City Council - Regular Meeting

Good evening. I will call the meeting of the Henderson City Council to order at 6 o'clock PM on this 9th day of September, 2025. I declare a quorum is present and declare the notices have been legally posted pursuant to the open uh meetings act. At this time, would you please stand for our invocation led by Councilman Jackson and our pledges led by Councilman uh Cersei. Bowhead and hearts. Father God, we come unto you right now thanking you for another day. Lord, we thank you for the spirit of cooperation. We thank you for the power and we thank you for your holding us up and holding us together. And Lord, we ask you for your spirit to rest, rule, and abide upon us right here in this chamber that we may devise a way forward for Henderson, for the county, and for the state. In Jesus name we pray. The American flag to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands one nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all.

Now for the Texas flag to the Texas one state one and indivisible. Thank you. Okay, we are down to our citizens comments. Um, let me uh say this before we go any further. Uh what we will do if you sign one of these uh it will be up to you to make uh to state your case or to make uh whatever statement you would like to make and they will not be your time will not be passed to uh someone else. So ask that you would use these uh if you sign it. Okay. And the first one that we have here is um Mr. Gardella. You will you please state your name, please.

Brett Gardella. I'm currently the Henderson, Texas Economic Development uh executive director. Council really apologize for this situation that we have found ourselves in. Nothing had been on my radar that would have ever come close to us experiencing this type of division that we have seen. When I was hired, we dove right into branding, recruiting, uh, and creating a new message that was going to resonate out on a national and international level. But what we didn't do was really understand the local community and how we should have also been working a little bit more to create a message internally to the city. So that is certainly a mistake that we have made and a misstep that we are looking to correct and we want to do that. I also want to apologize to you because I have failed myself. I've let the personal attacks on me control my emotions and because of this I became defensive. I know I'm a better man than that and I've accepted that I cannot control others actions but my own. Mr. Cersei, I apologize to you for our about our interaction last time. It was not professional, not correct. Our goal, my goal has always been to move Henderson forward. That's why I chose to move my family here. I see a great history and I see a great future. And it's something that I believe we can work on together. I want to create a future in Henderson for our youth so that they have a home, not just a hometown. I welcome having open dialogue with you as our elected officials as well as the city manager as well as my board and quite honestly any other concerned citizen who wants to be involved. I cannot build trust with anybody if I'm not given an opportunity to have a conversation and I cannot help us move forward with the goals that we have

established as a board and an organization if we can't get the community to support us. I understand we're not always going to agree, but we don't have to be disagreeable. I respectfully ask you tonight to help us to move forward, to help us to pass our budget and our scope of work so we can get back to doing the work on the behalf of the citizens of Henderson. Thank you.

Next, we'll have uh Mr. fail.

Hello, I'm Michael Bell. I'm the president of the headco. I'm here on behalf of myself. I'm not here on behalf of headco, but I will be talking about headco just a few minutes if you give it to me. Here is one to talk about Mr. Cordelloo. Mr. was the executive director. Um I sit on the interview process along with the mayor there and that's been 12 months ago. In that process I think we had off top of my head about 50 applicants. Out of that 50 applicants we had 10 that was either uh met the qualifications or almost met the qualifications. Ended up was about four that I think we're planning on interviewing. ended up two that we interviewed is Mr. Cordella is the individual selected unanimously by then mayor Buzz Fulen by current mayor Pace and three board members to uh include Mr. Ballard and also Michael on the board as well and you I'm here today as head co of meeting today is in that meeting is a discussion of Mr. Gardella's uh employment uh personnel and a number of different items there. Uh after executive session, coming out of executive session, a motion was made by myself to actually terminate the employment of Mr. Cordell is and it received a second, but it did not pass. With that said is I'm not here to just want to share those facts with you where you do know that. But as board members on that board is we have an excellent board is Mr. Cordella's got a hard job. Mr. Cordella came here and he went to work and did everything that us as individuals interviewing him is he might have made some mistakes along the way is um of course started with the mural like or love or dislike the mural is the

