Speaker numbers apply only to this recording.
The meeting convened at 6:05 PM on Wednesday, October 21, 2026, and concluded at 10:32 PM, officially recorded under the date of October 22, 2026 in the official systems. A very large crowd of residents attended, primarily to advocate for rent control protections for Newport tenants and to demand improvements to safety on Montecello Avenue. The council debated several late-added resolutions, and a highly anticipated ordinance to end the perpetual rent control exemption was postponed.
Meeting adjourned at 10:32 PM.
Good evening, everyone. We are on the record. Today is Wednesday, the 21st day of October in the year 2026. This is a regular meeting of the Jersey City Municipal Council. We had a scheduled 6 p.m. start. The clock on my cell phone is showing 6.05 p.m. May we have a roll call for the commencement of this meeting. Councilperson Brooks. Councilperson Zupa. Present. Councilperson Efros here. Councilperson Little. Councilperson Gilmore. Present. Councilperson Singh. Here. Councilperson Griffin. Not here yet. Okay. Councilperson Lavaro. And Council President Ridley will be with us soon. So we have seven council members in attendance at 6.05 p.m. Can we kindly rise for a moment of silence, please? Wayne Ponder, former business officer of the Jersey City Public Library. Brenda Payton, former employee at a Jersey City Board of Education teacher. Gwen Sanders. Barbara Netchurch, former Hudson County Clerk. That's Sorrentino, retired Jersey City Police Officer. It was said previously, but Senator Sandra Conn Sandra Cunningham. Um was laid to rest. Thank you very much. On behalf of Council President Pro Tempt Gilmore and the members of the Municipal Council in accordance with the New Jersey Public Laws of 1975, Chapter 231, the Open Public Meetings Act, also known as the Sunshine Law. Adequate notice of this meeting has been provided by the posting on the bulletin board of the first floor of City Hall, the annual notice, which is the schedule of meetings and caucuses of the municipal council for the calendar year 2026 and filed in the office of the city clerk on Tuesday, November 25th, 2025. In addition, at its time of its preparation, the agenda this meeting was similarly disseminated on Wednesday, October 14th, 2026 at 1010 a.m. to the mayor, municipal council, business administrator, corporation council, and the local newspapers, and posted on the city's website so I can certify as to our total compliance with the Sunshine Law. So Council members, before we move on with our regular order of business, we have some late items to add to the agenda. And just so we are clear, I'll state for the record what defines a late item. So a late item is an item that is not published on the agenda when the agenda is published when it's supposed to be published, which is the 12th day before the council meeting. Also needs to be reviewed by the business administrator, um, the law department, and depending on if it's a contract, a resolution, then you have a slew of other people that need to review such items. Those items can be added in in a timely manner in the computer, but until it gets full approvals, it doesn't see the um agenda until it's fully approved.