Regular City Commission Meeting - Regular Meeting

Alright. Welcome, everyone. Welcome to City Hall here in the city of Hollywood. Today is Monday, 04/06/2026. We are here for a regular city commission meeting, but as I always mention, the meetings are never regular in that sense of the word because there's always important and meaningful work that we have on our agenda. And today is no different. Before we rise for a moment of silence, I would like to recognize commissioner Schuham and perhaps Commissioner Quintana, who in the community has lost a great public servant this past couple weeks. And they'd like to recognize their friend, the vice mayor from Coral Springs. Commissioner Schuham?

Thank you so much, mayor. This week, the world really lost a bright light. Her name is Nancy Matayer. And she was killed on Wednesday night, we believe. Nancy was a remarkable, remarkable leader.

She was a brilliant human being. She was an environmental scientist from FAMU with a master's degree in public health from Johns Hopkins University, my alma mater as well. Nancy spent her life working on behalf of her community. And her community extended well beyond Coral Springs, beyond Broward, and beyond Florida. She was a huge advocate for Haitians and Haitian Americans, and people from all over that needed someone to represent their cause.

She was very much focused on preserving our environment, protecting our environment, creating resiliency in ways beyond just the environment, but financial resiliency, resiliency in all aspects of the lives of people in her community. Anyone that ever met her knew not only how beautiful she was physically beautiful, but a deeply, deeply beautiful soul. And I really can't emphasize the loss that we all feel, All of us who knew her and anybody that she touched, their lives were improved just by crossing paths with her. She was passionate about community outreach. She was so intentional and thoughtful in her work.

She was an amazing listener. And she just loved to laugh and just loved to help people. She was in public service for all the right reasons. And she was just a superstar, a great friend, and a wonderful human being. And I know so many will miss her. And our lives are diminished by her absence. So thank you very much, mayor.

JAMES Thank you, Commissioner Shuham. I know Commissioner Quintana spent a lot of time with her as well. Commissioner Quintana?

Thank you, mayor. I've known Nancy for the last five or six years through our work together. But in the last six months, we've become much closer in our personal relationship and our friendship. The loss of her is a loss for everyone in our community. One of the things about Nancy is that she was the first black Haitian American woman elected to the city commission in Coral Springs.

But despite all the pride she had in her own culture and her own background, one of the things about her is that she was such a globalist that she could connect with people from every background, every culture, and that she could celebrate in all of our differences while acknowledging and being proud of her own, she realized that recognizing the beauty of all of our differences is actually something that strengthens our own. And that's something I really admired and respected about her. She was a fierce advocate, always for the underdog. And she always did that in the most difficult situations where it was confrontation. But she did it in such a professional and even toned way that it was always about trying to make connection to get to a resolution of a conflict.

I wish I had her courage. And I look to what she did as an example and a challenge to be more like Nancy in my own interactions with the people in my own role moving forward.

Last year in May, there is a predominantly Haitian church in my district. It's called Holy Nation Church. And I had the privilege of being invited by our congresswoman and our state representative, Marie Woodson, to join them at the church for a very special event. It was a joint celebration of Haitian Flag Day and Jewish Heritage Month. It was such a wonderful celebration of the unity, of the history of these two peoples and how they came together after the Holocaust.

This was the first time I learned this part of the history, that Haiti had a significant part in helping many Jews escape Nazi persecution. They took in a good number of refugees in Haiti itself, but also Haitian officials. They issued visas to Jews fleeing Nazi persecution in Germany, Austria, and elsewhere. And some refugees used those documents to flee to other countries, rather than just settling in Haiti. There was a time when they then were able to get in 1947, Haiti was one of the few nations that supported the UN partition plan that assisted in the creation of the Jewish homeland.

So again, you know, what might seem like two totally different cultures, actually what unifies them was something that Nancy highlighted. And I was so proud to be a part of being there that day. So be like Nancy, everybody. Thank you.

Thank you for those great tributes. Certainly a special person that we all come to learn about, some of us. So let's please think of Nancy as we rise for the moment of silence, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of The United States Of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you all so much.

We also take an important moment at the start of each meeting to recognize our veterans, active service personnel, and their families. So if you are a family member or a veteran yourself or member of the armed forces, rise. We'd like to recognize you. Thank you. Thank you. Also, I'd like to make special mention that we have the honor of having our congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz here with us today. She'll be helping us accept the proclamation in just a few moments. In the meantime, roll call, please.

Vice Mayor Kalari. Commissioner Gruber?

Here.

Commissioner Biederman?

Here.

Commissioner Cantana?

Here.

Commissioner Shuham?

Here. Commissioner Hernandez?

Here.

Mayor Levy?

Here. All right. Let's show, Vice Mayor Kalaria being absent. I know she's out of the country. So, quick motion to accept her, absence as an excused absence.

So moved.

Second.

We have a motion and a second to approve, vice mayor's absence. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Hearing none, item carries unanimously. All right. Onto our consent agenda. Today, are items five through 16 that don't usually require individual discussion. However, if there is a member of the public that has completed a speaker card or a request from the dais to individually discuss one of the consent items, we're happy to do so. Pat, are there any speaker cards on five through 16?

No cards.

Motion to approve. We have a motion for Commissioner Biederman to approve the consent items.

JOSEPH Second.

JOSEPH Second from Commissioner Quintana, items five through 16. All those in favor, aye. JOSEPH Aye. JOSEPH Any opposed? Hearing none, those items carry unanimously. Now on to our 1PM presentations, proclamations, and awards. We've got a special group of people here who care a lot about animals and about the community at large, and they are the Brady Hunter Foundation. I see Paige here. I see Chief here. And Chief, this is special because Brady Hunter Foundation is coming together for a special donation. Tell us all about it.

Good afternoon, mayor, commissioner, city manager. Thanks again for allowing us to recognize this truly amazing organization that is the Brady Hunter Foundation and what they have done for our city and our police department by helping expand our canine unit. Detective D'Andrade is here and she'll present the award and we can learn a little more about them. But first, I'd like to introduce you to the newest member of our K-nine team and that's K-nine Hunter. Although it will be via video, he is still in training.

I'm excited for a second. The video is cool too.

