1 1 HOUSING AUTHORITY OF THE CITY OF NEWARK 2 NEWARK, NEW JERSEY 3 THURSDAY, JANUARY 14, 2021 4 x--------------------------------x 5 IN THE MATTER OF: * 6 THE REGULAR MEETING * TRANSCRIPT 7 OF THE HOUSING AUTHORITY * OF 8 OF THE CITY OF NEWARK * PROCEEDINGS 9 Commencing at 5:00 p.m. via Zoom * 10 x--------------------------------x 11 HOUSING AUTHORITY OF THE CITY OF NEWARK 12 500 BROAD STREET 13 NEWARK, NEW JERSEY 14 B E F O R E: 15 HOUSING AUTHORITY OF THE CITY OF NEWARK 16 EDDIE OSBORNE, President 17 MARTINIQUE COSTA, Commissioner 18 FAUSTO BAEZ, Commissioner 19 NORMA GONZALEZ, Commissioner 20 BRIAN LOGAN, Commissioner 21 ALIF MUHAMMAD, Commissioner 22 23 24 ANTHONY HOFMANN, C.C.R. 25 LICENSE NO. XIO1854 2 1 PROFESSIONAL STAFF: 2 3 VICTOR CIRILO, Executive Director 4 KATIA OLIVEIRA, Executive Assistant 5 ELIO MENA, Counsel 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 3 1 I N D E X 2 PAGE 3 Opening Statement 4 4 Public Participation 5 By: Cassandra Dock 6 6 By: Donna Jackson 12 7 By: Kim Barnes 19 8 9 Items for Approval 26 10 11 RESOLUTIONS PAGE 12 H-1 through H-24 32 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 4 1 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: It is now 5:01. We 2 are calling the meeting to order. 3 Can I get a roll call. 4 MR. CIRILO: We will read the Open 5 Public Meetings Act. Can everybody hear me okay? 6 Please mute your phones, please, we are going to get 7 started. Katia, please make sure we are going live 8 on Facebook. 9 As required by N.J.S.A. 10:4-6 known 10 the Open Public Meetings Act, notice of this meeting 11 was provided in the following manner. On 12 December 23, 2020 notice of the meeting specifying 13 the date, time and location was transmitted to the 14 Star Ledger, El Nuevo Coqui and to the clerk of the 15 City of Newark. 16 Roll call, Chairman. Commissioner 17 Logan. 18 COMMISSIONER LOGAN: Yes. 19 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Muhammad. 20 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Present. 21 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Baez. 22 Commissioner Baez. 23 Commissioner Gonzalez. 24 COMMISSIONER GONZALEZ: Present. 25 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Costa. 5 1 COMMISSIONER COSTA: Here. 2 MR. CIRILO: Chairman Osborne. 3 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Present. 4 MR. CIRILO: Mr. Chairman, we have a 5 quorum. 6 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Do we have any 7 special presentations? 8 MR. CIRILO: We don't have special 9 presentations today, Mr. Chairman. 10 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Then we are going 11 to open the floor up to the public speakers. 12 MR. CIRILO: Yes, Mr. Chairman, in 13 accordance with the Open Public Meetings Act, the 14 Housing Authority of the City of Newark opens every 15 public meeting for comment of the public. Each 16 person choosing to speak at the meeting will be 17 limited to five minutes to speak on any subject on 18 or off the agenda. All speakers must state their 19 name and address for the record. 20 However, in accordance with N.J.S.A. 21 10:4-12, nothing in the Act shall construed to limit 22 the discretion of a public body to permit, prohibit 23 or regulate the act of participation at any meeting. 24 Therefore, please be advised that the 25 Housing Authority of the City of Newark will not 6 1 entertain any comments from persons who communicate 2 obscene materials, make statements which are 3 considered bias intimidation in which a person 4 intends to intimidate any individual or group 5 because of race, color, religion, gender, handicap, 6 sexual orientation or ethnicity or makes comments 7 intending to harass or speak in any offensive 8 language. The person who makes the statements will 9 relinquish their allotted five minutes for public 10 discussion. Any person who persists in speaking out 11 of turn or interrupts the peace and order of the 12 meeting will be escorted off the premises. 13 The first speaker will be 14 Ms. Cassandra Dock. 15 MS. OLIVEIRA: Do you mind unmuting 16 yourself so Cassandra can start. 17 MS. DOCK: Can you guys hear me? 18 MR. CIRILO: Yes, we hear you nice and 19 clear. 20 MS. DOCK: Let me begin with why I 21 first asked to speak. I'll start with Stephen Crane 22 elderly building. Now, I'm not sure if this is a 23 Housing Authority rule -- wait one second because I 24 tried to get you guys on my other phone. There is 25 an echo. Again, I don't know if this is a Housing 7 1 Authority rule because I know Housing Authority 2 sometimes make up their own rules or if this is a 3 HUD rule. 4 Now, one of the tenants in the elderly 5 building over at Stephen Crane on not one month but 6 two months received an eviction notice on her door. 7 I am on her list as a contact person so the 8 management company will contact me in the beginning 9 like around September or August when her rent was 10 not up-to-date. Once her rent became up-to-date, I 11 couldn't understand why was the Housing -- why was 12 the management company over at Stephen Crane putting 13 eviction notices on her door. That's one thing I 14 need for you to address, is that a Housing Authority 15 rule or is that a HUD rule? 16 Now, according to management it comes 17 from your office. So how is it that your office 18 does not know when a person is up-to-date on their 19 rent. So the tenant I'm talking about is Acianna 20 Cruz so that is one thing I need for you guys to 21 rectify that. 22 How is this going to work when we 23 present whatever it is we need to be addressed, are 24 you guys going to get back to us via phone or are 25 you going to e-mail us. Commissioner, I didn't have 8 1 the privilege of meeting you so, again, I don't know 2 if you are going to do that or you are going to have 3 your Commissioners do that so before I move on how 4 are you going to respond to me to let me know that 5 my issues are rectified? 6 MR. CIRILO: I can address that if 7 that is okay. 8 MS. DOCK: Take a few seconds because 9 I have two minutes. 10 MR. CIRILO: Freeze the clock, please. 11 So, Ms. Dock, we take comments from 12 the public and as you know the meeting is 13 transcribed and we obtain the notes and we respond 14 to you in writing so you can have documentation of 15 what happened. Any concern we can address it right 16 away such as an emergency repair or something that 17 threatens the life and health and safety of a 18 resident. 19 MS. DOCK: It is not a repair issue. 20 Let me give you my e-mail address so you can respond 21 to me that way. Dockcassandra2@gmail.com. 22 Second issue. 23 MR. MENA: Would it be possible for 24 you to send us a copy of the notice. 25 MS. DOCK: One second, freeze the 9 1 clock. Go ahead. 2 MR. MENA: Would you be able to extend 3 us a copy of the notice so we can refer to it before 4 staff responds also. 5 MS. DOCK: Absolutely. 6 MR. MENA: Thank you. 7 MS. DOCK: I am also talking to 8 management as well and they are telling me this is 9 your rule. So, secondly, I want to address Shana 10 Thomas. Shana Thomas -- go ahead, resume the clock. 11 Secondly, I want to address Shana Thomas. She lives 12 in Hyatt Court. I'm not understanding how we 13 allowing a resident who has two teenage boys I 14 believe they are fifteen and sixteen to be in a two 15 bedroom. She also has two daughters who are like 16 six and seven. How we allowing teenage boys to be 17 in a room with two young girls. So I need you guys 18 to reach out to Ms. Thomas. She is in Hyatt Court 19 to see if we can assist her with getting a bigger 20 larger apartment with another room because those 21 boys do not need to be in that room with those 22 girls. 23 Thirdly, I want to address those 24 tenants that are behind in their rent. Now, I'm not 25 understanding how if a tenant has submitted 10 1 paperwork and you guys down there in the Housing 2 Authority are legendary for not keeping up with the 3 paperwork backdated not the right date, again, 4 legendary. I want to know if these tenants sent you 5 in their information informing you -- when I say you 6 I mean 500 Broad Street -- that their financial 7 situation, why are you not addressing their rent 8 according to what they are receiving whether it's 9 unemployment, whether it is no employment. I need 10 for Housing Authority to get on point and I have a 11 specific person that I am talking about. The person 12 just turned in their paperwork yesterday and I'm 13 going to wait just to see how you go about fixing 14 this situation because the person provided you with 15 all their proper information. I am just going to 16 wait before I give you their name because I don't 17 want you guys down there penalizing people because 18 you are legendary for doing that too because you're 19 part of the administration that is down the street 20 from you at 920 Broad Street. You are not supposed 21 to be, but you are. So I want to make sure nobody 22 gets penalized. 23 Mr. Cirilo, this is not to you because 24 I don't know you, you're new so I don't know if you 25 behave like them. So, again, those are my issues. 11 1 You have my e-mail address. I will wait for you 2 guys to respond. If I don't get a response, I will 3 be back out to speak next month. 4 Thank you for your time. Hopefully 5 you are having a new year. 6 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Mr. Chairman. 7 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Go ahead, Mr. 8 Muhammad. 9 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Cassandra, how 10 are you? As far as the rent and everything you know 11 there's a moratorium that nobody could be evicted 12 and -- 13 MS. DOCK: I did not say eviction. I 14 said do the rent accordingly. 15 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: My 16 understanding they have to recertify with the 17 management. Let me say something about our 18 Executive Director. He will answer all your 19 questions within a week, he's on point. 20 MS. DOCK: We will let him. I don't 21 need you to direct what the Director can do and 22 cannot do. 23 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: I got my own 24 mouth. 25 MS. DOCK: You heard what I said and 12 1 he has his own. 2 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: I love you 3 too. 4 MS. DOCK: I love you too. 5 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Thank you very much 6 for your input and we will get right on this 7 situation. 