9/23/20 Council Meeting Comments

By: Carolyn Maxwell

PERTH AMBOY – During the Council Comments, Councilman Helmin Caba recognized the young woman who spoke from an organization called, “Frontline Views”. The spokeswoman for the group presented each member of the council a list of 17 demands. One of the items they discussed was having a statue built of Thomas Mundy Peterson whom they gave a brief history about. 

Councilman Caba appreciated their concerns that Thomas Mundy Peterson should have a statue, “We need to take it a step further. We need a bust or a monument, and it was talked about when I was on the Historic Preservation Commission. The best spot would be in front of city hall, so all can see not only what he did for the town, but for the country. What are we doing about the Surveyor’s General Office? There was a grand opening, and it was open to the public for a little while, but then it closed down.”

Councilman Fernando Irizarry thanked everyone who came to the meeting to express their views and concerns. “Everyone spoke in a civil manner.” He then asked to be provided with information on a recent homicide, a violent rape and cases that have been solved so far (this year). He urged all residents to fill out the census forms that are due on September 30th and emphasized that this can also be done online. “If you want better and improved streets, fill out the census so we can get funding.”

Councilman Joel Pabon spoke. He asked the City Clerk to give him the information as to who applied for the Rent Leveling Board. He stated he was confused when the woman who was part of the group (who had her rent doubled) mentioned that she talked to the Mayor and Pabon about this rent increase matter. “I was not at any meetings at all with this woman. People in this building who had their rent increases should have received certified letters about pending court dates. That is what they should have looked into first.” Pabon then turned his attention to a clothing bin located at the corner of Market and Second Street, “It looks terrible. Trash is also being dumped there. If owners can’t maintain those boxes, they should get rid of them. There are a lot of food being donated to Perth Amboy residents and we should thank the suppliers. A lot of the food coming into Perth Amboy are being supplied from people who are from out-of-state. Let’s not take credit for the goodness of others. I hope that we are able to get back to city hall to have our meetings there.”

Councilwoman Milady Tejeda thanked all for coming and then asked Councilman Pabon if he had an update on the Patten School Road opening.

Pabon answered, “There is supposed to be an opening of the Elizabeth Street going to the Division Street, but because of the Covid-19 situation there was a holdup and there has been no update from Conrail. There was also supposed to be an opening of the cul-de-sac near Sadowski Parkway and we even had prices for what it would take to do that project, but so far there has been no further updates.”

Tejeda continued, “There is no need in pointing fingers. Everyone has done their jobs and tried to move forward. I came here in 1974 and we need to work together for the betterment of the town.”

Council President Bill Petrick then added, “We are committed to this town and this is why we serve. My grandfather came here and had ten kids. We are in a crazy season. I feel badly for those tenants who had a rent increase, but someone came to this meeting to grandstand (regarding this issue). If they (the people who had the rent increase) were not given proper notice, can a (judge’s) decision (who granted the landlord the increase) be overturned?”

Law Director Peter King responded, “Yes.”

Petrick then held up a flyer and asked the person manning the camera to zoom in on this flyer, which happened to have a picture of the municipal complex on it. Petrick continued, “We will be paying for this building for 30 years. The person who built this building was incompetent. The C/O was not issued until a new council came in. All safety measures were not in place when the building was first opened. We still have one courtroom which still cannot be used because of deficiencies. This is propaganda material stating how they are going to fix all these problems, but they were all caused by the prior administration’s problems. Under renegotiated contracts, we took over the billing from the water company. We have a schedule of lining repairs and improved water.”

Councilman Fernando Irizarry then spoke up, “We spent $17.7 million in water improvement.”

Law Director Peter King then spoke up, “The Kushner projects began under the Vas administration.”

Petrick continued speaking, “Mayor Wilda Diaz released Kushner from his obligation on the city buildings. The Mayor doesn’t run the city. She sometimes appoints qualified people, but department heads run the city. We had a very qualified Business Administrator who was fired on a whim and she (Diaz) broke all levels of the law (in doing so). This Business Administrator (Frederick Carr) was not given a 20-day notice and we were not given any notice either. The last B.A. (Carr) had the support of this council, but Wilda doesn’t care about the city. There was recent activity by the MS-13 Gang with gunshots, a shootout, and multiple gunplay. Under Vas, we did have a professional police department and now we have none of that. There were even bullet holes in one of the Cathedral International Buildings. She had many ribbon cuttings for businesses that closed shortly afterwards. When there are food distributions, she pretended the food is coming from her. Corruption is happening under her.” He ended by saying, “God Bless everyone.”