mural's here is um imperfect and all is but I do know this from being on the board and looking at it I remember when Donovan reached out to me I told him I'd look at it and see what path that we took as a And what mistakes that we did or did not make is if we did not, we posted that like it was supposed to be. We stated where it would be at. We stated um the address of it and approved Mr. Cordella to go forth with it. That time they went and actually went to the boards that they were supposed to and got approval. From a headco standpoint, five months have elapsed from the original posting. And I just sit here and say that as good, bad, and different is I support I support our headco board. I ask you to support the headco organization. And even with Mr. Cordella, he's think he's got some stuff to learn because but I still think that if we want to move this headco and do this organization and make this community grow is we should give him the opportunity. Thank you'all. Now we have uh Mr. Bane.

Good evening. My name is Brandt Bane. I'm a lifetime resident of Henderson and I want to share some things that I believe. Uh I could sit up here and boast and brag of what I've done for this city and tell you the numbers that I've done and contributed to the different projects, but I'm not here to talk about myself because actions speak a lot louder than words. I want to take a moment to express my strong support for Headco and the positive impact that it has on our city and of Henderson. Organizations like Headco are vital because they don't just bring in new businesses. They help build foundation for long-term growth, opportunity, and prosperity right here at home. Headco provides tools, resources, and incentives that make Henderson competitive with other communities. Whether it's through grants, infrastructure, support, or partnerships, these incentives make it possible for local businesses to start, expand, and succeed. That success doesn't just stay with the business owners. It spreads. It creates good jobs, increases tax base, and allows us to reinvest in the things that make Henderson a wonderful place to live. Our school, our parks, and our public services. Another benefit of Headco is how to support entrepreneurship. For small businesses, navigating growth can be overwhelming. Henderson and Headco steps in to connect with them and the resources they need. Whether it's from financial assistance, professional guidance, or connections to other leaders in the community. That kind of support strengthens not only our economy, but also the pride in the resilience of our people. The real value at Headco isn't just measured in dollars and projects. It's measured in opportunity. It's the young person who finds a career right here in Henderson instead of leaving for the bigger city. It's the family that is able to put

roots down because of the jobs are stable and the future looks bright. It is in the businesses both large and small that know Henderson is a community that invests in themselves just as it invests in us. In short, Headco is not just a economic development organization. It's a partner in building the future of Henderson. I believe the more we support it, the more that we will all benefit. And I ask you all to please support Headco and their budget that is projected. But I believe that the right person has been hired for this job. And I believe that we're all headed in the right direction if we just have the time. And that's all I have to say.

Thank you. Next we have uh Mr. Cludier. Good evening, Mayor, council, staff. I appreciate a moment of your time. I'm here wearing two hats actually. I'm here to represent the Rest County Rural Rail District. Aside from Headco, the Rail District is the only other economic development public private partnership based organization in this community really that that does that that has the sole purpose of bringing in industry. We can't live without them. What we need more than anything is a stable business environment that's well considered, wellrun, and well managed. I'm not here today to talk about a mural or a particular project. I'm here to talk about who else is watching this today besides the people that are in this room. And that's people with money that are considering what they're going to do when that interest rate does drop. Where are they going to go? And do they want to go to a community that's a blender full of knives? or do they want to go to a place where we handle business with dignity in a process and we don't create an instability that makes us very unattractive to the outside world. So all I ask today is that you consider whatever you do and I support each and every one of you make a choice to lead us in a place that creates a stability. We do need to improve in the absence of our newspaper. Have a newspaper, but it doesn't do what the newspaper once did. We put things

out for consumption that don't reach the public. And there's no real fund to pay for that extra effort. We're going to have to find a new way to make sure we stay in communication as all the boards and the governments of Rust County and Henderson. And it's going to have to be more effective. We're going to see more and more problems like this where things happened procedurally correct but that never were publicly vetted. And I understand the emotional loss, but we cannot submit to mob rule. We must act with dignity and respect for all people and their efforts and we ask them to do that. So I look forward to working forward with the city and the economic development and whatever path they choose forward. But we are looking a lot of opportunities. So hopefully we can do that in a positive manner. Okay. And next we'll have uh Mr. Patterson. Councilman, my name is Ben Patterson. I live at 1019 South Main Street. You know, this evening really isn't about headco. It's about a denied grant application. It's about then an emotional mural uh that was put up all stirred by a small group of social media people stirring things up even to push for the current director Brett Gardella over here to be dismissed and then to threaten to abolish headco on top of that a political opportunist

