Amboy Guardian 10_19_22

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8. The Amboy Guardian *October 19, 2022Rent Control Ordinance Takes Centerstage Along with ContinuedDiscussions About American Rescue Act Funds10/12/22 Caucus & Council Meeting*Continued from Page 1some point, I want to hear thatour water is drinkable.”Torres continued, “We havebeen asking for a plan on howthe American Rescue Funds areearmarked.”Greene spoke up, “Some ofthose funds were used for softwareand technology needs.There were needs for equipmentfor the fire and police departments,community servicegrants for nonprofits, food pantriesand churches.”Council President Bill Petrickcontinued, “Let’s spend AmericanRescue Funds money onthis and see how much money isleft afterwards.”Pabon spoke next, “Therehad been money allocated foryears. If we can pay this, it willbe money that the residents willnot have to pay.”Luis Perez Jimenez, Directorof Operations at the USA-PA (Utility Service AssociatesPerth Amboy) Middlesex WaterCompany) came up to the mike,“We will come back each yearwith more projects. “B.A. Greene added, “We areapplying for a $84 million grantalong with several other townswho are asking for a piece ofthat money. We are seeing whatwe can get.”Petrick responded, “We arejust concerned about the financingof these bonds. If we use theARF Money, the work will getdone quicker.”Councilwoman Milady Tejedaasked if there are other options.Greene responded, “The moneyfor this project also pays forthe employees that will be involvedin the projects.”Tejeda asked what was thetotal money that we have appropriatedso far for the water/wastewater projects.Council President Petrickasked for a motion to table OrdinanceNo. 3. It was movedby Torres, seconded by Pabon.Those who voted “No to table,”was Tejeda and Morales.Ordinance No. 5 (First Reading)- Granting the conveyanceof a dedicated right-of-wayeasement over a portion ofBlock 172, Lot 1.01.City Engineer Earnest Feistspoke up via Zoom, “MiddlesexCounty requested this. It will beon the corner of Ogden Placeand New Brunswick Avenue ata cost of $500,000.”Councilwoman Tejeda andCouncil President Petrick hada difference of opinion on OrdinanceNo. 6 (First Reading) –Public Entertainment.Tejeda’s concern was the reducingof time for festivals andhow it will affect the July 4thCelebration.Petrick stated, “It is not affectedby this, because it is asingle night event, and it is onlyfor events on Sunday nights toreduce the time limit because alot of people have to go to workthe next day.”Tejeda disagreed with whatPetrick said. She also had concernsabout the ordinance thatwas previously removed regardingequipment for the policeand fire departments and havingAmerican Rescue Funds forthe community groups whichincluded food banks, churches,and nonprofits.Petrick responded, “As far asthe police, it is better to havefoot patrols such as we had inthe Vas administration. It ismore effective than having camerasall over, such as in a policestate. It is a bigger deterrentthan having cameras.”Tejeda spoke up, “The policeneed to have these tools to dotheir job as not to put them atrisk.”Petrick responded, “We havea lot of electronics that could beused for monitoring.”B.J. Torres spoke next, “Camden,New Jersey crime hasdropped because of increasespolice presence.”Pabon spoke up, “I sent a messageto the police and to Mr.Greene to talk about this. Themayor said we are playing politics.Let’s wait until after theelection to bring this up. Also,when will our employees begetting the money when theyworked during Covid? We haveto make sure all of the employeesare covered. Quality of LifeIssues are not being addressed. Iam not against churches or nonprofits.”Greene responded, “Theypayout for the essential workerswho worked during Covidwhich would be just under$500,000 (total).”Police Chief Cattano cameup to answer questions as toregards to the cameras, “Panzoomis a technology that weuse. Having community policingwith new technology hashelped us. One crimefightingtool is video surveillance andlicense plate readers which helpus to catch those stealing catalyticconverters. There are lesspeople who want to cooperatewith the police.”Torres disagreed, “Communityinteraction with the policewill give trust to the people. Themain issue is funding. Maybethe BID can help us with thefunding instead of us using theARF funding.”Cattano responded, “All of thethings the council asked for hasbeen done.”Torres continued, “It doesn’tlook good when the administrationundermines us.”Cattano concluded, “We areboth advocating what is best forthe residents.”Tejeda spoke up, “RegardingOrdinance No. 3, we are contradictingourselves on the use ofARF Funds.”Torres responded, “We need todo that ordinance because ofthe $75 million investment ofour infrastructure. If it was soimportant, why wasn’t it in themayor’s budget?”Petrick then stated again, “Wehave to watch how the ARFmoney is spent.”Tejeda then insisted that thetwo items be put back on theagenda regarding equipment forthe police and fire departmentand the funds for the churchesand nonprofits.Fire Chief Ed Mullen cameup briefly to speak about OrdinanceNo. 