The Budget, Marijuana Laws Hot Issues and a Welcomed Surprise
3/10/21 Council Meeting
By: Carolyn Maxwell
PERTH AMBOY – During the Public Comments on agenda items only, all speaking times for the public were changed back to 5 minutes.
Resident Stanley Sierakowski spoke first. “What is the status on the Anchor Marine Property?”
Business Administrator Edward Remsen spoke via Zoom, “I am getting a title search on that property.”
Sierakowski said, “A title search is not needed. Just go to the tax assessor’s office to get what you need. The property was bought by the county for $6 million.” Sierakowski then mentioned that Developer Rosengarten got a lien on the property and the city bought it for $10 on foreclosure.
Resident Maria Peralta spoke next in Spanish. Translations were provided by Councilmembers Pabon and Tejeda. Peralta said she is representing the Youth Against Drugs and Alcohol. “If you (the council) vote “Yes” for bringing drugs here, then it will hurt the city, the kids, and bring in gangs. This is not good for our businesses. Where is the security for our children? If they wanted to legalize prostitution, would you vote “Yes” for that? Have you met with the Police Chief to pick up kids after 9 p.m. who are involved with gangs? Please vote “No” against bringing drugs here. We are tired of the gangs and violence. If you do this (approve marijuana in Perth Amboy), the churches and other concerned citizens will protest. I have two adopted children who live with me because of their parents being involved with drugs.”
After the first public comments were closed, the council voted on the ordinances. They pulled the bid for the Public Safety Complex Gate Improvement by the Giacorp Contracting Corp. For the first reading of Ordinance No. 1 – To exceed the municipal budget appropriation limit and establish a cap bank. Was moved by Tejeda; seconded by Morales. Ordinance No. 2 – Designating restricted parking spaces for the use by handicapped persons re: additions was moved by Pabon; seconded by Tejeda. Ordinance No. 3 – Acquisition of property for public use known as 984 Amboy Ave. by exercise of the power of eminent domain was moved by Tejeda and seconded by Pabon.
R-145 & R-146 were voided and removed at the Caucus Meeting.
There was a late-starter resolution R-166-3/21 – Rejecting the bid for the Public Safety Complex Gate Improvement at 365-375 New Brunswick Ave. and authorizing the city officials to advertise for the rebid of the Public Safety Complex Gate Improvement. It was moved by Pabon and seconded by Tejeda.
Business Administrator Remsen explained, “This is to reject R-146 (the contract with Giacorp Contracting to do this work).”
When it came time to vote on the consent agenda, Council President Petrick asked that R-165 be moved to be voted on separately. (Payment to former Law Director Peter King for services rendered beyond his regular duties).
B.A. Remsen responded to Petrick’s request and stated that former Law Director Peter King sent all backup material for the money that he is requesting.
When it came to vote on the consent agenda, R-143 thru R-164 and R-166 was moved by Pabon and seconded by Tejeda. For R-165 to be tabled was moved Tejeda and seconded by Morales. When it came to vote on separately to table this, Morales, Tejeda voted “Yes”. Pabon and Torres voted “No” to table. Motion passes to table.
Public Portion:
Resident Stanley Sierakowski spoke first and made an objection when he was not allowed to have an extra two minutes to speak after his initial five minutes ran out because one council member voted “No” to extend that time. Sierakowski stated that this is shutting down the freedom of speech. “One person should not be allowed to overrule the majority of others.” He then turned his attention to the Anchor Marine Property. “Developer Kushner has 2 acres of this property, which is worth $2 million and also, since Councilman B.J. Torres said “No” to give me extra time to speak, then Mr. Torres should also deny extra time to other speakers who request it.”
Resident Junior Iglesia came up next. He addressed Council President William Petrick, of whom he accused of making intimidating statements to him at the caucus meeting. “I make comments about the budget and taxes going up. You (Petrick) mentioned about me being a landlord. I respect you, Mr. Petrick, and the people that are here. I also expect that you will respect me. There is supposed to be $16.4 million of state aid coming to us according to the press conference attended by Senators Cory Booker and Bob Menendez.”
Iglesia then asked if he could have more time after his 5 minutes expired. When the council was polled, Councilman B.J. Torres said, “No,” because he denied Sierakowski extra time.
Council President Petrick then asked Law Director Northgrave if he could give a ruling on that.
Northgrave responded, “The council adopted the rules, and the rules were followed.”
Mayor Helmin Caba came up next. He said, “As it stands now, we have a 1.7% tax increase, but we anticipate getting additional money and now I am confident that taxes will not go up in the city this year.”
