i'm going to call to order the city council caucus for april fourteenth two hundred fourteen we have to public hearings of the clerk would be that's public area number one regarding amending chapter six related to the affirmative action advisory board membership and role description public airing number two regarding the name change of a section of norwood avenue to mike me out a way right and then we go into original consideration item number one item number one for original consideration a resolution calling for a public airing regarding the proposed twenty fourteen consolidated plan discussed in committee without objection on consent item number two item number two a resolution calling for a public airing regarding objection on consent item number four item number four resolution authorizing the city to enter into a contract with mohawk ambulance regarding a l s billing again discussed in committee without objection on consent item number five authorizing the city of schenectady to settle a claim by jessica dars also discussed in claims without objection on consent item number can i have number ten a resolution authorizing the city of schenectady to settle a claim by jeffers again discussed in claims without objection on consent item number eleven item number eleven a resolution authorizing the settlement of a claim brought by garry denise also discussed in claims without objection on consent i don't number twelve item number twelve a resolution authorizing the city of schenectady to settle a claim by wesley holloway discussed in claims without objection on consent item number thirteen a resolution order presented by ms has no i don't remember if teen item number fifteen a resolution recognizing april as autism awareness month in the city of schenectady also taken out of order and be presented by mr erickson number sixteen number sixteen under contract and supply a resolution authorizing the city to enter into a contract for golf course materials they also discussed in compel thing wrecked without objection on consent and then item number seventy item number seventeen a resolution authorizing the transfer of title of parcels of real property discussed in claims committee tonight without objection on consent and if there's nothing else to come before the city council caucus i would declare this meeting so you can do it right from where you are i would like us to give a rousing applause out of applause for the union college hockey team they really made it a wonderful weekend we will be recognizing them at a future council meeting and i know the mayor's been very involved with planning a parade which i believe is going to be probably late tomorrow afternoon and the details should be coming out or thursday afternoon thursday afternoon yes but details should be coming out you know specific details tomorrow so we'll have plenty of opportunity to give recognition to these wonderful young people all right first out of order resolution recognizing all those representing retreat madam president you have the floor thank you still resolution recognizing april twenty fifth as arbor day whereas trees have been proven to be a valuable component of our environment by providing us with natural a statics for landscaping a biological tool to control water and wind or ocean or renewable source of food fuel and lumber for man habitat for birds and wildlife in a nature producer of oxygen and water and whereas the original arbor day was observed with the planting of more than a million trees and whereas arbor day has been designated by many states as a time to recognize the importance of trees to our environment and whereas arbor day is now celebrated throughout the united states in a many countries around the world and whereas the last friday in  april is commonly held to be the day to celebrate arbor day now therefore be it resolved that the city of schenectady hereby recognizes april twenty fifth two thousand and fourteen as arbor day and asked that citizens individually and collectively engage in the celebration of arbor day by planting trees as a source of future enjoyment and civic pride when a present i move this resolution right is their second date field all in favor i  just want to say when i first got involved in coming to city council meeting so was over some issues in a park across from my house with some trees that disappeared that's when i first got to know betsy and mike and mike and i we planted tree along the the campbell avenue side of hillary sparks every time i go by there seder night trees rate in a row there and i think that's almost twenty years ago but they plan a lot of trees do a great job this is a great asset to the city of schenectady with out what out question and i can't say enough when i'm going to let you say something ok yes vince and i probably about twenty five years ago i think it was believe it or not play in trees i just want to take this opportunity to  valuable to us i thank you for your support i don't know if everybody knows but the city gives us a little seed money each year and we take that and we use it to obtain different grants usually have to have matching money for grants so in order to continue to keep going you know we planted approximately you know two to three thousand trees over the years but we're at a point now where a lot of the trees in the city the old silver maples were all planted about the same time and they're all coming down  so the count that i got at the last meeting was for calendar year two thousand and thirteen we took down two hundred eighty three silver maple trees were probably at a faster clip from what i understand right now they're coming down they're old there are you know there are softer wood in there are a liability issue and were trees should be in a city has also changed a little bit the type of trees and where their planet but there's still a lot of places for trees so we've got to have a big push going forward because if we don't it's going to change our streetscapes and change the way the city looks and we want to keep our city livable and have a nice tree lined streets where it's possible to do that with that being said i also like to just say that you know ward organization a nonprofit five a one c three bennett existence for about twenty years always looking for everybody out there in viewing today always looking for volunteers anybody who has organizational skills and would like to help out with you know organizing groups we usually plant trees two or three times a year and we have other different events that we have to put together so anybody who wants to help anybody who also would like to just plant trees get a shovel help us plant some trees and we do our planning stuart three times a year we could use a little injection of some young blood and some new blood and to get in and give us a hand because we've got a lot to go a lot of effort to do a lot more to do especially at the rate the trees are coming down so that being  to thank everybody for passing this resolution which allows us to continue to be a tree city usa which is part of the arbor day foundation program and i think that's very important to our city and taller residents is supported to us i just want to pass a sit down so everybody can just introduce themselves and give their names these people help out in our bellevue area and also in our mt pleasant area and i think i've said more than i should thank you i'm a name is jackie herd and i just want to add one more thing to what mike said is that in addition to all the thank you's the city and the city workers and joe don't we don't want to forget all the volunteers that actually come out and help people all the different neighborhoods so just want to thank them and make sure you come out again guys we're going to do another planting yes my name is donna foley and i'm with the mom pleasant neighborhood association and will be playing some