jumping in for personal gain. So, what's fair? Leaders make mistakes. I think he even talked to Brett about this and he's already apologized for this. But I'll tell you this, under Brett's leadership, Henderson is now seeing its first ever Christ centered retail project, a new 10-year railroad commission lease instead of them going to Kilgore. the Rust County Rural Rail District expansion along with Velvet Oil, plus multiple small grants and industrial grants. This afternoon, Headco chose to keep Rick Gardella. Tonight, you'll decide whether to approve Headco's budget. I hope you'll keep building on Headco's progress or risk setting the city back over years. Businesses has been mentioned before want stability. I have to assume this issue has already caused potential benefits from the companies looking to move to Henderson. Henderson needs uni unity, not division. On a side note, I also say I'm concerned about the leaked audio that I hope that all the council has taken a serious look at and what federal law is that violated. We need your support. Please approve this budget and keep Henderson moving forward. Thank you. Okay. Next, we'll have uh Miss Brooks, right? And then uh Miss Hall. Uh, Miss Hail

over the last few months. Several serious issues regarding Headco have come to light. Frankly, I don't believe affordable housing is the only area where Headco has been playing fast and loose, a phrase Mr. Gardella himself used in a public meeting. Looking at Headco's budget, there are glaring red flags. From fiscal year 2324 to the proposed 2526 budget, line items have increased 36% to 550% in numerous areas. On top of that, Headco has proposed spending 2.5 million on a speculative shell building, essentially gambling taxpayer dollars just to see if a business will bite. That's not strategic development. That's blind speculation with public funds. The proposed 2526 budget includes spending 4.7 million out of the 5.9 million fund balance as of August, leaving less than 1.2 million. There has been little to no justification provided for depleting the fund at this scale. And these expenditures have not been brought before the council other than being quietly shoved into a spreadsheet. We are calling for local um Texas code 501.073 to be enforced, which states that this council must approve all programs and expenditures of the corporation. Further under 501.401. This council has sole discretion to alter headco structure, organization, programs or activities. Most citizens want to see headco continue, but with strict oversight, which the law clearly provides for under 505.158, a type B corporation cannot undertake any project over 10,000 without city council um resolution adopted in two separate readings. This law is not being followed that I can tell. Yet, a review of Headco's monthly financial spreadsheets clearly show numerous projects over that threshold. In light of this, I respectfully ask the Headco board go back to the drawing board or this council um consider adopting 2324 budgets. There absolutely has to be greater oversight and accountability in how taxpayer dollars are spent. I strongly urge this council not to reappoint the current headco members. New applications have been submitted,

yet no meaningful time has been taken to vet or interview these applicants. According to page four of headco bylaws, directors must ask act as fiduciaries in good faith and in the best interest of the citizens, not in ways that are unlawful or contrary to the corporation's purpose. It is outrageous that even in the face of widespread criticism, the head coord continues to defend the status quo. It is also shocking and frankly unbelievable that the headco refuses to fire Mr. Gardella. The level of public outrage and backlash since July is unprecedented, perhaps only rival rivaled by the animal shelter controversy several years ago. That kind of public response should not be ignored. Here we are. Ignored, dismissed, and labeled a vocal minority. And let me be clear, this is not a bullying tactic. It is the law that we have the right as citizens to put headco on the ballot. And you as the council have no choice when we get to that point. You have to. It says shall. And this is the law. and a lawyer advised headco board today in public comment that this is only a bullying tactic and not to listen to the people essentially. Um furthermore um no one is personally the vocal minority is not personally benefiting or stands to benefit from headco dollars.

