Good evening, everybody.

Um welcome to the City of Albany uh common council public safety committee meeting.

Uh today is September 15th, it's a Monday, and uh I'm gonna ask Carly to quote do the roll call.

So Chair Tom Howe Present Jack Flynn here Kelly Kimbrough here, Alfredo Ballarin.

Here and then Sonia is absent.

And then tonight for the committee meeting, we are doing interviews for the CBRB, the community police review board.

We could start off with Warren Hamilton.

Okay, and we also have with us tonight uh Robert McGee from Corporation Council, um Robert Werner from the Common Council, we have Carly.

I'm trying to think of your last name.

Johnson, uh Brian Himnez, and Alicia Williams.

I'm sorry.

Anyhow, um so tonight's meeting um is gonna be to talk to uh two applicants for the police review board, and um I'm gonna call up uh Jacqueline Cheryl Richards first uh for for the interview.

She's coming.

I think she heard you know.

Actually, Mr.

Henri, you don't mind waiting outside.

Don't go over this we can turn it off.

Can you turn off outside so he can't listen to our answers?

Hi Jacqueline.

Um thank you for applying.

We wanted to thank you for coming in, and um if you don't mind, just tell us a little bit about yourself and why you're interested in in uh serving on the uh community police review board.

Um is everyone privy to my CV?

Okay.

It's pretty lengthy, so um, but um my name's Jaclyn Sheryl Richards.

Um I have over a bit about 15 years of experience in nonprofit uh public service leadership.

Um main uh priorities in regards to uh my work is to create a bridge between civic engagement as well as underserved populations.

Um Kelly's familiar with my work when I was here a couple of years ago as a common council appointee to the human rights commission.

Um so that is you know, just a little bit about as far as like my passion in regards to civic engagement and the communities that um we live in.

So um not only am I interested in um you know serving my communities in various ways, this specific um Albany community uh police review board position um kind of excited me due to the autonomy of it of the um of the committee.

So that's why I was really interested in applying well thank you and uh I'm gonna ask does any of the committee members have questions?

Alfredo thank you, Mrs.

Vishus.

Thank you for your willingness to apply and put your name out there for this position.

So you know that the uh so the board oversees some very sensitive materials, deals with some complicated issues, uh and um also uh has to balance a lot of uh different perspectives.

So can you give us some experience of how you've been able to work through some difficult uh difficult situations, uh bring people together uh and also uh address and hold people accountable uh for their actions.

Okay, so the first part of the question in regards to confidentiality and my ability to handle sensitive data.

Um so if you look at my CV, you'll see that my professional background um has not only required me to kind of handle sensitive data um, but also strategic, I would say information, um working as like central staff for New York State Assembly as well as the Senate.

Um and so um my ability to kind of keep any information confidential to the utmost.

Um I would say um I haven't wavered in that.

Um 100% integrity in regards to that.

Um in regards to the second part of the question in regards to basically holding APD individuals accountable.

Um that is something that you know we would work together as a committee.

Um, and I did re do my little homework as far as like how that process works as a nine board member.

Um, and we just kind of offer or our recommendations to you know the mayor, that kind of thing.

Um so I I again don't have a problem holding anyone accountable based on the um policies and procedures that are in place um that provides us you know with the how to's um and staying within that frame.

Um so yeah.

Thank you.

Go ahead, Jack.

Uh thank you for your uh willingness to serve on I consider this one of the uh most controversial boards that we have, and you know, time is going to is there any issue with time?

Because I know there's a lot of work that goes into this uh board, and I know that based on the people here, it's very time earning.

Is there any issues with that with you?

Um not at the moment, no.

Thank you.

Okay, uh how are you doing?

I'm good, how are you?

Thank you for being interested in uh re-engaging and uh getting back involved with the city.

Your time on the human rights commission is time well spent.

It's good to be back.

So do you know uh when was the last time you interacted with the police officer?

Um so right now I am kind of in a community outreach role with Mohaw Cuts and Humane Society.

Um and so we do interact with the Albany Police um animal control uh police officers.

Um we do sort of um I wouldn't say workshops, but we have conversations on how to address um certain populations who are requiring our services at Mohawk Cuts and Humane Society.

Um so I would say just as last week um I had an interaction with the police officer, so um in addition to just personal relationships who are police officers.

Okay.

I don't have anything else.

Okay.

And we are joined by committee member Sonia Frederick and also common council member uh Jenny Farrell.

So I do have uh a question.

Um how would you define independence as it applies to the CPRB?

Um the level of autonomy that we do have um in regards to um holding someone of APD um accountable.

Um I would say uh that level of independence is based on that.

Um if we have the freedom to truly um you know be transparent, uh not only to the community member who is putting in the complaint, but also um to APD as far as you know where we're thinking as far as like you know what the misconduct was, um you know I would say that that's a true independent uh committee.

Um but if there's sort of an overreach and there is a lack of trust, then I would say that it needs a little bit of work.

Okay, thank you.

Does anybody um else have any questions?

Can you go ahead?

Alfredo.

Thank you.

Thank you, sure.

Um so it was kind of stated earlier by Councilmember Flaming.

This is probably one of our most controversial um committees, and controversial for the reason that it it deals with again some sensitive uh topics.

And controversial for the reason that it it is again some sensitive uh topics.

Uh and probably one of our boards that would probably see most public criticism.

Um, you know, you the historic board gets criticized here and there, the planning board gets criticized.

Um, but this is probably a board that's one of those that's gonna see the most criticism and most potential public uh scrutiny.

Um how comfortable do you feel with that type of um public and in many case public accountability?

Um I actually enjoy that type of um uh public interface with the public, um, especially um communities that I actually live in.

Um so um I've had very hard conversations since I started this work, which was actually at the age of 14 years old.

So, like I said, I've been doing it for a really long time.

Um that at that time it was trying to get comprehensive sex education in schools, and so um, you know, um having that conversation in communities that you know did not support Planned Parent, all those kinds of things.

Um I was kind of at the forefront of trying to get a certain bill passed called the Healthy Teens Act.

So again, I've been doing this for a very long time.

Um hard conversations have to have to happen.

Um that's just what it is.

Um, and if you are confident in your integrity, um, then I feel like you should have no problem um being transparent with your community members as well as the people that you're working with.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Okay, do we have any other questions from committee members or non-committee members?

All right.

Oh, go ahead, Sony.

Uh just one question for you, and thank you for applying, Jacqueline.

Uh, and um appreciate your resume and all you all you bring to the table.

Just want to confirm.

So you're interested in potentially three different positions.

Yes.

So Commission of Human Rights, Violence Prevention Task Force, as well as the CPRB.

Yes.

Right?

Okay.

Yes.

Okay.

Um, I'm not uh sure if I can ask a question, um, but I did note about a program director role on the board.

Is that still something that you guys have available?

Are you referring to the violence prevention task force program director?

Are you referring to the program director for the CPRB?

Yes.

I see.

That is I'll I'll defer to our chair on that, but I believe that is filled.

Yeah, we do have somebody in that position.

Perfect.

Okay, great.

Okay.

Thank you.

Yeah, and feel free to uh the next step of the uh interview is do you have any questions for us?

So that was more.

If you have any other questions, I already jumped the gun.

No, no, no, it was it's good.

Um actually I just have uh three questions actually I wanted to ask you guys.

Um so basically, this kind of question is on community engagement um and diversity.

Um so I would say, you know, how does the board currently um ensure that the the voices of you know the current young individuals in our communities, um, you know, women of color um are actively heard besides the complaint form you can fill out online.

Well, I know the CPRB does go to events like uh Tulip Fest, they do have a table, um some of the members are active in the community, and you know that's that's you know uh the individual members as a board.

Um I do not believe that's in the task force because the amount of work that that has to happen.

I'm trying to remember the exact number because I don't it's somewhere around I want to say 60 cases behind right now.

Okay, and some go back as far as four years.

Um we did have the program director leave uh a year ago, August, and um the opening law school kind of filled in up to January, but then when they left in January, the the law school no longer took control of the CPRB.