trees around the house going to the little league next month pat smith and vice president of the mt pleasant neighborhood association and we really are looking forward for the trees it's going to help improve the area i'm john horton i'm from mount pleasant and we go along with plan the trees that were your hope  doing it doesn't show up at all and depending on the weather we usually plan the last saturday or spring planning is usually the last saturday in april but depending on weather we get stoll tomorrow night may be pushed out till may third saturday may third but if anybody wants to come  a president you have before thank you this is a resolution honoring philip of nikko's pizzeria where as he goes pizzeria and rooftop tavern prides itself on offering great food at great prices and to their excellent service and hospitality the staff strive to make everyone feel welcome and comfortable and whereas the owner of nikko's prior to completing his education at suny albany with a degree in mathematics and physics started his career as a student and bartender who when jobs were scarce was encouraged to buy and operate nikos pizzeria and now more than seventeen years later still enjoying the work employees and customers mister repeatedly commits himself to his business his customers and the city of schenectady and whereas philip having seen schenectady change and grow over the years and believing that he and he goes have become a bigger part of the community has recently expanded the pizzeria by building two additional floors adding a forty two foot bar and adding rooftop patio all of which have been a huge success and whereas philip being forever thankful for his customer and community support received by nikos in addition to investing in our downtown has been providing support to the community through personal activities such as for approximately the past eleven years working with the  schenectady county center for juvenile justice by participating in community cleanups teaching the use of hand tools and instructing the art of landscaping now therefore be it resolved that the city of schenectady recognizes commands and his excellent contributions to the city of schenectady and wishes him continued success in the future i move this resolution all in favor  you i just want to expand on this a little bit in the fact that when i called when we started give graffiti the brush last year i called phil and said would you be willing to donate pizza to our hungry youth that worked very hard to you know paint over the graffiti in the city and he couldn't say yes fast enough so that's part of his recognition and well we were at it in recognizing fell other people stepped up to the plate and said include us too because we want to tell him how special he is medicare representing the housing authority the housing it's always been the beneficiary of mr geragos good will for a number of years and argues programs are very important to us they've done tremendous good on our propert fine example of how to conduct behavior and the business partnership with with the public effort is a wonderful thing to have and look forward to hopefully many more projects to come so thank you have four resolution recognizing april is autism awareness month in the city of schenectady whereas autism is in neurodevelopmental disorder that results in difficulties with communication and social interaction as well as repetitive behaviors and whereas according to a report published by the centers for disease control and prevention as of two thousand and eight facts an estimated one in every eighty eight children in the united states whereas autism is a major public health crisis that is taking an enormous toll on millions of families who need answers that could come only through further research and whereas autism can affect anyone regardless of race ethnicity or gender and whereas individuals living with autism are highly valued and deserve the highest level of dignity and acceptance by society now therefore be it resolved that the city of schenectady recognizes and commends both individuals living with autism and the parents and relatives of those individuals that sacrifice and dedication in providing for the special needs of individuals individual with autism and declare april two thousand and fourteen to be autism awareness month and the city is connectivity in order to increase public awareness of the need to support individuals just want to say thank you very much i am a parent of a young adult who's twenty six alyson schenectady and our autism society makes our home in schenectady and it's absolutely wonderful to know that we are welcomed here and that we are a part of a community that is warm and really thoughtful in terms of serving our loved ones with autism it means a great deal to us we have some news that we have to update you made a reference to one in eighty eight children it is now unfortunately one in sixty eight children there is a thirty percent increase in the prevalence of autism which is of course concerning to us and that means that people with autism will be living in our communities both young and those who are adults and those who are going to be aging so in every planning that we residential to community integration to faith based communities we have to really think about incorporating our citizens with autism the fact that we're here tonight indicates it's connected he is a good home for those of us who have loved ones with autism and just absolutely appreciative of your efforts and your thoughts thank you would you introduce yourselves i'm president of the board of the autism society to the careful district and again thank you very much because it helps get the word out to the public what is going on with people on the autism spectrum so again i think the council very much so as janine mentioned autism affects one in sixty eight people in this country and that's more than aids diabetes and cancer combined my name is sarah i'm the president and founder of the autism initiative it's a small nonprofit based out of the capital region and i'm also the proud owner of puzzles  which is a cafe that will be opening here in downtown schenectady right on state street this summer and it's part of our mission to employ adults and individuals with autism spectrum disorder as well as other developmental disabilities so i just want to take this opportunity to thank you for lighting it up blue this month and supporting our to some awareness and as jeanine mentioned there are not just children with autism in a lot of adults who are aging out of this education system and living in our communities for a very long time autism is a lifelong disability so that's very important to remember when it comes to housing in our communities and employment so i just want to thank you very much thank you all right we have two public hearings the first one is regarding amending chapter six related to the firm the affirmative action advisory board membership enroll description i have five people signed up to speak to this the first is jason like the disabled need to be representative on that board and i appreciated her help on that issue the disabled has been represented in the state of new york since one thousand nine hundred seventy four through the across the board of dealing with housing voting employment and other issues of gaining access to public buildings and public services and activities what i hope is that this board will concentrate first is on jobs we have got to be able to do with jobs we just had a report done by the gazette saying that we're number forty two and affordable housing so that means there's only twenty other that were worse than we are and out of the capital strict we were the worst and according to affordable housing for apartment rentals we were number of all right forty six so we've got a long ways to go but the only way that we're going to be