Thank you. All right. Thank you. And we have uh Mr. Atkinson. I'm not here to hector you or tell you your job because I know you know it. What I am here to tell you is for the first time ever that I've seen in a public forum, you are threatened with somebody Only way you can get that election if you want to clear the air is to deny every request that's made of you not request demand made of you by this group. You have two competing function sides. One says both true University of Colorado two years ago would have been the number one team in the nation. That's not how democracy works. And so what I urge you to do I keep calling Texas Rangers. I have a much better idea. Let's call in the FBI, which may happen anyway. They are uniquely qualified to investigate whether or not there's been a cyber crime and a failure to report a cyber crime or

to use the information that came out of it. So the choice really is not a choice because you're threatened with letting people express themselves secrecy of a voting booth for they don't have to worry about being attacked on social media because nobody knows That's how they voted. That's how democracy is designed to work. So the other thing that I see in all this is how are you ever if you don't support your board and you don't pass that budget, how are you ever going to get another aggressive individual to come in here and aggressively promote economic development in this community at any cost? You're not. Nobody's going to take that job. And you're losing population every year. And the trends and the predictions are that that's only going to get worse unless you do something. And you've got the mechanisms in place to do it. You've got the people in place to do it.

And I urge you to pass those measures. And then just if we're going to have an election, let's have it. Thank you. comments. At this time, we'll have uh presentations and announcements. Do we have any that we would like to make at this time? I know we do have uh proclamations here. have any more announcements? Our first uh proclamation that we have is uh national night out. This will be October 7th. Do I need to give this to you now, Dr. Charles? Thank you, mayor.

Okay. I'll read it. Okay. Um, this is a proclamation from the city of Henderson and uh we're giving this to Charles because he has um guess organized all those things for the uh national night out that we uh sponsor here in town. And I want you to know that we do appreciate it and uh all the work that you do and the leg work, footwork that you do to get all these things accomplished. For the national night out of town watch sponsors a national community building campaign in the state of Texas and select areas celebrate October 7th, 2025 entitled National Night Out. The National Night Out Campaign provides an opportunity for neighbors in Henderson, Texas to join over 3.8 million neighbors across 16,000 communities from all 50 states, US territories, and military bases worldwide. National Night Out is an annual community building campaign that promotes strong police community partnership and neighborhood camaraderie to make our neighborhoods safe, more caring, more caring places to live and work. The neighbors in Henderson, Texas, assist the local law and Fort Smith agencies through joint community building efforts and support National Night Out 2025. It is essential that all neighbors of Henderson come together with police and work together to build a safer and more caring community. Henry Pace and City Council do hereby call upon all neighbors of Henderson, Texas to join our organization and

National Association of Town Watch in support of National Night Out on October 7th, 2025. [Applause] And you may be asking why we did it uh this far in advance because we will not have uh a meeting next week for the city council and the next meeting we will have will be past that date. So we wanted to make sure that we gave that uh tonight and acknowledge that. Thank you. [Applause] Next we have the proclamation for cancer awareness month. Cancer awareness month. All citizen whether connected personally or through loved ones has been affected by cancer. During the month of October, honor is given to the enormous courage and strength of millions of people facing the disease today and of millions of survivors whose resilience inspires us all. And the Henderson Fire Department strives to raise community awareness of cancer and the benefits of early detection, which increase the chances of survival. The Henderson Fire Department began the pink t-shirt cancer awareness campaign in 2012 and since that time has

been able to donate money to many members of the community and county. It is a great encouragement to those who face this battle to feel the support the support of others in the community and county. Therefore, Henry Pace, mayor of the city of Henderson and city council, does hereby proclaim the month of October as cancer awareness month. And I urge the citizens and businesses of Henderson to wear pink and join the staff at Henderson Fire Department, the city of Henderson, and Risk County Area Chamber of Commerce in proclaiming cancer awareness. [Applause] And that was another one that's done in advance. You know, a lot of times or in the past what we've done, these dates have already happened and then we do the proclamation. So, we're just want to get ahead. Okay. This one is uh fire prevention week. Each year, fires threaten lives and property across Texas. The Henderson Fire Department is to is committed to raising awareness about fire prevention and life-saving strategies. The theme for the 2025 fire prevention week is charge into fire safe safety. Lithium ion batteries in your home. He reminds us to ensure that smoke and carbon monoxide alarms in our homes are working properly. These alarms should meet the needs of everyone in the household, including those with physical and sensory disabilities. A smoke alarm that makes a single chirp

