

586
00:53:51,520 --> 00:53:52,180
It took me years.

587
00:53:53,000 --> 00:53:57,280
Mr. Glazer will help you with that and give you that information, okay?

588
00:53:58,320 --> 00:53:59,000
Thank you.

589
00:53:59,100 --> 00:53:59,420
Thank you.

590
00:54:00,380 --> 00:54:00,740
Thank you.

591
00:54:04,620 --> 00:54:05,460
Latisha Santos.

592
00:54:06,620 --> 00:54:07,120
What's he?

593
00:54:07,420 --> 00:54:07,780
I don't know.

594
00:54:07,920 --> 00:54:08,500
He worked with Joe.

595
00:54:10,750 --> 00:54:11,530
You were wonderful.

596
00:54:11,750 --> 00:54:11,990
Hello.

597
00:54:12,190 --> 00:54:13,090
How many teachers answers?

598
00:54:13,530 --> 00:54:14,710
And I'm homeless.

599
00:54:15,090 --> 00:54:22,490
I don't want to live in a, in a tent city, and I know we all had to chip in to clean, but

600
00:54:22,490 --> 00:54:27,450
We also need garbage cans for all the tents and for the party.

601
00:54:28,370 --> 00:54:33,110
And I got learning disability and I need help with a lot of stuff and

602
00:54:33,110 --> 00:54:41,150
shape the name and that I can't read and write that give me paper that I don't understand it.

603
00:54:41,790 --> 00:54:44,070
So it's hard for me to have a home.

604
00:54:44,670 --> 00:54:45,410
I got a victory.

605
00:54:45,730 --> 00:54:51,570
I don't know that I have a paper that I have to send something or whatever.

606
00:54:51,570 --> 00:54:59,730
But it's just important that it can call me so I want to get my home back and help the community for the

607
00:55:00,000 --> 00:55:29,620
For the high port of parties, garbage can have everything cleaned up. And we also need help with the poor people, the homeless, because I live in those tents and we need help. And especially with the people that got disability like me, I can't read all right. And I need the most help too. And I have focus that I want to be with, and I can't. And I need a home for my babies.

608
00:55:30,920 --> 00:55:36,920
Okay, the reason that we're here is because we are seeking for guidance for people like her.

609
00:55:37,760 --> 00:55:46,320
A person that has a learning disability, we want to know that this should be some type of, you know, funding for education.

610
00:55:46,600 --> 00:55:55,600
Or let's say that you are at the agency and you're asking for guidance because she can really write.

611
00:55:57,000 --> 00:56:03,920
That's one of the things that is lacking, I'm going to stay working, and that's one of the main things that's lacking as a stay worker.

612
00:56:04,420 --> 00:56:08,680
So because of a learning disability, she draws her housing, now she's homeless.

613
00:56:09,240 --> 00:56:14,560
And she feels that they should be somewhere that she can go, that, you know, to get started.

614
00:56:14,920 --> 00:56:19,220
So that's what we're here, which we're here to show, to say, what can we do?

615
00:56:20,940 --> 00:56:24,120
Mr. Hendricks, go ahead, this is a rule.

616
00:56:24,620 --> 00:56:29,620
We don't normally engage with the public, but I think it's very important and your story is very important.

617
00:56:30,200 --> 00:56:39,760
They just recently opened the 1528 building on Hamilton Street, and some of those apartments are specifically for individuals with disability.

618
00:56:40,240 --> 00:56:42,600
I would encourage you to contact them.

619
00:56:42,600 --> 00:56:45,280
and you had to write it down for me.

620
00:56:45,300 --> 00:56:50,280
Okay, but there are people there to help you.

621
00:56:50,900 --> 00:56:54,360
So we're going to find the information for that $15.28.

622
00:56:54,600 --> 00:56:55,440
Is there like a phone number?

623
00:56:55,640 --> 00:56:56,340
Is there an address?

624
00:56:57,600 --> 00:56:58,720
It's on the side of the building.

625
00:56:58,820 --> 00:56:59,080
Yeah.

626
00:56:59,820 --> 00:57:00,260
Right.

627
00:57:01,080 --> 00:57:04,420
The very newest bill in the open up is supposed to be very,

628
00:57:04,420 --> 00:57:07,720
very nice and it is specifically rooms for disabilities.

629
00:57:08,160 --> 00:57:08,460
Thank you.

630
00:57:08,620 --> 00:57:08,820
Okay.

631
00:57:09,340 --> 00:57:09,540
Yes.

632
00:57:10,100 --> 00:57:10,400
Okay.

633
00:57:10,400 --> 00:57:12,220
Thank you.

634
00:57:19,110 --> 00:57:19,430
Carmen

635
00:57:26,340 --> 00:57:27,700
Bell.

636
00:57:28,440 --> 00:57:30,460
I'm a town plus ten resident.

637
00:57:31,360 --> 00:57:37,480
So I'm very buoyed by the passage of the resolution for LGBTQ plus rights.

638
00:57:38,000 --> 00:57:38,840
That gives me hope.

639
00:57:39,440 --> 00:57:44,740
In a time when our community is being set upon by the federal government,

640
00:57:45,200 --> 00:57:51,100
that does not seem to clearly understand the constitution or the idea of due process.

641
00:57:51,100 --> 00:58:05,260
I'm troubled though by what our readers say and I know that words matter and so for me I just want to get some clarity about something that was published on WFMZ about two weeks ago.

642
00:58:06,200 --> 00:58:16,740
It involves the incident where the news was left on the desk of a city employee and eventually the city employee was recently charged with putting that news there herself.

643
00:58:16,740 --> 00:58:24,720
And so the report says to the President of Council, does this cast in your mind any doubt

644
00:58:24,720 --> 00:58:29,560
on previous allegations of discrimination in City Hall that have been made by other

645
00:58:29,560 --> 00:58:30,100
employees?

646
00:58:30,800 --> 00:58:34,560
And the President of Council responds, it absolutely does.

647
00:58:35,040 --> 00:58:40,120
I do not believe that there is any racial animosity among the employees of this city, that

648
00:58:40,120 --> 00:58:45,400
it is not widespread whatsoever, and I believe that the investigation results will bear that

649
00:58:45,400 --> 00:58:45,680
out.

650
00:58:45,680 --> 00:59:06,580
So I'm confused by that, that there is this statement that there was no widespread racism in the city of Allentown and that this investigation about whether or not the said employee perpetrated this bad act herself will somehow prove that there's no racism in the city of Allentown.

651
00:59:07,000 --> 00:59:11,800
So we could just have some clarity about that, because I was confused by that statement. That's all I'm looking for.

652
00:59:13,040 --> 00:59:17,660
I'd be more than happy to speak to you alone privately about that, I'm not going to speak

653
00:59:17,660 --> 00:59:18,520
now about that.

654
00:59:18,860 --> 00:59:25,100
I ask why you won't address that now because this is a public newspaper, a public statement

655
00:59:26,960 --> 00:59:32,720
that was made and published where the whole city and others across the nation could read

656
00:59:32,720 --> 00:59:33,020
it.

657
00:59:33,420 --> 00:59:35,220
So I'm just asking for clarity.

658
00:59:35,680 --> 00:59:40,140
You're a leader in the community, you're running for re-election, you represent the city

659
00:59:40,140 --> 00:59:44,780
if Allentown, and I just need to have some faith in the people who are going to represent

660
00:59:44,780 --> 00:59:50,760
me that they are not closing their mind to what may be other bad acts that are happening

661
00:59:50,760 --> 00:59:53,860
in the city of Allentown. And that is the reason why I'm here tonight.

662
00:59:54,500 --> 00:59:56,500
Again, this is not the place to bring that up.

663
00:59:56,500 --> 00:59:59,820
And what time, when, when, when do we address this, the

664
01:00:00,000 --> 01:00:29,900
President of the city council about a public statement that they have made, if not during the city council meeting, courtesy of the floor. I made a statement at the time based on the evidence that was presented, and I'll stand by that. So I'm just to be clear, and then I'll see my time. That what you're saying is based on the fact that someone has a ledge to have committed a bad act. That means that there was no racism that's happening

665
01:00:29,900 --> 01:00:35,580
in the city of Alantam based on the allegations, based on the alleged act of one person,

666
01:00:36,200 --> 01:00:39,880
all other employees who have made that allegation are not to be believed.

667
01:00:40,220 --> 01:00:41,540
But this one, is that what we're saying?

668
01:00:41,560 --> 01:00:43,940
I'm not going to argue if you heard tonight.

669
01:00:44,580 --> 01:00:48,340
This is not the forum to talk about this.

670
01:00:48,740 --> 01:00:49,480
Thank you.

671
01:00:51,140 --> 01:00:54,200
I find that answer completely unsatisfactory.

672
01:00:54,300 --> 01:00:58,760
As the President and the City Council, I would expect this would be more responsive and

673
01:00:58,760 --> 01:01:01,220
that you would address the statement that you made.

674
01:01:01,820 --> 01:01:02,640
Thank you very much.

675
01:01:02,740 --> 01:01:03,080
Thank you.

676
01:01:12,350 --> 01:01:12,830
Sharon.

677
01:01:13,170 --> 01:01:13,810
Been again?

678
01:01:20,740 --> 01:01:21,380
Hi, Sharon.

679
01:01:21,500 --> 01:01:22,160
Been again out in town.

680
01:01:23,220 --> 01:01:25,100
It was very heartening.

681
01:01:25,260 --> 01:01:29,640
You hear the support for the last Rule 48 resolution.

682
01:01:30,780 --> 01:01:35,680
But I was a little confused at the, you know, there was absolutely a wonderful support in the

683
01:01:35,680 --> 01:01:35,860
room.

684
01:01:36,000 --> 01:01:37,960
People are excited and everybody wants to clap.

685
01:01:38,360 --> 01:01:39,880
And it's allowed tonight.