able to make somebody of eligible to become a homeowner or a very good tenet is to be able to do for jobs they've got to have good quality jobs and be able to have access to it also there was you put in on a representative from the governmental agencies like the labor unions and so forth that's a total conflict of interest currently right now the taylor law violates human rights law both state and the federal and also violate civil rights laws  and it's in contract because they use contract law to override civil rights law and we need to be able to work with the affirmative action needs not be hands strained we need to be able to diversify our workforce so those are some of the things that we were looking at the affirmative action board i'm hoping that that they will be able to have the autonomy is to be able to work across the board another comment came back was that people on the board need to have human resource management skills they don't need to have human resource management skills i mean most of the individuals they already know what it is to be discriminated against and we know what what we need to be done we just need to have some common sense approach so i'm hoping that we'll move forward and i'm hoping that you know some of the people would step up i know marion said she had a lot of people and that's good so i'm just hoping that we can move forward and a positive direction thanks thank you jennifer gar action board is no different it brings intrinsic value to a community as it strives to help foster a community of opportunity for all by monitoring hiring promotion and contracting practices of established and other organizations now in turning the importance of something we may want to weigh the pros and cons i am sure that there are valid points on each side the decision then to bring the board back it's not a perfect decision no decision is perfect in the sense that it can guarantee a one hundred percent success rate in attainment of an objective but we must choose the best course of action that has the highest chance of success for all people and this board can ensure that by marching those opportunities but organizations are providing i've been living here for about six years now i had moved up here from insurance companies hospitals well known within the city of new york and within the counties my personal experience actually after moving up here was really unbelievable with regards to employment itself  based on the education i had based on the experience most of it came from with national insurance companies not necessarily the local plans in the area so i'm standing by the five could have had difficulties with regards t be formed again so that they could really look at what's going on here and what opportunities are really out there and available to the people and to all people thank you very much  moreau i'm here to speak to you about the affirmative action advisory board and why its significance is important to the city and to the state and other local municipalities the city the affirmative action in purchasing issues as far as trying to get different contracting contracting for the city of schenectady as well we also need to take advantage of any statewide or federal government a lot of low income families are minorities and they could use some kind of advocate in the community to help them find jobs and find employment is so important for all of us to work towards increasing the  economic status of minorities as you know the president of the united states is advocating that we increase our income for minorities and also to level the playing field for women as far as allowing them to also have the same base pay as as men so we all understand that there is a lot of work to do there's a lot of any quality in our in our society and i'm sure we can all work towards that here in director of the scantier save ministry and also a city resident i really wasn't playing coming tonight but i was working on my income taxes and said no i don't want to do it anymore so this is much more important so get back to that later i want to strongly support this emphasis of putting this board in the place as one has been here for a while i recall this coming up in some prior administr in the right time so i know it was the right time for this kind of board to proceed i'm reminded that it's similar to my experience i was asked a couple years ago to be on the school board superintendents committee superintendent excellence committee and we've been working on that for a couple years now and we produced most recently the racial justice support a report card and we began that process we began all with our emotions and whether any votes and whether our individual feelings and opinions about this issue but what we developed and what i hope this poor would develop into is working into a data driven approach to really utilize the data that's out there and to i hope b the board being provided with necessary resources fulfill its mission that's always a hard time government as we go but it does need resources to get to the data because once you get the data then you can move beyond it and say what are the outcomes we need to work on what are the policies we need to change and that's the other concern is with a focus on the policies because so much of this kind of stuff gets talked about in terms of personal terms so and so did this or didn't do that or whatever we become very personalized now it's not the issue of this poor this board really should focus on policy or the policies we can look at very glad to see an annual assessment very glad to see the possibility public hearings let's look at some of the policies that can be changed utilizing a data driven approach to hopefully get to so different outcomes that we've been seeing it's not because anybody is particularly at fault is just that these issues are difficult it's not that our efforts are tried and found wanting  good evening and elie pepper i'm a resident of the eastern avenue neighborhood association and i and in support of the affirmative action advisory board i saw an article in the schenectady does that about it which noted that the board no active in a number of years and then only three residents had applied to be considered as a result of requests for applications i was surprised that more residents hadn't applied to be considered for membership having read an article in february which outlined the in front of action ordinance and the fact that the board had been active for many years i'm here to express support for continuing the affirmative action vice reboarding to keep the structure structure as designed in the ordinance as many of you know i spent nearly six years as the assistant director at b and i better neighborhoods during that time i saw how difficult it can be to engage minority and women owned businesses in the bidding process for publicly funded housing projects the executive director and construction staff often spent hours with contractors whose bits were not accepted explaining how they could better craft their bid what certifications they were missing and inviting them and resources available to assist with the bidding process recruiting qualified candidates requires time and effort monitoring groups that utilize public funds for large scale projects requires time and effort reviewing policies at the municipal level requires time and effort i commend this could use on her efforts to date but clearly she should not be expected to handle this on her own in spite of her work the most recent affirmative action report from the city of schenectady in the case that there are fewer minorities working for the city than there were in two thousand  there just aren't enough hours in the day in an advisory board could do a lot to provide her assistance the advisory board composition must remain as outlined by the ordinance passed in one thousand nine hundred six