every 30 to 60 seconds indicates a low battery and needs to be replaced. Smoke alarms should be replaced every 10 years. Carbon monoxide alarms are equally important and should function properly. A single chip signals a single chirp uh signals a low battery while four loud beeps indicate the presence of carbon monoxide as it occurs. Leave your home immediately and dial 911. This week also commemorates the anniversary uh of the great Chicago fire in 1871 which claimed more than 250 lives, left 100,000 people homeless and destroyed 17,400 buildings. It serves as a powerful reminder of the importance of prevention and preparation. Now therefore, I, Henry Pace, mayor of the city of Henderson, Texas, do hereby proclaim October 5th through the 11th as fire prevention week. Charge into fire safety lithium ion batteries in your home. [Applause] Sure. County across the street to fill out a form.

Thank you for that. Yes, ma'am. I had reached out to the person that emailed me violence awareness month last year. I don't have a proclamation ready.

Thanks. Okay, now we're moving on to our consent agenda. This Yes, ma'am. that item six be removed from that August 19th completed. Item six from the consent agenda. All right. Our consent agenda contains routine and non-controversial items. Are there any items the council would like to move into regular session? If not, can I get a motion upon the consent agenda?

I'll make a motion to approve the consent agenda without item six. I second it. Motion was made by Mrs. Martin, second by Miss Wararez. Uh, all in favor say I. I. Any oppose? Same sign. All right, the consent agenda passes. Okay, now we're ready for our uh regular session. We will now go into that part of our business meeting. All right. Uh we'll move to item number nine consideration and possible action upon the table um from August 19th meeting head coast financials for the month of June 2025. Five. Answer any questions y'all might have. Questions at this time? If there's no questions, I'll make a motion to approve.

Second. Miss Martin and Miss Wararez. Miss Martin made the motion. Miss War second it. All in favor say I. I. Any oppose? Same sign. Item number nine is approved. Moving to item 10, consideration of possible actions upon head co financials for the month of July 2025. Have any uh questions about that council? If there's no questions, I make a motion that we approve um item number 11.

A second. Miss Wararez. Oh, 10. I'm sorry. Item 10. Sorry. All right, Miss Wararez. Uh made the motion. Mr. Jackson uh second it. All in favor say I. Any oppose? Same sign. Item 10 carries. Moving to item 11, consideration and possible action upon head co program of work for the physical year 2025 2026

questions concerns council there's no questions or concerns I make a motion that we pass item number 11 Second. Right. Miss Wararez makes the motion. Miss Martin seconds it. All in favor say I.

I. Any oppose? Same sign. Item 11 carries. Moving on to item 12. Consideration and possible action upon headco budget for the fiscal year 2025 2026. Any uh questions, concerns? And can I get a motion? We just elaborate on the capital projects, please. The continued work on the business part this potential spec building.

All right. Um Uh yeah. So uh the spec building in particular so that historically we've called it a speculative building in previous years. We're now calling it contracted building for design. Um essentially if our head co director can go out and get a business and the incentive is that they need a building or something like that. If it's a partnership with an education group like Kilward College or something like that, we want to have the ability to start building on that project. So, it's not like we're just going to go build a building and hope someone comes. This is not Field of Dreams. This is, hey, we've got somebody on the hook. We we've got a deal being made, you know, and and we've got the land. Let's let's get a building going here and get these guys in it type situation on that. um on the business park. Uh we're just going to continue to build it out. I mean, that that's one of those things that when when they began building the park, it just takes a lot of money to continue to build it out as people get in. Um we did the Smart Flower this year. That was a large capital outlay and and we want to continue to improve that that site for future businesses to come in.

