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Record of Proceedings

Newark Municipal Council Special Meeting on Budget Deferral, Sister Cities, and Housing Grant: September 15, 2026

Municipal Council — Tuesday, September 15, 2026

BodyNewark, New Jersey

SessionMunicipal Council

DateTuesday, September 15, 2026

StatusFILED

Video Record

0:00 / 12:11

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0:28

Thank you.

0:30

Good morning.

0:32

Welcome to the special meeting of the Newark Municipal Council.

0:36

On Tuesday.

0:40

I'm sorry, September 15th.

0:42

In accordance with New Jersey law, adequate notice of this meeting has been provided to the Star Ledger, the Jersey Journal, and the public at large establishing the date, time, and location of this meeting.

0:55

In addition, the agenda for this meeting was disseminated on September 11th at the time of preparation and posted on the city's website.

1:03

Roll call, please.

1:07

Present.

1:10

Council.

1:14

Present.

1:16

Present.

1:18

Present.

1:26

Here.

1:29

Council President, Council members, just for the record, Councilmember Scott Roundtree is attending via the phone.

1:40

We are on page four of the agenda.

1:44

Resolutions.

1:46

7R 8AS is amending the 2026 municipal budget as introduced on June 3rd.

1:56

This item will be deferred.

2:01

B is establishing a sister city's relationship with Canton of Nabon, Providence of Zoray, Republic of Ecuador.

2:11

Sponsored by Council President Quintana.

2:15

Okay.

2:15

Second, please.

2:17

Second.

2:19

Thank you.

2:21

We have one added starter.

2:25

7R2A is the first amendment for a grant and grant agreement for property in the central ward.

2:33

Council president?

2:34

Yes, council.

2:35

Are we voting on these matters?

2:38

You're voting on a boat em all as a as a block, the three?

2:42

Can we do you want to do them separately?

2:44

I'm just asking just to make sure to clarify.

2:46

Are we doing it as a block?

2:47

I think one is a deferment at least, and not you're deferring the budget matter.

2:54

And then you're going to do the sister cities.

2:57

We could do it separate.

2:57

That's still a separate question.

2:59

Mr.

2:59

President.

2:59

Yes, counsel.

3:00

Uh on the budget.

3:01

I I know we're not entertaining the amendments today, but it'd be great if we got the amendments before the uh meeting.

3:10

Well, we're expected to act on this.

3:11

So I would I would ask uh through your chair and the clerk that the BA provide us with a list of all the proposed amendments prior to the uh next meeting when we're expected to vote on this.

3:30

And then can somebody explain the added starter of um since you can oh uh good morning, council president, council members, Allison Ladd, Director of Economic and Housing Development.

3:49

Uh thank you uh for considering the added starter.

3:52

We attempted to get it on last week's agenda, but we weren't able to.

3:55

Um this is um just an amendment to the grant agreement that the council approved um a few months back.

4:04

What has happened is is the development team is looking at additional funding as we expected through the state, and so we wanted to align the terms of the grant agreement with the terms for tax credits and other funding sources.

4:16

So there's no additional funding that's being allocated beyond the original eight million, right?

4:21

No, eight million still remains the same number.

4:24

Thank you.

4:25

Any questions?

4:28

Thank you.

4:29

Council President, Council members.

4:30

In my haste to go through the agenda, I was gonna group everything, but we're gonna go individually.

4:36

So 7R eight AS motion to defer.

4:41

Roll call to defer.

4:44

Yes, council absent, yes, Jackson, yes, Kelly, yes, Ramos, yes, it's got round tree accent, silva accent.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting

Procedural█████████████████████████████████████████████61%

Elevator Safety████████████████22%

Economic Development█████████████17%

Summary of Proceedings

The Newark Municipal Council held a Special Meeting on Tuesday, September 15, 2026, at City Hall. The meeting was called to order at 10:04 AM and addressed three primary resolutions alongside a significant announcement regarding a senior building elevator outage. Eight of nine council members were present at the close of roll call. The meeting adjourned at 10:15 AM.

