Good evening, everyone.

If the people in the if you're in the chamber, if you could please keep talking to a minimum, because we're a meeting.

So if you'd like to talk to each other, if you could talk out in the hall.

Hello, if if you're if you're if you don't mind talking out in the hall instead of um, and actually you're not you're but Maria, you're allowed to um thank you so much.

If you don't mind calling the roll Adams, Anon.

Present.

Ballarin.

Brody.

Here.

Farrell.

Here.

Howie?

Present.

Johnson.

Jones.

Present.

Keegan.

Here.

Lumpkin.

Present.

Powell.

Present.

Robinson.

Williamson.

President.

Zamer.

Here.

11 present.

We're all stored by Council President Kelly Kimberly, City Clerk Shinkle Jackson, Senior Assistant Corporation Council, Martha Mahoney, Legislative Director Brian Amenez, Research Council Robert Wenner, Junior Legislative Aide, Carly Johnson, and Ninth Ward intern Ariana Costello.

Thank you so much.

Welcome everyone.

This evening.

We are all co-sponsors on that.

We will then be taking Councilmember Powell's resolution 3042 26R out of order.

Memorializing the 70th season of Westland Hills Baseball and Softball.

We're also all co-sponsors on that.

So we'll be doing voice votes for both of those.

Then we will move into public comment.

From there in local laws held.

Next, uh Councilmember Hoey's local law G of 2026.

We'll be voting on that.

Would you like to say anything on either of those, Councilmember Hoey?

Yeah, um, we would like to do G first and see if it passes, and then we'll withdraw F if that's okay.

Thank you.

Um so we will be taking those out of order.

If everyone can note that, especially Mr.

President.

Next in ordinances introduced, uh Councilmember Keegan's ordinance 8426 will go to planning.

Um would you like to say anything on that this evening, Councilmember Keegan?

Sure.

Um as many of you know, my illustrious um intern from U Albany, Ariana Costello has been working with me for a little over six months on um updating our complete streets ordinance with a focus on uh uh incorporating elements of the generating resilient and environmentally exceptional streets act, which is before Congress.

Um this would um bring hopefully bring additional compliance with what was originally intended by the complete streets policy as well as add a green streets component to help mitigate climate change and return green space to communities that have been uh denied or have their green space removed.

Um so we are hoping to work through that in the next month or so with the administration and department of engineering.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Next we have Councilmember Hoey's ordinance 9426, which we'll also go to planning.

Would you like to speak?

Sure, just briefly.

Um I did speak on this at our caucus meeting uh last week, and I did send out to the full council um some videos from YouTube explaining the cottage court, bungalow court concept, and uh why it might fit into our city's planning.

So uh I would appreciate if you didn't get it, let me know and I'll I'll resend it.

But it's a good way to see what exactly other cities are doing to uh provide affordable housing.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr.

Howie.

An ordinance is held.

We have Councilmember Ballorin's ordinance 53126, which is the amendment to the inclusionary zoning law.

Would you like to sit we'll be voting on that this evening?

Would you like to say anything on that, Mr.

Fallarin?

Uh thank you, uh President.

Uh we have come to this agreement after long and uh back and forth conversations.

Uh and um I'm very appreciative, like I've said it many times to everyone who's been willing to have these very difficult conversations.

I know it is not a day for celebration for all of us, uh, and I appreciate that uh and I acknowledge that.

Uh but I also want to acknowledge the work that's been done to try to get us to a better path forward, uh, especially based on some of the environments that we are in and the uh different potential outcomes that we could be seeing today.

Um, but that does not take away from anyone's effort and anyone to work on this issue, uh, and I thank everyone who's been a part of it.

Um but I do ask that my members uh move forward with this today and that we move it uh we move it forward and and create some stability on this issue.

Um so uh I can speak more on it uh would given especially new members some history on this because there's a lot of history on this uh even before my time on the council.

Um so I'll do that for when the bill comes for a vote.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr.

Ballaran.

And resolutions introduced uh from Councilmember Lumpkin, resolution 2842 26R, um, which will honor the life and legacy of Mother Clara Lumpkin and renaming a portion of South Swan in her honor that will go to General Services.

Um we will be, as I've noted, we'll be taking Councilmember Johnson's resolution for CBA and Councilmember Powell's resolution for Westland Hills out of order before public comment.

Um councilmember Johnson, I just want to confirm that that still works for your for anybody coming to take that legislation out of order.

I believe that's the expectation that they're gonna be here, and I would be happy with that's going out of order.

Excellent.

Well, we will plan to take it before public comment because we do have quite a few people signed up for public comment tonight.

Um and if anything happens with that, then we can certainly shift because we're excited about honoring them.

So next, Councilmember Anani's resolution 31426R to commemorate Earth Day.

That we are all co-sponsors on, so that will be a voice vote.

Next, we have Councilmember Williamson's resolution 3242 26R, which is to honor the life and legacy of Reverend Reginald Graham and renaming a portion of 2nd Avenue in his honor.

That will go to General Services.

And from Councilmember Anane, resolution 334226R, a resolution authorizing the City of Albany to adopt a policy related to the disposal of computers, computer software, and computer equipment.

That will go to general services.

Um everything else will be held.

I don't know if any council members have anything that they wanted to discuss or bring up.

Councilmember Brody.

Uh something fun to put on everybody's calendars.

Uh champagne on the park was the event that usually kicked off the tulip um festival, the tulip fest in Washington Park every year that Thursday before Mother's Day.

This year, Lark Hall has graciously offered to move it indoors and into their incredible historic facility right on Lark Street.

So Thursday evening on the May 7th.

Um I would love to encourage any of my council members and staff to go.

Um it's going to be a fundraiser as well, um, as is historically the event.

Um it'll include the ticket will include um all the food and beverages for the evening, and the beneficiary is going to be in our own voices.

Um, so it's gonna be a fun evening and much more accessible than um some of the other more formal events.

So we'd love to see you all there.

Thank you.

We had twelve applications for the uh the community police review board.

And uh so we're setting up interviews right now.

So over the next few weeks, we're going to be doing interviews.

If any member of the council knows of people that live in your ward or even outside your ward, but they need to be in the city, and they can't be a policeman that you think would be good to serve on the community police review board, please let us know, and we'll get them the application information what they need to do.

And we'd like to, you know, consider as many people as we can.

We are down, our council seats were down to four that we need to fill.

So any help at all that you can do, we'd really appreciate it.

Thank you.

Um, and Council Member Keegan, I don't know if you wanted to pick up this, but we are planning on having the Finance Committee meeting on Wednesday.

Yes, and I I was able to confirm with Richard that he is available to come in on the twenty-ninth.

Um we because of the in-depth nature of the budget, we've we're also providing substantive information with it from within the council.

So we are planning on having the meetings.

And with that, if there's nothing else, um, we'll be back in twelve minutes.

Thank you.

Right.

Okay.

Thank you, everyone for coming.

Uh welcome to the Monday, April twentieth meeting of the Albany Common Council.

Roll call.

Adams.

Present.

Anani.

Present.

Ballorin.

Here.

Brody.

Present.

Farrell.

Here.

Flynn.

Howie.

Present.

Johnson.

Present.

Jones.

Present.

Keegan.

Here.

Lumpkin.

Present.

Howell?

Present.

Robinson.

Here.

Williamson.

Present.

Zamer.

Present.

Fourteen present, one absent.

Thank you.

Okay, will members please and the public please stay in with me?

Uh for the Pledge of Allegiance and the moment of silence.

Thank you.

Please be seated.

If we're gonna have folks out there talking in the hall, we're gonna have to close the door.

Okay.

Ms.

Farrell.

Uh thank you, Mr.

President.

I move to take resolution 2942 26R and resolution 3042 26R out of order.

Second.

All those in favor.

Aye.

Thank you.

Motion passed.

No.

Okay.

Okay.

All right.

So um Ms.

Powell.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

Um I ask that uh resolution nine forty-two.

Uh oh, I'm sorry.

Sorry.

I asked that resolution 29 30.

Sorry, you threw me off.

Uh I asked that resolution 3042 26R.

Um be read and uh uh vote be called Thank you, Madam Clerk.

A resolution of the common council celebrating the seventh 70th season of the Westland Hills baseball and softball.

Okay, Miss Powell discussion.

Yes, thank you, Mr.

President.

I was just wondering if we could get the Westland Hills.

There's a bunch of Westland Hills folks in the hallway, so I just wanted to invite them in before we do this whole thing without them.

Um just for a second.

We need you.

Um thank you very much.

I apologize um for the disruption.

Um so I put forward this resolution to celebrate Westland Hills' 70th anniversary.

Um obviously uh the park has been open since 1956 uh in the 12th Ward the entire time.

Um and um I just want to recognize all of those um for their hard work.

Obviously, nothing happens by happenstance and survives for 70 years.

So there's a ton of people here tonight um and kids that work hard and play hard all season um to make our park a success.

Um I just want to say um that we understand that Westland Hills is an inner city league, and uh we like to provide as many opportunities as possible for kids to play on scholarship and come and play at the park and have a positive experience playing youth sports.

So our president is here, Dan Farrell, a ton of coaches and board members are here and a bunch of kids to celebrate with us tonight.

Um our opening day is this Saturday.

Um we have a parade uh like we have for many years from Colvin and Lincoln Ave down Lincoln around the corner through, and then we enter the park on Austin.

Um, and uh there will be a bunch of games played that day.

We played in the middle of June, so um, all of you I we invite you as the park to come and uh join us and see a game, have a hot dog and celebrate our 78th anniversary with us.

So thank you, Mr.

President.

Good.

Ms.

Farrell.

Um I I think baseball and softball leagues throughout the city are incredibly important, and I very much appreciate Councilmember Powell bringing this up, but I will say Westland House is very near and dear to my heart because all three of my kids went through Westland Hills uh baseball and my daughter went through baseball and then softball and um spent a lot of time in the concession stand.

Um highly recommend many things there.

I usually stock drinks, um, which they were really good at.

