Resort Tax Board - Regular Meeting

Good afternoon everyone. Today is June 2nd, 2026. It is 6 p.m. and this is the restored tax board meeting. I will go ahead and call the roll. Board Member David Karp. If you can please speak into the microphone. I'll show you press the button. Thank you.

Here.

Thank you. Board Member Jocelyn Kinzer.

Here.

Board Member Fred Lansman.

Present.

Board Member Judy Martinez. Here. And Board Member Eli Turgerman. Here. There is a quorum for today. The next item will be the selection of Board Chair and Vice Chair, and I will go ahead and open the floor to the Board Members.

I'd like to nominate my name as Chair.

I'm sorry, Board Member. Could you please speak into the microphone?

I said I'd like to nominate

May I have the privilege of making a nomination here, Mr. Torgerman?

Sure.

Through the chair, through the board who doesn't exist. So I'd like to nominate Eli Torgerman to be the chair of this board. Thank you.

And I'd like to second it. I worked with him four years ago, and I liked all the guidance he gave us and the recommendations and his attendance at every event. So I second it.

Thank you, guys.

Board Member David Karp.

Yes.

Board Member Jocelyn Kinzer.

Yes.

Board Member Fred Lansman.

Yes.

Board Member Judy Martinez.

Yes.

Board Member Eli Guterman.

Of course, yes.

Motion carries.

Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you, David.

The next item will be the selection of vice chair.

I'd like to nominate.

Chair, if you could please speak into the microphone.

I'd like to nominate David Karp. Thank you.

I will second that motion.

Board Member David Karp.

Yes, thank you very much.

Board Member Justin Kinzer.

Yes.

Board member Fred Lentzman.

Yes.

Board member Adriana Martinez. Yes. Chair Targumet. Yes. Chair, the motion carries. Next item is agenda order of business. Chair.

Right. Okay, so everybody has the agenda, correct? Correct. All right, so any items to be discussed in this?

Good evening.

As liaison, I just want to thank you all for committing your time to this important board. forward-facing component that really impacts our town, impacts our tourism, which is vital in supporting our town services that benefit not only the tourists but everyone. So thank you all for devoting your time and effort to this.

Thank you. Before we go any further, I'd like to acknowledge the presence of Commissioner Stege. He's present attending this meeting, as well as the liaison, which is David Weingart. And my favorite mayor, Shlomo Danziger, is also present at this meeting. So I just want to get that in the record. The next item on the agenda is the Town Commission Deation Report. That's you, David.

I jumped to my intro speech earlier there. I just wanted to share for tonight, as it's the kickoff meeting, to carry over the vision forward. We have a new commission accomplishing great things already. And we begin shaping how we invest these important funds with transparency, fiscal responsibility, and a shared vision for Surfside's future. So your experience, collective experience, and perspectives will be vital as we work together here. I'm excited for you all to get started, and please feel free to reach out to me at any time as liaison to carry back to the commission and forward to the board any important matters.

Thank you so much, Commissioner. Any other comments? That's it. All right, so the next item is public comments.

Chair, I do have one public comment from Commissioner Harada-Bildostegui.

Absolutely.

Thank you, Madam Clerk, and thank you, Chair Torgerman, Vice Chair Karp, members of the board. It's so nice to see all of you. I'll make my comments brief. I generally like to make the rounds of the boards and committees to say hello, to introduce myself when necessary, although here we have a board of very nice, familiar faces, and it's good to see all of you together at this table. I had just a couple of quick thoughts. Unfortunately, I won't be able to stay for the entire meeting because I have to get back to work at 7, but I am always in awe of the work that our tourist boards have done over the years, and I know this board will be no different looking at the talent assembled here. I had one general suggestion and maybe one specific one for you to consider in your future meetings. One thing that the previous tourist board did that I strongly advocated for was to promote some cultural partnerships with leading organizations in Dade County, among them the Bass Museum of Art, the Jewish Museum of Florida, the Miami Film Festival, the Miami Jewish Film Festival, and we were working on something adjacent to the Miami Book Fair International. And I think this was a really nice addition to the work of the Surfside Resort Tax Board. I think it does a lot of good for the branding of the town to be associated with these august institutions. And I also, you know, just as somebody who thinks a lot about community and how to bring people together, I have tremendous respect hope and faith that culture and the fine arts specifically can play a role in bringing together people in different and unexpected ways. And I think that many of those events that we did in those partnerships achieved exactly that. So I hope that the board, as you consider your projects for the next couple of years, will take that experience and keep it in mind and promote those partnerships or similar ones, because I think they were very good for the town. Relatedly, I wanted to put in a pitch for a project that I initiated last year with the help of the Tourist Board and also with the Community Relations Board that Vice Chair Karp was part of. This was a new event that we did in November of 25 called Singer Fest. It was a tribute to Isaac Bashevis Singer, the Yiddish writer who was a surfsider in his final years. famously a winner of the Nobel Prize in literature. Surfside has the rare distinction of having been home to a Nobel laureate in literature. And I thought the town didn't do nearly enough to honor him and to just to promote our connection to this figure. So I know that several of you, I think three of you were at the singer fest event it was a partnership between the resort tax board and the community relations board it had among other things an academic lecture for from somebody from the university of texas who we brought in we had a book club where which was extremely well attended about something like 50 people read some of singer's stories and got together with the guests to discuss them And then we had a terrific party behind the community center with the Klezmer Band dancing kosher Polish food. It was really a lovely event. Building on my earlier point, I think Isaac Bashevis Singer is a unique figure and his ability to bring together different segments of our community around his work and so i would love it if the board would consider keeping that event going for november 2026 i'm happy to take part in the planning if if you would like to talk about it um the town attorney can confirm but i think speaking with you individually i'm not subject to any sunshine law restrictions so we can we can talk separately about those things and i you know just want to offer my you know, my expertise in the area, if I can help. So anyway, just want to leave that for you to think about for a future meeting. I'll stay here for a little bit, but when I duck out, I apologize in advance. And thanks again.

