going to call the city council caucus meeting to order for december twenty second twenty fourteen we have one public hearing tonight if the court would read that public hear number one regarding a local law allowing for best value purchasing and then we'll move into the regular agenda the clerk read out of number one item number one for final consideration a resolution approving the two thousand and fifteen budget for the upper union street bed without objection  consent i remember to i am number two a resolution authorizing under original consideration a resolution authorizing a letter of support for solar power discussed in committee without objection on consent i remember three item number three a resolution authorizing the sale of one three eight hoffa avenue discussed in claims will have a number of properties on the agenda tonight so without objection on consent item number four a resolution authoriz consent item number six item number six a resolution authorizing the sale of thirteen forty four thirteen forty six fourth avenue without objection on consent and hundred seven i did number seven a resolution authoriz sale of fourteen fifty five states straight without objection on consent item number eight item number eight a resolution authorizing the sale of seventeen twenty two hamburg straight without objection on consent and number nine item number nine a resolution authorizing the sale of six paulding avenue without objection on consent item number ten item number ten under contract in supplier resolution awarding a contract for cured in place so lining project discussed in committee without objection on consent then we have a number of items that were discussed in our claims committee meeting this evening six thirty s that will move right to i don't number eleven we're going to hold that for the next cycle but item number twelve don't number twelve a resolution authorizing the sale of six seventeen orchard street without objection on consent hundred thirteen i don't number thirteen a resolution authorizing the sale of fourteen twelve albany straight without objection and consent and in number fourteen i don't number fourteen a resolution authorizing the sale of five winston place without objection on consent number fifteen item number fifteen a resolution authorizing the sale of three o two division will now call to order the city council meeting for monday december twenty second two thousand and fourteen ask you to rise for the invocation by the reverend dr william lever almighty god of nervous police almighty god of angry people who are discriminated against got of christians and jews and muslims and people who wonder god of expectant children and eager let's give an example one of them is that if this is passed by the city council the mare's office and its staff can be able to bypass and piggyback on let's say new york city for the lowest b it doesn't always mean that it's going to be the lowest bid for goods services why because new york city has higher taxes higher labor living a cost and house higher shipping cost also to us if it doesn't it also circumvents is for local businesses also to use the city does not have been economics parity study to determine whether if they are meeting the goals of affirmative action are they doing reverse discrimination or they do and under utilization this board it's supposed to take care of if the if to look at whether if it's inferior product or lower maintenance cost or higher maintenance cost well what you're doing is you're saying that the mer staff is incompetent to do their job the whole idea of putting an r f p out is putting out to make sure that you've got the best product that it's got the most reliable product and then it's going to do the job that you're fired to the whole sentence they're completely you know discriminates towards the staff saying that they're totally incompetent best value does not mean the best value for the thing and with the current projects that the city has done over the last three four years of taking federal money and not even utilizing best values at all the city council has told the staff hey we should have we should a rehab that truck it should never gone out you don't even have does the art of peeing doesn't even consult with the city council and the city council finds out a couple days or a couple months later all the way that we should have done this what we already did there garth p we're already behind we need to go forward that's not the way to board and on twelve eighteen which was last thursday the board discussed this law and what proposed law and as you know the board is charged with advising the mayor on all aspects of equal opportunity and city government including in the areas of purchasing contracting according to chapters six seven of the city cold specifically concerns or raise about the types of contracts covered under the law and the effect this law will have on new york state certify  e firms who are in a position to do business with the city specifically current law applies to the current law as proposed applies to service contracts covering janitorial and security contractors something that is specifically mentioned in the proposed law and this is a concern to the affirmative action advisory board for reasons that these are particularly services that firms could potentially benefit from and doing business with the city also this basically what that means is that him to be eagles can be set on these contracts the purpose of this law is to reduce purchase and administrative cost and for curing certain goods equipment and services by having the benefit of piggybacking off of federal and other government procurements the office of the state comptroller guidance on this law section section one hundred three of the general minnesota law limits the use of best value to the purchase of after reading this materials equipment supplies and contracts for services related to installation make mince and read in repair of those items the board agrees that the city should maximize cost saving curing goods and services however the board believes that this law should not have a negative impact on your state certified and the firms the board believes this law should be modified to limit potential negative impact on new york state certified and of the firms and when outline our concerns and provide recommendations in a letter to the mayor's office the board hopes to work with city officials to limit best value purchasing to contracts would lead to the purchase of goods and equipment in accordance with  guidelines outlined factors that will be considered in evaluating best value that should be placed pacifically in the law set m w b e goals as outlined under general melissa municipal law section one hundred three and provides for a review of best value purchases bike by a committee to include the eagle director