They were kind of much on on their own, and at that point the uh the CPRB decided not to hear new cases.

Um so we're just getting back to taking in cases and and moving forward.

So I know that's not an exact answer to the other.

No, no, I it's just it's funny because I I make fun of Paul Tonko all the time because he's in almost every photo if you can think, you know, in regards to Albany.

So um it's just the level of um interaction in regards to the the board that I'm interested in.

Um in regards to support for new members.

Um I did have a question.

Um I did note that there was an orientation that needed to be completed um within 30 days of someone coming onto the board.

I wanted to know about ongoing mentorship for our new membership.

Sure.

Um well since the city took over the CPRB, there's certain orientation has to go through with um our human uh resource department.

There's also training with the police citizen academy.

Yes.

Now it's only available in the spring, but I have talked to Chief Cox and we are working on trying to do more than one class a year.

And that's important that all members of the CPRB complete that course.

Because what happens is taking that course, a lot of the questions that you might have about procedures and stuff, you already learned.

So it it just provides a smoother operation for the uh for the the police review board.

Perfect.

Thank you.

Um and my last question is basically on the strategic vision of the board.

Um, you know, where do you see um the board going past, you know, in the next couple of years, where do you see your the board going past just the complaint forms?

Do you want you know a certain number of individuals in the community uh where of you?

Like is there a quota, a metric that you guys are going by as far as like a vision for the board?

Like like I said, that we just took the board into the city, yeah.

Um and we're trying to get the board working.

I mean, that's something um being an independent board.

I I think that you know, you come up with the bylaws, you come up with um you know the vision, yes, and the statement, and you know, the council's here to to listen and to either you know give input.

So I think that's where we're at right now.

Kelly is leader of the the council, you know.

What do you think?

And the bylaws online are are up to date?

Because I didn't know the bylaws online are up to date because I I think they posted the the most up-to-date bylaws, and then uh we envision from them moving into the city, getting to a point where they have a few full-time staff now.

There's the program director, there's a part-time staffer in the office uh doing clerical work.

We're looking to get some investigators brought on board uh and and possibly even in in like an in-house council um because for for what we pay for consultants and outside council, we could hire a full-time.

I did see that um online as far as the ability to hold their own investigations.

Um if you know that's something that the board decides to do.

So that's very interesting.

I'm maybe interested to see that.

And they have an office, it's up at 175 uh Central Avenue.

So we're gonna we're getting there.

It's it's it's this is all new.

You've been doing this for a while, so I'm I'm you and Jack, so but that was my last question.

So thank you.

Thank you, and thank you for applying.

I'm a good one.

Warren next up is uh Warren Hamilton.

Hi, Warren.

Warren, on behalf of the committee, thank you for applying.

Thank you for coming in for an interview.

And if if you don't mind if you you could just give us a beat uh uh brief background of what you're up to and uh why you're interested in joining the CPRB.

Yes, uh Warren Hamilton, uh Albany resident.

I've been in the area for 34 years, 30 of which I've lived in Albany, and three in Latham.

I've been um in Albany since I graduated uh from SUNY Buffalo, started right out in public policy, and I guess that's the the crux of who I am policy and not politics.

Um first job, state senate, second job, state budget office, then followed by a lot of compliance oversight and et cetera.

So I'm just someone who's always been involved, multiple committees, boards, different things, work with Jenny many, many years ago on just I'm a volunteer.

Work with Jenny many, many years ago on just I'm a volunteer.

I've been uh blessed, and I'm able to get back.

Uh recognize Robert from my time on the board as well.

So I'm here because I don't watch the news much anymore.

I would listen to a lot of podcasts because I don't need to just see negativity, but I have noticed at the board uh community police review board, it was Albany Citizens Review Board when I first started.

Um is it needing some help?

So I've got plenty of skills and abilities, a couple master's degrees, policy, 30 plus years in state government, et cetera, plus multiple um stints at boards, committees.

And um, I guess probably as important uh being a black man, right?

Police, public safety.

So uh there's a lot of issues there, and I'm just here to help.

Well, thank you.

And uh does committee members have any questions?

Alfredo.

Thank you.

Uh thank you, Ron, for taking your time to meet with us and for putting your name up uh for consideration for this uh board.

So as you know, the board does uh address some very sensitive issues, deals with some very uh controversial topics, uh, and at times can be one of our most criticized uh public boards to be on, you know, probably more than some of our um other boards, like a historic association, others may not take as much public criticism.

Uh how comfortable are you with that?

Uh how comfortable are you with with uh being exposed to that type of um public scrutiny?

I'm sensitive to the information being sensitive.

Uh, most of my jobs have been in policy level, mid-level government where I was in um MC roles or roles where confidentiality was important.

As far as criticism, I don't really care because for me, facts matter and not someone's opinion per se.

Your values and your opinions and your feelings do count, but I think the reality, physics, you know, um count more.

So, in terms of what this board has to offer, it was not as controversial, obviously, back when I was on it.

It's never been this bad, if that's the right term.

So I can't say I'm familiar with that part of it, but I mean I don't care about controversy or he say or she say because um I try to stick to the facts, the logic, um, et cetera.

Thank you.

You're welcome.

Sonia.

Lauren, Mr.

Hamilton, thank you for applying.

Um I think it's unique in the fact that you previously served on this and are looking to come back and uh rededicate your time to this effort.

Uh so just bouncing off of your opening statement, um, from a high level, if you could summarize just what are a couple key issues that you from your perspective believe the CPRB faces today.

Well, first I want to sudo apologize for having to resign the last time.

I mean, you you folks, I pretty sure I was a common council appointee, not a mayoral.

So, but when the dis what I perceive this dysfunction started to happen, and people weren't listening to reason.

I you know what?

Well, have fun, I'll see you later.

But high level, I was not in favor of a separate investigative process.

To me, it just seems wrong for the primary reason of I thought the board's job was to bring quick resolution to problems that result in citizens or people filling out complaints.

And for me, building a whole new separate investigative process seemed like a fallacy, lunacy.

It just did not seem appropriate.

There were good reasons why people wanted to do that, and that's because we didn't have faith in the police report.

I get it, but that does not mean you create your own separate entity, especially if you're trying to resolve something quickly, which is the whole purpose of a citizen or a person filling out this form, trying to get redress from their government.

And for the fourth time, I don't see how creating a whole separate process, and then you have the police report, now you got this whole separate new report.

Where do they meet?

So I'm pretty sure they're not gonna say the same thing.

So you've sort of created uh a larger problem.

I think, and I've invoiced it at the time, and it was on our list, maybe number nine or ten, so it didn't go very far, was we need to fix the complaint form itself.

It's the police department that forms the investigation, at least they used to.

And they formed that investigation based upon what is scribbled in a lot of cases onto that page.

So how can they form an effective uh investigation when they're relying on either a person who's maybe still upset, maybe can't articulate that well, and they some of the forms we couldn't even read them.

So I don't know how you're gonna create a uh um an investigation when you don't even know what the person said.

It's a lot of scribble.

So and that was my suggestion.

There were some concerns that you're pre-forming the complaint form and you're leading people to answer certain questions.

No, you're helping people fill out the form um appropriately or effectively, and then that way it helps the police form the investigation.

So looking at something like that, clearly not wasting if I don't even know how much hundreds of thousands might this investigation, uh separate investigative process and subpoena power.

So again, sometimes as a policy person, you gotta look through things.

So I believe the board may have gotten subpoena power as well.

But what are you gonna do?

Make the police officer make a statement?

Probably not, especially if they say my um collective bargaining says no.

So that whole process sort of wasted a lot of time and effort.

Fix the complaint process, hold the police accountable.

That's a key term that's always been missing.

Accountability.

Um I didn't give you a lot of tangibles, but I think scrapping that however many hundreds of thousands of dollars we might be spending for an investigator process that takes a long time to do, and then we still have to reconcile it with the original report by APD.

