5/26/21 Council Meeting
By: Carolyn Maxwell
PERTH AMBOY – There was a huge discussion on Ordinance No. 3 – Water/Sewer Rates and Fees. Council President Petrick said he asked Law Director Northgrave to see if it is legal to vote on this. “New regulations were put into place before this.” Law Director Northgrave was not present at the council meeting. William Opel who is from Northgrave’s firm said he didn’t have a chance to review the new regulations and the council can vote on whether or not they want to table this ordinance.
The public was allowed to speak on this ordinance.
Resident Ken Balut came was the only person to speak on this ordinance. He said, “Law Director William Northgrave is not here, and you have $16 million in your back pocket. This should be tabled. Did you (the council) get a copy of the report that said what you can use the money for?”
Mayor Helmin Caba came up to address the situation and told the council that they all have the link to the 150-page report from the federal government (which was given to the state) stating what the money can and cannot be used for. “We only have half of the $16 million.”
Business Administrator Edward Remsen joined the meeting via Zoom. “I just got the notification from the state regarding rules and regulations. If you don’t approve this ordinance on the second reading, it will delay the budget which goes for a hearing on June 9th.”
Public Comments on Agenda Items Only:
Resident Ken Balut came up first. “They should table R-272-5/21 – Amending the 2021 budget. “You are adding all these new positions, and you can’t keep using the surplus money. Some of these new positions call for paying secretaries $80,000 and $15/hour for animal control personnel. Some positions may be needed, but not to give $80,000 for a confidential secretary to the mayor.”
There was a lengthy conversation regarding Ordinance No. 2: (First Reading) – Amending an Ordinance fixing and establishing a schedule of salaries and salary ranges in increments for officers and employees regarding management and nonunion.”
Council President Petrick stated, “There is one position (Director of Public Safety) should be removed because there is already someone in that department that can handle both responsibilities.” He asked for the position of grant writer be removed.
City Clerk Victoria Kupsch said, “The Director of Public Safety title has been removed already.”
Councilwoman Milady Tejeda disagreed with Petrick, “We need a grant writer who will be paid by the organization that they would get the grant from.”
Petrick continued, “We don’t need a Deputy Tax Assessor nor a Confidential Aide or Confidential Assistant in the Mayor’s Office. Just give the Mayor one of these positions and put the additional money in the clerk’s office.”
Again, Tejeda disagreed, “There is already a Confidential Aide in the Mayor’s Office. We are just changing the title.”
Petrick then suggested, “We can revisit any title that would be eliminated to see if later on if they would be needed.”
B.A. Remsen again spoke up via Zoom, “There are 3 people already on the mayor’s staff. There is a Deputy Tax Assessor and there are 3 people working in the Tax Department. There’s a title that’s vacant and the Confidential Aide already exists in the Mayor’s Department.”
Councilman Joel Pabon spoke up and addressed Council President Petrick, “You said a Tax Assessor and the Court needed additional people. I think the Water Department needs help. Why don’t we try letting some of the people in these offices work overtime? It is not our place to hire or to add people to different departments. The Mayor can decide if people who are working now can work overtime.”
Petrick continued, “Nancy Martin (from the Tax Department) sent emails stating they need another person. We need to address our deficit and the Tax Collector whose department brings in revenue and we need to support the City Clerk’s Office.”
Councilwoman Tejeda spoke up, “I am not in favor of removing any position in the Mayor’s Office. I also support the need of the City Clerk’s Office.”
Petrick responded, “We can allocate the funds to different departments, but we can’t do the hiring of people in those departments.”
Councilman B.J. Torres then commented, “OPRA requests have to be done in a timely manner, so we don’t get fined.”
Attorney William Opel who was substituting for Northgrave said, “The Mayor has the power to hire and fire people in certain positions. Salaries are set in the salary ordinances.”
Councilwoman Rose Morales then questioned, “Can we remove titles and later add them on?”
Petrick responded, “Yes.” He then wanted a motion to make changes to Ordinance No. 2. Councilman B.J. Torres made the motion for changes as requested by Petrick. Petrick asked if anyone wanted to second the motion. No one seconded the motion.
When it came time to vote on the ordinances. Ordinance No. 1 – Flood Damage Prevention was moved by Pabon and seconded by Tejeda. Ordinance No. 2 – Regulate Control and Stabilize rent and create a Rent Leveling Board within the city of Perth Amboy regarding members was moved by Pabon and seconded by Tejeda. Ordinance No. 3 – Sewers and Water regarding rates and fees – A motion to table was moved by Morales and seconded by Torres. All voted “Yes” to table. For Ordinance No. 1 (First Reading) – Streets and Sidewalks – regarding speed humps was moved by Pabon and seconded by Tejeda. Ordinance No. 2 (First Reading) – Schedule regarding salary and salary ranges management and nonunion was moved by Pabon and seconded by Tejeda. All voted “Yes.”
