December 17, 2025

Your name is called. Please approach the podium and address the council members. The first speaker is Ali Muhammad Ali Muhammad the president and founder of Ali Muhammad near school as Salaam alaikum the movie studio, you know that that was originally Seth Borden projects and In his own by the housing authority and at that time When they came up I was the I was on the house of thoughts commissioner Pat You was not a you're not a commissioner then so we can't hold this against When Victor bought the idea to me so felly I saw what a great idea But then the more I got into the house in authority and I seen our list of 10,000 people I said wow We're getting rid of we need we're not in that Job business we're in the house of business and the first thing I want to talk about is it started off as you see right here It says request for qualification RFQ and this was for the movies, but it was also the component of having a Residential and what happened we had a vendor that won the RFQ And he was there. I'm not gonna say his name He's the one that was Shaq build the movies and build rector Street and and now I was on Mulberry Street The bid after he had won the bid he didn't want to build Residential I mean he didn't want to build commercial and residential and Victor came up and said we gonna cross that out So I said, wait a minute, how you gonna put our RFQ out for something now you don't cross it out So they said well, he don't want to do it. So you can't do that because nobody else been it because nobody other developers wanted to do a Resident wanted to come up so they crossed it out and I said hey, you can't do that You got to go back and redo it. It's not fair because if it had been other people If it's residential it been other people. So being that it wasn't fair. They said a hell with it Saying what happened and you'll see the transcripts You'll see the conversation and you'll see the letter that I sent to the feds Pat now you was there when this happened. Oh wait a minute. No, you weren't you wasn't there when this happened? Okay When it came up and we were voting on it My problem was I say I can't win this fight. That's why I just told them you can't win every fight I know I can't win the mayor's involved the governor Her was Democrat Biden can't win. So I said well do this to me. Give me back Pat This is what I said because you wasn't there. Give me back the 400 Apartments, I don't care if you make it to 200 Senior citizen builder and then when you read the transcript you'll read that everybody say, oh, yeah, we can do that Now when I read everything else, I don't see nothing about All I see is about the movie and everything In the transcript what I'm giving you I need you to check it out to see why We're not doing the partners because when they originally started it was 200 and I asked for 400 I said give it back because in my house if I course me there's 230 apartments so give me two of those and build but I knew like I try to tell Debra in them You can't stop everything you can't fight was too big for me So I'm like so I'm just asking you to go back and see what spices to see what happened Because I would hate to have somebody run against you and say you didn't put 400 apartments dead and I'll you know I mean, I don't want that to happen to you. I Got some other things but I got to come back It's old apology because they buy thought she was crazy and this fighter came in and said It's mold and it's a problem and then again every put in car manera a liar You can't tell people crime is going down with ten people the last week got killed you can't do it and guess what? Candom didn't have no murders last year in this candle is worse than Newark. Thank you for your comments. No mirrors my leg of my salon while they give my salon Madam clerk if you could have them turn the microphone down a little bit Might be just mr. Mahoney, but let's just turn it down a little bit It's hard to hear what exactly he's saying because of that See we come on. Let's fix this volume. Yeah Last week we we had the special and there was supposed to be three presentations Spicer was the only one that got to do his presentation Rountree had asked about the elevator. She was ready to present. No, no, no, we'll do it next week. And then you mr President said oh, we're waiting for the presentations. No, we'll do those later because the mayor wants us an executive session. Um, I Mean that executive session could have waited We needed answers for these elevators and the other things that are going on here Like we the people are the priority and then when I saw who was in that executive session, I need to see those minutes What were we giving away now? That's what I need to know when I saw those folk thanking Allison Thank you for your leadership and she's telling them all if anybody else tells you anything else Don't believe them and all of this know what is going on and what did y'all give away? Because there was a whole lot of big people up in there and I need those minutes. So let's get to this police department because I wasn't going to talk about this tonight, I just left somewhere for about an hour. I don't know how these sergeants get promoted, who they know or who they blow, but they If you leave your room or you leave your home, you come back, your door is open, Is that not burglary or theft or breaking an intimate? He ran a whole hour around in circles because he didn't want to do his job. If these cops don't want to do their job, then like I said, we got the good ones out there, but it's the bad ones that make the bad name for the good ones. This joker did not want to take the report and had a whole attitude. Him and the other ones that was there, one of them actually blocked my way. And then he wanted to talk tough, right? Because this is not the first cops that I've seen do this. Somebody needs to put a check on these jokers and they need to be demoted. Dekampos needs to be demoted and retrained because clearly he does not know the law and he does not know how to work with his bosses. And the other thing is, Silva, I know that, you know, I saw you show up for You had missed like four meetings or whatever. You called them from Brazil one time to vote on that 450 million for Riviera. And then we haven't seen you a whole lot of mess is going on and there's no you. And I know one of the meetings, one of your colleagues was like, oh, he's excused We just passed the almost seven million dollar contract last week before y'all met on it The streets everywhere are a complete mess. Also, y'all are talking tough on or it's like talking tough on crime when it comes to the properties and who you work with. But y'all knew that when y'all did the Ellen project with Ellen. And the museum down there and y'all let it pass and knowing what was going on with GKV and all the other disgusting properties. They don't need you to talk tough to them. Now you want to get tough on the property. It was a property for four hundred and sixty six thousand dollars. You gave it away for one hundred and twenty eight thousand eight dollars a square foot. And it's more just down the line down the line. But now you're talking tough because it's reelection season. And nor cause I'm telling you don't get bamboozled by this because where have they Where have they been the last four years when we're suffering our rents up through And then you look at us like we don't know what's going on, but you do whatever This monstrosity, 1400 apartments, no parking because that's what the B.A. We already don't have parking and people that come here park in the Harrison and walk up or park in the north and take the train down. Miss Bradley microphone test one, two, three, four microphone test. Our honorable council members, community leaders and residents of North. My name is Vickira Bradley and I stand before you as a community advocate with lived experience and addiction, homelessness and recovery. I'm here to present Storing Hope North Inc. A North based 501 C3 nonprofit organization dedicated to addressing homelessness, substance use disorder and overdose prevention in our city. North is facing a serious ongoing public health and public safety crisis. In recent years, 1900 residents have been counted as experiencing homelessness in Exodus County continues to report hundreds of suspected overdose deaths annually. They represent lives lost families, destabilized and neighborhoods are destroying. So many people fall through the cracks because services are fragmented, difficult to access or disconnected from street level realities. Restoring Hope North Inc. was created to close the gaps by meeting people where they are. Our mission is to provide street outreach, emergency meals, harm reduction, education, peer recovery, support and direct connections to treatment, housing resources and social services. We operate with dignity, consistency and trauma informed care because recovery begins with trust and human connection. My commitment to this work is personal and proven. During the Thanksgiving holiday, I personally organized and prepared meals for the homeless individuals throughout North. Working with local food hubs and pantries to ensure that people living in tents on the streets were fed and not forgotten. I have spent years volunteering, advocating and collaborating with community partners to support residents most impacted by addiction and poverty. I am also trained through PCTITR, Police Community Interaction Training Initiative, which shapes my street level outreach with accountability. This escalate the escalation trauma informed care, allowing me to safely engage with individuals and active addiction crisis, diffuse, vows out situations before police EMS intervention is needed and strengthen public safety by reducing emergency calls, prevent escalation and build the trust between vulnerable residents and first responders. Restoring Hope North Inc. will collaborate with existing service providers, faith based organizations and community stakeholders to strengthen, not duplicate current efforts through peer led outreach and practical or practical and ground support. We will reduce overdose risk, increase engagement and treatment and help individuals, excuse me, and help individuals move towards stability, recovery and long self-sufficiency. First year measurable outcomes in this first year of Operation Restoring Hope North Inc. will deliver clear measurable outcomes that directly improve public health and public safety. Conduct 1200 street level outreach engagements with individuals, experienced homelessness or active substance use across North. Provide 8,000 emergency meals and hygiene kits for shelter residents, high need areas. Connect with 300 individuals to substance use treatment, mental health services or detox programs. Support 150 individuals with transportation case management and follow-up care reduce relapse and repeat emergency room visits. Distribute harm reduction education supplies to reduce overdose risk with goal preventive at least 49 fatal overdoses through early intervention. Reduce non-emergency 911 and EMS related to street level crisis by 10 to 15 percent in targeted outreach areas through PCITI informed de-escalation and crisis prevention. Funding request, the I respectfully request the investment of $100,000 to launch the Sustain and Rural Restoring Hope North Inc. incorporated during the first year of Operation. These funds will directly support street outreach emergency meals, harm reduction services, transportation treatment, peer recovery, support and case management. Thank you for your time and service. Thank you for your comments. Next speaker. Linda McDonnell-Carter. Appearing. Hi. First, I want to begin with what I usually do. How are all the children in the City of North? Second, I usually. Oh, can you hear me now? Can you pull it down a little bit more just to make sure? Can you hear me