Um, but it is absolutely a labor of love for every single field, and I know that my kids um learned so much, not just about sports, but about how to how to be with other people, how to be on a team, how to be part of a community.

And they also were able to just be kids.

Like some of their best moments were not necessarily even at their own game.

It was at a friend's game to watch their friends play, or when they were playing with each other and doing a pickup league and like the grasshopper team when their younger sibling was playing.

So those are the moments that I think really create some of the best community throughout the city.

So incredibly grateful to all of our leagues, but especially Wrestling House.

Thank you all so much for your dedication.

Yes, I just want to say congratulations on seventy years.

So you know, to the parents that's involved to the community that comes out.

Um when little league season is over.

And one of the um things that I um one of the thoughts that I had as an adult is why is little league season so short.

Um and it seems like it ends just when the summer begins, but um, you know, uh I'm I'll take my hats off to you because you still have a strong thriving program, as many of the many of the other little league in the um city have dissolved and you know, um, push people in different directions.

So uh keep um keep what you have um going because when it's gone, it's missed.

Great job, everyone.

Thank you, Mr.

Johnson, Mr.

Ballaran.

Thank you.

I just want to echo the comments from my colleagues.

Uh I want to thank all the board members, all the volunteers, all the coaches, all of the parents that are helped out, all of the kids to have that that do the program, uh, everyone who makes it possible year after year to continue to have this asset uh in our community.

Um, because if it's your work that makes it so that our kids can play in these fields, can learn how to interact, how to socialize, how to lose, um, which is which is a good lesson that you need to learn sometimes on how to lose well uh and how to build friends and how to win and how to you know play in the dirt.

My son Blake plays in the dirt sometimes, um, but how to have fun.

Um and if it wasn't because of all of the volunteers of your organizations, um these kids wouldn't get those opportunities for growth uh and those memories and friendships that they will make uh for many years beyond.

So thank you uh for all of your work.

I know it's not easy.

Uh I know that it's it it's not just making sure the fields are taken care of, making sure you have coaches, making sure you have uh sponsors, it's also making sure you have resources and fundraising uh and uh know from the bottom of my heart uh and and from this council, we appreciate your work.

Uh we see it, uh, and we thank you for it.

Thank you, Mr.

Hobie.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

I just want to say to all you're our future.

We're proud of you.

Keep going the way you're going.

Thank you.

Okay, any further seeing none?

Uh we're you're all co-sponsors, so we'll do a voice.

Well, all in favor?

Aye.

Motion passes.

So I should say something that's anything.

Okay, so back on the agenda.

We'll uh wait uh on Mr.

Johnson's uh resolution.

So uh we'll jump back into the uh agenda to uh public comment.

Okay.

Okay, yeah, so pure that off.

Thank you.

Welcome to our public comment.

You have uh three minutes to talk about or speak up on any topic you wish.

Um during the public comment, members cannot engage, so it's it's us receiving uh public comment from you.

When you take a seat, uh, you'll have three minutes, uh give your name and address and uh we'll get going.

Thank you.

Our first speaker is Gabriel Silva.

Thank you.

Hi, everybody.

My name is Gabriel Silva.

I live in the Pine Hills neighborhood, Ward Ten, and I'm president of the board of United Tenants of Albany.

And I'm also here with Citizen Action of New York.

I'm here today in support of Albany's inclusionary zoning policy.

I'm not a housing expert.

I'll leave the statistics and the debate over what spurs develop development to others with a better grasp of the situation.

I'll just say that the fact is inclusionary zoning is good for affordable housing.

I'm here to ask that as you consider the facts and deal with all the figures, the percentiles, the AMIs, and the details that you don't lose sight of the human piece of the equation.

At the end of the day, we are deciding whether or not Albany remains affordable for regular everyday people.

Yeah, okay.

Okay.

That line of thinking locks us into a race to the bottom with the rest of the Capitol region where we're competing to see who can throw tenants and regular people under the bus faster and harder than the other in favor of giving the developers what they want.

Looking to developers to deliver us from our wolves is like looking to the wolf to protect our herd.

The pursuit of profit will not lower rents in Albany.

It will only increase them.

It is your job as the common council to protect the supply of affordable housing and inclusionary zoning in one of the best.

And inclusionary zoning is one of the best, and frankly, one of the only tools the city has to ensure that folks have low-cost housing options available to them.

If the council decides to data end IZ as we know it, I at least wanted to come with a commitment that the council will work with our communities and groups that serve them, like UTA, Housing for All, Citizen Action, and Tenant Unions to identify and pass common sense housing solutions so Albany can be a home for everyone.

Last I just also wanted to speak in favor of the Office of Violence Prevention and that the city and um ask that the city work with We Are Revolutionary to make that happen.

So thank you and have a good day.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Timothy Sigris.

This might be the elephant in the room, but I do give deference to your hard work in this thing.

And you don't always get it.

So can you just start by stating your name?

I'm talking about the inclusionary housing issue.

Your name.

Oh, I'm sorry.

Uh Tim Siegrist.

I live in Albany on New Scotland.

Thank you.

First, I would like to talk about why inclusionary housing.

It reduces socioeconomic segregation.

It gives families access to better schools, jobs, and services.

It helps prevent the concentration of poverty.

Children research shows.

Achieve better results in school.

It also reduces stress and improved mental health.

Essential workers can afford to live near their jobs, reducing commutes and traffic.

I know you know this.

I know you know that stuff.

Second, I want to talk about this inclusionary housing.

It works.

First, it works where developers' profit margins are high in high growth cities.

I don't know what you think Albany is, but that's an issue.

Weaker markets stall construction.

Haven't we found that out?

Weaker markets stall construction.

And I can I know you can think of the reasons for that.

But it works in New Jersey.

Republicans in the Supreme Court looked at the Constitution and said, you have to provide affordable housing.

It says it in our Constitution.

So a law was signed by the Republican governor, Tom Keene.

It's a fair housing act.

Affordable housing was a constitutional right.

So it started in the courts, not among legislators in the courts.

Now, and I know you found this out.

It works better when it's part of a broader strategy that includes direct subsidy and regional planning.

And that's a that's a struggle for you.

So your time's up.

I got a little bit more.

Okay.

Now this is easy.

We don't have time for a little bit more, sir.

Okay.

My apologies.

Well, I didn't want to talk about the compromise because it's awful.

Okay.

But I respect what you're trying to do.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Bruce Pollock.

I was saying to speakers, uh, there's a timer on the table there, mine the timer while you're speaking in that way.

Do I need to hit anything?

It doesn't start up.

All right.

Uh good evening, everybody.

I'm Bruce Pollock.

I live in the mansion neighborhood here in Albany.

Um, I'm actually here today to acknowledge the changes that it that y'all are proposing tonight for inclusionary zoning.

Um, while many of my colleagues and friends here are in opposition to these changes, I find myself more in the middle, actually.

Um, we have a lot of data that the city and independent agencies have proof have given us that has shown that we are not building housing.

We're not building enough of it.

We're not building affordable housing, market rate housing, luxury housing with housing of all types, and this is a big problem.

Um we here in Albany sit at a crossroads.

We have a huge surplus of money coming in from the state to target and revitalize our communities, grow our businesses, grow our you know, families and everything like that, provide for college students, provide for everything, but we can't do that unless we actually build housing for folks like me to afford.

Um, my neighbor over in the mansion neighborhood, uh, her rent's gone up $700 in three years, and she lives on Madison Place.

She can't, she she can afford to live there because she has a remote job in New York City.

But for the rest of us who live here and work here, that's not tenable.

And there are some really awesome programs that the state is proposing that would you know unlock these changes, or not unlock these changes, excuse me, that would encourage affordable development with the changes that y'all are proposing today.

I would like to use some of my time today to talk about some of those changes.

Um, density bonuses, where we give developers an option to build additional units if they do build affordable units, our programs that have been successful across the country.

Um, exploring items such as uh removing height restrictions in parts of the city that don't make sense.

You know, we have parts of our downtown where they're three stories and it's downtown, you know.

We have towers right next to them, maybe taking a look at something like that.

Um, easing the permitting process right now, the permitting process, while it's one of the cheapest in the Capitol region, it does take a long time just to get housing through that process to get it out the door.

And it takes a long time for businesses to get the permits they need to be successful as well.

Additionally, we could opt into programs such as the mental rental vacant rental program, which allows developers to get funding to redevelop the Red X buildings and then rent them back to tenants at 70% AMI for a period of 10 years, which would be cheaper than the changes that the inclusionary zoning is being proposed to for people, so it would be more affordable for folks.

And then we could even opt into the governor's new program AMP Up to help electrify some of the larger buildings that you know make electricity a little bit more expensive for others.

I I know tonight we're all supposed to be out here and we're supposed to be you know angry about these changes or upset.

I'm I'm more resigned that they're happening, but I wanted to encourage the body tonight to not stop here.

There are a plethora of affordable housing changes that are being proposed nationwide from cities like New Rochelle, Austin, Minneapolis, Portland, etc.

That y'all should look into.

Baltimore has an incredible housing programs, so not only for the Office of Violence Prevention, which is an excellent program, but their housing programs are awesome too, and it's led to their revitalization of the riverfront and the port there as well.

So I'll end with this.

Keep up the good fight and keep doing what you're doing.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Eduardo Hernandez.

My name is Eduardo Hernandez.

I'm a resident of Albany.

I live in a sixth ward.

I'm the lead organizer with citizen action of New York here in the Capitol District, and a supporter of the work of United Tenants of Albany and Housing for All.

Uh I'm here tonight, along with many people in this room to voice opposition to any changes to the inclusionary zoning laws that are current and currently in effect in Albany, and which have been unfairly maligned as the reason for a lack of market rate housing being built in our city.

The absence of housing development in Albany in the past couple of years is not due to the law that was enacted to ensure equity of housing opportunity across income levels.

It is due to the result of developers not liking the law's requirements and intentionally abandoning new housing development in the city of Albany in hopes that doing so would prompt the council and mayor to roll back these protections.

They effectively created the problem of lack of housing by not building under current inclusionary zoning law, and to solve the lack of housing development taking place.

