Code Enforcement Director Irving Lozada and Sub-Code Supervisor Melski at the 11/25/19 Caucus *Photo by Carolyn Maxwell
11/25/19 Caucus & Council Meeting
By: Carolyn Maxwell
PERTH AMBOY – Code Enforcement Director Irving Lozada was present at the caucus to give a brief overview of the operations and the differences between what has occurred so far versus the same time period in 2018. “This year, we’ve had 396 citizens’ complaints. This includes illegal housing, noise, and parking problems. The illegal housing complaints are down because of more enforcement. We are going after owners of multiple houses. There have been more significant issues regarding code compliances certificates because of more people who either bought or sold their houses.”
Scott Melski who is a Sub-Code Supervisor in Code Enforcement spoike next, “There were 3,568 licenses issued for construction. These numbers are higher than last year. Many regulations were relaxed by 30% because the state no longer requires permits to be issued for certain work or improvements done to a house. For instance, in the past if you wanted to do siding, roofing, or any kind of window treatments to your house you needed to have a permit. State regulations said that permits are no longer required for those types of jobs. We are battling the state on some of those changes.”
Councilman Fernando Irizarry then questioned, “If someone does a roofing job on your house, and they do a terrible job, do you have any recourse?”
Melski said, “The owner would have to take that person to court.”
Councilman Helmin Caba suggested, “We should upload on the city’s website what a person no longer needs a permit for.”
Council President William Petrick then added, “People can go on the city’s website to see if the contractor they hired is telling them the truth regarding needing a permit to do a job.”
Melski said, “We have received $1.5 million in fees for permits and the fees for 2018 were over $600,000. This figure does not include plumbing, electric, and fire permits.”
Lozada then spoke up, “People are buying and fixing more houses. There was $1.7 million collected in fees so far this year.”
Petrick then questioned Lozada about the IPads that Code Enforcement had obtained in previous years. “They were supposed to input information into these IPads while conducting a property inspection to transmit to the office computer. This was before you became Director of Code Enforcement.”
Lozada replied, “That never happened. We are requesting additional vehicles for Code Enforcement, and we will be using the money from collected fees for this purpose.”
Councilman Joel Pabon talked about making sure that permits are not closed if there is a call for reinspection.
Melski said, “Fees are collected before the work is done.”
Lozada then told the Council, “We need more people in Code Enforcement. We are down because one person is expecting a baby.”
Melski then added, “We need at least 3 people in the office all the time.”
Pabon then suggested, “We should have a team focusing on illegal housing. I think it’s that serious. It affects parking and the quality of life.”
Lozada responded, “We only have 5 inspectors for 5 zones in the city. Sometimes people will begin to work on a house, but that work will not be finished. They can take as long as they want due to the fact that the state relaxing some the permit laws. This make the city look bad.”
Melski continued, “We can only enforce what the state guidelines tell us.”
After the presentation, Councilman Irizarry had a dispute regarding the minutes from the November 13, 2019 minutes in regards to R-500-11/19 – Resolution. He stated, “At that meeting, I said we are being taken advantage of (regarding being a Code Blue city). Mr. Carr said the same and Mr. Carr also said he saw an out-of-town police car drop off someone by the 7-11 near the train station. This should have been reflected in the minutes.”
There was also a brief discussion regarding Ordinance No. 2 – Rescinding Chapter 353, Rent Control, of Ordinances of the City of Perth Amboy – first reading.
Law Director Peter King told the Council, “We need the Rent Control Board in place for this ordinance (to take place).”
Council President Petrick then asked, “Is there is a 5% cap statewide when it comes to raising rent?” Deputy Municipal Department Head Department of Human Services Office of Housing and Social Services Tashi Vasquez said she believed the state does not have a 5% increase, “They leave it up to the town to decide what they want to do.”
Law Director King then replied, “The courts will decide under certain circumstances what a rent increase should be.”