Thank you for that.

Thank you for that perspective.

You're welcome.

Jack.

Which I I agree.

I would say not a separate investigation.

If if there are problems with the police report or investigation, then we need to find the holes in that and sort of forensically or with some academic or whatever experience, someone say, no, that doesn't make any sense.

So we had a backlog when I was there as well, and it apparently has not left and maybe got a lot bigger.

So that's a real problem.

I also think to help solve some of the backlog is garbage in, garbage out.

I mean, what's the form?

I don't even know.

Has it ever been amended?

Uh so people need to be able to clearly express what happened, and that's not really there.

Obviously, we you don't want to coach people to fill it out, but if they're just putting gobbledygook on the form, that's a waste of time.

All right, thank you.

And uh I asked this last person, you know, this is one of the most controversial boards, like like Alfredo said, but you have the time to do all this because it's a time consuming board.

Uh the board, it is a uh a huge time to straight.

So maybe, and I get what you're saying, you gotta go review film and talk to officers maybe and listen to tape.

Maybe if you trim down what's coming into the pipeline and/or figure out a better way to not have 60 things in in the rears, so I do have time, but I don't have eight hours every day to sit there looking at film, especially for a process that probably shouldn't result in that kind of necessity.

I gotcha.

Thank you.

Any other questions from committee members?

Oh, go ahead, Rob Bobby.

I've got an easy one.

Um you mentioned living in Albany and Latham.

Can you just confirm where you're currently living?

I I started out with saying I'm an Albany resident.

So I'm I'm an Albany resident, I live Washington Avenue right up the street.

I can and I do have a question.

Um, can you define independence as it applies to the CPRB?

I missed the first word.

Can I define Independence?

Wow, that's an awesome question.

Man, I didn't prep for that one.

No, I'm just no.

You know, independence.

That is incredible.

Well roughly 50-50 split, but some are common counsel, some are the mayoral appointee.

Um how do I define independence from my perspective or from the board's perspective?

From your perspective.

Um by having integrity and knowing that you should be independent and not saying, well, I was appointed by the common counsel, so I gotta kind of think what they think, or the mayor appointed me to be quite honest.

That was some of the reason why I resigned.

I felt that some of the mayoral appointees may or may not have been not necessarily following protocol in the building and they were maybe getting direction elsewhere, because certain decisions, I'm just like I was shaking my head like where is this decision making coming from?

So if I can't bring rationality or logic to the process, then there's no real reason for me to be there because it's kind of like the silliness that's happening in uh the federal government today is just based on make-believe.

Thank you.

Committee or non-committee members have any questions.

One, do you have any questions for us?

Um were decisions made in terms of moving forward.

Um so if there are structural problems with the board, how are they resolved?

Internally by the board just offering up recommendations, and then the mayor and or common council feels them, or in your own power, you can see certain things and you act in certain ways.

Well, the board works things out, and that's why I brought up the independence.

The board is independent in doing its investigations and coming up with an answer.

Now the board were kind of falls under the common council because the Albany Law School no longer wanted to be like the sponsor.

So what we do is you know, we we will try to help with the budget, you know, with the budget process, which is the mayor comes up with the numbers and we try to push and get more money involved.

But I mean, in its sense, the CPRB is independent.

They gotta come up with their own bylaws, uh come up with you know the the decisions that they they look at.

So that's how it is right now.

Right.

I guess the only nuance is when decisions were made, for instance, to bring in subpoena power and special investigations that had to come through a local law.

So at some point the common council gets involved to put forward a decision.

That is correct.

So the council did we we got a recommendation that they needed it.

One of the problems was the um the police officers wouldn't you know wouldn't come in and and talk when the the CPRB was trying to interview them.

Um so the idea was that they could subpoena because the council can subpoena too, but the idea was to let the CPRB have that uh subpoena power.

Okay.

Okay.

Was that your only question?

Or yeah, um, did I not answer the question?

I'm sorry.

No, no, no.

Did you have any more questions for us?

Oh, do I have any more questions?

No, I mean no, I'm I'm good.

Thank you.

Well, thank you for coming um and interviewing, and uh we'll let you know we'll have to get together after the committee and talk.

Alrighty, thank you.

Thank you.

Appreciate it.

Have a good night.

Do I have a motion for the because we got go right into the clock because we're late?

Um for an adjournment from a committee member.

I make a motion to adjourn.

Sir is second.

Second.

All in favor, aye.

Aye.

Uh meeting is adjourned, and we'll go into the uh caucus.

Okay, and we'll go we'll we'll go through reviewing.

Yeah, we'll have to do that at some point.

Okay, all right.

Uh we're in caucus right now.

Um welcome to the Monday, September 15th caucus and work session of the Albany Common Council with our work session prior to our regular meeting.

Um, I don't see Mr.

Jimenez.

Um, would you please call the role?

Yeah.

Um we'll start off with uh Abusu Anane.

Uh not here, and then Sergio Adams.

Alfredo Malloran.

Yeah.

Um Hyde Clark.

Richard Conte.

Jenny Farrell.

Here.

Jack Flynn.

Here.

Sonia Frederick.

Here.

Oh, thank you, Tom Howe.

Here.

How do um Kelly Kimbrell?

Here.

Um I believe Mr.

Johnson's in the hallway.

Yes.

Yeah, Mr.

And then Joyce Love is currently not present.

And then Jamal Robinson.

Not present.

And then Deborah Zammer.

Here.

And who?

Oh, and Megan.

Oh, Megan Kingan is actually on Zoom.

Thank you.

And then also president.

We currently have Carly Johnson, Junior Legislative Aid, and then I see Jake Iceland, the part-time research council, as well as Robert Wenner, Research Council, and Robert McGee.

Corporation Council and Shiko Johnson, Jackson, City Clerk.

Thank you.

Yes.

On the flag.

Thank you.

All right.

So under the minutes from previous meeting, I'll offer the September 4th 2025 meeting minutes for approval.

And moving on to ordinances.

Introduced by Mr.

Johnson.

We'll have ordinance 2292 25.

Well we will refer all to Rosemary Quisby.

And it's a tax map number.

We'll be voting on that.

Okay.

Came out with a positive recommendation.

So next also by Mr.

Flynn's ordinance 148125 ordinance amending chapter 313 plumbing.

So in relation to uh membership of the examining board of plumbers.

Also through General Services Committee on September 8th came out with a positive recommendation.

We'll be voting on that.

Next uh ordinance 1782 25 by Mr.

Ballorin.

So ordinance uh it's a USD ordinance um in relation to exceptions for vehicle fueling stations came through planning on September 9th positive with a positive recommendation.

We'll be voting on that.

I excuse me, I believe that one amends the USCO, so we would need to hold off on that one until it goes before county planning.

One more time.

I believe that was the one that amended the USDO, so we would have to hold off on that until it goes before county planning.

That's it.

Next um it's also by Mr.

Ballorin.

Uh 1882 25.

It's ordinance repealing chapter 303.

Um sidewalk and outdoor cafes went through planning on the 9th, and that's good to go for vote tonight.

Okay.

The next uh under resolution is introduced uh by Mr.

Ballorin, resolution 11, 9225 Resolution honoring the life and legacy of Dennis Lee Edney and renaming a portion of Washington Avenue in his honor.

That'll be going to the General Services Committee.

Next uh by Mr.

Ballorin and Miss Frederick, resolution 11292 25R.

So resolution to come council recognizing Hispanic Heritage Month is celebrating the heritage and culture of Latinos in the United States and the admiss contribution of Latinos in the United States.

We're all co-sponsors on that.

And next on to resolutions held uh by Mr.

So we'll be voting on that.

So resolution ninety-three eighty-one twenty-five, resolution honor and life and legacy of Vella Madeir.

Nelson and renaming a portion of Sheridan Avenue and her honor.

I'm missing anything.

Okay.

All right, so we'll be recognized to untable it and then the process there would be Councilman Anane can make a motion to take the resolution off the table.