now? I think that's better. It's not on? No, it's on. Speak into the mic. Okay. First, I want to begin with how are all the children? Second, I usually address emergency preparedness associated with Mother Earth's reaction to the damage that we're doing to it. But today instead, I trust that the Newark City Council in their respective wards working with the city administration and county of Essex in collaboration with the other necessary and essential community nonprofit and religious organizations are bracing for and preparing for the potential hit those depending on affordable health care and SNAP may suffer. Third, let me speak to the issue of white supremacy. To be clear, one does not have to be Caucasian or of the white race to engage in white supremacy actions and conduct. In other words, one can be black or brown and be in front, be a front four or engaged in acting or conducting themselves knowingly or unknowingly as white supremacists. There's a strong argument that black and brown elected officials representing black and brown constituents can be engaged in white supremacy through the policies, rules, ordinances, regulations, and other forms of laws they choose to enact or matters they choose to act upon. For instance, abatement incentives and subsidies given to entities, corporations, and individuals who profess to be capitalist is kind of confusing. This because capitalism requires that one pull themselves up by their bootstraps and their boots, particularly without any government assistance. Otherwise, it's corporate welfare or socialism for corporations. The city council's allocation of funding to those who profess to be capitalist rather than using the funding to directly support the city's working poor and to reduce the financial burden of the city's working class and legacy Newark taxpayers. I say legacy because those are the people who remained here and sustained this city when nobody wanted to come here, right? Because once they found out about a billion dollar school district, our prime transportation location, Newark airport, and Port Newark, and etc. could be considered acts of white supremacy because those awarded abatements, incentives, and subsidies in many instances are made to people who do not live in the city of Newark and do not contribute to the city's tax base. If anything, those abatements, incentives, and subsidies extract resources at the detriment of the black and brown residents of the city of Newark. The exclusion that the primary black and brown working poor or generally working class and legacy taxpayers from consideration and contributing to the decision making is arguably white supremist conduct or at a minimum discriminatory against the black and brown legacy taxpayers who carried the financial burden of the city's budget. Note that if those profiting from those abatements and incentives and subsidies do not live in the city, our tax dollars are effectively supporting their communities at the expense of Newark residents. Somehow I don't believe that Milburn, Short Hills, Chatham, where else do we have, Bernardsville, Mendham, Alpine would be handing out awards and incentives, abatements, and subsidies at the expense of their taxpayers. Remember that last year I provided council members with a report about a year ago funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation that supported that fact. Thank you. Thank you for your comments.

Ms. Dock, please, so we can hear the speakers. No calling out. Next speaker. Hey, family. Good evening, council members. Good evening. Thank you for your dedication to Newark and thank you for allowing me the opportunity to speak today. So there's an old saying many of us grew up on hearing. If the roof leaks and you keep moving furniture, eventually the house still collapses. Tonight I'm here because Newark doesn't need more furniture rearranged. We need to fix the roof. I want to tie together a few issues we're all hearing about. School safety, violence, corruption, environmental decisions, and how like concrete solutions, especially how we address violence by finally taking mental health seriously. First, let's talk about school security. In light of the recent incidents like what happened at Brown University, it's clear that safety cannot be assumed. It has to be planned for. One real solution already exists. Federal programs like the Stop School Violence Grant. This program doesn't just provide funding. It comes with oversight, accountability, and clear guidelines. That matters because our goal shouldn't be security theater. It should be real safety implemented transparently so parents, students, and educators can trust the process. And that brings me to trust. Newark has had publicly documented corruption issues in recent years. Robbery cases involving city officials. Ignoring that history doesn't make it disappear. Transparency isn't an assault. Regular audits, open data policies, and clear oversight aren't punishments. They're repairs. That's how trust is rebuilt. Not with slogans, but with systems. Now regarding the proposed fossil fuel plant. If the project moves forward, it must be held to strict local emission standards, regardless of what happens at the federal level. Local ordinances can require advanced pollution controls, continuous monitoring, and public reporting. And if transparency fails, federal oversight should be triggered. That's not anti-development. That's pro-community, pro-health, and pro-future. Now on the issue of violence. We cannot keep pretending this is the only policing issue. Violence is also a mental health issue. One we have under-invested and for decades. There are proven federal tools available, Silva, like mental health awareness training, grants, and community-based behavioral health funding. These programs work because they address problems before they explode. This does not mean abandoned accountability. A fair judicial process and appropriate penalties are essential. Compassion and accountability are not opposites, they are partners. Now I want to take a moment to speak to the people in North directly. To those feeling fear about the unknown, whether it's political changes, immigration uncertainty, or financial pressure, I want you to hear this clearly. You are not invisible. To our police officers, firefighters, EMTs, and city workers carrying enormous stress. To families struggling with affordability, housing, health care, and the cost of living. To those willing to stand up against injustice, even when it's uncomfortable. Your resilience is what holds this city together. Your voices matter. North does not lack strength. It does not lack ideas. It does not lack hope. What we've lacked is follow through, Kelly. If we're willing to do the harder work now to fix the roof, instead of moving the furniture, we can build a city that is safer, healthier, and worthy of the people who call it home. Now, I miss y'all. I know y'all glad to see me. I ain't worried about that. I wanted to bring this energy back. First, I want to say, you know, I need some prayers. I usually come here to my praying folk for some prayers. My grandfather, a veteran, he's in the hospital right now. He's moving into hospice care. This is going to be my last grandparent. So, you know, one thing I'm just so grateful for. I'm just so grateful for. I've watched him fight. I've watched him fight. Gonzalez, I've seen his heart rate go down to 35 beats per minute. Tubes all in his throat, on breathing machines, and now my boy breathing with no machines, no tubes in them. But when his time is up, his time is up. So, you know, I just want y'all to continue to sing y'all prayers. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for your comments. My condolences to you. Che Coulter. Che, oh, there he is. Appearing. Good evening, Norik. Good evening. Good evening, council members, employees of the city government. I'm a bit taken aback that we still have the clear, I don't know if we would call this advisor between the public and you all as the government, but it's symbolic of the barrier between, only the president has his open, but it says it's symbolic of the barrier, just it being there. It's symbolic of the barrier of transparency between Norik's public and Norik's governing officials. So, good evening with respect to those who have come to this meeting tonight. Good evening, president, Mr. Crump, representative, council members, guests of this golden chamber. Salute to our Norik families and the honorable 325,000 residents, citizens. Currently, Norik Board of Education over the last few years has gained control of its schools after 25 years of oversight and has struggled to recover from the effects of the pandemic, particularly our students where more than 90% of them identify as black and Latino. Our pandemic has still shown challenges on our students who are 90% at schools that have populations of 90% black and Latino. Wake up, Norik. Today, our youngest students are struggling with the state standards on reading, writing with 27.7% English language arts. Ladies and gentlemen of tonight's chamber, this is not a criminal indictment. This is unfortunately a serious moral indictment on Norik's elected leadership and those puppeteered by its material and behavioral control. 2025 was the year of municipal transparency alarm. Norik Housing Authority, our precious quasi-public private agency, has revealed so much self-inflicted administrative and political damage, employees that once held jobs with health benefits will now be replaced through procurement procedures by third-party management companies instead of professional training and development for the recent employees. In addition, Norik's residents who are within the Norik Housing Authority population are counted to the figure of 11,500 women, men, and their families. This agency has served more than 45,000 families over the last five calendar years both within and outside of the COVID-19 pandemic. It's ironic that the IT director of Norik Housing Authority, Mr. Vinacio Diaz, was caught selling 1,500 pieces of technology for illegal profits of a half a million to his own bank accounts. We do not know if Norik Housing Authority information and the residents is vulnerable to the dark web attacks of both domestic, foreign, and the local damage that it inflicts. New Jersey Institute of Technology and Rutgers University have overdeveloped Norik's central ward without leaving investment in Norik's academic portfolio. Jai Youngbloods 30 Plan presents the kind of transparency, professional courage, and city hall compliance Norik truly deserves. It's in your hand, Norik. This anticipated 2026 municipal election and the stage has already been set for a true and needed new political identity. If we don't, as men and women of our dear city, they will continue to make a mockery of our democracy. Furthermore, Norik's urban growth zone ordinance was passed more than 20 years ago when I was a sophomore in high school. It has encouraged transformative projects within Norik's downtown and the gateway city radius around Penn Station. But what's happening in our wards? Your change in the master plan will allow bigger buildings to be constructed, although this process must happen in a safe manner. Norik has been building large buildings for 100 years, and if we don't do better to inform the public that these investments should be monitored by both residents and council members. Tax abatement pilot programs on land should include representatives from the school board to include a school development fee plan at the rate of delinquent tax abatements we have outstanding unpaid and the long-term lack of investment into our geo infrastructure and community cohesion of North New Jersey. Today, I say John Toussaint Coulter requesting an ordinance to stream your meeting in four languages English, Spanish, Portuguese, and Creole. Thank you for your comments. Next speaker.

