City Council - Regular Meeting

United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Yes. I'd like a moment of silence uh in memory of Fran Dupe who was the uh um first female Lake County Council woman. She retired as the first female Lake County Commissioner. in her memory. Please a moment of silence.

Thank you. Thank you. Cler go real call. Alexander present. Smithelli here. Lenz here. Kowinsky here. Selenus here. Tyler. Emerson here. Rikos here. Warful here. Um I think T Councilman Tyler is on the screen. Yes. Here. The record show nine present, eight in chambers, one on Zoom.

Mayor. All right. Thank you, Mr. President. Uh my report for November 24th, 2025. I want to echo off of uh Councilwoman Vidz's moment of silence. I just attended the visitation for a truly trailblazing woman who lived right here in Hammond, former county commissioner Fran Dupe. Fran was a giant in Lake County government. She served 16 years on the board of commissioners and a decade before that on the county council, breaking barriers at every step. She was known for saying exactly what she believed, for advocating fiercely for the people she served, and for never backing down when she saw thought something was right. She wasn't a shrinking violet. She was tough, exceptional public servant who earned her seat at the table at a time when women in elected office were far too rare. And she didn't just hold that seat. She used it to open doors for others. A lot of women elected officials across the county can count their success on Fran Dupe, my wife included, as judge of Lake County. Fran loved public service. She called politics a labor of love and she lived that every day. Her legacy is felt across Lake County and especially here in Hammond where she and her family devoted so much of their lives and lived. We lost a trailblazer, but the example Fran set. Strength, honesty, and service will continue to guide us. May she rest in peace. In memorial to to Fran Dupe, the former Lake County Commissioner in the city of Hammond, we've placed all flags at half mass until the conclusion of her funeral tomorrow. So, rest in peace, Fran Dupe. Uh summary of the schedule, mayor's office. Uh we had a meeting in the mayor's office with Annne Taylor and Aana Miller. I thought that should be of interest to you all to discuss the funding gap that we have for community events. Um like the volunteers breakfast, the prayer breakfast, the realtor's breakfast, Junth, things of that nature. You know, sometimes when we hold these events, they're 10 $20,000

per event. And because of the newly passed SEA1, Governor Bronze Tax relief that gives us $300 credit on our property tax bill, followed up by a local income tax. It's most likely going to be implemented by most governments across Lake County. The savings isn't there for us, but the losses for our budget are there. Uh we're projected in our our city budget to lose over 10% of our funding, 50% $15 million. Um, if these events, these community events are going to continue at the level our residents expect, we're going to have to identify new and sustainable funding sources. So, I'm going to be working closely with you all in the council and our partners in the public sector to make sure these important traditions don't disappear. We're going to have to decide priority-wise which ones have the biggest impact. Bang for your buck, so to speak. Just like a lot of families have to make decisions, we may have to get rid of a couple of these. Um, as you all know, we're all getting ready for next year. We don't know what to expect, but we're projected to lose $15 million. So, um, we're looking hard at that. I I want to thank Ann Taylor and Aatana Miller for meeting with us and Megan and Tanisha and the controllers's office so that we can make these tough decisions. Um, on a good note, promoted Captain Fire Inspector Brian Will Williams was promoted to battalion chief fire inspector last Thursday, November 10th, 2025. Brian's in his 10th year of service with the Hammond Fire Department. He holds many specialty certifications, including a bachelor's degree. So, congratulations to Battalion Chief Brian Williams. Met with Councilwoman Janet Venez Hammond's Crime Watch Ring doorbell giveaway. And I appreciate all the hard work she's done on that project, and I'm glad to team with her. Meeting with the economic development team and the inspections department over issues the city is experiencing with the development at 6718 Kennedy Avenue. Um, this is a great project. we all love, but we're running into a lot of problems