and makes sense to have representatives from the very groups we are trying to recruit who better to advise and monitor affirmative action policy thank you thank you right i have no one else lined up to speak in public hearing number one son with that public hearing closed will go to public hearing him or to regarding the name change of the section of norwood avenue to my client away i have two people signed up tony but no one on bellevue i spoke to a lot of former players of marty and they are thrilled about this in fact one of the ball players that played for me at schenectady today i ran into him and he was really happy about it i played the first two years for mike team in the regular league and one year as an all star team i managed against mike and use the baseball knowledge he taught me and tried to beat his teams in this morning's paper mr mccarthy quoted that the union hockey when was the positives recognition brought to this city is on par with the one nine hundred fifty four world series victory by the little league of schenectady true and i just want to go down i have a scrapbook carried out was my father's he was one of the coaches that i got some information out of this is what the city did for the little league and it's all because of mike what he did  were met at the city line they came up from were inspired by bus i was two cars behind the bus with a friend of my father's in the city of assistant city manager brought them through bellevue down to hold over a career which is not a significant community was said by mike's players that he was way ahead of his time his former players and one of them made the major leagues played in the world series for the dodgers and when he played in rookie ball league is is what mike was that a city thank you thank you thanks for the information to schmidt mccarthy president king city council we in mount pleasant are very excited about the honorary changing of the norwood avenue to mike me out a way we want to support mr brady in any way that we can we would love to see the area beautified by improving the fence either with repairs or a new fencing we would like to see some old dead trees taken down that are going to probably fall on somebody before long and then replace them with some lovely retreat trees and my calculator is not working here and i don't want to get favors do i was asked by a couple of residents to express their concern about changing the name of norwood to me out of way and they had an alternative suggestion of having mike me out away underneath the norwood avenue sign or a separate plaque in honor of m just to try to prevent some confusion by visitors to the area that is their opinion i was asked to relate it but besides that we are just thrilled that there will be a aug twenty seventh ceremony and we are pledging to do whatever we can whatever mr rig needs if we can prepare flyers or posters or if we can prepare food i don't know what you're planning but we are there to help you this is a very important recognition and we don't often in pleasant get such an honor a rare a situation going on so we're pleased to get behind you let us know what we can do and  good evening mare madam president city council mr thorne mr poster my name is jeremy howard senior lifelong resident city schenectady i am a proud father my children have here samantha jeremy jr and a devoted husband my wife tanya and i'm also the former president manager and minor and major as all star manager of schenectady little league growing up in the city i was extremely involved in youth sports mainly due to one of my heroes my father as a father and a coach he made sure that i respected the importance of academics and athletics and how it would affect my future there were a handful of gentlemen as i grew up who would also affect my future one gentleman at the top of that list to affected me in the way i approach our youth of this community was mike my at it i was one of the fortunate players who had the opportunity to play for one of the greatest little league baseball coaches in schenectady history back then mr my edda handpicked all of his all star players and he was extremely selective when mr my at a called you to play it was an honor and you knew where you you knew where you were going to be put in position to succeed when you played for him you knew exactly where you stood he was in those nonsense kind of coach that would kick you in the tail when you made a mistake and pick you right back up afterward he loves us as one of his own i did understand his importance when i was young but never really appreciated the value of his teaching and so i too became involved in the little league to be a coach takes a very special person mr dedication enthusiasm passion and knowledge so you can pass along that feel you can pass that of this fine city thank you thank you and i believe there's one more person who gave mr righi a note that i didn't see who it was try to field all the time and plus both my grandchildren played there at that field i really wasn't aware of the whole history and thank you so much and i i feel that it's important to acknowledge those who are  exceptional and contribute to their communities in this case by giving hundreds of children the chance to play little league they help groom these children for the future by teaching them team play sportsmanship how to share and having the opportunity for physical activity making friends and bringing neighborhood families together nothing pleased me more than to just sit amongst the crowd and watch my grandchildren play and a lot so both my boys that league and i remember running home from work driving home from work and going to the field presenting him with the medal baseball bats i think they were just coming out they just beamed and they both got his that they and to this day they still remind me of that so  was such a special moment to them and one last thing i think is very important little girls get this opportunity because if they are good enough they also can get so quality scholarships and i'd like to say one more thing my little granddaughter switched over to soft law and tom isabella was her coach and he was just wonderful gave them a lot of opportunities thank you very good thank you right i have no one else lined up fine with clear this hearing will move to the approval of the minutes from communications presented to the city council for monday april fourteenth two thousand and fourteen on their official from the mayor list of appointments dated april fourteenth two thousand and fourteen a letter from chris wollen city engineer recommending the fertilizer and pesticides for the schenectady municipal golf course two thousand and fourteen season be awarded as listed on the resolution under general there's a letter from mr morton miller with the schenectady schenectady county coun veterans organization extending their gratitude to the city of schenectady for the recent ronald check also a letter from secretary jim wilson with the american legion post one zero zero two extending their gratitude to the city of i want to talk a little bit about the public hearing that we just had it with the affirmative action advisory board and i just need the clarification in the legislation that actually is printed today it went back and forth so i just want to be just want to clarify under d for the composition of the board our last the last thing that we voted on was that it would be seven to nine members of the board and one to two minorities one to two women one member disabled and then a two one veteran then two additional members so i just want people to be clear on that and that was just an error because how many times the legislation went back and forth so the wrong i get it in here in addition to that i know that there was had been some concerns about the number of people that would apply and i have to tell you that at this point