Thank you, Commissioner. Anybody else? Nobody else?

I don't have any more speaker cards, Chair.

Sorry?

I don't have any more speaker cards.

Okay, I have some members of the audience here. Would you like to speak in any way? No, no, no. Okay, very good. All right, so we move to the next item on the agenda, which is approval of the minutes. I have a little problem with this, because basically we were not attending or participating in these minutes. So I don't know how we're going to vote to accept the minutes. Is there a...

Voting to approve the minutes is an administrative procedure, so you should be able to vote to approve the minutes from the last meeting. I think that should be fine.

Well, how can we approve something that we didn't participate in? I read it, and it doesn't mean anything to me. I wasn't present. Frank, you want to say something?

Through the chair, I think we have one returning member, Judy Martinez. I don't know if she read the minutes. If you see anything that stood out, you know, she's the one member that is coming back.

So do you want to move to approve the minutes?

Yeah. I mean, that's the only, the only, I mean, is everybody in agreement with that?

Why don't you move and I'll second it.

Yes.

Yes. We need a motion.

I second.

Who made the motion? Sorry.

Motion, if you want. I make a motion to have Judy Martinez approve last meeting's minutes.

If I may, Chair, it will be best if Judy makes a motion to approve the minutes and then somebody will make a second.

Okay.

Yeah, I think that that's more or less...

So I'll make the motion to approve the approval of the minutes on March 2nd, 2026.

I second.

Board Member Kinzer?

Yes.

Board Member Lanzmann?

Yes.

Board Member Martinez?

Yes.

Vice Chair Karp?

Yes.

Chair Torgerman?

I guess yes.

Try the motion carries.

Thank you very much Thank You mr. Chair

Most of you may be familiar with this report. Some of you are newer to the board, but basically this is a snapshot of different months for the resort tax collection, which of course is 2% on food and beverage, surfside restaurants, and 4% on the hotels, the accommodation side. So what I do here every month is just to give you a snapshot to see the trend lines, how we're performing versus the previous year and versus the year before that. So, for this particular report, which I just slightly updated for this meeting, we were looking at the month of December, which is, of course, 1 of the peak holiday months and looking at that performance. So, overall, the numbers are very strong, particularly on the accommodation side. Of course, we know that because of inflation and other things, everything has really gone up. So we are collecting more revenue. Over the last two years, we have seen some periods, though, where there has been a bit of a decrease on the restaurant side. Nothing too alarming, but maybe a couple of percentage points. But at least this past December, we can see that all town restaurants performed really well. And then, of course, we also look at the vacancies in the business district, which we currently have a number of. My office also manages the vacant window covering process. So whenever there is a vacancy in the district, we cover that up with some nice branded wallpaper so that it has a more cohesive look. The newest vacancy, I think, is basically last week. It's Josh's Deli, sadly. You know, a modern class. So I know that he, I think, sold the business maybe last year and somebody else took it over. And unfortunately, you know, they're closing. But it's definitely sad to see because it was such a unique and very Surfside, you know, spot. You know, it had that really nice.

It also had a lot of accolades.