If that passes, Councilman Howie can make a motion to amend the resolution.

Thank you.

Yeah, how could I forget that one?

All right.

All right.

What'd you say?

No, just a joke.

It's gonna be one oh two years.

Okay.

Okay, that's it for the agenda.

And can the clerk please call the roll?

Adams.

Anani.

Present.

Ballorin.

Yeah.

Clark.

Here.

Conte?

Here.

Farrow.

Here.

Flynn.

Here.

Frederick.

Here.

Howie.

Here.

Johnson.

Present.

Keegan.

Here.

Here.

Love.

Robinson.

Zamer.

Here.

Fourteen present, one absent.

Thank you.

And can you please rise to say the pledge of allegiance?

And after that, we'll have a moment of silence.

Okay.

And now we'll move to our next item on our agenda, which is the public comment period.

Doing public comment period, you have five minutes to speak on any issue you wish to speak upon.

Um at that time, council members cannot respond to your to your statements.

Uh, they cannot answer any questions about your statements.

Uh, council members, if they choose to do so, they may respond at a later time during the agenda.

Um, when you get to the table, just state your name and your you don't have to state your address, but just state the town or city that you live in.

Um, and uh the light will turn green and yellow means you have one minute, and red means conclude your comments.

Um, with that being said, can the clerk call the first speaker?

Marlon Anderson.

My name, of course, is Marlon Anderson, community advocate, long time community advocate in the city of Albany, former and present candidate for mayor in the city of Albany.

And I'm coming forward because it was brought to my attention that I seem to have struck a nerve with my comments at the last common council meeting regarding the upcoming debate and proposed curfew in the city of Orbany on youth.

And before I address that, very quickly, I watched the comments on the meeting, and it was kind of amazing to hear the things that were said.

Given my history in the city, specifically in the area where the missing council member, uh Mr.

Robinson represents.

All the people that I call out from the Senate on down, sitting in the mayor's office with Mayor Sheehan, addressing violence in the city, the meetings that I've organized that some of you have been to in this city, of trying to address violence in the city.

So as far as my commitment or questioning anything about how I feel about youth violence, I think that should go without saying.

There's no one who has worked harder on this issue.

And not because I got any gain for it, because I never got any support, never looked for any support, never looked for any political gain from it.

I did it because it's the right thing to do.

And I will continue to do it because it's the right thing to do.

And speaking out against a curfew is the right thing to do.

And let me just point this out.

She probably would not be the nominee right now if she put that first and foremost before the people on the campaign trail that she intended to pursue a curfew in this city.

I'm more than a hundred percent sure she would not be the nominee right now.

Now, the other things I heard, you want to do these good things, safe spaces, all these counseling things like that, devoteing resources to the kids.

No one's gonna stand in front of that, at least on me.

But if you want to do all these beautiful good things for the kids, that's fine.

Do it.

I won't stand in your way, but it's really simple.

Remove curfew from the equation.

Take curfew out of the proposed legislation language, take curfew out of it.

Again, as I said, we are moving in this country towards a police state, and we need to stop heading in that direction.

And a curfew is never a good thing, and it's a terrible thing in a majority black city.

It's not gonna have positive effects, it's going to have negative effects.

It's going to introduce our youth at the earliest age to institutionalize and oversee and control behavior.

And that is unacceptable.

And that's what's being missed here.

You're introducing the kids at the earliest age to institutionalize, overseeing behavior.

Obey, obey, obey.

We don't need that in a majority black city.

So as I say, you want to do all these wonderful, beautiful things by all means, do them.

I certainly will not stand in the way of those.

But it's a simple thing.

Remove curfew from the language.

Remove the punitive steps that are part of it from the language.

That's all I'm saying.

Remove curfew from it.

It's not necessary to have curfew as part of that plan.

You take the curfew out, you got a beautiful agenda.

But everything that you are doing that you're proposing to do is going to be overshadowed by the word and the agenda and the thought of a curfew being had in the city.

And that's what I'm saying.

And as I said, if Mr.

Robinson wants to talk to me about it, I'm very easy to find.

Thank you.

Can the clerk please call next speaker?

Jay Coltaire.

Good evening.

I'm Jay Cludier.

I'm resident of the City of Albany.

Good evening.

I'm the director of sales for Discover Albany, the official tourism promotion agency for Albany County, as well as the contracted operator of the city's visitor center at Quack and Bush Square.

On behalf of Jill Delaney, our president and CEO, I'm here to offer a glimpse of the economic impact the CrossFit Games hosted in Albany on the first, second, and third of August had on our destination.

Using tourism economics event impact calculator, we assess the games generated in excess of five million dollars in direct visitor spending for the entire county.

A million of this spend was realized in the lodging sector alone, with the City of Albany host garnering over 1,200 hotel rooms for the week.

The games were launched at Jennings Landing and hosted at the MVP Arena, but the attendees and competitors impacted many areas beyond the city core.

It is important to point out that the City of Albany played a critical role in the hosting of the games.

And a few examples of the city's role are these.

Key DGS and APD staff attended several planning meetings with CrossFit Games staff, in addition to our staff and the staffs of the arena and the Capitol Center.

These meetings were critical in crafting a successful event while meeting the needs of the community.

The decision to close Pearl Street in front of the arena to meet the clients' needs to support their sponsors was critical in helping the region capture the business early in the bidding process.

DGS's flexible approach to hanging banners on Broadway and State Street helped complete the city's total embrace of the event in the city environs, and it was recognized by the client over and over again.

They even asked for some of those banners to take home with them.

Jennings Landing as the opening competition site was showcased on the CrossFit live stream, which currently has recorded over 1.6 million views.

That kind of marketing you cannot buy.

Discover Albany guides hundreds of events throughout the year, amplifying and supporting tourism sector of the region's economy.

We've created an economic impact report for your review.

I believe it was handed out earlier.

My contact information is in there if you should have any questions.

Thank you for your time.

Alexis Brown.

So just to give you guys a little bit of a background about me, I see a lot of familiar faces here.

You probably, if you look at my face, you probably might know a similar.

State your name and your uh where you live for the record, thank you.

Yep, so my name is Alexis Brown.

I live on Clinton Avenue.

Thank you.

My family who are the Gileards, one of my mother, Glenissa Gilliard might ring a bell to some of you guys.

If you see my face, you might automatically think of her.

Um just for a quick question, just to keep it short in sweet because I know we have a lot of people that are here.

Um, the one of the key issues that I would like to discuss is due to the building of the community.

We have had a lot of disturbance with people moving into that community and not respecting the rules and regulations.

Plenty of people who live on my street have not respected other people's homes.

Due to multiple noise complaints, it seems there has not been any actions on who moves into SEC community.

According to the guidelines in Albany, New York, no disturbance of noise between 8 p.m.

through 6 p.m.

What steps can be taken to apply more restrictions to neighbors and pedestrians who do not respect other people's homes?

And what steps can I take for necessary actions for more restrictions when neighbors do not respect the law?

Another thing I would like to add is about dealing with noise pollution that has bill effects on people such as myself.

What is Albany doing to enforce quality of life issues?

And those are my three questions.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Can the clerk call next speaker?

Julia Long Good evening, esteemed legislators and neighbors.

My name is Julia Long, an Albany resident, and I am the founder and executive director of the Alternative to Economic and Housing Displacement Inc.

It's a 501c3 nonprofit organization serving small landlords as well as tenants at Albany City Housing Court.

I was one of the two organizations who received the EPIC eviction prevention intervention collaborative funding that you all contributed to as well as CARES and the county.

Legal aid was the other.

My organization received 60 legal aid 155.

And I appreciate that and you all for making that funding possible.

The people I help in housing court, small landlords and tenants, can't afford to pay me.

So because most of those people find themselves in housing court due to their non-payment of rent.

Therefore, I depend on the generosity of my neighbors for support.

So first I want to thank you all for the work that you're doing.

I know it's not easy.

I appreciate you.

And to this end, I'm here to offer assistance in your efforts to address Albany housing crisis.