For the consent agenda, R-273-R-290 was moved by Tejeda and seconded by Morales. R-272 (2021 budget) was asked to be pulled to be voted on separately by Petrick. It was moved by Pabon and seconded by Tejeda. All voted “Yes.” Petrick then commented, “I think moving forward we will be looking at higher taxes.”
Public Portion:
Resident Ken Balut spoke first, “We’ve got to look forward. People can’t afford to pay for taxes going up plus a 3% raise in the water bill. We keep hiring people and pay them $80,000. I bet you our law firm that is here is not paying people $80,000. We should use qualified people who can already do the jobs instead of people that don’t have any experience. Grant money is federal money. We misspent money and that is why we lost the UEZ. The Mayor is getting $80,000 a year and is full time and what has he done in his first 100 days? He hired a lot of people with high paying positions and our Law Director William Northgrave is hardly ever here and the lawyer he sends in his place is not prepared. He (Northgrave) is an absentee double-dipping attorney.”
William Opel spoke up to address one of Balut’s statements. “I did not want to make a judgement on a matter without having a chance to review the pending legislation on it.”
The next member of the public to speak was Resident Mike Moser from Water Street. “There is a problem with speeding vehicles. Our numerous calls to the police have not been responded to. The situation has become worse in the summer. When the police do come, the people stop for a while, but it happens again. There are no solutions. The weekends are even worse with the constant speeding of vehicles. People are doing wheelies on their motorcycles. I’ve spoken to neighbors and a petition has been signed (by many of us) to do something about these vehicle violations. I have not seen a vehicle pulled over for speeding. Speed bumps need to be installed to slow traffic down at the waterfront.”
Councilman B.J. Torres who also lives on Water Street agreed that dirt bikes are also doing wheelies and they flee from the police.
Another resident from Water Street came up to speak and said, “It’s dangerous for families walking on Water Street, especially when they are trying to cross the street when these vehicles are speeding. Traffic is terrible and so is the loud music being played which hurts my ears. The music ordinance is not being enforced.”
Water Street Resident Wilma Matey came up next, “I agree that we need speed bumps. People will get hurt (if speeders are not stopped). There is a lot of loud music being played and people doing wheelies with their vehicles are terrible. We pay high taxes, and we don’t want to listen to their loud music. I don’t want anyone to get hurt.”
Resident Junior Iglesia came up next to speak about marijuana. “Many municipalities such as Piscataway say they are a family friendly town and don’t want any marijuana sold there. Some towns don’t want it as a business or even having medicinal marijuana facilities. South Amboy drafted an ordinance prohibiting all marijuana businesses in town. It is in our best interest to have an ordinance banning marijuana. The League of Municipalities says that towns don’t have to wait 5 years to opt in. Give yourselves time to look at the marijuana issue with the wait and see approach. I also need to know how much time the public will have to speak at the marijuana forum.”
Resident Maria Peralta came up next. Councilman Pabon translated. “We had a march on Saturday which ended at the city hall circle where people made speeches against having marijuana in the city. I have nothing against our mayor. We need an ordinance against any manufacturing of marijuana in our town. It is bad for our children. I see people buy it on the street. We also need to stop the restrictions of people not being allowed to fish (at certain areas of the waterfront). People who are for marijuana are not from here.”
Rev. Donna Stewart President of Perth Amboy Chapter of the NAACP spoke next. “The NAACP in Perth Amboy has been around for 80 years. We are for equal rights for all people and are against police brutality. I invite all to attend the Junteenth Celebration on Saturday, June 19th. There is a lot of disrespect on leadership here that’s been going on for a long time. We are standing here tonight, and we are done dying. I have stood by you in the past, Mr. Petrick. We support all people: Jewish, Asian, people of color, and the LGBT+ Community.” Addressing Petrick, “I supported your business. I bought all my flowers from you and can no longer do this. I invite all to join our organization no matter who you are, but you (Petrick) have been disrespectful, and change is coming.”
Resident Alan Silber came up next, “I see that there is supposed to be a rehabilitation of the train station. The people should go down Rector Street by the old police station to see how it is boarded up. They’ll see a sign on one of the doors that says: “Celebrate Perth Amboy”. Nothing is being done. There are about 40 people who had a march against cannabis, and as they marched and when they arrived at city hall circle, they were playing loud music and their speakers were very loud. Over 2,000 people voted in the city in the last election and 60% of the voters in the state voted to legalize marijuana. The only reason we have a Mayor Helmin Caba is because of the 50%+1 rule change. Now, you want to have a marijuana forum when the people of the city and in the state already approved it. We had several shootings, and no one talked about this. We need to think about the quality-of-life issues.”
