OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

CRB Citizen Review Board Meeting - April 7, 2026

Public Meetings — Tuesday, April 7, 2026
BodySyracuse, New York
SessionPublic Meetings
DateTuesday, April 7, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
Meeting Thumbnail
⇩ GET FROM SOURCE

STREAMING COPY IN PREPARATION — RECORDING AVAILABLE FROM THE ORIGINAL SOURCE

Transcript — Verbatim
6:11

Tuesday, April 7, 2026, CRB Citizen Review Uh Board.

6:16

Um called to order.

6:18

Um we'll first um thing on the agenda is the attendance.

6:25

You want to uh from the Secretary?

6:29

Okay, attendance calls to Odda, Aries Baker?

6:34

Yes, not here.

6:35

Okay.

6:38

Linda Brett, not here.

6:42

Uh Ada.

6:43

Hey.

6:51

Not here.

6:54

Uh Hari.

6:56

Here.

6:59

Okay.

7:03

Peggy.

7:04

Here.

7:06

Samya.

7:07

Uh excuse.

7:10

Okay.

7:11

Javier here.

7:12

Present.

7:13

Okay.

7:14

And uh desire.

7:15

Yeah.

7:18

One, two, three, four, five, six.

7:21

So we do have a quorum.

7:23

So okay.

7:24

Yes.

7:26

Um first thing on the agenda is the approval of March minutes.

7:33

Has everyone had an opportunity to review the minutes?

7:39

If so, uh, can we get a motion on the floor to adopt the uh March minutes?

7:45

Motion.

7:47

Okay.

7:48

Move by um Octavia.

7:50

Um, it's been second.

7:54

Any discussion.

7:56

All in favor.

7:58

Yeah.

7:59

All right.

8:00

All those opposed.

8:03

Any distinctions.

8:05

Uh motion carry.

8:06

The March minutes have been approved, and we'll have them up on the web by tomorrow afternoon.

8:12

Okay.

8:28

Um, she's out on an illness, so we don't have chairman.

8:33

Oh, the chair.

8:36

Hi, everybody.

8:38

Hi, yeah, we have we have to have the present.

8:47

The administrator.

8:48

The administrator.

8:50

The chairman, um report.

8:52

I'm sorry.

8:53

It's just been a long day.

8:54

A long weekend, actually.

8:56

Umdate on staffing.

8:59

We are still um pending finding a investigator for the CRB.

9:07

Um it's uh if you know anyone out there, we have the linked on LinkedIn.

9:13

They can go out and apply for the position on LinkedIn, and then I'll come to our administrator.

9:19

Um so we're still in the like I said, still in the in the process of looking for the investigator.

9:26

We've made some changes that we're just gonna go with the investigator instead of having some um on lacart position.

9:34

So um the next thing is the board status.

9:37

Uh we finally have um reached the decision on the final board member.

9:44

Um that has to go through City Council for approval.

9:48

Um and once we get that we'll be announcing who the board member is.

9:53

So um now, the CRB administrator report is not the administrator's not here.

10:00

She's uh under the weather, so we're not gonna have her report.

10:04

We're gonna table that till next uh meeting.

10:07

So any old business that need to be discussed.

10:16

Any new business?

10:19

Okay.

10:21

Um we have a couple events that are gonna be coming up uh with the CRB this month.

10:31

Um in particular, we're having an event tomorrow at uh the Dunbar Center uh with the county legislator.

10:39

So anyone who has the time to step in, we would appreciate that.

10:43

That's gonna be from 5:30 to 7:30.

10:47

So we will be tabling at that event tomorrow.

10:51

What is it?

10:53

Um the county legislator.

10:57

Hi, I'm Adonia Wade, the community engagement specialist.

11:00

Uh we're going to the district sixteen's uh community resource fair tomorrow.

11:04

We just got invited in, so that's why I told you guys so late, but it is on our website, and all of our upcoming events that are scheduled are on our website also.

11:13

I also emailed you guys then.

11:15

Thank you.

11:19

Okay.

11:22

We're still in in the process of formulating the committee, so uh we don't have any committee reports right now.

11:30

Um so as we get closer to getting those finalized, we'll be letting everyone know who's on the committee and what committees we have formulated.

11:40

So and I don't have the number.

11:44

This is wrong on the executive session for cases.

11:47

Oh, uh, one of the things I wanted to bring up, we did have a hearing.

11:52

Uh we're in the process of writing out uh the dissertation on the outcome of that hearing that will be brought to the board to be approved before we tr uh send that over to the um chief of police.

12:06

So uh you guys should be getting a copy of that probably within the next uh week or so on the uh outcome of that hearing.

12:14

So um other than that, uh we don't have I don't have anything left on here, so we're gonna open it up for uh public hearing.

12:31

Um it's not a public hearing, it's public comment.

12:36

Oh, I think we're I'm sorry, it's not a public hearing, it's public comment.

12:40

Oh public comment significant difference technical but significant.

12:44

Okay.

12:45

Barry Guwanter, I live on Ryder Avenue in the Strathmore neighborhood.

12:51

Um I saw in an email from the city that uh budget hearings are April 21st, I believe yours is on April 21st.

13:03

That is correct.

13:05

Um community support for the CRB is important.

13:09

I would suggest that you may want to tell the public, put the word out that your budget hearing is on that day so that members of the public can see how the common council addresses your budget needs.

