City Council

COUNCIL CONFERENCE MEETING MINUTES NOVEMBER 27, 2007 CITY HALL – 5:00 PM A Conference Meeting of the City Council of the City of Trenton, New Jersey, was held on the above date at 5:10 p.m. in the Council Conference Room, City Hall. The meeting was called to order by Council President Paul M. Pintella. Council President announced that adequate public notice had been provided to the public specifying the time and place for this meeting in accordance with the Open Public Meeting Act. Said notice was mailed to the Times and the Trentonian Newspapers, posted on the first floor bulletin board in City Hall, and filed in the City Clerk’s Office on June 21, 2007 by Resolution No. 07-316. The agenda for this meeting was mailed, posted and filed on November 21, 2007. ROLL CALL: PRESENT: Messrs. Bethea & Coston, Ms. Lartigue, Mr. Pintella – 4 ABSENT: Messrs. Melone & Segura, Ms. Staton – 3 EXECUTIVE SESSION: Adoption of the following resolution to go into executive session was moved by Councilman Bethea, seconded by Council Councilwoman Lartigue and carried by unanimous vote of Council. RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING EXECUTIVE SESSION OF THE CITY COUNCIL TO PERMIT DISCUSSION WITH REGARD TO CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS WHEREAS the City Council deems it necessary and essential to conduct a discussion concerning contract negotiations; and WHEREAS the public disclosure of such discussion will be contrary to the interest of the City of Trenton and will not permit the fullest view of said matters; now therefore be it RESOLVED by the City Council of the City of Trenton that a discussion be held on November 27, 2007 at or about 5:00 p.m., in the Council Conference Room at which session the public will be excluded pending the discussion of said matters only. The public shall be informed of the determination of the City Council with respect to the final disposition of said pending proceedings, which final disposition shall be memorialized appropriately and adopted at a public meeting as soon as practicable. Ayes: Messrs. Bethea, Coston, Ms. Lartigue, Mr. Pintella - 4. Absent: Messrs. Melone, Segura, Ms. Staton – 3. To better accommodate the number of people attending the meeting, Councilman Bethea asked if it would be possible to reconvene in Council Chambers after Executive Session. Councilmen Melone and Segura, and Councilwoman Staton arrived as Council began Executive Session at 5:15 p.m. Council reconvened in open session at 6:35 p.m. All members were present. City Council Conference: Minutes November 27, 2007 1 PRESENTATION: Police Update – Appearance Joseph J. Santiago, Police Director Mr. Santiago, Police Director distributed a copy of his two part power point presentation to Council members. Director Santiago presentation included a comparison of crime statistics from 2003 – 2007; the purchasing of new vehicles; the hiring of new police officers; and issues and challenges for 2008. A detailed discussion was followed by a question and answer period. Councilman Bethea made a motion to go into Public Comment, motion was seconded and carried by unanimous vote of Council. PUBLIC COMMENTS: Donald Brokate, 104 Cornwall Avenue: spoke on several issues: His biggest challenge with the redevelopment of his properties is vandalisms; Feels junk yards should be responsible for the scraps that they buy; Supports residency requirement Lee Ingram, 39 Edgemere Avenue: spoke on several issues: Council should have an ordinance to make store owners accountable for the loitering in front of their business; Concerned with drug sales taking place on the corner of State and Broad. Kathy McBride, Council needs to come to some common ground to turn things around. Dion Clark, 323 Walnut Avenue: Parents need to take responsibility of their children; citizens need to take more responsibility for the City, not Santiago’s fault. Paul Harris, 137 Centre Street: spoke on several issues: Ask Director Santiago if he plans to buy a home in the City of Trenton; if someone sees a crime and they do not want to help the police they should be arrested. Patricia Stewart, 679 Lamberton Street - spoke on several issues: The police are not supposed to be raising our children; children should not be on the corner late at night; they have rights? Well what happened to my civil rights? Lee Warring, 932 Bellevue Avenue – Spoke on several issues: Police Director Santiago moving into the City is not going to help our problems; parents should worry about the safety of their children; this city does not provide activities for our kids and they are creating their own fun. John Harmon, 846 Riverside Avenue - Made comments on Director Santiago’s presentation concerning overtime, homicide rates, and new District Stations; four days on and four days off is not working; if we agree that our strategies are not working people would respect us more. Bea Perry, 27 Sylvester Avenue – Spoke on several issues: Thanked Director Santiago for doing a wonderful job; illegal dumping; the need for cameras; lack of police confidentially. Duncan Harrison, 53 Beechwood Avenue – Complained about the police arresting kids for hanging on corners; we need community policing; we need to know our community police officers so we can trust them. Darryl Brooks – Complained about the City’s lack of constructive programs for our kids; the City has some good police officers; City Council was elected to help the people of Trenton. City Council Conference: Minutes November 27, 2007 2 Joseph Incolinco, 239 Chestnut Avenue – The Police Director has done things right and wrong; it is not the Police Director’s job to direct education it not his job to look after our kids; it is the Mayor’s job who is an absentee Mayor. Frank Weeden, 256 Allen Street – spoke on several issues: Commented on Director Santiago presentation; community policing; supports City residency. Sarah Britten, 1205 Anderson Street – Wants the Police Director to reinstate the canine units. Gangs are not afraid of City Council and they are not afraid of the police, but they are afraid of dogs. Kathleen Bracy, 1048 Brunswick Avenue – spoke on several issues: Parents have to stay involved with their children; teach them right from wrong, parents are responsible; need more parking spaces; need more police presence. CIVIC MATTERS: NONE The meeting Adjourned at 10:00 p.m. Respectfully ___________________________ __________________________ PAUL M. PINTELLA JUANITA M. JOYNER CITY COUNCIL PRESIDENT ACTING CITY CLERK City Council Conference: Minutes November 27, 2007 3