or members of the affirmative action of board so we look forward to working with you and working on this important law and thank you for the opportunity to provide comments on behalf of the affirmative action cries for thank you thank you i have no one else signed up to speak so i'm going to declare the public hearing closed will move on to approval of the minutes from december eighth  communications and petitions communications presented to the city council for monday december twenty second under the category of official a letter dated december twenty second from paul of fine director of water and wastewater recommending the thank you with regard to the finance committee just a couple of announcements that will affect us as we move forward in the city one is the regional economic development awards were just made and metroplex did receive one point two million dollars for the robinson block revitalization so it's great news that would be three blacks on state between erie and s c c c in downtown adding apartments restaurant and retail space very exciting we also recently had someone speak with regard to the safety of liberty park the berms and questionable activities that were going on in the park the city has received four hundred forty thousand dollars to renovate that space with more pedestrian friendly green space and performance space and other nice attractions so good news for people that are concerned about that park it's very much on the city's radar and now with the award from the state we can move in a forward direction on that i also want to say congratulations to the idea hey they recently renegotiated in inefficient pilot that has been in existence for quite a while the pilot was designed of their previous to administrative the idea and it's with regard to a four hundred or me forty five thousand square foot building at six hundred mcallen ellis madison in the past they were paying twenty nine thousand a year with for their pilot it's now been raised to fifty three thousand in the first year and then it'll increase in your lead to seventy six thousand dollars so that revenue will not only benefit the city but also the school district and the county so and now the idea is administered by metroplex under the county's unified economic development team so our very very good news yes the last piece of news of course that is going to affect the finance committee moving forward is our opportunity to you know apply for a gaming license and have a casino in schenectady so i'm sure that there will be much much discussion to follow and the finance committee will play a very active role in that thank you thank you and the other committee reports  ok i have no one signed up to speak on privileges of floor related to the legislative agenda so i'll entertain a motion to approve the legislative agenda mr cocksure seconded by mr ferrari all in favor i thank you i will now move to prevent the four regarding city seventy five year old lady that gets a thousand dollars a month he said taxes he's a mortgage can really afford to do it when to judge tells you to do it on his comment was well we have bigger situations to get it done let's talk about somebody else i'll talk about my mother who lost a husband last year because the embers can get up way street because of a snowstorm number why is this guy going to round harassing us he picked on true houses on that street and that was my mother and the house next door and that's a big file he should invade and explain to my mother thank you jason plank there stating for minority business contracts minority women had nothing on their credit ship and had nothing for section five zero three for a person with disabilities a total blatant disregard this is the same type of things that happened with the erie of art which thirteen million dollars was put in place and not one affirmative action gold was met out of that eerie bowl of our project and even even the daily news is that even reported on that piece for one on the new regs that just came out in march was just to call a five that there has to be a bare minimum seventy percent a persons with disabilities affirmative action into that piece to say that that he that he did not even be aware of it so this law has been around for many many years and you completely ignored it the other piece is that are pretty shit yes the city has a much stronger apprenticeship program then the state the reason is because this city council said that it needs to meet more affirmative action and more minority goals to say that because this is not a city funding we don't have to comply with what the farm an apprenticeship program the city is predator burnisher program is totally bogus because you still have to comply with new york state apprenticeship program you still have to apply and make sure that that these jobs apprenticeship so that way you can be able to grow because you're saying hey that person's not we can't hire some does not qualify well the only way they can get qualified is by having apprenticeship program that's the whole sole purpose so when you take a look at these things and putting these contracts out over the next two months january february most of these public works contracts are coming out you need to make sure that the r f p not only comes before the city council but these three things are made sure they're put in there so that we could have real jobs and jobs that are available for the city residents we have to be able to hire our own people if we want to improve the quality of life within our own neighborhoods and our own community of the city thank you thank you for everybody i do across the street because it's getting worse and worse people are speeding like crazy they don't slow down for nothing they always such a big hurry they can't leave the house early so the to beat the lights that's what they do that's what's happening all over in schenectady i hope you all have a nice holiday thank you tom really called me and said i'm going to buy some property from the city's connected i've been residing here and working in this business is for ten union street running my delicatessen since two thousand and ten my brother had a done and that's when mr a was really got a hold of me and said can you help me purchase a property sure so i contact city council the city corporation counter spoke with rachel ward and she said you have an offer i said yes thirty thousand she i'll take it up with the board and get back to you probably we could too later she's no they'll take fifty thousand so i went to my client to speak to him i said they're willing to take fifty thousand not thirty eight so he said let me check see what i can do money why so we this before but i got a check into that and done this before i although i do a lot of real estate but i want to check into how we're going to do it i should do i'm in order to title