We turned to the developers who are holding back their services and asked them, what can we do to help you?

That feels broken.

Back in meetings in early January, housing developers were invited here to share their views, and unsurprisingly, they centered on a decrease in their profits as a reason they couldn't build here anymore, but they also shared some cringy insights as well.

Inclusionary zoning allows for a mix of market rate and affordable housing within the same building and would foster socioeconomic diversity and reduce poverty concentrations in our city.

Developers oppose this and note that they advocate for what they call integrated neighborhoods, which sounds like a compromise, but is effectively saying that racial and economic integration is for the city to figure out and in no way their responsibility.

So they build and they make an economically segregated neighborhood all its own that isn't a part of the surrounding community.

Uh, but they don't care about that because once it's built and the rents are flowing, those ancillary problems are for the city and its residents to deal with.

They also admitted that with increases they have to that with the increases they have to pay for labor, materials, and the impact of tariffs, inclusionary zoning is what they called a variable that they can control and they intend to.

One developer said that if they could pay the workers less, they would.

So here we are with many members of the council and current and our current mayor supported the original inclusionary zoning laws dating back to 2017.

Uh and now we're changing their minds.

This is not a quick fix that I think that you hope it will be for every capitulation made to money will inevitably lead to more, and that is not a sustainable way to move our city forward.

My hope is that we take this step backwards, we use it to identify a way to re-center the people of the city over entities that only mean the profit from the people of the city.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Nancy Perini.

Oh, Nancy Edith.

Okay, thank you.

Okay.

Uh next up is Keith Irish.

Let's see how much of this I can get in three minutes.

Good evening, members of the Common Council present tonight.

As you know, my name is Keith Irish, a lifelong city resident current currently presiding in the ninth ward.

I am here tonight to comment on several issues that are all related to the public education government access oversight boards.

So please put your cell phones, tablets, and laptops down.

First, let me start with your last meeting on April 6th, when there was resolution 1632 24, 26R, sorry, on the agenda.

If you remember, I advise you to vote no on it, but only two of you did, and I thank those two that did vote no.

However, before the official vote, two others of you spoke on the resolution.

Those comments were about my comments, basically saying that I was lying, which for the benefit of the new council members, I was not.

This has been an ongoing issue for years, yet hardly no one listens to me about the subject at hand.

The peg board needs to be restructured and condensed from its original form that was set up under Jennings, Mayor Jenny Jerry Jennings.

But you, the common council, would still have controlling interest in its operation and makeup, but you have not used that power since it is was given to you by your predecessors.

Next, I want to talk about the peg board's meetings.

When I attended the February 19th meeting, which was a week late to begin with, it was stated that the March meeting would be on the 19th, which again was also a week late.

And at those two meetings, it was stated that the April meeting would be on the 9th, the correct week and day.

The May meeting would be on the 28th, two weeks late again, and the June meeting on the 25th, once again two weeks late.

Well, when I showed up for the April 9th Peg Board meeting, there was no one there.

The police officer that was in the rotunda said he was only aware of the CPRB meeting that was being held also being held that evening here in these chambers.

As of your April 6th meeting, there was no posting to say that the April 9th meeting has changed.

Yet when I attended the CPR B meeting out in your display case outside these chambers and nowhere else, there were three notices for the April, May, and June Peg board meetings, which showed the April meeting to be coming on Thursday the 23rd, not the 29th, as it was stated at prior meetings.

This is just one example of the mismanagement of the Peg Board.

The notices posted were the first ones since last fall, and including the agenda, which what there was of one.

Prior, there had been no agenda postings going back to last summer.

I believe a clear violation of the open meeting law.

Several of the meetings have not been video recorded, and even when they are meetings are not posted or shown on any of the three community media cable access channels, which are still being controlled and operated by Schenectady.

I'm out of town.

Thank you, Mr.

Irish.

Sorry.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Bishop Avery Comethair.

Good evening, Council.

My name is Bishop Avery Comethier, Pastor of the Elijah Missionary Church, and founder of Pastors on Patrol.

I wanted to address the council because of the gun violence that has been occurring here in the city of Albany, especially recently.

We started under Chief Hawkins.

And because of uh political factors, uh it was sort of discarded.

Um I'm not into politics, I'm into action and doing what uh is necessary to reduce the crime violence.

Um we hit the streets for the past five years.

We were in the streets with district attorney, and uh some of you, council people, uh, went out with us to see the problem.

Um we initiated that, put our necks on the line, and then it was discarded.

Um I don't believe that we need new initiatives, we just need to uh rebuild the ones that are uh currently uh active and doing something.

Um I just wanted to address uh because it's more than just gun violence that's been occurring, it's other factors.

Uh what I have saw was uh, especially in the South End.

Um no one seems to address the city mission.

Uh a lot of that is in factors in the surrounding areas of the South End.

Um they're just hanging out, and it causes things to happen when you hang out.

Uh so I just wanted to address uh what's going on, and finally, I would like to say that I think it would be a good idea uh if any of the council people would just come together and go to the different uh wards so that they can experience uh what other wards are going through and see for themselves.

It may not be happening in your ward, but you would get the experience of what's uh some of the other councilmen are dealing with in their ward.

And I think that would be more productive uh in this gun violence uh situation.

Thank you.

Thank you, Storm.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Lukey Forbes.

Hello, my name is Lukey Forbes.

I live at 184 Sheridan Avenue, Apartment A.

I'm a City of Albany resident.

And we're here with a clear acts.

The city must.

And we're also asking that the city make sure that they build with us and not around us when it comes to this office of violence prevention.

This isn't theoretical to us.

We are revolutionary.

Our peer advocates are out there every day on the corner in the schools, in homes interrupting harm.

We hold space, we build real solutions with the people who are directly impacted.

And we're not waiting for systems to catch up to us, but we are axing for the system to catch up to us and to work with us as we continue to try to prevent violence within our community.

We are doing the work.

What we're lacking is the commitment.

It's the resources, it's the recognition, and it's the real partnership.

So as the city is being considered, well, as this is being considered within the city, we're saying clearly we want to be a part of it, not as an add-on, not as a checkbox, but as a partner with who has lived experience and leadership to shape this office and how it operates on the ground.

And the city already understands this principle.

Albany has passed a resolution supporting clean slate, acknowledging that not only do formerly incarcerated people deserve a second chance and meaningful workforce.

That acknowledgement can't stop at only words.

It must show up in how we build this office.

Because right now in our community, there are directly impacted people, people who are once were a part of the problem who are now leading the solution.

They are credible messages, they are peacekeepers, they are the reasons that conflict get de-escalated instead of escalate.

If we are serious about prevention, then we must be serious about the investment in them.

The Office of Violence Prevention should reflect the truth.

It should be created of pathways for peer advocates to be resourced, to be respected, and to be integrated without being stripped of their identity of their connection to community.

We cannot build safety by disconnecting from the very people who make it possible.

As a directly impacted youth advocate, someone who is incarcerated as a young person.

So create the office, build with us and make sure that it reflects the people who are already doing this work.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Cheryl DeCosta.

Hello, good evening, everyone.

I'm Cheryl DeCrasta.

I live in the Fifth Ward, resident of the City of Albany.

I'm not going to talk a long time.

I'm just, I'm here to implore you all.

If you really care about preventing violence in the city of Albany, we have to do something a little bit different.

We have to.

We have to.

Please, I'm imploring you, support local law.

G.

I also um I I want to thank uh a couple of council members for coming to our neighborhood association meeting, West Hill.

I want to thank um Ms.

Keegan for uh coming and talking about the uh complete streets uh and uh green streets.

And I want to thank Mr.

Robinson for coming and talking about local law G.

There are many times when we are left out.

And I really appreciate the inclusion.

Um I I am in support of inclusionary housing.

I would like to echo what the people before me said.

Uh I think it's really important.

We really we have to start doing things differently.

We really do.

Um, what we've been doing hasn't hasn't been working.

So yeah.

I also want to say uh in regard to you know being left out of certain things.

Um there was this climate action survey in the city.

And somehow they didn't wind up in West Hill that I know of until the survey was completed.

I uh saw on Instagram a message about uh the pro the climate action you know uh process and so I messaged and asked how I could participate in that on February 5th, and on February 18th, I received a response back that I could attend um uh program at the West Hill uh or the new Albany West Community Center in March, and come to find out that that was long after the survey that had been open online, but uh I wasn't directed to that.

So I just speak on that to say to just to point out the fact that we need to be more careful about um including people.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Maxine DeWitt.

My name is Maxine DeGris.

I was born here in Albany.

I'm from the Fifth District.

I live in uh the Olive on Livingston Avenue, and I'm concerned about uh Oliver Hills, Main Street is um North Swan Street and Third Street.

Um they also have uh police outreach program on Swan Street, and it's the drug activity that's going on up there, and the school that's on uh Block Street.

They have international school there where the kids come down third street, and there's so much drug activity on North Swan, you can't even get across, come down the street in your car.

Uh there's so much congestion there with the drugs on one side and the people there.

You can't even cross the street.

You can't even come through there with your vehicle.

And it's it's really out of hand.

And the police outreach place that's where the liquor store used to be.

There's so many people that's crowded there.

You can forget about crossing the street.

And in the kids, they play there.

And the police outreach where the kids be at, they do nothing.

I don't see why they have a police outreach program there because the police aren't doing anything to stop it.

And I don't think that's right.

And in the drug dealers, they look at you like you're crazy, and it and the people look like they bend it over like the statues, they stuck in the street, and it's ridiculous.

And I know people have seen it.

It's going on every day.

You can't even go, like you come down 3rd Street.

You can't even go down those swan.

And there's a store there where they crowd it there.

Kids come up and down babies, people pushing the babies and shoulders.

It's ridiculous, and something need to be done.

And that police outreach place, they can forget it because they're not helping the public, they're not doing it.

And that's all I have to say.

Something needs to be done about it.

And that's all I have to say.

Thank you, ma'am.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Aliyah Brickley.

Hi, my name's Leah.