8 MS. DOCK: Of course. Be good. 9 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Be good. Next 10 speaker, Ms. Donna Jackson. 11 MS. JACKSON: Yes, I'm ready. Good 12 evening, everyone. 13 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Good evening. 14 MS. JACKSON: Couple of things. 15 First, I would like to request a complete list of 16 all of the public housing in the City of Newark and 17 who owns what. We are having major issues over at 18 Villa Victoria and I know that there has been some 19 land changes, some ownership changes recently. I am 20 not sure I agree with them, but I guess that doesn't 21 matter, but the upkeep at most of these facilities 22 is horrible. It will help for us to know who owns 23 what so we can attack the issue properly. I have 24 several tenants over at Villa Victoria Village in 25 the townhouses specifically that have some 13 1 horrendous mold conditions et cetera in their 2 building in their unit and it needs to be addressed 3 because it is causing very serious health issues to 4 themselves and their children. 5 Secondly, I understand that several 6 properties have been sold recently and we are 7 looking at doing some rehab. What is going on with 8 the property on Bergen Street and Muhammad Ali? I 9 don't know why that is being refurbished. It needs 10 to be torn down and rebuilt. Across the street from 11 Pilgrim Village, not Betty Shabazz, but going toward 12 Avon Avenue I am not quite sure of what those old 13 townhouses are called. There is only about thirty 14 of them there, but several of those units have 15 caught on fire and it just doesn't seem advantageous 16 to us to even talking about rehabbing something that 17 the water has been running through for so long and I 18 know that mold is in that brick. 19 Thirdly, I see you guys are doing some 20 things over at Woodland Avenue. I would love to 21 know what the criteria for people to get in there 22 and, again, I am going to ask that the politics just 23 stop because you guys are skipping over people who 24 have been on this waiting list for years and years 25 and years. I am going to use myself as an example. 14 1 I have been on the Housing Authority waiting list 2 over twenty-five years and never received a letter, 3 never received a call. So I know that unfortunately 4 that any situation politics get involved, but we 5 really, really need to stop that. So when I get a 6 list of what is Housing Authority and what is not, 7 then I will now how to further move with that. 8 The conditions of the new buildings 9 that we are putting up are atrocious. I don't know 10 why we continue to let people put up Housing in our 11 city and don't watch it. 220 Irvine Turner 12 Boulevard looks nice on the outside, horrible on the 13 inside. When that building first opened water 14 coming through the windows, there is no safety guard 15 up to the window for those children. Those windows 16 goes from the floor halfway up to the ceiling and it 17 is not a safe environment for children. There have 18 been many issues there. I know some people have 19 their Section 8 through 500 Broad Street and some 20 people are New Jersey Mortgage and Finance, but it 21 is one of our buildings that you oversee and 22 security is a very serious issue. We have had 23 several encounters there. There is a lot going on 24 between Nat Turner Park and that building with 25 children being inside destroying the community 15 1 rooms, running around in the hallways, pulling the 2 fire alarm and I don't know if that is the 3 circumstance on Muhammad Ali in our new facility 4 there as well and what jurisdiction we have over 5 that, but I would like to know. 6 I am going to also ask you guys do 7 some tenant training and I need to be a part of 8 that. We need to hire the appropriate people to do 9 that so that folks know what they should and are 10 able to do and aren't able to do. We do not do a 11 good job in transitioning our families and we 12 haven't done for some time. This was an area that 13 Mr. Kinard, myself and a few others in the community 14 were working on and we don't get a chance to see 15 through fruition, but we need to talk to people in 16 terms of going into units about them being the owner 17 of the building versus the tenant of the unit, how 18 we should keep up with the outside of the unit. 19 We need to do a much better job with 20 garbage collection and promoting when we used to 21 have the high-rises, Mr. Osborne, I know you are 22 very familiar with this. We used to have tenant 23 captains and everybody had a week where they swept 24 the floor, mopped the floor and it kind of kept us 25 accountable and I think we need to move back towards 16 1 that. 2 We definitely need to do a better job 3 with the garbage collection and keeping up with the 4 unit and lastly once we decide -- once I know what 5 housing and what is not housing, I think 6 aggressively we need to go after some major repairs 7 particularly in the Housing Authority units that are 8 older that have not been properly done. 9 And lastly, with two more seconds 10 extra we have got to do something about the rodent 11 situation and it is a city-wide issue, but we got to 12 do a major rodent infestation, better collection of 13 garbage, more frequent collection of garbage. I 14 know we need to talk to the city about that, but the 15 rat situation for everybody is a horrendous problem, 16 but now these rats are beginning to be more 17 aggressive and they are going inside the units 18 because we just lost an elder on Haddon Terrace and 19 Clinton Avenue and 6 Haddon Terrace and it was a 20 result of a rat bite. So I just want to note this 21 thing is getting real serious out here and we need 22 to address that. 23 Thank you so much for the extra 24 seconds President Osborne and Direct Cirilo. 25 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: The Woodland 17 1 is a special project that came along with the virus. 2 So Director Cirilo explained to you how the waiting 3 list go on that. That is a special project. 4 Also -- 5 MS. JACKSON: Are you talking for Mr. 6 Cirilo? 7 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: No, I'm 8 talking as a Commissioner. It is a special project. 9 Bergen Street I know we put out and nobody bid for 10 it. We were trying to get somebody to do something. 11 We are trying to work on that. Matter of fact, the 12 Director was talking about that this morning, but he 13 will answer your questions on everything else, but 14 Woodland is a special project that he will write to 15 you and tell you exactly what it is for so it is not 16 like a waiting list thing. It is a little 17 different. 18 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: You want to comment 19 now? 20 MR. CIRILO: I will send you something 21 in writing. Just FYI I can only send you the list 22 of public Housing sites. I can't send you the list 23 of all the city sites, but you will see what is 24 Housing and what is not. 25 MS. JACKSON: Can I ask a quick 18 1 question while you are answering that if I could. 2 So when you give me that list, for example, like at 3 220 some of the units, Mr. Cirilo, I could be 4 incorrect that is why I am trying to get the 5 clarification on what are your units and some are 6 New Jersey Mortgage Finance so if you could real 7 quick kind of tell me how does that work so you are 8 responsible for the ones you pay for and New Jersey 9 HUD Mortgage Finance. So is it a joint thing or who 10 is the person? 11 MR. CIRILO: That property was built 12 under a redevelopment partnership and we do the 13 Housing Quality Standards inspection of the Section 14 8 units. Other ones the Mortgage Finance Agency 15 units are tax credits and not under our jurisdiction 16 so, however, the conditions that you just described 17 will impact the entire building so under HQS the 18 inspection protocols we have to make sure that our 19 units aren't being impacted so we have a 20 responsibility to make sure that the entire 21 structure, not only the unit itself, but the entire 22 structure is not compromised. So I will look into 23 that and get back to you in writing as well and I 24 will call you if I need more information. 25 MS. JACKSON: Okay, I will send you an 19 1 e-mail on the security issues because it has really, 2 really been quite particularly since the pandemic 3 with the children out of school. There have been 4 upwards of sixty to eighty children between the ages 5 of twelve and fifteen and seventeen in that building 6 smoking marijuana, pulling the fire alarm and I know 7 there's been some other issues in the area. I want 8 to see what we can do to kind of quell that because 9 there's been real serious issues going on there and 10 the safety is questionable at that point. 11 MS. DOCK: Director, also when you 12 send that to Donna can you also let her know if it 13 is all you or if it is you and partnership with 14 someone else and who you are in that partnership 15 with so we will now exactly. 16 MR. CIRILO: It is called an operating 17 agreement and it will explain it. I will send you 18 that information. 19 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Thank you, 20 Ms. Jackson and Ms. Dock. 21 Next speaker, Ms. Angela Faulkner. 22 MS. OLIVEIRA: Angela Faulkner will 23 not be speaking today. So it would be Kim Barnes. 24 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Ms. Kim Barnes. 25 MS. BARNES: 147 Riverside Court, 20 1 Newark, New Jersey. My issues and concerns are for 2 one, the residents would like to know exactly where 3 the COVID money that Newark Housing Authority got, 4 what it was spent on and, secondly, here at 5 Riverside I must say that I had had a meeting with 6 Victor and Rouse and Tyrone Broner. We working hand 7 in hand with the manager and I submitted to them our 8 agenda which I call enhancing the quality of life 9 here at Riverside Villa and instead of complaining, 10 we put what our issues and concerns were and what we 11 see as solutions as being not just management, but 12 the TA as well as management and I gave them a 13 hundred and twenty days to come back to the table 14 and then we also looking at one of the things that 15 we put on there that is a major concern for us here 16 at Riverside is that security. 