Good afternoon. My name is Opal R. Wright. I reside on Vanderpool Street in North. I'm here. My concern is with the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. I would like to begin with title 10. This appears to be the um section 1027, the limitation authorities of the bureau, preservation of the authorities, and I believe that I again with the this is this offering of provisional provision of certain consumer financial products or services in connection with the sale of brokerage or non-financial goods or services. And in this section, find that it's the there's the there's exceptions for small for our small issuers and it goes into the exemption of government administered payments, uh programs, and the reloadable prepaid cards. And I believe I didn't talk on that. I talked about that the last time. And there has been an amendment. I know that it I had mentioned that there was a you can have a minimum withdrawal of $10 and there's goes on to say that the prepaid cards, I believe when they first issued the debit cards or prepaid cards, they're saying that you can go to your ATM, your automated machine, automated telemachine, and you can do you can for your if you're you can have a withdrawal of the amount between starting at $10 to $1,500. So that would mean that if and we're hoping that our council with this council, but the city of Newark would be able to monitor if we are at least at a normal rate of opening savings accounts and the amount that's allowed to be withdrawn for from our ATMs would mean that if we were able if we had a reloadable or there's money automatically placed into accounts that we would have access to right at the the tailor we would have access to loans for up to the amount of $1,500 or $1,500. So if we were able to just insert or add a button for loans, we'd be able to conduct or have that amount since it's already known to the community that you can you can withdraw that amount. It would be a very profit it would be helpful to all of us in this community. And thank you very much for your help. Thank you for your comments. Next. I just wanted to mention that there's a law that states that this loan should not be I don't want to cut you off but thank you. Hoteb Nashe. What I just disseminated to the clerk is a copy of the ordinance with the concerns that was addressed at the pre council meeting. I highlighted you will see the different sections to give you the information that you requested. I'm Kim Gatty, executive director of the Southward Environmental Alliance, and I along with Ironbound Community Corporation, Earth Justice, Pacific Environment, are here seeking your support of our two ordinances 9A 251510, 9B 251511. We understand and we are keenly aware as environmental justice activists of the public health risk that is posed by operations of major fossil fuel facilities. Through the adoption of several policy tools such as the cumulative impact ordinance that as the chair of the first environmental commission that we established here, I fought to get that ordinance passed. And then on a state level, we fought for 12 years to get the strongest environmental justice cumulative impacts on this past in the country. The community energy plan, the city of Newark is also committed to reducing our reliance on fossil fuels and promoting clean energy alternatives. And so the ordinances that are put before you, we've worked for over seven months with our legal team, with other environmental activists, to put together something that this city should adopt. We need this council to have the political will to fight for the residents in this city of Newark. It is not about an either or in environment or economics. We want our city to grow, right? We are not against development, but we are against development at the expense of our health. Individuals are dying in this city each and every day because of the decisions we refuse to make. And I don't want anybody to have to experience what I experienced with three children who were born with asthma and then losing my son at 32 to a premature heart attack. This stuff is real. When it touches you, then you begin to understand the realities. And so people who reside and work in Newark and specifically the south and west and east wards want to breathe clean air and improve their quality of life. We put together a petition. We have over 1,000 signatures that have been collected on a petition calling for each and every one of you this August body as the decision makers to cut emissions, stop fossil fuel expansion, protect our health, and create green jobs for Newark residents. I'm going to summarize some of the benefits so that when you read it, this can kind of be at the top of your mind. The ordinance, if passed, will stop public funding for polluting infrastructure and prevent taxpayer dollars from being used for new or expanded fossil fuel facilities. That is not gas stations, okay? And you will clearly see the definitions in there. It will halt fossil fuel expansion of major source of air pollution by amending land use codes to prohibit new or expanded fossil fuel facilities within city limits. There are only seven facilities that will fall under this. Seven. Advance environmental justice by reducing pollution burdens in frontline communities and improving long-term health outcomes. What the benefits of these two ordinances will bring to the city of Newark is a healthy future for each and every one of us, for all our families. Passing this ordinance will protect public health by preventing toxic emissions from future fossil fuel facilities, improve air quality for all residents, and support the transition to zero emission infrastructure and create opportunities for clean energy jobs. We are from a marginalized community. We need to be at the forefront of the jobs that will be created with clean energy jobs, not the reliance of fossil fuels. In 2012, when we had the Sandy song, right? Super song Sandy. I coined the phrase Nork Strong because it was a plan that we developed for the Dayton Street neighborhood because the flood maps for the state of New Jersey said in 2050, the Dayton Street community will be underwater. And if we continue to do business as we have always done, not only will the Dayton Street neighborhood be underwater with Lionsgate, but each and all the other communities. So I am seeking your support. Thank you for your comments. Next speaker. Lisa Mitchelson Parker. Not appearing. Felicia Alston Singleton. Not appearing. Donna Jackson. Appearing. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Donna Jackson, part two. Sick of y'all, sick of y'all, sick of y'all. Black on black supremacy. So what about white? The boy over there in the corner with his out of control, don't give a damn about nobody's self and y'all co-signing it. Nobody better answer me after I get finished in here or it's going to be something to pay. Telling you that right now. I'm so sick of y'all lying. All these numbers are for your paperwork, are for your ordinances that y'all lie about every month. You ain't got no money. That's why you transferred the retro pay into the 2026 budget. Today you got the audacity because again you haven't done the budget and all of y'all need to go to jail. $232 million dollars you're allocating today again for the 10th year to cover the month of January, February, and March. Y'all want to see it? Bring yourself downtown. Don ain't got time to lie. It's on the agenda. And he'll get up and say it ain't. $102,000 that they need to pull out the budget for debt consolidation. How much money do y'all think we could keep rolling over? How much is the retro pay? How far back does it go? Is our mayor going to be greedy again and give himself 32% increase? Because that's what he got. The first time he did it with retro pay back to 2014 and y'all voted on it. The Negro walked away from the table and I was gonna say the other word Larry but I see you looking at me and I know my mother watching but sometimes it calls for that because I know who sees me. God he know I'm bilingual and I'm not scared to say it but I can't afford for y'all to silence