Council Meeting

10/9/19 Council Meeting

By: Carolyn Maxwell

PERTH AMBOY – During the first public comments, resident Stanley Sierakowski came up to question R-445-10/19 – A contract with D&H Alternative Risk Solutions of Newton New Jersey for Risk Management, Third Party Administrative Services, Managed Medical Care and PPO Access Administration and Safety Training for a 3 year period commencing January 1, 2020 thru December 31, 2022 for an amount not to exceed $255,000 per year.

Council President Bill Petrick stated, “This is a company who gave us a $2 million check (At a previous meeting, a representative from this company came up to explain how they had gone to court on some cases, such as when an employee went out on maternity leave and was paid during that time and she never came back to work. They were able to go to court to recoup some of that money.)”

Sierakowski then questioned R-440-10/19 – Professional services with Center State Engineering for preparations of a preapplication for Green Acres Land Diversion – Board of Education Land Swap (175 Seaman Ave.) in an amount not to exceed $7,500.

Sierakowski stated, “The city can’t use this land because of the contaminants. Donate it to the Board of Education for a parking lot. It can’t be used for anything else.” He then talked about the lot on the corner of New Brunswick Avenue and East Avenue. “The city probably wants it for housing.”

Council President William Petrick responded, “We proposed to use that lot for a park.”

Sierakowski retorted back, “You might not even be here next year.”

Petrick responded back, “I will be here.”

Sierakowski added, “It’s a great location for a condo.”

Resident Ken Balut came up next. He talked about R-453 – Authorizing submission of an application to the Middlesex County Department of Community Services for the Code Blue Warming Center Funding Opportunity. 

Balut referenced, “What’s going to happen when the hospital changes to a psychiatric hospital?” He then pivoted over to R-450-10/19 – Authorizing the city to execute a contract with the Raritan Bay Area YMCA – Center for Support, Success, and Prosperity in the amount $15,000 (which is a CDBG Grant).

“The Y owes us over $2 million. The CEO and employees get a lot of benefits. You should see how much money they get. It’s up to the council to do a complaint and investigate this. The same employee who had gotten a house through a CDBG Grant is now buying another house.”

Law Director Peter King responded, “The Jewish Renaissance is a private entity.”

Resident Stanley Sierakowski shouted out from the audience, “The council should go to the attorney general to investigate this.”

Petrick then questioned, “When the YMCA collects fees, should some of the money they collect go to paying the city what they owe. Is the Y cooperating with the auditor?”

Business Administrator Frederick Carr stated, “The Council can decide not to award the money (allocated to Center for Support, Success, and Prosperity) and can roll it over to the Department of Recreation.

After the public portion was closed, there was a vote on the ordinances. Ordinance No. 1 An ordinance to amend an ordinance entitled, “Vehicles and Traffic” re: parking prohibited on Andrews Drive and Wagner Avenue.

When it came time to vote: Council Members Joel Pabon and Milady Tejeda both voted: “No” for Andrews Drive, but “Yes” for Wagner. Pabon said that they need to address the issues related to the Heat Club (local bar). The other Council Members all voted “Yes” to everything.

City Engineer Jeff Rauch came forward to give more detailed information, “The Zoning and Planning Boards were not involved in this. Code Enforcement is the one who has to deal with the problems associated with parking for this club. They are the ones who have to investigate this.”

When it came to vote for Resolutions, R-428 thru R-449 and R-452 thru R-453 was moved by Councilman Fernando Irizarry and seconded by Councilman Joel Pabon. R-450 was asked to be pulled to be voted on separately by Councilman Fernando Irizarry. Councilwoman Milady Tejeda asked for R-451 – A contract with the Jewish Renaissance Foundation Alternative Education Institute in the amount of $15,000 (CDBG Grant) to be voted on separately. 

R-450 was moved by Councilman Irizarry and seconded by Councilman Joel Pabon. When to vote, everyone voted “Yes” except for Irizarry who voted “No.” For R-451, Councilwoman Tejeda said they needed to table this because many people have come here to talk about concerns about the Jewish Renaissance giving houses to people who they felt were not entitled to or did not meet the criteria to qualify for those houses.

B.A. Carr wanted to clarify R-450, “This is not for the YMCA which is part of the Public Safety Complex. It’s only for the property located on Smith Street.”

During the second public portion, Stanley Sierakowski came up first and told the council they must have oversight (when granting the CDBG monies). “You should know that person’s income that is requesting the money, and who will benefit from the grant.” Sierakowski then asked, “Did the council win or lose the case dissolving PARA? And if you did lose the case, what reasons were given, and did you have a recourse?”

Council President Petrick responded, “We’re waiting for the minutes to come out.”