Director of Recreation and Humans Resources Ken Ortiz came forward and stated, “There is a renter’s registration. This will show the number of people in an apartment and the rents they are being charged. This is important because it has evidence and it will benefit both the owners and the renters.”
It was decided that Ordinance No. 2 to be tabled.
During the public portion, Resident Ken Balut came up to speak. He talked about 2 cases that have not been settled in court yet. “So far, the legal fees are over $300,000. The Mayor is filing a deposition on one of these cases. The lawyer fees are more than what the plaintiff requested. In 2016, a woman was accused of killing someone in a motor vehicle accident. Now, the Mayor is giving this woman a community service award. This woman is going on trial now for that 2016 accident. So, is the Mayor trying to influence the jury by all of sudden giving this woman an award?”
Balut then turned his attention to the YMCA, “They are not getting billed for any utility services.”
Carr explained, “We don’t send them bills.”
Council President Bill Petrick spoke up, “When one of our former B.A.’s Greg Fehrenbach was here, he would send bills to the YMCA.”
Balut then asked, “What was given by the companies who were given PILOTs? This is incompetency.”
Petrick spoke up again, “Now, it’s hard to separate all the utility bills.”
Resident Vince Mackiel came up next, “We need to recreate the Rent Leveling Board. The rents are too high. I’ll even volunteer to be on the Board. I appreciated the comments made by Councilmen Irizarry and Pabon and their concerns for the residents. Some people affected by rents going up may be Veterans and low-income people. A C/O (Certificate of Occupancy) is always needed first. The Ordinance was created to protect the citizens (Rent Leveling Board).”
Councilman Helmin Caba responded to Balut’s questioning the woman who got the Community Award who is on trial for killing a pedestrian in a motor vehicle accident in 2016. The lady who got the award does a lot for the community. She made a mistake that could have happened to any of us.”
The council went into closed session at 6:56 p.m. The council came back at 7:39 p.m. to adjourn the caucus and opened the regular meeting at 7:40 p.m.
In the first public portion, resident Ken Balut came back to question the closed session Item No. 2 – Potential litigation – redevelopment – PARA.
Balut stated, “One of the PARA members, Mr. Jacobs had a conflict of interest. Jacobs had sued the developer (Kushner) and settled, so he should not have been able to talk about any case (involving the Kushner Companies). Even the PARA lawyer sued Kushner. The Mayor’s daughter got a scholarship from a college that Kushner sits on the board. I heard this is done to other politicians’ There are no firestops installed in the Kushner building apartments. There was one apartment that had water leaking into an apartment below it. Annie Hindenlang (Executive Director of PARA) had lived in one of Kushner’s apartments.”
Council President Bill Petrick then remarked, “This could be a level of corruption.”
Balut then mentioned, “A member of PARA phoned into a 10 a.m. meeting when there was no pubic discussion. Former Law Director Arlene Quinones said that she was representing the Mayor at a meeting with Kushner’s representatives after she had left the city.”
Businessman Jeremy Baratta came up next and questioned R-518-11/19 – Authorizing professional service agreements with qualifying attorneys who submitted responses to request the qualifications for various legal services for CY 2020. He stated, “The council can reject any RFP’s and they would not be on the approved list.”
Petrick then questioned, “Can they be disqualified due to cause?”
Baratta then continued, “The engineering firm Centerstate was cut by the Planning Board. You have a right to reject and resubmit.”
Law Director Peter King spoke up to make a clarification, “This resolution is an RFQ, which is for qualifications. You (the Council) have a right to refuse to use the services of someone on a qualified list. This is an RFQ which is a request for qualifications.” King continued, “If they meet the qualifications and you reject them, they can sue.”
