9/23/20 Perth Amboy Council Meeting

By: Carolyn Maxwell

PERTH AMBOY – During the public comments, resident Ken Balut came up to talk about Resolutions R-349-9/20 thru R-352-9/20 (settlements filed by Landings at Harborside LLC for various properties). Balut insisted that whoever who did the tax appeals did it wrong. “One of the tenants was given a summons for not having a firewall. It is Kushner’s responsibility and why are there no amounts listed for the settlements? It’s really sad what Kushner gets away with.” He then went on to talk about R-359-9/20 – Adopting the personnel policy manual revised as of September 18, 2020. “Does this include judges, chaplains, business administrators, and other administrative hiring’s? What about sexual harassment? A judge dismissed (sexual harassment) charges without a hearing. No one wants to handle sexual harassment charges. There were no penalties for someone who wrote sexual harassment letters. Can the public see the Best Practices/Personnel Manual? Don’t pass this resolution until the public views the manual?”

Councilman
Fernando Irizarry

Resident Alan Silber came up next to talk about the same resolution. “When was the manual put up for the public to see? Was it in the backup material on Monday? The public couldn’t even ask questions. Did the Former Business Administrator (Frederick Carr) work on this policy?”

Council President Bill Petrick answered, “Yes. There’s a possibility that the personnel manual was late because of Carr being let go. The manual is also 117 pages long.”

Silber then continued, “There was no continuity and instability because of personnel being changed.”

Interim Business Administrator Patricia Perkins spoke up, “Only a few abbreviated changes were made – not the full manual.”

City Clerk Victoria Kupsch said, “The latest changes in the manual were not available until today for me to distribute to the council.”

The council voted on the ordinances: Ordinance No. 1 – Renovations to the Parking Deck and Parking Utility; Ordinance No. 2 & 3 – Bond Ordinance for the water/wastewater utility improvements; Ordinance No. 4 – Bond Ordinance for various capital improvements; Ordinance No. 5 – Designating handicapped restricted parking spaces for handicapped persons; Ordinance No. 6 – Salary and salary ranges regarding Blue Collar Teamsters Local#27. (First Reading) were all moved by Councilman Fernando Irizarry and seconded by Councilman Joel Pabon. 

For the consent agenda: R-345 thru R-348; R-353 thru R-358; R-360, R-361, R-363, R-366, R-368 thru R-370 was moved by Irizarry and seconded by Pabon. R-349 thru R-352 (Landings Settlements) and R-367 (Change Order to contract of Maser Consulting for the Raritan River Park Green Acres Project in an amount not to exceed $36,000) were asked to be pulled by Councilwoman Milady Tejeda. When it came to vote, R-349 thru R-352 was moved by Irizarry and seconded by Pabon. Tejeda was the only council member to vote “No” on R-349 thru R-352. Pabon made a comment that he had talked to people in Code Enforcement and there were 6 fines pending on these properties. Petrick also made a statement regarding these resolutions, “The reason I voted “yes” is the tax assessor stated that if the city had to go to court, it would cost us more money.”

For R-367, Tejeda asked, “What was the reason for the change order?”

Petrick explained that it was in the backup material.

B.A. Perkins then stated, “It has to do with abutment by Conrail or New Jersey Transit.”

Law Director Peter King had additional comments and stated, “That additional property had been discussed.”

Council President Petrick then added, “It had to be determined what property was under the Department of Transportation. Surveys were needed for the mason to do other plans. Most of the property is a parking lot and this is off Riverview Drive.”

R-367 was moved by Irizarry and seconded by Tejeda. All voted “Yes”.

Irizarry had asked that R-359 (Adopting the Personnel Policy Manual) be pulled to be voted on separately. The council had many concerns. 

Irizarry said, “We got the manual on Friday and the rest I got on Monday. I will not vote on something handed to us at the last minute. Our financial situation is not good.” 

Petrick said, “It is 117 pages and most of the documents were revised.”

Caba said, “We need more time to review the manual because there are too many pages.”