I'm 19 years old.

I'm a youth organizer.

Well, if we are revolutionary, we need an office of violence prevention.

We should be, we should be a part of that work.

From my experience, all violence of convention isn't just about policing.

A lot of you, a lot of youth are dealing with trauma, lack of support, and limited opportunities when we don't have safe spaces or people to turn to, things can escalate.

I want to shout out our upcoming stay out the stay out of the field and block parties.

We where we bring people together, teach them about ACEs, and real, and offer real support to help change to help change the outcome.

I've seen firsthand how being a part of something positive can shift your mindset and your path.

I also believe that it's important that youth voices are truly included in these conversations, not just talked about, but listened to.

We know what happens in our community, and we can be a part of that solution.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Pha Allah.

Hi, my name is Fajra.

I am a youth organizer with We Revolutionary.

I'm 14 years old.

I'm here because violence in our community is something young people like me see and feel every day.

We are the ones closest in issue to these solutions, and we are also living through it.

That's why I think we need an office of violence prevention.

Something that focuses on stopping violence before it happens.

A lot of us don't feel safe, and that's not okay.

So we would be the ideal for a partner with the Office of Violence Prevention.

We deserve a voice and we want to help be part of this solution.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Asia Evans.

Hi, my name is Asia.

Um I'm a youth organizer with We Are Revolutionary that works to address ACEs.

We are trying to prevent childhood trauma.

Um we would like for you guys to make an organization that keeps the youth out of the streets, which is the violence, the Office of Violence Prevention, um, that keeps us aware of majority of things that's going on in the world.

Um, Luki has opened a lot of doors for kids and taught us a lot and keeps us focused on getting out of the streets.

I feel like the program We Are Revolutionary could decrease the crime rate in Albany and hopefully we can make We Are Revolutionary a World War organization because majority of us wasn't who we are now, and I feel like Luki opened doors for some of us.

Um I never expected to even see the city hall ever, but I'm very thankful for Luki, um Courage and Anaya for working with We Are Revolutionary to bringing us here, and yeah.

That's all I thank you.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Courage Stone.

Um, good evening, everybody.

My name is Courage.

I'm 21, and I'm the statewriter organizer with We Are Revolutionary.

Today we're here to ask you all to create the Office of Violence Prevention so therefore we can form a coalition because we share a common vision of interrupting cycles of violence and investing in community well-being.

In the neighborhoods I come from and organizing, violence is not a headline nor statistic.

It's something people wake up inside of.

It moves through homes, schools, blocks, and generations.

And still beneath all of that, the quiet truth is that most harm is not inevitable.

It is produced.

And if it is produced, it can be prevented.

We do not lack awareness, we lack alignment.

We lack the sustained connection between those who hold resources and those who have lived knowledge of what communities actually need to stay whole.

This movement is an invitation to bridge that gap, not in theory, but in practice.

To move beyond isolated efforts and towards shared responsibility, to build something that is not only respond to violence after it appears, but works upstream, where safety is actually decided.

We are here because we believe safety should not be something communities wait for.

It should be something that we build together deliberately and in full coordination.

A coalition like this has the potential to change not just outcomes, but direction, to align strategy, share knowledge, and build a continuum of care that meets people before they fall through the cracks.

To recognize that prevention is not a single program, it is a commitment, it is a practice, and it is a relationship that must be nurtured over time.

Because safety is not something that can be enforced into existence.

It is something that must be cultivated.

It grows where there's stability, where there's support, where there is care that does not disappear when intention shifts.

And so I'm here, and we are here, not just to speak, but to extend something real, a willingness to build together, to listen deeply, and to move with intention.

Because the future we are trying to create will not come from isolated efforts.

It will come from what we are willing to align, to invest in, and to believe it is possible when we stop treating prevention as optional and start treating it as essential.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Jayaden Bishop.

Hi, my name is Jay, and I'm here with youth organizer with revolutionary.

We're here to ask you guys if you can create an office of violence prevention so that kids like me can be a part of the solution.

And so we can stay out of trouble and keep kids out of trouble.

The youth need more programs like revolutionary because program helps us grow and be better people in society.

And they pay us to learn soft skills and teach us pre-workforce skills to know how to get jobs, and also teach us emotional relations.

More people my age need these kinds of things to prevent violence in our communities and grow better and be better than people in the world.

That's it.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Zaya Rollett.

Okay.

Thank you.

Um, Anaya Davis.

Hello everyone, my name is Anaya Davis.

I am a determined youth advocate and organizer with We Are Revolutionary.

We are here to create the Office of Violence Prevention and to be a part of the coalition that is developed.

Because we both are working to achieve a common goal, to stop and prevent violence in our communities.

I strongly disagree with controlling and surveilling areas where young people reside or hang out at, incarcerating them, putting them in environments with unhealed people while being unhealed themselves, and suspending them from school and other programs.

I feel strongly about this because so many people believe that separating the youth from the rest of society will positively change their behaviors and make them upstanding citizens.

You cannot effectively change a person and expect them to do better if you only see the per see their behavior as wrong or problematic and not as a way of communication.

And we are revolutionary.

We learn what is going on in the youth's lives, how they react to adversity and things that trigger them, educate them on why they have certain reactions and urges to things, then provide them with coping skills and ways to keep them more occupied, a more reformative way of getting the youth to do better and be better for themselves.

Based on my observations, youth mentors, grown adults who have years of experience working with the young with the youth, constantly criticize young people for how they behave, how they speak to their peers and adults, and their lack of motivation.

I have heard many cool youth silly for being in the gang life.

I have witnessed mentors roll their eyes and shake their heads when they hear young people curse or have tense moments with adults.

I have also heard that the youth is doomed and our future isn't looking bright.

I have also noticed the trend of the youth being community gossip from these so-called leaders, and it completely throws me off.

If we want there to be less people fighting in our streets, less people stabbing each other, shooting each other, and arguing in the public, then we have to start with our young people because the grown people you see displaying these behaviors are kids who have never learned to properly express their emotions and communicate when there is conflict between them and another person, but act out in violent ways because that is the only way they know and the only way they see others resolve their problems.

Reformative redirection, which is the overall mission of we are revolutionary, addresses these issues and make a difference because young people identify their aces, average childhood experiences, articulate the feelings that are associated with these experiences, compare these feelings with situations and present day that trigger these feelings or make them want to crash up, and they are provided with alternative ways to deal with being upset or angry that are not nonviolent.

These include grounding techniques such as deep breathing, exercising, focusing on.

Thank you very much.

Thank you very much.

Next speaker is Nashea.

Hi, my name is Naisha.

I'm a youth organizer with real revolutionary.

I am here to ask you to create the Office of Violence Prevention, and I believe that we are revolutionary needs to be a partner with it because it helps kids stay out of the streets, help us learn about their advocacy, and teaches us to speak up for ourselves.

This program helped me learn a lot of things I never knew.

This program teaches me that violence isn't always the way to handle things and keep and it teaches me to make sound decisions because Luke Courage and an eye teach us emotional control and intelligence.

Our next speaker is Dennis Mosley.

Dennis Mosley.

Okay.

John Coutrew.

Oh I'm glad they went first because I'd like to propose that the um at the office be renamed the uh Office of Community Connection, and we are revolutionary.

John Cutter.

I'm John Future.

I live at 727 Madison Avenue in Albany, New York.

Um practitioner since 1997, uh, used restorative practices and not just uh penalty cases and homicides, but also in my own family and dealing with a lot of the trauma that uh that these young people have been talking about.

Generational sexual abuse and other severe trauma.

I disclose this to make the first of two points.

Point number one relational and restorative practices are more than a tool in an important toolbox.

I am other long-term practitioners in the repair and prevention of farm business, experience them in a profound way, as a way of being in the world.

Since 2022, Dennis Mosley and I have been working within the refugee welcome center community on Elkin Sherman Street between Quail and Ontario.

The overall premise we have followed, borrowed from Peter Block's community, the structure of belonging, just four parts.

One, build the social fabric and transform the isolation within our communities into connectedness and caring for the whole.

Two, shift our conversations from the problems of community to the possibilities of community, and then three, commit to create a future distinct from the past.

Social fabric is created one room at a time, the one we are currently in at the moment.

Look around, look at these young people.

We are creating social fabric right here and right now.

My second point.

We listen to and learn by engaging youth families and neighbors in their homes and on the street.

We share our human emotions, accept responsibility for our behaviors, and try to understand where those behaviors come from.

One example, it creates possibilities.

Imagine a dry erase board in a room, youth collectively, dry erase diagram how a past street incident unfolded minute by minute.

After their analysis, they all agreed.

They had no freaking idea what was actually happening until they all got together and diagrammed it out.

So we convened a pre-mortem on how to use what was learned from their dry post mortem to avoid an actual post mortem, an autopsy on someone they loved or cared about.

That is a footprint on the heart.

It can't be erased.

How can we all help?

Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs.

Coutreau.

Our next speaker is James Davis.

Good evening, Common Council.

Good evening to familiar faces and new faces.

My name is James Davis.

I am a life residence here in the city of Albany.

I would like to speak to the violence prevention task force in that capacity.

For the last 15 years.

And I currently still work with our youth youth in my professional capacity.

And so I would like to share some things that hopefully you guys can take into consideration.

And the reason being is this.

And our mayor has a vision for the city of Albany.

And I think, and I understand that there's some issues as far as recommendations, but I think allowing that to take place represents solidarity behind her vision.

Also with the agencies and partners that she is aligned with and that have aligned with her, allowing her to take on this strenuous and most detrimental topic that's plagued the city of Albany for quite some time.

And we want to try to create a task force and we want to get ahead of it, but we have to understand it.

Let's be clear.

Right.

And I want to give you an analogy, right?

And be a little theatrical, right?

You ever see the Cracker Down Hunter or those guys that's out in the wilderness, and you see them up close and personal with a spider or a snake, and you like, wow, right?

They're right right there.

And they don't get bit, they can capture it, right?

Because they understand the nature of what they're dealing with.

Right?

And so I say that to say this.