686
01:01:39,880 --> 01:01:46,820
And my confusion is when there are situations and instances where there's a lot of support

687
01:01:46,820 --> 01:01:55,220
in the black and brown community in particular, told to sit down, shut up, quiet, stop clapping,

688
01:01:55,560 --> 01:01:56,280
stop everything.

689
01:01:57,220 --> 01:02:03,060
And it just seems like a very odd, unbalanced use of the rules.

690
01:02:03,060 --> 01:02:09,580
So, and then in the context of what Carmen Belger said, it's kind of fitting.

691
01:02:10,380 --> 01:02:16,860
So I don't understand why clapping is, when it's black and brown, clapping is shut down.

692
01:02:16,980 --> 01:02:18,660
People are told to be quiet, sit down.

693
01:02:19,140 --> 01:02:23,380
If it's anybody else in the white community or people need to have private conversations

694
01:02:23,380 --> 01:02:27,160
in the middle of a meeting, if they're white, it seems to be okay.

695
01:02:28,080 --> 01:02:28,740
Thank you.

696
01:02:49,200 --> 01:03:02,940
I agree with Carmen Bell and the other lady who spoke up, when I saw the newspaper article, I was very upset about what was said because we cannot be judged by what one person does and does not do.

697
01:03:02,940 --> 01:03:15,240
Like I said, you're innocent until you're pooping guilty, however, to make that statement that we all, the entire, all in black and brown employees were lying.

698
01:03:16,020 --> 01:03:22,080
That's what it's, it appeared to, and the news article that you were saying, that what they were saying is not true.

699
01:03:22,780 --> 01:03:27,780
What they're saying is true, and we have evidence that it's true, and I just want to let you know what was said.

700
01:03:27,780 --> 01:03:34,460
with said wrong you were wrong you are out of character and you're supposed to be a leader and you should act like a leader if

701
01:03:34,460 --> 01:03:37,700
You had something to say ship in no comment. Thank you

702
01:03:46,940 --> 01:03:47,460
So

703
01:03:50,060 --> 01:03:53,440
other people filled out cards for resolution 49

704
01:03:56,240 --> 01:03:59,660
So then you would speak at that time when they're doing resolution

705
01:04:10,200 --> 01:04:23,200
I'm just speaking to the cards that I have, people handed in cards they want to speak to resolution 49 somebody wants to speak to a bill on the African advisory board that would happen at that time but

706
01:04:23,200 --> 01:04:29,720
we're moving on to contract approvals R41 R41

707
01:04:32,830 --> 01:04:41,510
is a cooperative authorization of corporate contract greater than 40,000 to provide the city with various goods and services

708
01:04:41,510 --> 01:04:43,130
for a version of a lot of these.

709
01:04:43,350 --> 01:04:45,850
We went from where Ford, able,

710
01:04:46,190 --> 01:04:50,430
Recon, Kimball Midwest, AutoZone,

711
01:04:51,530 --> 01:04:54,410
Hail Trailer Break, and Miller Flooring Company.

712
01:04:55,010 --> 01:04:57,130
They're all on the cooperative contracts.

713
01:04:58,670 --> 01:04:59,230
Okay.

714
01:05:00,340 --> 01:05:30,180
Anybody to speak? Asparagus. No, just. Okay, as it is, are any questions or comments from my colleagues. Just quick question. I saw forward and I didn't bring the actual document up. Is that a re still we're not moving towards electric vehicles anymore, right? This is for some. We have the grant that was allowing us for to make electric vehicle pilot is frozen at the moment. Right.

715
01:05:30,180 --> 01:05:37,520
By the administration, we're fighting that, but I think the contract with Whitmer or Ford is it for electric vehicles?

716
01:05:37,880 --> 01:05:40,360
Okay, just like a regular truck, right?

717
01:05:40,760 --> 01:05:41,840
Okay, thank you.

718
01:05:43,460 --> 01:05:45,960
Okay, any comments from the public?

719
01:05:47,040 --> 01:05:49,040
Seeing none, Mr. Hanlon, conduct the vote.

720
01:05:49,520 --> 01:05:50,080
Mr. Gorillac.

721
01:05:50,820 --> 01:05:51,080
Yes.

722
01:05:52,680 --> 01:05:53,580
Mr. Napoli?

723
01:05:53,840 --> 01:05:54,000
Yes.

724
01:05:54,320 --> 01:05:54,820
Miss Santos?

725
01:05:55,140 --> 01:05:55,360
Yes.

726
01:05:55,700 --> 01:05:56,100
Jizouka?

727
01:05:56,300 --> 01:05:56,420
Yes.

728
01:05:56,680 --> 01:05:57,280
Mr. Hanricks?

729
01:05:57,540 --> 01:05:57,900
Yes.

730
01:05:57,900 --> 01:05:59,120
and Ms. Apa.

731
01:06:00,620 --> 01:06:01,140
Yeah.

732
01:06:02,320 --> 01:06:03,840
Mr. President, I have six years and no days.

733
01:06:04,660 --> 01:06:05,600
Thank you, Mr. Allen.

734
01:06:07,180 --> 01:06:08,600
Minutes of previous meetings.

735
01:06:09,640 --> 01:06:14,480
Okay, we've got three sets of minutes, the first set.

736
01:06:19,160 --> 01:06:19,720
Mr. Napoli.

737
01:06:20,120 --> 01:06:20,280
Yes.

738
01:06:21,360 --> 01:06:21,880
Santos?

739
01:06:22,300 --> 01:06:22,480
Yes.

740
01:06:22,840 --> 01:06:23,280
Is your circle?

741
01:06:23,480 --> 01:06:23,620
Yes.

742
01:06:23,920 --> 01:06:24,340
Mr. Hendrix?

743
01:06:24,820 --> 01:06:24,960
Yes.

744
01:06:25,340 --> 01:06:25,860
Ms. Apa?

745
01:06:27,260 --> 01:06:27,780
Yes.

746
01:06:28,580 --> 01:06:29,360
Ms. Girl.

747
01:06:29,520 --> 01:06:29,780
Yes.

748
01:06:37,240 --> 01:06:41,980
Yes, Mr. Zuckel, Mr. Enrichs, Ms. Appa.

749
01:06:42,820 --> 01:06:43,760
Yes,

750
01:06:45,900 --> 01:06:46,740
Mr. Napoli.

751
01:06:46,900 --> 01:06:47,080
Yes.

752
01:06:48,000 --> 01:06:48,940
Mr.

753
01:06:55,920 --> 01:07:00,700
Zuckel, Mr. Enrichs, Ms. Appa.

754
01:07:02,360 --> 01:07:02,660
Yeah.

755
01:07:03,960 --> 01:07:05,220
It's going to be a lot of work.

756
01:07:05,220 --> 01:07:05,340
Yes.

757
01:07:06,420 --> 01:07:07,420
It's your napoli?

758
01:07:07,680 --> 01:07:07,840
Yes.

759
01:07:08,200 --> 01:07:08,940
I'm a Santos.

760
01:07:09,220 --> 01:07:09,380
Yes.

761
01:07:11,420 --> 01:07:12,660
Brandon, that's a key to the news.

762
01:07:13,500 --> 01:07:13,720
I know.

763
01:07:13,940 --> 01:07:14,400
Okay.

764
01:07:17,320 --> 01:07:17,920
Communications.

765
01:07:18,920 --> 01:07:24,800
Council held an executive session this evening to discuss a confidential personnel matter.

766
01:07:26,840 --> 01:07:32,040
Also, I'd like to remind visitors of City Council that we encourage you to park in the government

767
01:07:32,040 --> 01:07:38,140
next door to City Hall, and to see our clerk, Mr. Mike Hanlon, for a chaser to pay for your parking.

768
01:07:38,500 --> 01:07:38,840
Thank you.

769
01:07:42,270 --> 01:07:48,210
The administration received two bids for the city owned property at 325 West Hamilton Street.

770
01:07:49,210 --> 01:07:50,270
One bid was rejected.

771
01:07:51,010 --> 01:07:53,610
The Allentown Rescue Mission was the bidder.

772
01:07:56,070 --> 01:07:57,010
Reports from committee.

773
01:07:58,250 --> 01:08:04,210
Just a brief correction or clarification, Allentown Rescue Mission was the successful bidder.

774
01:08:04,210 --> 01:08:04,870
It's a successful bidder.

775
01:08:05,130 --> 01:08:05,250
Yes.

776
01:08:08,750 --> 01:08:13,690
Reports from committees, budget and finance, Chairman and Mr. Napoli.

777
01:08:13,890 --> 01:08:14,250
Thank you.

778
01:08:14,450 --> 01:08:18,770
The committee met on April 9th and forwarded an item on tonight's agenda.

779
01:08:19,110 --> 01:08:20,470
There are no future meetings scheduled.

780
01:08:20,850 --> 01:08:21,110
Thank you.

781
01:08:21,730 --> 01:08:22,510
Thank you.

782
01:08:23,450 --> 01:08:25,090
Community and economic development.

783
01:08:26,330 --> 01:08:28,170
Chairperson on that is Ms. Moto.

784
01:08:28,350 --> 01:08:29,230
She's not here tonight.

785
01:08:30,150 --> 01:08:31,650
I'll speak for her.

786
01:08:32,530 --> 01:08:36,950
the committee met on April 9th and forwarded a bill on this evening's agenda.

787
01:08:37,350 --> 01:08:41,810
The next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, April 23rd at 6 p.m.

788
01:08:43,530 --> 01:08:49,230
Human Resources Administration and Appointments, Chairwoman Miss Santos.

789
01:08:49,850 --> 01:08:50,390
Thank you.

790
01:08:50,530 --> 01:08:55,970
The committee met on April 9th and we forwarded two items on this evening's agenda, one of those,

791
01:08:56,310 --> 01:09:00,150
which we already voted on, and there are no future meeting schedules.

792
01:09:00,150 --> 01:09:01,430
Thank you.

