3/25/19 Caucus
By: Carolyn Maxwell
PERTH AMBOY – Councilman Fernando Irizarry requested that the Redevelopment Agency be put on discussion for the Caucus due to many lingering questions as to its status. He mentioned, “Myself and Helmin Caba met with the Mayor and the Administration about how to proceed with PARA. We came to a compromise with the Mayor and Administration. It was taken off the table and when was the decision made? What is now on the table?” Irizarry then read an ordinance regarding how appointments are made to the Redevelopment Agency. “I need clarification on what is the governing body according to the ordinance. Who are they?”
Law Director Peter King responded, “The Council is the governing body. With the Faulkner Plan B, the Mayor appoints the members with the consent of the governing body.”
Irizarry then repeated that he understood, “In the Faulkner form of government, the Mayor appoints with the consent of Council except for the Zoning Board Members.”
King spoke again and explained, “In other forms of government, the Council would have the power and the Mayor would be part of the governing body. In your ordinance, two Council Members would be appointed, and the terms have to be staggered. You would not want to appoint someone that has multiple properties or projects in town.”
Irizarry spoke again and stated, “The Mayor is not going to remove herself from PARA, but she’s willing to have two Council Members appointed. None of the Council Members, nor the Mayor will be on the Executive Board of PARA. I would prefer for the Mayor to remove herself from PARA, but you can’t always get what you want.”
Councilman Caba made a few remarks, “We agree to have two Council Members on PARA. The issue is that the Mayor sits on the Board. No other Mayors whose towns have Faulkner Acts sit on their Redevelopment Boards. We should have Council Members sit on PARA for only one year. Corruption has come about when Council Members sit on Boards too long. I don’t know why the Mayor feels she has to sit on this Board.”
Irizarry then stated, “There are professionals who side with our point of view and others who side with the Mayor. We have to move ahead.”
Councilman Caba remarked, “I am confident that the Council can handle projects coming in because we have experts. We can eliminate PARA. If the Mayor gets reelected several times, she can choose to be on PARA every year.”
Councilman Joel Pabon spoke up and suggested, “We need to move on this now. A lot of contaminated land has already been cleaned up.”
Councilwoman Tejeda then stated, “The problem is that we can’t come to an agreement.”
Business Administrator Frederick Carr spoke up to try to address up some of the issues. “PARA has seven members. Whatever recommendations they make have to come before the Council. You need to move forward.”
Caba then remarked, “The Mayor said she wants to choose the Council Members for PARA.”
Irizarry then stated, “We told her no and the Council themselves would choose what two Members would serve on PARA. The Ordinance said the Council would appoint two Members.”
Council President Bill Petrick spoke next, “I don’t think you got a compromise from the Mayor. The only item from the Meeting that you attended was that the Mayor said she would not be the Chair. When Lisa Nanton was the Council President, she asked to move forward to disband PARA and asked the Law Director to look into this. I thought this would have been done and gone before the DCA (Department of Community Affairs). The Mayor is still serving as the Chair. This is not a compromise when she is still sitting as Chair. This seems to be a delay tactic. You are not following through with the paperwork. We can reallocate money for professionals. PARA has become problematic. Former B.A. Fehrenbach got rid of two agencies to incorporate them into the City (Marina and Parking Authority). The Council should take over PARA’s duties.”
Pabon then spoke again, “We can’t throw everything at the committee. It was not Irizarry’s idea alone.”
Petrick spoke again and was adamant, “We need to move forward.”
Irizarry spoke again stating, “This is going to cost the City money that we don’t have at this time.”
Milady Tejeda asked, “When was the subcommittee created?”
B.A. Carr responded, “When I was hired.”
Tejeda then stated, “We need to follow the paperwork.”
This prompted Council President Bill Petrick to see if there can have a straw poll of the Council to get this done (pursuing dissolving PARA). “We just paid the Director of Law an additional $150,000.”
When polled, Councilmen Irizarry and Pabon said, “No.”
After this was done, Law Director King spoke up, “Until the Department of Community Affairs approves an Ordinance (dissolving PARA), and sends it back for a vote, the Mayor and PARA will still continue to function (as is).”
Petrick responded, “I want to stress that the Mayor made illegal appointments to PARA and those who got letters of appointment should be notified of this.”
King spoke again and told the Council, “The Ordinance you have is not legal. A Constitutional Crisis has been created that may to court or may be decided by the DCA.”
During the public portion, Resident Stanley Sierakowski came up to speak first and referenced R-170-3/19 A Resolution to override the Mayor’s veto of an Ordinance entitled An Ordinance to submit the proposition to the voters at the November 5, 2019 General Election that the City of Perth Amboy adopt a holding of runoff elections as permitted by the Uniform Nonpartisan Elections Law.
“Are there any legalities if the Mayor decides to sue?” Sierakowski asked.
King assured Sierakowski that the Ordinance covers everything.
Sierakowski then questioned, “Where was the $8 million shortfall in the budget first noticed? It’s a lot of money. Please ask the CFO about this. Can you sell bonds to avoid layoffs? You are responsible for the tax increase and everything is on the table. The governing body appointed their own members to PARA. Just rename PARA and keep the current professionals.”
Resident Ken Balut came up next. “Who negotiated the PILOT that was dumped in your laps? Who did all the negotiations? The Mayor stood up for Kushner. You are being held responsible for problems dumped in your laps? The Department of Public Works can’t go for training because of the City supplementing the Y. Let’s cut the Mayor’s budget and move people around. What about the land the Mayor wanted to give away for $10? She doesn’t want to take responsibility for anything and wants to stay on PARA because of dark money. She’s incompetent. I know of someone whose taxes went up because they had siding put on their house. Certain people who do the right thing get punished. There is no follow-up on illegal housing.”
Resident Alan Silber came up next and questioned two appointment to PARA, “One person did work for the other and the letter of appointment went to a commercial address. Redevelopment has been a disaster. A lot of terms for the Members of PARA have expired unless the website hasn’t been updated. Taxes are going up because we changed the nepotism ordinance. You have to stick up for your rights. Of the $500,000 lawsuit, the City had to pay $300,000 of it. This can’t happen over and over again.”
Resident and Former Councilwoman Lisa Nanton came up next. She recalled in mid-December 2016 that there was supposed to be a Meeting regarding eliminating PARA. “The day before the Meeting we were asked to meet with the Mayor. Members of the Finance Board appeared with the Mayor in photos. You need to have three legal opinions. You don’t want to have a lot of elected officials on PARA. PARA circumvents the laws and the zoning laws are meant to protect us. Until this is all straightened out, please hold off on these appointments to PARA. It’s a way for contractors and developers to give money.”