Discussion Items

2026 Municipal Budget Amendment (7R8-a): The council voted to defer the budget amendment. Councilmember Bey requested that the Business Administrator provide a list of proposed amendments prior to the next scheduled meeting, where a vote is expected. A public hearing is set for September 23, 2026 at 6:30 PM.
Sister Cities Relationship with Ecuador (7R8-b): A resolution establishing a sister cities relationship with the Canton of Nabón, Province of Azuay, Republic of Ecuador, sponsored by Council President Quintana, was introduced and adopted.
Kawaida Towers Grant Agreement Amendment (7R2-a): Allison Ladd, Director of Economic and Housing Development, explained that the first amendment aligns the grant terms with state tax credits and other funding sources. The total city grant remains at $8,000,000.00. Councilmember Kelly inquired about the Area Median Income (AMI) levels for the 31 units. Ladd stated the top range is 80% of AMI, with the majority of units at 50% and 30%.
Councilmember Bey Elevator Announcement: Councilmember Bey reported a crisis at a senior building where both elevators had failed, stranding residents, including some requiring dialysis. She announced her intent to introduce an ordinance establishing strict regulations and significant fines for elevator repairs in senior and disability-access buildings. Council President Quintana pledged immediate co-sponsorship and supported holding landlords accountable through state laws. Bey confirmed the Department of Public Safety and Office of Emergency Management were monitoring the building.

Key Outcomes

Deferred: The 2026 Municipal Budget Amendment (Resolution 7R8-a) was deferred by a vote of 8-0 (Councilmember Silva absent).
Adopted: The Sister Cities Relationship with Ecuador (Resolution 7R8-b) was adopted by a vote of 8-0 (Councilmember Silva absent).
Adopted: The Kawaida Towers Grant Agreement First Amendment (Resolution 7R2-a) was adopted by a vote of 7-0-2 (Councilmembers Jackson and Silva abstained).
Future Ordinance: Councilmember Bey committed to introducing an elevator repair ordinance for senior buildings.

Public Comments

No members of the public appeared to speak during the public comment period.

Meeting Transcript

Thank you. Good morning. Welcome to the special meeting of the Newark Municipal Council. On Tuesday. I'm sorry, September 15th. In accordance with New Jersey law, adequate notice of this meeting has been provided to the Star Ledger, the Jersey Journal, and the public at large establishing the date, time, and location of this meeting. In addition, the agenda for this meeting was disseminated on September 11th at the time of preparation and posted on the city's website. Roll call, please. Present. Council. Present. Present. Present. Here. Council President, Council members, just for the record, Councilmember Scott Roundtree is attending via the phone. We are on page four of the agenda. Resolutions. 7R 8AS is amending the 2026 municipal budget as introduced on June 3rd. This item will be deferred. B is establishing a sister city's relationship with Canton of Nabon, Providence of Zoray, Republic of Ecuador. Sponsored by Council President Quintana. Okay. Second, please. Second. Thank you. We have one added starter. 7R2A is the first amendment for a grant and grant agreement for property in the central ward. Council president? Yes, council. Are we voting on these matters? You're voting on a boat em all as a as a block, the three? Can we do you want to do them separately? I'm just asking just to make sure to clarify. Are we doing it as a block? I think one is a deferment at least, and not you're deferring the budget matter. And then you're going to do the sister cities. We could do it separate. That's still a separate question. Mr. President. Yes, counsel. Uh on the budget. I I know we're not entertaining the amendments today, but it'd be great if we got the amendments before the uh meeting. Well, we're expected to act on this. So I would I would ask uh through your chair and the clerk that the BA provide us with a list of all the proposed amendments prior to the uh next meeting when we're expected to vote on this. And then can somebody explain the added starter of um since you can oh uh good morning, council president, council members, Allison Ladd, Director of Economic and Housing Development. Uh thank you uh for considering the added starter. We attempted to get it on last week's agenda, but we weren't able to. Um this is um just an amendment to the grant agreement that the council approved um a few months back. What has happened is is the development team is looking at additional funding as we expected through the state, and so we wanted to align the terms of the grant agreement with the terms for tax credits and other funding sources.

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