793
01:09:02,010 --> 01:09:03,170
Parts in recreation.

794
01:09:03,490 --> 01:09:05,030
Chairwoman Miss Gorillac.

795
01:09:05,470 --> 01:09:06,170
I guess, thank you.

796
01:09:06,230 --> 01:09:07,350
The committee met this evening.

797
01:09:07,530 --> 01:09:11,610
The next meeting is scheduled for May 7th at 6.15 p.m.

798
01:09:11,790 --> 01:09:12,050
Thank you.

799
01:09:12,530 --> 01:09:12,950
Thank you.

800
01:09:13,370 --> 01:09:14,110
Public safety.

801
01:09:15,530 --> 01:09:16,910
Chairwoman Miss Affa?

802
01:09:17,490 --> 01:09:19,310
Yeah, the committee met this evening.

803
01:09:19,410 --> 01:09:22,270
The next meeting is scheduled for May 7th at 5.30 p.m.

804
01:09:22,690 --> 01:09:23,470
Thank you.

805
01:09:23,930 --> 01:09:26,290
Chairwoman Mr. Zucko.

806
01:09:26,790 --> 01:09:27,770
Public works.

807
01:09:28,110 --> 01:09:28,910
Chairwoman Zucko.

808
01:09:28,910 --> 01:09:32,790
The committee has not met since the last council meeting and the next meeting is not yet scheduled.

809
01:09:33,750 --> 01:09:34,670
Thank you.

810
01:09:34,990 --> 01:09:38,350
Rules, chambers, intergovernmental relations and strategy.

811
01:09:39,130 --> 01:09:40,410
That is my committee.

812
01:09:41,030 --> 01:09:43,190
The committee has not met since the last council meeting.

813
01:09:43,550 --> 01:09:45,430
No meetings are scheduled currently.

814
01:09:47,600 --> 01:09:48,440
Controllers report.

815
01:09:49,240 --> 01:09:50,260
Thank you, Mr. President.

816
01:09:52,180 --> 01:09:56,840
There are four reports on the agenda for this evening.

817
01:09:58,200 --> 01:09:59,880
one is an accounts pay.

818
01:10:00,000 --> 01:10:29,880
People, one is a p-card, one is a bank reconciliation. I'm not going to report on those this evening. You guys can take a look at it yourself or the public can take a look at those reports by accessing them from the control which website. We report on those all the time. When I do have for you this evening is an audit of the city's tuition reimbursement program. I'm going to talk about this for a little bit because it's a little bit different. I'm going to say that there are a number of

819
01:10:30,540 --> 01:10:36,180
other oil, it's coming down the pike in the next two or three weeks, once again different from the basic

820
01:10:36,180 --> 01:10:43,920
P-card or accounts payable stuff. Not that that stuff is an interesting mind you, but this is a little bit different and gives us a little bit broader picture

821
01:10:43,920 --> 01:10:58,800
about how we do things in the city. We've basically three programs for tuition reimbursement, non-bargaining employees, municipal employees like SCIU, and then firefighters have their own program.

822
01:10:58,800 --> 01:11:01,060
Police are handled a little bit differently.

823
01:11:01,300 --> 01:11:06,940
Part of those folks are non-bargaining, but the officers get a lot of continuing education

824
01:11:07,440 --> 01:11:08,620
through the police budget.

825
01:11:09,600 --> 01:11:11,220
So we don't see much of that.

826
01:11:14,260 --> 01:11:18,920
Once again, the audit is conducted in accordance with generally accepted governmental auditing

827
01:11:18,920 --> 01:11:25,080
standards and utilizes an approach that includes staff interviews, review of documents, and

828
01:11:25,080 --> 01:11:26,500
reports and examinations.

829
01:11:26,500 --> 01:11:32,860
The period selected for this reimbursement was from all 2023 and 2024.

830
01:11:33,680 --> 01:11:41,100
Now you may remember that the last accounts payable report, we noted that we made an

831
01:11:41,100 --> 01:11:50,020
issue of a tuition reimbursement because it was over by $1,550 and that check was corrected

832
01:11:50,020 --> 01:11:54,320
in the reimbursement to the applicant was corrected.

833
01:11:54,320 --> 01:12:01,200
But we looked at that and we thought, you know, we haven't looked this in a long, long time, and that issued generated

834
01:12:02,700 --> 01:12:04,260
this complete audit.

835
01:12:07,120 --> 01:12:13,760
So in 2023, there were seven people that are non-bargated that applied to reimbursement. In 2024, there were five.

836
01:12:14,740 --> 01:12:25,340
We noticed that there was non-compliance with AIM66-03 relief of city employment, educational reimbursement for non-bargated unit employees,

837
01:12:25,340 --> 01:12:32,860
who voluntarily or involuntarily leave city employment before a full calendar year has transpired.

838
01:12:33,100 --> 01:12:41,580
Following the completion of a course for which they have received a reimbursement will return the total education reimbursement to the city.

839
01:12:43,420 --> 01:12:54,120
For 2023, we identified two non-bargaining who left the city prior to one year from the end of the course state and did not return the tuition reimbursement.

840
01:12:54,120 --> 01:12:58,580
The total uncollected was $9,587.50.

841
01:12:59,840 --> 01:13:02,200
Consideration should be given to building the employees,

842
01:13:02,580 --> 01:13:04,400
administration should track the payments

843
01:13:04,680 --> 01:13:07,820
and ensure compliance, the administration responds.

844
01:13:08,500 --> 01:13:11,920
We agreed to formulate a process to track and build appropriately

845
01:13:11,920 --> 01:13:13,480
by the end of 2025.

846
01:13:14,820 --> 01:13:17,440
We're currently considering the time that will come inside

847
01:13:17,440 --> 01:13:22,140
with the rollout of our new personnel management

848
01:13:22,980 --> 01:13:25,900
or the new SCI contract, the exact time

849
01:13:25,900 --> 01:13:28,420
and may change due to unforeseen circumstances.

850
01:13:30,720 --> 01:13:32,200
I will tell you that if somebody leaves,

851
01:13:32,200 --> 01:13:33,720
it's pretty hard to call the money back

852
01:13:33,720 --> 01:13:37,060
because there's really no payroll to deduct

853
01:13:37,060 --> 01:13:40,200
because maybe you've got two weeks notice.

854
01:13:41,200 --> 01:13:44,360
It is heartening that the administration has acknowledged

855
01:13:44,360 --> 01:13:48,620
the issue and will work to a good solution to it in the future.

856
01:13:49,700 --> 01:13:53,080
And if it's in the PPM, I think that needs council approval

857
01:13:53,080 --> 01:13:55,340
So you guys will get a bite of that apple.

858
01:13:56,780 --> 01:13:59,860
Non-bargaining tuition reimbursement amount errors.

859
01:14:00,380 --> 01:14:05,880
Perl administration's email dated 12, 15, 22, in 2023,

860
01:14:06,800 --> 01:14:11,440
non-bargaining staff reimbursement was increased from $2,900

861
01:14:11,440 --> 01:14:15,640
per annum to $5,250 per annum.

862
01:14:16,240 --> 01:14:18,480
Employees are eligible to receive reimbursement

863
01:14:18,480 --> 01:14:21,880
for tuition, registration fees, and lab fees.

864
01:14:21,880 --> 01:14:30,020
Books and other required course materials not covered by course or tuition fees are the employees responsibility and will not be reimbursed.

865
01:14:30,280 --> 01:14:31,460
We note the following.

866
01:14:32,420 --> 01:14:39,880
1-9 bargaining employee for 2023 requests you then received tuition of $4,337.50.

867
01:14:40,260 --> 01:14:45,980
The documentation, the receipt documentation totaled $3,287.50.

868
01:14:45,980 --> 01:14:59,940
The review of paperwork indicated an error in addition on the submission form that resulted in an overpayment of $1,050 that employees no longer active with the city.

869
01:15:00,110 --> 01:15:21,430
And that would have been referenced in the prior one, where somebody left prior to a year, or also referenced. One non-bargaining employee, who for 2024 was reimbursed for a total of $5,500. The maximum yearly is $5,250. This is an overpayment of $250.

870
01:15:23,230 --> 01:15:30,950
$1 than employee still within the city's employee, so I'm looking for resolution there for the administration.

871
01:15:31,770 --> 01:15:50,230
One non-bargaining employee here for 2024, it was reimbursed for a credit card service charge, a $53.13, as a matter of practice, the city does not reimburse for credit card service charges, whether it be for something like this, or even when we go out and buy materials.

872
01:15:50,230 --> 01:15:57,430
for the usage. One non-bargaining employee for 2024 was reimbursed for a payment plan

873
01:15:57,430 --> 01:16:04,990
fee of $25. We know that tuition reimbursement forms generic and not specific to the bargaining

874
01:16:04,990 --> 01:16:10,310
unit and does not include the provisions required, nor the maximum reimbursement amounts,

875
01:16:10,790 --> 01:16:17,410
which may vary by bargaining unit. We recommend that the overpaid tuition reimbursement be collected,

876
01:16:17,410 --> 01:16:20,270
The administration should reiterate and

877
01:16:20,270 --> 01:16:24,670
retrain the tuition reimbursement approvers of the proper policy.

878
01:16:25,210 --> 01:16:29,650
Consideration should be given to revising the tuition reimbursement form and

879
01:16:29,650 --> 01:16:32,070
tailoring it to each bargain and unit.

880
01:16:32,490 --> 01:16:37,550
The forms should include the provisions requirements and the maximum reimbursement amount.

881
01:16:38,090 --> 01:16:44,770
The administration agrees with the recommendations and by the end of 2025,

882
01:16:44,770 --> 01:16:52,010
will ensure that those are responsible or over payments are collected and that appropriate

883
01:16:52,010 --> 01:16:55,510
tuition reimbursement, former visions are included.