Attorney Daniel Gonzalez came up next. “It was nice to see all the people in the city parks and some of the streets being paved. I was there when the late attorney Ronald Spevack was honored at the Grand Opening of the Tennis Courts. It was a positive thing that you voted on the positions presented on tonight’s resolution. It is allowing the mayor to have the tools needed to run the city properly. There was a shooting on Gordon and First Street, but there are a lot of things out of our control. Focus on the positive. I was glad to see my people from Water Street here tonight. We need more of a police presence on Water Street. I saw the police on the Waterfront, and when the motorcycles and other vehicles saw the police, they slowed down and turned the music down. You guys are doing a good job. Council President Bill Petrick just needs to relax more and just be nicer. Thanks, guys.”
Resident Fernando Gonzalez came up next, “Say no to a tax increase. You have to address the current budget. I know our new mayor is working hard not to increase taxes next year. I hope we can use the $16 million not to increase taxes. Our water department was sold. Money was borrowed and spent and that water contract that was supposed to be for only 20 years had to be extended out to 30 years. 3% is probably the minimum you (the council) can get for a water increase. In about 10 years, we should be done with the water department contract. We have to plan, but we cannot change the past. Just be intelligent and respect each other.”
Judge Mathias Rodriguez came up to speak about speeding vehicles. “We need to do something about speeding townwide. Kids are running around on bikes and have no respect for traffic. We need speed bumps all over the town and they are an easy and inexpensive way to control traffic. Puerto Rico is way ahead of us when it comes to traffic safety. Every crosswalk there has speed bump. I agree with the residents of Water Street and others who talk about all the traffic violations.”
The meeting was then opened up to people on Zoom.
A Water Street Resident spoke first. “Speeding happens all the time. My recommendations would be to lower the speed limit to 20mph, install speed bumps, and enforce the laws.”
Resident Maria Garcia who lives on Kearny Avenue spoke next. “The water agreement that was made from a previous administration was not met, especially when it came to fixing the infrastructure. Urban Cities pay the highest water rates. A majority of the people in our town are not rich. I have a video showing speeding cars on Kearny Avenue and one was going 90mph. Loud music is also being played in many houses. This needs to stop. People need to earn respect. People also said that Council Members are rude but need to give examples of rudeness. Just because you don’t agree with someone does not mean you have to destroy them.”
Council Comments:
Councilwoman Rose Morales said, “I agree that the traffic violations on Water Street are very bad and needs to be addressed. We may need to have neighborhood policing and maybe use our auxiliary police not only on Water Street, but all over town. I am looking forward to the marijuana forum. Don’t forget the Memorial Day Ceremony.”
Councilman Joel Pabon said, “I want to thank the residents from Water Street who came up to speak. I know about the speeding cars and the bikes causing trouble on Kearny Avenue. One of those kids that was featured on that video of reckless bike riders on YouTube was hurt when he did a maneuver. I also had calls from people who live on North and South Park Drive with people racing down their streets. When police start issuing tickets, the words get out and the speeders stop. No disrespect to the Alternate Attorney, but we hired someone to be here, and he is not here when we really needed him. We are getting $16 million for stimulus. That money needs to be used for what it is supposed to be for. Let’s worry about this budget. We (the council members) also have to pay tax increases, too. The city parks are in shambles. Are things being ordered such as mulch (and other needed equipment)? The kids can’t use the slides or jungle gyms in some of the parks. We had a year to repair the parks. Remember Memorial Day and why we are here today.”
Councilwoman Milady Tejeda said, “I saw the communications (from the Water Street Residents) and their concerns about the speeders and loud music. The Washington Park area also has a lot of speeders. Are there any updates on the Fayette and Market Street (train) bridges?”
B.A. Remsen responded via Zoom, “Regarding the Market Street Bridge, structural issues have to be done first by NJ Transit. We are looking at a timeframe of maybe 18 months.”
Tejeda wished everyone a happy and long Memorial Day weekend. “Remember those who fought for our freedom.”
Councilman B.J. Torres said, “I am a resident of Water Street. I agree that speed bumps are needed. I am looking forward to the marijuana summit next week (Wednesday, June 2, 2021 doors open 6:30 p.m. & on Zoom – see below) The law states that adults 21+ are the only ones that can use marijuana and marijuana and any other by-products would have a sales tax attached to it. Communication and open policy is the best form of deterrents. Decriminalization is not part of the current law.”
Council President Bill Petrick thanked all in Zoomland and those in person who came here to speak. He then asked B.A. Remsen if he had any of the paperwork from former Business Administrator Frederick Carr regarding communications from NJ Transit regarding work being done on any of our bridges.
Remsen answered, “I will get more information to the council later on.”
Petrick continued, “Remember those who sacrificed and gave their lives for us. I also want to thank the judge (Rodriguez) who talked about how Puerto Rico handled their traffic problems. We even have small cars that have a device that makes loud noises. We need some kind of control. Maybe we can use some kind of community policing. And for the marijuana forum, only 80 people will be allowed to attend in person. That meeting will also be available through Zoom. Thank you and God Bless.”
The meeting adjourned at 9:18 p.m. All council members were present in the council chambers.