that inspections is trying to hammer through, but it's not wonderful. So, Councilman Reikos, if you have any questions about that, I'm willing to talk with you. I don't want to do it obviously on air. So, um met with Joanie Lax Joey Laxelinus regarding a promotional opportunity for the city of Hammond. And I want to thank and congratulate Joey. We're one of his first clients in the city of Hammond. Joey just published a book of landmarks across northwest Indiana and it's illustrated like a kids book and it's taken off like wildfire and I'm really proud. A couple of our locations in the city of Hammond are in the book which is neat. But I'm really happy for a guy like that. Grew up in Hammond. We were one of his first big clients and he's doing really well. So congratulations to Joy Alexis. Uh and maybe we'll keep working together. So, uh, promoted Hammond, uh, this is another promotion. Promoted Hammond police officer Chris God from Lieutenant to captain of detectives. Zeke Kohosa is one of the longest serving police officers in the state of Indiana. 47 years on the Hammond Police Department. He's been the captain of detectives for well over a decade. Zeke's retiring this year um because he has to because he's hitting the magic number where he can't be a police officer anymore. So, he's retiring with 47 years experience. We're not demoting Zeke, though. So, we made Chris the co- captain, so him and Zeke could have a transition. Uh, Chris Go is excellent. He's been with us for a long time. Does a lot of work with federal agencies, and I know he has a great reputation with the federal agencies he works with, and I think he's going to be a great captain of detectives. He's going to be working side by side with Captain of Detective Zeke Kenohosa while Zeke begins his transition into retirement after a 47year career in the police department. Congratulations to Captain Zeke Kenohosa on the announcement of his retirement and congratulations to Captain Chris God on his promotion from Lieutenant to captain. Uh I was lucky enough to appear on WBEZ

in Chicago in the loop with Sasha Anne Simmons in regards to Hammond's approach to establishing icefree zones on Hammond city property. I want to thank the Hammond City Council for coming up with a great resolution that was a big topic of discussion on that show. I appeared alongside Cook County Commissioner Tony Prewinkle. Uh she's been the Cook County Chair for quite a while and she's very powerful. She's a Cook County Democratic chairman. It's very powerful woman. And also the mayor of Evston, Daniel Bliss. And they were very happy to see Indiana City doing something that similar to what they're doing. So I thought that was really really cool. um had lunch with BP's vice president Chris DeFalco and their community affairs leaison Jill Richie to touch base regarding issues we've had between Hammond Fire Department BT BP I thought it was a really good meeting and for what it's worth I think Chris is a really good guy and he's trying to do the right thing I know we've had issues with BP but I think they got a really good guy in charge I really do he seems like he cares a lot about for what it matters and we had a good meeting and I know the Hammond Fire Department is better in line compared to where we were even a year ago. So, thank you for that. Uh, cut the ribbon on a $10 million sportslex expansion. We're officially opening our 20,000 square foot expansion, bringing the Sports Plex to over 155,000 square ft of worldclass indoor and out outdoor athletic space. This includes our brand new soccer wing to meet huge demand. The soccer wing, if you remember, before we had two soccer courts with walls. Now, we have a soccer wing. You could, it's just an open space with uh with turf in there. um 20 volleyball courts or 10 basketball courts. We also have four out outdoor sand volleyball courts and two state-of-the-art golf simulator golf simulators for year- round play. So, congratulations to Jim Talon, to Kim Roberts and the and the staff at the Hammond Sportslex. Thanks to Barry and congratulations for that occurring in your district. Councilman Barry Tyler,

I'm sorry. And last but not least, attended the mayor's commission on disabilities lunch and learn honoring veterans from across northwest Indiana who were injured while serving in the line of duty. It's the first time we've ever done something like that and it turned out spectacular and we want to do it again next year and we want to align it more closely with Veterans Day with our Veterans Parade. Try to do everything in the same week. So, uh, that's all I have. I don't have any questions from the council. Mr. Mr. President, Councilman Tyler, uh, Mayor, sorry I was 2 minutes late. Um, it's okay, but and I heard most of what you were sharing. I did want to follow up on two quick things. One, in terms of the community events, is there opportunity for us as a council to sponsor more heavily?

Great question. Yes. And I appreciate that. Absolutely. Believe me, that was definitely discussed. Okay. And I appreciate that. Yes. So maybe we can we consider that a park project, which is in the spirit of our agreement. So, let's say there was a particular event that you cared about and we were having trouble finding funding for it. We could accept funding from district council for that. That would be appreciated. Great. And then my other question was I saw today there was an article in the Times about data centers um and a new agreement I think between NIPCO and Amazon. Yeah. How is that or how could that potentially impact