884
01:16:56,450 --> 01:17:01,050
We also know that this is supposed to be a reimbursement, i.e., you're supposed to pay

885
01:17:01,050 --> 01:17:02,890
first and then get reimbursed.

886
01:17:03,210 --> 01:17:08,590
From the document, the station we receive, it's not always clear that that happens.

887
01:17:09,010 --> 01:17:14,670
Sometimes it looks like the city is actually paying for the tuition and nobody's getting

888
01:17:14,670 --> 01:17:23,090
reimbursement. So we're asking for better documentation that this is actually a reimbursement

889
01:17:23,090 --> 01:17:28,450
for those people who are applying. I also note there's lack of class grade information.

890
01:17:28,730 --> 01:17:33,490
Some people supply it, but not everybody does. We're asking that that be dealt with.

891
01:17:35,770 --> 01:17:43,350
And those are the highlights. You know, once again, they're on the website you guys have

892
01:17:43,350 --> 01:17:44,610
can take a moment to read them.

893
01:17:47,710 --> 01:17:54,860
This was the first time the new HR director got to respond

894
01:17:54,860 --> 01:18:01,200
to an audit and it took a little bit of time for Mr. Velasquez to do it, but he gave

895
01:18:01,200 --> 01:18:09,840
good responses that were thought out and certainly show the administration's willingness to tackle

896
01:18:09,840 --> 01:18:14,860
of this problem, so this program goes forward without these hiccups.

897
01:18:15,660 --> 01:18:17,620
If you have any questions, I'll be happy to answer them.

898
01:18:20,790 --> 01:18:21,910
Thank you, Mr. Glader.

899
01:18:22,290 --> 01:18:23,430
Thank you, Mr. President.

900
01:18:24,050 --> 01:18:24,470
Much appreciate

901
01:18:26,520 --> 01:18:26,780
it.

902
01:18:26,820 --> 01:18:31,700
We're going to move on to ordinances for final passage, Bill 29.

903
01:18:32,020 --> 01:18:36,500
Bill 29 amends the African-American Advisory Council by clarifying and

904
01:18:36,500 --> 01:18:38,500
adding a section on selecting members.

905
01:18:38,500 --> 01:18:39,260
And

906
01:18:43,900 --> 01:18:53,220
I also note that there are some changes to the proposal here submitted by Ms. Holmes.

907
01:18:53,680 --> 01:19:04,340
And at this time, would like to make a motion that they be read and put into the bill itself rather than sending it back to committee that we do it all tonight.

908
01:19:05,160 --> 01:19:09,020
So I would ask for someone to second my motion to do just that.

909
01:19:09,020 --> 01:19:09,820
I'll do that.

910
01:19:10,720 --> 01:19:10,840
All right.

911
01:19:11,360 --> 01:19:11,940
Seconded.

912
01:19:12,100 --> 01:19:13,200
Mr. Hanlon, if you would.

913
01:19:14,620 --> 01:19:15,200
Okay.

914
01:19:15,400 --> 01:19:16,620
Do you want me to read the amendment?

915
01:19:17,260 --> 01:19:18,040
Yes, please.

916
01:19:18,580 --> 01:19:18,840
Okay.

917
01:19:19,040 --> 01:19:26,320
So the amendment would take out the section that mimics the Latino Advisory Committee and add

918
01:19:26,320 --> 01:19:32,500
the section that says the list of African-American organizations that may nominate or select applicants

919
01:19:32,500 --> 01:19:37,580
for the African-American Affairs Advisory Council for nomination by the mayor will include

920
01:19:37,580 --> 01:19:45,100
but not be limited to the following African-American business organizations, and they include African-American

921
01:19:45,100 --> 01:19:51,140
business leaders council, Black woman, connected Lehigh Valley, African-American community organizations

922
01:19:51,140 --> 01:19:56,820
and nonprofits, they include Promise Neighborhoods, Cohesion Network, Global Hope International

923
01:19:56,820 --> 01:19:59,920
National Lehigh Valley black church housing alliance the right

924
01:20:00,000 --> 01:20:07,320
passing, Sun initiative, Allentown, NAWACP, Mark Luther King and Corretta Scott, King Memorial

925
01:20:07,320 --> 01:20:12,240
Project to the Lehigh Valley, Power Lee High Valley, Respected Life Community Development

926
01:20:12,240 --> 01:20:17,520
Corporation, and then another category, is African-American Lead Youth Services and Programs,

927
01:20:18,280 --> 01:20:23,320
Boys and Girls Club of Allentown, Euthan Teen Renovations, James Lawrence Freedom School,

928
01:20:23,480 --> 01:20:28,780
the Thrive Hub, Fine Feather Foundation, then another category is African-American Churches,

929
01:20:28,780 --> 01:20:36,600
faith-based organizations, St. James, M. Ham, E. Zion, Zion's Church, Union Baptist Church,

930
01:20:36,840 --> 01:20:41,640
Living Spring International Center, Resurrected Life Community Church, Restoration Temple,

931
01:20:42,200 --> 01:20:47,380
Rehoboth Church, Black Christian Churches, and Ministers Alliance, Another Category, African

932
01:20:47,380 --> 01:20:54,200
Own Businesses, Service Space, Achieving Coaching, and Consulting, or in Resilience, Resilience,

933
01:20:54,200 --> 01:21:00,040
LLC, Lehigh Valley Black News Network, and another category, African-American

934
01:21:00,040 --> 01:21:05,140
Own Businesses, Retail, Slash, Brick and Mortar, Be Skinful House of Glam,

935
01:21:06,000 --> 01:21:12,560
Banks, Beauty Bar, Michigan Premium, Block, Quizzis, Handles, The Culture,

936
01:21:13,680 --> 01:21:19,520
Colonel, Napa by Choice, CCJ Snacks, VIP, The Next Level, Barbershop,

937
01:21:23,520 --> 01:21:23,520
and

938
01:21:23,520 --> 01:21:24,520
And that's it.

939
01:21:25,380 --> 01:21:26,180
Thank you.

940
01:21:28,050 --> 01:21:30,470
Any questions, comments from my colleagues?

941
01:21:32,320 --> 01:21:32,740
Ms. Gorillac?

942
01:21:34,060 --> 01:21:35,720
I think this might be from his homes.

943
01:21:36,580 --> 01:21:43,380
So if there is, this is a very extensive list of entities

944
01:21:46,040 --> 01:21:50,340
where most leaders would be involved.

945
01:21:51,000 --> 01:21:54,380
But like, for example, that one gentleman I had emailed you about,

946
01:21:54,380 --> 01:21:56,280
I don't think he's involved in any of these.

947
01:21:57,320 --> 01:22:02,220
So, I mean, I'm reading the language that says, but not limited to, so therefore this

948
01:22:02,220 --> 01:22:07,960
gentleman can apply and go forth and serve, hopefully.

949
01:22:08,700 --> 01:22:08,920
Man?

950
01:22:13,240 --> 01:22:13,760
Yeah, go ahead.

951
01:22:13,940 --> 01:22:14,920
I'm going to open it up.

952
01:22:15,060 --> 01:22:20,680
In response to your colleague's assessment and question, I'm affirming that absolutely yes.

953
01:22:20,880 --> 01:22:25,400
And also, I'm able to say that I did reach out to that gentleman and had a brief conversation

954
01:22:25,400 --> 01:22:32,800
with him, and I think the language with the assistance of Mr. Mike Hanlin, Councilwoman

955
01:22:32,800 --> 01:22:40,000
Cynthia Moda, and Councilwoman C. C. Gerlott, we were able to have that language reflect what

956
01:22:40,000 --> 01:22:45,320
would be obviously most amicable to both the community that it represents, and also not

957
01:22:45,320 --> 01:22:52,720
too limiting, so that individuals would obviously be involved, invited, and feel very welcome

958
01:22:52,720 --> 01:22:54,420
to be a part of it, so thank you.

959
01:22:54,800 --> 01:22:55,300
Thank you.

960
01:22:59,410 --> 01:23:00,710
I can come back with that comment.

961
01:23:00,770 --> 01:23:02,710
Any other questions, comments from my colleagues?

962
01:23:04,070 --> 01:23:05,590
Any comments from the public?

963
01:23:08,200 --> 01:23:09,160
Seeing none, Mr. Allen.

964
01:23:09,420 --> 01:23:11,920
Okay, on the amendment, Mr. Hendricks.

965
01:23:12,440 --> 01:23:12,620
Yes.

966
01:23:13,260 --> 01:23:13,860
Miss Apha,

967
01:23:17,820 --> 01:23:18,700
Miss Gorillac.

968
01:23:18,960 --> 01:23:19,160
Yes.

969
01:23:21,040 --> 01:23:21,820
Mr. Napoli.

970
01:23:22,040 --> 01:23:22,200
Yes.

971
01:23:22,540 --> 01:23:23,040
Miss Santos.

972
01:23:23,380 --> 01:23:23,560
Yes.

973
01:23:24,080 --> 01:23:24,740
Mr. Duke.

974
01:23:24,860 --> 01:23:25,080
Yes.

975
01:23:25,740 --> 01:23:27,360
Mr. Smith, I have six shades and no names.

976
01:23:28,620 --> 01:23:30,360
Okay, and now the bill itself.

977
01:23:33,410 --> 01:23:34,670
Any comments from my colleagues?

978
01:23:34,670 --> 01:23:35,390
Any

979
01:23:37,630 --> 01:23:38,750
comments from the public?

980
01:23:40,390 --> 01:23:41,690
Okay, no, Mr. Henry.

981
01:23:41,690 --> 01:23:44,650
The bill itself has amended Mr. Hendricks.

982
01:23:45,070 --> 01:23:45,290
Yes.

983
01:23:45,590 --> 01:23:46,370
Miss Affa.

984
01:23:48,150 --> 01:23:48,450
Yes.

985
01:23:48,870 --> 01:23:49,730
Miss Garlock?

986
01:23:50,190 --> 01:23:50,330
Yes.