me right now when we got people watching looking and ready to take y'all down because that's what needs to happen. I've been in Triton for the last three months and I'm telling you right now I'm helping Tessa come in here and get y'all and get that Negro out the corner. Sick of y'all. Y'all keep rolling over the same 41 million dollars up at the watershed. Y'all think we stupid? Y'all been rolling this money since 2019 and you keep doing it. You ain't fixed nothing. Why are we settling with somebody today for 450 million, 450 thousand dollars civil litigation? Why? And now here come Mikey Sherrill, y'all girl and I know her. She do a damn thing in Congress. Now she down the insurance and wants 600 thousand dollars for a transition team. Y'all think that's all right blue team? Y'all think that's okay? She hired Mr. Lee to come in for mental health with all of the bullying cases at that school on Clinton Avenue. Mikey Sherrill stepped down already. You ain't even start. You have tripled the budget for the incoming transition team. Nobody don't care about y'all friends. Nobody don't care about razz friends getting a job. That's what y'all do right here. The boy y'all just hired for the IT director. Hire, hire during a hiring freeze? How y'all gonna explain that? Because y'all voted on it. I'm talking to the feds. Hell yeah. Come get them. I don't care who in there. Ain't got nothing to do with Trump. Ain't got nothing to do with Biden. Ain't neither one of them did nothing to me. Ain't did nothing for me either. Either the conditions y'all got these seniors living in. You ain't sent the qualified can read right person inspect anything. St. Mary's. What's going on? These senior buildings. Franklin. I know you're trying but y'all ain't doing enough. When we gonna lock somebody up? Oh the state just gave y'all power. We could lock up the slum laws for six months. It ain't enough for me but let's get some. Oh campaign contributions. Damn it Donna. Donna you can't have that. We cannot afford to have our corpus filled. Don't mind that we getting three, four, five checks because ain't nobody up there getting one. You can't imagine what we feel in this community. You don't know what people going through. Now I hear one of y'all open your mouth and Raz let me say this right now for my ministers. Oh shut your damn mouth about the violence that's going on in this city because your behind ain't doing a damn thing no way. You ain't even out here. You at your house in Warren County. Negro you don't even live here no more and we know it. You just like the Monica Franklin Park. You next door to her. You don't live here. You sorry sack of suds. That's for you Larry because I want you to have to correct me about cussing but next month I'm cussing because I don't care. We going into the new year in hell. 300 million dollars. Are y'all serious? Y'all better stop this. Get the money together because I'm telling you I'm coming with the cuffs and the citizens of Newark we doing our own budget. Ain't gonna be no 25 million dollars for executive protection. If Barack is scared to walk around y'all better stop giving

them the money. Thank you for your comments. Next speaker. Cassandra Dock. Appearing. Cassandra Dock. Are you done Ms. Jackson? You done? You okay? Cassandra Dock. And I told you guys I have a one. I have a two. I have a three. I have a four. One gonna always be Rash J. Baraka. Two gonna always be Dasha Carter. Three gonna always be LaMonica MacIver. And four is Catch My Eye. And you know who caught my eye for tonight? You Ms. Amina Bay. You caught my eye. Well let me start off. Rash I want to know about that snap money but you know I don't want my minutes to go up so let me just uh skip right to Dasha Carter. Here we go again Dasha. Here we go again. This time it's Erica Jackson. Erica Jackson received a voucher in January. She the voucher says that she had from January to April to find an apartment. She finds an apartment in March. She sends the information the realtor sends the information to Mr. Spicer. Mr. Spicer along with about four or five staff members at the housing authority gets the information. Then about two months go by nobody comes out and do the inspection for Ms. Jackson. So now we at June. So now all of a sudden somebody want to contact her again. So now you know that now by now of course the voucher has expired. Not because Ms. Jackson did anything wrong. Ms. Erica Jackson that is not Ms. S. Jackson that work at the housing authority. She did nothing wrong. So you give her another voucher in August right. 90 days for the voucher. The voucher runs out in November. She finds November the 26th. She finds an apartment December the 3rd. You know what they send her a letter saying oh the time has expired. You know then it says that you could have two 30 days in addition to the 90 days which would take her to January 2026 right. Your time expired. So I sent the notice down there on her behalf giving them all of what I just said to you guys with a little bit more. Still nobody reached out to her yet. So now and then she reason why she was took a little extra days because she has an autistic kid. So now we got to reach out to the disability community because now you want her to be homeless with her autistic kid because you know what you don't give a god you know none of you none of you welcome because I mean I believe it's probably your first or second time ever at a council meeting probably right but welcome. That's Dasha Carter. Ras to snap benefits but I want to get to Lamonica McIver. Paul really legislative immunity really. Let me tell you all what that is. So legislative legislative immunity deals with protects lawmakers from legal action you know when they're going for activities with their official duties like debating voting and drafting laws. When she was down there attacking that officer she wasn't doing none of that. Paul how how are you using that. It says right here it doesn't even it doesn't protect them from criminal activities. That's criminal. She attacked that officer. Meena let me get to you. Let me tell you something I mean I almost fell out my seat when Ali Muhammad said every time he calls you you never have no money. Yeah when I call you you say the same thing to me with the exception of one time one time in all the years. So you know I have to stop calling you with the exception when I called you not too long ago for the young lady with the furniture voucher. You said you caught her. She said you never did. And you know why they came to you because you were at the 24 hours a piece promoting what you do at the at North emergency services right. And by the way are you still the director there. You still the director. Let me tell you this I mean right because see Paul Fishman only assistant Lamanica because of Cory Booker. He doesn't know her. He doesn't know her at all and he wants to get back at Trump. Well you know the little hurdle is because the Republicans and that's the only reason why Paul can't get her over this hurdle. But don't be like your predecessor. Don't be so loyal to Razz that you end up in her seat because the federal courts don't like you. You know that right. Paul Fishman would never represent you. You know that right. So don't be too loyal. And the second thing don't do because I don't know who you chose for your chief of staff but if they work for that housing authority that's a full time job. Don't do it. Don't let who I think may be your chief of staff better not be it. Better let us stay at that house and authority because if I find out I'm definitely going to report it because I told you she's number two. So again don't be so loyal that you find yourself because I know you talked about transparency. It's not going to happen. You're going to do whatever your brother tell you to do because you love him. I know I love him too. But of course you know I bring out what he does wrong because he's wrong. Now if you truly want transparency because she may live in your ward I believe it's a center ward. Thank you for your comments. Erika Jackson if you truly truly want to do something.