insurance not yes it's a scheme to going before you know we'll have a closing some you might notice or it's very expensive and i ordered it from go through the city council so i call again i said anything else you can do by getting the contract as i like to have a contract in place that we can move forward so there's no problem we know what type of deed you're going to give us an adjustment and so forth and that the property has been off the considering is this the way we do business is this the way to cities connected this business to taxpayers it's a disgrace is that how you treat people you make a deal and then you back down this man spent let me tell you what happened in two thousand  good evening my name is mary maclean i'm in the city i said it before and i will say it again there is nothing wrong with the city of schenectady the problem lies in this chamber on when members vote and pass legislation the trades union contract is a perfect example first the contract specifically involved couples who work for the city members of council  such a position should have recused themselves from voting as a taxpayer i saw the matter as a conflict of interest that was the intent of my comments at the last meeting a trade  n contract today another union discipline tomorrow because council house now opened the door to new giveaway it's the union member does not want to work for the city he or she is contract they cause it made and unnecessary new expenditure for the tax valuers gave us members more pork and it was a quid pro quo for endorsements special interest groups to not endorse candidates on good looks folks out there t v land a vote for schenectady democrats as a vote against yourself i also want to respond to the comments made to our miscellaneous business a council member asked what do you say to a child who is to start by an event my answer don't put yourself in that was assume if you you are not academically qualified to handle it that's what i learned in my psych class i swear dialogue between the police and community the councilwoman mostly out to tell you her after her appointment to council she illegally crossed a crime scene her complex was arrested the police let her go she said they didn't recognize her now she wants to hire law lastly she said ethnicity does not matter it mattered to her when she was selecting members for the affirmative act and action committee it mattered to her when she wanted an appointment to a city council street she thought she was entitled to it because her skin was a different color one does not need a black skin to represent the black community only sincerity is necessary when i lived in virginia i was a camp counselor for black children from the inner city some days i was the only white person on the bus that the council wellman lives to be one hundred years old she will never achieve my experiences and i have been the better person for thank you thank you and no one else signed up some going to this question of the meeting close we will move to miscellaneous business to the council be announced so maybe mayor if you know of anything better to do or you could go there and i'll it's what's going on i just like to take this opportunity to wish everyone out there and anybody  happy hanukkah which will be ending wednesday happy kwanzaa which we starting friday and a merry christmas to everyone out there there's been some bad things have been happening this past week on thinkable things that have been happening and i really fear for our aha safety of our public safety officials i don't even know what to say about some of these things and that all the murder of that little boy it's very tough to take especially at this time of year but i think we ought to sit back and counter blessings for the little things that we have because there are some people that are really having a tough time and this time of year is very tough to take things like this but i think our public safety officials  officers their lives are in danger and i really hope they stay safe that's the main thing because it's a difficult job for them to do and to be just asked sometimes to do things that no one else would like to do and then to be put in danger for no specific reason it's just on conscionable and i can't get that out of my mind but i wish everyone the best of everything for them this some upcoming year hopefully things will get better and i hope with that we can all come together and see that happen i can't thank you thank you couple of things there was a letter to the editor of about a city worker who helped a woman who fell on her sidewalk and she was thanking a city worker and you know i think it's a great opportunity for us to recognize that with our budget constraints were always doing more with less and in that recognition we have a tremendous crew of people who care very very much about this city and its  residents so i personally want to thank our city crew for all that they do and i was especially pleased to be prompted to remember to do that from a public recognition from one of our citizens  also congratulations to the mayor the knock down drag out continues and this one is a good one and we lost property on cutler street and also albany street today as part of our ongoing demolition to remove the blight from our neighborhoods so that certainly deserves some recognition just with regard to the casino announcement i know again i'll bring it up but i think that i'm going conversations are really important  i've had a tremendous amount of feedback from the announcement some concern but also some celebration and i was asked specifically by one of my phone calls to announce to all of the city residents th is in full support of the casino and she'd like to publicly let everyone know that so i'll attend to that piece of business and then i would say that mr reagan took some of the words right out of my mouth i want to wish everybody happy holidays ones who was recently hit by a car in albany st you know these are things that hit very close to home and are very very painful all year round but especially this time of year so although i send good wishes to everyone i also asked that  take a pause in how lucky we are to have the ones we love around us thank you thank you the support of thank you and two weeks ago in this chamber i don't talk about relationships between police and communities of color and we've heard him as mr he has said some really negative things that have been happening to our law enforcement and violence as we all know is not the answer and makes the whole world blind so i give my condolences to the families of those officers as well as to the their colleagues and blow because that's not the answer and i will reiterate again that you know conversation and talk and bullet proof glass for police off police cars and i think that if that bear does come to the floor and comes