Paterson Planning Board move to Online meetings anger residents
By: Joe Malinconico
Paterson Press
PATERSON - community leaders and activists express anger and frustration on Tuesday, September 8 [2026] over a Paterson Planning Board resolution allowing its meetings to be conducted Online instead of in-person.
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The Planning Board voted for the remote or virtual session five days after abruptly canceling its August 19 [2026] meeting in the face of a raucous protest opposing a developer's application for a four-building 122-apartment complex at the longtime site of the Paterson YMCA.
..... Opponents of having remote Planning Board meetings used the September 8 [2026] council workshop session as a platform to voice their grievances. They argued that the virtual meetings were being used to undermine their protests, and they complained that City hall security officials had called for police officers to intervene at the August 19 [2026] Planning Board session.
..... About two dozen of them protested outside the municipal building before the council meeting.
..... "This is not a police state," said William "Kemper" McDowell, well-known for his community engagement role in the Paterson school district. "Sometimes, democracy can be passionate. Sometimes, democracy can be loud."
..... Assad Akhter, who served five years as a Passaic County freeholder and commissioner, said city residents should have the right to "come out and say so" when changes are being proposed for Paterson neighborhoods.
.... "I'm here today [09/08/2026] because the idea that the Planning Board should be able to make its meetings virtual and avoid the public, to all of us, because this city is already difficult enough, getting our point of view is difficult enough," Akhter said.
..... The Planning Board's remote meeting resolution does not say explicitly which sessions would be conducted in person and which would be virtual. Mew Jersey's Open Public Meetings Act says public bodies must issue notice at least 48 hours ahead of time about the location of session at which public business is conducted.
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The Planning Board had been scheduled to meet on September 2, [2026] but that session was canceled, with the public notice saying the items that were listed on last week's [09/02/2026] agenda would be moved to a virtual meeting on October 21. [2026]
..... Planning Board members are appointed by Mayor Andre Sayegh. Paterson Press sent Sayegh an email asking if he supported or opposed the use of remote meetings instead of in-person gatherings. Sayegh's public information officer, Diana Nunez, said the Planning Board is an independent body and the mayor "does not direct how it conducts its meetings."
..... "The administration supports the board's efforts to ensure meetings are accessible to the public and conducted in accordance with applicable laws and requirements," Nunez said.
..... Activist Robyn Spencer said during the council public comment session that she had started a petition to try to have Sayegh removed from office.
..... The August 19 [2026] protest opposing the 122 apartments at the YMCA property reflected the growing opposition to the widespread new development in Paterson under Sayegh's "growth mode" administration. Much of the new construction received 30-year tax abatements and won't be paying full property taxes until the 2025s.
..... Kimmeshia Rogers-Jones, one of the leaders of Tuesday [09/08/2026] night's protest rally, accused city officials of "censoring us" by conducing remote meetings.
..... "This is our constitutional right," Rogers-Jones said, whether or not officials liked what she had to say.
..... The activist said Paterson security officials tired to "weaponize" city police officers against the protesters on August 19. [2026] Rogers-Jones cited America;s ugly track record of police being called out in response to protests by "Black and Brown" people.