Thank you for your comments Ms. Dock. Next speaker. Cesar Adams. Mr. Adams. That's not him is it? Yeah. Up here. Good evening. Cheseray Adams, New Jersey. I first want to thank you all for those who showed up to celebrate my cousin and pastor's 60th birthday. I also want to congratulate you on your victory in November. But for a little over a year I've been asking for the stop sign to be replaced on Prince and Clarion and was wondering if you can possibly do that. As I look at the council I don't see a council member under 45, under 40, under 35, or even under 30. I'm not trying to be disrespectful, just trying to point something out. We scream equality and representation but I don't see representation of those who look like me. And when I say like me I mean millennials. We scream change and wanting change but the representation doesn't reflect that. While yes we should have experience we also shouldn't be afraid to mix in the future. The reason why this city is in the eye, the reason why this city in the eyes of many feel stagnant and because we have a council that is stagnant, a council and a city government who want youth and the millennial involvement but everything they do to try to shut them out. You want their vote but you shut them out of the government and shut them out to serve. Nor these are the consequences of the divisive rhetoric and failed policies of this mayor as well as the disrespect and lame duck voting by his allies on this council. This city has neither been managed, healed, governed, nor protected. It is developing but not for the people who live here. We are told crime is inevitable while our neighborhoods are flooded with neglect instead of resources. We are told to be patient while rent rise faster than wages and families are pushed out overnight. We are told corruption is just how politics work while backroom deals determine who eats and who is erased. High crime is not a mystery. It is the outcome of abandonment. When opportunity disappears desperation takes its place. When youth programs vanish prisons expand. When housing becomes a commodity instead of a human right survival becomes criminal laws. But let me be clear a city that can subsidize luxury development but cannot protect tenants from illegal evictions is not broke. It is broken on purpose. A government that allow landlords to intimidate, harass, and displace working people and our elders while inspectors look the other way is not neutral. It is complacent. It is time to resurrect the city and displace the current leadership that continues to increase their pockets by working two public jobs, collecting pensions, or going on tour while we face a $700 million deficit which is not progress. Progress is confronting corruption, not managing it. Exposing illegal convictions, not excusing them. We would demand real economic investment not press releases or photo ops. We would treat the public, we would treat public safety as more than policing. We were treated as housing stability, youth opportunity, mental health care, and living wage jobs. 2026 would not be fueled by donors who demand silence. 2026 will be fueled by renters, workers, parents, elders, and young people who are tired of being men instead of being represented. No longer are we accepting a rubber stamp council who instead should be fighting for the people who elected them but are always saying yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. This is a city in need of a justice defender, a democracy bodyguard. This city is in need of someone who will stand ten toes down for what is right and the face for what is wrong. This city is in need for someone who will step up and step out. We need a fighter who will fight for others when they can't fight for themselves. We need justice in this city, justice for our seniors, justice for our renters, justice for our youth, justice for our city workers, justice for our homeowners, justice for our homelessness. We need justice for all. This is why tonight I'm officially announcing my candidacy for Central Ward Council 2026. Norca, it's time to come together and put our vote where our mouths is. It's time to come together and change the status quo. Thank you and have a good night. Thank you for your comments. Next speaker. Ms. Davis. Ms. Brown. Ms. Brown is appearing. Testing. Nadira Brown, Newark, New Jersey. I say we have some new equipment. No disregard to the person before but this probably should have been tested before the meeting started. The microphone's working. I know it does but you take notes every month on everything I say for the last three years and nobody's gotten back to me. I've sent emails on things that I wanted you to look into as a council but nobody's gotten back to me. So I do know this mic is on but the energy you give me, that's what I'm giving back right now because somebody just asked me how's your holiday. Don't ask me about no holiday. Last month, I don't know where you going, sir. You need to sit down because you always throw a jab at the end so you might want to take notes on this one, Mr. Council. Supposed to be my councilman of the South Ward but I've been dealing with a lot of stuff but yet nobody want to return. And a couple people have reached out and asked. I will say that but sometimes when you're so overwhelmed and you keep coming to individuals with your concerns and we're not getting feedback, what do you think I'm going to do? What do you think the residents are tired of? Many people have come here. This is hearing of citizens but yet you let us speak. Then you have somebody from the administration like the BA, the lawyer, you know who, I forgot his name, no disrespect but I want to throw jabs at people instead of getting things resolved. Let's have a dialogue later. I can't talk about everything in five minutes but not one individual up here can say they had a town hall meeting with their sections. Oh, what awards? I'm sorry, I'm just a little out of it right about now because I was going over the council rules before coming up here. And it always talks about that we must within 10 days give a response with our concerns but it doesn't talk about when do you respond back to your constituent. It talks about the decorum, how we want to act. We focus all on the negative and don't understand that we need to come together for something but we're not. We don't have to be buddies. You know we don't have to be besties. Oh, people are mad at you because they can't figure out how you're still blessed after they lied and built a whole team against you. And I felt that when I just scrolled on that. You know, paint me however you want. I ain't here to be liked. I'm here to be real. Call me whatever makes you comfortable. Judge me off the rumors. Twist the narrative. I'm still solid. My heart is pure. My loyalty is intact. My intentions are real. I don't move for opinions or beg for approval. I know my value and I stand on it. I didn't write that but I felt that. I come to this mic because the voice is not just for my concerns. It's for many people out here because my boots is on this ground for real. I know y'all want to do the little song but it ain't funny when you really out here. I'm still here. I know the mic is still on but my grandmother did teach me if you don't have nothing nice to say don't say nothing at all. And I'm really frustrated. Like last month I got up here. I had the tears. That's just aggravation. It's not here to be a little pity party or to cry baby. But I like the fact that always at the end we always got something to say slick. All that subliminal I don't do but I've never been disrespectful. But since 2021 when I ran for school board you've been disrespectful ever since. Even when I got the right in for district leader you went around for months telling everybody she lying. It's a free position. But was you mad because I got elected before you did because you only been appointed. But I ain't here to throw jabs. But at the same time follow up with people. Just because you don't like me because my mouth will speak some truth. Let's work together. Trying to get things done. But that person in DC y'all really not no different. It's just you have a different agenda on another level. You were at the municipality last month. Did you talk to anybody at any other level to see what we can do to get things better because I've been a Trenton. I've been speaking up. Thank you. My time is up. I don't want to be kicked out again. Have a great holiday. Thank you for your comments. Next speaker. Lewis Shockley. Appearing. Lewis Shockley born and raised in New York. Oh man this is just this is sad. You know after I was over there my boss tried to make me not come to this mic and speak before the council had a meeting in a meeting led by the president Crump to get rid of me. It's been 10 years taking care of mom. She gone. One of the things she said said I know you want really to let loose at these folks and get at them. I'll be gone soon. Go get them. Thank y'all who stopped by. Alberta Beaty's now the Beaty gone. Mayor James is gone. Uncle Bradley is gone. This guy's always been a favorite. Not a favorite but a target of mine because this is where the real infection came from and sat in when he came here. 19 years and shit got better. And I can say that this is America. Tell you go look at some of them councils in Edison and Hoboken. Some of the things they say. Oh my God. Tell you Larry your mother would be. She had had a stroke. She had a stroke. You guys you complain and you were over here complaining about an an anisio and all these other folks. But then when the positions got reversed you became them. Are you sick cops on your citizens at a public meeting. Don't talk to me about Trump. Just like with this whole thing. We need a rebirth. You guys sold the mayor out. Sharp James. Only mayor I had. Him and Kenny Gibson. You folks and your friend was some. See y'all got to stop acquiescing to these folks. Cointel Pro ain't dead. Cointel Pro ain't went nowhere sitting right next to you. Especially up here. They came here with the criminal. Watershed. People. How you the president of the watershed. Sorry Donna. Donna's my vice president. How do you go out to Donna and go after everybody else in the watershed. But the president. How does that work. You know we live in a bizarre world. And it's time for you Newarkers to wake up. Nikki Newarkers as we used to call ourselves. Time for y'all to wake up. This ain't no long distant history. I just turned 63 yesterday. Celebrate my birthday caring about this city. I haven't had a good night's sleep since that two year old fell out that window. How about y'all. Oh y'all got money and putting up rewards. Every slum landlord on that corridor. I fought. I fought. Some of the people in this room fought. Go over there today. Dare you. Star Lager. Pack. Ain't a window guard nowhere to be found. Still. But where the man fell. Oh we got some wind coming. Oh this state of emergency. State of emergency. State of emergency. And I want to know Donna and them is better at this than me. I don't get no amber alert. For Newark kids. I've been noticing that for a couple of years now. All I. You know when I get the amber alert. When I see it and tap it. When they found. Where's the amber alert. If I can get it for me for a baby in Philly. Atlantic City. I damn sure will be getting it for Newark. Tonight I'm running for mayor of the city of Newark. This stops. All your little tax abatement. They're gone. I'm throwing them in the garbage. You can't make money giving people 50 year tax abatement. Sharp never did it. Five to ten. And it depends on your service to the city. Low rent. Clean environment. Safe and clean. We're going to do a dual campaign. First we're going to take out the sell out around here on the second floor. And then we're going after the fake in D.C. in November. Have a good night.

