10/14/20 Council Meeting
By: Carolyn Maxwell
PERTH AMBOY – The Council Meeting started at 6:43 p.m. The first person to talk regarding Ordinance No. 1 – Renovations to the Parking Deck was Ken Balut.
Balut wanted to know if any items pertaining to this ordinance were bid out. “There’s a contract in the past that was cancelled because it was an illegal bid.”
Interim Business Administrator Perkins responded, “Nothing has been solidified yet regarding this ordinance. There are a lot of little things to be worked on and it’s not going to one person.”
Law Director Peter King then added, “This is for the financing of this project. The engineers and architects usually go in for higher costs in the bid for unexpected costs.”
Public Comments on Agenda Items Only:
Resident Jeremy Baratta asked about a late-starter resolution R-406-10/20 – a $200,000 Covid relief funds from the Department of Community Affairs.
Tashi Vazquez, Assistant Director of City’s Office of Economic & Community Development came up to respond. “The Department of Community Affairs put out a Neighborhood Program Grant which is to support the business district from the corner of Smith and High Streets to the Train Station to help them out due to the Covid. This is to help businesses with rental issues and to help restaurants put their menus online and help with the QR Scanning. 90% of the grant money will come to us. $25,000 of that money will be used to hire a consultant to help these businesses. This will be a public contract.”
Baratta continued, “I’ve been to several restaurants in other towns. $25,000 is too much money to have someone develop menus with QR Codes.” Baratta was also concerned because the rental assistance (business) only applied to people who have storefronts.
Vazquez came back up, “The boundaries are set by the state. This was approved by the council. The state listed what we could spend the money on, and it’s outlined on the application. It’s also supposed to create an online presence and support the restaurants which would be part of the job of the consultant.”
Balut came up, “$25,000 to give to someone to help businesses put a QR code on their menus? And you can’t help businesses on the other side of town? This is ridiculous!” Balut then questioned Resolution R-regarding the Landings property. “How much did we (the city) give to Kushner on these settlements? This is ridiculous! She (Diaz) signed an agreement to put this property on the market. Real Estate is high now. People are always giving me information about selling my house. Kushner deserves nothing! Sue him! If you can’t win a case against Kushner, then you can’t win anything. This has been going on since 2010.”
Law Director King responded, “We can send Kushner a letter regarding his property and he has 30 days to respond. I would move to avoid the contract they have, but there will also be litigation.”
Petrick then spoke up and said, “Mayor Diaz let the contracts fly.”
King retorted, “It was PARA.”
Petrick said, “Wilda was the head of PARA at the time.”
King ended the conversation by saying, “You know the ramifications.”
Ordinances No.1,2,3,6 was moved Pabon and seconded by Tejeda. Ordinance No. 4 was moved by Pabon and seconded by Caba. Ordinance No. 5 – Restricted parking spot for a handicapped person regarding an addition (the applicant had passed away) was removed.
Consent Agenda – R-372 thru R-397, R-399 thru R-406 was moved by Pabon and seconded by Tejeda. R-398 – Authorizing a professional service agreement with qualified appraisers who have submitted responses to request the qualifications for CY2021 – was voted on separately. The resolution was moved by Pabon and seconded by Tejeda. Council President Bill Petrick abstained.
Public Portion:
Jeremy Baratta came up to speak first. He questioned, “Why have a BID when everything has to go through other departments?”
B.A. Perkins answered, “They are needed to stimulate the businesses.”
Baratta continued, “There is no business. Look at the way BID functions. You (the council) are not involved in the process. They make up their own rules. Everything ends up in litigation. Laws to help her (Mayor Diaz) politically. In about two weeks, the 90 days expires for the Interim B.A. What does that mean? That she can’t work anymore?”
Law Director King responded, “After 90 days, the mayor said that with the council approval, the appointment can be extended for an additional 60 days.”
Resident Ken Balut came up next and drew laughs when he said, “Maybe we can rehire Walensky to help the restaurants update their menus with the QR codes for their menus.” Balut continued, “The mayor signed a contract with Kushner without anyone knowing anything about it. The resident that bought a Kushner unit was charged without having a firewall. He didn’t build it. Litigations are good if done properly. The city makes big mistakes when it comes to litigating. Have smart litigation. When Pelissier
was here, he said that the negotiations for the Kushner contract would be complete in a short period of time. Then he was gone. Cruz had to leave because of inappropriate behavior and is gone. The insurance company writes up manuals with rules that do not pertain to people who are in higherup positions.”