987
01:23:51,010 --> 01:23:51,690
Mr. Napoli?

988
01:23:51,870 --> 01:23:52,070
Yes.

989
01:23:52,550 --> 01:23:53,110
Miss Santos?

990
01:23:53,470 --> 01:23:53,670
Yes.

991
01:23:54,350 --> 01:23:55,110
And Mr. Zuri.

992
01:23:55,350 --> 01:23:55,550
Yes.

993
01:23:56,470 --> 01:23:57,830
Mr. President, I'm 68 and I'm 8.

994
01:23:58,190 --> 01:23:58,930
Thank you.

995
01:24:00,210 --> 01:24:01,270
Bill 30.

996
01:24:01,590 --> 01:24:03,410
Bill 30, amended 2025.

997
01:24:04,150 --> 01:24:05,210
Capital project.

998
01:24:05,210 --> 01:24:13,230
to provide for supplemental appropriation of 185,000 dollars from the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development for

999
01:24:13,230 --> 01:24:16,530
sported feasibility study of the MLK trail phase three.

1000
01:24:17,450 --> 01:24:20,510
Thank you. Ms. Guaralacto's was in your committee?

1001
01:24:21,150 --> 01:24:24,630
I guess it wasn't. It was forwarded forwarded favorment as you were seeing.

1002
01:24:25,210 --> 01:24:29,390
Thank you. Any comments from the Dias?

1003
01:24:31,680 --> 01:24:32,760
Any comments from the public?

1004
01:24:34,620 --> 01:24:35,200
Thank you, Mr. Hanlon.

1005
01:24:35,200 --> 01:24:36,400
Mr. Hanlon, Mr. Hanlon, conduct the vote.

1006
01:24:36,880 --> 01:24:37,660
Ms. Affa.

1007
01:24:40,100 --> 01:24:41,100
Ms. Groloch?

1008
01:24:41,320 --> 01:24:41,460
Yes.

1009
01:24:42,140 --> 01:24:42,980
Mr. Napoli?

1010
01:24:43,240 --> 01:24:43,360
Yes.

1011
01:24:44,420 --> 01:24:45,200
Ms. Santos?

1012
01:24:45,560 --> 01:24:45,700
Yes.

1013
01:24:46,400 --> 01:24:46,940
Mr. Zucco?

1014
01:24:47,060 --> 01:24:47,220
Yes.

1015
01:24:47,700 --> 01:24:48,340
Mr. Andrews?

1016
01:24:48,440 --> 01:24:48,660
Yes.

1017
01:24:49,400 --> 01:24:50,200
Mr. Andrews.

1018
01:24:50,200 --> 01:24:51,060
Mr. Andrews.

1019
01:24:51,180 --> 01:24:52,280
Thank you, Mr. Hanlon.

1020
01:24:52,780 --> 01:24:53,440
Bill 31.

1021
01:24:53,780 --> 01:24:58,540
Bill 31 means the Trexor Fund by authorizing a supplemental appropriation from the Trexor Esco

1022
01:24:58,540 --> 01:24:59,740
go and appropriate a cast balance.

1023
01:25:00,580 --> 01:25:28,760
In the amount of $108,105.75, and the funds will be used for the construction of phase one of the trail. And it's part of the 2020-24-25 Drexler Capital Project allocation. Thank you. And this also was in your committee, Ms. Kierlock? Yes, and it was also forwarded favorably to tonight's meeting. Thank you. Thank you. Any comments, questions from my colleagues?

1024
01:25:29,700 --> 01:25:31,740
Seeing none, any comments from the public?

1025
01:25:33,000 --> 01:25:35,080
Seeing none, Mr. Hanlon, please can I ask the vote?

1026
01:25:35,660 --> 01:25:36,440
Ms. Girlock.

1027
01:25:36,740 --> 01:25:36,880
Yes.

1028
01:25:39,060 --> 01:25:39,860
Mr. Napoli.

1029
01:25:40,040 --> 01:25:40,220
Yes.

1030
01:25:40,500 --> 01:25:40,960
Ms. Santos.

1031
01:25:41,260 --> 01:25:41,420
Yes.

1032
01:25:41,920 --> 01:25:42,320
Shazookl.

1033
01:25:42,460 --> 01:25:42,640
Yes.

1034
01:25:42,900 --> 01:25:43,400
Mr. Hendricks.

1035
01:25:43,580 --> 01:25:43,720
Yes.

1036
01:25:44,180 --> 01:25:44,640
Ms. Adler.

1037
01:25:46,360 --> 01:25:46,760
Yes.

1038
01:25:47,680 --> 01:25:48,080
Ms. Adler.

1039
01:25:48,300 --> 01:25:49,060
Ms. Adler.

1040
01:25:49,560 --> 01:25:50,620
Ms. Adler.

1041
01:25:54,620 --> 01:25:54,700
Yes.

1042
01:25:54,700 --> 01:26:08,780
So supplement appropriation of $46,766 from the Department of Justice or to find a workflow management system at affordable weighing scales for the police department.

1043
01:26:09,800 --> 01:26:11,340
Thank you, Mr. Hanlon.

1044
01:26:11,800 --> 01:26:15,740
And this was in your committee acting tonight as Chair, Mr. Zookle.

1045
01:26:16,600 --> 01:26:17,420
And it was said favorably.

1046
01:26:17,420 --> 01:26:23,820
favorably. Thank you. Any questions or comments from my colleagues? Seeing none. Any comments from the public?

1047
01:26:24,980 --> 01:26:27,160
Seeing none, Mr. Hanlon, please connect the vote.

1048
01:26:28,160 --> 01:26:34,340
Mr. Napoli. Yes. Miss Santos. Yes. Mr. Zuckel. Yes. Mr. Hendricks. Yes. Miss Appa.

1049
01:26:36,080 --> 01:26:38,520
Yes. And Miss Gorillac. Yes.

1050
01:26:39,120 --> 01:26:40,740
Let's try to have six days in their days.

1051
01:26:41,700 --> 01:26:43,580
Thank you. Bill 33.

1052
01:26:43,580 --> 01:26:59,700
Bill 33, amendments part two, General Legislation chapter 270, fees, Article 5, community and economic development fees to include plan review, and you can consolidate building permits and update the language of the city code.

1053
01:27:00,440 --> 01:27:06,060
Thank you, and this was in your committee, Mr. Napoli, correct, of which you are a member?

1054
01:27:06,320 --> 01:27:09,820
Yes, it was forwarded favorably to the full council.

1055
01:27:09,820 --> 01:27:11,060
So, thank you.

1056
01:27:11,440 --> 01:27:13,460
Any comments or questions from my colleagues?

1057
01:27:15,220 --> 01:27:16,740
Any comments from the public?

1058
01:27:18,100 --> 01:27:20,220
Seeing none, Mr. Hanlon, please connect the vote.

1059
01:27:20,880 --> 01:27:21,540
Ms. Santos.

1060
01:27:22,040 --> 01:27:22,160
Yes.

1061
01:27:22,740 --> 01:27:23,340
Mr. Zoko?

1062
01:27:23,620 --> 01:27:24,600
Yes, Mr. Hendricks.

1063
01:27:24,900 --> 01:27:25,040
Yes.

1064
01:27:25,400 --> 01:27:25,940
Ms. Apah.

1065
01:27:27,640 --> 01:27:28,100
Yes.

1066
01:27:28,960 --> 01:27:29,420
Scarloch?

1067
01:27:29,620 --> 01:27:29,800
Yes.

1068
01:27:30,780 --> 01:27:32,080
And Mr. Napoli.

1069
01:27:32,220 --> 01:27:32,380
Yes.

1070
01:27:33,040 --> 01:27:34,500
Mr. President, that's six years and no names.

1071
01:27:35,240 --> 01:27:35,700
Thank you.

1072
01:27:36,060 --> 01:27:36,800
Bill 34.

1073
01:27:36,800 --> 01:27:48,380
Bill 34, amendments to 2025, general fund budget to provide for supplemental appropriation of $132,800 and it's to the police department on

1074
01:27:51,070 --> 01:28:01,570
reimbursement of expenses to purchase case management software, mobile devices, program analysis, unit of pair on additional community and funded additional community intervention specialist.

1075
01:28:01,570 --> 01:28:04,030
Thank you, Mr. Hanley.

1076
01:28:04,630 --> 01:28:06,530
This was your committee tonight, Mr. Zookle.

1077
01:28:06,590 --> 01:28:07,810
Yes, and it was sent here probably.

1078
01:28:08,450 --> 01:28:08,970
Thank you.

1079
01:28:09,390 --> 01:28:10,130
Any comments?

1080
01:28:10,670 --> 01:28:11,890
Questions from my colleagues?

1081
01:28:13,070 --> 01:28:15,010
Seeing none. Any comments from the public?

1082
01:28:16,450 --> 01:28:18,390
Seeing none, Mr. Hanley, please connect the vote.

1083
01:28:19,370 --> 01:28:19,970
Mr. Zookle.

1084
01:28:20,130 --> 01:28:20,290
Yes.

1085
01:28:20,850 --> 01:28:21,450
Mr. Ann Ricks.

1086
01:28:21,710 --> 01:28:21,850
Yes.

1087
01:28:22,410 --> 01:28:22,910
Ms. Affa.

1088
01:28:24,450 --> 01:28:24,890
Yes.

1089
01:28:25,490 --> 01:28:25,910
Ms. Grilla.

1090
01:28:26,190 --> 01:28:26,430
Yes.

1091
01:28:27,330 --> 01:28:28,110
Mr. Napoli.

1092
01:28:28,330 --> 01:28:28,490
Yes.

1093
01:28:29,010 --> 01:28:29,670
Ms. Santos.

1094
01:28:29,950 --> 01:28:30,150
Yes.

1095
01:28:30,150 --> 01:28:30,430
Yes.

1096
01:28:30,790 --> 01:28:32,390
President, it's excused and amazed.