Thank you for your comments. Next speaker. Miriam Bay. Appearing. Good evening. Miriam Bay. I'm an investor in Newark. I have been an activist in Newark for over 48 years. Being a Newark school board president. Homeowner. Okay. Owning a school for ten years. Newark math academy. I'm an employee for the city of Newark. Thankful. I'm so grateful and thankful to God. But we got some issues going on. My concern this evening is with one of my concerns is with the seniors. How our seniors are being treated. Okay. And the other issue is with these slumlords. Why are they allowed to get away with the things that they do? How they treat our our tenants and everything. We have an issue at Pilgrim Village. I brought a brother down here earlier part of this year. They're still having the same issue at Pilgrim Village. He told me today that they're still overcharging him rent. And that's going on in some of our senior citizens apartments. Okay. And they have mice, raw sewage in the manhole, dead rats. They're under a new management. And the management is doing the same thing as the old management has done. Then I have a client. Because as you know, I work, as I said, I work with the city of Newark. So whenever I have issues dealing with our clients, you guys know I'm coming here to find out what can we do. This sister, she was placed in Hoboken because Newark couldn't do anything for her. And when I send, when I refer clients, you know, to the agencies, the agencies are telling the clients they don't have any money. So I want to know where the money is. Because clients are coming to us wanting help. And I want to give them help. All right. And then the other thing is the issue that I have again, what how these brothers and sisters are being treated. You know, when I say brothers and sisters, I'm talking about black, white, Latino. Okay. Doesn't matter. Because when they come to me, I'm providing them a service. Okay. So I want to know in these shelters, why aren't these shelters being monitored? All right. Why are these brothers and sisters when they complain about the conditions of the shelter, they're threatened to be sent back to prison? Why are we doing that? That's still going on. A brother just recently told me this. Okay. And then we're paying some of these shelters. They're getting funding from us. So why are we doing this? Okay. And then the other thing is that we have, why are these Newark slumlords, I just don't understand it. Why are we allowing them to treat us like this? Why is it that I'm because I'm in the Westwood. So why is it that we see in their garbage full in front of the houses and these landlords are not being fined? Okay. We had issues where the landlords didn't even during the snowstorm, they didn't even clean the steps off. Why not? Now they don't live here. They live in Maplewood because we don't see these things in Maplewood, South Orange, you know, is right here. Why are we telling our children that this behavior is acceptable? This is not acceptable, acceptable behavior. We should let our children know that they are valued. Because when we see like, because many of the employees, they work for the city, but they don't live in the city. But they don't live the same way that our residents live in the city. Okay. I live in the city. All right. And I want us to start doing something about these slumlords and how they're treating and having our children understand that they are valuable and they should not see the city in the condition that I've lived in two wars, the South ward and now in the West ward. The city, the street that I live on, it has never looked like this. Never looked like this. And so now that people are buying up Newark, they're treating us like this because they can get away with it. There's no accountability. So that's why I'm speaking tonight. Because when I have clients come to me, because so many of our clients need housing and I've been referring them. Okay. So maybe you can give me a list of something to show the clients. I've had one client file a complaint as well. Thank you for

your comments. Next speaker. Reginald Turner. Ms. Stock. I'm going to ask you again to please not call out so that we can hear the speakers. Reginald Turner. I want to inform you on the situation I'm in. I'm here to enlighten you on my living. I only get two incomes. EBT benefits and retirement. I've been denied Social Security insurance and SSDI insurance. It's been over a year. Three appeals. Now let me get back with the EBT to speak about the embarrassment to go online with the money supposed to be on the card. It ends up blank. I got a cart full of food. Got it all ringed up. But getting to the point, okay, I get to the office, office number one over here on what is it? University. He goes through the computer. He say, okay, you've been a scam. All right. Go to the office. He says we cross the street to office number two. So this is where they used to put the money back on there. But this is all I'm living with They say they haven't been putting money on it since December last year, 2024. Now up until today I've been finding ways to survive because I'm going to survive. I'm from the streets but I don't live that lifestyle no more. But my point is this. I don't know if they should form some type of, I don't know where it comes from not putting this money back because this is all I got. I'm a retired worker. I'm 63 years old. This is the only thing I'm living off of. And then with the retirement, right, they only give me like 200. I'm going to put it out there. I get $200 a month. My rent is 153. So I got a little change to do laundry and it's not enough. So now I'm getting this 2000 something letter that I've been threatened with. Now I'm scheduled to see the judge next month for eviction. Now first I'm trying to figure out where this 2000 is coming from. Now as I put together we got the office in the back that knows what I get on my card that's charging me to rent from what he knows. Then this office over here has some paperwork stating that I'm collecting social security insurance, which I'm not. So she showed me the paperwork with my signature. I said but yo when I came here y'all told me go get a statement from social security that I collect. I told them I don't collect. I'm getting retirement. So now they charge me for this social security money that they're saying I'm getting. And it's like what is that a scam? I'm trying to really figure it out. But now I'm like threatened, you know, and it's like how you going to hit me with this 2000? And I got mice running around while I'm watching the game. I don't know which game to watch because it's like the mice playing football. There's so many running around there. The water's cold. The only hot water is the bathroom sink. The shower water's cold. When I do the dishes that water's cold, you understand? And it's no heat because I called the code enforcement one time. He has some type of utensil that he checked the heat. But he didn't check over by the window. He pointed it over in the kitchen by the store where it was warm at. He said oh it's good in here. I'm keeping it real. I only want respect, man. I just want what's mine, you know? You know what I'm talking about? And it's like I work, man. I could make some jobs. Best Meats up there on Avon Avenue. I brought millions of dollars. You asked my name up there. Hello Fresh. You can mention my name. I brought millions of dollars there. These million dollar businesses. I'm an experienced manager worker. But I'm retired. I'm thinking I'm going to get what I'm supposed to get as a worker. But I think the veterans get treated more than I do. I got back pains and all that. But I shake it off. But it's like really disrespectful to me. You can't go to the office and be anybody because everybody's playing a position. So this is the situation I'm in now. That's why I want to bring it to your attention. So I'm trying to figure it out. Like I got every receipt up until today of my rent I paid. The little did I get because I handled my bills. I used to be the speech. I was a hustler. I used to get money. But you know that's another story. That lifestyle is over for me. I'm trying to do things legally with the support of whomever in power. Yo, who got my back? Because I'm going to continue to do right. I'm not going to do wrong anymore. And I just ask for respect to that. And that's all I got to really speak on. And the senior citizens also, they're getting the same letters. They can't speak. So I'm going to speak for them. Some of them can't even read. Some of them can't walk. They get these little side backup rent letters and some of them paying it, which is unfair. I'm hearing the stories I talk with. They couldn't come bring it to the mic. So I'm doing it for them. So I appreciate y'all for listening. Thank you for your comments. And this is my counselor, Ms. Baer, Marion Baeck. I appreciate you getting it. Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker. George Tillman, Jr. Appearing. No, not going to speak today. Next. Pamela McElvin. I believe appearing. Yeah.