Well, great question. I mean the power on the grid is not enough to sustain even one new data center. That's why they put together Genco at NIPCO so that it makes separate deals with these data center providers. So I imagine for that large of a data center they had to buy power from some wind farm in Kansas or literally if you can buy power from a wind farm in Kansas and they put that power on the grid you could buy that power even here in northwest Indiana. So I think that's pretty much what Jen Co's job is. Councilman, as everybody knows, we have a data center pending in the city of Hammond. It's pending on on Genko. Nipkco issues electrons. We get more electrons, we could get our data center. And you know, it's interesting that in Hammond, it's not nearly as exciting as it is in other places when they try to bring a data center. But when you think about what our data center was before it was a data center, it was a dirty coal plant. So anything a data center a 100 times better than a dirty coal plant was. So maybe that's why we haven't had as many issues here in Hammond, but we still have the NIPCO problem, Councilman. So I heard we're making progress on that, but I got nothing to report.

Okay. Well, potentially this new deal with Jen code for Amazon could prove beneficial to what we're trying to do, too. I think Well, Jenko is making deals. They have to go to the IURC and get it approved. That's another thing that Jenko has to do. But it makes So even if we get our data center deal approved, I believe we have to go down to IURC for the sign off. So it could take six months still councilman. So, but I think it's encouraging that JCO is getting deals done because we're in in the queue, so to speak. All right. Thank you. Yes, sir. Thank you. Anybody else? Anybody else have anything from the mayor? Mr. President,

I just want to say happy Thanksgiving to everybody at home and everybody on the council. I appreciate working with you all and it's been a good ride and hopefully we keep on doing it. So, happy Thanksgiving. I appreciate it, Mr. Mr. President. Same to you. Thank you, mayor. Thank you all. Have a nice day. Thank you guys. Um item number four, approval of minutes. I'll make a motion that we approve the minutes from the November 10th meeting and place them on file. Second. Motion's been made by Councilman Selenus, seconded by Councilman Emerson. Is there any discussion? Is there any discussion? Is there any discussion? All those in favor signify by saying I. I. I. Opposed? The eyes have it.

Item number five, approval of claims. Mr. President, Councilwoman Vanz. Yes. I move for approval of claims beginning with claim uh claims dated November 5th, 2025 and ending with claims dated November 19th, 2025. claims uh claim number uh 10130 through claim number 10573 inclusive in the amount of 7 million733,386 I so move second

motion's been made by Councilwoman Benz seconded by Councilman Reikos is there any discussion there any discussion Is there any discussion? Clerk golic roll call. Alexander, yes. Spatelli, yes. Vanz, yes. Kowinski, yes. Selenus, yes. Tyler, yes. Emerson, yes. Rikos, yes. Warpel,

yes. Let the record show. Nine in favor, zero opposed. Item number six, public hearings. Item number seven, communications. As um council president, I have received and will place on file with the clerk's office the 2026 Hammond Redevelopment Commission spending spending plan pursuant to Indiana Code 36-7-14-12.7. Anybody else have anything under communications? Mr. President, Councilman Tyler,

uh I think everybody knows, but on Saturday we hosted our sixth annual turkey giveaway. So, I just want to thank all my council colleagues who contributed to that giveaway. Uh once again, thanks to Councilwoman Alexander for her continued partnership on that event. We were able to give away 250 turkeys at the event and then I went to Strax to pick up a dozen more to distribute to residents uh because we ran out. Um, so 262 turkeys altogether were distributed to ham and families. Um, and then we've also been collecting gift cards to distribute to families between now and Christmas. So, uh, if anyone in the public would like to, uh, distribute or to, uh, donate a gift card, we're just asking for gift cards to local grocery stores, um, you can give those to me, drop them off here at the council office, and we'll make sure they get to a family in need. But just wanted to thank once again all of my council colleagues, the Hammond, the Hammond Fire Department who contributed as well, the Food Bank of Northwest Indiana, that's who we get our turkeys from. So all donations go directly towards them. They store them for us and then we just pick them up the morning of the event. Um a Helpers Heart Home Care who also donated um Ministerial Alliance for their partnership and I think that's it. But if I forget a Stein Center of course for housing us and for their ongoing contribution as well. Could not forget them. We could not do this event without them and their partnership. And just lastly, thanks to all of our volunteers who were there to help distribute and to help uh direct traffic. We didn't have any issues with traffic this year. So, thank you to all the volunteers. Councilwoman Alexander who was uh conducting uh ID checks and handing out tickets for the turkeys. Um and yeah, just all of our other volunteers who were there bright and early. We were done in about an hour and 45 minutes. Uh which is a little bit longer than we expected last year. I think we were out of there in about 45 minutes. Um, but I think the more turkeys we get, the more people we expect, the longer it might take for an event. So, hopefully next year we'll be able to give out even more. So, thank

