[Note: The transcript reports the meeting date as September 2, 2025, but the provided metadata indicates September 3, 2025. This summary uses the metadata date.]
The Passaic City Council held a regular meeting on September 3, 2025, dominated by the passage of Ordinance 2494-25, which caps annual rent increases at 3% and includes vacancy control. The meeting also featured a detailed mayor's report, public testimony on both sides, adoption of the 2025 municipal budget, and routine ordinances.
Good evening. On behalf of the governing body of the city of Pisake, we welcome you to the September 2nd, 2025 City Council meeting. In accordance with Chapter 231 public laws of 1975, adequate notice of this meeting was provided by resolution of the municipal council adopted on June 17, 2025, setting forth the schedule of meetings for the year 2025-2026. Said notice was published and posted on the City Hall Bulletin Board by the Office of the City Clerk. Please be further advised. Please be guided accordingly. Roll call, please. Councilman Love. Present. Councilwoman Mello. Present. Councilman Mayer. Present. Councilman Garcia. Present. Councilwoman Colom Montañez. And Council President Cher. Present, shall we all please rise? Heavenly Father, we ask we thank you, Lord, for allowing us to meet this evening. Lord, we present to you the agenda that has been said before us, Lord, and we ask you to please guide us to make the decision that will benefit the residents of the city of Passake. We also ask for a special prayer for Heavenly Father as our children head back to school, Lord. Let this be the year coming, be fruitful for them and their teachers. In your beloved name we pray. Amen. Good evening, members of the Council, Mr. Mayor, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for joining us at tonight's meeting. We're going to do a little bit of uh changes to the agenda. Um something tells me that many of you might be here for one issue in specific, and I'd like to obviously get to that issue as soon as we can. Um at this point, uh let me just share a few points with you, if I may. Number one, if you have a cell phone, if you could please turn it off or vibrate. Number two, it's common that there are issues which are concerned to all of us very much, and oftentimes the person sitting next to us has asked a question that we want to answer. The problem is that that obviously caused makes it difficult for the other person to hear as well. So we ask you if you have a conversation going on with someone, please just step outside the council chambers. Um have your conversation and please join us back again. Uh, but if we could ask you to please stay out of council chambers while you're in other conversation. Um, the council agenda is composed of many, many uh pieces to the puzzle. One is hearing of citizens, the mayor's update update, um, ordinances for second and final readings, such as the one we have tonight, ordinances for first meeting, correspondence resolutions, etc. These are all part of the normal council agenda, as is tonight's a normal council agenda. Um if we could ask, uh, there are some seats still available. I apologize that we don't have more, but there's some states still available. Please yourself avail yourself of them. At this time, I'd like to go a little bit out of order with the council's uh permission and ask mayor uh if you'd like to share with us your report. Council president with uh with your allowance. Can we have uh just sending the translator just translate the uh announcement you made in the very beginning so that everyone is aware? Absolutely, sir. Thank you. Thank you, Council President, members of the city council, city hall staff, and all with us today. Council meetings uh often uh begin with uh quick report as to the state of the city and what is occurring and what we can look forward to. I'll try to be brief, but we have a lot going on over the past couple of weeks, Council President.