There was a scope of work that wasn't finished out in the business park. lighting, for example. Um the uh the fiber optic lines were not put in as an assist. Yes, sir. Yeah. Uh the signage was not included. So, those items ended up having to be readressed by the board after I was hired because we have to finish the business park if we're going to market it. The only addition that we made for marketing purposes and to show that we are a little bit of a green community is the Smartflower Project. And the SmartFlower project really made sense for us because we get a 30% rebate back from the federal government. It's the first time the federal government has offered cities or nonprofits that ability to get monies back on a solar project. And that was the only reason that it really made sense for us to move forward with that because it's a great marketing opportunity for us. We will be able to drive some green energy out of it and we're going to get about $170,000 $180,000 back. Okay, my last question. County Road 203 going out by Bradshaw from the loop. I don't see that in this budget. It is not in the budget because it's my understanding about 80% of that is owned by the county and about 20% by the city. I did convene a meeting six, seven months ago where I had the county, the city, economic development, and um Blacklands Railroad all in a room to see how we could pull something together to get that road fixed. But the county is really the driving force on that because they own the majority of the road. And it just didn't appear uh from our meeting that they were looking to put funds into that particular project, at least for this year's basis. um does not mean that if we can readress that with the county that we wouldn't. We we've and I'll give you another for example. We've already approached the county about helping them to lengthen the runway out at our airport. We know from the businesses that we've talked to that 4,000 ft is not long enough for

some of the aircraft that they want to bring in here. And we believe that going to 5,000 feet, which I think the county airport folks agree as well, is going to benefit them and benefit our business community because we have 300 acres in a business park that we need to get marketed and moved to people and a lot of those people fly privately and having a longer runway will allow them to fly into our airport. So, we've already pledged our support to Rusk County to do that. So if there's another project that comes up with the county and it certainly makes sense for the city and headco to be involved in it, obviously we will.

And on top of your revenues, you'll have a fund balance of about 1. That's if we outlay everything in the budget, everything that you want to do, right? Again, a lot of these things are carry over year-over-year that just don't get spent, but we want to keep them in the budget in the back pocket just in case we need it. questions right there. No more questions. Uh, could I get a motion on item number 12?

I make a motion that we approve item number 12 as it's been produced to us. A second. Or has made the motion. Mr. objection and second it. All in favor say I. I. Any oppose? Same sign. Item 12 carries. Moving to All right. Item 13, consideration and possible action upon the second reading of ordinance 2025-09-01 setting the proposed tax rate to be nonrenewing revenue tax rate of.259139 259139 per $100 valuation for each assessment to be based upon 100% of its appraised value.

I think you said the rate backwards. You said 25. It's 52 913. Very much. Okay. Tax rate 529139. per $100 valuation. Thank you, Mr. Wares. Do we have any uh questions?

Council, this is the the second reading of the ordinance and the final approval of the tax rate. So, we've gone through the whole process. Uh this one would just be your final action on setting that tax rate. Strong made the motion. Uh, Mr. Cersei second it. All in favor say I.

Any oppose? Same sign. Item 13 carries. Moving on to item 14. consideration and possible action upon the second reading of ordinance 2025-09-02 [Music] on the proposed budget for the uh 2025 2026 fiscal year. Same here, Mayor Council. This is the um the final second reading of the ordinance to approve the um the proposed budget. like to entertain a a motion.

Make a motion that we approve item 14. Second. Wararez made the motion. Miss Martin second it. All in favor say I. Any oppose? Same sign. Item 14 carries. Item 15, consideration and possible action approving resolution 2025-9-01, naming the Henderson News as the official newspaper for the city of Henderson. There's discussion. If not, I'd like to motion.

Moved. Second. Second it. All in favor say I. Opposed. Say sign. Item 15 carries. All right. Item uh 16. This is uh no action. consideration upon the first reading of ordinance 2025-09-03 cancelling the uh November 4th, 2025 municipal election declaring the unopposed applicants as a city council members for district 1, four, and five. So since they did not have any opponents.

Okay. All right. Thank you. Okay. All righty. Well, she she's doing too much of a happy dance. All righty. Moving on to item 17, consideration and possible action upon the 2025 2026 holiday schedule. I have a question. Maybe I'm not reading it right. The independence July 4th says date observed. Is that not going to be like Friday? Is Friday the 4th? Got it. It's Saturday. Is that right?