The video will still be cool, believe me. But like I said, he's still in training right now. So he's almost ready for public appearance, but just not quite yet. But he'll get there, I'm sure. Last week, we showed you a video highlighting all the technological assets that we have and what they're doing to help the citizens. And in stark contrast, this video is going to really highlight the most traditional asset that we have, that's the police K-nine team and what they offer to the city. I mean, they've been around for a while and what they provide is invaluable to us, from force multipliers, efficiency, effectiveness. But most important to me is the enhanced safety that it provides our citizens and our officers. So to that, I'm grateful toward the Brady Hunter Foundation. So, K9 Hunter.

Good afternoon, mayor, vice mayor, commissioners, city manager, assistant city managers, and staff. I'm Detective Danny D'Andrade, and I'm the public information officer for the Hollywood Police Department. Today, we would like to honor the Brady Hunter Foundation. This foundation generously donated K-nine hunters to the Hollywood Police Department. The K-nine was named in memory of the founder's beloved dog.

And the donation of the K-nine Hunter significantly enhances the operation, readiness, and capabilities of the department's K-nine unit. He will be used for critical law enforcement functions, which include apprehension, tracking, and detection, as well as education and community engagement. As a sincere thank you, Chief Devlin, along with our entire K-nine unit and our department, would like to present the Brady Hunter Foundation with a symbol of our appreciation.

So really quickly, on behalf of the Brady Hunter Foundation and our founder, Josh Fox, we're so grateful to be able to be a part of this, to bring the city something that will be very helpful in making the community safer. And just on a personal note, I had the pleasure of working with Nancy Matayer on a number of projects in a past life. So in her honor, the Brady Hunter Foundation just wants to step up as much as we can to help the city of Hollywood and all communities around South Florida. You know, we're fierce fighters, as she was. And we're fierce advocates, as she was, for both children and animals. And we want to make this community a better place. So thank you all.

Thank you. Thank you all. J. MALAN: Hey, Paige, Ms. Bredsky, we can't have you leave without saying a few words. Sorry.

J. For those of you that don't know about our foundation, we are fiercely dedicating to supporting the voiceless and the vulnerable from South Florida to South Africa, mainly animals and children. You may have seen some of our work on the national TV show Extraordinary World with Jeff Corwin on CBS and Paramount plus We are currently looking for land to build a paradigm shifting sanctuary for dogs to roam freely and happily. And we encourage everybody to learn more about us and to support us so that we can make a greater impact in the community and beyond. Thank you so much, Mayor.

Well, you, Paige. And thank you to Brady Hunter Foundation. You guys have always been willing and a great partner for the city over the past number of years. And I know that we're only beginning to do the good work through your generosity of your foundation. And Josh, just thank him so much on our behalf. And thank you so much. And we're delighted to have K9 Hunter. Wow, What an amazing looking canine.

And we're just gonna take a quick picture.

Let's do it.

All right. Well, as I mentioned earlier, we have the honor of having our congresswoman, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, here. And many years ago in congress, she I asked her I I remember that Jewish heritage American month Jewish American heritage month was the first bill that she passed in congress. She reminded me because I I I knew that she had passed it. And so it's an honor for us to have her here accepting this proclamation on behalf of the city of Hollywood. With her as well is the executive director of public affairs with the Jewish Federation of Broward County is Scott Rothenberg or Mr. Goldstein. Evan?

Goldman.

Goldman, welcome. And so if I may, please. And we also are combining this Jewish American Heritage Month proclamation with, as we do traditionally, recognizing as well the anniversary of the state of Israel's Independence Day, which is April 22, and Jewish Heritage Month is May 2026. And so whereas the story of the Jewish people is one of resilience, faith, and an enduring commitment to freedom and self determination rooted in the Passover account of Moses leading the Hebrews from bondage in Egypt toward the promised land of Israel as recorded in the bible and reflected in the establishment of the modern state of Israel in 1948 and in the lasting contributions of Jewish Americans across The United States. And whereas, following centuries of exile and persecution, the reestablishment of the state of Israel marked the realization of a historic homeland and a powerful affirmation of democratic ideals and the fundamental freedoms that define open societies, values carried forward by Jewish Americans and communities across our nation, including here in Hollywood, Florida, and reflected in our own sister city relationship with the city of Herzliya, Israel.

And whereas as Israel celebrates its seventy eighth year of independence, it stands as a testament to perseverance, innovation, and democratic governance while Jewish Americans continue to strengthen our civic and cultural life here at home. And whereas The United States and Israel share an enduring partnership grounded in democratic principles, cultural ties, and a shared commitment to liberty and a mutual responsibility to defend those values against forces that seek to undermine peace and stability. And whereas for more than four decades, the Iranian regime, having seized control of the Iranian nation in 1979, has brutally repressed its own people and threatened the stability of the region and the world through a network of terrorist proxies and sustained hostility toward democratic nations. And whereas in the face of these ongoing threats, The United States and Israel are engaged in efforts to confront and dismantle this danger, recognizing that such action requires courage and resolve and that history, from the horrors of the Holocaust to the atrocities of the October seventh attacks, has shown that failing to act in the face of rising threats leads to greater instability and human suffering. And whereas progress toward a more peaceful Middle East continues through diplomatic leadership and regional cooperation, including the Abraham Accords, which have created new opportunities for normalization and coexistence, and whereas the Jewish American Jewish American Heritage Month provides an opportunity to honor the contributions of Jewish Americans and the shared values of courage, resilience, and hope that connect Jewish communities in The United States with the enduring spirit of Israel.

Now therefore, Josh Levy, mayor of the city of Hollywood, Florida, and the Hollywood City Commission hereby call upon all residents to celebrate the contributions of Jewish Americans under the partnership between The United States and Israel and reaffirm our shared commitment to courage, freedom, security, and the pursuit of peace, and do hereby proclaim April 22 as the seventy eighth anniversary of the state of Israel's independence and May 2026 as Jewish American Heritage Month in the city of Hollywood, Florida. One: Not an easy thing to weave, but here we are. SPEAKER Impressive, Mr. Mayor. Woven.

Thank you so much, Mr. Mayor, members of the commission, and to the people of the city of Hollywood. As member of Congress representing Florida's 25th Congressional District representing the entire city of Hollywood, I am so proud to be able to be here once again to honorarily accept this proclamation. I was proud to sponsor and pass the legislation that created Jewish American Heritage Month as my first bill, as you mentioned, when I was a first term member of Congress in 2005. And in fact, this year, 2026, is the twentieth anniversary of Jewish American Heritage Month in The United States Of America.