Irizarry wanted to know if the chaplains and all city employees would be under the guidance of this personnel manual.

Law Director Peter King said he didn’t know.

Irizarry asked, “Are the chaplains considered city employees?”

Interim B.A. Perkins said she would confirm if the chaplains were city employees and whether or not they are paid.

Irizarry moved to table R-359 and it was seconded by Caba. All voted “yes” to table.

Petrick stated, “I don’t know if the chaplains receive stipends. I think they get badges.

Irizarry asked, “Are they under the personnel policy?”

Council President
William Petrick

Law Director King explained that the policy is put out by the city’s insurance policy which you can go on the city’s website to view.”

For R-362 – Renewal of certain plenary retail consumption licenses, club licenses, and distribution licenses effective September 24, 2020.

Petrick stated that these licenses cannot be renewed until after their hearings, so it was voted on to table that resolution. Irizarry moved and Caba seconded. R-362 was tabled.

The topic of the Personnel Policy Manual was still a hotbed. Irizarry asked, “Is there a sexual harassment clause it the policy?”

Petrick stated, “We need to make sure the administration follows up on these cases (sexual harassment).”

Law Director King then rattled off some of the resolutions on these cases: “Some of these employees were terminated. The Police Department has more stringent policies and a hire-up was taken to court and terminated.”

Petrick asked if there is anything in the policy regarding whistleblowers.

King responded, “We review their statements and have them file complaints if necessary. It depends on the circumstances (if it is verbal or physical abuse or a combination of both). We need to separate the two parties involved for safety sake. You want all complaints reviewed. We need to make sure everything is reviewed due to liability issues.”

Public Portion:

Resident Ken Balut came up first. He questioned the responsibility of who transfers people in the library. “The Library Board of Trustees were in charge of personnel. The chaplains are very important. Everyone should be held accountable. The Personnel Manual is not proper. You are always getting last minute stuff. There is no accountability for people who act irresponsible. High ranking people are not being held accountable. The bottom of the barrel is always taking the brunt. The mayor yelled at former B.A. Fehrenbach. You should start investigating judges. Another employee had an illegal lottery. One of the prosecutors gave me the finger.”

Law Director King spoke up, “The municipal prosecutor falls under the present personnel manual. It doesn’t address citizen complaints and we are looking to make a change to this. One of the previous Law Directors (Mark Blunda) had been working on the personnel manual.”

Balut concluded his remarks, “The council can investigate the top moneymakers not being held accountable. This needs to stop.”

The next speaker was Mr. Tejeda who spoke about the building his mother resides in and the rent had been doubled. “The owner of this building (Candyland LLC) is suing the city.”

Petrick responded, “The mayor appoints members to the Rent Leveling Board.”

Tejeda continued, “We got a call from the city saying that the court settled the case along with the council.”

Petrick then went on to explain that the council creates the legislature for Boards and the mayor assigns who is on the Boards. The lawyer (who represented the tenants of the building) should be able to explain this to them. You and your mom can be on the Rent Leveling Board.”

Mr. Tejeda then asked, “Who represented the city?”

Law Director King replied, “I did.” King then continued, “Candyland LLC which owns the building proved why rent had to be increased, and the judge made the final decision. (JB) Vas (the tenant’s attorney) is a very good attorney.”

Mr. Tejeda then stated, “Candyland never made any improvements to the building.”

Petrick then stated, “Your attorney should have filed the proper paperwork.”

Pabon then spoke up, “The decision (by the judge) was based on no one following up. You could go to the post office to see if the tenants got certified letters regarding the court date.”

Petrick continued, “The only remedy is to go to the court system because we have no power to help you.”

Tejeda said, “I am concerned, because if it can happen to us, it can happen to anyone.”

Petrick countered, “It will be the Rent Leveling Board who can help if it is ever created and people are appointed.”

Councilman Irizarry then added, “Even if we had a Rent Leveling Board, it has limited powers.”