We're in a new time to where the old cliches of stop violence and violence and it's not good for you, and this, that, and the third is played out.

There's a new perspective that needs to be gained so that we can get ahead of the narratives to help curb this violence.

And who's not whose best to do it, right?

Right now, I think will be the mayor and allowing it to happen, guys getting over your differences, and guys making some things happen.

So, as these youth just expressed, it's a it's a cry for help.

They're in a small number here, but they express perspective and feelings and thoughts of a lot of youth citywide.

And I want to commend uh Lukey Ford's for organizing them and coming here and reflecting that.

That was a great, great job that he did, and I hope you guys take that in consideration and moving forward with this initiative a little faster and allowing the mayor to exercise revision and come together under that under solidarity so we can move forward because as a life a lifelong residence and others, we would like to see that.

Thank you.

Our last speaker for the evening is Tim's Tim Sarver.

Hi, Council.

My name is Tim Server.

And I'm here to talk over the ongoing housing affordability crisis and what amending inclusionary zoning might mean for that.

The housing crisis looks like rents rising by 50% while home prices double over the last decade at a rate far outpacing any kind of inflation for other goods or services.

Private developers are driven to build housing for the pursuit of profits.

And for the sake of reaping those profits, it logically follows for investors that rent has to rise.

Homes should exist for people to live in.

Decreasing inclusionary zoning doesn't open up new incentives for developers to make housing more affordable.

It chips away at a small but crucial protection and to ensure that new housing includes at least some affordable options.

Inclusionary zoning can provide much needed economic opportunity by reducing rent burdens for low-income residents as well as brightening the futures of their children who can access neighborhoods they've been priced out of.

This could increase test scores in a nationally below average city in a historically redlined and segregated city.

Inclusionary zoning promotes household stability, racial and economic integration, and builds towards a more equitable future for all.

All of this has positive effects on childhood development, familial cohesion, household finances, and opportunities to build wealth.

Low-income tenants are desperate, and Albany Housing Authority's wait list is several years long.

What's more, nonprofit and affordable developers have a bad track record related to code violations, accounting, and evictions.

It's hard to understand why we'd consider cutting a mandate that costs the city and its taxpayers nothing to enforce while nearly a thousand homes sit vacant.

We need a conclusionary zoning to fill in the gaps now more than ever.

From where I sit, I think from where most of the struggling tenants sit, it feels like what would motivate amending inclusionary zoning is a preference given to the concerns of the wealthy alongside disinterest in the needs of the poor.

The construction of luxury apartments means nothing to families and tenants just looking for somewhere they can afford to sleep at night.

Give struggling families more, not less, keep inclusionary zoning.

Thank you, sir.

And with that public comment, uh section comes to a close.

We do have a section that follows up where members can speak.

Mr.

Ballarin and then Mr.

Johnson.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

And I'll be brief.

Uh when you have people come and speak against somebody's bill, uh, is thank you.

Uh is thank you for coming and speaking.

Thank you for the work you've all done on this issue for many, many years.

Thank you for all those who've worked with me on this issue for the last five years.

Thank you for your support.

Thank you for your guidance.

Thank you for your ear.

Uh when I uh just need to let some frustration out.

Um so thank you.

Uh, and I mean that.

Um, and I know that there's a lot of pain about these changes that we're about to make today.

Uh and I would be lying if I said I don't feel some of that pain as well.

Um you don't work on a bill for three years.

Uh fight for it after you pass it, fight for it to defend it for two years.

So you give six years of your life to something, uh, and then you know have to compromise it beyond what you uh believed in, uh, and that feels some pain.

But compromise comes with a goal.

This environment that we are in right now to negotiate this was not a good environment, and that's being honest.

When you have developers to say we can go anywhere else and not have this policy, they're right, and we can say, well, they weren't developing here, and you know, they weren't developing just to prove that this policy wasn't gonna work, and and maybe they weren't.

Maybe they weren't developing in good faith.

I'll give them the benefit of the doubt that they weren't developing because of the numbers.

I'll give them that.

But you can't force people to come and develop, they don't want to.

But I want to I'm gonna talk more about why I support this and why I have my name attached to this when we talk about the bill.

But I just wanted to take this time to just say thank you to everyone has fought for this.

Thank you for coming out today.

I hope you continue to come out.

I hope you continue to go out elsewhere, because the part of that we need you really believe in this, is to change the environment.

And the way to change the environment is to take that one strong argument that they have, which we can go anywhere.

Well, let's change everywhere.

We were the only city in this county in this area that had good cause eviction just a few months ago.

That's not the case anymore.

So change is here, changes here.

So I know this is not a day where anyone of us is going to be celebrating, but it is a day where we can say we're still standing, and hopefully, hopefully there'll be changing that will be put us in a better position when we come back again for the next fight.

So thank you.

Thank you, Mr.

Bower and Mr.

Johnson.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

I just want to say um, as I live through this experience, I just think about my mother and the other single mothers that were um the head of households in our community, and I'm so glad that my mother doesn't have to live during this time as a single parent and and try to make it.

You know, Albany Housing was like a um was a safe haven to parents that um struggles a lot of one parent um households, and and although we say, you know, um I always cringe when I hear the word compromise because we uh tend to be on the the uh the bad end of the compromise, at least that's how it feels to me.

And um I want to thank everybody that came out.

I want to thank the uh it's refreshing to hear our youth speak about um the issues in the community, and um just on a personal level, I wish I would have asked for a hundred thousand dollars.

I'd have never thought that they would give us fifty thousand dollars.

Um I I will not be supporting um the bill.

Uh I just um understand that no matter how you look at it, it's gonna be forcing people out of areas that they uh grew up and and and they love, and then the um the double end is when you're forced out of an area, and then all of a sudden you start seeing the care and the love put into the area that that never was put in when you were there.

So um I thank everyone, the fight is not over.

Um, and I agree that it was a um concerted effort for people to avoid um building for you know it was orchestrated, and I would have been more comfortable if next year we um did something like this after the money came and landed.

Um so thank you for coming, and um I wanted to keep it short and just um acknowledge that you know what you speak about, you know, and what we live is quite different than what others um live and then they speak about.

So please be mindful when um people speak um about their lived experiences because it's not easy to come in here and talk about what goes on every day in your community because essentially you're kind of making your community look bad, and you know, our job is we are proud members of this city, and we love the um parts of the towns that we live in, and we all want better.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Okay, and I'll just add to that uh Mr.

Johnson's point about the the young folks being here, very powerful hearing their voices.

I would ask that our staff uh connect with Mr.

Forbes and get their written comments for the record.

Um so we have those complete and add them to it.

So and with that, we're moving on to approval of minutes from a previous meeting.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

I offer the April 6th meeting.

Minutes for approval.

Second.

Thank you for always being so prompt, Mr.

Howie.

All in favor?

Aye.

Motion passed.

Okay.

Uh reports of standing committees.

Ms.

Keegan.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

The finance committee met last Wednesday um April 15th to discuss the ongoing uh fiscal picture for the city.

The mayor's office was present, and then there was a presentation provided to the council and the public that specifically um outlined how we came to be in the deficit that we currently are in.

And we will be meeting this Wednesday and Wednesday the 29th.

Thank you, Ms.

Keegan.

Uh anyone else?

Mr.

Howie?

Uh thank you, Mr.

President.

The uh public safety committee met on um April 14th.

Uh and they uh we passed local law G at a committee with favorable recommendation unanimously.

Thank you.

Okay, any further reports?

Okay, seeing none, moving on to uh local laws, Mr.

Howie.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

I notice local law G of 2026 and ask for its uh passage for the uh roll call vote.

Do we have to do stuff out of order first or yeah, we gotta I'm sorry, Miss Farrell because we're switching them.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

I move that we take local law G of 2026 out of order.

Second all in favor say any opposed?

No.

Thank you.

Motion passes, Mr.

Howie.

Sure.

Uh thank you, Ms.

President.

I notice local law G of 2026 and ask for its passage via roll call vote.

Thank you, madam.

A local all establishing an office of violence prevention and amending chapter 183 equity agenda of the code of the city of Albany in relation to the violence prevention task force.

Thank you.

Discussion, Mr.

Howie.

Yeah, thank you, Mr.

President.

This has been um a complicated uh local law.

Uh we feel that we got a really good uh law on the books right now that we're gonna vote on tonight.

Um I was really really moved tonight by the young people and and other people speaking about violence in the city.

Um I know many of us get the text every time there's a stabbing or there's a shooting, and um you know uh when I drive, I think a lot, and driving to the meeting tonight, just thinking about violence.

I mean, there's violence all around us.

You turn on the TV at night, we see how nations take care of disputes, you know, they bomb each other to death and uh blow up little kids, blow up schools.

I mean, this is the world we live in.

I know life itself, our lives are built on killing you know, animals were uh meat eaters or killing vegetation that grows.

That's how we live.

So it's you know we'll never stamp out violence all the way, but what we can do is learn a way to deal with it and make it not as extreme.

Uh and I'm hoping that Albany will be a bright spot in our country that that we get together, come up with some solutions, and see if we can cut down this violence, especially among our young people.

You know, they they have no other way to settle disputes than to kill each other or try to kill each other.

And uh, you know, one of my constituents brought up a point to me.

Tom, why do they keep saying non-life-threatening injury when somebody gets shot?

Because when you shoot somebody, you are threatening their life.

I'd rather it be, you know, come up with a different saying, but it's part of our society accepting that this stuff happens.

Violence should not happen.

Nobody should be shot, nobody should be stabbed.

It just takes working out and communication.

Um, it's a dream.

I mean, people have to go to religion trying to figure out a way that we can all get along.

But um let's see that us as a city and us as a common council, this is like the first step.

Let's set up this office, violence prevention, come up with some ways that we can deal with the tension and the anger that that our residents feel.

So thank you, and I hope you will support this.

Think we Mr.

Robinson.

Thank you, Council President.

First, I'd like to clarify that uh at our last monthly meeting when local law G was introduced as an MC, that I was the only one voted no.

Um just want to clarify the reason why.