And it is really thank you, thank you first proclaimed by President George W. Bush. It has been proclaimed all across subsequent administrations by presidents of both parties, making sure that we underscore the incredible and remarkable impact that Jewish Americans have had since before the Revolutionary War, and all the way through to today, is an important way to make sure that we can bring people together, that we can focus on the contributions of Jewish Americans, and the importance of reducing anti Semitism, bringing communities and cultures together so that we can learn from one another. And through education and understanding, we breed more harmony and unity. And that's what JAM, as it's affectionately known, is And all so glad to marry the Jewish American Heritage Month recognition with the honoring of the independence of the State Of Israel.

And it's appropriate for me to acknowledge my dear friend, who I was privileged to mentor, Vice Mayor Nancy Matayer, who was everything that Commissioner Shuham and Commissioner Quintana said that she was. It is devastating to talk about her in the past tense. You can see as the Brady Hunter Foundation folks came up, we were remarking that in the past five days, the number of people who have come forward that Nancy whose lives Nancy touched was absolutely remarkable. She was everywhere, all the time. She was ubiquitous.

And she was such an incredible light. And that word is honestly thrown around too often when describing people. But to have been able to stand in the glow of Nancy Matteyr was an incredible privilege. And at Holy Nation a year ago, during May, on Haitian Flag Day, we were able to come together as the Haitian American community and the Jewish American community here in our community, and celebrate the success of our two cultures. And to know, and it's so important.

This is why when a city like Hollywood acknowledges and honors the contributions of communities, and celebrates the independence of other nations, It's an opportunity to learn things. So I bet so many people I knew, but I bet so many people did not know that Haiti delivered the deciding vote at the UN to create the state of Israel. And that was absolutely remarkable. And through generations upon generations, there have been countless stories of the unity between our nations and nations across the globe. And Nancy Matayer, along with our representative, Marie Woodson, helped me make that event happen and that church service, which was incredibly beautiful.

Looking forward to celebrating in the Haitian community during Jewish American Heritage Month and Haitian Flag Day once again. So I think I'll just close by saying that while Commissioner Quintana definitely underscored that we should all try to strive to be like Nancy. I think we should, when making decisions as elected officials, or if you're making decisions in your life, a helpful barometer is to ask yourself, what would Nancy do? If you use her leadership and decision making and relationships as a guidepost, the answer to that question will always result in spreading more light and positivity in the world. Thank you so much.

JOSHUA Amen to that. Thank you so

much. Thank

you, Mayor and Commissioners. It's Evan Goldman from the Jewish Federation of Broward County. And thanks to our Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz. This community is the birthplace of US American Heritage Month. And there are celebrations that happen all across These United States.

But I am here to testify and uplift what Commissioners Quintana and others, Mr. Shewerman, said. What happened almost a year ago today at All Nations Church is worthy of national applause. It is probably the finest event that I've been to. Not all, let's be honest. Both of us on both sides of the day have given many celebrations. They're not treated equal. The gift that Nancy gave us for the church within this community, something that I carry in my heart, and I know those of us who were there will, too. And that's a gift to this community. And Hollywood, thank you for always having heard back. We appreciate it.

JOSHUA Thank you. Please come on up. We'd love to take a photo and help spread the word about the proclamation. And thank you to team d DWS's office. Thank you so much to Lori, Betty Anne, everybody.

You guys you guys are great.

Thank you. Thank you so much. Alright,

ladies and gentlemen. Let's go ahead with recognizing National Community Development Week, April. And, of course, it's very fitting that we have the director of housing community development, Ryan Coot, with community development staff here and some other partners. And let's present the proclamation. I will defer to commissioner Biederman.

Here we go.

Commissioner Biederman. Proclamation in recognition of National Community Development Week, April 2026, whereas the week of 04/06/2026 has been designated as National Community Development Week by the National Community Development Association to celebrate the Community Development Block Grant program and the Home Investment Partnership program. Whereas the CDBG and HOME programs provide essential federal funding for Hollywood, supporting community development initiatives for underserved populations, including seniors, individuals with disabilities, and low income families. And whereas, over the past five years, Hollywood's Community Development Division has received entitlement and disaster recovery funds totaling $13,300,000 and whereas these federal funds have been instrumental in infrastructure improvements, supporting local businesses, creating job opportunities, reducing homelessness, enhancing access to services, promoting health, safety, and well-being, and fostering vibrant, inclusive neighborhoods throughout Hollywood. And whereas the City Of Hollywood is committed to further leveraging CDBG and Home Funds to strengthen and support our community, foster economic opportunity, and ensure that all residents have access to safe, affordable housing and vital services And whereas the City of Hollywood's city commission recognizes the continued importance of these programs in addressing ongoing community needs and urges the federal government to continue funding these programs to ensure that future generations benefit from their success.

Now, therefore, Josh Levy, mayor of the City Of Hollywood, Florida, and the Hollywood City Commission, hereby proclaim April 2026, as National Community Development Week in the City Of Hollywood.

Brian, take us to church.

Absolutely, sir. So good afternoon, mayor, vice mayor, commission, city manager, city attorney, and assistant city managers. You know, in Hollywood, community development is much more than just federal dollars. We have local dollars that we invest into the lives of people who need it. We have state dollars that we invest in.

Our dollars go so much further than just what the commissioner read, even though it's great, so much further than that because we invest dollars into much needed affordable housing. We now have DOJ dollars, Department of Justice dollars we invest into a community court program. We have funds that we use to beautify our neighborhoods, not just from the owner occupied rehab programs, but also building sidewalks, planting trees, putting in lights. Our dollars, our precious dollars go as far as to help senior citizens who are not able anymore to maintain their properties, to improve their homes, so the housing stock in our neighborhood does not fall apart. There's so much more and we partner with much we invest lots of dollars with non profits that provide much needed services that range from homeless assistance, food banks, all the way to mental health services.