1097
01:28:33,150 --> 01:28:33,590
Thank you.

1098
01:28:33,810 --> 01:28:34,510
Bill 36.

1099
01:28:35,410 --> 01:28:36,510
Bill 36,

1100
01:28:39,060 --> 01:28:44,660
Bill 35, amendments to 2025,

1101
01:28:44,660 --> 01:28:51,860
general fund budget for supplemental appropriation of $85,900 for the purchase of portable

1102
01:28:51,860 --> 01:28:57,000
breath-tacing devices, breath-testing devices, and pair driving simulator kit and a trailer

1103
01:28:57,000 --> 01:28:58,300
in training for officers.

1104
01:28:59,740 --> 01:29:01,080
Thank you, Mr. Hanlon.

1105
01:29:01,300 --> 01:29:02,760
Mr. Zookl in your committee?

1106
01:29:03,000 --> 01:29:03,520
Yes, thank you.

1107
01:29:03,580 --> 01:29:05,440
This was also the committee on the same paper.

1108
01:29:06,280 --> 01:29:06,980
Thank you.

1109
01:29:07,460 --> 01:29:09,360
Any questions or comments from my colleagues?

1110
01:29:10,420 --> 01:29:11,060
Seeing none.

1111
01:29:11,460 --> 01:29:12,620
Any comments from the public?

1112
01:29:13,580 --> 01:29:15,740
Seeing none, Mr. Hanlon, please conduct the vote.

1113
01:29:16,620 --> 01:29:17,300
Mr. Hanoverks.

1114
01:29:17,660 --> 01:29:17,820
Yes.

1115
01:29:18,660 --> 01:29:19,300
Ms. Athah.

1116
01:29:20,980 --> 01:29:21,460
Yes.

1117
01:29:21,980 --> 01:29:22,680
Ms. Grillock.

1118
01:29:23,000 --> 01:29:23,200
Yes.

1119
01:29:23,580 --> 01:29:24,100
Mr. Napoli.

1120
01:29:24,360 --> 01:29:24,460
Yes.

1121
01:29:24,720 --> 01:29:25,180
Ms. Santos.

1122
01:29:25,460 --> 01:29:25,660
Yes.

1123
01:29:25,660 --> 01:29:27,060
and Mr. Zooquilp.

1124
01:29:27,800 --> 01:29:28,500
Those external preparations.

1125
01:29:28,500 --> 01:29:29,200
Yes, Mr.gehter and Mr. Zooquilp.

1126
01:29:29,500 --> 01:29:30,740
Thank you.

1127
01:29:30,980 --> 01:29:31,640
Bill 36.

1128
01:29:32,020 --> 01:29:37,560
Bill 36 Aman's various funds by appropriating funds

1129
01:29:37,560 --> 01:29:40,140
from the inappropriate balances for the Rowl over

1130
01:29:40,140 --> 01:29:44,280
of Compass's from the prior year commitments.

1131
01:29:46,210 --> 01:29:47,950
This was in your committee, Mr. Napoli?

1132
01:29:48,230 --> 01:29:49,630
Yes and it was for it, it's favourable.

1133
01:29:49,930 --> 01:29:50,490
Thank you.

1134
01:29:51,110 --> 01:29:52,550
Questions or comments from my college?

1135
01:29:53,650 --> 01:29:55,990
Seeing none, any comments from the public?

1136
01:29:55,990 --> 01:29:59,270
So, see you not Mr. Handler, please be enough to vote.

1137
01:30:00,000 --> 01:30:00,620
Ms. Ava.

1138
01:30:04,040 --> 01:30:08,880
Ms. Gorillac. Yes. Mr. Napoli. Yes. Ms. Santos. Yes.

1139
01:30:09,180 --> 01:30:11,760
Ms. Zughal. Yes. And Mr. Hendricks. Yes.

1140
01:30:12,500 --> 01:30:23,160
Ms. Grayson, I have six years and no days. Thank you. Consent agenda. Yeah. A few items. The appointment of Abigail Goldfarb to be

1141
01:30:23,160 --> 01:30:32,240
Commission of Homelessness or Linda Aguar to the Human Relations Commission. Kyle Robsky to the Shatree Commission. Leslie Hartzel to the

1142
01:30:32,240 --> 01:30:37,040
planning commission, and Richard Larry's to the noise hearing board.

1143
01:30:38,660 --> 01:30:39,460
Thank you.

1144
01:30:39,960 --> 01:30:42,220
Any questions or comments from my colleagues?

1145
01:30:44,040 --> 01:30:44,800
Seeing none.

1146
01:30:45,000 --> 01:30:46,140
Any comments from the public?

1147
01:30:47,300 --> 01:30:48,160
Seeing none.

1148
01:30:48,800 --> 01:30:50,400
Please conduct the vote, Mr. Handle.

1149
01:30:51,180 --> 01:30:51,800
Ms. Gorilla.

1150
01:30:52,240 --> 01:30:52,400
Yes.

1151
01:30:53,820 --> 01:30:54,740
Mr. Napoli?

1152
01:30:54,940 --> 01:30:55,100
Yes.

1153
01:30:55,460 --> 01:30:55,940
Ms. Santos?

1154
01:30:56,220 --> 01:30:56,400
Yes.

1155
01:30:56,700 --> 01:30:57,160
Mr. Zookoff?

1156
01:30:57,300 --> 01:30:57,460
Yes.

1157
01:30:57,760 --> 01:30:58,260
Mr. Hendricks?

1158
01:30:58,520 --> 01:30:58,680
Yes.

1159
01:30:59,060 --> 01:30:59,720
And Ms. Affa?

1160
01:31:01,120 --> 01:31:01,800
Yes.

1161
01:31:02,700 --> 01:31:04,520
Mr. President, I have six years of no days.

1162
01:31:05,480 --> 01:31:05,880
Thank you.

1163
01:31:12,140 --> 01:31:13,000
R-49.

1164
01:31:14,980 --> 01:31:23,640
R-49 is a resolution calling on the Pennsylvania State Legislature to raise the minimum wage and grant local wage control.

1165
01:31:29,050 --> 01:31:29,790
Any comments?

1166
01:31:31,230 --> 01:31:32,330
Questions from my colleagues.

1167
01:31:32,790 --> 01:31:33,230
Mr. Girlade.

1168
01:31:33,230 --> 01:31:37,090
Yeah, just once again, I'd like to thank everyone for signing on to this.

1169
01:31:38,670 --> 01:31:54,710
I mean, as State Rep Seagal said, you know, you never, it's hard to get things out of committee in Harrisburg, but I think it is important for local bodies to, again, make statements of support.

1170
01:31:55,650 --> 01:32:00,150
We've got a working class city and our working class city deserves to thrive.

1171
01:32:00,150 --> 01:32:03,170
So thank you for signing on to this.

1172
01:32:05,100 --> 01:32:06,220
Okay, anybody else?

1173
01:32:07,680 --> 01:32:09,180
Any comments from the public?

1174
01:32:09,480 --> 01:32:11,760
You have a number of speakers that would like to speak to this.

1175
01:32:13,000 --> 01:32:13,240
Okay.

1176
01:32:14,400 --> 01:32:16,480
Just a very quick comment.

1177
01:32:16,800 --> 01:32:20,080
So I think that your resolution is calling on the state legislature

1178
01:32:20,080 --> 01:32:22,720
to raise the minimum wage, which I think is absolutely commendable.

1179
01:32:22,760 --> 01:32:24,800
I believe there's an additional component to the resolution

1180
01:32:24,800 --> 01:32:27,540
that calls for reduction in preemption.

1181
01:32:27,540 --> 01:32:32,080
for those of the that don't know preemption is when the state tells local

1182
01:32:32,080 --> 01:32:35,840
municipalities that they can't do certain things. And I think giving the

1183
01:32:35,840 --> 01:32:40,660
Alentone City Council power to establish a minimum wage for the city of

1184
01:32:40,660 --> 01:32:46,660
Alentone is good policy. I think that the state would make a further comment that

1185
01:32:46,660 --> 01:32:51,840
as long as the City Council is issuing commentary related to elimination of

1186
01:32:51,840 --> 01:32:56,140
preemptions is a lot of other things that we'd like to see the state eliminate in

1187
01:32:56,140 --> 01:32:58,760
in terms of preemption, particularly around gun laws.

1188
01:32:59,240 --> 01:33:02,600
So I thank City Council for making this statement

1189
01:33:02,600 --> 01:33:05,600
to our state legislature and encourage you to do more of it.

1190
01:33:05,740 --> 01:33:06,000
Thank you.

1191
01:33:07,260 --> 01:33:08,440
Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

1192
01:33:08,940 --> 01:33:12,180
So we have Susie, the last name.

1193
01:33:22,210 --> 01:33:22,410
Good evening.

1194
01:33:22,770 --> 01:33:26,050
Thank you for letting me speak, President Mayor and controller.

1195
01:33:26,850 --> 01:33:28,250
My name is Miss Susie.

1196
01:33:28,550 --> 01:33:30,650
I cook for the public school system.

1197
01:33:31,410 --> 01:33:33,690
And I've been a member of SEIU,

1198
01:33:33,690 --> 01:33:37,330
workers united for 26 years, which is our union here in Allentown.

1199
01:33:38,270 --> 01:33:46,530
I'm speaking in support of the HB1150, the bill that will raise the minimum wage to 15 per hour and

1200
01:33:46,530 --> 01:33:52,910
lift the preemption to communities like Allentown, that they can make a livable wage.

1201
01:33:53,250 --> 01:34:01,550
I'm speaking in support of the resolution to call on the PA legislation to pass this HB1150.

1202
01:34:01,550 --> 01:34:09,270
My brothers and sisters in union are not making a livable age, $10, $13 an hour, they don't have health care.

1203
01:34:10,190 --> 01:34:18,290
My mother has worked in food service all of her life and still works in food service at the age of 76.

