By: Carolyn Maxwell
PERTH AMBOY – The January 13, 2021 Council Meeting was the first time a council meeting was open to the public at the City Council Chambers since City Hall was closed down due to Covid in the spring of 2020. The meeting started at 7:04 p.m. The public also had the opportunity to participate through Zoom. The only council member present in city hall was Council President William Petrick. Also present was City Clerk Victoria Kupsch, Assistant City Clerk Theresa Lopez, and Interim Business Administrator Edward Remsen. Law Director William Northgrave and the remaining council members participated through Zoom.
The public who were present in the council chambers were allowed to speak first, followed by Zoom participants. The public were only given 3 minutes to speak whether in person or on Zoom.
During the first public comments on agenda items only, the first person to speak was Stanley Sierakowski. He referenced R-14-1/21 – Authorizing collection of interest on delinquent taxes and assessment. He questioned why the department heads were not present at the meeting. “When I’ve attended Freeholders meetings, they always had representatives from all departments to answer any unexpected questions.”
Council President Petrick responded, “The Department heads were at the 1/11/21 Caucus Meeting (at the Public Safety Complex).”
Sierakowski continued, “This is different. Did Nancy Martin from the tax department collect taxes from the Armory? There was a lien put on their property. They defaulted and owe a lot of back taxes. You gave a million-dollar loan with zero interest. Is there a list of monthly properties that own delinquent taxes?”
Resident Ken Balut came up next. He told the council, “We need a tv set put up in the council chambers.” He asked if Law Director William Northgrave is on Zoom.”
Northgrave answered: “yes” over the computer.
Balut then held up a flyer with a huge picture of the Middlesex County Democratic Chamber Kevin McCabe which showed him on the NJG Power List 2020 and all those he connected with which includes a new law director Bill Northgrave. “Northgrave worked on the Kushner case. The party bosses do nothing for the city. They gave us a $20 million park. Stop giving money to all these power bosses.” Balut also referenced them as: “the mob”. “How much money have we given to the Y? Woodbridge used to have a YMCA. The township took it over and it went to another type of facility instead.”
Council President Petrick responded, “We will have people who are auditing the Y at the next meeting.”
Resident Alan Silber came up next. He first requested of Council President Petrick, “In the interest of everyone here, please wear a mask. Be an example.”
Petrick responded, “I took a Covid test and it was negative, but you are right about wearing a mask.”
Silber then referenced R-4-1/21 – An agreement with William W. Northgrave (see caucus story). “Will you (Council President Petrick) and Pabon recuse yourself from this vote? You were on a ticket that was supported by Mayor Diaz and you and Councilman Pabon gave one of the candidates running on the ticket with you campaign money. Wilda Diaz also gave $4,000 to that individual. Mayor Diaz only gave money to Northgrave to overturn a general election. Northgrave represented the candidate who was a part of that special election who wound up having to pay $9,000 out of that special election, then that amount was reduced to $7,000 from that amount. There are also video tapes of illegal activity from the past election.”
Petrick told Silber that he would have to ask Northgrave if he should recuse himself from the resolution. “Northgrave has been involved in a lot of other legal cases that are in the city that were not connected to an election.”
Silber finished up by saying, “He (Northgrave) got the special election, but the candidate who requested that election lost.”
Resident Jeremy Baratta spoke next via Zoom. He asked for more information on Communication No. 9. – E2 Project Management LLC submitted a letter of interpretation – line verification for the Riverwalk Crossing.
Both Petrick and Interim B.A. Remsen stated they had no information on this communication.
Baratta said, “It looks like they may have referenced a hazardous material discharge.”
Resident Sharon Hubberman spoke next. She referenced R-9-1/21 (see caucus story). “It looks like you are in violation of your ordinance. You are lumping several resolutions together. In total for all of these professional services are $190,000 a year. You also have the incorrect length of time for some of these personnel that you have hired for interim positions.”
After the public portion was closed, the council voted on the ordinances. Ordinance No. 1 (first reading) RE: changing the start time of the caucus meeting. Ordinance No. 1 was moved by Councilwoman Rose Morales and seconded by Councilwoman Milady Tejeda. All voted “yes” except for Councilman Joel Pabon who voted “no”.