Our partnerships extend way beyond just federal dollars. It includes a myriad of dollars that really move our city forward and are targeted to help the most needy in our city to be equitable and strive and persevere. So, I want to thank you all for this recognition. I have with me today members of the team, Angela Blain, she's our community coordinator Sabrina Pazos, who's the office chief we have our housing inspector, Leon Beltran and two members of two of our committees, which is O'Dallas, who's on our affordable housing committee, and John Straighter, who's on our committee of the development advisory board. These people play a huge role in moving our initiative forward, and I want to thank you all for this recognition.

I'm just waiting for Angela to say hello. Good Good

afternoon, mayor Levy.

Good afternoon,

commissioner Gruber. Good afternoon, commissioner Hernandez. I think I'll stop there.

We can just wait and just have you speak with the British accent the whole afternoon. Come out for a photo. Also,

I want to say good afternoon to Commissioner Biederman, and congratulations on gaining a family member.

Thank you.

We'll take like 50 more. I'm just kidding. You guys are good.

Well, thank you to community development. We obviously love how you execute this work on behalf of the city, and we know the work goes a long way to help lots of people in need. And so thank you so much. Alright. Ladies and gentlemen, let's introduce commissioner Quintana, who will recognize World Landscape Architecture Month, which is April 2026. Let me go ahead and and, accepting the proclamation, I believe, we might have someone here from the American Society of Landscape Architects. Please come on up. Introduce yourself.

JORDAN Hi. My name's Jordan Chang. I'm the Broward Section Chair of the American Society of Landscape Architects Florida Chapter.

JORDAN All right. Jordan, welcome. Commissioner Quintana.

JORDAN My pleasure to be able to read this. So often, we take things like this for granted. But landscaping can make a really big difference in the quality of our lives. So here we go. Proclamation, City Of Hollywood, Florida, in recognition of World Landscape Architecture Month, April 2026.

Whereas, landscape architecture is the profession dedicated to the analysis, planning, design, management, and stewardship of natural and built environments, creating spaces that are functional, sustainable, and visually enriching for communities. And whereas, professional landscape architects apply expertise in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, as well as the arts and environmental stewardship to design parks, waterfronts, streetscapes, campuses, and public spaces that enhance health, safety, and well-being of residents and visitors. And whereas, landscape architects play a vital role in addressing modern challenges, such as climate resilience, storm water management, coastal protection, and preservation of natural resources, while creating vibrant places that encourage recreation, social connection, and economic vitality. And whereas, the theme for World Landscape Architecture Month is landscape architecture in action, and provides an opportunity to recognize the valuable contributions of landscape architects. This observance encourages residents, businesses, and civic leaders to value landscape architecture's role in creating healthy, inspiring, and livable spaces.

And, whereas the city of Hollywood recognizes the importance of thoughtful planning and design in shaping a sustainable and resilient community, where public spaces and natural systems are carefully integrated to improve quality of life for current and future generations. Now, therefore, Josh Levy, mayor of the city of Hollywood, Florida, and the Hollywood City Commission, do hereby proclaim April 2026 as World Landscape Architecture Month in the city of Hollywood, Florida.

Jordan, please.

Thank you so much for the proclamation. I'll admit that I am probably not as eloquent of a speaker as the people that came before me. I am a designer by profession, but I'll do my best.

We're already impressed.

Great, thank you. Landscape architecture is, if you didn't know already or understand from the long and lengthy proclamation, thank you for reading all of that. Landscape architecture is a design profession focused on the spaces and places that we all inhabit on a day to day basis. The practice and work of landscape architects is diverse and varied, from a residential yard to a residential community, from a neighborhood park to a theme park, a resort, a healing garden, regional storm water management plan. The work of landscape architects branches private and public sectors and helps improve the health, safety, and well-being of communities, and bringing people and nature together.

So thank you so much for the proclamation.

Thank you. Thank you. Please come on up. We'd love to take a photo and help spread the word.

I'll do your phone first. Here you go. Phone first.

Just

a couple for the city here. Thank you, guys.

Well, I'll tell you what. Just talking about all that inspires us to think even more so about the about how we can always enhance our our landscapes in the city because we all know how much that contributes to how the city feels and and the pride and and connection that people have with it. It's all about really the landscape in the end. And we've made some Jordan, you should know we've made some real great improvement, at least on the landscaping part of a landscape architecture in public spaces over the past few years. And we all want that to continue and be even more robust. And when you said stormwater regional plan, Vince stood up. I mean, yeah, it was his cue. But we have a lot in that realm as well, and we know that landscape architecture is a part of that as well. So thank you so much for being here. Alright.

Onto our regular agenda. Item 21 is a resolution of the city commission approving and authorizing the city to execute the continuing services agreement and authorization to proceed for work, with regards to CDM Smith and the stormwater program management consulting services on an as needed basis in an amount up to, definitely not exceeding, up to $999,000 and change amending the 2026 capital improvement plan for the current fiscal year by the Department of Utilities. Vin, if you'd like to just say a few words on what the work program is with CDM Smith in the next year.

Absolutely. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. This is, at this moment and with this vote, the city and the Department of Public Utilities is at full send on the stormwater construction program. So we will that first tranche of $375,000,000 that we presented, this will be the program management for that. And we'll be doing direct design of many of the infrastructure projects going forward.

All right. And with that, are there any speaker cards on item 21?

No cards.

Or is there a motion? Motion from commissioner Schuham and a second from commissioners Quintana and Gruber to approve item 21. All those in favor, aye. Aye. Any opposed? Hearing none, the item carries unanimously. Thank you so much. And thank you, John and team from CDM Smith. You've helped us get to this point with the stormwater master plan and been a big part of it, and we know you'll continue to see us through the execution. So thank you so much.

Hollywood, I know, has been a big place in your life over the past few years and will continue to be as well. Thank you. Alright. On to a resolution of the city commission authorizing and Hazen and Sawyer as well, I see here in the audience as well, are also a big part of things. A resolution of the city commission, City of Hollywood approving authorizing the city to execute a contract with southeastern engineering contractors in an amount up to $4,600,000 and change for construction services related to Lift Station Number 7 and Lift Station Number 8, rehabilitation, and forced main replacement, all in the scope of the project by the Department of Public Utilities. Vin, these lift stations are located, I believe, one or both are in Liberia, right?

VINT One lift station is located in Oakwood Plaza. The other is adjacent to the ML King Community Center. Right, Liberia. Then there's a force main over the little bridge in Oakwood Plaza that we'll be replacing as well.