13:23

And I'd like to know if you are putting all current positions, including the investigator, in your budget proposal for the next year.

13:34

Absolutely.

13:35

I'm really really glad to hear that.

13:39

Um last time you were talking about some kind of alternative approach to the investigator, and I heard Don said that you're just going to hire an investigator without a a la carte approach, and I was just wondering if you've put aside the idea of alternative approaches to the investigator.

14:05

I had asked last time for transparency on that, and um you indicated that you would provide information when it was decided.

14:16

So has a decision been made.

14:20

Um also I was wondering what the status was of your desire for an advisory committee to make suggestions on how to amend the law.

14:31

There was a legal question about that that you were gonna talk to Joe Barry, and I'm interested to know what the outcome of that is and where you stand on that.

14:41

Okay, yeah, we'll we're still waiting for uh Joe to get back with uh the information on that.

14:49

Okay, and that's all I have at this moment.

14:53

Thank you.

14:54

Okay, thank you.

14:55

Thank you.

14:56

Anyone else?

15:00

Anyone else if there's no other comments um we can get a motion to adjourn.

15:12

Second.

15:12

Okay we have a motion on the floor to adjourn.

15:15

We have a second um all in favor?

15:19

Aye.

15:20

Any opposed any discussion?

15:25

The motion is passed the um April um seventh CRB Citizen Review Board meeting is closed.

15:34

Thank you everyone for coming.

15:36

The quickest effects

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Procedural██████████████████████████████████████████42%
Community Engagement███████████████████████████████████35%
Personnel Matters███████████████████████23%
Summary of Proceedings

CRB Citizen Review Board Meeting - April 7, 2026

This was a regular meeting of the Syracuse City Review Board (CRB) held on Tuesday, April 7, 2026. The board addressed routine approvals, staffing updates, upcoming events, and heard public comment on the investigator position and budget.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • Barry Guwanter, a resident of Ryder Avenue in the Strathmore neighborhood, spoke during public comment. He noted that the city's budget hearings are scheduled for April 21, 2026, and encouraged the CRB to publicize its own budget hearing so the public can attend. He asked whether the board is including all current positions, including the investigator, in its budget proposal for the next year. The board chair confirmed they are. Mr. Guwanter also inquired about the status of the alternative approaches to the investigator (the board had previously discussed a "la carte" approach) and the board's desire for an advisory committee to suggest law amendments. The chair responded that they are still waiting for legal advice from Joe Barry on those matters.

Discussion Items

  • Attendance & Quorum: Roll call showed six members present—Octavia, Hari, Peggy, Javier, and Desire (others absent). The board determined a quorum existed.
  • Approval of March Minutes: The board unanimously approved the minutes from the March meeting. The minutes will be posted on the website by the afternoon of April 8.
  • Chairman’s Report:
    • Staffing: The board is still seeking an investigator for the CRB. The position is posted on LinkedIn, and they have decided to hire a full investigator rather than using a la carte alternatives.
    • Board Status: The board has made a final decision on the remaining board member, which must be approved by the City Council. An announcement will follow once confirmed.
  • Administrator’s Report: Tabled due to the administrator's illness.
  • Upcoming Events: The board announced a community resource fair on April 8, 2026, from 5:30-7:30 PM at the Dunbar Center, co-hosted with the county legislator. The community engagement specialist, Adonia Wade, noted the event was added late and is listed on the website.
  • Committee Reports: No reports yet; committees are still being formed.
  • Case Hearing Outcome: The board is drafting a resolution on the outcome of a recent hearing. The document will be shared with the board for approval before being sent to the chief of police, likely within the next week.

Key Outcomes

  • Minutes Approved: The March 2026 meeting minutes were adopted unanimously.
  • Investigator Recruitment: The board will proceed with hiring a full-time investigator and has posted the position on LinkedIn.
  • Board Member Finalization: A new board member has been selected and will be submitted to the City Council for approval.
  • Legal Guidance Pending: The board is awaiting advice from legal counsel (Joe Barry) on the feasibility of forming an advisory committee to propose amendments to the CRB ordinance.
  • Meeting Adjourned: The meeting was adjourned via a motion and second, with all in favor.

Meeting Transcript

Tuesday, April 7, 2026, CRB Citizen Review Uh Board. Um called to order. Um we'll first um thing on the agenda is the attendance. You want to uh from the Secretary? Okay, attendance calls to Odda, Aries Baker? Yes, not here. Okay. Linda Brett, not here. Uh Ada. Hey. Not here. Uh Hari. Here. Okay. Peggy. Here. Samya. Uh excuse. Okay. Javier here. Present. Okay. And uh desire. Yeah. One, two, three, four, five, six. So we do have a quorum. So okay. Yes. Um first thing on the agenda is the approval of March minutes. Has everyone had an opportunity to review the minutes? If so, uh, can we get a motion on the floor to adopt the uh March minutes? Motion. Okay. Move by um Octavia. Um, it's been second. Any discussion. All in favor. Yeah. All right. All those opposed. Any distinctions. Uh motion carry. The March minutes have been approved, and we'll have them up on the web by tomorrow afternoon. Okay. Um, she's out on an illness, so we don't have chairman. Oh, the chair. Hi, everybody. Hi, yeah, we have we have to have the present. The administrator. The administrator.

SUMMARIZED BY OPENPUBLICA AI
TRANSCRIPT VIA PUBLIC VIDEO
openpublica.com