for wish and that's something that i would i would like to be able to see this council be able to support because when it comes to protecting our law enforcement it doesn't partisan politics should be put aside and we should we should do what's best for all so i just and i also want to just clarify something that the speaker said and that i was arrested and then let go that did not happen so we talk about this time of year where peace on earth and right now it's just unfortunately it's just not a very peaceful time so i just ask that you know we have we start this this council meeting with prayer that we for those who believe in prayer in the power of prayer that we really remember people who are going through the very very difficult times that that they are right now and that we work together to try to do as much as we can as a council as a human being to to better life for those that we touch daily maybe we'll realize that we touch people's lives but we touch people's lives daily so that we can do what we can to make it better so i wish everyone a merry christmas and happy holidays if you don't celebrate christmas and a very prosperous new year thank you thank you anyone else thank you i'd like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a happy hanukkah i'm or christmas and happy holidays for those who don't either and you know hopefully this pleasant neighborhood for demolishing eleven fifty cutler street today that has been an eyesore for so long and for small businesses such as my family it's just making the neighborhood a little bit better so we thank you very much th take time now to work together it's going to be a project that's going to benefit this community i think greatly and not only the benefit of the community but to benefit our school district as well again we're talking about some two point two whatever million dollars per year to discuss the school district and i think it's very important in lieu of them just recently laying out for the one hundred paraprofessionals seventy five teachers increasing class sizes i think it's something that's very very important to me to entire city schenectady and if i may i just want   that was an all you can eat breakfast again sponsored by the youth bureau and by choice for tots and i brought in women but it was just a great day a great event and i certainly want to thank choice for times for what they do for this entire community throughout the capital district i can't say enough five children and it was just a blessing to see that the hugs and kisses that we receive so again thank you everybody can thank so local organizations our schools the churches and of course our nonprofits and to the senate you know our regular citizens who have been supporting our work with as many people as we can the final decision on the sale of property does for rest of the city its case with the city council and at the same time it's exciting we're yes we have some of the situations where the maybe a little bit of conflict but there's an interest in property that some of us including myself a few years ago wouldn't thought would even be here so we're seen counteroffers come in we're seen people who are being more creative in terms of what they're going to do with some of the money from the c f a process for the robinson building work in liberty park just before that there was some transportation dollars that were awarded to schenectady a little over three million dollars to reduce some of the traffic patterns in roads side of g e and erie boulevard and coming off washington avenue to reduce the incidence of accidents there there's another million dollars it's going to be shared by schenectady cal and he and albany to do pedestrian safety improvements along the route five corridor in part of the city engineers also got the  regional people to put a special emphasis on the intersection of state street in brandywine in also the traffic from albany street we've all dealt with some of those issues in so there's a lot of good things happening we again were fortunate to get the designation for one of the casino licenses in new york state it shows really that schenectady is functioning a different level those where they were regional casinos they were world class players that were in the market and so schenectady in the team was competing against people from across the country and even people with international ties in when you sorted out the value the structure in the financing of each one of the deals schenectady prevailed in this region and it should be a pat on the back not only for the glossy brush gaming metroplex but a lot of broad base community support that went into that application and i understand that the casino also brings some level of apprehension it's a three hundred million dollar deal we don't we do have packages here in schenectady that are much smaller will get debate this is going to have a significant impact in terms of testing our ability to actually get a good deal in place get the permit in there get the construction done it will tell you that the city staff the team we have in place is ready to rise to that challenge it's going to provide job opportunities for training ability through the community college that people within this community will benefit over the long term and we're also in a better position to minimize any of those potential negatives from the casino in that sometimes i'll tell you that people tend to look at the negative side and don't look at the positive for they've only talked about negative influence talked about we knocked down two more houses today the one and or the one in albany street it's  two of a group of six that went out with that first round of betting those are the worst of the worst in again it's taken a while to line up that money from the want to wait loan in from the land bank but we're now just working through that trying to deal with the worst of the worst property and sending a message out to the community that we are serious about getting rid of the blight in the extremely distressed properties and as we're seeing from the housing sales same time we want to continue to market the community and show people that there is opportunity here and that there is value within the neighborhoods and with that already been said but i wish everyone well your celebrate hanukkah kwanzaa or christmas that you enjoy your upcoming or current holidays to enjoy your family and friends and we all look forward to a great two thousand and fifteen thank you madam president thank you mr mayor i would just echo a lot of your comments like this has been an exciting couple of weeks for the city of schenectady and you know with lower state street the casino the demolition just to some good things happening and we should be proud of that and then i would also echo one of your showing everybody merry christmas happy hanukkah happy