we've gotten one thousand resumes so you know we were concerned that maybe there wouldn't be enough people but now we have one thousand so now becomes the challenge of choosing those folks that would sit on the board so i want to say i appreciate everyone who expressed an interest we get some really outstanding a resumes from people throughout the city very very diverse group of people so i'm really excited as we move forward to putting this together and i want to say thank you to the folks that reached out to other people to make sure that  resumes get submitted and i have to also say that the the article that is that was extremely helpful because once the article went out there were there were more people that were i'm reaching out and sending in their resumes so i'm excited as we look forward and just want to make that clarification we're not voting on it tonight but we are this is just a public hearing and so those things that were spoken about by the people that came to the rail will be taken into consideration thank you ok thank you any other committee being awarded to three different vendors on this and there was i think about forty different lyneham so it's quite a bit of work that went into this bed and i wanted to commend chris wallace in the team in the engineering department who i think did a lot of legwork on this so they participate in the online betting got the word out so we had a bunch of companies that participated it was filtered down to about four actually five different vendors that met all the qualifications or quired and then they chose three and i believe there are three companies that you know we've not done business in the past so they were a competitive beds lower beds and resulted in some savings i just want to get say thanks to those guys for for doing all that work a lot of legwork so i know it sometimes we speak of this under claim so i'm pleased to see that we're have a contract with mohawk amulets to worked in concert with sky for the fire department they both do a great job they've been doing a great job and i'm glad we're able to come to an agreement with a company that provides a lot of jobs for the community and pays a lot of taxes in our community so i think it's a good thing and they do a good job along with our paramedic so that's a good way of of the two working together to provide a great service for  community so i just want to say that's a good thing and i'm very happy for that thank you anyone else right if not we will move on then to privileges the floor related to the legislative agenda i have three people signed up to speak  your writing look different on this one i don't know  i live in the city disconnected the i've been following the conversation regards to the city's connected these options for fixing breaking laterals i can speak on that here i must say i was quite shocked to hear that particularly senior citizens are for for clothes on this i'm going to stop here that's not on the agenda tonight so i would rather you didn't go out in the general privilege of the floor i'm not going to be able to fit it in because i have some other things to say ok back of the house money because you guys are already voted on it one of the things is that the city council needs to remember that community don't block grant is from general from july first and till june thirtieth so yes you can touch the back of the house money right now because all you have to do is take half of that so the only thing that you've noted on in october was for the first last six months of this fiscal year so you can make some changes there also too is that  you increased the affirmative action body by five to fifty one thousand america is only about sixty three about sixty four thousand per year and you times that by one hundred fifty five percent it still is brings that less than one hundred thousand dollars total for her own position so to increase that by one thousand is not necessary and it should be left at fifty thousand dollars half should be paid by us and in half by the county the other thing is on the community don't block grant is that in thirteen months we will have to have a five year consolidated plan put together this body needs to make sure that we have the public areas to put together the five year plan five years ago we had major problems with what the council actually voted on and what was actually submitted were two different documents so we need to be able to work on this five year plan also two is in the community don't block grant we need to start doing the public hearings on the back of the house i have said this for the last five six years we need to be able to do that not cobra while budgeting as and then to do a public hearing at the same time when you put the front of the house part of people out on the same day is totally inappropriate because you're not even receiving it is for the public to even comment for the front of the house when you put the r f p out the same time so i mean these are just some of the things that when you go over the next two weeks and you start listening to people when they come for the public hearing i'm hoping that you can be able to start dressing some of these things and again i have to stress is that you only are what you did for the back of the house was only for six months which was the last half of this fiscal year so you can make some changes and i also was a little surprised but i'm also glad that it didn't affect too much is that you put these three hundred thousand three million dollar low under public services i still haven't figured out how demolition is considered public services for like roads and so forth you got fifty six thousand but also two issues that were you going to happen after of six years from now when the when the contract with the county ends with the sales tax so those are some of the things that need to be think  thank you david wilkinson grandson gregory i am formed of the new business and told them please check it out particularly interested because for quite some time my son and grandson has spent thousands of dollars on their inventions and on lawyers and their inventions  languishing down in work washing and waiting for a patent and then the mean time i'm walking through the department stores and i search three of my son's inventions by big corporations so you know i didn't buy them so i would wish people to check out  exciting his city of thoughts and ideas and it was a great turnout the other day for the job fair to so it's jobs and opportunities for people brighter yet possibly an understatement as an amateur artist i sort of a sort of a cold wall and then over that is a wonderful design of i think it's wrought iron with plants lovely fixtures the interior is beautiful i can't wait to eat there and again more jobs for people in another the brightest the brightest moment congratulations coach bennett and dutchman of union college for spectacular win in the frozen four tournament there was no doubt in my mind a week before they even played i told both i so they're going to take it because i knew they were really great and anyone who watched thursday so they gave us a bit on their the side of the seat like i was i mean a hat trick not two minutes the five minute penalty they'd be and then again they were down to four guys against six bostonians they took it saturdays was just as exciting schenectady as could be proud of the way all of you touch an honor to the city schenectady and to historic union college by showing teamwork good sportsmanship camaraderie persistence and overall good clean play again you brought joy and pride to everyone who watched you play i'm so happy to hear that there will be a parade in your honor finally tonight begins passover for those observing happy holidays and for those in just a pagan easter happy easter and try not to put all of your eggs in one basket and even thank you homeowners assessments