Good evening, Council President Crump and members of the City Council. My name is Erica Bebret. Lead organizer of Parents Engaging Parents. We're located in the South Ward of Newark. Our partners are the South Ward Environmental Alliance, Pacific Environment, Ironbound Community Corp, and Earth Justice. We are here pushing for the ordinance Title 41 and Title 10 to be introduced. I am a parent of two college-age children who both attend and reside at Rutgers I'm here today in strong support of the proposed Newark Fossil Free Future ordinance. This ordinance is about protecting the health and safety and future of Newark residents, students, and workers, especially our children and families who live closest to the city's industrial zones. Newark has long carried an unfair share of pollution. We are surrounded by highways, diesel trucks, traffic, fossil fuel storage, terminals, and gas power plants. The public health consequences are clear and devastating. 25% of our children in Newark suffer from asthma, three times the state average, and Newark children are hospitalized for asthma at 30 times the national rate. And that's not a surprise that both of my children are included in these statistics. They're not abstract numbers. These are our children. The Newark Fossil Free Future ordinance takes reasonable and responsible approach. It does not shut down existing facilities or eliminate jobs. Instead, it prevents the construction and expansion of new major fossil fuel facilities in the areas that are already overburdened. Importantly, this ordinance will not harm Newark's economy. The fossil fuel facilities covered by this ordinance employs only a few workers. For example, one petroleum terminal employs just 22 people. The other employs only seven full-time staff. Meanwhile, the health costs associated with the air pollution are enormous, contributing to asthma attacks, hospitalizations, missed school days, increased health care expenses for families and the city. There is a better path forward. This ordinance aligns with the New Jersey's clean energy commitments, including the goal for 100% clean energy by 2035. It aligns with the Port Authority and New York and New Jersey's Net Zero Roadmap. It is a con it is consistent with the Newark's authority to use zoning laws to protect public health. This ordinance is about environmental justice. It is about saying that Newark should no longer be treated as expendable and that our children deserve clean air and healthy future. I urge city council to support and pass the Newark Fossil Free Future ordinance. Newark can lead by choosing health, justice, and long-term prosperity for our community.

at. Oh yeah, my name's Jacqueline Peoples. He mentioned I lived there. But however, I found it appalling. He signed off on paying developers to redevelop or fix apartments. Now, what was appalling, I mean, it was really, I watched, I didn't say nothing. They got paid for leaving trash on the ground. Panels hanging off, all this debris around the property. I didn't say nothing. I'm like, maybe they coming back. They left it there for a long time. Ramos, you know I don't see you. I don't see you. But anyway, I had to contact the officer and ask, how long that stuff gonna lay on the ground? Any legal immigrants who the Democrats fight for under their 14th Amendment rights that really belong to the slaves? Fighting for you guys, fighting for them, and they in this country, dirtying up the ground, getting paid for not cleaning up. And then you want to blame it on the black people that's there. It don't make no sense. I am not making this up. Why y'all all look so, come on, come on, Pat. You're no better than this. Where's y'all, you was, we, you was happy go lucky a couple of weeks ago for Thanksgiving. And I'm sure some of them illegals got some of them free turkeys. It was happy at home cooking them after they got paid to do not to clean up. Okay, come on, Miss Roundtree, what the Bible say about that? We want to see a miracle. Remember you told me with, with, with, I went home and looked it up. All things are, with God, all things are possible. But if that's the case, how come they're not cleaning up after they finish? And they're not even from this country. That's an insult. You know what? I don't usually say it, but my mom, she said that, I ain't gonna say it. Thank you, Lord. It's sad. It's just sad. You guys forgot, especially you black ones, forgot the hills and valleys, your grandmothers and your mothers had to climb and get you, get you in that seat. You forgot. Pat, do me a favor. Start helping some young men. I'm gonna start sending them to you. Because remember, with faith, all things are possible. You said you believe in miracles. Make it happen. We have no business, I have no business down here. This is my telling you illegal immigrants are leaving the place, saturated with filth. Ms. Roundtree, and you dance better than me because I can't do the holy step. And I'm gonna forgive Ramos. I really have to forgive this man because that's his ward. I ain't never seen him over there a day in my life. As a matter of fact, won't you put a broom in his hand? How's that? Maybe I'll meet you outside if I'm Too much, too much to unpack tonight. I come here for y'all, Norcans, because it's just sad to keep coming up here. Almost 30 years, almost 30 years. Good evening, we the people of Norc. Good riddance, do nothing council, and fail administration that's running our government. No other way to describe you. Now my response to this Mr. Gaslighter who came up after me and always gaslighting. Now who should believe the Norc Business Administration, a straighter who lied about the city budget, lied about the budget deficit, and came here under a federal investigation for withholding subpoena documents with the orange corruption. Who in their right mind would believe somebody, would believe someone about the crime data, who lied to you that there was no lead in the water, acidity to say that I'm misinforming the residents of this city. All I gotta tell you is that if you just look at RSRFL media, you will see the crime data, and if you go revisit what's happening in Washington DC, the capital, they resigning the chief of police, the mayor, because guess what? They have found out that they have been manipulating the crime data, and you're talking about no crime here. It's the same thing that's going on in the city, manipulation of the homeless crisis. They said that's down. I'm gonna get to that later. Manipulation. So we, listen, the crime family, I talked about the corruption the following week, everybody and their mama was under a federal indictment and going to jail as we speak, but I'm misinforming the people, right? Crime is down, I guess so, is because this administration has the data manipulation system going on here. Are you out of your mind? No, because when are you gonna stop being hoodwinked and bamboozled about the crime and homelessness? Louis Arello, I sent you pictures and send it to you every day. I got pictures on Facebook every day with elders. You love the elders, huh? You got love for the elders, you got love for the babies, you got love for all these, your people, you got a black agenda, huh? You going around talking about a black agenda. Well, go around Penn Station, go around there right now. They sleeping outside elderly people, babies, mothers pushing their children. Do you live in Newark? I know you see them homeless people out. Go see the elder guy. He got his whole house out there on McCarter and Raymond Boulevard. Is that Central Ward? What ward is that? That's Central and East, right? Do you see that man? You don't see that? Amina Baraka, please. See, you let these people come in here, you know, your mother, I love her. I love her dearly. But facts is facts. Go out there on McCarter and Raymond and see these elderly people and then you have to know the question. What can we do, Mr. Spicer, to help? We in a budget deficit. We got a staff shortage. The same thing they had. They got mismanagement, poor management, sewer, slumlords going on in the housing authority. How the heck can the city help another person with the same crisis? Make it make sense. Can you make it make sense, Ms. Baker-Mor?

