4/25/18 Council Meeting
Gary Rumpf
PERTH AMBOY – During the first public portion, Ken Balut came up to speak about R-160 – 4/18 which is a public hearing and adoption of the 2018 Business Improvement District (BID) budget. He asked that the BID be removed. “After $2.2 million being spent, what on Smith Street is better? We made a couple of millionaires, but what do the citizens get? Some flowers, flags, and a booklet? Rios, Cruz, and Hudanish were involved in selling a house. The BID used a salary of $8000. What did that person do in ten years? Some property owners get the benefit. Remove the BID.”
Councilman Fernando Gonzalez responded to Balut’s remarks. He started out by thanking the BID for presenting their budget. “They are trying to generate business for the City, but I would like to see if their events have increased business. If some events aren’t working, we need to see if they can have other programs.”
Council President Bill Petrick then asked if the BID could do a survey to see if businesses have increased.
Resident Jeremy Baratta came up and asked, “When will we know about the amendments that were made to the City’s 2018 budget? Will they be on the City’s website?”
B.A. Cruz responded, “When the budget is passed, it will be on the website.”
Balut came back up to speak about R-119 – a public hearing on the approved CY 2018 Municipal Budget. “Rumor has it that you’re approving the budget with no tax increase. This is the best news I’ve heard. Who is negotiating the PILOT (E-Port BRIDGE)? There is no more money for the school system. We are increasing the school population. You can’t have density and bring in more people which will increase taxes. Was the title bidded out for the position that is being done by the new person in the parking utility at a salary of $70,000? The PILOT was dumped on you. Where are all these contracts coming from that are given to people in North Jersey? Where are the checks and balances? You should be informed of lawsuits as soon as they happen and not after they are settled.”
Resident and Businessman David Caba came up next, “You (the Council) were not given all the proper information. Someone with a Master’s Degree was given a job that he had no experience in. He was an outsider and a job was created for him. He even helped get a mayor elected who served jail time. I know there’s probably a lot of people in town that could have done this job.”
The public had a chance to speak about the budget. Balut came up to speak first. “The Mayor stuck up for Kushner and he owes us $4 million. The citizens had to fight Kushner and the Mayor’s lawyers. It’s time to cut the ties with Kushner who wants to build more units. I agree with Councilman Caba. The $600,000 that we should have gotten from Bridgeport should have been used for tax relief. The Mayor should be off the Redevelopment Agency. Look at all the DeCotiis calls made to Kushner. Mr. Blunda (former Law Director) stopped the bleeding and lawsuits.”
Balut then asked, “Are we a Sanctuary City?”
No one answered.
Balut continued, “We have a discrimination lawsuit, and nobody knows anything.”
Resident and Businessman Gary Rumpf, who is on the BID Board came up to speak. He said, “I’m also the chair of the façade program. Everyone on the BID is a volunteer. We have talked to Adam Cruz and Danny Cleaver about the streetlights. We don’t own the streetlights. We’ve talked about programs that are not working and cancelled them because we don’t want to waste money. Currently there are seven applications for businesses that want façades. Over 100 people registered for an upcoming event. We’re having a boat parade the day of the fireworks and we have approval for 50 boats. We have meetings the second Tuesday of the month at 4 p.m. People who apply for the façade also have to fill out forms when they go to the Tax Department. We have to make sure their taxes are paid up to date. They also have to go to Code Enforcement. If everything is okay, they have to get three estimates for the work to be done. The façade program includes signage or awnings. We want people to keep coming back to town. This program is open to anyone in the BID district. Our maximum contribution is $5000. We pay half of what you are doing up to $5000 max.”
Councilman Fernando Gonzalez had some comments after Rumpf spoke, “I’m personally dissatisfied with the BID. The BID is a close-knit group. The membership is selective. I know the politics of it, but every member has good intentions.”
After Gonzalez made those remarks, Rumpf then said, “Paramount has a big project that they are doing at the corner of Hobart and Smith Streets.”
At this point, Businessman, Developer, and BID Chair Barry Rosengarten came up to speak, “Everyone is invited to attend BID Meetings. Businesses in the BID district pay more taxes than other businesses that are not in the BID district. We are proud of the fact that money was not spent frivolously. Several BID Members serve in public capacity. We advertise for people who want to serve. The applicants come before the Board and there is no political agenda.”
Jeremy Baratta came up to speak. He held up a postcard that he received from the Department of Veterans Affairs. “On this postcard, the directions the Veteran’s hospital is not clear. Which Orange is it? East Orange? West Orange? And what street is it on? Treatmont Street or Avenue? The Veteran’s Health Administration should be dismantled.”
Silber came up to speak about the Nepotism policy. “How many people were inappropriately hired. We should see how many people were hired after the Nepotism Policy changed. The Council needs a list of the new hires, how they were hired, and any positions created for them. When they (the Council) asked Walensky (at the Budget Hearing for the Parking Utility) what his qualifications were for the job that he’s doing, the person (Former Parking Director Rios) sitting next to him answered for him. There are qualified Perth Amboy people that could do that job.”
David Caba came up and talked about recreation in Perth Amboy. He made a comparison between Perth Amboy and Westfield. He continued, “Westfield had vacant properties and converted them into two soccer fields. I was the biggest critic of Vas, and I don’t owe anybody anything. We have been seeing vacant property at the Waterfront for 12 years. A soccer field and single-family homes would be great at that location and it’s overlooking the water.”
During the Council Comments, Helmin Caba spoke first, “We need more parks. I thank the Mayor and Kenny Ortiz for phenomenal programs (recreational and others). We have the same amount of parks as 30 years ago even though our population has doubled. We are 30 playgrounds short. We are 12 short of baseball and tennis and 2 short for soccer. Look at artificial turf so more sports can be played on one field. We need to update the Master Plan and to take care of our infrastructure.”
Councilman Fernando Gonzalez had no comments.
Councilman Irizarry spoke next. “I attended two league opening days. I want to thank the volunteers. We have a healthy Little League and 14 Dominican Leagues. I attended a play called “Broadway Bound” at the YMCA and I want to give kudos to Anita Dowd and those performers. They have a very healthy Community Theater and they need a bigger venue than the Y auditorium. They get money from the Freeholders and we should invite the Freeholders to see a show, so they can contribute more money. The Aladdin costumes were very creative. I would like to see the information on the discrimination lawsuit in the Police Department.”
Councilman Joel Pabon spoke next. He responded to a comment made by a resident who talked about him being politically motivated. “I’ve had two successful careers. I’ve screamed about Rudyk Park for years. Things don’t get done immediately. There is a lot of land by Rudyk Park and I have been talking about Lucey Center and swapping land with the Board of Education. The Flynn School and Washington Park were improved. I talked about the Waterfront basketball courts and it’s been done.” He then talked about Westfield, “They can do this (converting vacant lots) but they have the money. What will be the consequences if we took the $600,000 that we used to prevent tax increases to build fields? I’m just glad kids can play softball even if they have to use out-of-town fields. There is even a Softball Church League. Second Street Park – finally something was done after 30 years. After Rutgers did their study, they found out that property was not that contaminated.”
Council President Bill Petrick spoke next, “I hope we can see more movement on the Second Street Park.”
Business Administrator Adam Cruz commented about the recent City-Wide Cleanup. “There were over 100 volunteers which also included the Girl’s High School Softball teams. I also thank the volunteers who helped out at the Little League games.”
Petrick then piggy-backed off of Cruz’s comments, “I also want to mention the people who helped out at the Little League games. Some of those people had kids who used to play in those leagues (and outgrew them) but still volunteered to help.