17 I mean we don't have as much as we 18 did. It is much better than it was, but if you 19 remove those security and that police station it is 20 going to go back to the way it was, it really is 21 going to go back to the way it was and I think that 22 the next thing I wanted to say is that y'all have 23 residents that work at the TREC, the Waterfront and 24 the Clubhouse. These people were promised they were 25 going to be able to become permanent. Since the 21 1 COVID has came into effect, some of these have come 2 in contact with COVID. When they out of work for 3 them fourteen days, you are not looking at it that 4 they have family that they have to provide for or 5 that the others of the family have to be under 6 quarantine as well. They can't collect unemployment 7 because they don't have no benefits, none of that. 8 Y'all need to reward these people because they have 9 been faithful for you over more than two years and 10 the thing that y'all keep saying that y'all going to 11 have the money, the budget, but you have the money 12 in the budget to buy the director of human resources 13 to get her a car. If that is the case too, then you 14 need to have money in the budget for the TAs when 15 they need to come down to these meetings to get 16 their's too. That is all my concerns are. 17 COMMISSIONER BAEZ: Thank you, Ms. 18 Barnes, thank you very much. 19 And Mr. Chairman? 20 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Go ahead, 21 Commissioner Baez. 22 COMMISSIONER BAEZ: I just wanted to 23 say to Ms. Barnes thank you and how you doing, 24 pleasure to hear from you. I just wanted to address 25 a little concern about the safety committee up 22 1 there. We working hard up there. I have been 2 making sure that I have been going there like twice 3 a week to make sure the security guards and all 4 things been doing a good job, but insofar I have 5 been seeing them moving around and you have one on 6 each corner most of the days, especially on the 7 weekend and I am sure they have been doing a good 8 job and they are going to keep doing that and that 9 is a promise we can do for you, Ms. Barnes. 10 MS. BARNES: Thank you. We greatly 11 appreciate it because if you don't, it is going to 12 go back worse to having them cars that cost me money 13 that I have to come out of my pocket right now for a 14 class because of this party. 15 COMMISSIONER BAEZ: You know I will be 16 calling you all the time and you feel free to call 17 each one of us. 18 MS. BARNES: Stop. You don't call me 19 that much. 20 COMMISSIONER BAEZ: Yes, I do. 21 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Thank you, Ms. 22 Barnes. 23 MS. BARNES: Hello, Commissioner 24 Muhammad. 25 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: How you doing? 23 1 Let me ask you a question, not you, but maybe Dashay 2 or Elio can answer how do we treat our Section 3 3 people. That was a good question if they got sick, 4 how do we treat them, the people that she's talking 5 about, the residents that work for us. Director, 6 can somebody answer that question how do we treat 7 them, do we treat them as employees or are they 8 private contractors, how do we treat them? 9 MR. CIRILO: Sure. Dashay Carter 10 she's been working with the COVID-19 rules and 11 regulations. Dashay, are you available and can you 12 speak to this issue? 13 MS. CARTER: Yes, good evening, 14 everyone, Commissioners, Director. So the Section 3 15 workers they do not fall under my jurisdiction, they 16 come from a different pool of money. So the only 17 thing I make sure is that they get tested so this is 18 something that comes out of finance. Finance has 19 the Section 3 department out of their office so 20 either Sam or procurement will be able to better 21 speak to how they manage the day-to-day with that. 22 MS. BARNES: May I say one more thing 23 because my son did catch COVID and his income is a 24 part of my income for Housing to pay the rent and 25 when he don't work that affects my income. 24 1 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Can somebody 2 answer that question because what Dashay is saying 3 they are not actually employees. 4 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Is Sam on the line? 5 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: How do we 6 handle that, do we take out unemployment for them or 7 disability. 8 MS. BARNES: No, nothing. They have 9 no benefits, nothing. 10 MS. CARTER: They are not employees. 11 They are through the Section 3 program. 12 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: They get a 13 stipend and that is it. 14 MS. BARNES: No, there are separate 15 part. They are not underneath the Section 3. They 16 are different Section 3 part. But they at the end 17 of the year they have to pay for their own income 18 tax, all of that. 19 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Is Sam there, 20 maybe he can help us. 21 MR. MOOLAYIL: The Section 3 is 22 intended to ensure that when employment and 23 contracting opportunities are operated by the 24 Section 3 budget. The employment of persons in the 25 contract is between low and very low-income people. 25 1 So concerning the Section 3 concern, as Dashay 2 mentioned, they are computed by the contract that is 3 funded for this program. So they are not employees 4 as permanent employees so they don't get any other 5 benefits. 6 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Sam, we are 7 just taking out -- shouldn't we be taking out taxes 8 and state taxes? 9 MR. MOOLAYIL: We pay them through our 10 accounts payable system. At the end of the year 11 they will get a 1099. 12 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Okay, then 13 they are really private contractors? 14 MR. MOOLAYIL: Yes. 15 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: If they get 16 sick, then they don't get the fourteen days paid 17 even, do they? 18 MS. BARNES: No. 19 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Is that right, 20 Sam, they don't get the fourteen days. 21 MR. MANIGAULT: They don't get it. 22 MS. CARTER: That is my understanding, 23 Commissioner. 24 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Director, we 25 have to talk about that. 26 1 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: We will have a 2 meeting to discuss this because that is a personnel 3 issue. 4 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: That is deep 5 because they are working and they get sick on the 6 job now we act like they don't exist and they only 7 have a small stipend anyway. 8 MS. BARNES: They also have kids that 9 they need to take care of. 10 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Kim, we are 11 going to get on this. 12 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: We will move onto 13 items for approval. That is it for the public 14 speaking portion so we are going to move onto items 15 for approval. 16 I need a motion and second to approve 17 Board monthly activities in November and 18 December 2020. 19 COMMISSIONER BAEZ: I move it. 20 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Is that Baez. 21 COMMISSIONER GONZALEZ: I'll second 22 it. 23 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Gonzalez. I also 24 need a motion and second to approve the Board 25 transcripts for November 2020. 27 1 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: I have a 2 question. Remember we couldn't talk about this in 3 the work session remember because we didn't have it 4 yet. There is some question maybe the Director can 5 help me with real quick. Will you allow me? 6 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: In regards to what? 7 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: About, you 8 know, the information they give us about the unit 9 turnarounds and everything like that, the monthly 10 activities report. That is what you are doing, 11 right? 12 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Yeah. 13 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Are you doing 14 the transcript? 15 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: We just did the 16 Board monthly activities. 17 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: I got some 18 questions on that I wanted to ask real quick if you 19 allow me. 20 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Go ahead. 21 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Executive 22 Director, I am looking at our turn around. This 23 report is really for December, right, this is not 24 January, this is the December report, the meeting 25 that we didn't have, right? 28 1 MR. CIRILO: It encompasses activity 2 up to this point up to December. 3 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: I am looking 4 it appears that we leased over two hundred thirty 5 properties, is that true? 6 MR. CIRILO: Let me pull it up right 7 now on the system. 8 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Because 9 Stephen Crane elderly it says we leased forty-four 10 apartments. 11 MR. CIRILO: Bear with me, 12 Commissioner. I know it came in late. 13 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Mr. Chairman, 14 we didn't have this for the work session. They 15 couldn't get it together. 16 MR. CIRILO: Vinny, can you forward 17 that to me ASAP. 18 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: The unit 19 turnarounds. 20 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Muhammad, if 21 it is okay we have it for the discussion because I 22 don't have it in front of me. I want to make sure I 23 give you the right information. 24 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: We are going to 25 come back to this. 29 1 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: No problem. 2 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: I need a motion and 3 second. 4 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: I will move 5 it. 6 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: That is 7 Commissioner Muhammad. 8 Can I get a second? 9 COMMISSIONER BAEZ: Second. 10 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Mr. Baez. 11 Any member of the Board may request 12 that any item be removed from the consent agenda and 13 be considered separately. All remaining items will 14 be considered. 15 MR. CIRILO: Mr. Chairman, if I may, I 16 need to take a roll call on the motions. 17 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Okay. 18 MR. CIRILO: So just bear with me. 19 The first motion that was made was on the Board 20 transcript. I'm going to read the roll right now 21 and you just lend me your votes on the Board 22 transcript and afterwards we are going to take the 23 vote on the Board monthly activity report on that 24 second motion. 