1204
01:34:19,750 --> 01:34:29,030
I have been, she's been an absent parent on my life working under these low wages, works

1205
01:34:29,030 --> 01:34:35,550
every holiday, works every birthday, works every Christmas graduation, weekend, works all

1206
01:34:35,550 --> 01:34:42,950
the time. She finally got two weeks vacation because she had breast cancer. Imagine getting

1207
01:34:42,950 --> 01:34:50,150
two weeks off because you might die. That's kind of sad. The livable wage has

1208
01:34:50,150 --> 01:34:56,180
been in a crisis for a long time. The community as family families are

1209
01:34:56,510 --> 01:34:59,750
dying under the financial starvation of these low

1210
01:35:00,000 --> 01:35:29,320
And unlivable wages where they're at. This is why we, you, I'm so glad that you're practical. Common sense, you've executed that tonight. Thank you for having this on the agenda and letting me address the concern with everything around this. And this is why we should support it. And as I tell the students that I feed, it's a no-brainer. So thank you so much for your common sense. And I yield the rest of my time.

1211
01:35:29,320 --> 01:35:31,540
and thank you for your attention in this matter.

1212
01:35:32,360 --> 01:35:33,100
Thank you.

1213
01:35:38,830 --> 01:35:41,070
Anybody else wish to speak to this?

1214
01:35:41,130 --> 01:35:41,890
I'm Yip.

1215
01:35:42,230 --> 01:35:42,890
Bob Regina.

1216
01:35:44,050 --> 01:35:47,480
Stella, I'm still here.

1217
01:35:51,300 --> 01:35:54,560
Hello, my name is Regina Padilla, and I'm Tom Resonant.

1218
01:35:55,480 --> 01:35:58,340
I would like to share my portion of reality.

1219
01:35:58,720 --> 01:36:03,100
I'm not fond of sharing information regarding my finances,

1220
01:36:03,340 --> 01:36:04,860
but today I do find it necessary.

1221
01:36:05,340 --> 01:36:06,920
I work for a local nonprofits

1222
01:36:07,320 --> 01:36:09,180
with absolutely fuels my soul,

1223
01:36:09,180 --> 01:36:16,900
but I earn $29,000 a year. I pay $1050 a month for housing, which is over 56% of my income,

1224
01:36:16,900 --> 01:36:21,600
and that doesn't include the utilities that I pay. While I feed people for a living, I struggle

1225
01:36:21,600 --> 01:36:28,920
to feed myself. I used to receive snap benefits of $227 a month, but now it's been cut to $23.

1226
01:36:30,180 --> 01:36:35,940
$23. That is a dollar for every year I've been born. I'm currently seeking a second job because full

1227
01:36:35,940 --> 01:36:41,200
time work simply isn't enough to make ends meet. This isn't just my story, it's a story of thousands

1228
01:36:41,200 --> 01:36:47,080
of my fellow residents in Allentown. People who strive each and every day yet fall short. That's

1229
01:36:47,080 --> 01:36:52,100
why I'm encouraging you to back a minimum wage increase to $15 an hour. The minimum wage should not

1230
01:36:52,100 --> 01:36:59,220
be set to $7.25. In addition to being outdated, it's absolutely impossible to live on. A minimum wage

1231
01:36:59,220 --> 01:37:05,580
of 15 is not demanding luxury. It's about rent, groceries, and simply being able to

1232
01:37:05,580 --> 01:37:11,560
break each month. That's what the luxury of $15 offers. Some people will tell you that

1233
01:37:11,560 --> 01:37:15,720
an increase in wages will hurt businesses, but the fact is when workers earn more money,

1234
01:37:15,880 --> 01:37:19,540
they spend more money in their own communities. They support businesses right here in

1235
01:37:19,540 --> 01:37:25,020
Allentown and they have a chance to thrive, not just survive. The people impacted the most

1236
01:37:25,020 --> 01:37:29,720
By low wages are women, people of color and immigrants, the backbone of our workforce.

1237
01:37:30,120 --> 01:37:31,800
We want and deserve more.

1238
01:37:32,420 --> 01:37:38,140
I'm asking you to be bold to lead and to stand up for workers like me who do the right things and cannot get ahead.

1239
01:37:38,440 --> 01:37:46,760
That's why I'm encouraging you to back this resolution that tells Harrisburg to raise the minimum wage to 15 and give control of future wage setting back to the city of Allentown.

1240
01:37:47,120 --> 01:37:47,440
Thank you.

1241
01:37:48,460 --> 01:37:49,180
Thank you.

1242
01:38:01,980 --> 01:38:07,320
I wanted to speak today in support of the raise the resolution. The current minimum wage

1243
01:38:07,320 --> 01:38:13,300
is not livable. I think we all are aware of that. My personal experience is I'm a type

1244
01:38:13,300 --> 01:38:20,120
one diabetic and my health care needs total over $6,000 per month just for diabetes, not

1245
01:38:20,120 --> 01:38:26,900
counting the two other chronic illnesses I have. With a minimum wage job, there is no possible

1246
01:38:26,900 --> 01:38:32,520
way I could cover those expenses. I'm lucky enough to have Medicaid, but we'll see how much longer

1247
01:38:32,520 --> 01:38:37,900
that lasts. But a lot of people don't, a lot of people don't have access to health care,

1248
01:38:38,320 --> 01:38:43,540
and regardless of that, they should be making enough money to have that, to have access to housing,

1249
01:38:43,900 --> 01:38:52,180
health care, and food. And not only does having such a low minimum wage restrict people's access to

1250
01:38:52,180 --> 01:38:57,880
human rights. It also negatively impacts the economy because when people aren't making money to

1251
01:38:57,880 --> 01:39:03,100
even afford their rent, they're certainly not spending money at local businesses. So I really

1252
01:39:03,100 --> 01:39:07,700
urge you all to vote yes on this resolution. Thank you. Thank you.

1253
01:39:12,330 --> 01:39:12,790
Quinn.

1254
01:39:21,870 --> 01:39:29,070
I have been in work for since I was 19, consistently to make a living for myself.

1255
01:39:29,070 --> 01:39:37,650
And I will say every time wages increased, so did the cost of everything else.

1256
01:39:38,270 --> 01:39:47,210
On top of that, every time wages increased, the employers, the upper management,

1257
01:39:47,510 --> 01:39:57,630
always wants less people on the floor, leaving one or two people to take care of 20 to 40 customers in line.

1258
01:39:57,630 --> 01:39:59,450
and

1259
01:40:00,270 --> 01:40:09,510
And I'm working that even today as a side job, which CC Garlic knows about, knows that place.

1260
01:40:13,230 --> 01:40:30,250
And on top of all that, and let's take a look at California right now. They increased minimum wage on fast food employees to 20 bucks an hour. And many people

1261
01:40:30,250 --> 01:40:38,590
many businesses either let people go or shut down the entire businesses they got a phone call

1262
01:40:38,590 --> 01:40:45,730
then very next day after the implementation of the $20 an hour and called off the entire

1263
01:40:45,730 --> 01:40:56,770
crew and say, say, you don't have a job anymore because I can't afford to pay that. So California,

1264
01:40:56,770 --> 01:41:01,370
people, many Californians lost their jobs because of that.

1265
01:41:03,390 --> 01:41:05,930
And this has been

1266
01:41:05,930 --> 01:41:12,630
consistent. Even five little years ago when businesses were so desperate to

1267
01:41:12,630 --> 01:41:21,830
get employees due to the COVID, they increased their wages on their own to

1268
01:41:21,830 --> 01:41:31,390
15 bucks an hour, 15, 20 dollars an hour at McDonald's. And so my big Mac meal

1269
01:41:31,390 --> 01:41:40,130
went from $7 to like $10. Why? Because they were paying more. Could they

1270
01:41:40,130 --> 01:41:46,410
afford to pay the employees better? Oh yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. But that

1271
01:41:46,410 --> 01:41:53,870
doesn't mean greed will stop. And I'm sure that the government is making a lot more money

1272
01:41:54,270 --> 01:42:03,510
in taxes because of those increases between the bias and the employees paying and the big

1273
01:42:03,510 --> 01:42:09,450
corporations, so that's all I got to say about that.

1274
01:42:10,510 --> 01:42:11,470
Thank you.

1275
01:42:12,150 --> 01:42:12,790
That's it.

1276
01:42:14,710 --> 01:42:17,250
Okay, Mr. Hanlon, if you would, could you talk to the vote?

1277
01:42:17,490 --> 01:42:19,990
Okay, on the resolution.

1278
01:42:20,890 --> 01:42:21,750
Mr. Napoli.

1279
01:42:21,990 --> 01:42:22,170
Yes.

1280
01:42:23,210 --> 01:42:24,070
Mr. Santos?

1281
01:42:24,410 --> 01:42:24,630
Yes.

1282
01:42:25,090 --> 01:42:25,650
Mr. Zuckel?

1283
01:42:25,850 --> 01:42:26,010
Yes.

1284
01:42:26,550 --> 01:42:27,430
Mr. Henryk's?

1285
01:42:27,470 --> 01:42:27,670
Yes.

1286
01:42:28,210 --> 01:42:28,690
Saffa?

1287
01:42:29,970 --> 01:42:30,450
Yes.

1288
01:42:31,150 --> 01:42:31,910
Emma's Verlach.

1289
01:42:32,210 --> 01:42:32,370
Yes.

1290
01:42:32,370 --> 01:42:32,630
Yes.

1291
01:42:33,470 --> 01:42:35,210
For example, six years into an A's.

1292
01:42:35,850 --> 01:42:36,390
Thank you.

1293
01:42:39,330 --> 01:42:40,050
Part 50.

1294
01:42:40,310 --> 01:42:44,510
Part 50 approves the submission of an application for a grant from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

1295
01:42:44,510 --> 01:42:49,710
Department of Conservation and Natural Resources for the renovations of Ithaca Park.