Uh during our public safety meeting, local law F was passed out of committee with a parsman recommendation with um the conversation that all amendments would be brought to the floor, and the full council will have an opportunity to um uh weigh in on amendments.

Uh the last thing I want to do is hold up the violence prevention task force from going to the mayor's office for her to get to work.

Um at the request, I mean, you know, at the um the chair for uh public safety would indeed withdraw local law F from the from the agenda.

I would respect that, and um going forward I will be voting for local law G and supporting it in this full content.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Um Mr.

Johnson.

Thank you.

I will be supporting um this resolution, but I just want to say that um we visited um Baltimore and we had a chance to see how Baltimore was operating.

But one of the things that um Baltimore has is they have boots on the ground running, and I think that um our focus really here is should be um figuring out how to grow, you know, groups like we are um revolutionary and other groups that are in the neighborhood um running.

Um one of the things that um I I took away from uh Baltimore, it was a need for the mayor's office to get involved because they had so many positive things um going on in the neighborhood naturally.

You know, um sometimes um you hear me talk about organic.

Organic is when the people from those communities are empowered to be able to make a difference to be able to talk and lead in front of their kids.

What we don't have in Albany is that a lot of times the leadership is coming from a voice that people aren't familiar with and and don't know.

So you don't have the um trust.

So I think that our focus has to get back on the people, back on our youth, back on the people that um are participating because what happens is you start showing attention to them, and other others want that attention, and then they start um doing the things that are needed to make the um turnaround in these um communities that are being affected um with violence.

If we act like violence isn't an issue, it's not gonna get smaller, it's gonna continue to grow as it has in our city.

So I will be supporting it, but I also encourage people to support the individuals that are in the community that dream that have a understanding that they know that we can make a difference in these kids, and just sometimes with us being present is the answer is the solution of some of the things that that happened.

So I want to say that we are trying to do something different as uh than what has um happened in the past, but uh sometimes when you try to initiate things, we get resistance from our own, and we have to be mindful um of that and not stop us from being our own solution.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr.

Flynn.

I kind of want to pick it back what council member Johnson says.

For years I've said that uh we have so many communities, we have so many kids, we have so many seniors.

There's a lot of people that want to get involved, and what this task force is is the hub where everybody can go to.

We have we are revolutionary, we have snug, we have our own violence prevention task force.

The county has their own, the state police has theirs.

At least now the city of Albany can say all these little groups come to this uh task force and let's solve the problems rather than everybody have their own ideas.

Let's put those ideas into one pool and we'll solve the hopefully the violence in the city of Albany.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr.

Flynn.

Any further Ms.

Brody?

Thank you.

I think one of the things I want to make sure people are aware of is that this local lodging is essentially the administrative infrastructure to set up this super important office and the task for it that is going to be overseen by it.

We also need to put our money where our mouth is, though.

And funding this, as we've heard um in a letter just this afternoon from the mayor's office, is going to be coming from uh grant opportunities that they're very hopeful for and other potential foundations and um other not-for-profits who are working in this space.

So I want to make sure we're just very clear that this is moving this to the mayor's office and setting this up.

That is the the first step that we need to take.

And the second step will be finding the funding to make sure that all of this effort can be expended in ways that actually make us that give us the outcomes that we're hoping for.

Like I've said before, an office is nice, is what we really need are outcomes, and in order to have outcomes, we also need the funding for it.

Um so I applaud the mayor's offices and and her team's efforts in looking for that money in ways that I know Baltimore had shown us they are doing it with uh private foundation money um and other state and uh federal sources as well, and I think we are well on our way to doing that here.

Thank you.

Thank you, Ms.

Brody.

Any further comments?

No, okay.

Uh Madam Clerk, please call roll.

Adams.

Yes.

Anani.

Yes, co-sponsor, please.

Ballerin.

Yes, co-sponsor, please.

Brody, yes.

Farrell.

Yes, co-sponsor, please.

Flynn.

Yes, co-sponsor.

Poey.

Yes.

Johnson.

Yes.

Jones.

Yes, co-sponsor, please.

Keegan.

Yes.

Lumpkin.

Yes.

Yes, co-positor, please.

Powell.

Yes.

Robinson.

Yes, co-sponsor, please.

Williamson.

Yes, co-sponsor, please.

Zamer.

Yes.

15 in the affirmative.

The motion passes.

Okay.

Continuing on.

Uh Mr.

Howie.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

I would like to withdraw uh local law F of 2026 from the agenda.

That's second it.

Second, all in favor, say any opposed.

Okay.

Motion passes.

Withdrawn.

Okay.

Next on to ordinance is Ms.

Keegan.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

Um, I would like to turn this over to Ms.

Costello for introduction.

Okay.

I notice ordinance number 842 26 and ask for its introduction.

Thank you, Madam Clerk.

In ordinance amending Article 5, complete streets of Chapter 323, Streets and Sidewalks of Part 2, general legislation of the Code of the City of Albany in relation to Green Street designs.

Ms.

Farrell.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

That will go to planning.

Okay.

All right.

Thank you.

Um Mr.

Howie.

Thank you, Ms.

President.

I notice uh ordinance 942 26 and ask for it to be introduced.

Thank you, Madam Clerk.

In ordinance amending chapter 375, City of Albany unify sustainable development ordinance of the code of the city of Albany in relation to permitting the construction of cottage courts.

Thank you, Ms.

Farrell.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

That ordinance will go to planning.

Okay.

Thank you.

Next on to ordinances held Mr.

Ballering.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

I ask that ordinance five point thirty-one point twenty-six uh be moved forward for a vote.

Uh gotta do the amendment first.

As amended.

Okay.

Second.

All those in favor.

Aye.

Aye.

Any opposed?

Okay.

Now Mr.

Ballon.

Okay.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

I ask that ordinance five dot 30 31.26 be moved forward for a vote.

Thank you, Mr.

Bower and Madam Clerk.

In ordinance amending chapter 375 unified sustainable development ordinance of the code of the city of Albany in relation to adjusting the affordable housing requirement and adding exceptions to affordable affordable housing requirements.

Thank you.

Discussion, Mr.

Boweran.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

So I just wanted to speak a little bit on the bill and the differences of where we are from where we been, as well as some history.

So I will do the best I can to be brief.

So some history on this back in 2017, we passed it, we passed conclusionary housing at 5%.

Back in 2020, we started, I started conversations on trying to get it increased to a different number.

So after quite a bit of work in 2023, we passed a uh what we currently have, where it's a tiered system between 7%, 10%, uh 12 and 13.

Um 2025, we saw two bills.

Well, we saw one bill uh in early October that would have brought the AMI at 100% and would have allowed for a buyout at 10,000 a unit.

Uh we then presented a second bill, and I uh appreciate everyone's supporting that that would have brought the AMI to 70 percent with a buyout of 25,000 up to 5 percent to hold to the 5%.

Uh for those who remember, we had a very lengthy, I think it was three or four hour planning meeting where we were trying to negotiate those numbers.

What people don't know is that outside of those that very lengthy meeting, there was very lengthy phone calls and very lengthy Zoom meetings and very lengthy conversations on trying to get uh to a compromise.

And uh we left that very lengthy meeting with no compromise.

And on December 29th, the bill that we were going to have for for us was one of a hundred AMI, ten thousand dollar buyout per unit.

Now, would we have probably been able to compromise something on the 29th?

I think so.

But based on the conversations that we had that four-hour meeting and the conversations that we had in Zoom meetings and and phone calls and so forth, the best that was being brought to the table was 80 percent AMI, 10,000 buyout.

Um conversation about possibly including the enforcement language, which is a critical part of what we are voting on today.

Um, for those who believe in inclusionary housing, uh there was a technical error error with the public hearing, and because there was a technical error with the public hearing that day, that vote never came forward.

Um we won't know if that would have been passed and we'd be facing a different situation.

Now, to be 100% honest, um, when we were having those discussions, if that would have passed, we would still have another bill before this body because we would have presented another bill if they would have rammed through that path, that that um that bill.

Um fast forward, fast forward January 3rd.

Uh we get the text and all advocates, myself and others from the mayor's office.

Let's start working on this.

So, right from the beginning, the mayor's office uh to her credit and her team uh brought people together to to try to address this issue.

And we've had very several long and difficult meetings.

We had several Zoom meetings and several phone calls, and we had people talking on both sides trying to find a compromise.

Uh, and the compromise that we have is what we have in front of us.

It is by far not perfect.

It's by far not anything that uh anyone, at least on my side is celebrating.

But it does create a pathway forward.

It stabilizes this issue where we're no longer facing a potential uh elimination, because at a 100% AMI, it was an elimination of this affordable housing initiative.

At 70%, it actually creates some affordable units.

At $10,000, a buyout would mean that you'd, as an investor, you'd get your return within two, two and a half years.

If you're investing and you want to buy out of $10,000, you get your investment within two, two and a half years, depending on what you what the difference between the affordable and the market rent.

At 50,000, it's between eight and a half to nine years.

So why is that important?

Because if you're going to invest and you're looking to do the buyout, it's gonna take you eight to ten years to get your money back.

That's a long time.

And that's a lot of time where you can invest that money someplace else where you can make that.

So that number is a number that's gonna deter a lot of developers from doing the total buyout.

Now there are going to be some that will still do the buyout, yes.

Yes, they will be.

Okay, we're gonna have the money going towards tenant protection as well as housing uh first-time homeowners.

So why is that important?

It's important because it wasn't a buyout to what where it wasn't thought about the numbers, and it wasn't thought about trying to preserve, trying to preserve the five percent.

Because that is the goal.

That's always been the goal to try to preserve affordable housing so that people in our city can live in all parts of our neighborhoods.

That's always been the goal.

It's always been the goal is not about us versus them, it's always been about let's make it so that everyone in our neighborhood, everyone in our city can benefit from the development.

Um I also think the enforcement language that was added is critical because without enforcement language, it makes it so that you can move anybody in an affordable housing unit.

By having that, we're making sure that this bill now actually the benefits go to the people it's intended to.