Yeah, absolutely. It was in the Michelin Guide, a lot of press because of the unique concept. So we're sad to see it go. I'm trying to find out what might be coming there next, but it's going to be hard to replace Josh's for sure.

The question I have for you, is that list means all of those are vacancies?

Correct, yeah.

These are currently – It says here incoming and formerly vacant for the report.

So, yeah, that's if I know that a new business is coming, I will list it there.

But I don't know which one it is or which one it's not.

So all of these are former businesses. I don't have any of the new ones here.

Okay, good. That's what I want to know because it's a little confusing for me to know which one is new and which one is gone.

Okay, I'll separate them moving forward so we have... Sure.

Two letters would be less confusing for me. Okay. And I imagine that the board would do the same. This way we will know what's good and what's not good.

Yep, good suggestion. But some of the recent big vacancies, they're like 9472. They did open Hakari, which is a nice high end Japanese omakase. So Yeah, quite a few vacancies, but that's not a typical for the business district. That's really pretty standard. And we do see a lot of the restaurants still performing pretty well. The shops, the retailers, they tend to struggle a little bit more. But overall, I think the restaurants are doing well.

Just a point of information. Overall, in the first quarter of this year, tourism is down 1%, so we're doing excellent.

Mm-hmm. Yep. I know that in the context of Greater Miami, Surfside and Ball Harbor are still performing really well.

Very well.

Yep.

Great. Through the chair, I have a question. So I heard 2% from the restaurants. Do we get anything from the regular shops?

No, there's no collection from retail.

That's it thanks very much any questions for Frank from the board. None we move to the next item. Discussion item resort tax board twenty twenty six meeting dates and deadlines.

Yes, Chair, if I may, that will be my item. I introduced this item with the Office of the Town Clerk, where we create a schedule for the rest of the year for all the parts and committees. Basically, this shows all of the meetings that we have throughout the year. And it also shows our deadlines for when you should submit an item to the clerk's office in order to make it on time to be posted with the agenda. I do have one date that I would like to suggest. We meet the first Monday of every month, but for the month of October. There is a scheduled conflict between the clerk's office, and I'm asking for the October meeting to be changed from October 5th to Monday, October 12th. That will be the only change that I am suggesting for the board to approve tonight.

Anybody has a problem with that? No? Board? No, just... We don't observe Columbus Day. All right, it doesn't seem to have a problem, so I guess we'll go ahead with that.

And I did want to ask the board regarding the meeting time. Will 6 p.m. be a meeting time adequate for all board members, or would you like to meet earlier? May I suggest a different time at 6 p.m.?

That's a very good question. It used to be meeting for years at 5.30, and that was changed to 6 p.m. Is everybody in agreement at 6 o'clock? Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Okay. 6 o'clock we will continue to do.

Chair, if I may, may I have a motion to please approve the bidding dates with the change from October 5th to October 12th?

Do I hear a motion to approve?

So moved.

Do I hear a second? I second.

all those in favor say aye aye any opposed the motion carries thank you excellent through the chair may i ask a question sure absolutely uh how many uh so if we can't make it a meeting we let genesis know And then how many before you're removed? Three. Three. But that's the way it was.

Three consecutive. So this board's a little bit different than other boards. So it's three consecutive meetings with no prior notice. Then you are subject to be removed from the board.

OK. So if you give prior notice, you're OK.

I believe so, yes. I could check the code, but there needs to be notice in advance.

So, yes, that's accurate.

Can I ask a question, too? Sure. Is there a Zoom option?

All right. No, your code does not provide for a virtual option to attend, so it needs to be in person. Thank you.

Good.

Any other questions on that? Now we move to the next item. The Resort Tax Hosts Successful Film Festival Screening. Frank.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. This was just a pretty quick recap because we didn't have a chance to recap the film screenings because of quorum issues the last few meetings. But as Commissioner Valdostegui mentioned, we have been doing a number of... of film festival partnerships. We did two this year with the Miami Film Festival and one with the Miami Jewish Film Festival. Last year we did only two, but all five that we've done have been extremely successful. I mean, they've all been very well attended. All the seats were filled, plus additional people that would come out and set up their own chairs and blankets. The films that we've shown have been great. In terms of the funding, it's a relatively inexpensive initiative. The partnerships for the Miami Film Festival run about $7,200 total, and that includes the partnership fee, the screening fee, the setup with the screen and the chairs, plus the popcorn and the snacks. So overall, it's one of the less expensive events. And then for the Miami Jewish Film Festival, they don't have a partnership fee. So it's about $2,500 less. Maybe around $4,600, $4,700. So I just wanted to let everybody know that the most recent one, I think we did in April with the Miami Jewish Film Festival. We showed a Spanish-Argentinian film called Mazel Tov, which was great. And overall, just a very positive event. I want to thank Commissioner Weingart was there for the first Miami Film Festival screening in March. And Judy, you were there for most of them. So overall, it's been a great initiative.