used the claims committee from the last two to three years from this city council to address the issue most of the city council as of an approving of a lot of the large developers and contractors they've been approving you know between twenty five to fifty percent reductions and use those as part of the assessment and agree that yes it's going to take you at least two to three years in order to get it through probably through an article seventy eight  assessment was done during the housing crash that is the reason why we're up as high as we are on the assessments and reassessment you need to be done and by next year every five years you're supposed to be able to most cities supposed to do reassessments every five years so we're cited it was due to the high property taxes that we had and it was also we were also ranked number forty six the worst county for rental apartments the one bedroom rental apartment in th city in this multiple six county city is what they based it on is seven hundred forty four dollars per month and most social security disability checks are right around about ten fifty the average us aside checks a little less than eight hundred dollars and you're supposed to only be paying thirty percent of what your income is on rent so seven forty four doesn't leave much money and the society is about eighteen to nineteen percent below what poverty guidelines and that represents so that means you're at the way bottom of a ford a built in accessibility so we need to start addressing some of the issues on fair housing marriages and skee back in two thousand and three i was one of the founding for persons on the marriage taskforce on housing and we switched over on to accessibility for disabled in two thousand and four so hopefully we can be able to reach constitute and start addressing some of the issues on affordable and accessible housing within the county thanks thank you  pastor of the faith deliverance tabernacle and reverend emmanuel adams the new bethel church of god we come to you tonight on behalf of many of the differed christian churches in our community our hearts have been burdened for the people and the city of schenectady we represent a number of local churches concerned for our families our neighborhoods and our educational system we believe christ is calling us to recognize the unity that we have in jesus to pray together to respond to a call to action for many years we've been praying for these issues in several different prayer groups throughout the city and throughout the county we now believe it is time for all christians to come together in unity seeking god's will for us as we pray as we commit ourselves to this call to action we invite you to gather with us on saturday may fifth from five to seven at the mount pleasant middle school auditorium at eleven twenty one four stroke if you desire to see unity as we work together for the people of schenectady well to plan to join with us so only two hours it can make a big difference as we approach the problems that we've been facing in our community remember may fifth five to seven p m at mount pleasant auditorium and we truly thank god for this moment that we have and it's a we know the unity is so important in today's life today we know there's many crises that are out there today but we unity we believe that we overcome some of these things that are happening you know the economy and think that or are waxing and things to be waxing worse but we know there's a lot of stress that's in the land but we know that with prayer and comfort and some peace of mind that we can work through these issues and we can really work them together and with god's help were able him believe he's able to do all things but there's nothing too hard for god and we pray for each and every one of you each and every one but also i was just informed that i said the wrong day it's  tony been on both of your just two quick things if i may address mayor just on two quick things on broadway i know it's not the city's problem becoming down from bellevue on broadway rig people who are responsible for it i'd appreciate it and there's a patch across the street there too and if we can get something put in the paper about these fires now it's springtime open fires even if they have a net on top of them  against the law because of the smoked out it has you know anybody would in fancy a more smells up the house or anything like that i'd appreciate it thank you ok thank you they did a wonderful job the job that is beyond a job you know these five men did so much work here and i do respect them we respect them for what they do i did  to hair is going to be doing a clean up in the park is sending some folks to head us so on april twenty second i need to see everybody out there thank you thank you gerald plant consultant to clean up the city anyways several years ago i held the first and only graffiti some in the city since the city did not act on this blight when all of us know it exists i decided to come up with a wall of shame to my point this year's wall of shame goes to the antique brick round building that sits adjacent to disconnectedly county community college and also in an historic district surprised at the preservation of having gotten on that when picking was working us triple c i approached her about this building and how this play was an accepted because of the recent multimillion dollar renovation to the campus along with new housing i let her know that the graffiti vandals start with a dye then proceed to take over the whole building didn't just start overnight in schenectady who's known as the michigan avenue exit for my eight ninety west where a whole wall of graffiti vandalism has been sitting there for several years and other main entrance into the city drive further west along i ninety under the high ridge there's more and this is all underdone the darkness of night where the police right we know this is going on drive further west along there on the high bridge and also at the exit at estoril see them drive along at assen ed where it meets ninety and more recently when less probably a couple  years out of control under the i ninety bridges that face ninety again exits and entrances into the city it does not look good for the city so what's to say about our fair city and its leaders and policing protocols not much once we start cleaning it up it sends out a message zero tolerance tolerance for this garbage in a recent scenario a forty five year old man from amsterdam came into schenectady in the dead of winter at two am to spray paint over graffiti to leave his own graffiti the man was caught and charged with a felony he would have driven all the way from amsterdam out of the cover of darkness of schenectady didn't tolerate the vandalism it's at epidemic proportions and thank you to miss pratt so it's not easy being the only city official to take a stand on this all important quality of life issue i feel her frustrations i too was the only one cleaning up her feet in my neighborhood on the green in front street underpasses at the sidewalk level again for everybody sees also the same for nor center st we know development the time was taking place in little italy sexually there are choices work before so perhaps you to let him know that you like your city cleaned up ok this is the first time you've been here before you and mr bronson would you mind taking this stuff and here are some ideas for you to go ahead here's the article about the past every ball of art and more large street is one of the worst streets and schenectady right now nothing has been done yet to fix the water break but  didn't do nothing but all the potholes on one large street everybody moved a car i moved my cart a lot of people moved moved a car parked it in the lot wingfoot a city to fix it yet nothing has been done so something has to be done before somebody gets hurt with the potholes and everything