By: Carolyn Maxwell

PERTH AMBOY – Office of Economic and Community Development (OECD) Assistant Director Tashi Vazquez presented their budget first. “There are four people in the office, including myself. We also share offices with the UEZ and the BID. We offer a diversity of services with a decrease in cost. So far, we have received $2.5 million for park improvements and Covid related items. $1.4 million was received from HUD for Homeless Prevention Services. We also get funding from HUD to use for other various services. We help the Office of Aging in offsetting some of their costs and to help them with some of their housing. We have received $500,000 from the United Way. Some of this money was used for library renovations. We put out a request of $7 million for new money. Some of the money will be for historic renovations in city hall, road repairs, and transportation.”

Councilman Joel Pabon asked Vazquez about some of the grant money that was on the handout given to the council provided by the OECD office. One item was about the NJ Department of Law and Public Safety Bolstering Police – Youth Trust Grant Program. 

Vazquez explained that it was for three bicycle events with the police and our youth. She then explained the money for the renovation of the Youth Complex Facility and Rudyk Park. “Equipment is needed for our parks. With the Rose Lopez School, safety improvements were needed. The amount requested for that was $650,000. It was a safety improvement route because students that attended that school come from all over the city. There needs to be improvement with the lighting, the bumps, and the public schools gave us many students that either walk or use public transportation to get to the Rose Lopez School.” She then talked about some of the money requested. “We need to make the parks more disabled friendly, and the Board of Education is taking looking to make the parks more friendly for disabled kids.”

Someone questioned what group they are using to get these grants.

Vazquez answered, “We are getting grants through the Millennium Strategy Group whom we pay $4,000 a month. They are consultants.”

Councilman B.J. Torres asked if they would be able to put in more skate parks.

Vazquez said, “We are hoping to relocate one of the skateboard facilities to the Second Street Park when it is finished.” She briefly talked about the Youth Complex Park (Located behind Wendy’s on Convery Boulevard). “It has not been updated since the 1980’s and it is heavily used. Last year, we received a Congressional Award for the improvements to Washington Park. Any grant money that we received from HUD is managed by the OECD.”

Council President Bill Petrick asked if there is any oversight to the make sure the grant money is spent for the purposes they were requested for.

Vazquez responded, “The Purchasing and Finance Department and the B.A.’s Office also keeps an eye on our funding. We also applied for a $500,000 grant from the DCA (Department of Community Affairs) to acquire the Fink Park Property. We can follow up on updates on the Second Street Park and see if a portion of it can be set aside to add skateboarding to it.”

Petrick then said, “I am impressed with the money coming in through the OECD.”

Vazquez added, “A portion of any grant money also goes to management.” She said, “The Second Street Park will also need additional site investigation. We are also looking at municipal parking lots for putting in charging stations. We have the funding to add connections (for those stations). There are also requests that any residential buildings coming in to include charging stations.”

Councilwoman Milady Tejeda asked about the money from United Way for the Emergency Food and Shelter Program for $530,000.

Vazquez explained, “It will help the Salvation Army and PRAHD to help stock their food pantries. They could also even hand out food vouchers. It will also help those organizations who help people when it comes to Code Blue Sheltering and Mental Health Services such as the YMCA, the Office of Human Services, and the Jewish Renaissance.”

Judge Kenneth Gonzalez came up next to speak about the budget for the courts. “There are two aspects of the court system. One is personnel and the other one is the operating expenses. I am going to compare the same 3-month timeframe of January 1, 2021 thru March 31, 2021 to January 1, 2022 thru March 31, 2022. Our budget last year was $91,650 and for 2022 we are asking for $111,410. For 2021, we spent $30,000 for professional services. For the first three months of 2022, we’ve already spent $50,000 so far this year. In the same timeframe (2021) for our contractional services, we spent $3,100. For the same timeframe of 2022, we have spent $3,260 and this is for Zoom Services. The processed tickets that were written up by the Police Department in 2021 was $91,660. This year, so far it is $111,410. In 2020, the Supreme Court closed us down and we had reduced services. In 2021 we started using Zoom which was a big learning experience. For now, the Supreme Court wants Zoom to continue. I don’t know how likely that it will be used permanently. When we had courts in-person, we could move quicker due to less technical problems. We have a big backlog of cases and Zoom increased the number of cases. There are a lot of cases involving traffic, criminal, and restraining orders. Sometimes we will hear five restraining order cases in one day. In the timeframe of January through March 2021, the police issued 5,068 parking tickets. In the same timeframe this year, they’ve issued 5,244. Moving violations went from 1,677in the three-month time period in 2021. In 2022 it increased to 1,865. In 2021 there were 541 criminal cases and there are 702 so far this year. We are looking to have additional court sessions this year. Cases resolved have been threefold. In 2021 from January through March we collected $188,000. So far this year, we’ve collected $343,598. We are still drowning in old cases and now we have new cases. If we added more court sessions, it would help out. We are down two staff members. We have hired some people on flextime. We began starting our evening sessions at 4 p.m.”

