. . .

MR. BYRNE: Patrol O'Melia, you are our keynote speaker. You get five minutes or less.

MR. O'MELIA: I will do it in less, Robert.

MR. BYRNE: Okay. Sir.

MR. O'MELIA: Hello. My name is Pat O'Melia. I reside at 130 Congress Street in Jersey City. I am the public relations person for the Jersey City Parking Authority. I come before this Council today asking for a complete investigation of the Parking Authority. And now, if you want to ask me some questions as to why, I will be happy to answer them; but I will tell you right off the bat this is an organization that is out of control. It is run by intimidation and thuggery, for that matter.

Yesterday a 28-year employee of Parking Authority, the deputy director, was threatened with termination. There is no conversation. There is no medium that you can express your opinions at the Parking Authority without it becoming confrontational and your jobs are threatened. This goes from the management right down to the PEOs who write the tickets. If you contact the union, you will find out complaints have been made there.

The morale at the Parking Authority is the pits. And these are the same people I put out on the streets with a ticket book. We got to change the morale. And public relations starts from the inside out, and it's going to have to start at the top.

I have spoken to the Mayor about this. He is not interested in hearing this. So I come before yous. I have just spoken to the Mayor just prior to arriving here. I wanted to tell him face-to-face that I was coming before the Council. I will say he didn't take that well. But I am asking you to investigate the Jersey City Parking Authority.

MR. SMITH: Alex.

MR. O'MELIA: Now, you people have known me for three years with my other role as the radio show; and you know I am a straight shooter. I don't screw around. We have been on different end of the arguments sometimes, but you know I don't kid around. This is serious. There is a tremendous problem at the Parking Authority.

MR. MALDONADO: Can you highlight some of these problems?

MR. O'MELIA: Intimidation is a big deal there now with the new director. Joining associations has become a big deal. Purchasing tickets to events; whether you want to go or not, you are going to buy a ticket. Ticket quotas -- believe me. we got to write a certain amount of tickets. Don't come back if you don't. If we don't go forward with this investigation -- and we can leave the individuals held harmless without --

MR. MALDONADO: Immunity?

MR. O'MELIA: You got it. You are going -- you are going to get a lot of interesting stories, believe me. You don't have to have a rain coat and be Columbo to crack this case.

MR. SMITH: Alex, would you -- would you -- you and Carlton need to deal with these allegations, particularly in regards to -- these are some serious allegations on the record that we need to address.

Also, it brings me to mind, Peter, in your ward I need to ask you about between Stegman and Bergen Avenue. Bergen and the Boulevard. Is that no parking for -- from three to nine for anyone, or is it two-hour limit?

MR. BRENNAN: That is not zoned parking there.

MR. SMITH: Huh?

MR. BRENNAN: That is not zoned parking.

MR. SMITH: According to what I'm told -- I stopped and talked to Parking Authority official who was booting cars, an officer. He said that their hours there are from -- there is no parking except for residents.

MR. BRENNAN: East of the Boulevard you are talking?

MR. SMITH: Yes.

MR. BRENNAN: No, it's west of the Boulevard.

MS. RICHARDSON: Would have to be posted, anyway.

MR. SMITH It was not posted; I brought that point up. Alex, that is an issue think that needs to be addressed with the Parking Authority. I was in this area last -- the beginning of the week. It was brought to my attention. People were being booted, and there was no sign posted. I was told by the -- told by the Parking Authority officer that this is between Bergen Avenue and the Boulevard.

MR. MALDONADO: There is no residential parking there?

MR. BRENNAN: No, it's west of the Boulevard. It's from --

MR. SMITH: And I told them I didn't think the ordinance was in effect for that area. So we need to clearly define what that -- what is happening there because we may have illegally booted and fined people who were parked there.

MR. BOOTH: Stegman Street?

MR. SMITH: Stegman -- Stegman Street between Bergen and the Boulevard. Is it Stegman Parkway or Stegman Street? 22

MR. BRENNAN: Stegman Parkway.

MR. HEALY: Stegman Parkway is west of the Boulevard.

MR. SMITH: Stegman Street, as well as Culver Avenue between the Boulevard and -- between the Boulevard and Bergen Avenue.

MR. HEALY: Boulevard and Westside.

MR. SMITH: Okay. It's not Culver: it's Audubon. I'm sorry, Audubon. Audubon Avenue.

MR. LIPSKI: Pat, have you ever been the recipient of any of this intimidation or coercion?