else going on it's got to stop so let's get on the ball and get this thing rolling right and thank you the last name looks like cody i'm having trouble reading this person's writing from albany on crossing signals ok my pleasant so we just want to acknowledge that i would like to say that angelica morris of the human rights commission has forms if someone does want to nominate a volunteer for their community service i personally can't claim such praise for work that is supported by dedicated creative and very diligent board members who take initiative for projects that improve the neighborhood i want to recognize muhammad hoffa's for is dedicated service during his teen term as president we work together on most projects and filling his shoes can be challenging i would like to tell you that i met with five pastors five different churches yesterday regarding our cross walk coming up which mr motivator and will kindly announce the theme there among those pastors aside from the cross walk was that our youth need activities as alternatives to keep them from and to get them off the streets we're talking about a possible stop a thon or dance of thunder something that is going to involve them i can tell you that deacon jim caniggia of the holy names catholic church had a forum where he invited mount pleasant middle school members and he discovered that there is a void that needs to be filled there the girls have girls day out the boys don't have anything such thing he is looking for men to come forward and be mentors men who can witness men who can be a good role model for boys and give them support many of these youths live without supportive parents in their homes and actually act as a support to their younger siblings while statements there had a common theme that we need to change our attitude from a negative one to a positive one and i agree wholeheartedly with it's time to have a positive voice and schenectady thank you thank you mary mclean i suggest that all of you go take a look on green street behind moritz restaurant the mayor negotiated the contract with an sanitation workers that allows them to go home after torre is finished even if it means they possibly work six hours and get paid for eight i feel to understand how such an ever ancient there's a plus for the city that it ever occur to any want to give them a right to clean up the rest of the trash that covers the sidewalks after they finish lifting garbage cans i was always talked to give an employer and hours work for eight hours space as if that isn't that enough the mayor rationalizes their work pattern if a car parked on the city street belong to the driver smother what he ran into it if the car parked on the street belonged to the driver's daughter what he hid it well making a turn with big equipment on an hour straight so much for pork and contracts regarding the mayor's comment on taxes if everyone paid his or her taxes the city would reduce taxes by ten percent with all due respect i disagree if city officials did not spend so much money taxes could be reduced by more than twenty percent for instance i was in the committee room on the night the proposal was made for a new service garage on forester ave the figures didn't make any sense to me council approved the project i was in the committee room when five men in this in a suit showed up for the semen company save energy proposal company received the twenty year contract and the windows are now still opened because the faulty radiators make the room to hock the contract was to correct the problem fifteen million one hundred sixty nine thousand dollars of the city budget goes for employees hospital and medical expenses pay one hundred first set of my coverage how awesome accomplishment thank you frank wilkes and as bad on the outside that suggests there's bad people and bad things on the inside so i say sorry they went over and didn't own structure so i want to each one of those four stores i introduce myself  know i think the mayor is a wrong i don't i don't i don't for his tantrums are bad he might be good intentions but i think it's counterproductive and you know really a bad thing for the community to you know do what he's doing with these stores where they're hardworking thank you i also wanted to congratulate the mayor and the city's conference i know it was a a big effort and it was i thought you know in a time where we're all trying to think more regionally i and what a renaissance we've been going through and how great downtown is and i think there were a lot of people very envious of our community and the strides that have been made so it was a proud day for schenectady and also a really great conference  i would also like to congratulate our codes department under the direction of mr schilling they really had made substantial strides there was an article in the paper recently it was reported in the last fifteen months that there were many more successful code enforcement cases they resulted in landlords coming to full compliance with codes and quality of life issues and i just wanted to thank mr schilling for his diligence for increasing the communication with a lot apartment mr for all his work in guiding these cases through and also you know obviously betterment documentation leads to more responsible landlords we still have a ways to go we're just but we are moving in a forward direction which i think is very important and ultimately all of this increases the quality of life for our citizens so that's the real reward  the mayor recently also announced his it starts with me recycling campaign so just a reminder to everyone that and recycling aids both the city and our environment and it takes two plastic bins to start recycling we have some really comprehensive information here at the city we have free stickers to put on the bins the stickers explain everything that can go in the bins and my offer stands if you're not recycling and you wan start or if you were recycling and you want to start again or if you just need to upgrade i will personally bring stickers to your home contact me and i will have them there within a couple of days at most and finally i just try to touch and every six months or so the nine one one a i initiative i think it's one of those things that it becomes quiet and people forget that we have it but it's a wonderful wonderful benefit to our community and it is free what nine one one a i is it stands for additional information it provides dispatchers and first responders with any information that you feel is important to give them such as medical conditions room locations of elderly people or children medication list emergency contacts many times schools or businesses have multiple buildings and multiple floors nine one one ai technology enable schools and businesses to identify the location of each phone in their system so they know exactly where the call is coming from and they can get there more quickly to register it you do need it's required registration but just go to nine one one a it's free it will also alert a caregiver if an elderly person calls nine one one they will get a text saying nine one one has been called so it really is a very very valuable  addition to our community and lastly yes we're working on our graffiti initiative again i think that all of the council members fully support covering and removing graffiti i don't think i'm the only one by any means  just think that i kind of coordinated it was crazy enough to be willing to go to home depot every week and keep the paint my cellar so we're looking for community groups to adopt a week we're looking for pizza sponsors for forty dollars or less after kids work for four hours and they're going to be some hot days coming up we certainly want to make it a positive experience and make sure they have plenty of water and some pizza some sustenance afterwards so if anybody's interested in that they can