Okay. I know you were. I'll make I'll make a motion to approve changing changing the date observed to Friday for July. Second.

Right. Miss Martin made the motion. Mr. C, I second it. All in favor say I. I. Any oppose? Same sign. Item 17 carries. Moving on to uh item 18, consideration and possible action upon the recommendation by the planning and zoning commission changing the zoning on a parcel located in the 100 block of Hubard Drive and Highway 43 of that item. We had to reschedu that meeting.

Okay. Um, let me get a motion to um draw a motion.

Uh, Mr. Strong uh made the motion. Miss Martin second it. All in favor say I. I. Any oppose? Same sign. Okay. Motion carries. Okay. Moving to item 19 consideration and possible action appointing place four appointing of uh Noble Welch. Place five reappoint of Michael Marshall. And place six reappoint of Michael Bell to the head coard. Any comments, questions about that?

Mayor, I make a motion that we table that till next month. Second. Okay. More made a motion. Mr. Strong second it. Um, all in favor say I. I. Any oppose? Same sign. 19 carries. Okay, that uh concludes our regular session. Now we're ready for our

We're ready for our uh departmental report from uh communications and marketing. While she's getting ready, I'll just uh I'll say this. What we uh what we started to do, we let the uh department heads come at the end of uh our city council meetings to make a presentation to us to uh go over the jobs that they do and to inform the public of the work that they do. A lot of people may not know What's involved?

Watch it on YouTube. It's gonna be a good Who's that guy?

Who that was? Got to wear that bow tie. any audio. That's fine.

You hear something, but hear it, but you can't see it. Um, basically with what that video is, you saw a simulation of our mayor. Um, had you been able to hear the audio on that simulation citywide alert that a unidentified vehicle was seen hovering over our municipal services, allowing the public to know that they needed to seek shelter immediately? that Henderson County and state regulator every citizen of the city to seek shelter. Now the video that we all watched was created with an AI platform called Argill. Okay. All it requires with the simulation you saw of our mayor which is quite convincing. Okay. It has a suit. Everything is bow tie required a minimum of 20 seconds of video footage. Um, it can clone mannerisms. It can clone your face. All I needed to do was upload a picture of him that I had taken myself with my digital camera. It requires 30 seconds of recorded audio to accurately simulate. Um, in fact, Just so everybody has seen that

I mean, we can make him say anything. Yeah. Simply by typing in a short script in the box that says ask anything, it allowed me to say whatever I want it is that you to say. Um, I can even use the prompts to select your clothing. I chose you a very handsome bow tie in a blue suit. And I can even select the environment of the video simply by typing it out. I could put the mirror on the beach. I put the mirror on the moon. Um, I chose to select to put him at a desk. It seemed much more convincing. The lowest tier of service for this um AI cloning is $9 per week. Um, but I use the free trial. Okay. Um, with that free trial, I can create up to 25 minutes of completely simulated content using their AI art uh avatar characters. Or I can replicate any one of you in this room simply by downloading the YouTube stream of this very Oh, I need 30 seconds of your voice. You standing at the podium actually sitting in your seat. I can clone you and I can put you in any environment in any outfit. Okay. So, I ask you a deceptively simple but brutally devastating question. What is reality? What is the reality? I did. Why am I getting

So I ask you a deceptively simple but brutally devastating question. What is reality? Now, I did use my specialized skills in video editing. I did add sound effects and graphics. And yes, the clone AI version of our mayor is imperfect. Um, we there was a quick wardrobe change. But in a few months to a few years, these minor bugs in the system will simply not exist. The replica will be absolutely flawless and undetectable. So, I asked someone in the audience, this is an interactive performance. What is reality anyone? What is reality?