25 So we are going to start with the 30 1 Board transcript. On the Board transcript, 2 Commissioner Logan. 3 COMMISSIONER LOGAN: Yes. 4 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Muhammad. 5 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Yes. 6 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Baez. 7 COMMISSIONER BAEZ: Yes. 8 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Gonzalez. 9 COMMISSIONER GONZALEZ: Yes. 10 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Costa. 11 COMMISSIONER COSTA: Yes. 12 MR. CIRILO: Chairman Osborne. 13 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Yes. 14 MR. CIRILO: The motion passes. 15 Now, we are going to take a roll call 16 vote on the Board monthly activities report for 17 November and December. 18 Commissioner Logan. 19 COMMISSIONER LOGAN: Yes. 20 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Muhammad. 21 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Yes. 22 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Baez. 23 COMMISSIONER BAEZ: Yes. 24 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Gonzalez. 25 COMMISSIONER GONZALEZ: Yes. 31 1 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Costa. 2 COMMISSIONER COSTA: Yes. 3 MR. CIRILO: Chairman Osborne. 4 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Yes. 5 MR. CIRILO: The motion passes. 6 Mr. Chairman, I also have the Board 7 report in front of me. We can discuss that now or 8 postpone the discussion. It is your call. 9 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Let's have a 10 discussion on it. 11 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Muhammad, 12 which page were you referencing? 13 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Page sixteen. 14 MR. CIRILO: Let's look at page 15 sixteen. Page sixteen is a unit turn around for the 16 three different districts. 17 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Right. My 18 question is did we really rent this many units? It 19 says we leased this many units. 20 MR. CIRILO: You are looking at which 21 column? 22 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: I'm looking at 23 the unit leased column. 24 MR. CIRILO: Unit leased, yes. This 25 represents the monthly, yes, that's correct, yes. 32 1 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: So we did 2 pretty good. You are talking about two hundred 3 twenty units. 4 MR. CIRILO: Seventy-six in the first 5 category. For the senior elderly was a hundred and 6 sixty-two units and the townhouses it was sixty-two 7 units. 8 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Wow, thank you 9 very much. That is very good. We stay on that, 10 boy, we are going to be cooking. We are going to be 11 cooking with hot sauce. Congratulations staff, this 12 is great. 13 Thanks, Chairman. 14 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Mr. Director, are 15 you ready for Board resolutions? 16 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: I want to pull 17 some out, Chairman. I'd like to pull some out. 18 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Go ahead. 19 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: I'd like to 20 pull out 05. I'd like to pull out 09, 10, 11, 12, 21 13, 24 and 08. That is what I'd like to pull out. 22 The rest I don't have a problem, thank you. 23 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Any other 24 Commissioners have any resolutions they want to 25 pull. 33 1 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Chairman, the 2 ones that you pull out, could you have the Executive 3 Director read them for me. 4 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Absolutely. 5 COMMISSIONER GONZALEZ: Chairman, we 6 can have a discussion because I am ready to vote on 7 them. Some of these have been on the agenda month 8 after month. 9 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: We are going to 10 vote them all. We are just going to vote them 11 individually. 12 COMMISSIONER COSTA: Okay, vote them 13 up or down. 14 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: We are going 15 to vote them. We just said we want to vote on them 16 separately. 17 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: No discussion, just 18 vote. 19 COMMISSIONER COSTA: Also, read the 20 fourth and last month, the ones we voted on by mail. 21 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: I guess the 22 Chairman is going to let us do that afterwards. Ask 23 the E.D. to read that for us also. 24 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Mr. Director, you 25 want to read the resolutions off. 34 1 MR. CIRILO: Before we do that, I just 2 want to suggest, Mr. Chairman, that we first take a 3 motion and a vote on the consent agenda and then we 4 can begin one by one on the agenda items that have 5 been pulled for discussion individually. 6 So we have to entertain a motion and 7 second. 8 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: I make a 9 motion to move it. 10 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Motion by 11 Commissioner Muhammad. Can I get a second? I'll 12 second it. 13 MR. CIRILO: On the consent agenda, 14 Commissioner Logan. 15 COMMISSIONER LOGAN: Yes. 16 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Muhammad. 17 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Yes. 18 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Baez. 19 COMMISSIONER BAEZ: Yes. 20 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Gonzalez. 21 COMMISSIONER GONZALEZ: Yes. 22 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Costa. 23 COMMISSIONER COSTA: Yes. 24 MR. CIRILO: Chairman Osborne. 25 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Yes. 35 1 MR. CIRILO: The consent agenda 2 passes. 3 So now would you like for me to read 4 the resolutions that were approved by e-mail being 5 of an emergency nature? 6 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: We can do that then 7 move on to the resolutions. 8 MR. CIRILO: Very good. So I am going 9 to read four resolutions that were approved via an 10 e-mail vote due to the emergency nature. 11 Number one Board members was 12 resolution 20-23-12-06. This was resolution to 13 amend resolution 15-22-01-03 authorizing the 14 Executive Director to submit and make revisions as 15 necessary to a disposition application and/or 16 amendment request to the U.S. Department of Housing 17 and Urban Development, HUD, Special Applications 18 Center, SAC, for the approximate four acre vacant 19 portion of Walsh Homes South-Rear, NJ2-71, property 20 to allow for a subdivision and sale of the site for 21 one million thirty-four thousand dollars. 22 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Next one. 23 MR. CIRILO: Resolution H-20-23-12-07 24 that the Board of Commissioners authorize the 25 Executive Director to submit a Hazardous Discharge 36 1 Site Remediation Fund, HDSRF, application for Seth 2 Boyden Terrace. 3 The next H-20-23-12-08 that the Board 4 of Commissioners accept the Newark Housing Authority 5 as the redevelopment entity for the Dayton Street 6 neighborhood and authorize the preparation and 7 submission of an application to the Local Finance 8 Board pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40A:5A-5 and N.J.S.A. 9 40A:12A-21. 10 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Last one. 11 MR. CIRILO: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 12 H-20-23-12-14 that the Board of 13 Commissioners approve a Voluntary Severance 14 Incentive Program, VSIP. The NHA seeks to implement 15 cost saving measures to address a projected 16 budgetary shortfall to avoid any detrimental impact 17 of remaining NHA staff and ensure a high level of 18 service to residents. 19 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Mr. Chairman, 20 I want to speak about that one if you allow me. 21 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Yes. 22 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: By allowing 23 us, myself and Executive Director Cirilo came up 24 with a buyout for some of the older workers and 25 staff that have been there for a long time and what 37 1 it did was remember we had a big problem about 2 laying off people, forty-six people and this is one 3 of the things that the Executive Director and I came 4 up with that it will reward staff members that been 5 there for long time and with an early retirement and 6 everything and I just want to thank you for allowing 7 us to do that, Mr. Chairman, because we are bringing 8 that number down. That the forty-six we are 9 bringing it down where we don't have to layoff 10 anybody and Executive Director is working on 11 something else special, but we are not going to talk 12 about it now that is going to bring that number all 13 the way down, but we are not going to talk about it 14 now. He is negotiating right now. 15 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: I want to commend 16 you on your efforts, Mr. Commissioner. Good job. 17 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: We just want 18 to read it because it was an emergency situation. 19 We want to keep the transparency going that we are 20 not doing nothing. 21 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Absolutely. We're 22 ready to move on to the next resolutions. The ones 23 that were pulled, Mr. Director. 24 MR. CIRILO: Yes, we are. We are 25 going -- the first resolution is resolution 38 1 H-21-07-01-05. The resolution reads that the Newark 2 Housing Authority Board of Commissioners authorizes 3 the Executive Director to award the project to MAR 4 Acquisition Group, L.L.C. subject to the 5 negotiations of a master development agreement in 6 order to develop affordable senior housing at West 7 Side Villa. 8 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: You want to call 9 for a vote. 10 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: I make a 11 motion. 12 COMMISSIONER COSTA: I will second. 13 MR. CIRILO: On the motion, 14 Commissioner Logan. On the motion to approve the 15 resolution, Commissioner Logan. 16 COMMISSIONER LOGAN: Yes. 17 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Muhammad. 