Great. So much needed upgrades and rehabs for those lift stations. I'll accept the motion, Commissioner Gruber. And I'll accept the second, commissioner Hernandez. We have motion and a second from the district commissioners who are happy to have this infrastructure improvement in their districts and in the city. All those in favor, aye. Aye. Any opposed? Hearing none, the items carry unanimously. We have 5PM citizens comments coming up at 5PM.

It is a little before 02:00, so let's get through any comments today by the city commission, city attorney, city manager. Jordan, you're welcome to stay and listen in and soak in. Or you're also welcome to go and design beautiful architecture and landscape architecture. So don't feel that you're imposing. All right. Thank you all so much. Commissioner Gruber, let's recognize you for any city comments today. Or are you passing over? No, I'm not going

just a couple of things. I was happy to participate on Friday at the Caring Place, joined by Commissioner Quintana and Commissioner Hernandez and I just for Good Friday and feeding of the less fortunate and homeless. And just want to point out that the really good work that they do over there at the Caring Place, Keith and his team, they've just helped so many people and just happy to have them in our community and was proud to be a part of that. Just one other thing. I know we got an email a few weeks ago about the beginning of the micro schools ordinance.

I'm just hoping that that can come back sooner than later. I've had a bunch of parents calling me in a panic that several of the high schools, the private high schools, are full and waiting lists of 20 to 30 people per class. And just so we can get some direction with what we're doing with the microschools, if we could get that back as soon as possible, that would be great.

All right. Thank you. Let's get to Commissioner Biederman. Big week for the Biederman family.

Thank you. Thank you, mayor. I guess the first big thank you has to go to Parks and Rec for really cleaning up John Williams Park over the last couple of weeks. It was very beautiful. Second, thank you to Parks and Rec for having a great concert at Boulevard Heights, although I wasn't able to attend.

I understand it was a great turnout. And stepping up the game. I'm sure we'll hear more about that from Commissioner Quintana. I understand she was there. And the final thing is and I thought about this before, but I saw a Facebook meme that most likely was AI generated, but it was about FHP patrolling the highways with drone enforcement, speed enforcement.

I'm assuming it was AI, but it did bring to my recollection that when we're talking about the enforcement of the two eighteen yards on the beach that maybe Marine patrol or the lifeguards can put up a drone to warn off the boats instead of just blowing a whistle to get away. A drone we do have that drone technology in both departments. And if we could have those available, if a boat's coming too close, they could let them know that it's a two eighteen yard exclusion zone. So I think that might be an opportunity to use technology and have better safety for our boaters and swimmers. That's it.

But have a great day, everybody.

All right. Thank you, Commissioner Biederman. Let's get to Commissioner Quintana.

Thank you, mayor. Yes, Boulevard Heights Community Center, the stage out there, the oak trees out there. It's such a beautiful environment to enjoy a live concert. And we were treated on Saturday to a band that actually last year played at the party on the J. And their trumpet player is always part of Salsa Fest.

And he happens to be my neighbor. Excellent band, Really good turnout of residents. And it was I do hope that we'll use them again and that we'll keep maximizing the Boulevard Heights Community Center stage because it really is a beautiful venue for live performance. I just have a reminder for anyone who has been attending or who wants to come for their first story time in the park that we have one coming up this coming Friday at the yet unnamed little playground that is the newest one, I believe, in our city that's in my community. It's right along Johnson Street and 441 and the little side street there, Glen Parkway.

If you put in your GPS, 811 Glen Parkway, it's going to be right across the street from there. Six this coming Friday, we'll have books to read with children of all ages. And children of all ages will be able to pick a book to take home. And it'll be our first outdoor reading this year. So, join us, please. It's really beautiful experience to share together as a community. And that's it, Mayor. Thank you.

Thank you, Commissioner Quintana. Let's get to Commissioner Schuham, please.

Thank you, mayor. I wasn't able to attend, but I heard the marshmallow drop was great. So another thank you to public to our Parks Department. And I just wanted to share, on Friday, Commissioner Hernandez, Commissioner Quintana, and I I think that was it attended the Broward League of Cities, along with our city manager, Raelyn Story, and our assistant city manager, Adam Reichbach. The Broward League of Cities put on a really phenomenal presentation.

A woman came, and it was basically about treating how you treat people in a nutshell, whether it's on the dais, interactions between the public and elected officials, between elected officials, and just in life, generally. And the presentation was by a former elected official from the state of Utah. But it could be applied in any situation. And the organization, which I believe was called the Dignity Group or something like that, wasn't it?

Dignity Index.

The Dignity Index. You can go to dignityindex.us, I believe. They handed out and actually, Pat's going to bring some. They handed out something called a dignity index. And you strive to be high on the index. And you try to avoid being low on the index. And it's not so much about how you are being treated. It's how you react to how you're being treated. It was just fascinating. And I just really wanted to commend the Broward League of Cities on bringing in this speaker.

I hope they bring her again, or bring the organization again. And even more people show up, because all of us in our private lives and our public lives can benefit from the talk. And also, it was interesting. The Broward League of Cities is going to take this, I believe, a step further and put together a pledge, a dignity pledge, for all of us. And even when people come to speak, public comments and whatnot, they'll be able to read this dignity pledge.

So basically, it was very enlightening teaching us how to be better people, really, in a nutshell. And in a time where things are so divisive, I just thought it was a wonderful emphasis by president of the Broward League, Denise Horland, who is the councilwoman in Plantation. So I just want to thank her as well. So that's it. Thank you.

Thank you. All right.

It's called Dignity US. Dignity.us is an organization. The website is really great, so take a look.

Thank you. All right. Commissioner Hernandez, please.

Thank you, mayor. Van Buren Street, speeding and people heading the wrong way. I've met with the PD. We recently received an email from 22nd Avenue 2220, I believe, Van Buren Street, the resident there, saying that animals have been killed because of the speeding. So if we could do something about that, particularly on 24th And Van Buren Street, there seems to be a corner on the Northeast Corner that gets hit on a regular basis as a church.

And I believe that to add insult to injury, our code department goes and gives them a violation because they haven't fixed their fence fast enough and the fence has been hit several times. They're waiting for the insurance company to actually refund them. If we could do something about that, I would greatly appreciate it. So would they. Also, there was talk about, whether you believe it or not, that some people actually believe that a four way stop sign would probably slow down traffic more so than the current traffic light. Because people will not speed to try to make the light. They'll just realize that they would have to stop. And there's something a consideration. But it's not up to us. It's up to Broward County.