you. Thank you. Anybody else have anything under communication? Um, Mr. President, Councilwoman Alexander,

um, we are in works of the um, holiday treats giveaway for the toy giveaway. Um, so we're still accepting donations for that. Um, we've been partnering with the ministerial alliance for that as well. Um that date will come out within the next couple weeks um with the signups. Um Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated has generously donated a lot of toys this year. Um and of course we're still looking for toys to come in and the ages that will give away for those toys will be 0 to 12 this year.

Thank you. Does anybody else have anything on the communications? Just uh two more items here. Remind everybody that um as far as I'm concerned, the coldest night of the year is this Friday when they light the Christmas tree at 6:00 p.m. out in front of city hall. I've learned over the years not to drink too much coffee before I go to that thing. But that's at 6 PM out front of city hall. And then before the next council meeting too, the Christmas parade that starts by Gavin on 175th and goes down to the sportslex on the boulevard is December 6th,

10 a.m. And I know I'm going to get this wrong, but I believe there's a run before the parade. Correct. Correct. I know the parade starts at 10:00. Does the run start? Do you guys know what time the uh run starts? They start setting up, I think, for the run at 9:00 a.m. That's another thing I'm not doing is running the So, I just wanted to remind everybody of those two events before our next council meeting. Does anybody else have anything under communication? Yes, Mr. President. Councilman Reikos,

after the um after the parade, they're going to have uh we'll have our third annual Frostyville at the uh Hansen Old Hansen Library, HC3 Center. Uh it will go from noon to 3 and by all means bring the kids. There'll be there'll be baskets given away but lots of fun things for the kids to do. It's from noon to 3 on the after the parade. Thank you. Anybody else have anything on the communications? Anybody else have any communications hearing? None. Communications are closed. Item number eight, committee reports. Mr. President,

Councilman Selenus, the capital improvement board did not meet on November 17th, so there's no report to give. Thank you, Mr. President. Councilwoman Benz.

Yes. I'd like to announce the upcoming community and crime watch meetings. Uh, Wednesday, December 3rd, 6:30 p.m. at Edison School. Edison Community Watch will meet. Harrison Park Crime Watch will meet Tuesday, December 2nd at the VFW on Homeman and Avenue across from Harrison Park. That begins at 6:00 p.m. Irving Community Watch will meet Tuesday, December 9th, 9:30 a.m. at Irving School. and the Whiting Roberts Dale Crime Watch will meet Thursday, December 11th, 6:30 p.m. at Calamet College. And from everyone that's associated with the community and crime watch groups, uh we wish you all safe and happy holidays. Thank you, Mr. President.

Thank you. Anybody else have anything on the committee reports? Although it wasn't in committee, ordinance number 2532 will be brought out for third and final passage. That is correct. Does anybody else have anything under committee reports? Hearing none, committee reports are now closed. Why did I bang the cable? Um, item number nine, ordinance third reading and final passage.

Ordinance number 25-32 sponsored by Councilwoman Vanz and ordinance creating a new fund number 4684 for the purpose of accounting for and administering the will tax will certax project funds. Mr. President Councilwoman Venez I move for final passage of 2532. Second. Motion's been made by Councilwoman Venezueli. Is there any discussion Mr. President? Councilwoman Venez.

Yes. Uh this at the request of the controller is uh simply creating a new fund for the purpose of project expenditures from the money. uh the funding that's brought in by the wheel tax. Is there any further discussion? Is there any further discussion? Clerk Golic, roll call. Alexander, yes. Spatelli, yes. Venez, yes. Kwinsky, yes. Selenus, yes. Tyler, yes. Emerson, yes. Rikos, yes. Warpel,

yes. Let the record show the motion carries. Nine in favor, zero opposed. President Warpo, that concludes the ordinances for final passage. Thank you, Clerk Golick. Item number 11, resolutions. Resolution 25R-23, sponsored by Councilman Kowinski. A resolution to reappoint Susan M. Kubaki to the Hammond Redevelopment Commission. Mr. Present. Councilman Kinsky. I move for passage of 25R-23. Second. Motion's been made by Councilman Kowinsky. Seconded by Councilman Selenius. Is there any discussion?