So I appreciate everyone who who was willing to come in the room and have these difficult conversations.

I said it time and time again, it's not easy to go into these rooms because when you go in these rooms, you make yourself vulnerable and accountable.

Because you make yourself vulnerable to what you have to put forward and to try to find a compromise, but you also make yourself accountable for what comes out of that room.

Um, and that's really where I am.

I uh I hold my feet to the fire uh by by supporting this and by making sure that what we agreed in that room is implemented, but I'm also gonna make sure we hold those who agreed in that room to these terms, hold their feet to the fire to make sure that we're holding that we're making sure that we're enforcing this in the way that it's supposed to be, making sure that we're making we're we're we're having this benefit those it's supposed to, and making sure that if there are any funds, and I honestly hope there are no funds, because that's not the goal of this, but if there are any funds, making sure it goes to those that need it and that's we're trying to protect by this.

So again, I appreciate everyone's efforts on this.

I appreciate the mayor uh and his staff for for having these difficult conversations, having these thoughtful conversations, uh, and creating the environment to be able to try to find a path forward, and uh I ask my colleagues to support this as we uh move this forward today.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr.

Balloran, Mr.

Johnson.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

As I spoke in this chambers many times, I talk about messaging and programming.

Um I often think what would the message or what would the results been if the mayor was on the resident side, if the mayor was speaking and on behalf of the people, because as my colleague just said, this conversation has been going on since 2017.

And I guarantee you, if there's someone that looked into the numbers, it's been a lot of people that have been separated from um apartments that they have rented, you know, um all of their lives.

And um again, compromise.

Um this is another example of you know, people being forced out of where they would like to be.

Um again, earlier I spoke about low rents, you know, um Albany Housing Authority operated in the city of Albany, and in their um mission statement, it clearly said about low rents, and you had families that relied off of low rents for generations, and you know, um, like the uh assessment, you know, um uh that we dealt with in the last year or so, it came heavy and hard.

And I think that um I think that it's more work to do.

This is not the answer.

Um, and uh as I said earlier, I would like to see this happen um down the road after the money got here and not before the money because it just works in their hands.

You know, it sends a message to the developers is that all we have to do is stand together.

Well, why aren't we doing the same thing as a city and standing together and letting them know that you know um this is not gonna go down.

So as I said earlier, I will not be supporting this.

And um when I walked in today, I seen a familiar face that I hadn't seen in a long time, Miss Sandy over there.

I don't want to try to say her um last name, but you know, um when you see um some of the faces that I saw here in John Crudeau, you know, it's been people that have been fighting uh for this stuff before it became popular to us, before it became an issue to us.

And it's important that we um champion their cause because they they fought long and hard for a reason.

And um as a city, a lot of our champions, the people that um made the way um for the city are getting are are the elderly now or they have passed on.

And it and again, it's important that we include the youth in it because you know we are planting seeds tomorrow that they're gonna become the the uh they're gonna become ownership of this mic and this chair that I sit in and the others sit in.

And so we have to give them uh um the the right example and and I just say that the people need to be heard, the people needed to be rep representative, and people don't need to be pushed out of um where they call home.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr.

Johnson.

Mr.

Robertson.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

Um there's a reality to this.

My first term on council, I lobbied hard for community benefits agreements within the communities, the host communities with the developers coming in the bill or choose to come and bill.

And one thing I learned is that the only people that was willing to build in the community that I represent was Albany Housing, public housing.

Uh there was no development that was coming in with market rate housing and um even willing to sit at the table.

Um it exists, it's here.

Uh I mean, what are we gonna do?

I mean, are we gonna pass up the opportunity?

Um and you know, you know, the ball is in a court.

Uh they can go elsewhere and bill.

So we say the hell with it, you know, we're gonna stay on our grounds and allow them to go somewhere else and bill.

Are we gonna take every opportunity to capitalize the resources and take the resources and put the resources back in the communities that's most affected by this gentrification?

Because that's what it is, it's gentrification.

That's the reality of it.

And um, you know, we can't sit back, you know, and allow um, you know, I'm saying this to happen without having some type of uh uh uh uh uh legislation in place where that we got to hold these accountable, hold these developers accountable for something.

Um sure it could be more, sure it could have been more.

Um, but we somewhere.

And um, you know, it's just that now is we have to make sure that we take the resources that is coming in from the developers and make sure it's going directly to the neighborhoods that is impacted through the redlining, um, go strictly to the um neighborhoods that never even understood what homeownership is and teach them home ownership, teach them how to teach them how to how to have their own.

Um, you know, just make sure that this this money or this finance or this new resources that's coming to the city, making sure that it's going to the right places with the information, making sure that you know I'm saying the residents is well invested, they now they have an opportunity.

Those that never had the opportunity to, you know, I'm saying live the American dream, they may have the opportunity now to live an American dream.

Um just the reality check that I know.

There's gonna be no fair housing, no no fair market housing coming into the community I represent.

Um my school districts is low performing.

Um the housing stock, you know, I'm saying is 95% rentals.

And you know, people is not gonna come in, big developers is not like I say, you know, Albany housing don't even want to come right now, you know, and you know, we just in a sad state right now, and you know, given the opportunity, and now we can teach homeownership.

No, we can teach those that you know never had that opportunity to live the American dream, and you know, is not perfect, you know, like my colleagues said, you know, but you know, we at least have a starting point.

So I will be supporting this resolution.

Now we um, you know, I I urge that my other colleagues do the same.

Thank you.

Mr.

Adams.

Thank you.

Um, just to piggyback off of the councilman's um point, just to add clarity.

I think it's very important when we come into these chambers and we speak about housing, we advocate for housing um legislation and policy that we use correct data and facts and information to reference our points.

Um, that being, uh, when we speak about affordability, we all know and recognize that affordability looks different for different people and different income brackets.

When we talk about housing and market rate housing, we also have to recognize in this legislation, we're focusing on market rate housing.

We're not focusing on affordable housing developments.

We're also not focusing on middle um housing that supports both um low income and also um low market rate apartments.

This legislation in the previous legislation did nothing to address those issues.

That's why here in this city we still have a large population of units um that are gone.

We need three bedrooms, four bedrooms.

Those are not being built here in the city of Albany, and this legislation has not stopped those from being built.

It goes back to the point of developers pick and choose what they want to develop and where they want to develop that.

We as a body have very little to minimal um pull to really make someone build something somewhere.

So we recognize that the title of luxury is getting slapped on all the market rate buildings that are being built here.

As someone who lives in one of them, they're not luxury at all, by far.

It's just a title being put on to bring people in to attract.

But that is less of the point because the issue again goes back to the supply issue and what the supply issues affecting.

The supply issues affecting the families and individuals I just mentioned that need the three-bedroom, four bedrooms, large two bedrooms.

There is a huge number of people right now on Albany housing listing that have been on that list for five or six years who cannot get a unit.

Why?

Because the units that they do have are one being um held up by people staying there long term.

That's an issue.

The second part, too, that is the maintenance and quality of Albany housing units, which it's also an issue for many of the residents in the city who aren't living in those units.

That's a bigger issue.

When we looked at the housing audit, the housing audit specifically states that we are in a bigger need of those type of units at a higher uh, excuse me, at a lower AMI to support these families and individuals.

Again, this legislation does not address those issues.

This is for market rate housing for individuals, again, who want to move and live in the city of Albany that can afford to do it.

But we also recognize, again, that the issue here is the pay wage.

People here in the city of Albany are not making enough money to keep up with the pace and cost of housing needs.

And that's no different from any other city, any other place right now.

Everyone is feeling that pain.

Everyone is dealing with the housing issue the best way they can and trying to find solutions to address it.

This legislation is just that, because what we are winning, which we didn't have in the previous legislation, are those direct funds coming from the developers that are going to be directly pushed into these programmings that we're saying that we need.

If we're saying that we need three, four bedroom units, 50 to 250,000 within a short period of time could go a very long way to start addressing that problem, and that's real.

That can also go towards housing evictions when housing costs are going up so much right now.

Private um homeowners, landlords are still going to continue to raise their rents.

That is unfair to residents still, and there's more residents living in private homes than it is in development right now.

So we still are not even addressing the bigger problem of our residents' needs because they're having issues with repair and maintenance needs.

They come to the council speaking about this all the time, and we don't have anything for them because we don't have any funds.

And each year during our budget season, we fight and fight and fight to try to put money into these things, and we're trying.

But the reality is we don't have enough money, we don't have enough funds.

So where do we get that from?

The reality is we're gonna take it from those developers, we're gonna put it in the areas that we need, and we're going to make a system that supports the people who need it the most.

And that's what this legislation does.

And that's why I'm supporting it this evening, because it's wins that we have to focus on.

It's the small wins that are going to go a long way.

Rather than focusing on the negative, the back and forth, the politics of it, this is direct money that's going to be going to people, and that's why I'm supporting it.

Thank you.

Thank you, Ms.

Farrell.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

Um, I want to thank each of my colleagues uh for their thoughts this evening.

Um it's an important discussion that we have, and I'd also really like to thank Councilmember Ballorin, not just for his leadership on this issue, but for kind of going through that historic process because I think that that is something that is incredibly important to remember, especially what was happening in December, because realistically, we almost ended up uh with something that would not have been a great benefit for this people in the city of Albany.

And even as we were end, you know, at the very end degree, trying to come up with some sort of um compromise in December, even the the compromise that we're talking about is not as good as the legislation that we have right now.

When we create laws, we create them with the first thing in mind of how we can help the people in our constituency and how we can benefit them.

And the real answer to that is there's a lot of different ways and a lot of different needs that need to be met.

There's not one simple answer or even one simple question.

So I am a firm believer in inclusionary zoning.

I believed in the legislation that we've had, and I believe in it moving forward.

I think it is an important part of development in the city, and I am very happy that we still have something to move forward with.

But I also think development is very important for a city.

Sensible development, not development that just happens, but development and growth are important.

They're part of what puts money and success into an area.

Um, and we want that happening in every single neighborhood in all different ways.