When it came time for the consent agenda R-507 thru R-530 was moved by Councilman Fernando Irizarry and seconded by Joel Pabon. For one resolution, the council asked for a slight change to be made. For R-521-11/19 – Authorizing a temporary 2-hour suspension of parking meter fees on Smith Street from November 29, 2019 thru January 1, 2020. At the caucus meeting Joel Pabon said it should be free parking – period during this time-frame. All the council members present agreed.
During the last public portion, Ken Balut came up and was concerned about the buses that were parking illegally in the Budapest section, especially on Bruck Avenue where he lives. He also mentioned there was a flyer for a house that was for sale near him. “According to the flyer, it said that the house had 2 driveways even though it’s only about 25 ft. wide. There are a lot of cars parked there. Code Enforcement needs to be there to do their job instead of always complaining about a lack of manpower. Irving (Lozada – Director of Code Enforcement) is a nice man, but he is not qualified. Send the DCA to do an investigation. The clerk who worked at the court who left had a special meeting to make her a deputy court clerk. The Mayor should be made to testify about this.”
Resident Vince Mackiel came up to speak next. He asked, “What are the qualifications and duties of the Rent Leveling Board? The city has public places on Convery Boulevard to safeguard them for the city to use for renewable energy to create something for the public to use.”
Businessman Jeremy Baratta came up next. He was concerned because the BID is a separate legal entity and has its own budget. Since I’m in the business district, I receive their email updates. Recently, I started getting emails connected to the BID website that are from Noelia Colon. It’s connected to P.I.O.PerthAmboyNJ.org. This is containing political information related to Mayor Wilda Diaz. Why am I getting my BID emails about Wilda Diaz’s accomplishments and awards she has gotten? There are emails from BID which are promoting non-BID activities. They are using BID resources to promote Diaz a year before her reelection.”
Resident Alan Silber came up next and questioned why was a Code Enforcement Vehicle parked illegally in front of City Hall. He also questioned the award which was given by the Mayor to a woman who was involved in a tragic motor-vehicle accident. “This award was given to this woman 3 weeks before she the trial was to begin. Was the victim a good person and did she deserve to die? I don’t know if this was an attempt to influence the jury and the judge.”
Silber then talked about a shooting that happened on Hall Avenue a few years ago when a man was killed, and the 2 police officers involved also got an award.” Silber then addressed the council, “How would you feel if it had been your family member that was a victim (and the person who caused their death received an award).
Council Comments:
Councilman Helmin Caba wished everyone a Happy and Blessed Thanksgiving and remembered those who were having a hard time or are lonely or dealing with stress. “I am very grateful. We’re always hearing about tragic news. I hope everyone has a joyous holiday.”
Councilman Fernando Irizarry wanted to thank everyone who helped out during the community dinners. He also thanked PRAHD. “They did a great job on Puerto Rico Discovery Day. The food and cultural entertainment were very good.” He also thanked Code Enforcement and those who did a presentation regarding the upcoming census. He also mentioned the upcoming business parade and tree lighting (Saturday, November 30th). He then asked if someone from the court system can do a presentation. “I heard someone ask on a radio show: What are you thankful for?” I want to thank everyone here, the city employees, my fellow Council Members and the administration for trying to make the city better.” He also thanked the public who watch on TV. “I wish everyone a happy and healthy Thanksgiving.”
Councilman Joel Pabon had an issue with the woman who got the award shortly before she was to go on trial. “It could happen to anyone. Texting and driving is an epidemic. Pedestrians are also at fault. Many times, they have their heads down and are looking at their phone when they are crossing the street. When I saw the video (of the accident), it hit home. It’s very easy to hit someone.” Pabon also cautioned, “Especially nowadays you have to look after your children. You could turn around for 2 seconds and someone can take your child. You have to pay attention. People are getting very bold with child abduction and human trafficking. We need to get this on social media. Have a safe and healthy Thanksgiving.”
Council President Petrick thanked everyone and wished everyone here and those watching on TV-land a Happy Thanksgiving.
Councilwoman Milady Tejeda was absent from both the caucus and council meetings.
