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Residents criticize delayed budget, executive protection costs and city services during Newark public comment
Summary
Multiple residents used the Oct. 7 public comment period to press the council for budget transparency, question executive protection and police spending, and cite problems with housing authority funding, city services and vandalism.
Several residents used the meeting’s public comment period on Oct. 7 to press the Newark Municipal Council on the city budget, public safety spending and local services.
Donna Jackson addressed the council at length, saying the budget has been deferred and that the city has not provided clear breakdowns online. “I asked at the last meeting, what is the amount being spent currently for executive protection ... Is it up to $30,000,000?” Jackson asked. She criticized travel and protection details for elected officials, raised concerns about a $6,000,000 transfer to the housing authority and cited broken equipment in the fire fleet.
An investor who identified himself as Eddystone said he owns properties on South Eighteenth Street and reported vandalism at one rental that cost about $5,000 in materials; he urged more police presence in his neighborhood and asked for more public-education signage about trash and sanitation.
Donald Jackson addressed governance concerns and said the city had not adopted a 2025 budget. “We’re less than 90 days away from 2026, and we do not have an approved budget for 2025,” he told the council and said residents were frustrated with apparent fiscal mismanagement.
Council members did not take public action in response to these comments during the meeting. The speakers asked for clearer budget breakdowns posted online, an accounting of police and fire equipment status, and more transparency on housing-authority funding and senior services.
