2/22/21 Caucus 

By: Carolyn Maxwell

PERTH AMBOY – The 2/22/21 Caucus was the first time the meeting started at its new time at 5:30 p.m. The meeting was held at the council chambers and people were allowed to participate via Zoom teleconferencing. 

Councilman Joel Pabon was the first to speak regarding R-113-2/21 – Authorizing emergency temporary appropriations to extend the CY: 2021 Temporary budget in an amount of $12,686,566.52. 

He questioned, “Why didn’t we have a preliminary budget in place? The longer we wait, it will be more difficult to balance. I’m requesting a preliminary budget.”

Interim Business Administrator Edward Remsen responded, “We expect to have a preliminary budget by next week and we are within a timeframe for the state budget request.”

Pabon continued, “Governor Murphy just came up with this new timeframe, but we should have been working on this.”

Remsen then added, “We started working on the budget when I got here, and I started to meet with the department heads two weeks ago. We had to wait for the revenue amounts to come in.”

Pabon still wasn’t satisfied, “We have been spending over what we have.”

Remsen answered back, “We would have had to start working on this (temporary budget) in November.”

Pabon finished, “I want no more excuses. We need a preliminary budget.”

Council President Bill Petrick suggested that the council hold off on voting on R-114-2/21 – Adopting the 2021 Perth Amboy Business Improvement District Budget from January 1, 2021 thru December 31, 2021.

“We need to hold off because of lawsuits, and will there be ramifications?” Petrick asked the substitute lawyer for Law Director Northgrave. 

The substitute lawyer stated he would get back to the council on Wednesday.

Pabon spoke up, “Law Director Northgrave said their will always be lawsuits going on.”

Petrick then turned to Councilwoman Rose Morales and asked her if she had all the questions answered that she asked previously regarding BID operations. She responded, “Yes.”

Petrick then said that he was concerned about the $20,000 line item where the BID requested getting a new employee. “Would that new person be a city employee?”

Executive Director of the BID Noelia Colon was on Zoom answered, “They are using the $20,000 to replace the assistant employee of BID that left in 2019. As of 2021, we (the BID Board) discussed getting staff support. The salary of that new employee will be reimbursed by the BID if the person is a city employee.”

Petrick still was not happy, “The new BID employee would get city benefits and we don’t have the budget in our hand. We are almost at 100% taxation, now.”

Colon continued, “The option could be that the new person could be a BID employee instead of them being a city employee.”

Petrick answered back, “Everything would impact the city’s budget. We need a definite answer to see if the new employee will be employed by the city or just employed or paid by the BID? I heard that only Rosengarten signed off on the documents (approving the BID budget).”

Noelia Colon continued, “The BID can discuss at the next meeting to see if that new employee will be employed by the city or the BID. It’s correct that only Rosengarten signed off on the documents. We can have someone else also sign off on the documents.”

DPW Director Frank Hoffman participated on Zoom to let the council details regarding R-117-2/21 – A change order with H&S Construction and Mechanical for the stair tower reconstruction at the Perth Amboy Free Public Library with alternates in an amount not to exceed $9,463.13. 

“This is for a stairway leading to the boiler room at the library which were not up to code.”

Councilman Pabon had a concern about R-122-2/21 – The extension of the appointment of Edward A. Remsen as interim B.A. for a period no longer than 60 days from March 7, 2021.

“At first, when he (Remsen) was hired, it said 6 months and it looks like it was meant to be that way from the beginning. “We hired a company (Government Strategy Group) who was supposed to look for a permanent B.A. Now the same company is also doing audits.”

Petrick spoke up next, “The council hears things in the streets, which turns out to be facts. Are these people (who are looking for a permanent B.A.) also qualified to do audits?”

Remsen spoke up, “The proposal was to do a variety of services. The people from this group also have municipal experiences. They are doing a search for a permanent B.A., and when one is found, I will leave. They are doing a management review and a meeting with the department heads on ways to save money.”

Petrick spoke up again and stated that he is pleased with Remsen’s professionalism. “But I don’t agree with some of the duties that this group is performing.”