Mr. President. Councilman Kowinsky. This will be the third term for uh Miss Kaki if she is uh elected to that post and she serves well. She's a realtor. Brings uh good information and good questioning to uh the meetings regarding projects that come before them. Thank you. Is there any further discussion? Mr. President, Councilman Selenus,

I'd like to say that um recently I'd had a chance to work with Miss Kubaki uh on an event and she was um probably one of the most organized people that I've come across and I want to say um she was uh instrumental in being a leader for the event as well. So I support this nomination. Thank you. Thank you. Anybody else have any com any discussion? Is there any further discussion? There any further discussion? Hearing none. Clerk go roll call. Alexander yes. Vatitali. Yes. Vanz. Yes. Kowinski. Yes. Selenus, yes.

Tyler, yes. Emerson, yes. Reikos, yes. Warpo, yes. Let the record show the motion carries. Nine in favor, zero opposed. President Warpo, that concludes the reading of the resolutions. Thank you, Clerk Gullick. Next on the agenda is new and unfinished business. Mr. President, Councilman Tyler,

uh, my apologies and my apologies to Clerk Goolick. uh char charge it to my head and on my heart, but of course you were another sponsor for our turkey giveaway. So, my apologies. You've contributed several years in a row. So, thank you once again for your continued partnership. Um and yeah, just sorry for that oversight during my early remarks. Thank you.

Thank you. Anybody else have anything under new and unfinished business? I will uh remind my colleagues that we have one appointment left to make by December 31st as far as a council appointment and that is on the redevelopment commission and okay the current holder of the position is Greg Mrix and I noticed there hasn't been a line in the council's office to sign for the two committees in there with the capital improvements board and the gaming fund. So

she decided yes but those will be open till the end of the year too. Does anybody else have anything on the new and unfinished business hearing? None. We'll go to public expression and I'll remind um our speakers that they have three minutes. And our first speaker is Leanne. Is it Cortez? You're free to come up to the podium, state your name, your address, and what you want to speak about.

My name is Leanne Cortez. I am from 900 East 43rd Place in Gary, but this is regarding Hammond. So what I want to talk about today is domestic birds. Correct me if I'm wrong, but it is illegal in Hammond. It is a common complaint that the prices of eggs and the economy as a whole is increasing. The people of Hammond of Hammond to which we inquired answered that they want to own domestic birds to ensure the safety of their family and managing expenses. There are many benefits to owning domestic birds like for example chickens. Lower prices of eggs due to competing market because many people produce them and the producers obviously get it for free. More variety of meats and eggs due to different species of birds. Healthier options because there are no added hormones and you can raise them as pets or to your liking. Apart from this, you can teach your family valuable skills like financial literacy, natural literacy, patience and discipline. Our founding fathers wanted liberty, happiness and life to be our rights. Thus making self- sustainability fall in this category. It is and the democratic view to strive for equality. And just to make a point, in Indiana there are 120 cities. only three are against owning domestic birds. To solve the complaints of the people, we want to strive for equality and we want to allow for domestic birds to be allowed with appropriate standards. And that is my speech.

That's it. That is it. Thank you.

Good job. Next is Terry Stego. Good evening, council. Uh, like to start off uh thanking the mayor of Hammond for uh standing up for our National Guard troops down there that the governor is trying to send to DC over Christmas. That that's the first thing. I think that was a good thing to do. Uh, next thing I want to address a little bit is it it relates to the data center, but it's not specifically the data center. Okay, because the council, I think, and the mayor have done everything they can to facilitate trying to get a data center and Hammond and all those things and they have the zoning for it and everything like that. So, it's no problem. The problem we have is we have the data center invasion and I think the the data centers are kind of taking advantage of uh uh towns and cities sometimes. And uh you know one example of of up there at Stateline generating is uh that's actually lake bed land. So when uh uh KMED got done with their uh utility plant they should have probably revert cleaned that property up and reverted back to the state of Indiana and then the state of Indiana could have reverted the whole parcel back to uh Hammond which would have been a more appropriate way to do it and that didn't happen. But we are at a situation where I think we need to need need to make them realize their corporate responsibility uh and and deal in in Hammond here and that we expect green space up there and we expect them to spend some money you know especially with the financial situation of the city to provide green space up there at state line generating so that we have tree canopies and things of that nature at state line generating and access public access. So that it's