Thank you for your comments. Next speaker. Council President, Council Members, that concludes the hearing of citizens. Any comments from the Council? I do have one. I'd like to introduce my Chief of Staff, Ms. Tolu-Kandri. See, she's in the back. That's who my Chief of Staff is. She's here at every meeting. Ms. Dock, Ms. Dock, Ms. Dock, I'm not going to keep asking you to not talk while we're going. I just want to make sure that you know my staff is here and also Ms. Tammy Mack. These are members of my staff. If you have any issues regarding anything regarding the central ward, they are the ones that are going to be here at the meetings that you can address it to. Thank you. Anything else from the Council? Councilman Keller. Thank you, Council President. I just want to thank Ms. Pam, Ms. Mecklen-Inck for coming up. I know you called me during pre-yesterday and I forgot to call you back, but we do talk often. I know we got some issues to finish, so, you know, I'm here to get those issues done. Also, Ms. Bay, I don't know if she's still here. Ms. Bay, how you doing? I have some ideas about some of the stuff you were talking about and I would love to build with you further on it. So, I would look forward to meeting with you either the rest of this week, the end of this week, or the beginning of next week. So, thank you, Council. Thank you, Council. Anything else from the Council? All right. Anything from the administration? Good evening, Eric Pennington, Business Administrator. Just a couple of things. You know, the administration clearly supports the right of individuals to come up and exercise their first-member right. However, when individuals make misstatements that are factually incorrect, it's incumbent upon me to get up here and correct the record of whether people like that or not. There was one speaker, I think the first speaker, indicated that there were 10 homicides last week. That is in the city of Newark. It's just not correct. There were, unfortunately, more homicides than we would like. Any single homicide in the city of Newark is something that we would like to avoid. That's a human life that has been taken. There is a family that is grieving because that person is lost, likely a mother, a father, siblings, and others who are affected by that loss of life. And so when people stand up here and say that there were 10 people died, that means that exponentially there are hundreds and maybe thousands of people who are affected because of those 10 people. The problem is there were not 10 homicides. According to the data we have in the police for this past week, unfortunately, there were three homicides. Mr. Muhammad, we're going to start clearing out the court, clearing out the record gallery because we allowed, let me say this, hold on a second. We allowed everyone to speak without being interrupted. And now if you want to be removed, you can be removed. We would be respected, each and every one of you, while you spoke. And now you don't provide the same respect. So everyone, let's allow the speaker to speak or you will be removed. If you'd like to protest Ms. Bonet-Monti protest, please proceed. Thank you, Council President. With respect to what was said, the record speaks for itself. This is recorded. Anybody can go back and look at it. I'm not suggesting that anybody lied, but I am suggesting that someone may have been mistaken or may have gotten misinformation or don't have the facts correct or didn't look at the data that's been reported by the North Police Department, which they are required to report by state, county, and federal governments accurately. I stand by the data that has been reported. There were three homicides that were reported. And again, those are individuals, human beings whose lives were snuffed out in a fashion that nobody wants to have happen. And so we take it very, very seriously and express our condolences to the families who were affected by that. But the data should be reported correctly, whether it's by me or anybody else. Another individual got up and spoke and implicated that the $232 million that is being approved to carry out the mandates of the city government for the first three months is a problem somehow. State statute allows for the budget to be introduced on a temporary basis for the first quarter so that the government can function efficiently. And that's what those numbers are. And those numbers are based upon what the prior year's budget was. And we have done so and will continue to do so. Another individual talked about how this council and administration shuts out the youth and that the youth aren't reflected on the council and they aren't allowed to participate effectively. Under the leadership of Mayor Baraka, it's interesting that that came up. He led a nationwide effort to have the first in the nation youth vote in the New York school board or any school board. 16-year-olds, pursuant to what this council approved, are now allowed to vote in school board elections and they did so. In addition to that, which I think is remarkable for the administration and the council to do, to make sure that our youth are included in government. In addition to that, our office of sustainability, which is led by Mayor Baraka, has an initiative underway now for participatory budgeting. Participatory budgeting is going to allow our youth to have a say in the budget of that office. There's nowhere else in this state that I'm aware of where the youth have an opportunity to participate in how the money is spent. Nicole Huot-Kerbrough is the chief sustainability officer under the direction of Mayor Baraka. She has a participatory budgeting plan that's going forward now as we speak. So the youth will be allowed to do so. Those are just two of the things that are led by Mayor Baraka, which are intended to make sure that youth are included in government here in the city of Newark. There are other factual misstatements that anybody can look up to clarify that I don't want to highlight. Sometimes there are factual misstatements. They don't need to be repeated because when you repeat things, they just get more air than they should. I have stated what I think are the important misstatements, which I'm not characterizing as a lie, but I think they were clearly misstatements and they've been corrected. Thank you, Council President

Mr. Muhammad, please speak to us. It's the ordinance. Oh, I am the ordinance. I am. Now he's blinking at me. You see what I'm saying? He's a punk. He's just blinking at me. See what I'm saying? He's a punk. I am. I got to give him the paper first. Okay. As I was in the housing authority with Mr. Councilman Pat, I just want to bring this up to remember. Remember when we did the past Blue Ribbon deal? Do you remember that? Okay. The deal was they came and asked us for 175 vouchers. You said, we're not going to talk to you until they talk to Kelly. Am I bringing back your memory? Because if not, I got to be right. Until we talk to Kelly. Victor in that letter is saying, oh, I talked to Kelly and everything is all right. When they came back, I said, no, if we're going to give you 175 vouchers, then we want to have the criteria for the people to come in as the housing authority. I hope you remember that. I don't need people coming in with a credit score, 650, 700, because if you want a 650, 700, go buy some property in South Palm. Do you remember that? So now I see AMI and all this now, it's moot if they ain't getting 175 vouchers. If they're not getting 175 vouchers, I don't know what Spice said, but I wanted to remind you that they made an agreement with me sitting next to you that they will use the criteria of the housing authority, not no AMI's. See, I got good memory. I went to Wee Gray High School, proud of it, and I document and I come right back in a couple weeks and show you 10 murders. But we can play. We happy about we got four. I got four. We got four. What's wrong with you? Candid don't have none. And Candid is worse than nor. Don't play with me, punk. I'm all like myself. No, no, no. This man, you didn't see this man This man rolled his eyes at me, didn't he? This man rolled his eyes. Miss Mom, he hasn't said one thing to you right now. And you keep bringing back something that was an issue with you a while ago. Mr. Muhammad. No, it's all right. It's all right. Thank you. The 30 tax 30 year tax evasion. Newark builds Newark. A vision for an equitable city. Now, what project is equitable in this city for Newark residents? Equitable, a vision for an equitable city. You go around the whole city. You give out 30 year tax abatements. George, come up here and talk about you're not in agreeance with the ordinance. Agreeance, compliant, whatever. 30 year tax abatement. We're not against the revitalization that's taking place. But y'all been out of order since this administration been in here. If you go look back at Sharp James affirmative action policy that you're supposed to do every year, Baraka administration, you only did one in 2015 to give the data tracking on the local hiring, the local contracts, the long term, the short term jobs. 2015 was your last report. You are not in compliance. You are violating the first source, the PLA ordinance in the city that's supposed to give jobs and opportunities And let's not talk about the area medium income. Where's somebody up there going to place a legislation? Because that's why I'm gonna call you do nothing. Where's the legislation to change the area medium income that Councilman Charles Barron spoke about? And you sat in a meeting, Ras, that meets the needs of Newarkers. Thank you for your comments. Next speaker. You know, these housing things, Shakira McDougald. As you prepare to vote tonight, I want you to ground this decision in reality. Not labels, not projections, but live conditions, Ms. Bay. In Newark today, a typical one bedroom apartment rents for about $1,700 or more per month. Housing is considered affordable when rents cost no more than 30% of a person's income. That standard exists because once housing goes beyond it, At 50% of area medium income, which reflects a large share of Newark residents, a single adult earns about $47,000 a year. That's roughly $23 an hour working full time. 30% of that income supports a rent of about $1,200 a month. That's for the developers in the building. So when a project before this body prices one bedroom units at or near $1,700, It shows up every month in the lives of working people. It shows up in skip medical care, as debt replacing savings, And eventually it shows up as displacement. A vote for yes on housing that misses local wages means more residents spend in 40, 50, or even 60% of their income just to stay housed. That's not sustainable for families or for the city. And when enough people are cost burdened, the consequences come back here to Mr. Valerio, to emergency services, to shelters, to workforce shortages, shout to workforce in the building, and to the public budget. Because when I was here earlier this year, they were screaming it. The question is whether this vote produces housing a full time worker can actually afford without sacrificing health, stability, or dignity. That man in here, he's talking about his dignity earlier. An abstention on affordability is in neutrality. It's acceptance of the outcomes this vote produces. So you know what really, really shocked me when Allison said hostage. So you mean to tell me these developers are like Hamas? You know, when Allison was talking about the core downtown yesterday, and a lot of these buildings that are going up with these tax abatements, it seems that the bullies are bullying the bullies because they're holding you all hostage, like he was talking about. You want them to do something, but see, you all say yes. These folks come here from the outside and they're thanking us, like literally laughing like, yeah, at least I'm not paying $6,000 no more. You know, even I could bring my car in here. Sorry for y'all, but thank you for the... And then people look at us and say, well, what did you put out to try to get anything? Oh, there have been many of us who've tried to get things. Let's just say that $2.7 million building for $23,000 that y'all wouldn't give us, but you know, we went through all of that with quite a towers. And we're looking at, and I'm so tired of this 50% AMI, 60% AMI, the word affordable because that's the cliche word. Nothing that you all are saying yes to is affordable. Again, I'm going to say you have already created homelessness and you are continuing to perpetuate the homelessness And then the developers that you're using are from New York. These buildings that are being built are like New York skyscrapers. We are the one that people come from all over the world for, but you're making us look like everybody else. And you have destroyed the fabric of community with what you're building, We don't, we're not against development. We've been saying this 10, 15, checking on them. They're not, you're not checking on them. They are doing whatever they want, however they want, whenever they want, and nobody's checking them. But you say yes to this because of what the deal was made over here, Seeing none, public hearing is now closed.