JB Vas (the attorney who represented the tenants) came up to speak, “You are sidestepping the real issue. You knew the Rent Control Board was not operating.”

Petrick responded, “We saw no evidence that the Rent Leveling Board was not filled.”

JB Vas continued, “This affects 70% of the people in this town. They are being stripped of their rights. On November 25, 2019, the council considered removing the Rent Leveling Board under Ordinance No. 2. Council Members could have served on the board. This entire council did nothing in the middle of the pandemic. The rent was doubled, and you can’t blame it all on the mayor. You can change the ordinance so you can appoint members.”

JB Vas then addressed Councilman Caba and asked him if he volunteered to be on the Board.

Caba turned the question around and asked Vas the same thing.

Petrick advised Councilman Caba not to answer that question.

King then commented, “The mayor appoints members to the Rent Leveling Board and the council approves the appointments. Without the Rent Leveling Board being active, the owner has to go before the courts.”

Petrick told Attorney JB Vas, “When your dad was mayor, he wanted to do all the appointments of members to the Boards with the consent of the council.”

Vas also mentioned that he represented the residents of this building pro-bono. “I filed all paperwork diligently.”

Tejeda’s mother then came up to speak (in Spanish). Councilman Irizarry translated for her, “I am a 40-year resident and I never want to leave this town. Legal services didn’t want to deal with me because I didn’t have the money. I always heard the rent could not be increased more than 5%. I went to see many people in city hall. I was not taken care of. My sister and I went to see Wilda. I’ve known Wilda since she was a little girl. Wilda’s aunt had lived in that building and she told me to speak to a lawyer. Wilda was a good friend in the past. If there was a law (stating the rent can only be raised by 5%), it’s not for the poor, and only for the rich. We need a mayor so that people can be respected. No one will do anything for me.”

Resident Samantha Castro came up to speak as a member of The Perth Amboy Advocacy Group, “Frontline Views”. She had a list of 17 Demands that she presented to the council. She talked about a few of them – #11 – which included a violation of human compliance; #4 – Civilian Review Board; #16 – Need to celebrate Perth Amboy’s history; #17 – Having an open dialogue. She also mentioned Thomas Mundy Peterson importance in Perth Amboy and that he needed to be recognized, “Especially since we have a statue of George Washington who was a slave owner.”

Council President Bill Petrick told the young woman, “If you get the chance to visit the Perth Amboy Council Chambers, there is a large plaque on the wall honoring Thomas Mundy Peterson.”

Resident Dorothy Daniel came up to speak next. She wanted to let Castro know, “When I was member of the Board of Education, I was instrumental in getting a school named after Thomas Mundy Peterson (on State Street).” Daniel also commented on the Police Chaplain Corps, “It is an adjunct of the city under the Police Department and they should be protected from being sued. And as a member of the Housing Authority, I was appointed by the council – not Mayor Vas. In the last year, there has been racial violence against black people in general. My grandfather was born in Anguilla and came to New York. Some people went to Cuba. One of my grandfathers lived in Cuba until the age of 6. He came to Perth Amboy at the age of 21. This is the best town in New Jersey, and I appreciate the town and the elected officials. We can live in this town and treat each other with respect.”

Resident David Caba came up next, “A millionaire disrespected our residents. I grew up in that lady’s (the woman whose rent was raised) building. No one is looking out for them and it is shameful. I have no problem with people who go back to their mansion and I don’t think the owner of that building cares about the tenants. Kushner doesn’t care about maintaining their buildings. How many developers live in town? They just collect poor people’s money. Tears came from my eyes when that lady whose rent was doubled was speaking. I will find out where that owner lives. They just want their money. Now Kushner wants to build 500 new rental apartments. In 2007, the average price of Landings Condos was going for $450,000. In recent sales lowest priced Landings Apartment went for $190,000. The highest sales price was for $385,000. In Asbury Park and Long Branch, the sale prices (for comparable units) have increased.”

Resident Alan Silber came up last, “I think it’s great that people come out and speak their minds.