18 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Yes. 19 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Baez. 20 Commissioner Baez. 21 COMMISSIONER BAEZ: Yes, I was muted, 22 sorry. 23 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Costa. 24 COMMISSIONER COSTA: Yes. 25 MR. CIRILO: Chairman Osborne. 39 1 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Yes. 2 MR. CIRILO: The motion passes. 3 COMMISSIONER COSTA: Director, 4 Commissioner Gonzalez. 5 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: You forgot 6 about her. 7 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Gonzalez. 8 My apologies, Mr. Chairman. 9 COMMISSIONER GONZALEZ: Yes. 10 MR. CIRILO: Thank you. 11 The next resolution pulled, resolution 12 H-21-07-01-09 that the Board of Commissioners 13 ratifies and confirms the designation of the Newark 14 Affordable Housing Coalition, NAHC, as the 15 management agent to perform certain management 16 responsibilities and conduct HQS inspections and 17 render rent reasonableness determinations required 18 under the RAD program and authorizes the execution 19 of a management agreement with the NAHC in 20 connection with the conversion of public housing 21 units under the RAD program administered by HUD and 22 all other actions and services required to 23 facilitate the foregoing. 24 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: I'd like to 25 move this. 40 1 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: I will second it. 2 MR. CIRILO: On the motion, 3 Commissioner Logan. 4 COMMISSIONER LOGAN: Yes. 5 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Muhammad. 6 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Yes. 7 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Baez. 8 COMMISSIONER BAEZ: Absolutely, yes. 9 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Gonzalez. 10 COMMISSIONER GONZALEZ: Yes. 11 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Costa. 12 COMMISSIONER COSTA: Yes. 13 MR. CIRILO: Chairman Osborne. 14 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Yes. 15 MR. CIRILO: Motion passes. 16 Move on to the next resolution, 17 resolution H-21-07-01-10, approves and ratifies and 18 confirms prior actions taken by the Newark Housing 19 Authority relating to conversion of Walsh and Wynona 20 Lipman Gardens, the property, for public housing to 21 Section 8 project based vouchers under the Rental 22 Assistance Demonstration program, RAD, administered 23 by the United States Department of Housing and Urban 24 Development, HUD, and all other actions and services 25 required to facilitate the foregoing including the 41 1 formation of a wholly owned subsidiary NHA RAD 1A, 2 L.L.C. and the transfer of the property to said 3 entity. 4 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Mr. Chairman, 5 I am just asking the E.D. to read these because 6 these properties are making a change for the better 7 and we just want the tenants to know that we are 8 making a change for the better for them. That is 9 why I am asking him to readout these different names 10 and also to tell the staff that we are making a 11 better change for them too. Okay, that is why I am 12 asking for them to be readout, the different RAD 13 situations. 14 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Thank you. We need 15 a mover and second. 16 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: I move it. 17 COMMISSIONER LOGAN: Second. 18 MR. CIRILO: On the motion, 19 Commissioner Logan. 20 COMMISSIONER LOGAN: Yes. 21 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Muhammad. 22 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Yes. 23 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Baez. 24 COMMISSIONER BAEZ: Yes. 25 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Gonzalez. 42 1 COMMISSIONER GONZALEZ: Yes. 2 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Costa. 3 COMMISSIONER COSTA: Yes. 4 MR. CIRILO: Chairman Osborne. 5 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Yes. 6 MR. CIRILO: The motion passes. 7 I will move on to the next resolution, 8 Mr. Chairman. Resolution 21-07-01-11. That the 9 Board of Commissioners ratifies and confirms prior 10 actions taken by the Newark Housing Authority 11 relating to conversion of James C. White Manor, the 12 property, for public housing to Section 8 project 13 based vouchers under RAD program administered by HUD 14 and all other actions and services required to 15 facilitate the foregoing including the formation of 16 our wholly owned subsidiary NRA RAD 1B, L.L.C. and 17 the transfer of property to said entity. 18 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Can I get a mover 19 and second? 20 COMMISSIONER LOGAN: Move it. 21 COMMISSIONER BAEZ: Second. 22 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Logan made 23 the motion. Commissioner Baez seconded. 24 On the motion, Commissioner Logan. 25 COMMISSIONER LOGAN: Yes. 43 1 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Muhammad. 2 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Yes. 3 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Baez. 4 COMMISSIONER BAEZ: Yes. 5 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Gonzalez. 6 COMMISSIONER GONZALEZ: Yes. 7 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Costa. 8 COMMISSIONER COSTA: Yes. 9 MR. CIRILO: Chairman Osborne. 10 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Yes. 11 MR. CIRILO: The motion passes. 12 I am going to move on to the next 13 resolution, 21-07-01-12, that the Board of 14 Commissioners ratifies and confirms prior actions 15 taken by the Newark Housing Authority relating to 16 the conversion of Stephen Crane Village, the 17 property, from public housing to Section 8 project 18 based voucher under the RAD program administered by 19 HUD and all other actions and services required to 20 facilitate the foregoing including the formation of 21 a wholly owned subsidiary NHA RAD 1C, L.L.C. and the 22 transfer of property to said entity. 23 COMMISSIONER BAEZ: I move it. 24 COMMISSIONER GONZALEZ: Second. 25 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Baez and Gonzalez. 44 1 MR. CIRILO: On the motion, 2 Commissioner Logan. 3 COMMISSIONER LOGAN: Yes. 4 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Muhammad. 5 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Yes. 6 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Baez. 7 COMMISSIONER BAEZ: Yes. 8 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Gonzalez. 9 COMMISSIONER GONZALEZ: Yes. 10 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Costa. 11 COMMISSIONER COSTA: Yes. 12 MR. CIRILO: Chairman Osborne. 13 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Yes. 14 MR. CIRILO: Move on to the next 15 resolution, resolution 21-07-01-13. Approves, one, 16 the termination of the Regulatory Agreement for 17 Lincoln Park Powers in connection with the sale of 18 such project by Lincoln Park Towers Urban Renewal, 19 L.P., the current owner, to Hudson Valley Property 20 Group, L.L.C. and the redemption of the bonds issued 21 by the Housing Authority in 2002 to finance the 22 acquisition and construction of the eighty unit 23 affordable multi-family residential apartment 24 building and, two, the execution of all documents 25 related thereto by the Executive Director. 45 1 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Chairman, I 2 asked a question on this one about the people pay 3 late. Did anybody ever get a question for me on 4 that because I didn't want to pay out penalties or 5 anything like that. Anybody get an answer on that, 6 Executive Director? 7 MR. CIRILO: Yes, Commissioner 8 Muhammad, you should have received an e-mail with 9 the payment schedule. The payment schedule and I 10 don't know if we can pull it up on the screen. 11 Maybe I can show that all the payments have been 12 made on time and up-to-date. Mr. Sam Moolayil, do 13 you have anything else to add or otherwise? 14 MR. MOOLAYIL: Yes, I checked with the 15 property managers. They said they received the HAP 16 money. They make the first priority paying the bond 17 payments so they are on top of it they said. 18 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Mr. Executive 19 Director, you are showing the people that live in 20 Lincoln Park that it is not going to be a change in 21 their life style, right? 22 MR. CIRILO: We have limited 23 jurisdiction similar to the conversation that we had 24 with Ms. Jackson. That complex we are only the 25 administrators of the vouchers, therefore, our 46 1 jurisdiction is really just to inspect the units and 2 make sure that the units meet the federal inspection 3 standards which are, you know, pretty high. We have 4 to make sure that our families live in decent, safe 5 and quality housing under HQS. I can't speak to the 6 operating agreement which is the document as you 7 know that kind of dictates or is the legal 8 instrument that kind of breaks down jurisdiction, 9 but perhaps we do have an attorney on the line that 10 is representing us on this transaction. Maybe they 11 can speak to the jurisdiction that the Housing 12 Authority may have in addition to the HQS 13 compliance. 14 MS. PLATA: Do you want me to speak on 15 that, Victor? 16 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Yes, please. 17 MS. PLATA: The main involvement -- 18 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Could you state 19 your name for the record. 20 MS. PLATA: My name is Lillian Plata. 21 I am an attorney with Nee Plata Law. I'm 22 representing the Housing Authority as bond counsel 23 to this issue and they are going to pay this off 24 once it transfers, but the Housing Authority's 25 involvement is just as the bond issuer and also as 47 1 Victor was saying the administrator of the Section 8 2 vouchers. So they don't really have jurisdiction in 3 terms of, you know, quality of housing. They don't 4 own the property. It is owned by a private 5 developer at the moment, but they do administer the 6 vouchers and they do undertake the Housing Quality 7 inspection. 8 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Okay, so 9 Executive Director, we are just going to make sure 10 our inspection is good for the people. 11 MR. CIRILO: That's correct and that 12 is what we can promise Ms. Jackson also from earlier 13 that those vouchers that we put in those complexes 14 are being properly administered within those 15 inspection guidelines. 