1296
01:42:51,270 --> 01:42:53,690
Any comments, questions from my colleagues?

1297
01:42:56,140 --> 01:42:56,660
Seeing none.

1298
01:42:57,080 --> 01:42:58,260
Any comments from the public?

1299
01:42:59,400 --> 01:43:01,700
Seeing none, Mr. Hanley, please conduct the vote.

1300
01:43:02,920 --> 01:43:03,500
Miss Santos.

1301
01:43:03,980 --> 01:43:04,260
Yes.

1302
01:43:04,260 --> 01:43:08,640
Yes, Mr. Zuckel. Yes, Mr. Henry. Yes, Sampa.

1303
01:43:10,920 --> 01:43:19,300
Yes, Girlock. Yes, and Mr. Napoli. Yes, Mr. President, that's a huge image. Thank you. R-51.

1304
01:43:19,920 --> 01:43:24,040
R-51 approves a submission of an application for a grant from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

1305
01:43:24,040 --> 01:43:29,080
Department of Conservation and Natural Resources for the construction of phase two of the MLK trail.

1306
01:43:33,000 --> 01:43:34,900
Any questions or comments from my colleagues?

1307
01:43:36,630 --> 01:43:39,210
Seeing none. Any comments from the public?

1308
01:43:43,430 --> 01:43:56,610
Just a question, if I may, to know where the plans for phase two would be listed, is that on the site for the city?

1309
01:44:06,170 --> 01:44:16,510
Also to know or to request that those plans which you know are however they're made public

1310
01:44:16,510 --> 01:44:22,910
that they are shared widely with the community especially because large amounts of funds go to

1311
01:44:22,910 --> 01:44:30,690
that area and I'm expressing that especially because as many of you probably know that was the area

1312
01:44:30,690 --> 01:44:36,390
before gentrification of a number of black owned businesses homes in the African American

1313
01:44:36,390 --> 01:44:42,750
community formerly known as Lawrence Street. So our community would continue to have a

1314
01:44:42,750 --> 01:44:47,930
great interest in how that's developed. And I know a lot of times the developments happen

1315
01:44:47,930 --> 01:44:53,750
and then their made public or the decisions are then made public afterwards. So I would just like

1316
01:44:53,750 --> 01:44:59,590
to know any ways that those could be made more public. One suggestion might be for someone like

1317
01:44:59,590 --> 01:44:59,890
So

1318
01:45:00,000 --> 01:45:28,940
If we move to here at City Council on a fairly regular basis or tries to me, if those could be shared at the front information desk, and if that can also be put on the social media. And then I also want to commend, you know, obviously when those things are shared that way, it's very helpful to us, the interesting and involved community, because it gives us an opportunity to see it, even if we're not already linked into those committees. So thanks very much for your attention to the many times that that has been done.

1319
01:45:28,940 --> 01:45:36,440
Thank you for your comments, Ms. Kalino is here and did hear them and I'm sure she will follow through on that.

1320
01:45:39,080 --> 01:45:40,020
Anybody else?

1321
01:45:42,260 --> 01:45:43,420
Mr. Hanlon, connect the vote.

1322
01:45:44,320 --> 01:45:56,460
Mr. Zugal. Yes, Mr. Henryx. Yes, Ms. Afa. Yes, Ms. Gorilla. Yes, Mr. Napoli. Yes, Ms. Santos. Yes, Ms.

1323
01:45:56,460 --> 01:45:57,900
I've succeeded in new days.

1324
01:45:58,220 --> 01:45:58,620
Thank you.

1325
01:45:58,780 --> 01:45:59,360
R-51.

1326
01:46:10,970 --> 01:46:11,910
We did R-51.

1327
01:46:15,350 --> 01:46:17,650
Again, that was R-51.

1328
01:46:17,890 --> 01:46:18,330
Oh, I'm sorry.

1329
01:46:18,510 --> 01:46:21,930
We're on to you.

1330
01:46:23,270 --> 01:46:24,690
Order this is for introduction.

1331
01:46:25,630 --> 01:46:26,610
This is for introduction.

1332
01:46:26,910 --> 01:46:30,470
The first one is in amending the 2025 grant funds

1333
01:46:30,470 --> 01:46:32,930
to provide for a supplemental appropriation $1 million

1334
01:46:32,930 --> 01:46:35,650
from the state office of budget, redevelopment assistance,

1335
01:46:35,870 --> 01:46:39,730
capital project funds are passed through grant

1336
01:46:39,730 --> 01:46:41,130
for a seat of press college.

1337
01:46:42,070 --> 01:46:42,650
Good.

1338
01:46:42,870 --> 01:46:44,310
Any comments from the public?

1339
01:46:48,920 --> 01:46:53,960
Seeing none, this will go to, I believe, Ms. Moura.

1340
01:46:54,400 --> 01:46:54,700
Right.

1341
01:46:58,380 --> 01:46:59,120
Not here tonight.

1342
01:47:00,800 --> 01:47:01,900
Bill 38.

1343
01:47:02,180 --> 01:47:06,660
Bill 38 amends the 2025 grant fund budget

1344
01:47:06,660 --> 01:47:09,980
for a supplement appropriation of $400,000.

1345
01:47:11,040 --> 01:47:12,580
Funds are passed through grant

1346
01:47:12,580 --> 01:47:15,220
that will support the police athletic league.

1347
01:47:16,970 --> 01:47:17,330
Thank you.

1348
01:47:17,470 --> 01:47:18,530
Any comments from the public?

1349
01:47:19,930 --> 01:47:23,210
Seeing none, this will go to Ms. Athos committee.

1350
01:47:24,310 --> 01:47:25,770
Yes, thank you, President.

1351
01:47:26,650 --> 01:47:27,110
You're welcome.

1352
01:47:27,470 --> 01:47:28,170
Bill 39.

1353
01:47:28,590 --> 01:47:34,790
Bill 39 is an ordinance that provides for the expenditure of federal funds for the purpose

1354
01:47:34,790 --> 01:47:37,870
of undertaking programs of housing and community development.

1355
01:47:41,090 --> 01:47:41,230
Okay.

1356
01:47:41,370 --> 01:47:44,050
Any comments from the public?

1357
01:47:45,870 --> 01:47:48,770
Seeing none, this will likewise go to Ms. Moda.

1358
01:47:52,460 --> 01:47:52,940
Bill 40.

1359
01:47:52,940 --> 01:47:59,540
Bill 40 amends the 2025 general fund budget for the supplement appropriation of $15,000 from the commonwealth

1360
01:48:00,340 --> 01:48:04,600
to the Allentown Fire and EMS department for training women

1361
01:48:05,280 --> 01:48:07,980
Thank you, Mr. Hanlon any comments from the public?

1362
01:48:09,100 --> 01:48:11,920
Seeing none this will go to your committee

1363
01:48:13,000 --> 01:48:14,780
Councilwoman Miss Affa

1364
01:48:15,640 --> 01:48:17,180
Yes, thank you. That's great

1365
01:48:17,180 --> 01:48:30,800
Bill 41 Bill 41 to mention 2025 got fund budgets to accommodate a reorganization within the fund any comments from the public seeing none

1366
01:48:30,800 --> 01:48:34,960
This will go to your committee miss Grilla. Thank you

1367
01:48:37,810 --> 01:48:45,770
Bill 42 bill 42 amends the civil service board rules governing the appointment and promotion of police officers and firefighters

1368
01:48:46,690 --> 01:48:54,470
Thank you. Any comments from the public? Seeing none, this will go to Councilwoman Miss

1369
01:48:54,470 --> 01:49:02,330
Affa. Yeah, thank you, Mr. President. You're welcome. Bill 43. Bill 43, amended 2025

1370
01:49:02,330 --> 01:49:07,450
grants funds to provide for a supplemental appropriation of a million dollars from the state

1371
01:49:07,450 --> 01:49:14,490
and again, Mrs. Apache grant that will support PD Ministries. Thank you. Any comments from the

1372
01:49:14,490 --> 01:49:24,090
public. Seeing none, this will go to Councilwoman Miss Mota also. Moving on to

1373
01:49:24,090 --> 01:49:29,410
resolutions for introduction. Our 52 is a resolution that establishes a

1374
01:49:29,410 --> 01:49:33,790
special committee to work with the police department to review and develop

1375
01:49:33,790 --> 01:49:37,690
community policing. Any comments from the public?

1376
01:49:40,240 --> 01:49:42,180
If I can Mr. Head Councilor

1377
01:49:42,180 --> 01:49:48,860
President Hendricks this is you have the option to vote on these right now I think that you voting

1378
01:49:48,860 --> 01:49:53,620
now would just accelerate the development of that committee and allow that work to get started

1379
01:49:53,620 --> 01:49:54,580
to ride on the waiter.

1380
01:49:56,810 --> 01:49:57,810
I'm fine with that.

1381
01:49:58,270 --> 01:49:59,870
I would just say this, Ms. Gugro.

1382
01:50:00,000 --> 01:50:03,560
Ms. Moda was the sponsor of this and was thinking that it would go to committee.

1383
01:50:06,500 --> 01:50:12,560
And in light of her not being here tonight, I would rather not the primer of that. That's okay.

1384
01:50:16,440 --> 01:50:35,420
Okay. So this will go to Ms. Moda's committee. Anything? I think it goes to public safety. I think that makes it a mic committee. Yes, public safety. Oh, I'm sorry. You're right. Yeah. Okay. Once again, not mic committee. Okay.

1385
01:50:35,420 --> 01:50:35,700
Okay.

1386
01:50:36,400 --> 01:50:36,620
Okay.

1387
01:50:37,040 --> 01:50:37,820
Defer to you.

1388
01:50:38,880 --> 01:50:40,220
Anything for good and welfare?

1389
01:50:42,630 --> 01:50:42,970
Okay.

1390
01:50:43,250 --> 01:50:44,110
Speedings adjourned.