contact me thank you i'd also like to talk about the conference that was here that was done on thursday strengthening communities it was extremely well done well coordinated so i congratulate the mayor for everyone who at any part and putting that conference together i've attended conferences across the united states federal conferences but in major venues and i have to tell you that the congress that was planted next the was right up there with those so congratulations on that and not only was it well organized the information was there and i think in addition to talking about how else can i think it was doing was also some opportunities to talk about how we can expand on things and things that maybe we hadn't looked at so i found it extremely informative and everyone that i spoke with that went found it as well and i'd like to also congratulate sara hill from proctors on the third annual gospel jubilee which was help this past friday evening it was well very very well attended it was a tribute to the late artist kitchen for those who really didn't know he was on the radio or gospel artists on the radio in the eighty's seventy's and eighty's and he always ended his show by saying become to those you meet on your way up because they may because we've had been having the girl's day out so that is being worked on so if there's anyone who's interested in becoming a part of this they can contact ebony bellmawr at schenectady city school district she is part of that group that's doing it and also wesley holloway the gentleman came up and talked a little bit about albany street so i just want to be able to say that the hamilton hill neighborhood association has been working for the past year with the street merchants going up and down working on cleaning up litter  doing a garbage can and they should live which is going very well and and actually one of the businesses that we're visit the other day was one of the first that gave us money to purchase the garbage cans into this initiative so we've been working with them because because  neighborhood is interested in making sure that we bring back the quality of life for our neighborhood so there are some positive initiatives that are there going on and will continue and for the last time this year i will announce that tomorrow is tax day so if you haven't filed your taxes you still have a little time and if you can't give them time you can file extension form forty eight sixty eight if that in and then you'll have a little time to file your taxes thank you very much thank you anyone else thanks for giving us a deadline we got to go i want to thank my pleasant neighborhood association for their support of mike my head away and also the other people that spoke i think this past couple of days everybody's feeling the pride of union college when they get national championship i'm lucky enough i can say to be old enough where i was able to experience this twice in my lifetime in one nine hundred fifty four i was eight years old but i was there and i was in front of  city hall here with i mean the crowd was wall to wall it's a big deal and it was a big deal then and it's a big deal now you know anybody that brings national recognition to a city i  think you know there's not enough to say about that so it's a huge positive and just to think that we're involved in that is it's just amazing here we have a small town little little town schenectady and we've been recognized for these achievements sports wise but again i'll go back to mike and how much he's meant to the youth of this community in here jeremy howard speak to him also really means a lot because he sent back to a lot of people's lives in schenectady and t he to true volunteer work and that's what it's all about but just you know putting it all together like i said i think it's unique that we have the public airing tonight and union won that the national championship two days ago it just brings everything full circle it took sixty years to get back there and i think that's an amazing thing in itself but again this pride that we're all feeling it's happened once before so that's why i think it's so unfair of that we have lasting tributes to people that make these compliments happen because it just it just doesn't happen it isn't magic it's a lot of heart as what goes into this i could see the union college team playing they were playing on heart that's what it was you could see that they weren't going to be and that's the way that fifty four team was two there was four guys on a fifty four team that were starters has eleven year olds on the fifty three team that lost one to nothing in the final game they could've won two years in a row as we want to nothing they had a couple runs called back but that's another story but there was for starters eleven year olds on all stars which is unheard of that's why they knew they were coming back and they were going to win it all in fifty four there's no question in mike's mind or the players mind the why they did that so it's a huge accomplishment my my i'm really looking forward to august twenty seventh and this will be a big ceremony for this to happen mayor if you could give us an update i had some questions on asked to me about the demos with the money that we received on the want to wait loan when is the demos going to happen especially on broadway that's the one place that was asked our kiosks i believe we had them since november one will they be installed that's the other question now there is also i know the good weather started but i had complaints about daryl parks saturday night there was a lot of action going on there again i think the police showed up but after they left that the crowd didn't really disperse and there was a lot of loud music and nonsense going on after hours so i would like to see that curfew strictly enforced people should have to live like that around an area like that that shouldn't be so i would really likes to see something happen with that and lastly for those who observe tonight's the first night of passover so a happy passover and this is the most holiest week for christians coming up this is holy week i want to wish everybody a good holy week and a very happy easter thank you thank you anyone else  yes i would just like to join and congratulate him you can call it for a well this or of a when and how it's off to the team member and the coach for a while of his or victory and let us celebrate this and them happy that we are having a parade for them the stars the recycle this goes to benefit the emily a really fun nation a community a foundation that serving schenectady community this friday in monk pleasant way having a good friday cross walk weekend is easter i would like to wish everyone a happy easter weekend really celebrates and enjoy thank you thank you anyone else mr mayor thank you madam president  y the demos were actually still waiting for the contract to come from hud government sometimes moves in a slow manner the us were ready to install them well at the snow is gone and that out it was a very impressive day i gave us a chance to reflect on some of the good things that we're doing here and evaluate some of the problems that we all face and how that we can work together to and thursday looking from four o'clock to six o'clock is the time frame we've narrowed out in they hopefully those fine points will be put in place tomorrow and be able to do that final announcement so that we can  all look forward to participating in that following a colleague's comments which everyone happy and holy passover and easter but he enjoyed the rest of their evening thank you better president thank you and i'd just like to add my congratulations to the mayor for the wonderful conference last week and also special thank you to both city staff who volunteered to help and community volunteers betty barling was the chair of the committee i think everybody just really