Pabon then added, “Maybe I didn’t get the memo about the part about what this group would do when meeting with department heads. Give us the tools we need to we need to help the city.”

Councilwoman Milady Tejeda then said, “The firm was hired to look for a permanent business administrator and I would like to see how much money is being spent by this company.”

Remsen responded, “They (the group) would discuss different strategies with departments heads, and some things they were doing at no additional cost.”

Mayor Helmin Caba came up and confirmed that the consulting services group are meeting with our department heads at no additional cost. “The B.A. is only here temporarily and is earning less than the minimum suggested cost.”

Interim B.A. Remsen spoke up, “I am earning $20,000 less than the entry level cost that is associated with this position. This is not a part-time job. I am getting less than the last Interim B.A.”

Caba spoke up again, “We are very transparent, and you all get CC’d (on all important correspondence). I made him (Remsen) sign an agreement on his salary, so he does not come back and try to sue us.”

The next discussion involved R-123-2/21 – Payment to Peter J. King, Esq. for legal services rendered in 2020 beyond the regular duties of the Director of Law in an amount not to exceed $128,873.14.

Councilwoman Tejeda asked, “Did we pay on some of these items already listed in this resolution?”

Petrick spoke up, “I had asked King to itemize his bill. We should table this resolution. We blocked him (King) because he didn’t give us all that we asked.”

Pabon said, “Before we table, we should reach out to King. He has quite a list (of expenses) here.”

Tejeda spoke up again, “King repeated some of the same items.”

The council decided to table the resolution. 

Pabon then mentioned R-124-2/21 – An agreement with Middlesex County to provide funds in an amount of $89,246 to the City of Perth Amboy for Code Blue Warming Services.

“I want to give a shout out to the people who work during Code Blue.”

Tejeda also wanted to thank any departments, the YMCA employees, and the county (for providing this money).”

Council President Bill Petrick asked for a more detailed explanation of R-129-2/21 – A contract with the Jewish Renaissance Medical Center Covid-19 Response in the amount of $217,127 in accordance pay with the Coronavirus Aid Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES ACT) for the CDBG-CV3 from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Tashi Vazquez from the Office of Economic and Community Development came up, “It should have been done with an amendment to R-131-2/21 – Amending Resolution R-148-4/20 – Accepting an additional $583,908 in CDBG Grant Coronavirus Round 3 Aid totaling $971,931 in CDBG – CV Funds. These resolutions are for testing and vaccinations. It is to hire employees, doctors, and staffing and to extend the hours and to offset costs. The federal government does not pay for execution fees.”

JRMC (Jewish Renaissance Medical Center) CEO John O’Leary participated via Zoom to give a more detailed answer, “5,800 Covid tests have been administered as well as 2,000 antibody tests, and 2,000 vaccines for senior citizens. $16 will be reimbursed for every vaccine given. We will start to administer vaccines soon, and people will be working on Saturdays to do vaccines. We also have positive pressure rooms in service, and we had 20 walk-ins today. The rooms have safety measures in place for the staff and residents.”

Vazquez spoke up and added, “Funds were fully expended today.” Vazquez then talked about R-130-2/21 – A contract with the Puerto Rican Association for Human Development – Tenant Based Rental Assistance Covid Response Program in the amount of $150,000 in accordance with the Coronavirus Aid CARES Act. “This is a Tenant Rental Assistance specific to those that had Covid hardships. Those qualified can get up to $5,000 in assistance.”

PRAHD Executive Director Kim Ruiz joined in from Zoom, “PRAHD has been administering other money for decades and now this additional money is for Covid assistance. We get between 75-100 phone calls a day from people asking for rental assistance.”

Vazquez spoke again, “PRAHD is audited every year for their rental assistance program. For those tenants that are qualified, the check is written to the landlord and not the tenant. A person who is asking for rent assistance can only do it for one time.”

Tejeda thanked those involved who got this funding. “We have been hit hard with this pandemic.”

Pabon then spoke about R-132-2/21 – Consenting to the appointment of Mark J. Cintron as Municipal Prosecutor and waving the residency requirement. 

“I don’t agree with the City Attorney saying that council consent is not needed.”