Ordinance No. 2 – (first reading) – eliminating the Handicapped Parking Committee. It was moved by Tejeda, seconded by Morales. Petrick, Tejeda, Morales voted “yes” and Pabon and Torres voted “no”.
For the consent agenda, Pabon asked to remove for separate voting R-8, R-38, R-39, R-40, R-41, R-42. Morales asked if the council could table R-26, R-31, R-35, R-36.
The consent agenda R-3 thru R-7; R-9 thru R-25; R-27 thru R-30; R-32 thru R-34; R-37, R-43. It was moved by Pabon and seconded by Tejeda.
These resolutions were service contracts with outside contractors. The reason that Morales asked for these resolutions to be tabled was that she felt more backup material was needed and a breakdown from having city employees versus contracting out this work.
R-8 (dealing with the interim business administrator and government strategy group) was moved by Tejeda, seconded by Torres. All voted “yes” except for Pabon who voted “no.”
R-38 (payment of a law firm to represent the city council) was moved by Tejeda and seconded by Morales. The only council member to vote “no” was Pabon.
R-39-1/21 – Authorizing the placement of a marker for the city’s designation as a site of memory by the Unesco Slave Marker Route Project. It was moved by Pabon, seconded by Tejeda. All voted “yes”.
R-40-1/21- Appointing William A. Petrick to the Perth Amboy Planning Board. It was moved by Tejeda, seconded by Morales. The only person who voted “no” was Pabon.
R-41 – 1/21 – Reappointing Justin Ross to the Board of Adjustment. It was moved by Tejeda, seconded by Torres. All voted “yes” but Pabon who voted “no”.
R-42 -1/21 = Reappointing Christine Dispenziere to the Board of Adjustment. It was moved by Tejeda, seconded by Morales. All voted “yes” but Pabon who voted “no”.
R-43 -1/21 (late starter) – Appointing Rose Morales to PARA. This was passed with the consent agenda.
Councilman Joel Pabon made some comments on why he voted the way he did, “The last interim business administrator had no experience and also this new interim business administrator has no experience. Petrick reminded Pabon that the mayor has an opportunity to appoint anyone they choose to for 60 days just like they did with the Code Enforcement Director.” Pabon was also concerned because of the Government Strategy Group that was mentioned in R-8-1/21. This Government Strategy Group brought in this current Interim B.A. and they (Government Strategy Group) are not doing the job they were hired for.”
Petrick responded, “This group is looking for a qualified person (for the B.A. position).”
There was also a discussion on vacancies on boards. Law Director Northgrave said, “I will look to clarify how a board can be filled regarding vacancies and reappointments.”
Petrick then stated, “It has been past practice to reappoint people who are already serving on boards unless there is a charge of negligence on their part.”
Pabon said, “There has been a lot of hashing out of these appointments.”
Public Portion:
Resident Ken Balut was first. He continued talking about Kevin McCabe and a list of people connected to him which included 16 people including McCabe’s wife. “This is the mob and McCabe also controls his wife. There are people still getting full pay while they are on suspension which includes a captain and a lieutenant on the police department.” He again brought up the fact that the captain got a $12,000 raise before retiring and again how Northgrave was able to overturn an election from a few years ago. “13 days of this new administration and Northgrave should investigate these allegations.”
Resident Alan Silber came up next and asked, “Are the taxpayers paying for the suspensions? If so, we should know why these individuals were suspended. It’s not a personnel matter, and we should know the status of the case and the reason. Is anything with the suspension considered a personnel matter?”
Northgrave answered, “Yes.”
Silber continued, “There is a gentleman by the name of John Papp who puts on his website court cases with the settlement amount and other pertinent information. Was there a vote on putting a time limit of 3 minutes on public comments?”
Petrick added, “It changed when we started to do Zoom Meetings.”
Resident Stanley Sierakowski came up next, “The Law Director Mr. Northgrave is a “pitbull” attorney. Other attorneys were political hacks. The details of cases are put online only after the settlements. You should have on TV when the meeting is being shown. Duane Marine didn’t pay taxes for 25 years. There was $2.3 million owed according Former Business Administrator Fehrenbach. I think it is more like $5 million. You should question Nancy Martin from the tax department about this. They were told not to pay their taxes. $485,000 of interest was in default. The DeCotiis law firm stole hundreds of thousands of dollars when we hired one of their lawyers.”