Resident Vince Mackiel came up next. “You (the council) were good at asking questions dealing with the budget last year. Healthcare and essential services are important. And regarding Market Street, the county can do street repairs. The mayor should see that it is a priority, and the Market Street bridge is important for the railways and businesses.”
Business Administrator Remsen spoke up, “I was unable to get more detailed answers yet regarding the Market Street bridge.”
Resident David Caba came up to speak, “The Landings Developer (Kushner) took off and neglected Rector Street. I’ve complained 50 times about Rector Street. I’m looking at an abandoned house on Rector Street which is disgusting. How many fines were given to residents who have neglected their properties? I bet thousands of fines. Yet this billionaire gets away with this. Now, he wants to build 600 more rental units. How many storefronts are there being used at the Landings properties?”
Council President Petrick responded, “None.”
Caba then asked, “Was there a vote to change the speakers time to 3 minutes?” Caba then drew a laugh when he said, “When my time runs out, can I ask for an extra 50 minutes to speak because I haven’t been here for a long time?”
Petrick said, “We might change it back to 5 minutes for the public to speak.”
Petrick also requested how many fines Kushner has received in the timeframe between 2019 to 2020 versus how many fines residents have gotten in the same timeframe.
Code Enforcement Director Irving Lozada responded thru Zoom, “I can provide those numbers to the Business Administrator.” He also said, “The property at 500 High St. has been tagged as unsafe and the Law Department is in contact with representatives from Kushner.”
The meeting was opened up to the public via Zoom.
Resident Debra Foley spoke first. She asked if all city parks are closed.
Council President Petrick answered, “Only the equipment cannot be used.”
Foley then asked if the kids could play baseball yet. “There were kids skateboarding in (Washington Park) and cops were there accusing the kids of putting holes in the equipment. The police were not wearing masks. The skate parks are open in Woodbridge and Edison. Kids are skating in the streets and they could be in the parks instead. What’s the deal? Are the parks open or closed?”
Petrick responded, “We can have the Department of Recreation look at this.”
Council Comments:
Councilwoman Rose Morales thanked everyone for voicing their concerns. “We need to have the public comments go back to 5 minutes and they should respect that time limit.”
Councilman Joel Pabon said, “There is nothing coming forward about the Market Street bridge repairs which belong to us. The Fayette Street bridge is in very bad condition and we need to get that one going. I want to send my prayers to the family of Former Freeholder Blanquita Valenti who recently passed away. She will be missed.” He then turned his attention to the money which will be sent to the city due to the stimulus package. “We have to honor some contracts and outside of the police department we should not be doing that much hiring. The budget is not a done deal. It is over a month and a half and there are still a lot of lights that are out. People should go down by the Cornucopia after this meeting to see that the lights are out in their parking lot. It’s an unsafe situation. You can’t even see in front of yourself when you go by the Cornucopia. I took Lozada (Code Enforcement Director) there last night. All I hear is a lot of talk and not much action. I have to admit that they got the lights working at the Jefferson Street Parking Deck. Who was looking out at for the other lights that are not working? If anybody sees any lights that are out, there are numbers on the poles, and just report them. We as well as the county got some good money. The people who do our grants should try get even more money.” He thanked everyone for coming. “We are starting out with good numbers for the budget.”
Councilwoman Milady Tejeda commented about the lights being out. “We just have to push PSEG to take care of this. With Washington Park, when the weather gets warmer, we’ll start opening it up. The administration worked hard on the budget to make it to be an only 1.7% tax increase and it may go down to zero if we get the money. Thanks to all who came here and participated on Zoom.”
Councilman B.J. Torres thanked all who came to the meeting and those who were able to get federal money.
Council President Bill Petrick congratulated the administration for getting money from Washington. “We have 16 CSO’s (Combined Sewer Overflows) and there has been flooding in some of our resident’s basements. It is going to take $500 million to rectify the situation. I want to thank all who came here and all those who participated in Zoomland.”
Code Enforcement Director Irving Lozada spoke up via Zoom, “I went down to the Cornucopia with Councilman Pabon and we met with the owner Mustafa Kilic. He said he turned off the lights in the parking lot because the Cornucopia has not been operating and he is looking to get solar panels. He agreed to manually turn on the lights when needed.”
Petrick closed up the meeting by sending condolences to the family of Former Freeholder Blanquita Valenti and also to the family of Firefighter Perez who lost a family member. He thanked the Peruvians for their dedication to get a monument dedicated to Inca Garcilso De La Vega.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:03 p.m.