Mayor Caba came up to respond, “I want to clarify what Law Director Northgrave said. State law always supersedes the city ordinances and federal laws supersede state laws.”

Council President Bill Petrick spoke up, “I am pleased to announce we have several applications for people who want to serve on Boards that have vacancies.”

Pabon then interjected, “I’m just hoping some of these new applicants get a position.”

Petrick continued, “There are many more applicants that there are positions to fill these vacancies. I want to thank all who applied.”

Pabon spoke up again and asked if Northgrave could supply a list of employees who are on suspension. “Two suspended officers are already back on duty. I requested a suspension list more than a few meetings ago. Things are falling through the cracks and people should not be paid to sit at home.”

The substitute Law Director said he would follow up on employee suspensions. 

Tejeda said, “I thought Law Director Northgrave would have this information at the 2/24/21 meeting.”

Mayor Caba continued, “The Planning and PARA Boards appointments need the council’s consent.”

City Clerk Victoria Kupsch corrected the mayor and stated, “For the Planning Board, council consent is not needed.”

Caba continued, “PARA needs council consent for appointment. An agenda prep meeting was cancelled on Friday (2/19/21) and this could have been put on the agenda. Council members were informed of the PARA appointments.”

Council President Petrick disagreed, “The Law Director does the resolutions, and it goes to the clerk’s office.”

City Clerk Victoria Kupsch spoke up. “There is a discrepancy with the terms of the PARA members. This could be done for Wednesday’s meeting.”

Petrick still argued, “We didn’t get this information on Thursday for us to review to put the appointees for the resolution for tonight.” Then Petrick addressed the mayor and said, “I told Vicki (City Clerk Kupsch) I would not be able to put them on for tonight’s caucus meeting.  I just have appointment letters. I need copies of the resolution to look at and that is the issue. It is the city council’s choice.”

City Clerk Kupsch then reminded the council, “To put on late-starter resolutions require a unanimous vote.

Public Portion:

Those present in the council chambers spoke first.

The first person to speak was Ken Balut, “$105,000 was the combined salaries of the two officers who were suspended with pay. Go down Smith Street and look at one of the restaurants called: “Happy Pizza”. Some people get signs from the BID grant. Where did the Wells Fargo Grant money go to? Joel Rosa, who is on the mayor’s staff will have an inside position and he is part of the civic trust. Someone on the civil service list was jumped over. Will these people who are doing audits and meeting with department heads look at code enforcement and see if Irving (Lozada) is qualified? There was a recent armed robbery at the Dollar Store.”

Resident Carlos Cruz who works for a towing company came up next. He reminded the council that he was at the last council meeting complaining about a police officer who continues to give the towing company he works for tickets. “I emailed the council members, Law Director Northgrave, and the business administrator to complain about this. Our towing business has only been here two years and I keep getting all these tickets. I have to go to court, hire a lawyer, and the tickets get dismissed. I keep getting kicked in the butt. When the meeting was shown on TV, I was blocked.”

Council President Bill Petrick stated that Law Director Northgrave will be at the meeting on Wednesday. 

Pabon then spoke up, “This gentleman is right. He has gotten no responses about his complaint. He is a citizen and needs help.”

Cruz then said, “I called Northgrave’s cell phone number. When I got a hold of him, he told me he only does emails and does not take phone calls.”

Petrick spoke again and suggested that he might have to take this to internal affairs. 

Cruz continued, “I’ve talked to the mayor, Northgrave, Lozada, the police department, and I’ve gotten no satisfaction.”

Pabon spoke up, “I remember when Cruz was here and gave his personal information to Business Administrator Remsen and Law Director Northgrave and Cruz deserves an answer.”

Cruz then spoke up again and stated, “I have 8-9 properties, and I bought 2 lots from another tow company in the city and those companies got tickets from the same officer. You don’t see this as harassment?”

Petrick spoke up again and said, “Northgrave said he will be at Wednesday’s meeting.”

Deputy Police Chief Larry Cattano joined the meeting on Zoom and said, “I will be glad to meet with this gentleman. “I will get your information from Law Director Northgrave and will get answers for you at Wednesday’s meeting.”