Resident Lisa Nanton came up to speak. “Perhaps we need cutouts made up of the council (like they did at some sport events).” She then mentioned R-29-1/21 – A contract with Aquatic Services for pool maintenance and service at the public safety complex community center from January 1, 2021 thru December 31, 2021 in an amount not to exceed $23,000. “I’m glad we are supporting the Y. The pool should be open free to the public and every child should be taught to swim. You could subtract the cost of the lifeguards to make sure all children have swimming lessons. Even if you have sailing lessons, you have to know how to swim. I will have to go to the Board of Education to talk to them about have sailing lessons.”
Resident Jeremy Baratta spoke via Zoom to congratulate the new council members, the new Interim B.A., and the new law director. He told everybody to have a good holiday.
Sharon Hubberman spoke next. She asked for clarity regarding the appointments of the Rent Leveling Board Members and their terms of office since all members are new. “There are no staggered terms. They need to revisit the resolution.”
Sherri Goldberg from the Jewish Renaissance on Kearny Avenue came up next on Zoom. She spoke a little about the Perth Amboy Alliance Program. “The Perth Amboy Alliance Neighborhood Plan that started in 2008 expired last year. They will have meetings on January 26, 2021 at 6 p.m. and January 28, 2021 at 10 a.m. They are inviting the council and anyone else to attend (which will be virtual – see ad on page 11). It is a collaboration with certain parts of neighborhoods to connect. There are neighborhood ideas and solutions that we will be discussing for the wellbeing of all who live, work, and play here.”
A city resident spoke next., “Will the train station finally be fixed?” She also said, “There are some people who don’t wear masks at some of the bodegas.”
Petrick responded, “We asked the Board of Health to visit bodegas about the importance of wearing masks and other health concerns.”
Council Comments:
Councilwoman Rose Morales reiterated her comments from the caucus and said, “We are working hard to address the citizen’s concerns. It will take time. We will work hard to correct the prior mistakes of the last administration.”
Councilman Joel Pabon spoke next and addressed the concerns regarding the bodegas. “With the bodegas, you don’t have to be in their stores when you call the authorities. You can call from your car or your house and let the police know of any safety violations. As far as the train station, I see at the end of Second Street and on Elm Street, that they are working on the tracks and the bridge.” He then turned his attention to Second Street Park. “They should have started on that two years ago. The debris is starting to be removed, now.” He then talked about Communication No. 11 – Mayor Helmin J. Caba submitted a memorandum appointing Edward A. Remsen Interim Business Administrator for a period of 6 months. “You need to bring this to the attention of the mayor.”
Petrick said, “It was corrected to read 60 days – no 6 months.”
Pabon continued, “We need an answer regarding the Rte. 35 Bridge. There’s been no work on it for over a year. I’m hoping the new B.A. and Law Director can make some headway. Businesses on Amboy Avenue are complaining about lights being out. 32 lights are out between Amboy Avenue to Hall Avenue and 30 lights are out from Convery Boulevard to Front Street. This is unacceptable. The Assembly Office helped out the last time. Somebody has dropped the ball and all supervisors should be looking at this. If you see lights out in your neighborhood, you’ll see a plate number on the pole. You can call it in to PSE&G. There are too many commercial vehicles parked on Second Street after 6 p.m. There are vehicles parked illegally all over. We have a new sheriff in town. These are quality of life issues.”
Interim B.A. Remsen spoke up, “I will make a point of making sure that all the lights that are out are addressed.”
Petrick spoke up, “In the past, the police would make notes of any lights that were out when they were on patrol.”
Councilwoman Milady Tejeda spoke next. She thanked all who participated in tonight’s meeting. “Take care of all of your families and relatives.”
Councilman B.J. Torres thanked all those for electing him. “There is a light at the end of the tunnel with all the vaccines coming up. I am taking a look at all the CSO (combined sewer overflow) studies that were done in the city and I will provide updates at future meetings.”
Council President William Petrick concluded the meeting, thanking all who participated in person and on Zoom. He wanted to also thank the city clerk and the IT staff. “Everything worked out okay with the exception of a few bugs. Be safe. Stay well. Practice social distancing.
The meeting adjourned at 8:33 p.m. All council members were present (either in person or through Zoom).