16 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Chairman, I'm 17 good, thank you. I can move it. 18 COMMISSIONER GONZALEZ: I will second 19 it. 20 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Muhammad and 21 Gonzalez. 22 MR. CIRILO: On the motion, 23 Commissioner Logan. 24 COMMISSIONER LOGAN: Yes. 25 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Muhammad. 48 1 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Yes. 2 MR. CIRILO: Commission Baez. 3 COMMISSIONER BAEZ: Yes. 4 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Gonzalez. 5 COMMISSIONER GONZALEZ: Yes. 6 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Costa. 7 COMMISSIONER COSTA: Yes. 8 MR. CIRILO: Chairman Osborne. 9 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Yes. 10 MR. CIRILO: The motion passes. 11 The next resolution I have is 12 resolution 21-07-01-25, that the Newark Housing 13 Authority Board of Commissioners authorize the 14 Director to award the project to the Richman Group 15 subject to the negotiations of a Master Development 16 Agreement in order to develop mixed-income family 17 housing at Felix Fuld. 18 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Mr. Chairman, 19 Commissioner Gonzalez said she was going to speak on 20 this. 21 COMMISSIONER GONZALEZ: No, I'm just 22 going to move this. But I'm going to move this and 23 hopefully we will get it approved, but I definitely 24 want Director Cirilo to make sure that the 25 negotiations, after you conduct negotiations we make 49 1 sure that anything, all the values, the value for 2 the property is in accordance with all the 3 appraisals that we received on this property. 4 MR. CIRILO: Understood. 5 COMMISSIONER GONZALEZ: And that it 6 comes back to us for final approval once you decided 7 on the project. 8 MS. OLIVEIRA: Sorry to intervene. 9 For the record, this resolution is resolution number 10 twenty-four. 11 MR. CIRILO: Thank you for that 12 correction. 13 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: It is twenty-five 14 on my sheet. 15 COMMISSIONER BAEZ: I see it on 16 twenty-five. 17 MR. CIRILO: The difference, 18 Commissioners, is that there was a resolution pulled 19 so it kind of threw off the numbers. What you see 20 in front on the public screen is the new number 21 reflective of the resolution. 22 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Chairman, I 23 second. 24 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Who is moving it? 25 COMMISSIONER GONZALEZ: I will move 50 1 it. 2 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: I will second 3 it. 4 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Roll call vote. 5 MR. CIRILO: Mr. Chairman, on the 6 motion, Commissioner Logan. 7 COMMISSIONER LOGAN: Yes. 8 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Muhammad. 9 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Yes. 10 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Baez. 11 COMMISSIONER BAEZ: I abstain. 12 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Gonzalez. 13 COMMISSIONER GONZALEZ: Yes. 14 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Costa. 15 COMMISSIONER COSTA: Yes. 16 MR. CIRILO: Chairman Osborne. 17 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Yes. 18 MR. CIRILO: Motion passes. 19 The last resolution, Commissioner 20 Muhammad, was the resolution regarding the Local 21 Finance Board. Did you want me to read that out 22 again or was that addressed? 23 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: That was 24 addressed. 25 MR. CIRILO: Very good. Mr. Chairman 51 1 that concludes the agenda business. 2 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: So we are going to 3 vote the rest of the items in a group, right? 4 MR. CIRILO: We already did. 5 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: We didn't get, 6 Director, we have to vote all the other ones left. 7 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: These were the ones 8 we removed. 9 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: We just pulled 10 them out. 11 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: No, we have to do 12 the rest of them. 13 MR. CIRILO: No, we already voted on 14 the consent agenda. 15 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Right. 16 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: So it is done. 17 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: You are right, 18 sure did. 19 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: That is it for 20 resolutions. I need a motion and second -- I guess 21 we are ready to adjourn. 22 COMMISSIONER COSTA: Before we 23 adjourn, the upcoming plans we have with our COVID 24 vaccinations. 25 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: You want to do that 52 1 or close the meeting and do that? 2 COMMISSIONER COSTA: If the Director 3 can speak on that quickly. 4 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Mr. Chairman, 5 we also got customer service here too. 6 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Ms. Scott. 7 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Yes. 8 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Mr. Director, you 9 want to speak on the other issue first? 10 MR. CIRILO: I certainly will and 11 while I do that, I will ask our staff, Ms. Oliveira 12 and IT, to make sure that they are on deck to speak 13 next after we are done with this topic. 14 So COVID-19 vaccination. As you know, 15 the way that the program is set up the Federal 16 Government is paying for the vaccines. They are 17 giving jurisdiction to the states to come up with a 18 formula to prioritize individuals. At this point as 19 of today the priority list has moved to anyone over 20 the age of sixty-five or individuals that suffer 21 from long-term illnesses. Long-term illnesses is 22 defined as -- I have my list here. Long-term 23 illnesses is defined as, for example, cancer, 24 chronic kidney disease, chronic pulmonary disease, 25 Down Syndrome, heart conditions of any sort, 53 1 diabetes, pregnancy, solid organ transplants, 2 weakened immune systems, obesity so on and so forth. 3 So at this point the priority list allows for the 4 vaccination to be extended for everyone over the age 5 of sixty-five and those individuals that suffer from 6 those chronic illnesses or are smokers. So it is 7 becoming more available. So with the expectation 8 that that number will drop to sixty-two in the next 9 week or two, the Housing Authority in cooperation 10 with the City of Newark is working together in 11 developing or bringing testing to the senior sites 12 directly. 13 The city is putting together different 14 teams. The Housing Authority has identified a 15 fourteen member team that will be assisting the 16 health department and the nurses in the 17 administration of the pop-up sites and will assure 18 that the vaccines are being made available to our 19 residents starting on January 25th of this month. 20 So tomorrow morning at 9:00 a.m. from 9:00 to 21 12:00 our fourteen member team will go to the health 22 department to receive their first orientation on 23 what their role will be during the vaccination 24 process. 25 Lastly, the vaccination process for 54 1 our twenty-eight high-rises will be as follows. It 2 is going to be a three-step process. Meaning that 3 if I am Mr. Jones and Mrs. Smith will be asked to 4 come down three times. The first time you will come 5 down to register for your vaccine. After that you 6 will be given a date where you are going to come 7 back down again for your first dosage and then the 8 third time you are going to come down within the 9 required amount of time you are going to get your 10 second shot and your second dosage of the vaccine. 11 So instead of utilizing the portal system that the 12 city had set up in order to accommodate our senior 13 population, the City of Newark is now requiring us 14 as landlords to make a list of anyone that is 15 interested in vaccinating. So we are going to be 16 making calls, giving it to the health department so 17 when they start coming in in a week, week and a half 18 they already know who is getting vaccinated and they 19 can start getting through the registration process. 20 That is the plan. 21 With respect to education, we have 22 three different setups. We are going to set up a 23 Zoom in Spanish for those residents that don't speak 24 the language, but also need to understand about the 25 vaccine and also you know how it works and so they 55 1 can make an educated decision. 2 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: That is great news, 3 Mr. Director. I want to take the opportunity to 4 thank the Mayor and the Director and everybody else 5 that is putting out effort to make sure this 6 information is getting out to people because there's 7 been a lot of bad news surrounding this virus and 8 now we are finally starting to get some movement and 9 answers and solutions so once again, I want to say 10 thank you. 11 COMMISSIONER COSTA: I just wanted to 12 ask, Director, when we go to a certain building will 13 the staff in that building be eligible to get the 14 vaccine at the same time of residents if they want 15 it? 16 MR. CIRILO: Yeah, only if they meet 17 the criteria. We are still following the guidelines 18 of the state and they are still not yet allowing us 19 essential employees to be vaccinated yet. We are 20 allowing the elderly to right now sixty-five and 21 older and those with long-term illnesses to go first 22 and then it would be our turn. So the answer is no 23 until the state gives us the green light. 24 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: This is great, 25 wonderful. 56 1 COMMISSIONER COSTA: Thank you. 2 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: No, sir. Ms. 3 Scott, are you available? 4 MS. SCOTT: I'm here. 5 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: How you doing this 6 evening? 7 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Chairman, may 8 I? 9 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Sure. 10 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Ms. Scott, 11 thanks for calling in and everything. 12 MS. SCOTT: Absolutely. 13 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: When I first 14 became a Commissioner I was oriented by Director 15 Cirilo and he would tell me anything I needed, 16 information I would go to him and then he would go 17 to staff and bring it back to me. What I found out 18 the biggest thing was the customer service so the 19 year and a half or so long I've been on, the 20 Director probably filled over five hundred 21 information on people. 