But I think it's up to our engineering to actually take a closer look at that to see if that actually works. Also, B would be to actually put speed tables on Van Buren Street. I don't think anybody likes that idea. But it's a natural way of actually slowing down traffic. We have had numerous accidents on that place and a lot of speeding taking place. So we'd like to be able to see if we could take a look at it. Also, on a happier note, I'd like to remind everybody that Salsa Fest will be taking place this Saturday at 2PM at the Arts Park. That's all I have. Thank you.

Thank you. Salsa Fest for sure, right? Excited. I think it's the eleventh annual Salsa Fest that I know everyone will be excited about. It's usually always a very big turnout. I want to wish everyone a happy holidays, happy Passover. I hope everyone had a nice, beautiful, meaningful Easter. I know there were celebrations for the holidays all over the city and continue to be as I see that Orthodox Easter is next Sunday. And I really just want to welcome Raelyn's story and the new management administration here at the the city. Raelyn, Jose, I know there's a few team member that Raelyn will introduce today as well.

And just to everyone that's seated here and everyone that's watching on the city team, thank you for committing to always improving the city's delivery of services, always improving on what we do, and being proud of how we facilitate quality of life and opportunity for people in the city, whether they are using our facilities, using our parks, getting the assistance from public safety in our city, and and just living here and being a customer of our our city's organization. Let's all take pride in what we do and feel accomplished when we've delivered good service and have a satisfied resident business owner in the city. In the end, it always comes back to that. And it's really rewarding when, of course, we hear many times of the issues that need attention in the city when we are out in public. People will remind us while they see us.

But it's also very heartwarming when people express appreciation for how well they believe and how much better the city is doing than their impression of how it was in years past. And so success and accomplishment is certainly the most motivating and the most rewarding to us all. And I just wish Rae Lynn and the new administration team all the success and accomplishment that you can be proud of during your tenure here at the city and that I know we'll all share as well. All right. And with that, city attorney.

I continue my Passover.

All right. Mazel Tov. City manager, I know you're not passing over, so not just yet.

Yeah. No, I have a few announcements to make. One, I wanted to just point out that I handed out on the dais earlier from our police department and chief of police, Jeff Devlin, is the annual Hollywood Police Department annual report. And I just want to read one line from it and from the letter the chief provides at the beginning of it. It's looking at the crime statistics for 2025, I am extremely impressed.

In every category, from person crimes to property crimes. Our numbers have decreased by double digits. Homicides down 55%, robberies down 38%, burglaries down 27%, motor vehicle thefts down 20%. So these are really numbers that we can be proud of. And we're very obviously proud of the work that our officers do every day.

Also, would like, as the mayor intimated, I would like to introduce our new director of design and construction management, Mark Gambrell. Mark, if you want to come forward. The team at Design and Construction Management has done a tremendous job leading our capital projects and implementing our general obligation projects, which are now all nearing completion. Mark brings a depth of experience to Hollywood. He is a professional engineer with more than thirty years of experience delivering complex infrastructure projects across public and private sectors.

He has expertise in major terminal expansions, having worked for the Broward County Aviation Department, transportation systems, water, sewer, and drainage infrastructure that support resilient and sustainable communities. Mark has led the planning, design, and delivery of large scale capital programs, including consistently aligning project outcomes with policy objectives, fiscal stewardship, and community priorities. He represents strength in interagency coordination and stakeholder engagement. He has a bachelor's degree in civil engineering, a master's degree in civil and environmental engineering, and a master's degree in public administration. We're very happy to have him as part of the team. Mark, do you want to say a few words?

Mark, welcome. Mark, that introduction was so great, you probably don't even say a thing. But go ahead, please. You have the floor.

Thank you, mayor and commissioners. I really look forward to working with the team. A few things. I'd to just say thank you to this past week with HR. The onboarding process is very easy, very informative, and also the IT group for getting the technology. I'm So ready in Legistar and a lot of other components, I'm trying to dive into that. But again, thank you, city manager and ACM, city attorney, city clerk. Looking forward to work with everyone. Met with the team already. They gave a great presentation this past week.

So we're already going out on the job sites. Very look forward to adding the value that I bring. But again, you have a good team in design and construction management and just looking forward to work with everyone. Thank you.

All right, Mark. Thank you so much. We're excited about the work ahead and excited to have you on board. Thank you. Commissioner Schuhem.

Yes. Mark, I just wanted to share over the past couple of weeks when I would mention that you were coming, the response was just 100% positive from everyone. They were like, oh, my gosh, Mark is coming to Hollywood. You guys are so lucky. So we're so grateful that you're here. I just want to express thanks to Jose. You've left Mark with an amazing, amazing team. And I just think together you guys are just going to continue to do the phenomenal work that DCM has started. So thanks so much, and I'm really looking forward to working with you.

Just a few other announcements. We mentioned a few events this weekend, but a couple more to just highlight quickly. We have the beach sweep. The cleanup is on Saturday from seven to eleven This is very helpful to getting litter and other debris off the beach that sometimes the machinery cannot catch as easily. The One City at a Time, this is the initiative that Hollywood paired up with Memorial Health Care for.

They are having their anniversary community event. It's ten to 2PM at Boggs Park And Sports Field on 23rd Avenue. Free games, health screenings, free hot lunch, food distribution for the first 150 families, again, in partnership with Memorial Health Care System. And then, of course, Commissioner Biederman already mentioned it, SalsaFest this Saturday. We also have a household hazardous waste drop off, an electronic drop off that's here at City Hall on Sunday from eight to 3PM.

And finally, I just want to share how much I am looking forward to working with the team and the city commission as your city manager. Today's agenda paints a clear picture that Hollywood continues to be in an active capital investment period with a focus on utilities

Keep going. Keep going.

I get

a little more time storm water improvements, park upgrades, and overall maintenance of critical infrastructure. Nearly every dollar on this agenda was infrastructure related. And two of the items on regular agenda represent a sizable investment, dollars 5,700,000.0. And it's important to note that 3,400,000.0 of that or 3,500,000.0 of that was grant funding. And we'll continue to go heavily after any grant dollars that are available to help us with these investments.