Councilman Pabon said, “We noticed that you have two staff members that you have shown absent right now.”

Gonzalez explained that one is on maternity leave and one staff member was promoted as a Deputy Court Administrator. “We need someone to take the place of her old job.”

Pabon continued, “People have called me and said they have paid their tickets but still are getting warrants for their arrests.”

Gonzalez explained, “Sometimes people are issued multiple summonses. Some of them may have 40-50 tickets and they just may have paid for 1 or 2 of those tickets. There are some people who have no income. In those cases, sometimes the money cannot be collected from them. Everything I am saying regarding the backlog of cases, etc. is happening statewide – not just here. The judges and court staff feel we can’t work as efficiently as in the past. We are trying to resolve the cases electronically instead of going to court. Zoom is very technical and new. In some cases, people can do a plea by mail. They are sent a form to fill out to plead their cases. Since the courts are open now, the sessions are scheduled.”

Councilwoman Milady Tejeda spoke up to talk about the parking tickets issued that went up (from 2021 to 2022), “People should be able to add time to the meters.”

Gonzalez explained, “This is not a court problem. Commercial vehicle parking tickets went up.”

Councilman B.J. Torres asked, “If we have a backlog, do we have people who do remediation of cases?”

Gonzalez answered, “Yes, we do. We just hired two part-timers. The administration has been good to us. There are currently three judges and ten staff members which includes the two part-timers. We have the one Deputy Court Administrator who used to be a regular employee for 7 years, then promoted to that position. She completed all the courses required. All the technical equipment needed for Zoom is State Required. DWI cases are more complicated when you use Zoom.”

The next person to present their budget was the Acting Director of the Library Herschel Chomsky along with a President of the Library Board of Trustees Rosalie Morillo. Chomsky explained that Covid did a lot of damage, and the library was closed for a few months. “Curbside pickup and delivery services were used. We opened back up slowly and in September of 2021 we started to open up fulltime. We are in partnership with 30 other libraries, and we carry a lot of old specialty books. Our circulation increased and in March we had a total of 1,258 materials that were checked out. In February, the total was 1,161. We have 64 clients which we do home deliveries for. We have 2,692 registered library cards and more people are signing up. 789 visitors used our services in March. Our Notary Services are popular, especially for the handicapped and sometimes the schools use those services. There were 147 references that came from people calling from out of state, and sometimes from people that were out of the country. We are trying to digitize more. We are one of the oldest Carnegie Libraries and we have a new Board of Trustees who have scheduled a lot of popular events. There is a lot of activity going on. We received a grant for $1.5 million. We hope to use some of that money to renovate the downstairs restroom, the history room, the staff breakroom, and to do renovations to the exterior stairway. We are looking to add removable shelves and specialized equipment to clean books. We need to update our Wi-Fi and furniture to make it more ADA accessible. Improvements are needed for lighting, security cameras need to be installed, and possibility we could have a garden in the back. It is important that people call ahead of time if they need our notary services to make sure that the two people that can do it are available. A lot of the ADA Compliances are mostly completed. Danny Cleaver (DPW Supervisor) is the person who is in contact with the contractors working on the building. Our upstairs restroom is handicapped accessible.”

President of the Library Board of Trustees Rosalie Morillo spoke up, “We have money to hire a new Library Director and a Reference Librarian.”

Councilwoman Milady Tejeda spoke up, “I am glad to see all the activities in the library. I also had the opportunity to be on the Library Panel (For Woman’s History Month). All of these activities need to be promoted more.”

Councilman B.J. Torres said, “We need a media literacy program, especially for the seniors on how to decipher misinformation.”

After the budget hearing, Council President Petrick read the ordinances and resolutions.

Business Administrator Michael Green explained Ordinance No. 1 (First Reading) – Entitled “Streets and Sidewalks” for those businesses that want to add outside seating and what would be required of them.

“There is a $100 application fee. If the application is approved, then they would have to pay a $300 fee for the permit.”

Councilman Joel Pabon had a problem with R-194-4/22 – The extension of the interim appointment of Matthew Nieves as Acting Director of Public Works for a period no longer than 60 days retroactive from April 1, 2022.

“This should have been put on the agenda the first week of April.”

B.A. Green said, “It is my fault for not doing so, but Nieves is taking the required tests needed for the position.”

For R-195-4/22 – Consenting the Appointment of Dianne Roman for her appointment as Director of the Department of Human Services.

Petrick congratulated Mrs. Roman on her appointment as Director of the Department of Human Services.

There was a discussion regarding R-202-4/22 – Authorizing Settlement of Jamie Rodriguez vs. The City of Perth Amboy in an amount not to exceed $1,200,000.

B.A. Green explained that the city’s liability because of insurance will only be $100,000. He explained that we initially make the full payment, but then the city gets reimbursed minus $100,000.”

B.J. Torres requested information on what would be the impact on the city’s finances going forth.

There was a long presentation regarding R-207-4/22 – Approving an Affordable Housing Spending Plan contingent on the court approval of a consent order.