22 Now, I had the privilege sometimes I 23 sneak around the building just watching people and I 24 have been in your office a couple times and you are 25 really wonderful on that phone explaining, but the 57 1 biggest problem we have other than people saying the 2 waiting list or want an apartment is customer 3 service. They said we can't get through to anybody 4 and I am not talking about regular people, I am 5 talking about people in City Hall, people in 6 government. I can't get through. I can't get 7 through on my apartment to see what my status is. 8 Even though you could go online, but most of our 9 people might not be computer literate to the point 10 they like to talk to people or I can't check on my 11 Section 8. 12 What I need you to do is explain to us 13 why we are having that problem and maybe do you have 14 a suggestion for us that we could leave the problem. 15 Because the biggest thing we have people saying we 16 are not answering the phone and everybody know 17 customer service is very, very important. 18 COMMISSIONER BAEZ: I agree with you, 19 Commissioner. 20 MS. SCOTT: Can I have the floor? So 21 what's unique about the Newark Housing Authority is 22 that we have two customer service departments. We 23 have one for public housing and one for Section 8. 24 So the calls that you get, I get them too. So 25 instead of pointing the fingers, Dwayne and I have 58 1 the same goal is to get the residents a response. 2 So what we do is when we get calls like we can't get 3 through, you're the only one we can talk to, we 4 can't get through, we have been trying to call 5 Section 8, we have been trying to call Mr. Young, we 6 have been trying to call Jackie Glaza, we have been 7 trying to call, you know, they name -- start naming 8 people. So when they say that, I say, okay, this is 9 real business, let's generate a list and we forward 10 it to Dwayne and Betty and they get us a response. 11 So when a person calls back, we either talk to them 12 or if they forward the call to that housing 13 specialist. So now I am not pointing the blame at 14 Dwayne because we work very well together and, 15 again, we have the same -- 16 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: We know who 17 Dwayne and Betty is, but the public don't know who 18 Dwayne and Betty is. 19 MS. SCOTT: They are the Section 8 20 department. 21 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: We know who 22 Dwayne and Betty is, but the public don't know who 23 are you talking about. 24 MS. SCOTT: Dwayne and Betty are -- 25 Dwayne is the Director of Section 8 and Betty is his 59 1 assistance who is a supervisor of customer service. 2 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: My question is 3 when the call comes in, the call comes to your 4 customer service first, the Housing Authority 5 customer service or it is separate numbers? 6 MS. SCOTT: Separate numbers. We are 7 973-273-6000 and Section 8 has a variety of numbers 8 where they answer their calls for Section 8. 9 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Are we using 10 the same system that you have or are they using a 11 different system? 12 MS. SCOTT: Yes and no. 13 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: The phone 14 system. 15 MS. SCOTT: Yes and no. We have the 16 same phone system, however, I have five lines on my 17 one phone. I am not sure what Section 8 has. I 18 don't know their capacity of answering telephones 19 because it is my understanding they have two people 20 designated to answer the phones. 21 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: How much do 22 you have? 23 MS. SCOTT: There is three of us. 24 There is three of us and we have a total of seven 25 lines. 60 1 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: We have a 2 problem so you are saying it is not the Housing 3 Authority problem, it is a Section 8 problem? 4 MS. SCOTT: I am saying it is not 5 public housing, that is what I am saying. It is not 6 public housing. 7 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Can you help 8 us on this because what I am saying people don't 9 look at it that way. It is like when the speakers 10 were talking, everybody think the Housing Authority 11 even though we might not own, they put it on the 12 Housing Authority. It is like you guys, you guys 13 Housing Authority. They don't think separately on 14 this is Section 8 and everything or this is, you 15 know, they probably just getting this information 16 now, but what I am saying we have a problem here. 17 We have to figure out how to solve it. We have to 18 figure out how to solve it because our customer 19 service is bad. I don't know, Executive Director, 20 what is your thoughts or maybe somebody else? 21 MR. CIRILO: I am going to give you a 22 quick minute recap of the history and Lisa knows 23 some of this and it's something that's been around 24 for a while. When we started in 2017 and you heard 25 me say this before, HUD, and some of you recall 61 1 going to the HUD office, they were complaining they 2 couldn't leave their building to get a sandwich 3 because Newark Housing Authority residents were 4 stopping them at the door at HUD downtown. Mayor 5 said -- Mayor's office same thing, Council people 6 the same thing. So we had a significant problem 7 with customer service. As you recall through Lisa's 8 spearheading and Shavon Harris back then we put 9 together a small magnet with a customer service 10 number, the work order number, we gave it to 11 everybody, all the public housing residents and Lisa 12 has been spearheading that department since I want 13 to say early 2018, Lisa. 14 MS. SCOTT: That's correct. 15 MR. CIRILO: Vinny can tell you we 16 purchased a software program. Vinny, which keeps a 17 ticket of every call that comes in through the 18 customer service department so we can start seeing 19 patterns. I can tell you and I will answer your 20 question, Commissioner Muhammad. I can tell you 21 that HUD has told us and some of the Commissioners 22 know that what they were complaining about to us 23 early on no longer exists. When City Hall, when a 24 Councilman's office or when a partner calls us, we 25 can help right away. We still have a lot of work to 62 1 do. We still need to develop a higher level of 2 compassion, number one. 3 Number two, we still have electronic 4 tools out there that we haven't implemented to 5 assist families that are asking for it. It should 6 be as easy as going online and getting your waiting 7 list status. Like Commissioner Muhammad you call me 8 three times a day people asking for status. It 9 would be so easy to say link right here, you know, 10 four digits, your name, this is your status, 11 correct. Instead of going through all these 12 different channels to get a status report. 13 So the answer to your question is it's 14 been a work in progress and we can still do better 15 in the area of customer service, number one, I know 16 Vincent Rouse had some training. We continue 17 training our staff to develop a higher level of 18 understanding, a higher level of patience, a higher 19 level of assistance to the client. Number two, 20 using technology. We are bringing in kiosks which 21 Vinny can tell you they are probably ready to go 22 within a month. In that kiosk you can key in -- 23 post-COVID you can key in your information and 24 waiting list status will pop up and also we need to 25 update the website so we can guide our applicants to 63 1 the website and they can get a number. 2 So we still have a lot of work in 3 progress. Now, to your question Commissioner 4 Muhammad whether you're Section 8, whether you're a 5 private vendor, whether you're Housing Authority 6 personnel or a partner, NHA, it is all NHA. So we 7 all have to work together as a team and whatever 8 service we provide has to be reflected of that NHA 9 logo and that brand. So I can't say, you know what, 10 if Section 8 is dropping the ball, is public housing 11 dropping the ball, if occupancy is dropping the 12 ball, it reflects on all of us so we have to come up 13 with a collective -- 14 COMMISSIONER GONZALEZ: Excuse me, 15 Director, this is Commissioner Gonzalez. I would 16 like to interject. Back in last year around January 17 or February of last year pre-COVID we had a meeting 18 in which we discussed that we were going to start 19 doing some customer service training, not just for 20 Section 8, but for our entire Newark Housing 21 Authority and what you just said I totally agree. 22 It doesn't matter if a client is calling with a 23 Section 8 question or a public housing question. 24 This is a Newark resident who is calling so we are 25 going to treat everybody the same. So we had 64 1 decided back in January or February of last year 2 that we were going to start bringing in some 3 training for both departments and for our entire NHA 4 prior to COVID. Remember, I gave you some names, I 5 gave you Rutgers University and I gave you some 6 other private consultants that we started calling, 7 but then of course we have been hit with COVID and 8 that's become our main priority, the safety of our 9 residents and our city. 10 So could we get back to that and put 11 some money aside because I know we had set some 12 money aside for training. So just for the customer 13 service for all our employees and also our tenant 14 presidents outside of Newark Housing Authority. 15 MR. CIRILO: Yes, absolutely yes and 16 as I told you starting with our public housing 17 department, our managers and assistant managers we 18 held a training session last week I believe. If 19 Mr. Rouse is on the line, he can speak more to that. 20 We started once again to go back and develop a 21 program of customer service. 22 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: You know what 23 it sounds like to me we have a technology problem. 