Resident Stephanie Márquez-Villafañe came up speaking as a businessowner in the BID district. She specifically spoke about the grant money. “I am for business revitalization and I applaud Ms. Vazquez for what she does, but you need to look at the businesses beyond the train station which is part of our revitalization. Promote tourism and our history to expand business opportunities. $25,000 is not out of line for a consultant. Let’s work with the BID. Have them work with the businesses. Reallocate the $25,000 and ask for volunteers to help businesses with placing their menus online. We have to be fiscally responsible.”
Vazquez came up to speak again. “The money that I spoke about earlier to help businesses can be used for different projects but not to different areas in the city and it has to be expended by December 31, 2020.”
Mayoral Candidate JB Vas came up to speak next. “I have attended many council meetings in the last decade. I’m concerned about the multiple shootings around town by McDonalds and on Hall Avenue. There were stabbings. I’m a father of two boys and a lifetime resident. I penned a letter to Council President Petrick about having a special meeting regarding these violent crimes.” Vas then addressed Petrick and said, “You said my motivation is political and the council is standing in the way of Diaz. How you can now turn this around to say it’s political – it’s sad. Even Ken Balut said the crime was pathetic. Balut is a former police officer and said there should be checks and balances in place. An unqualified person is heading Code Enforcement and the council voted 5-0 (to place that person in Code Enforcement). You talked about the water and the firing the last Business Administrator. There was a promotion of a former Councilman’s son. The Rent Leveling Board didn’t exist, and violent crime is on the uptake, yet the council did nothing.”
Resident Wilfredo Soto came up to thank everyone who helped during the pandemic which included the doctors, nurses, fire department and the council members. “There has been an increase in crime everywhere and many people have become even more depressed because of the Covid. You can’t blame the mayor or council for everything. A lot of outsiders came here to commit crimes. When they had the protests in town due to the George Floyd incident, no one damaged property from the city. A lot of times parents are not around to supervise their children. We have to fight this together. Call the cops and you’ll see crime happening. God bless everyone!”
A representative from the PBA Local#13 was the next to speak. He asked for an update at what was discussed during the closed session regarding the PBA contract. Ms. Perkins (B.A.) did the negotiations in good faith. It’s been two years, and it still can’t be discussed out in the open.”
Maria Vera who lives on Madison Avenue towards the waterfront and stated, “We are not going forward in this town. Keep the politics out of this and do what’s best for the people. This is a disgrace. You guys can’t’ do the job. South Amboy recently recognized their illegal housing problem. There are unqualified people working in Code Enforcement. Kushner owes us money. I want my money back!”
Council Comments:
Councilman Helmin Caba thanked everyone who came to the meeting and all those who watched in TV-Land. This is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and I also have family members suffering with this. My thoughts and prayers to everyone suffering with the Covid-19.
Councilman Joel Pabon said, “The city needs to return the benches, especially for the seniors. The only time people come out to speak is during election time. Crime is always on top of the list. It’s happening all over. I wish the police chief had stayed here for the whole meeting to answer questions about crime. I am all for having a police blotter. Nixle stopped with reporting crime. No one wants to hear or want crime to happen, but residents want to know about it. I see that the mayor approved people to serve on the Rent Leveling Board. I want to thank Steve Jobin from the YMCA to let us have a meeting here and open up the building to close later, but we need to have a bigger place.”
Councilwoman Milady Tejeda thanked all who came to the meeting. She stated, “You don’t understand how government works. It hurts when people disrespect me, but let’s work together. Communication is a two-way street, and we are lacking it. Look who is running (for office) and see their positions and what power they have. Sometimes we are blocked (in our decisions). Take care of yourselves.”
Council President Bill Petrick thanked everyone in TV-Land and all who participated tonight. “A lot has been said and an individual came here to publicly attack me. He should have represented his clients (that came to complain about the rent increase) in a better manner. He asked for a special meeting to discuss crime instead of asking the police chief for a meeting. He tried to have a public meeting for his political gain. The council can’t appoint themselves to the Rent Leveling Board. We established ordinances and passed resolutions. Maybe we need to change the form of government. In the past, we had commissioners instead. Stay safe and healthy. I also want to thank Steve Jobin for opening up the facility for our use.”
The meeting adjourned at 8:07 p.m. Councilman Fernando Irizarry was absent from both meetings.