Um of the really important parts of this legislation that I am incredibly pleased with is that there's actually oversight and accountability measures and data collection.

Those things will are that will give us the tools to make better legislation in the future.

Because one of the big issues that we were dealing with as we were going around with it, is that there were so many unknowns.

And so it was hard to counter when somebody pushed back about this is the cause of this.

We didn't have good data to push back on things, and we also didn't know exactly how well it was doing.

These accountability measures and this oversight, that can really make a difference, and that's something that that can lead to really good legislation that will make a huge difference in the future because it can say, look, when you're at this level, they could actually go a lot further.

Maybe we can try a different way.

Um there was somebody brought up different ideas of if you had more affordable more affordability, maybe you'd be able to do something differently.

With that data, they could actually point out and say, in this sector, you could do that and it would work.

But you can't do it without the data.

And you also would know the accountability measures also matter.

We would hear a lot from developers that would actually follow the rules and would talk about some of the issues.

What happens if we have somebody that is renting an apartment at the right income level and they get a raise?

Do I have to kick them out?

Things like that.

There's we don't have good questions for that.

But those are the developers that are actually trying to follow the rules.

What about the ones that are not?

Because there's all sorts of different people in this world.

So having actual accountability measures will allow us to see the real success and will of development across the city.

And it's also going to just help us know what's working, what's not working, and really lead us in, I think, a great direction in the future.

And I I think my colleagues have already spoken about the importance of something that can be done with additional funds.

I mean, we all always need additional revenue to have additional revenue that can is there to support people in need in housing, whether it's tenants or even first-time home buyers, that is a good thing.

So I am very pleased to support this, and I am grateful for every single voice that's been part of this conversation because one of the most important conversations that we can have is housing, but it's also one of the most complicated ones because there's so many different pieces to it, and there's so many different right answers that you don't know whether they're right or wrong yet, because you kind of have to dive in first.

So thank you very much, and I look forward to supporting this.

Thank you, Ms.

Farrell.

Uh Mr.

Nani.

Uh thank you, Mr.

President.

Um, as many of you know, I was a staunch defender of the 2023 changes to the inclusion of resonant.

At a time where we saw record luxury high-end development, working families were still being priced out of the city as rent continued to rise.

This council acted to ensure that a meaningful share of new development included affordable housing.

Now I acknowledge that during that time, while well intentioned, the policy was not perfect.

The data shows that although affordable housing production remains steady, market rate development decline.

If we are serious about addressing our housing shortage, we need more housing for all types.

That goes for affordable housing, low middle middle income housing, and luxury housing.

That is why I supported this amendment.

I do have serious concerns about allowing developers to opt out of building affordable units in exchange for relatively a modest fee.

But I recognize that those funds will be reinvested into programs that help working families achieve homeownership and address rental emergencies.

This legislation is not perfect, and like any legislation that I've talked about, particularly in the past, we should not let the perfect be the enemy of the good.

But compromises where it reflects difficult negotiation that produce a framework that can move us forward.

As our city prepares for significant state investment, an opportunity to catalyze private development on a scale that has never been seen.

Perhaps there's the airy canal.

We need a housing policy that can keep pace.

For those reasons, I urge my colleagues to support these amendments.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr.

Anani.

Okay, back to the sponsor.

Mr.

Bauer.

Okay.

Uh thank you, Mr.

President.

Uh so I just want to say two two quick things and uh I'll allow for us to move forward.

Uh, first, uh I I want us to really get an understanding that um all those who are here today, um, that it's because of your efforts and of your fighting uh back in December that we uh have these numbers that we have in front of us.

And I know it's it's not with numbers that you want to hear, but I'm gonna share these numbers very clearly.

So we went from a AMI of a hundred, which made the the affordable units between two thousand and twenty-two hundred to seventy percent, which would have made which makes the uh affordable units between eleven uh between fourteen hundred and fifteen hundred.

So that's significant.

That's significant change as well as on the buyout.

This is talk about the buy-out and what it can do, and there was great potential there.

But we went from 10,000 to 50,000.

So the reason there is a larger number on the table, and the reason there'll be any more potential significant change is because of the effort and the work by all of those who said no to that fire proposal.

So I want you, I want people to take residue of that.

And I also want people to understand that one, we were fortunate that it didn't come through on December 29th.

Um, but two, we were fortunate that the new mayor didn't just pick up the old bill and ram it through.

We're fortunate that she brought everybody together and was willing to have these tough, uncomfortable conversations, especially as someone who actually sponsored the original inclusionary housing bill from the get-go in 2017.

So I know those conversations weren't easy for me, it weren't easy for anyone in the room, but I'm also sure they weren't easy for her.

So I I want to end with that because this is better than where we were.

It's not perfect, doesn't feel good, but it's better than when we were what we were looking at, and it it allows us to be on a stable path stable path to move forward.

So uh I just wanted to end with that and uh thank everybody again.

Thank you, Mr.

Valoran.

Madam Clerk, please call the roll.

Adams.

Yes, co-sponsor.

Anani?

Yes, co-sponsor.

Ballorin.

Yes.

Brody, yes.

Farrell?

Yes, co-sponsor, please.

Flynn.

Yes, co-sponsor, please.

Howie.

Yes, co-sponsor, please.

Johnson.

No.

Jones.

Yes, co-sponsor, please.

Keegan.

Yes.

Lumpkin.

Yes, co-sponsor, please.

Powell.

Yes.

Robinson.

Yes, co-sponsor, please.

Williamson.

Yes, cool sponsors, please.

Zamer, yes.

14 in the affirmative, one no.

The motion passes.

Ms.

Farrell.

The rest of the ordinances are held.

Okay, moving into our resolutions.

I'd like to note that earlier we took Mr.

Johnson's resolution 2942 26 out of order, and we are holding that to a uh a future meeting.

Okay.

Uh so with that, uh Mr.

Lumpkin.

Thank you, Mr.

Lumpkin.

Madam Clerk, please read the resolution.

A resolution of the Common Council honoring the life and legacy of Mother Clara Lumpkin and renaming a portion of South Swan in her honor.

Ms.

Farrell.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

That resolution will go to General Services.

Thank you.

Okay.

Next, uh Mr.

Nani.

Mr.

Anani.

Sorry.

Um thank you.

I notice resolution 3142 26R and asked for its introduction of passage.

That was that was 30, correct?

Correct.

31.

No, 31.

31.

31.

Sorry about that.

Madam Clerk, please read the resolution.

A resolution of the common council declaring April 22nd to be Earth Day in the city of Albany and commemorate commemorating the 56th anniversary of Earth Day.

Discussion.

Yeah, thank you.

Um Mr.

President.

Uh this legislation that we've been passing kind of reminding our residents to be environmentally conscious.

Uh today, as we recognize Earth Day, reaffirm our shared responsibility to protect and sustain our environment.

This resolution is more than symbolic.

It reflects our commitment to cleaner air, safer water, and a healthier future for all.

We must continue taking meaningful steps towards sustainable sustainability while ensuring environmental justice remains at the forefront so every community benefits equally.

Okay.

Any further discussion?

Okay.

Uh you're all co-sponsors on this, so we'll go with a voice vote.

Uh all in favor say aye.

Aye.

Thank you.

Motion passes.

Next, uh Mr.

Williamson.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

Resolution 3242 26R.

I asked to be introduced in red, please.

Thank you, Mr.

Williamson.

Madam Clerk, please read the resolution.

A resolution of the Common Council honoring the life and legacy of Reverend Reginald E.

Graham and renaming a portion of second Ave in his honor.

Thank you, Madam Clerk.

Ms.

Farrell.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

That resolution will go to General Services.

Thank you.

Next, uh Mr.

Anani.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

I notice resolution 3342 26R and Express introduction.

Thank you.

Madam Clerk, please read the resolution.

A resolution of the Common Council authorizing the City of Albany to adopt a policy related to the disposal of computers, computer software, and computer equipment.

Thank you, Miss Farrell.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

That resolution will go to general services.

Okay.

Ms.

Farrell.

Oh, the rest of the resolution.

Yeah.

Thank you, sir.

Rest of the resolutions will be held.

Thank you.

Okay, so any miscellaneous.

Mr.

Johnson.

Yeah, I'm gonna be quick, but the summer months are coming, and I would hope that as um the electors of the common council, that we you know, and and not to knock APD, but uh uh expect a presence in uh some of the hot spots um throughout the city.

I think um sometimes as a city it looks like we are reactionary to the incidents, and then we um try to have a presence.

So, you know, I'm calling on um APD to um have a game plan um to uh be more uh vigilant, you know, just um to be seen because I'm still under the um understanding that you know when um police are present you they have a uh effect on um crime.

So um I I would hope that we don't take the same approach that we took um last year and not rely off of snug.

Snug is not a neighborhood uh program.

Snug is a program is designed by the state, and um the difference between Snug and the movement team, the movement team is directly and the movement team is one of the parts of Baltimore that was discussed.

The movement team is um made up of people that are directly from that community.

There's there's no outsiders in that um movement team, and I think that this is the stuff that makes um the the uh goal that we are uh attempting to um reach possible because of the steps that they have taken.

So I just um hope that the ask is not you know uh received as finger pointing.

Um, you know, they're here to protect and serve.

And I think that um being present and and and uh another thing that I want to say to APD is thank you for bringing um Milton Johnson back to the city.

So that's what I would like to say today.

Mr.

Robinson.

Yeah, I just got some short comments, you know.

I just like to thank all my colleagues for moving the balance prevention task force to the mayor's office.

Like my colleague just said, it's gonna be a long hot summer.

That's only one tool in our toolbox, but we have to work together to make sure we do our best to um give the mayor all the support she needs to address the violence in our city.

And thank you again.

Thank you.

And I would like to from leadership to Mr.

Howie as public safety chair, can you take care of that Swan Street complaint for us with uh APD, the woman talked about third.

I'll take care of that tonight.

So thank you.

Thank you.

Uh any additional seeing none?

Motion to adjourn.

Second second.

All in favor?

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Meetings adjourned.

Yeah.