This really highlights where we are as a city moving into our next one hundred years. I look forward to working with each of you to achieve the top priorities of the commission as we enter the budget planning cycle for next year and in implementing everything that's already approved within our current fiscal year. We will need to continue focusing on investing in our city, ensuring public safety, and improving affordability in the most critical areas, especially housing, while we will be focused on using technology and process improvements to enhance customer service and satisfaction throughout the organization. Thank you so much for your support and confidence in me. And we are all ready to do this.

All right. I love that. And I'll tell you what. We might be starting a new trend because it's 02:11. And we're going to recess until 5PM for citizen comments.

Thank you all. We have one card today. Gwinnett Beatty. Please come on up, ma'am. Looks like you're visiting us from Hallandale Beach?

Fort Lauderdale.

Fort Lauderdale. Okay. There we go.

Have to

be assigned to the provider.

Just give it to the clerk.

Gwynne My name is Gwynne Beattie. I live at 4410 Northwest 12th Terrace in Fort Lauderdale. The reason I'm here today, I have good news. I started a program with a couple of other cofounders called Rotary Connection. And I've spoken to you about it. And I've spoken to Commissioner Beeterman about it. It's a free bus for the homeless to get to needed resources in Fort Lauderdale. We have a couple of stops in Wilton Manor, Lauderhill, and Oakland Park. We have 62 stops per day. It's a loop service.

And it gets people to door to door to needed services. To medical, doctors, mental health, rehab, food, clothing, documents, social security, DMV, job training at Goodwill, and recovery services. We've been operating since last August. We have one fourteen seat bus. And we've already delivered over 4,000 rides.

We do Monday to Friday, eight to three We have a resource navigator on the bus talking to everybody. Those one on one conversations are the key to the success here. Finding out where they're going and telling them about other services they may or may not need. Maybe they want to get into treatment. Maybe they ride with us for a few days before they decide to go into rehab.

We do four things. We do the rides. The second thing we do is reunification. Anybody that wants to go home, wherever in any part of the country, or the rest of Florida, we contact their family, make sure it's okay that they come home. And we get them a Greyhound bus ticket, food, and clean clothes for the ride, and get them on a bus same day.

We average one reunification per day, and we've done as many as 10 in a week. The third thing we do is rehab placement. Anybody that wants to go into treatment, we call around the facilities. We find the best place for them insurance, no insurance and we deliver them to the facility same day. Every stop that we have, we get off the bus and walk them in. It's called a warm handoff. And we introduce them to the people at the front desk, so they're just delivered and introduced. And they're not just walking out and they're nervous. It's a soft place to fall. The fourth thing we do is distribute essential items.

We distribute 600 essential items a week. And it's clean socks, or it's cold drinks. And it's a low barrier entry point. Hi, do you want a pair of clean socks? And by the way, we have this bus. And the reason why I'm here today is because we want to do a bus in Hollywood. Because we're very successful. There's no program like this in the country. We have the one bus in Fort Lauderdale. We already need another bus in Fort Lauderdale. We're leaving people on the sidewalk. We want to do a bus in Pompano and we want to do a bus here. So, I'm here today to tell you about this. I gave you the information. I'm So if anybody wants any materials in the audience, I can give you the handout, which is the stops, the ones I just spilled all

over phone. Is this funded by the Rotary Club of Fort Lauderdale?

In part. Right now, it's all private funding. We have private donations, some corporate social responsibility, but no taxpayer dollars. Yeah.

I got you.

It's all

yeah. Mr. Hernandez? You

came to talk to us. What is it that we can do to help you?

I'd like to see if any of you would like to do a ride along to see what this is. It would be about two hours. Also, I'd like to see if we could submit our budget to you for 2027 funding and consideration. For you, it would be a new start up bus. It would be a new bus another bus. The bus we bought is a 2010 bus. It's not a new bus. We bought it for $15,000 clear. And we put a wrap. I held a student art competition to design the wrap on the bus.

And so, the branding, put City of Hollywood on the bus, get another bus, and devise a route, maybe working with your NGOs in Hollywood to see where the best stops are for the scope of stops we want to do and start up a bus for you. I

would say the first place to stop would be to talk to Duane Chung, which he's our homeless coordinator. He would be the one that would give you that. But you started by saying that there's no public dollars invested and yet you want to give us a bill for a bus. How does that work?

Well, we have a month

I'm okay with that. I'm just seeing if I heard what I heard.

We have a current operating budget that we could replicate. And we could do start up costs for another bus. It's, right now our start up, our operationals are 22,000 a month. It's really low for the amount of people that we've reunified. We've reunified over 60 people, and we've gotten over 70 into rehab.

So everybody that's off the street Broward County says that they spend $47,000 per person homeless person per year on public services fire, hospitalization, police, medical, emergency. 47,000 times the reunification of 60 is 2,800,000 that we've saved the county in eight months. So at 22,000 a month, it's a good comparison.

So I have a question. You mentioned that the concept is have the person get into the bus, then they're interviewed for what their needs are. And then a decision is made as to where to take them to get those services, or is it just a loop that whether or not they need to go to the DMV or what have you they ride a loop?

It is a loop service. And we tell them what time we're going to get to the place where they're going. It's a small bus. It's 14 seats, so it's an easy conversation with everybody. We have one resource navigator plus one bus driver on the bus all day. So it's easy to figure out not only where they're going to go, but we walk them into documentation. And we know people there now. So we can get the line skipped. We can pick them up again in the afternoon. If we're not going back there in the afternoon, we give them a day bus pass to get back to where they were in the beginning.

I see the Fort Lauderdale route is within Fort Lauderdale with all these different stops here. Is it your idea that a Hollywood bus would be circulating through Hollywood offices only?

Yes. It would be a separate bus with its own route.

I gotcha. And if we don't have a lot of these different services within the city, what would happen if it was just a 10 stop or a six stop?

Well, we could start by assessing what stops it would be before you decided if you wanted to start something up or not. So it's some pickup stops. They're not all services stops. Sometimes it's pickup stops to the homeless locations. And then we can do the reunification.

Yeah, have the Broward Outreach Center in Hollywood, which is run by the Miami Mission. We have a great partnership with them. We run community court there. A lot of the same referrals to the same services. So I would suggest at the city manager's designee, whoever she designates could maybe sit with you, learn about how this type of service may or may not fit in with what we're doing in Hollywood, and see where it goes from there.