The next speaker to come up was business owner and BID member Antonio Abreu. He stated, “The BID beautifies our downtown. We welcome all to our meetings. If there is anything you need, ask for it and it will be provided to you. We’ve held meetings at the YMCA and on Zoom.”

Council President Bill Petrick spoke up and addressed Carlos Cruz in regards to what he said about not being shown when the meeting was posted on TV. “All things are posted on the local station when meetings are held.”

Councilwoman Milady Tejeda added, “The Board of Education controls the information on PA-TV.”

Petrick continued. He addressed Abreu. “The flowerpots on Smith Street are not at convenient locations and there is no seating downtown for senior citizens. We need benches with dividers. There are not enough signatures on documents on those who voted on the BID budget. Abreu finished his statement and stated, “We do this (our BID duties) in our own time.

Business Owner and BID Member Jeremy Baratta came up next. “A lot of BID Meetings are not attended by business owners. Votes were not marked off on their minutes. Signatures were not needed. As of today, I have 3 lawsuits against the BID regarding Open Public Meetings. They asked for an extension regarding these lawsuits. Two BID Meetings were not held in accordance with the law. It was tape recorded. The BID has to file an answer to these charges before the BID budget is voted on. There was also a Peter King bill list that had BID items on it. The reimbursements are not full. There were $75,000 in legal fees.”

Council President Bill Petrick spoke up, “The BID should pay for King’s items, and not the city. The city is a BID member.”

Mayor Helmin Caba came up, “We need to wake up to the last speaker. He has a dangerous past. Three lawsuits were filed against the city by him, and the cost of the lawsuits against the  BID is $50,000. He attacked city employees with no merit. I fully support the BID. It has enormous potential. Talk to the business owners and not someone who files lawsuits against them and other cities. Don’t entertain people like him. He keeps speaking 3-5 minutes and sets up secret meetings to attack Perth Amboy. Google his name and you will get all the answers you want.”

Tashi Vazquez came to the mic and invited all to a Zoom Meeting regarding the NPP Zones. “Which now has expanded from High Street to Sipos Bakery on Smith Street. We’ve received $560,000 in three months to help businesses recover due to Covid. We will give you minutes to the BID meetings. We will have more benches in the downtown area by the end of June. More murals are coming and also a tree project. Additional funds may come down the pike from the state. We will put in applications if the funds become available.”

Petrick requested, “When the benches come back, make sure they have back support for the seniors. When the trees are planted, they should have rubber around them, and not iron gates.”

Vazquez continued, “When it comes to the trees, we will make sure all the necessary departments are involved. We have talked to P.A.R.T.N.E.R.  about some projects to do with us. BID Director Noelia Colon also sends information to everyone on her contact list.”

The meeting was now opened up to Zoom participants. 

The first person to speak on Zoom was Jeannette Perry. She had a question regarding Communication No. 8 – Regarding the item on the Covid-19 update. “Is the Wellness Call Program part of this? There is no phone number listed.”

Council President Petrick answered, “I don’t see a phone number for Wellness connected to this item.”

OEM Director Larry Cattano joined in on Zoom and responded, “The Office on Aging at Olive Street can help you with this.”

Perry continued and asked, “Can the City post the number on their website because of all the positive cases we’ve had in the city? It is hard to go through the state and county phone numbers to register for the vaccine.”

Cattano then said, “Nixle and the city’s website have information.”

Lissette Lebron from the Housing Authority, P.A.R.T.N.E.R. and the Jewish Renaissance joined the conversation via Zoom. “The Housing Authority refers callers to the Wellness Program. The Jewish Renaissance and the Housing Authority and P.A.R.T.N.E.R. are working together to provide Covid vaccines for our clients starting in April. We are asking Section 8 Residents to see if they want help in registering for the Covid vaccine and we also reached out to the Office on Aging.”

Perry then ended her remarks with thanking all who assisted in the snow removal and who worked overtime to clear the streets and sidewalks.

The next person to speak via Zoom was Ms. Sanchez who is a BID member. “We are not paid to be on the Board. We’re here to help the BID members and improve the business district. We should reach across the aisle to help each other and the city.”