important that we send that message. Uh you know, I mean, uh digital crossroads, you know, we're we're not looking for uh data center ghettos. So we want to make sure that they do the appropriate things in the communities to make this a pleasing uh environment for industry and the public to exist in the same same area. So we need to send that message to KMED. uh you know they still have structures there that don't need to be there but they it's cheaper than moving them and we have digital crossroads that they need to understand that they have some responsibilities up there too as far as providing some monies to help enhance that site up there and of course you're going to have another data center coming in. So, we want to make sure that we, you know, we that we they provide funds so that the city can enhance the environment here for the citizens and the public. And like I said, that is Lake Bedland and it's public property is how it's established and they need to recognize that, too. So, they just need to be good corporate citizens and we expect them to make the investments for the green space up there at state line jitter meeting. Thank you and happy Thanksgiving.

Good point. Did you want to speak, ma'am? Yes, it's Christmas. He didn't sign the sheet. So, hi. I'm a man a piece.

I'm Caitlyn Holly. You may know me as the Lemon Rice Realtor and follow my Tik Tok travels across Northwest Indiana in search of the region's best lemon rice soup. You may know me as Moxy Molly, Northwest Indiana's former record setting professional wrestler. Or you could know me by my maiden name, Caitlyn Edwards, as I grew up in Hammond and represented our city in various beauty pageantss and proudly became a Gavit High School alum in 2006. But tonight, I'm here as someone else. Tonight, I'm here as one of 10 Challenger champions representing a crowdfunding effort to help support the Challenger Learning Center. I've reached out to several of you via email and some of you on social media as well to garner your support for this cause. Since November November 4th, myself and nine others have been leading the charge via social media to spread awareness of this important issue. As I mentioned, I was born and raised in Hammond and am a Northwest Indiana resident to this day. From a young age, I've dedicated tons of my life to showing people how great our area is. I competed in several pageantss to represent Hammond. I've participated in local community theater since I was four. I proudly represented Hammond as becoming ARW's first female champion, not to mention several other local wrestling companies in the area. I started the Lemon Rice Soup Reviews to draw attention to new restaurants and turn support to our local economy. I tell you all this to prove to you I am a region rat through and through. When I heard the Challenger Center may need to close, I was devastated. Many of you may remember the School City of Hammond's expanded studies program, otherwise known as ESP. Before it was cut, it was a four to eight hour class offered on Saturdays to school city of Hammond students who were seen as gifted in various science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, otherwise known as STEM, subjects. As a participant in the ESP program, I was in the aeronautics and space enrichment that took me to the Challenger Learning Center many, many times. The Challenger

Learning Center isn't just a place to learn science or someplace to look at stars. For decades, the Challenger Learning Center has been a place where students learn far beyond textbooks through hands-on immersive simulations. Young people develop teamwork, critical thinking, problem solving skills, leadership, and the confidence to know they are capable of extraordinary things. Look around our world today. Our education system is being chipped away. Our teachers are losing support. And our kids are facing more challenges than ever. In times like these, places that build critical thinkers, confident leaders, and kids who know they are worthy just aren't nice to have. They are essential. As a realtor with a large portion of business in Hammond, I can tell you education is a huge selling point for Hammond. Hammond stands to lose so much if we lose the Challenger Learning Center. Our community stands to lose something irreplaceable if we lose it. Not only does it continue to enrich STEM education for Northwest Indiana students and beyond, Hammond is home to the only Challenger Learning Center in the entire state of Indiana. That is something to be proud of and something worth fighting for. Hammond can be seen as a hub of STEM learning from elementary school through college. If you think about it through the lens of PUC, before I end tonight, I'm asking every Hammond resident, parent, grandparent, business owner, teacher, alumni, anyone who cares about this city to help us keep its doors open. If nothing else, each of you sitting here, share the donation. I brought flyers. Share donation link. Sorry. Donate any way you can because every single dollar matters truly. If nothing here resonated with you, I hope you can spare a few bucks in the heart of the holiday season for a mission that matters to me, not just a community leader, but as a ham and raised proud rust belt bdie who showed up in a bright pink flight suit because I believe in this city and its future and most of all

our kids. Let's save Challenger Learning Center together. Do you accept the mission? Yes. Thank you very much. Thank you. I will entertain a motion to adjurnn. I make a motion to adjurnn. All those in favor signify by saying I.