Right here, right now is reality. Until recently, you would be absolutely correct. Reality was a seemingly straightforward concept. It was anything that you could touch, anything that you could see, or anything that you could measure. It was a place, it was an artifact like a carving or a scroll or even a photographic print. But I'm going to ask another question. Call it out if you can. When is the last time you printed out a roll of film? Okay. Even more importantly, when is the last time you put a quarter in a newspaper vending machine? When is the last time you sat down with your newspaper at the breakfast table and actually read the printed word? Okay, in the 1990s, 1980s, this question would have been absolutely absurd. Each and every one of you would have said, why today, this very morning? But today, this morning, in 2025, only 5% of American adults can make that claim of picking up and actually reading the printed word. We have reached an extinction level event, a crisis that is warping, altering, and obliterating the reality of our world. Since 2005, more than 3,300 local print newspapers have closed in the United States. This trend leaves communities like our own without crucial local information and with nearly 28 counties in the United States being

designated as absolute news deserts due to lack of any local news source. These closures are attributed to factors like declining readership, shrinking advertising revenue, and the migration of audiences of course to digital platforms. The tiring work, the tiring heavy lifting of learning about the world around you is now largely accomplished by watching 60-second reels, news clips, and stories. Primary source of news is short form content, 60-cond video reels with 253 million Americans, 73% of the population active social media users. Now, this is interactive presentation as we've said. So, I'm asking for another audience participation moment. Any of you have social media to show any type of social it could be YouTube, Tik Tok, Instagram, Facebook. Okay. When is the last time you cracked open an encyclopedia or visited a library to find source documentation before hitting share on a post from Facebook? Think about that. Okay, that's all right. A 2024 UNESCO study of social media found that 62% of people do not verify the accuracy of content before sharing. I honestly believe that number is higher. Um instead many rely on social media metrics like likes and shares or trust in friends to gauge the credibility of information.

Deeper still, how many of you could verify that a post you shared was even written by a human being? By show of hands, how many of you here have used chat GP? Now, on a scale of 1 to 10, for those users, you can hold up fingers. How easy was it to allow a computer to express your thoughts for you? To say what you could not say in a way that would persuade and convince other human beings to do exactly what you wanted to do. To think in the way that you wanted them to think. According to the European law enforcement agency entropole, 57% of all web-based text is now AI generated. Experts now predict up to 90% of internet content will be AI generated by 2026 as natural language processing and deep learning technologies continue to hurdle forward at warp speed, making it easier and faster to produce human like content. Human like content. Now I say all that to say this. I am a human. Last time I checked. Before coming to our city, I produced and edited newscasts for KTV Channel 7 News. I was an onair broadcaster for 690 a.m. and 102.7 FM. I crafted the public perception for the Better Business Bureau. I educated and coordinated volunteers for the American Cancer

Society. I created dynamic storytelling for Meals on Wheels and I helped rehabilitate the public perception of the city of Dallas through social media storytelling. In my 25 plus year career in communications, I have had a firsthand witness and hand in the rising tide of digital technology. The decline of local journalism that we've discussed here today is linked to increased political polarization and a weakened sense of community as residents feel less and less connected to their local government and their neighbors. As your city's communications coordinator, I have made it my personal mission to stand in this gap, delivering human stories with a laser focus on our community. You visit our website, there is no chat GPT generated filler content. There is no AI short form reels on our website and social media pages. We use images and videos taken of real citizens, not pulled internet archival footage, okay? Not AI generated content of real events within our business marketplace. Perhaps you have seen me silently moving through crowds. Perhaps you have never interacted with me. That is a seriously purposeful action on my part for journalistic integrity for natural action. I don't seek out poses. I don't

set up people for special exciting looking pictures. I simply move through the crowd and I document it with journalistic integrity. Social media is not going away. But I endeavored to preserve its original spirit and purpose. That purpose started out, you remember my space, to connect loved ones, to connect friends, to connect neighbors to their public servants and their municipal services. To tell the stories of our past and to paint a very clear picture of our future. As uncertainty and suspicion in government grows, the importance of having a real human like myself at the helm of our communication department builds trust, ensures accountability, and gives a voice to those who matter most. That's our citizens. And Roie, thank you very much. [Applause] All right. Thank you, Miss uh Fedra for that. Hey, we are we don't have any yesterday. Okay. Um, we don't have any minutes. So, we will

we don't have any uh thing for executive session at this time. So, Miss down to you up to you. I'll make a motion to adjurnn. Second. All in favor?

Okay, we are adjourned at 7:09 p.m. Thank you all for coming.