24 That is what it sounds like. It sounds like it is 25 as simple as the phone system or something that we 65 1 doing. I mean it can be more complicated, but 2 sometimes I mean especially in this world now with 3 the technology. I think we have a technology 4 problem. I seen Ms. Scott's situation and she's 5 working like a champ, but I think, you know, I am 6 not trying -- I am just giving the suggestion, you 7 know, my thing as a business person I look at what 8 is the solution. We have a problem, what is the 9 solution and I think it's technology and I'm hoping 10 that the Chairman will ask where we can -- maybe if 11 somebody can overlook the technology and come up 12 with a better way because believe me, you don't talk 13 to anybody anymore on the phone. It is all 14 technology now. You got to go crazy just to get an 15 operator. When you get them they be overseas 16 somewhere. I think it is a technology problem, 17 Chairman, because I appreciate Ms. Scott here and I 18 appreciate the E.D. trying to explaining, but I 19 don't hear a solution to our problem. I don't hear 20 a solution to our problem. 21 Thank you, Chairman. 22 MR. DIAZ: This is Vinny Diaz. 23 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: You have to go -- 24 MR. CIRILO: You have to ask for the 25 floor from the Chairman if you wish to speak. You 66 1 have to ask for the floor from the Chairman. Would 2 you like to ask for the floor? 3 MR. DIAZ: Chairman. 4 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Go ahead, Vinny. 5 MR. DIAZ: Commissioner Muhammad, this 6 is Vinny Diaz from the IT department. We are 7 working with our vendor which is Emphasis. Emphasis 8 is our public software provider and what we are 9 doing right now is we are rolling out the kiosk with 10 portals. In fact, Lisa and I today we e-mailed each 11 other and we spoke about this a few weeks ago that 12 we are rolling out the applicant's portal which is 13 your wait list portal for first Section 8 and LIPH. 14 We are going to train Lisa and together with her 15 staff with Lisa and Emphasis so there is a portal 16 for a user to see where they are in the wait list. 17 At the same time, Lisa can actually -- 18 if they're technologically not really that good then 19 Lisa can log in for them and give them the data that 20 needs to be said. We are moving in that direction. 21 We have been working diligently with our Emphasis 22 software and obviously with what is happening with 23 what we have right now. They are also working from 24 remotely. So we have been pushing really hard. Mr. 25 Cirilo has been very, very supportive in coming up 67 1 with the kiosk. I have got them all possible 2 avenues for us to get the kiosk as fast as we could. 3 We have got the kiosk as late as December and I 4 pushed it so hard so that -- because of the pandemic 5 even the suppliers were, you know, like they are 6 falling behind, but we agree that there are things 7 that we need to do in technology and we are all for 8 that and hopefully the next few months you will see 9 some differences. 10 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Chairman, may 11 I? 12 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Yes. 13 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Vinny, is 14 there some type of phone software that we can 15 incorporate this all because I know the kiosk you 16 have to be there. I know a lot of them are going 17 into the building, but I don't know if the people 18 will be allowed to walk in the building to use them. 19 They are possibly only going to use the one down 20 here at 500 Broad Street, but is there some kind of 21 software that you could look into? 22 MR. DIAZ: There is a software we 23 could put in our website. We can put it in the 24 kiosk. We can put it in any computer we want 25 similar to what other agencies have where you can 68 1 actually go into our website, click on a link and be 2 able to do what you have. 3 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Vinny, I want 4 to tell you something about urban America. Would 5 you believe forty percent of households in urban 6 America don't have Internet. That's the problem 7 with the school system. Even with my students. I 8 got to loan out maybe fifty, sixty computers, but 9 you can loan out the computers and they don't have 10 Internet, you know, so what I am saying most of the 11 people like the Director said, oh, you can tell a 12 person they have a link. They don't have Internet 13 about forty percent. With Newark Board of Education 14 they give you a hot spot or something like that. I 15 am telling you they don't have it. If you probably 16 go in suburban area, ninety-nine percent has 17 Internet access. Not everybody got smart phones. 18 They don't know how to use the Internet on the smart 19 phones, but is there a software that maybe you can 20 just check out or come back to us where a person can 21 call on that phone and it will handle all the phone 22 calls that a person don't feel like they are being 23 neglected. You see what I am saying, Vinny? 24 MR. DIAZ: Yes, sir, we are going to 25 take a look at that avenue. In fact, one of the 69 1 other projects that Mr. Cirilo and I spoke about is 2 getting computers also in our community rooms. We 3 are actively working with our providers, Sprint and 4 Verizon, they are offering like iPads for seniors 5 and for public housing at ten dollars per month. So 6 we are actively looking at that with Mr. Cirilo and 7 Mr. Rouse. 8 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Chairman, I am 9 just asking because could they investigate. I am 10 not saying we will buy it. Can we investigate the 11 software for phones? 12 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: We will come back 13 in the near future. 14 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: I would 15 appreciate that, Mr. Chairman. 16 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Vinny, thank you 17 very much. 18 MR. ROUSE: Mr. Chair, if I can. 19 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: You have the floor. 20 MR. ROUSE: To Commissioner Gonzalez, 21 she talked about the training. We did make sure 22 that we sent the asset managers through the customer 23 service training and we did use Rutgers for that 24 training. I just wanted to let you know we did do 25 that. 70 1 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Thank you. 2 COMMISSIONER BAEZ: Chairman. 3 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Go ahead. 4 COMMISSIONER BAEZ: Do we have 5 Mr. Elio on the line? 6 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Is Elio still on 7 the line? 8 MR. MENA: Yes, I hear you. 9 COMMISSIONER BAEZ: I believe I talked 10 to you like a month, two months ago. I wanted to 11 request a copy of every business that ABC Consultant 12 has for us. If you don't mind, I'd like to have a 13 hard copy of every project they had with us for 14 housing if it is okay with you, Director and 15 Chairman. 16 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Can we do that? 17 MR. MENA: We will be glad to provide 18 you the information, but what do you mean by every 19 project? 20 COMMISSIONER BAEZ: For the last 21 project that she had with us I'd like to have a hard 22 copy with each one that she has with us if it is 23 okay. 24 MR. MENA: All right, we can follow 25 up. 71 1 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Baez, we can 2 get you whatever information you need. We will 3 connect independently. We can set up a meeting and 4 give us a list of whatever information you want and 5 wish to review. 6 COMMISSIONER BAEZ: Thank you. I'd 7 just like to have that for now. 8 MR. MENA: That's fine. 9 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Is there any other 10 business? 11 MS. KNIGHT: Good evening, Chairman 12 Osborne. This is Dwayne Knight with Section 8. If 13 it would be okay if I could just say a quick word. 14 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: You got the floor. 15 MR. KNIGHT: Good evening, 16 Commissioners, Happy New Year, all the best for the 17 new year. Just really quickly to just follow up on 18 the feedback from Ms. Scott. We are committed to 19 ensuring that customer service continues to improve 20 in coordination with Ms. Scott and her team continue 21 to improve. It has improved significantly, but I 22 agree there is work to be done. Actually, just 23 earlier today Ms. Scott and I were discussing 24 scheduling weekly meetings to kind of just talk 25 through and reflect, check how we are doing on a 72 1 week by week basis to ensure that we continue to 2 build on our progress to improve customer service so 3 we are committed to that. 4 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Thank you. 5 COMMISSIONER GONZALEZ: Thank you, 6 Director. 7 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Anyone else? Any 8 other business? 9 At this point I just want to thank the 10 Commissioners and Commissioner Muhammad for inviting 11 Ms. Scott because it was very useful information and 12 things are going to move forward. 13 MS. SCOTT: You're welcome. 14 MR. CIRILO: Thank you, Ms. Scott. 15 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Are there any other 16 questions or concerns? 17 Mr. Director, I guess we can make a 18 motion to adjourn. 19 MR. CIRILO: Yes, we can entertain a 20 motion and second to adjourn and I will take a roll 21 call. 22 COMMISSIONER BAEZ: I move it. 23 COMMISSIONER GONZALEZ: I will second. 24 MR. CIRILO: Motion to adjourn, 25 Commissioner Logan. 73 1 COMMISSIONER LOGAN: Yes. 2 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Muhammad. 3 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Yes, sir. 4 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Baez. 5 COMMISSIONER BAEZ: Yes. 6 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Gonzalez. 7 COMMISSIONER GONZALEZ: Yes. 8 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Costa. 9 COMMISSIONER COSTA: Yes. 10 MR. CIRILO: Chairman Osborne. 11 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Yes. 12 Once again, I want to thank the 13 Commissioners to thank the hard work they do and 14 Director and his staff to keep up the good work. 15 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Good night. 16 17 (Whereupon, the proceedings were 18 concluded at 6:30 p.m.) 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 74 1 C E R T I F I C A T E 2 3 I, ANTHONY HOFMANN, a Certified Court 4 Reporter, and Notary Public within and for the State 5 of New Jersey, certify that the foregoing is a true 6 and accurate transcript of the stenographic notes of 7 said witness(es)who were first duly sworn by me, on 8 the date and place hereinbefore set forth. 9 10 11 12 ___________________________ ANTHONY HOFMANN, C.C.R. 13 LICENSE NO. XIO1854 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25