To popcorn on the city's passage of the good cause eviction, first in the state, the inclusionary zoning law, Councilman Anani's accessory dwelling unit that passed.

So we need you, and I need you, the City of Albany residents, 70% of whom are renters need you.

As a black woman business owner, federal cuts to diversity, equity, and inclusion, DEI, as well as cuts to Housing Urban and Development HUD, have hurt the services I provide to small landlords and tenants in the City of Albany, the majority of whom are black women, head of household, most of whom have school-age children under their care, as well as caring for elderly parents.

The housing crisis can't wait.

As the winter solstice approaches, so too are the increasing number of evictions.

Statistics show that 84% of those facing eviction were calendared in housing court who had legal assistance to inform them of their rights.

They remained housed.

Remained housed when they had legal assistance.

And when people stay housed, they are not a burden on city taxpayers who would otherwise have to pay to house them in city shelters.

There is money set aside for a vacancy study that wasn't studied.

So I'm not asking for new money.

But the work that my organization does saves tax dollars while saving our residents from homelessness.

So let me help you close the gap in Albany's housing crisis by funding my organization.

Thank you for your work.

I really appreciate you all and have a great evening.

Can the clerk call next speaker?

Rodriguez.

Good evening to you all.

My name is Fidelia Rodriguez, and I am the maternal granddaughter grandmother of Destiny Anaya Green, who is ceaselessly buried on May 21st, 2022 2021.

You just think what city or town you live in, ma'am.

I'm presently from Nathan, New York, but previously, right on the South End.

Thank you.

Um I we came here today.

First of all, my daughter apologizes for not being here.

She couldn't get off.

But so I'm speaking on behalf of my entire family.

When we we just want to thank the council and in particular CJ and Miss Love for pushing this resolution for Wilbur Street to be renamed Destiny's Way.

We appreciate the efforts of the of both of you.

And we just wanted to say, although the death was so senseless, we can't something good out of it.

We started a scholarship fund where we used to give up two $500 scholarships to high school students that portray her same kind of loving kindness.

And we just wanted to say thank you.

Thank you.

Warren Hamilton.

Sorry about that.

Nature calls.

Uh Warren Hamilton, 351, Washington Avenue, live right up the street.

I'm here to talk about the distribution of the funds for the 400 million or 200 million, however, you want to look at it, because some of it's already been carved up.

But uh hopefully all of you are aware, and I'm hoping no one, this is new news, but uh Trinity Alliance has the prime grantee and Clean and Healthy New York were uh which was a statutory partner, won a 20 million dollar award from the prior administration in Washington, uh, back when we followed the Constitution and actual laws.

So recently, through Lee Zeldon, who's a New Yorker, so unfortunately, he decided to take the money away, um, and his buddy took 20 million dollars from Albany.

So that is not your job to patch up all the holes.

I get that, and I know our governor has even said as much that we're not gonna be backfilling because if this is what the people voted for at some level, you know, you gotta you gotta live with it.

However, the 20 million dollar project that uh the lawsuit was tossed recently.

We're still fighting it because we understand the constitution and laws and what that means, even though some people don't, but the 20 million dollars was stolen from Albany.

It was a project that would provide resilience, climate resiliency.

Uh we were partnering with not only Trinity Alliance, which is just down the street, Clean and Healthy New York, um, Albany Housing Partnership, Raddocks, um, A Village, and uh couple more.

Uh not a prepared statement here because I'm speaking from the heart.

Again, 20 million dollars was stolen that was constitutionally uh appropriated, given to this city that they decided that they wanted to take.

So, what does it have to do with you all?

That those projects are ready to go, shovel ready, they've already been approved.

We've even started drawing down some of the money, but once again, some people just do what they want because they're not held to the law, but that's clearly not someone that looks like me.

However, you have the ability to fix that.

These projects not only will provide uh climate resiliency.

Um for instance, Radic is putting up monitors in downtown Albany, South End, Underground Railroad, that was one that I missed, which is on the north side.

It's putting up a smart building, also something that helped people in terms of emergencies.

We all know what the problems are downtown, South End, whether it's Ezra Apprentice, um, nitrous oxides, break dust, uh the Port of Albany, all of that.

We all know that black and brown communities in the city throughout this nation have always been second-class citizens.

Environmental pollution answers plan over there in Sheridan.

I'm telling you, history that you should know, but unfortunately they hide a lot of history from us.

But you have the opportunity to fix that.

20 million dollars snatched up and stolen.

That would have done a lot of work for this city on a lot of avenues.

So you have the ability, as I said, it's shovel ready, it's already been appropriated.

Some of the agencies have already been spending money, but when people are above the law, they do what they want to do and they snatch the money back.

We are still fighting, but you have the opportunity to fill that gap and to do something great for this city from the north end to the south end.

Uh at work in the South End, and I have to tell you, and it's no one's fault per se, because you're a legislative body, you're not the executive body, you're not the courts.

But what I see every day when I go to work in Trinity Avenue is appalling.

Appalling.

It's ridiculous, and it's disgusting.

There's no two ways about it.

But guess what?

You've got the answer, and it's called a 20 million dollar grant that Donald Trump and Lisa Allen stole from the people of Albany.

Thank you.

Thank you.

There's no more, there's no one else signed up for public comment period tonight.

So public comment period is then closed.

What is your name, sir?

My name is Adam.

Okay.

Will we?

Yep.

Well, good evening, and thanks for the opportunity to speak today.

Hold on, sir.

We're just looking for.

Hold on.

I believe it was about a week ago that I signed up through the electronic system for the 915 date.

I didn't know.

Well, I'm going to let you speak anyway.

I did check my confirmation email as well.

Introduce yourself.

Will you live and keep it?

Carl Yuri, Clinics I have Albany.

Thank you, sir.

Yep.

Good evening.

Thanks for the opportunity to speak today.

So in my comments today, I'll be speaking about the speed camera agreement, the school speed camera agreement that the city signed with our vendor, and what we see is a $10 million mistake that the city made.

You may recall that I spoke during the July 18th meeting about the school speed camera program.

In that meeting, I discussed the economics of the school speed camera program.

The highlights of my discussion were that the city budgeted for $6 million of revenue in the 2025 budget.

And using open data, we projected that the city will receive between two to two point six million of revenue, a $3.4 to $4 million shortfall.

While we were analyzing the speed camera program revenues, we received and uh reviewed the contractual agreement between the City of Albany and our vendor, a company called Census Gazzo.

Two things stood out when we reviewed the agreement.

The first is Gatso receives 60 per 6% of the gross collected citation revenue, a percentage that we felt was extraordinarily high.

And also we found the agreement is a five-year agreement that does not have any city driven cancellation clauses, no termination for agreement, or sorry, termination for convenience, which is a standard term in multi-year technology agreements that allows for a contractual buyout if circumstances changed.

So we're concerned about potential fundamental flaws in the agreement.

What's the best way to analyze an agreement that your city has signed?

Find comparable agreements that your peers have entered into.

We sit found a list of Gatso uh Gatsos American customers.

We foiled three dozen of these cities, towns, and villages.

Cities there are very comparable to the city of Albany.

We found two things.

These contracts specified fee rates between 23 and 42 percent of gross revenue, much less than the city of Albany's 66% rate, and over three-quarters of these agreements included a termination for convenience clause.

From this analysis, we felt confident in making this statement.

The City of Albany has a poor agreement with Census Gazzo regarding both fees and the ability to terminate.

How much is this going to cost the city?

So using basic arithmetic, we predict the speed camera program over a five-year period will generate $38 million of gross revenue between now and 2029.

38 million gross based on our existing agreement, where the city keeps 34% of gross revenue, our net revenue will be $13 million.

Now, if Albany had a more favorable agreement, similar to our peer cities, where we kept 60% of gross revenue, which is on the low end of what we found in our peer cities, our net revenue would be 23 million.

So again, 38 million gross.

We're gonna get 13, but we could have gotten 23, a 10 million dollar delta.