Resident Ken Balut came up, “Go to Long Branch to see the units that Kushner built there. The DeCotiis Law Firm is filing a lawsuit against the city regarding the Kushner properties. There was a person who owned a Kushner property who had a laundry unit in it which was not even big enough to put in washer and a dryer. No firestops were put in. After Arlene Quinones Perez left, she said the Mayor gave her power to negotiate for the city with Kushner. An owner of a unit at the Kushner property in Perth Amboy voted by phone (at the special PARA meeting) to approve a new 600-unit Kushner project. There was no quorum for that meeting. There will be an impact on the schools and traffic. These people (the Kushners) are criminals. The apartments are garbage. Why are we bending over backwards for Kushner? We are lower than Asbury Park and Long Branch if you allow this. Our City Engineer did not even know the old naval building was knocked down. The Engineer did not know about the lights (on the walkway near the Landings associated with that building) were out. This is incompetency.”

Police Chief Roman McKeon came up next and addressed Council President Petrick, “You (the council) and the Mayor do not support each other. Now, the police have been victimized. Since I was promoted to Chief, I have been criticized, and have been under a microscope. I know a lot of people have not been happy with my promotion. I found the e-mail from Council President Petrick to be offensive. He implies that I don’t know what I am doing.” He then continued to address Petrick. “You question our detectives and how we do investigations. We need unity, togetherness, and to work as a team. The people love this city. You need to get politics out of this, and you need to respect me as I respect you. The police are in the crossfire.” He then went on to explain how a robbery took place in one of the stores in downtown Smith Street. “The police were able to get fingerprints off of a bag of potato chips which enabled us capture the robber. You can pull all the reports of all the incidents I’m telling you about.”

Petrick responded, “I addressed issues from the public. Sometimes they come to us  with their concerns instead of the police.”

McKeon responded, “There is no such thing as a secret in Perth Amboy.”

Petrick then continued, “A former B.A. said that Department Heads don’t have to respond to the council. People complained that there is not enough police presence downtown.”

McKeon added, “We are down 30 officers.” McKeon continued, “There are not enough officers to back up an officer who may need additional assistance. There was an instance where we were looking for 2 missing kids near the YMCA. At the same time, there was activity being investigated on the other side of town. Our Narcotics Division went from 7 to 3 officers. Our Community Officers went from 6 to 2. The Traffic Division went from 6 personnel to 3. Whenever a Crossing Guard is absent, we have to have someone from the Traffic Division to cover for them.” McKeon went on to explain, “The police made arrest where they confiscated over $15,000 in drugs. Supervisors are working overtime and getting burnt out. I know we have to have more police who have their feet on the ground. There were 132 police officers under the Joe Vas administration. Now, there are 110. We are struggling to keep the substation (on Madison Avenue) open, but sometimes we don’t have the manpower to open it. I will take the heat. Between September 2018 to September 2019 violent crime went down 17%. I appreciate the 5 new officers that were given to us. I don’t like to share e-mails like this. Our police department was recognized by the state. We don’t always need to have negative rhetoric, but we need to know you’ll have our back. I know you support us.”

Petrick then asked McKeon, “In the case of the missing children, did you ask for help from the Fire Department?”

McKeon answered no.

Petrick said, “You should have utilized them.”

McKeon explained, “In the case of the missing children, (who were at the YMCA) – they live on the other side of the tracks that are not active, and they decided to walk home. Just ask me, and I will give you the truth. I don’t tell you how to run your job. Don’t tell me how to run mine. I’ve been doing this for 30 years. You can talk about me, but support my officers.”

Resident Alan Silber came up. As he started to talk, Chief McKeon was leaving the council chambers. Silber remarked, “I thought the chief would still be here (until the end of the meeting). McKeon came back and sat down to hear what Silber had to say. Silber remarked, “I can’t believe all the police officers that are here at this meeting. At the last meeting (9/25/19), there was only one officer and there was a large intimidating crowd. If the chief had been notified about their permit (protesting outside of city hall and the council chambers) to have all those people there at the last meeting, then there should have been more officers here.” At that point, McKeon got up and left the meeting. 

Silber then questioned the council, “What will happen when we have more buildings come into the city? The special PARA meeting was advertised on Saturday, but nothing was posted on the bulletin board (by the City Clerk’s Office). What was the emergency (calling for a special PARA Meeting)? It (the topics) should have been discussed on the same day as the regular PARA Meeting.”