Elizabeth McManus, New Jersey Professional Planner from the New York Architect Firm of Perkins Eastman gave the presentation. “Part of this resolution has to deal with development fees. The production and management are now under the courts. Any spending and costs have to be approved the courts, especially when it comes to affordable housing. You will be able to pay for the administrative costs with these funds. $2.2 million has been collected so far for the city to use if you approve this resolution this week.”

Tashi Vazquez came up to also make comments. “This resolution is for new development only.”

McManus continued to talk, “The Administration will have $983,000 to use between now and July 25, 2022. The housing will also be discussed, especially when it comes to affordability and rental assistance. There also will be energy assistance for affordable housing units under the Housing Authority.”

Councilman Torres spoke up, “We have to make sure that this money is being properly monitored so that it is not being misused.”

McManus responded, “We have a series of steps to make sure the funds are properly managed. When it comes to affordable housing, a proper deed restriction has to be put in place which is very critical.”

Vazquez then commented, “We want to attract people with disposable income and provide for others that are already here. A lot of people pay 80% of their income on rent. That is too high.”

After the presentation was made, Milady Tejeda spoke up, “There were phone calls from residents and from the United Dominican Organization to have their festival be put back on the agenda and why hasn’t that been done?”

Council President Petrick said, “The Covid numbers are going up. Even in Philadelphia, they cancelled many of their events and are putting the mask mandates back in place. We can put it on the agenda for Wednesday.”

Councilman Pabon asked Council President Petrick to read Communication No. 4 – Buckeye Perth Amboy Terminal will hold a public information session at the ZPA at 281 Grace St. on June 1st, 2022, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on the NJDEP Application to allow the installation of two natural gas fire hot water heaters.

Council President Bill Petrick asked City Engineer Ernest Feist who was on Zoom if he wanted to add any information about this.

Feist explained that he had not received any information on this.

Fire Chief Ed Mullen responded via Zoom, “This is a Biodiesel Project for a new tank to move that project.”

Council President Petrick explained that it will be coming on railcars. 

Public Portion (in-person first):

Resident Ken Balut spoke first about an incident involving a boat at the Marina and about the Acting DPW Director.  “There was an incident at the Marina where someone was driving a Police Marina Boat without the necessary license. The Acting DPW Director should have their name on the agenda. Also, have the company names on the agenda to identify any entity involved with grants. You are still going to have million-dollar lawsuits continuing because of having people with questionable backgrounds in charge. All these people are unqualified and can’t go to court to defend the city. A lot of out-of-towners are running this town. We had a guy sitting on the council getting a lot of freebies.”

Law Director William Opel responded to Balut. He gave the names of some of the people involved in giving out grants.

The next person to speak was Resident Luis Cruz from High Street, “If you brush us off in the community, it’s disrespectful. We ran our festival (Dominican) for over 25 years. Most of the people who attend different city events are from out of town. We are a nonprofit and we give out scholarships and school supplies to low-income communities. We are losing our organizers and fundraisers. I lost a lot of family members from Covid. The festival is a cultural event for the Latino Community. We take pride in this event. If it doesn’t take place, it is going to backfire. It is a nonprofit and an economic boost to our community.”

A resident from Florida Grove Road came up to speak, “You want to use Covid for your reason to reject the festival. What about the Fourth of July event that Petrick approves of? The numbers of Covid cases went up in Philadelphia and none of you are wearing masks. The mostly Dominican Community deserve respect and we put you in those seats. Remember, we are the majority.”

Dominican Festival Committee Member Fermin DeJesus spoke next, “I’m a little bit uncomfortable talking about this, but you need to be flexible. Covid will be here for a very long time, and we need to leave the politics alone. We have large indoor events. Just got to the website VisitNJ.com. You will see all these large events take place out of town. We should sit down to talk about making a plan.”

Resident Vince Mackiel came up to speak, “I want to thank the council for talking about Communication No. 5 – The Meeting at the ZPA in June 1st. We are moving towards renewable energy. The Citizens living near where the terminal is located should be informed as well as the council. I’m glad plug-in facilities will be put in place (for electric cars).”

Mr. Guzman spoke next in Spanish. A member of the audience translated for him. “I am a 27-year resident and I live on Lewis Street. There are a lot of residents and businesses here and I am very happy living here. We are here for each other. Don’t take away the festival.”

The meeting was opened up to Zoom participants:

Resident Maria Garcia spoke, “I have concerns about people who spoke about the festival. I agree that festivals bring in people from the outside, but where is the proof of them awarding scholarships (through these festivals) and other things that they talk about? They talk about the Fourth of July, but that is celebrated all around the country. The Fourth of July is only for a couple of hours on one day. Theirs is a 3-day festival with long hours. Traffic is bad. There are backups and it’s bad if there is an emergency. You have to account for all residents living here. I’ve been to the Dominican Festival and all the festivals. We need to have a solution for the bigger multiday festivals. We also have a lot of activities for adults.”

After closing the public portion, the council went into closed session at 8:17 p.m. All council members were present in person.