Thread by @jkefka

The @HudCoTweet board of freeholders is having a caucus meeting at 4. I will be livetweeting the caucus meeting but, to be clear, TOMORROW (TUESDAY) AT 1PM is the actual meeting where (we expect) the board of freeholders will vote on the ICE contract.

The caucus meeting is different from the public meeting:

- It sets the agenda of the public meeting

- There is no public comment (but the public can listen in)

- No binding decisions are made (other than the agenda for tomorrow)

Basically, it's a good chance to see where various freeholders stand as of today on the ICE contract, which I presume will be a topic of discussion based on a conversation I had earlier with Cifelli.

Vainieri is once again on zoom. O'Dea and Romano are in the board room. Santos is trying to get his hosting sorted out. Riveting live tech support.

Romano and O'Dea are discussing sandwiches.

Starting roll call, right now it's just O'Dea, Vainieri, Romano, Torres. They can't start until they have at least one more. I know Cifelli was planning to be there.

Cedeno, Rodriguez, and Kopacz just joined, giving quorum. Missing Cifelli and Walker. Getting underway.

Walker just showed up.

They go through the whole agenda line-by-line. You can see it here: hudsoncountynj.org/wp-content/upl…

For each item they need a sponsor and a second to get the item on the agenda for the major meeting agenda tomorrow.

The ICE contract is number 26, so they will get to it almost last.

It takes about 30 seconds for each item to be read in full, sponsored, and seconded, so unless one of the other items is controversial we'll get to the ICE contract in about 10 minutes (we are at item 6)

O'Dea has a question about item 6, which has to do with funding department at labor programs at the schools of technology. He wants to know if the various trainings and certifications are live or remote, and until when.

The director (Lopez) doesn't have specifics, so O'Dea wants him to find out.

O'Dea's second question is whether any of the programs are contingent on enrollment, and whether some of them *can* be done remotely (like auto mechanic certifications).

The classic "I'll get back to you"

Moving on.

O'Dea asking whether 7 (HHS peer grouping allocation to governmental agencies) is the same one from the last budget - yes.

Again, Darice Toon is really damn good. That was fast and definitive where the school of technology director was vague and slow.

Moving on. 8 and 9 are pretty quick.

10 is $7.3 million for mental health care contractors at the jail through September 30th. From January 1 to September 30th. I cannot adequately describe how much money goes into the jail.

11 has a correction the public doesn't get to see, it's for a security analysis of the courthouse.

Cifelli finally showed up.

up to 14, which is ammunition for the county SWAT, quickly sponsored and put on the agenda.

(Rodriguez sponsoring the ammo purchase)

16 is another one that got an update that the public didn't get to see (it will be on the agenda tomorrow). It's a big purchasing award for plumbing and snow removal.

Again all of these are just going onto the actual meeting agenda for tomorrow's meeting, they aren't being finalized. But, this puts them on the consent agenda, so it makes it very easy to pass them. Very few things get shot down at the actual meeting.

19 and 20 are money for home health services. Where the jail gets $7,300,000 for mental health services through September 30, this is $735,000 for all of 2021 for home health care in the county as a whole.

O'Dea asks if home health services has been in higher demand - yes.

21-25 are relatively uneventful. Now we come to the ICE contract.

Let's see what happens.

Vainieri sponsors the ICE agreement item. Romano seconds.

O'Dea motions to carry to the next evening meeting, or to an agreed-on date for an evening meeting where this is the only item.

Asks for a second.

Crickets.

O'Dea motions to move it to the next regular meeting. There is no second.

It will be on the meeting tomorrow. Not one of the other freeholders seconded moving it from a 1pm meeting to a 6pm meeting. It will be voted on tomorrow.

You could not ask for a better example of how the board tries to keep this decision out of the public view.

Cifelli asks whether the chairman will entertain a motion to defer the vote on item 26 to a later meeting *tomorrow*.

So in other words can they do O'Dea's thing tomorrow

Vainieri says that he's willing to consider a motion to carry it to a later date at the meeting tomorrow.

O'Dea wants to know if that motion can occur before or after public comment. Legal counsel says yes. So before or after public comment, they can put the decision off.

Meeting closed, because of course no public comment.

No good hot mic pickups sadly.

So, the ICE contract is officially on the agenda for tomorrow at 1pm. That means public comment is allowed early in the meeting, prior to the vote. They can decide to move it to a later meeting before public comment occurs, or after.

Or just vote it down altogether.

Tomorrow, Tuesday the 24th, at 1pm, the freeholders will decide whether to listen to their constituents and reject the contract, or give the county executive total free reign to accept blood money for immigrant lives.

I'll be livetweeting.