MR. McGEE: (This seems to be an error in the transcript. It appears to actually be Pat O'Melia speaking.) Oh, sure, but I am a big boy: I can handle myself. There are situations between me and the director, but that I'm handling on my own. And for that matter, I have just retained an attorney. But that is -- that I will take care of myself.

But this all came to a head yesterday with the situation with the deputy director. And this has just got to end. Today I had a meeting with commissioners from the Jersey City Parking Authority expressing the same concerns as to an agency gone out of control.

MR. HEALY: The commissioners expressed that concern to you?

MR. O'MELIA: Yes, they did, at a secret location called Vinnie's Pizzeria on Kennedy Boulevard today. But -- I don't know why they picked that spot, but that's where we went. The Parking Authority meeting -- I haven't attended any of the meetings in a while. They now go about eight minutes. Somehow, some way the contract is signed by the director, supersedes the commissioners; they are no longer required to vote on anything. The commissioner --

MR. SMITH: That is not true.

MR. O'MELIA: -- has the power to hire and fire.

MR. MALDONADO: Pat, what they do is they vote on the consent agenda. So what they do is they take whatever amount of items on the agenda, whether it's five or ten or 20, they condense them to one vote; and they get through the agenda rather quickly.

MR. O'MELIA: Junior, I think you ought to talk to some of the commissioners, then.

MR. SMITH: I don't know if they can legally do that. I don't know if they can legally do that.

MR. O'MELIA: For that matter --

MR. SMITH: You Sunshine a meeting and you Sunshine the items in that meeting. We need to --

MR. LIPSKI: Orders the --

MR. MALDONADO: They don't have the ability to hire and fire without board approval.

MR. O'MELIA: You got it.

MR. MALDONADO: That's one of the reasons I had earlier, before you got here, requested for records in terms of what the employment status or how many employees have been hired in the City and all the autonomous agencies and authorities within the City.

MR. O'MELIA: I can't speak for the other agencies, but I believe there is going to be some interesting reading at the Parking Authority.

MR. BYRNE: Okay. Thanks, Pat.

MR. O'MELIA: Is that it?

MR. BYRNE: I think so.

MR. VEGA: I just wanted to ask our Corporation Counsel, would we be able to add to our resolution that gives the municipality investigatory powers to include the Parking Authority as part of our purview and our jurisdiction?

MR. BOOTH: You can declare yourself an investigatory body for any purpose connected with the City government. You can do that. I don't see any reason why we couldn't amend the resolution that you have for tonight to include the Parking Authority or do a separate one at another time. But if you want to amend tonight's, let's do that.

MR. VEGA: I think it's appropriate for the severity of the allegations that we amend this and schedule these investigations at the appropriate time. They don't have to be scheduled for the 28th. But they could be scheduled at a later date which these allegations that -- that are being made can be tested, in fact, if there is any truth to them.

MR. BOOTH: If we are not going to do anything before the 28th, which we are probably not, it might be a good idea to hold off and do a separate resolution.

AUDIENCE MEMBER: Talk into the microphone, please. microphone.

MR. BYRNE: In the microphone.

MR. BOOTH: I could -- I could --

MR. BYRNE: They need to hear you in Harrison.

AUDIENCE MEMBER: Microphone.

MR. BOOTH: I could -- I could interview Mr. O'Melia maybe and find out a few more specifics and prepare a resolution for your consideration at the next meeting.

MR. VEGA: I would appreciate it, if you did that.

MS. RICHARDSON: I have a question for you. Alex. Do you need a resolution to vote subpoena powers by this body?

MR. BOOTH: What you need to do is to form a -- a -- to form yourselves as a committee of the whole for purpose of conducting an investigation. Then, as a -- as a body under that auspices you do have subpoena powers. If you form an ad hoc committee, as opposed to a committee of the whole, then, in my opinion, it's questionable whether you would have 2subpoena powers or not, and I would say that you didn't. So you have to form yourself as a committee of the whole. Then you require subpoena powers for City business.

MR. SMITH: Alex, I think it would be hard for us to exclude anybody in matters like this, so a committee where all of us would be able to ask questions is a -- an appropriate action.

MR. BOOTH: I think that's why the legislation was designed that way. Subpoena powers, it's a very serious matter and really shouldn't -- it's better to conduct it with all of you, rather than some of you. And you can -- you can have an ad hoc committee of a few of you and with that you can -- you can ask people to come in and talk. But if they don't come, you don't have the power to go to court and have them held in contempt or -- whereas, under tonight's resolution, as a committee of the whole you have subpoena power. If people don't comply with the subpoenas, you go to court, hold them in contempt: and judge takes care of business.

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