7 (First Reading)– An issuance of $342,500 ofbonds for the purchase of twofire trucks.Mullen said, “This is the balanceof money needed to put inthe last piece of money for theequipment.”CFO Jill Goldy made a briefcomment via Zoom. She said,“This is intended to be part ofthe Capital Budget Plan and thebonding will be less than anticipated.”R-491-10/22 – Temporaryappointment of Denise Zambardinoas Acting Tax Collectorthru December 31, 2022, whileNancy Martin is on medicalleave.Greene spoke briefly aboutR-496-10/22 – A change orderto the contract with HNSConstruction and Mechanicaldecreasing the contract for theStair Tower reconstruction atthe Perth Amboy Free PublicLibrary in an amount not to exceed$501.79. Greene explainedthat this company had overchargedfor their services.Greene then explained R-497-10/22 – Adopting proceduresfor administration and inspectionof Federal Aid HighwayProject. “This is for the SafeRoute to Schools Program thatwe need to adopt.”There was a heated discussioninvolving R-501-10/22 – Acceptingan award from the US-DOJ for the Connect Project:Law Enforcement BehavioralHealth Response Grant Programin an amount of $550,000.Chief Cattano came up to say,“The Office of Economic andCommunity Development wasnot involved with this.”Torres asked, “I thought thegrant writers were supposed topursue grants.”Greene responded, “TheOECD is supposed to provideleadership.”OECD Department ChairTashi Vazquez spoke up viaZoom, “Depending on the typesof grants, sometimes there areno fees, and we look at grantsthat will give us a lot of opportunities.”Public Portion: (in-person first)Resident Ken Balut spokefirst. “I heard that there was goingto be a $10 million studyabout the Outerbridge. Just geta new bridge. This is incompetency.We need more moneyfor our employees who workedduring Covid. Where is the listof the money used from theARF? The politicians will usethat money. We need more information.When money is beingused for bonds, we need toknow the cost, especially howmuch the law firm is getting. Weare paying too much to politicallaw firms. You always giveaway millions in PILOTS. Outof-townlaw firms don’t careabout animals, our residents, orour schools.”The next person to come upto speak was Gerardo Benavides(Eagleton Fellow PublicPolicy/MPP Edward J. BlousteinSchool, New Brunswick).He handed out a flyer to thecouncil which had to do withHousing and Security in PerthAmboy, NJ dated October2022. This was a housing survey(from May to September2022) under the Make the RoadNew Jersey Group. Accordingto the flyer, which had ah housingsurvey, the group surveyed135 tenants in Perth Amboywith an in-depth questionnaireon housing. The vast majorityof respondents are immigrantsand/or people of color and livein census tracts with medianhousehold income of less than$54,771 a year. Some of theresults on the flyer stated thatrenters were struggling to payfor rising rent and are likelyforegoing basic needs. Tenantsthat are living unhealthy, dangerousconditions and can’t getrepairs, and tenants face seriousbarriers to rental relief programsand mounting debt. Onthe back of the flyer had recommendationsthat Benavides readto address these problems.He asked the council to passOrdinance No. 2. “The Makethe Road New Jersey Groupwas formed in 2014.”Petrick asked, “What has thegroup done to help renters?”Benavides answered, “Thereare many resources that we candirect them to.”Petrick then suggested thatthey also contact the HousingAuthority.The next person to come up tospeak was a young woman wholives at 126 Market Street. “Iam a 3-year resident and thereis constant rodents and insectsin my apartment no matter howmuch we clean. The windowsare in bad condition, and wehave to seal them with heavyplastic, and there is not enoughheat.”Council President Petrick said,“The police and fire departmentsneed to look into this.”A woman who lives at 345Washington Street spoke next,“We pay our rent, and we getfined late fees even if it is oneday late. We can’t get our apartmentsfumigated and our rentsare high. Our building is ownedby Paramount Assets. The rentsare high. We need more legaladvice.”Another resident who hasbeen a 20-year resident at 254Amboy Avenue in Woodbridgecame up to speak.Council President Petrickasked if she went to the WoodbridgeCouncil Meeting andHousing Authority to complain.She replied, “Yes, and mylandlord wants to increase myrent by a large amount, and theyare always screaming at us.”Petrick told her that she needsto go to Woodbridge since shelives there.Another Perth Amboy Residentwas uncomfortable givingher landlord’s name, “In 2018a boiler exploded in my buildingkilling my husband and mychild.”Another woman complainedthat whenever she talked to herlandlord about problems, shewas told to