It's a novel concept, the idea of, I think, giving a ride and then on the way sort of interviewing. Any opportunity to kind of, I think, interact with the person who's homeless to kind of see if we can refer to services, I think, is an interesting idea. And to the and we also fund caseworkers right now that do the same thing. But here, you're kind of getting them at the bus, so to speak. So interesting. And I imagine maybe perhaps, Raelyn, someone from Hollywood might want to take Ms. Beatty at her offer to do a ride along and kind of see how our program works in Fort Lauderdale and then consider and then maybe report back to us. Commissioner Schuham?

Thanks, Mayor. Well, thank you for doing this. It sounds incredible. A couple of things that are maybe unique to Hollywood. We have an ongoing agreement with an organization called Task Force for Homelessness, I believe.

We work with them, too. They refer reunification to us because we can get it done same day.

Right. And so that seems like a natural fit. The other thing is, as the mayor as I think Commissioner Hernandez mentioned, our police department has a homelessness outreach task force and team. And they do the same reunification. So I think there's a lot of good overlap. The mayor mentioned community court, which is exactly what you're doing, but in a stationary location. But I'm curious, once you drop someone off, how do they get back to wherever they're living?

Some of our stops are two per day. So we pick them up again and bring them back to where we picked them up from in the first place. If we're not going back to that stop, we give them a day bus pass. We have a community court in Fort Lauderdale, too. And it's turning out that the people at community court that are placing people in rehab have them wait there for us to get there and get them to bring them to the facility, because Ubers aren't working.

People are getting off in between. And I've been meeting with different police forces from other municipalities to talk to them. I met with the Wilton Manors police team last Thursday, just a couple of days ago. And they're going to have me present to their Parks and Recs team, because the Parks and Recs are walking through the parks and finding the homeless people, to be able to tell them, hey, we have an opportunity for reunification. Then they can contact us. I mean, we did two over the weekend. And we're not even running on the weekends.

So, a couple more questions. We happen to have a city shuttle. So, I would be curious, you know, the overlap of that. And also, have you spoken with the Hollywood Rotary Club?

It's on my list of things to do, to meet with them. I've presented this to about a dozen Rotary Clubs so far. But your free shuttle, yes, our equivalent is Lauter Go. But what don't go to these stops door to door. That's the difference. And it's a public safety issue. When you're homeless and you're carrying your eight bags of your life with you, and you don't necessarily have good hygiene and you've had everything stolen from you. It's a public safety issue to get on a lot or go, or you're a public bus. And nobody's talking to you. Nobody's finding out.

We took a veteran who had been homeless for a couple of years, didn't know how to get his DD214. Gary, who rides the bus as the navigator three days a week, is on the board at United Way, which is Mission United. We got him over to Mission United, and within a week he was housed. And he didn't know. So really, it's one person at a time, and whatever their needs are. Sometimes it takes them multiple rides with us before they get into rehab, but we until they trust us. So it's a thing, you know, they don't like police uniforms. They don't trust that, in that we all know that. And we don't have, you know, any uniforms. And we don't have that kind of fear factor. So we had to build up the trust. It took a while to build that up. And

How long have you been operating?

Since August. Yeah, it's new. It's the only program like this with this combination of things in the country.

Fantastic. Well, thank you so much

for that. Thank you.

Commissioner Gruber?

I picked up my stuff.

Thank you.

What? Yeah. Real quick. No. I just so real quick.

Miss Beatty? Miss Beatty? I I We're turning this one citizen comments into a whole evening. So go ahead.

Thank you. Yes.

No. I I have heard about your service. It was mentioned in the in our COC board meetings and and and good things about it. So I I would suggest what you suggested that maybe our team gets together to see if there's a gap that can be filled or if we're already filling that service and get back to us and see if we could do something. And I'd be happy to do a ride along.

Thank you. I would too.

Oh, great.

Maybe not Thank at the same time, but

Yes. Well, you can, but we only have 14 seats. I'd love it if you could come at different times. But I always stand when I'm on the bus. So we took Senator Nan Rich with us one day, and Commissioner Ben Sorensen. So we'd love to get you, and if you want to advance it with your community directors and have them come on it and see what we do before you get on, we can do that, too. That's what I generally do.

Actually, I think Nan Riches who mentioned it and spoke very highly in our

last Yeah. She loves it, yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. So, yeah. Sounds like the

county might be doing it then.

Well, tomorrow morning, I'm going go to that meeting.

Okay.

But we've submitted our but we you know, all the more funding we can get, we average 35 to 45 riders a day. We average 700 a month. So we can use another one: bus already. And the bus, you know, it's a twenty ten. It's not gonna it's

got a 100,000 miles. We just did that as a let's see what happens. We don't know how this is gonna work out thing. And now it's worked out really, really Do your oil changes on time. It'll last a while.

What? SPEAKER

Do the oil changes on time and it'll last

a exactly. Yeah, we just fixed the AC.

Commissioner We need to, you know Biederman.

SPEAKER: Thank you, Anna. It was a pleasure meeting you. I think it was at the chamber, right? I think

I

still have your business card in my pocket.

SPEAKER: Oh, good.

I don't empty them out very often. Actually, I don't get a lot of paper credit business cards lately. It's usually digital. But looking at the list of services and stops, a lot of them are going to be the same stops. So even though it's a Hollywood bus, it would be going to some of these Fort Lauderdale locations.

And we partner with some of these, like Homes Inc. Is one of our partners also. And I think the city manager can connect you with the team in community development that handles a lot of this and the police department. My question for PD is, does this qualify for forfeiture funds? But a little bit we have, but is this one of those things that might qualify for forfeiture funds If we were to

As a like a multi passenger van type vehicle, I don't know what kind of strings might be attached to that. But if it's a tool for the police department, maybe. I see. Public Safety Director O'Brien, maybe they can get back to us with the answer. Really?

I think we have had some initial conversations about this with the community development folks. And so we would like to explore it a little bit more, certainly if any of you would like to do the ride along or find out more about it. But please let us follow-up. I have the card. And we'll go from there.

All right. Thank you. JOSHUA All right.

Thank you so much. This concludes citizen comments for today. Meeting's adjourned.