Resident Sharon Hubberman came up to speak next, “The tides have turned.” She then talked about people who own private companies and don’t clean up their garbage. “This also tells you about the leadership (in our city). The last meeting was a lack of leadership. The council supported the police, the DPW, and the fire departments when it came to the budget. There was a directive that the council could not contact the department heads. We had contaminated water which caused resentment. We have 3 contaminated wells and multiple levels of certain contaminants. How is my statement causing indignation? What I share with you is from my heart and for the people.”

Former President of the Library Board of Trustees Barbara Sottilaro came up to speak next. She thanked the council for getting the work down paving Gornik Drive. “There still some streets in that area that need paving.” She also thanked the council for keeping the taxes lower. “I’m appalled at the mayor’s actions and her attack on Joel Pabon.” Sottilaro was concerned that the Perth Amboy Library has an interim Library Director for the past 11 months. “He is a nice man, but he’s not qualified for the job. We need a certified Library Director.”

B.A. Carr responded, “We only got one person who is qualified, but they live in California.”

Barbara Sottilaro suggested, “We should go to Rutgers.”

Carr responded, “We have not gotten a response from them.”

Council President Petrick then asked, “Are there statewide searches?”

Sottilaro answered, “There are many social medial sites (where the city can advertise for a Library Director).”

Carr responded, “I have put searches on them all. If you can find a director, let me know.”

Petrick then said, “I heard they need 2 positions in the library: a Library Director and another employee.”

Sottilaro said, “The only position open is for Library Director.”

Petrick said, “Eleni (Glykis – the Former Library Director) was very innovative, but we lost her.”

Sottilaro concluded, “A lot of times, the Library Board of Trustees don’t have quorum when the meet, and sometimes people will phone in to the meetings.”

Resident Reinaldo Aviles came up to speak and addressed the situation with finding a Library Director, “I don’t know if you would get a qualified person. People know that Eleni was pushed out, and that she had a lack of support.” He then went on to talk about the special PARA meeting. “Under certain circumstances, you (a member of a municipal board) can phone into a meeting. With a special meeting, there has to be 48 hours prior notice before the meeting. The Mayor said it was a special meeting. If it was not posted, then the meeting was null and void.”

Council Comments: 

Councilman Helmin Caba said, “I was accused of not picking up my budget binder. Unless there was a new binder (that was made up), then this was the only budget given to the council. The Mayor’s Aide at the time accused me of not picking up the budget. I had the budget at the time she said I didn’t. Someone at the last meeting (9/25/19) said that no councils anywhere in the state did defunding of titles. It was done here in the past. The term was then called: “phased out”. I was accused of not being a true Latino. We gave everyone at that last meeting their 5 minutes, but not for us to be shouted at. I’m for protesting, but do it respectfully. There was a pre-protest with the same group of people. They were shouting a phrase: “White men out!” That is reverse discrimination. That should not have a place in Perth Amboy. Race, nationality, and gender should not matter. Everyone is quick to throw out those terms (to cry discrimination). We need to get over it.” Caba then addressed what happened in 2016, “I was at your (the Mayor’s) campaign headquarters. Your (the Mayor’s) people showed me a selected few of Petrick’s posts on his Facebook. I look at Petrick’s Facebook and he reposted things from Hilary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, moderate conservative – all different views and current events, but he did not comment on the posts. They were cherry picked. The Mayor tried to say I was quiet about the posts (in 2016). If it was only posts from one party, then I would have protested. Let’s not mud things up. Go through Petrick’s Facebook to see for yourself. Saying “White men out!” has no place in our city. I know the police feel they are underpaid and unappreciated. The morale is down, but not because of the council.”

Councilman Fernando Irizarry had no comments.

Councilman Joel Pabon said, “Many of us have been in charge of people. I have in my job and in the military. My biggest concern is that nobody talks to the police officers before they leave. After 4-5 years, the police get a substantial pay raise. I urge McKeon to sit down with the officers and let them know they should hang in there. McKeon has to question how he can stop the bleeding. It’s not us.”

Councilwoman Milady Tejeda said, “Some people complain about nonessential people (being defunded). They should picket about needing more police. They advocated for defunded positions, but not for our police. The administration is there day to day. We used to get a lot of briefings about what’s going on in the city, but it stopped. Citizens question us about things that happen in the city that we don’t know about. If 600 units are built (by Kushner), what school will those kids go to that live in those buildings? I will never vote “Yes” to another apartment building going up.”

Council President Bill Petrick said, “I appreciate all those who spoke, and I appreciated what Chief McKeon said, but the buck stops with him. I have relatives in the police department here and in other towns. If there’s a morale problem in the police department, then McKeon should look within. I asked Mr. Carr to work with Barbara (Sottilaro) to find a new Library Director. We had an innovative young woman who was driven out and suspended because she spoke the truth. Many individuals left the town because of all the negativity.”