leave. “My son hasautism and when it rains, thewater comes into the apartment.The landlord would not fumigateour apartment and we hadto pay to do it.”Attorney JB Vas came up next,“I am glad to see democracy inaction. I support this ordinanceand the community wants it. Itwas a functioning board up untilthe mid-2000’s. I am a fanof the Rent Leveling Board ifit’s more than a board in nameonly. We just need to have landlordsjustify a rent increase of5%. Because of the Rent LevelingBoard being inactive, it allowedlandlords to do large rateincreases. There is nothing inDianne Roman’s profile abouther being a member of the RentLeveling Board. I did an OPRArequest asking questions regardingthe Rent Leveling Board. Iappreciate Hubberman’s comments.”Sharon Hubberman, whois chair of the Rent LevelingBoard came up to speak, “Wehave to compile lists from tenantsand landlords to put allthe information up on the website.Our Board is meeting andreviewing a 39-year-old ordinance.There was no actiontaken. I am the chair and DianneRoman is a very active BoardSecretary. There is a process insubmitting a complaint. The actioninvolving Cande Land waslooked at. It is slanderous to saywe (the Rent Leveling Board)are inactive.” She then gave anumber to contact Dianne Roman:732-826-1690 ext. 4322.“I am happy that we are havingthis discussion.”Council President Petrick toldHubberman that everyone onthat board should have a cityemail address.Hubberman continued, “Weneed a basket email. I will notaccept any misrepresentationabout the RLB or the council.We have subcommittees also.You have to keep checking toget all the information fromthe RLB and our meetings andagendas. We all our volunteers.We welcome all to speak up. Ican email the tenant complaintform to all. We have specialmeetings and had Zoom Meetingsduring Covid.”Resident Junior Iglesia spokenext, “Our cost of living is unsustainable.Inflation is 8% andin a 5-year timespan, rent hasincreased up to 35%. The averagerent is $2,300. We can’t affordthis. We can’t control theprice of food, but we can controlour rent. Winter is comingand no one should be homeless.We need intermediate interventionto lower the rent and not toincrease it by more than 3%. Putpoliticking aside. It is the rightthing to do.”The next person to speak wasa resident from Sayre Avenue.She is the pastor of a localchurch that also has a food pantry.“We serve people during thepandemic. We are in desperateneed of the ARF money so wecan provide for our residents,especially since our familiesare being hindered. We haveprovided faith, hope, and love.I also support the new proposedsubstation which is close to thechurches, and we need to alsofeel safe.”Councilwoman Tejeda spokeup, “A police substation wouldhelp to make the residents tofeel safe.”Petrick responded, “Don’t bemisled because crime has beenoccurring near the substation onMadison Avenue.”Resident A.D. Pauro spokenext. For the first two minutes,he spoke in Spanish, thenhe spoke in English, “I don’thave problems with the houses*Continued on Page 9
October 19, 2022 * The Amboy Guardian .9Kiwanis Club/PA Catholic School Pasta Dinner, St. John Paul II Parish, Perth Amboy - 10/8/22 *Photos by Carolyn Maxwell*Continued from Page 8Rent Control Ordinance Takes Centerstage Along with ContinuedDiscussions About American Rescue Act Fundsof worship, but they are justa front. I have recorded Cabatalking to the pastors, and whywas this not being done before?The Business AdministratorGreene should be living here,and I don’t like the fact that thePolice Chief compared us toCamden, New Jersey.”The meeting was opened up toZoom Participants:Resident Beth Lieberman wholives on Chamberlain Avenuespoke first, “I have lived herefor 20 years. The resolution tocontrol the festivals are a wasteof our energies and the Fourthof July was addressed in ourordinances. We can’t be held liablefor people drinking at festivals,and they should not beheld on multiple days. The mayorthinks that the Dominicansshould control the festivals. Weshould address the loud and excessivenoises, especially thosecoming from cars late at night.The American Recovery ActFunds was supposed to helpwith the economic recovery.How will they redistribute themoney to certain organizationsto stimulate the economy?”Resident Maria Vera spokenext, “We have too much illegalhousing because people can’tafford the rent. Section 8 needsto be investigated. The law saysyou can only be on Section 8for 5 years. A lot of it is beingused to make car payments andto pay mortgages. We need tofix our water.” Not knowing shecould still hear on Zoom, whenCode Enforcement Director IrvingLozada spoke on Zoom,and when Vera heard his name,she used an explicative expressionto address him.Lozada spoke on Zoom tomake sure he got all the correctaddresses of the people whocomplained about the apartmentsthey were living in. Hestated he will be investigatingall those addresses.Developer Eddie Trujillospoke next, “I don’t have a