I believe that it's within the role of the common council to seek an understanding of what happened in the contracting process.

My assumption is that there are four parties involved in crafting and agreeing to an agreement like this: the treasurer's office, the corporation council, the office of audit and control, and the mayor.

There are many questions that I would ask the leadership of these offices.

However, I would start with this one.

Do you believe that we signed the best possible agreement with Census Gazzo?

And if so, why?

And I'd imagine you start there and see where the conversation goes.

Well, we can't change the agreement for four more years.

We can understand what did or did not happen as we sign this agreement.

We can achieve accountability, and we can seek better decision making in the future for future agreements.

Today we posted a long form article on our website, Albany Data Stories.com, which supplies supporting detail on our findings.

Please feel free to reference that and thank you very much for your time.

Thank you.

That is the last person to sign up for public comment period.

So public comment period at this time is deemed closed.

Move to our next item on our agenda.

Minutes from previous meeting.

Mr.

Kimbrough.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

I offer the September 4th of 2025 meeting minutes for approval.

Second.

All those in favor?

Aye.

Aye.

Those opposed.

Motion passes.

Minutes from previous minute.

Meetings.

There's no uh consideration of local laws.

Reports of any standing committees.

Mr.

Flynn.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

The General Services Committee met September 8th.

We discussed ordinance 862 25 and 148125 and both came out with positive recommendation.

We also discussed resolutions 596125R, 72, 7125R, and 938125R.

And they also came out with positive recommendations.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Mr.

Howie.

Uh thank you, Ms.

President.

The uh public safety committee met tonight uh right before caucus, and we interviewed two candidates for the community police review board.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Any more?

Okay, we're moving on to considerations of ordinances.

Umrdinance introduced Mr.

Johnson.

Thank you.

I notice ordinance 22.92 point 25, and I ask for its um introduction and voice vote.

Uh I believe this is only introduction on correction.

I asked for introduction.

Thank you.

Can the clerk please read the ordinance?

An ordinance authorizing the sale of 27 Alexander Street tax map tax map parcel number 76.65 dash one dash sixty two to Rosemary Courtney.

Thank you.

Mr.

Kimbrough.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

There'll be referral of council's finance committee.

Thank you.

Continue now and ordinance reduced Mr.

Johnson.

Yes, I notice ordinance 23.92 point twenty-five when I ask for his introduction.

Thank you, Mr.

Johnson.

Can a clerk please read the ordinance?

In ordinance amending or ordinance six dot sixty one dot twenty-five, which authorized the sale of Ash Grove Place Common Alley, tax map parcel number seventy-six forty-nine dash three-fifty-seven.

Are we voting on this?

Yes.

Yes.

Okay.

Hmm.

Alrighty then.

Any discussion on this resolution?

I mean on this ordinance.

I think I have no it's it's a mile for this.

Same night passage.

If there's unanimous consent or any I think we have any okay.

On here it says introduction only.

So I believe this was discussed at the caucus on Wednesday.

It would be unanimous consent.

Say that again.

I can't hear you.

I believe this was discussed at the caucus on Wednesday.

It was but it would just need to be unanimously voted on.

To vote it.

For it to pass.

Correct.

Okay.

If not, it will remain on the agenda.

It can be taken up at the following meeting.

Sounds good.

Any discussion on this ordinance?

Seeing none, can a clerk please call the roll?

Adams.

Yes.

Anani.

Yes.

Ballerin?

Yes.

Clark.

Yes.

Conte?

Yes.

Farrell.

Yes.

Flynn?

Yes.

Frederick.

Yes.

Howie.

Yes.

Johnson?

Yes.

Keegan.

Yes.

Kimbrough.

Yes.

Love?

Yes.

Zamer.

Yes.

14 in the affirmative.

Ordinance passes.

Moving on to ordinances held.

Mr.

Flynn.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

Notice ordinance 862-25.

And that's for its passage.

Thank you.

Can the clerk please read the ordinance?

An ordinance amending Article 1, removal of garbage of chapter 313, Solid Waste of the Code of the City of Albany in relation to clarifying household refuse collection and enforcement.

Discussion on this ordinance.

Seeing none, can the clerk please call the roll?

Adams.

Yes.

Anani.

Yes.

Ballerin?

Yes.

Clerk?

Yes.

Conzi.

Yes.

Farrell?

Yes.

Flynn?

Yes.

Frederick.

Yes.

Howie.

Yes.

Johnson?

Yes.

Keegan.

Yes.

Kimbrough?

Yes.

Love?

Yes.

Zamer.

Yes.

14 in the affirmative.

Ordinance passes.

Uh continuing on Mr.

Flynn.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

Notice ordinance 148125 and ask for its passage.

Can the clerk please read the ordinance?

An ordinance amending chapter 313 plumbing of the code of the city of Albany in relation to membership of the examinating examining examining board of plumbers.

Excuse me.

The discussion on this ordinance.

Seeing none, can the clerk please call the roll?

Adams.

Yes, co-sponsor.

Anani?

Ballorin?

Yes, co-sponsor, please.

Clerk?

Yes.

Conte?

Yes.

Farrell?

Yes.

Flynn?

Yes.

Frederick?

Yes.

Howie.

Yes, co-sponsor, please.

Johnson?

Yes, co-sponsor, please.

Keegan.

Yes, co-sponsor, please.

Kimbrough.

Yes, co-sponsor, please.

Love?

Yes.

Zamer.

Yes, co-sponsor, please.

14 in the affirmative.

Ordinance passes.

Continue on the ordinance held.

Mr.

Ballorin.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

I asked that on his 18 point 82 point 25 be introduced and held.

Thank you.

Can the clerk please read the ordinance?

An ordinance repealing chapter 303, sidewalks and outdoor cafes of the code of the city of Albany.

Discussion on this ordinance.

Seeing none.

Can a clerk please call the role?

Adams.

Yes.

Anani?

Yes.

Ballorin?

Yeah.

Clerk?

Yes.

Consi?

Yes.

Farrell.

Yes.

Flynn?

Yes.

Frederick?

Yes.

Howie.

Yes.

Johnson?

Yes.

Keegan.

Yes.

Kimbrough?

Yes.

Love?

Yes.

Zamer.

Yes.

14 in the affirmative.

Ordinance passes.

That concludes Mr.

Kimbrough.

Excuse me, sir.

Mr.

Kim, just ordinance is finished.

Hold the room.

Hold the remaining ordinances.

Oh, yeah.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

Rest of the ordinance on the agenda are held.

Thank you, sir.

Moving on to resolutions introduced.

Uh Mr.

Ballorin.

Yes, Mr.

Mr.

President.

I uh ask to introduce resolution 1112.92 point twenty-five all.

Thank you.

Can the clerk please read the resolution?

A resolution honoring the life and legacy of Dennis Lee Edne and renaming a portion of Washington Ave in his honor.

Thank you.

Mr.

Kimbrough.

Thank you.

Uh Mr.

President, we refer to the council's general services committee.

Thank you.

Continue on.

Resolution is introduced.

Miss Mr.

Ballorin.

No, that was one of the needed multiple patients.

Yep.

Okay.

No one.

My apologies for the delay, Mr.

President.

Which one are we on?

The last one.

Actually, uh, I'll have Mr.

Frederick introduce that one.

Okay.

Ms.

Frederick.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

I notice resolution 1129225R.

An axe for uh its passage by unanimous consent.

Okay.

Thank you.

Can you clerk please read the resolution?

A resolution of the common council recognizing Hispanic Heritage Month and celebrating the heritage and culture of Latinos in the United States and the immense contribution of Latinos to the United States.

Discussion on this resolution.

Ms.

Frederick.

Thank you, Mr.

President, and thank you to all my council colleagues in advance for your support of this resolution.

September 15th to October 15th.

We will honor the history and the rich culture of our Hispanic communities and celebrate the diversity that it brings to our city.

We have many things to be proud of here in Albany, like the dual language programs within our school district and the wonderful nonprofits that we have, like Capitol District Latinos.