Resident Susan Batista spoke next and questioned why PRAHD and the Jewish Renaissance get money from the CDBG CARES Act and Catholic Charities does not.

Tashi Vazquez responded, “All nonprofits can apply for CDBG money as well as any agencies ”

Petrick also responded to Batista and suggested she reach out to the Catholic Charities to see if they applied for this money.

The public portion was closed.

Council Comments:

Councilwoman Rose Morales wanted to thank the DPW for the job they did doing the snow removal. She also agreed with Ms. Sanchez who is a member of the BID about all the negative comments made by some members of the public regarding the BID operations. “Let’s see some positive comments and have a positive attitude. Hopefully, we can turn things around.” She then asked about the loading zones on Madison Avenue (that a resident had questioned at a previous meeting).

Council President Petrick responded, “The council has to approve any loading zones.”

Pabon then spoke up and added, “You can’t stop truck traffic on some streets, especially if they have to deliver to a commercial building. I don’t know how a loading zone for 20 feet gets away with a 50-foot delivery truck.”

City Clerk Kupsch added, “An ordinance for truck weight is in the books.”

Police Chief Cattano then spoke up via Zoom regarding the truck routes, “The weight issue is because of the bridge work on State Street. Double parking and blocking driveways can be ticketed.”

Pabon spoke up again, “Some of these trucks need to be told if they are in violation.” Pabon then asked, “When will the streetlights get fixed?”

Interim B.A. Remsen responded via Zoom, “We are looking to fix 10-15 lights at a time. We are looking at 6 different times to replace the bulbs.”

Pabon continued, “There are no lights working at the parking deck. Between 10-15 lights on the first floor alone are not working.”

Parking Utility Director Jeanette Rios spoke via Zoom, “In the beginning of February, I did an inventory of lights that were out and submitted it to Supervisor Danny Cleaver from the DPW so we can fix the lights. The municipal lights in the parking lots belong to PSEG.”

Cattano spoke up again, “We (the police department) have videos of the parking deck.”

Pabon continued, “People are taking leaks at the parking deck. People (who are using the parking deck) are paying for a service, but we are not taking care of the lights at the parking deck. I saw a big block of ice on Convery Boulevard. I saw two people sitting in a truck who were supposed to salt the bridge (near ShopRite), but they did not know what to do – and they were state contractors.”

Remsen responded, “We were told by the state that they sent a contractor to clear the bridge and it is not our responsibility. The state should have sent a crew and not have hired a contractor.”

Mayor Caba came up to speak. “We (Mayor Caba, DPW Director Frank Hoffman, Geri Barcheski (DPW Recycling Supervisor)) contacted the state. We’ve had a lot of snow and the DPW has been working a lot of overtime and 7 days a week. Convery Boulevard is county and state property. If we do it (clearing of the snow on the bridge) and our employee gets hurt, we have to pay. We are not going to pay for lights that are out, and we can’t touch PSEG property.”

Remsen spoke again, “I called Deputy Police Chief Cattano, and the next evening the auxiliary police went out to check which lights were out.”

Pabon concluded. “We need to have someone assigned to these lights and hold people accountable.”

Caba then stated, “The DPW will contact the state about the lights. We have a plan in place and the downtown district is getting LED lights. We’ll keep track of any lights that are out, and PSEG will not get paid if the lights are not fixed in a timely manner.”

Councilwoman Milady Tejeda spoke next. She wanted to know if Comcast money can be used for technology. “I also want to be the city liaison to the Board of Education. We should have a meeting with the Board of Education regarding shared services. There should be meetings between myself, the Board of Education, and the Mayor.”

Vice President of the Board of Education Tashi Vazquez came up to speak, “There are two members of the Board of Education are the liaisons with the representative from the council.”

Council Member B.J. Torres was bothered by speaker Ken Balut who refused to adhere to the meeting rules. “You should just cut off his mic (when his time is up).”

Council President William Petrick thanked all who participated. “I hoped you learned something, and all your questions were answered. Have a good night.”

The meeting adjourned at 8:20 p.m. All council members were present.