problemwith the Rent Control Ordinance.It is just not right for thelandlords not to have a voice. Ihave concerns that Harbortownis exempt from the ordinance.My average rentals are less than$1200 a month. There is a bigdifference between a 2.5%-5%increase. A 35% increase is illegal.Most landlords take care oftheir properties. My costs havegone up 15%. We (landlords)need to be informed of the newordinance. If you don’t havethe money, you may not be ableto improve your property thatyou own. This is not my fight.Landlords also have to pay theirmortgages.”The council went into closedsession at 9:01 p.m. They returnedat 9:14 p.m. to adjournthe caucus. The regular councilmeeting was called to order at9:16 p.m.The only person to talk aboutthe ordinances that had a publichearing was Attorney JB Vaswho talked about OrdinanceNo. 2 regarding reducing theestablished allowable rent increasepercentage per rentalterm. He again talked about anOPRA that he requested on October3, 2022, asking that the10/12/22 Caucus & Council MeetingRent Leveling Board supplyinformation and pamphlets totenants and landlords a list ofcomplaints and unlawful rentalincreases. In October 2021I sent information on CandeLand. Everything I requested onthat OPRA was not done. Thereis no landlord registration. Whyhas no action been taken? DianneRoman is not supplyinginformation. Landlords need tojustify their rent increases. Thisis not a personal attack on Hubbermanor Roman.”Council President Bill Petrickstated that the Cande Landcase is in the hands of SuperiorCourt.Vas shot back, “It is still an activecase and a real issue.”Petrick continued, “It won’tbe heard by our RLB and Romansaid they are still workingon forms and pamphlets. Theadministration takes care of thewebsite.”Law Director Opel spoke up,“There are two matters regardingCande Land – one was in2022 which was a consent orderand another case where CandeLand sent an application to SuperiorCourt.”No one else spoke about theordinances that had a publichearing. The council voted onthe ordinances. Ordinance No.1 and No. 2 was moved by Pabon,seconded by Tejeda. Ordinance(first reading) No. 1 wasmoved by Pabon, seconded byTejeda. Ordinance No. 2 wasmoved by Tejeda, seconded byPabon. Ordinance No. 3 (Issuanceof bonds of $3,473,798)was tabled at the caucus. OrdinanceNo. 4 (water/wastewaterutilities issuing bondsfor $1,500,000) was moved byPabon, seconded by Tejeda.The only person to vote “No”was Councilman B.J. Torres.Ordinance No. 5 was movedby Tejeda, seconded by Pabon.Ordinance No. 6 (public entertainment)was moved by Pabon,seconded by Tejeda. Pabon,Tejeda, Morales voted “No”.Ordinance No. 7 was moved byPabon, seconded by Tejeda.There were two ordinancesthat were added from previousagendas that were tabled andwere put back on tonight at therequest of Councilwoman MiladyTejeda. Ordinance No. 8– A lease agreement for the policesubstation on Smith Street.Moved by Tejeda, seconded byMorales. Tejeda and Moralesvoted “Yes,” Pabon, Torres, Petrickvoted “No”. Ordinance No.9 – Additional equipment forthe police department which includessurveillance equipment.Moved by Tejeda, seconded byMorales. Tejeda, Morales voted“Yes”, Pabon, Torres, Petrickvoted “No.”For the consent agenda: R-483thru R-501 was moved by Pabon,seconded by Tejeda.There was a Resolution added:R-502-10/22 – American RescueAct Funds of $1,328,157 tobe used for nonprofits and housesof worship. Tejeda, Moralesvoted “Yes”, Pabon, Torres, Petrickvoted “No.”Tejeda stated the reason shevoted, “Yes,” was because theyare grants.B.J. Torres stated that he voted“No,” because it was, “Nothingmore than more bureaucracy.”Council Comments:Councilwoman Rose Moralesthanked everyone who participated.Councilman Joel Pabonthanked all who talked aboutthe Rent Leveling Board Ordinance.“We have to make sure itis fair to everyone. The peoplewho made complaints were justa small portion. There are alsoa lot of good landlords, andsome landlords took advantagebecause of not having a RentLeveling Board. Section 8 (therentals) is a nightmare, andthey need to be held accountable.The houses of worshipshould not be lumped togetherwith nonprofits. The peoplewho help our community (withrent) should be taken care of.Hall Avenue needs a police substation.A lot of those residentsare scared when they see policecars. When we had meetings atthe waterfront, it was great. Thepolice need to walk the beat. Itwas a long meeting tonight.”Councilwoman Milady Tejedathanked all who participated.She then addressed a commentthat was made via Zoom thatwas disparaging and said, “Weneed to respect all (on bothsides).”Councilman B.J. Torres hadno comments.Council President Bill Petricksaid, “It was a lively meetingwith good discussion. Whenthey had discussions about theGateway Project, the need fora police substation never cameup. Stay safe and remember thatCovid is still around.”The meeting adjourned at 9:45p.m.
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