At the same time across our region, we have Hispanic families afraid to go to work, run basic errands, and leave their homes for fear of their loved ones being taken due to the acts of the federal government.

So I thank you for supporting this resolution for celebrating our culture, but also sending a message that every person in our city deserves dignity and to feel safe.

Thank you.

Thank you, Ms.

Frederick.

Further discussion.

Seeing none since all council members are co-sponsors, Mr.

Bill voice vote.

All those in favor.

Aye.

Resolution passes.

Moving on to resolutions held.

Mr.

Ballorin.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

I asked that we uh we didn't move forward to resolution 59.61.25 all.

Thank you.

Can the clerk please read the resolution?

A resolution honoring the life and legacy of Sherry Archie Jr.

and renaming a portion of Waterville Ave in his honor.

Discussion on this resolution.

Mr.

Ballorin.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

Glad this is being moved forward, and thank you for all those who are supporting it.

For those who knew uh Charlie Holly, he was someone who was strong in his beliefs, uh, strong in his uh desire for social justice uh and against oppression.

Uh he was one who spoke his mind, uh, spoke it freely, spoke it openly, uh, spoke it loudly and consistently.

Uh and he did it in a peaceful, uh respectful manner.

Uh, and uh he did it with a lot of pride.

So I'm glad this is being moved forward, and thank you uh all for all your support on this.

Thank you.

Uh Mr.

Johnson Thank you, Mr.

President.

I have to say some words on Mr.

Archie.

He was a uh parent uh I met him as a parent in one of my schools, and um Mr.

Archie was a person whose drive was something that I try to um duplicate and um the things that I'm passionate about and you know when I think about Mr.

Archie, I could um think about coming across Delaware I've and him being right down there with that sign and a smile um standing um firm on the things that he believed in, and um I just you know uh he was a heck of a man and I think that this is an honor that is um gonna do some uh good things for his family to keep his name going.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Further discussion, seeing none, can the clerk please call the role?

Adams.

Yes, co-sponsor.

Anani?

Yes, Ballorin, yes, clerk, yes, co-sponsor.

Conte?

Uh yes, co-sponsor, please.

Barrell?

Yes, co-sponsor, please.

Flynn, yes, co-sponsor, please.

Frederick, yes, co-sponsor.

Hoe we sponsor, please.

Johnson?

Yes.

Keegan.

Yes, co-sponsor, please.

Kimberle.

Yes, co-sponsor, please.

Love.

Yes, co-sponsor.

Zamer.

Yes, co-sponsor, please.

14 in the affirmative.

Resolution passes.

Continue on resolutions held.

Mr.

Johnson.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

I notice resolution 72.71.24 R, and I asked for it read to be read and um voice vote, please.

Thank you.

Can the clerk please read the resolution?

A resolution honoring the life and legacy of Destiny A Green and renaming a portion of Wilbur Street in her honor.

Discussion on this resolution.

Mr.

Johnson.

Thank you.

I could recall um receiving a phone call from Destiny's mother, and I just listened to her, and uh really didn't um connect with uh what she was asking um because I just didn't understand um you know your loss and ending up um having a street name after uh a tragedy like that but something bothered me and I ended up calling her back within 24 hours and you know I I just told her that I wanted to make sure that I wasn't um unsympathetic.

I just told her my story and how I never looked at it like this, and three years later, I'm so I'm saddened that she's not here tonight so she can hear these words, but um I'm glad that she had the vision of continuing her um daughter's name.

And tonight, as I talked to her grandmother, grandmother said that that they were unaware of some of the things that destiny was uh connected to, and one of the things that she shared is that she was like the assistant coach, the honorary coach for the special needs um team, and and and it just goes to show um um people that have that type of um compassion that um care about others that most people um don't take the time to care about, and I'm just glad that tonight that we could be a part of um something that is gonna bring again um um some strength to a family that every time they go by that spot is something negative, and we're gonna um give them a chance to be able to change that narrative and be able to look and see their daughter's name up on a sign um to create something positive in uh um a terrible situation.

So um I'm honored tonight to be um the the sponsor of this resolution because it's gonna mean so much to a family that lost the um treasurer.

Thank you.

Thank you for the discussion seeing none.

Can the clerk please call the roll?

Adams.

Yes, co-sponsor.

Nani?

Yes, co-sponsor Ballerin?

Yes, co-sponsor, please.

Clerk?

Yes, co-sponsor.

Conte?

Yes, co-sponsor, please.

Farrell?

Yes, co-sponsor, please.

Blyn?

Yes, co-sponsor, please.

Frederick?

Yes, co-sponsor.

Hoey?

Yes, co-sponsor, please.

Johnson?

Yes.

Keegan.

Yes, co-sponsor, please.

Kimbrough.

Yes, co-sponsor, please.

Love?

Yes, co-sponsor.

Zamer.

Yes, co-sponsor.

14 in the affirmative.

Resolution passes.

Continue on with resolutions held.

Mr.

Kimbrough.

I mean, Mr.

I mean Miss Love.

My goodness.

Ms.

Love.

Sorry.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

I notice resolution 93.81.25R and ask for his passage.

Thank you.

Can the clerk please read the resolution?

A resolution honoring the life and legac legacy of Vella Madeir Nelson and renaming a portion of Sheridan Ave in her honor.

Discussion on this resolution.

Ms.

Love.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

Uh the family request that uh the street renaming will be October the third at noon.

Okay.

Um and I'm asking the DGS committee to come out.

This is my last one.

So I'm hoping that uh a more than a DS committee come out and join me for my last street name it.

Thank you.

Thank you, Ms.

Love.

Further discussion on this resolution?

Seeing none.

Can the clerk please call the roll?

Adams.

Yes, co-sponsor please.

Anani?

Yes, co-sponsor, please.

Ballerin.

Yes, co-sponsor, please.

Clerk.

Yes, co-sponsor.

Conte?

Yes, co-sponsor, please.

Farrell?

Yes, co-sponsor, please.

Flynn?

Yes, co-sponsor, please.

Frederick?

Yes, co-sponsor.

Cowie?

Yes.

Co-sponsor, please.

Johnson?

Yes, co-sponsor, please.

Keegan.

Oh.

Yes, co-sponsor, please.

Sorry.

Kimbrough.

Yes, co-sponsor, please.

Love.

Yes.

Zamer.

Yes, co-sponsor, please.

14 in the affirmative.

Thank you.

Resolution passes.

Continuing on with resolutions.

Uh Mr.

Anani.

Uh thank you, Mr.

President.

I move to take off uh resolution 101 91.25 R off the table.

Second, is there a second on that motion?

Second.

All those in favor?

Aye.

Those who disagree.

Motion passes.

Moving on to introduction of this resolution.

Wait, Mr.

President.

Okay.

Go ahead, Mr.

Ms.

Mr.

President.

I go first, I think.

Um thank you, Mr.

President.

I notice resolution 102 9125R.

And I've passed it on the roll call, they are Mr.

President.

You have to you have to put it on the agenda.

And so Mr.

Howie is the sponsor of the resolution.

He's the one.

And Mr.

President, I'd like to reintroduce uh Mr.

Howie.

Hold off.

Uh President Pro Temp.

Uh Kimbrough has a go ahead, Mr.

Kimbrough.

Yes.

Motion to add uh 102 9125 to the agenda for tonight.

Second on that motion.

Second.

All those in favor?

Aye.

Aye.

Those opposed.

Motion passes.

Now, Mr.

Howie.

Yeah, Mr.

President.

I want it we need to do an amendment to this resolution.

You can call for the amendment.

I can introduce it with the amendment, and then I'll ask that I'll ask the question.

So uh I want to uh to introduce and to vote on resolution 102 9125 with an amendment.

Is there an objection to any of the amendments on this resolution?

No objections?

Amendment passes.

Can the clerk please read the resolution?

A resolution of a common counsel appointing Malik Dare as a member of the community of the community police review board.

Discussion on this resolution.

Seeing none, can the clerk please call the role?

Adams.

Yes.

Anani.

Yes, co-sponsor, please.

Ballerin.

Yes, co-sponsor, please.

Clerk.

Yes.

Consey?

Yes.

Farrell.

Yes, co-sponsor, please.

Flynn?

Yes, co-sponsor, please.

Frederick.

Yes, co-sponsor.

Howie.

Yes.

Johnson?

Yes, co-sponsor, please.

Keegan.

Yes.

Kimbrough.

Yes, co-sponsor, please.

Love?

Yes, co-sponsor.

Zamer.

Yes.

14 in the affirmative.

Resolution passes.

Mr.

Kimbral.

Thank you, Ms.

President.

The rest of the resolutions on the agenda of health.

Thank you.

Any miscellaneous unfinished business?

Mr.

Ballin?

Thank you, Mr.

President.

I've got a couple of quick items I'm gonna just discuss.

Hopefully it won't go too quick.

One, um, I did I did have the honor of speaking with Destiny's grandmother, uh, once you stepped out as well.

Um I got the information for the scholarship.

Um, I'm gonna ask if um if I can get that to staff and maybe we can put that up on our um Facebook as part of the resolution that's passed, just if anyone from the public wants to support the scholarship just so that they know how to.

Um, so um just wanted to put that out there.

Uh secondly, I just want to talk briefly.

I know we're starting this discussions again about inclusionary housing.

Um so I want to say I am always very appreciative to the diverse uh input that we have on this council and in the city.

Uh, but I also want to make sure we get the numbers correct.

And there's been some conflicting numbers based on information that's been given out there.

So let me start with the emails that you've been receiving based on pre-stated information that's been put in for people to send out these emails.

Um those emails state that we used to have 500 units a year.

That's incorrect information.

If you look at the planning department's report that came out last week, it should be in your email on the 9th, and you look at what was actually created between 2018 and 2022, and you average it out by five years, that number is actually 167.

So 160 it averaged 167 under the old system.

If you also then take a look at that report, you'll also see that the letter that said that there was 300 uh is also wrong.

Now, I'm looking at constructed.

Now they may be looking at under review or under construction, but this project, the 1211 project, is under construction.

I'm not counting that.

And I don't think we should count that if we're gonna actually have an honest conversation about this.

Um, if you then look at what's actually been built uh between 2018 and 2022, and you look at the affordable units, on average, it is higher than in the last two years.

It was 8.4.

Well, then if you look at the last two years, and you did the average, it was 7.5, not a 50% drop, less than a one unit drop.

So I just want to make sure as we start this conversation, we start looking at the numbers and have a conversation about numbers.

I don't believe we have enough data in the new policy, because the policy was implemented in the middle of 2023, so we only have one full year of the new inclusionary zoning, and in that full year, there's 99 units built versus the average of those other five years, which was 167.

So we're gonna have this discussion.

I didn't bring it up.

Um, but I I look forward to it.

I just want to make sure that the information we're sharing with the public is accurate, and the information we're gonna put out there is is actually based on information that everyone has access to.

So if you're gonna put out information, everyone should have access to it, or don't put up information at all.

Thank you.

Ms.

Zamer.

Thank you.

Just really quickly, can I please request uh council member Ballorin or anybody else that has numbers to dispute the numbers that were circulated today that you put them in writing so that more people can examine them so we can think about it so we can compare and have something to off of which to ask questions.

Mr.

Kimbrough?

Yep, and so um to what uh Mr.

Ballin was talking about.

We received the letter from the mayor on the 12th regarding the inclusionary zoning.

Um it's gonna that ordinance is gonna be on our next agenda, so it'll go out on on Friday.

So as a council, um, we'll have to talk about that and we'll have the clerk reading into the record uh at our at our next meeting.

But that's something that we ought to uh get together and be considering but based on actual numbers, not not what was just thrown out there.

So um yeah, we'll be we'll be dealing with that but for for our next meeting.

But then also uh um switching those numbers for those cool zone cameras that I'd like to know who negotiated that contract.

How that it's it's cra that that's insane that that we're being shorted that amount of money based on uh I mean the I'm like speech he said the the amount and I'm I'm speechless.

So I'll I'll be quiet now.

Mr.

Calm down members, I'll recognize Ms.

Fredericks, Mr.

Howie, and then Mr.

Johnson.

Just in response to that, uh I agree and would like to know more about that.

Uh one recommendation is we have the treasurer's office coming for the first meeting for budget season.

That would be a good time to ask about this.

Um and and the contract and everything behind.

So encourage folks to join us at that meeting.

And this is remember, Councilmembers, this is not the first time we've heard about this being a bad deal.

This is the first time we've had data on it.

Mr.

Howie.

Yeah, and uh ms thank you, Mr.

President.

I was gonna make a comment uh because I was one of the initial pushers for this.

It was never about making money.

It was about the safety of our kids at the schools.

And that's why we're doing, you know, we finally in the 15th ward, we got our first two speed bumps.

And what a difference it's made, and I've gotten phone calls, people thanking me.

And I held off because we we didn't know how successful it is.

But we do have a problem in the city with people speeding, and I mean the the cameras are upset about them, but it is making people slow down.

So and that's just my two cents.

Thank you.

That's the truth.

I've noticed the difference in people driving.

Mr.

Johnson and then Mr.

Nani.

So um it's funny you can come to work and somebody could talk about what's on your mind.

And uh one of the things that I um also wanted to um discuss since the the topic came up, is the um inflated charges that that are um connected to that.

So like uh like um if you don't pay it, like they go up really the the the charges are really high.

Um and and that's bothersome knowing that that money isn't coming to the city and it's you know um on the backs of residents, it doesn't make any sense.

And you know, I like everyone else would like to have some understanding of how uh once again we're in a situation where we're paying um the higher premiums in the state, and uh it seems like we always end up in that case.

So I would love if someone could give us some feedback on that and a follow-up to the question about the um I I may say it wrong, but the the law firm that's on retainer um by the city uh handling the lawsuits.

If I could um get the breakdown of how that um monthly uh allotment is going, I would appreciate it.

Thank you.

Mr.

Nani.

Yeah, thank you, Mr.

President.

And I just want to echo the sentiment I was shared, even with regarding those numbers that a lot of people seem to have concerns about.

Let's be clear, we all support our kids' safety.

Uh no one in this chamber don't support the cameras.

What we are concerned about is the deal that was um accepted by this city.

And I think that we really should really look into it.

Um he said the treasurer's office, the auditor's office of court council, the mayor's office made this agreement.

Uh need to make sure that we are at the table so this doesn't happen again.

Again, we are all in support of speed humps.

We support red light cameras, we support um you know school bus cameras as well.

But one of the things that we have to acknowledge when something is a bad deal.

There's nothing wrong with that.

Um another thing I want to talk about is the letter that the mayor said regarding inclusionary zoning.

I hope that we will have uh honest conversation about this.

Um I believe that housing is not being increased all across the board, uh, you know, for many reasons, and I hope that we can really have an honest conversation when data is put forward.

Uh, because again, it just give you two examples.

The 1211 project falls under the five percent inclusionary zoning rule.

Uh there's a project on Quail and Weston.

That also falls under the 5% inclusionary zoning.

No one is jumping on it.

No one is jumping on it.

If it was that, uh if it was the legislation increase that we did, people will be jumping on those two projects, but that's not happening.

So again, I hope we have an honest conversation about the inclusionary zoning.

I believe in housing.

I think we're in a housing crisis, and we need to figure out a way to create more housing.

We the last decade under this administration, we cut the red tape and told developers you can build.

And they did exactly that, but people rent is still going up.

Rent was still going up, and that's why the council led on this inclusionary zoning.

But that's another conversation for another time.

So again, just want to thank my colleagues and I hope you continue to support this uh inclusionary zoning.

Thank you.

Um Kimbrough, motion to adjourn.

Second.

All those in favor?

All right.

Meeting adjourned