So this has already passed.

This is a recap, yes, from the, yeah.

So when do we look to see?

So these would, you know, we'll have it in the draft budget, but, you know, the recommendation is to continue with them for next year, and I think we did February, March, and then April, so it's those three months. Sure.

Through the chair, hi. Good evening, everyone. I'm very glad to be back for this commission and be sitting here. I wanted to mention something about the film festival because the Jewish Film Festival, which has brought really very good catalogs that people really enjoy very much, and the last one was really like an amazing piece. They start in January, the festival itself. So I will propose to start with them by January, maybe to start making arrangements through the month of October or November in order to really have something happen in January. Because then by the end of March or April, we start having the weather start deteriorating. Oh. to have these screenings. So if we can start a little bit earlier this year, I think it will be much better.

Very good suggestion.

That's a good point. I will talk to Judy at the film festival. They have always suggested the April date, and I think some of that is because they're gearing up for their festival in January, and they tend to be pretty busy. They've only ever offered April, but I'm happy to touch base with Judy and see if we can explore January because, of course, weather-wise, or February, it's much nicer. So I agree. If it's possible, we can definitely look into it.

Very good. Any other suggestions? Board?

Actually, Frank, if we coordinate with the Miami Jewish Film Festival, is there a reason we only do one versus maybe doing two with? What? We do do two.

No, Jewish one.

The Jewish.

No, it was two with the Miami Film Festival, one with the Jewish.

And maybe partnering with some of our synagogues in town?

Sure, yeah. I mean, all promotion is great promotion. And if we have those institutions in town, we could definitely partner with them to help spread the word. And if they are open to a second screening, I mean, I think it would be great. Because as you see, it's relatively inexpensive, especially for the Jewish Film Festival. And the return is really good. So if they could do two, we could definitely explore that.

Yeah, the return's fabulous. And they are nationally and internationally known. So it doesn't hurt us at all.

Okay, yeah, I'll definitely ask that as well.

I'm glad that all these suggestions are coming up because it's going to be part of the budget. Correct. Okey-dokey. Anything else on that? Not? We'll move to the next item. Poetry Month Contest.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. This was a new initiative for the town. I believe this came up through maybe Parks and Recreation and the town manager's office, but In celebration of April, which is National Poetry Month, there was a Surfside poetry contest that was launched by Parks and Rec I think a couple of months ago. And they wanted to sponsor some prizes for the different First, second, and third place. So I think we are looking for a $400 approval so that the board can fund those prices, which included some gift cards to Flanagan's, an experience at the Four Seasons, and I forget what the third one is.

Question. Is that related to tourism?

Yeah, because I think the gifts are, you know, for the business district. And it was something that we promoted on the Visit Surfside account. So it wasn't restricted to residents. So I think that.

Because we have to be very careful. Yes. Which is not really tourist gearing, but somehow it is.

It wasn't restricted to residents, but I see your point. Yeah, absolutely.

Okay. All right. Any questions on that, guys?

And sorry, through the chair, just to clarify, the third price was 16 handles surfside. So the ice cream shop here in town.

Okay. And Frank, we paid for those. Those weren't donated. Yes, I do. Sorry. We paid for those. Those weren't donated by the businesses.

Yes, we do pay for them. Yeah.

in that sense I think it's a way to promote our businesses in town and you know not only the businesses but also the hotel and this year it was the first year the contest was so lovely, and the letters were in social media, which is very good, I think, for the way that people see us, because it's in social media. So it was very inspiring, and I hope it continues, because it's not only cultural, but also has their tourist side.

Good. Any other observations? Yeah.

Chair, do you need approval for this?

Yes.

I'll make that motion to approve it. The $400?

I second.

Call the roll.

Yes. Board Member Kinzer?

Yes.

Board Member Lensman?

Yes.

Board Member Martinez?

Yes.

Vice Chair Karp?

Yes.

Chair Targerman? Yes. Chair, the motion carries.

Thank you very much.

I just have a question. Did this come up at the – was this on the minutes from the last Taurus text?

No, this hasn't come before the board yet because we had cancellations. All right. I got it.

The next item, Frank?

Yes. I think we have the Paddletopia and Paddle for Plastic recap. So I'll welcome Sarah to the podium. And just really quick to set it up for you. We recently had the Paddletopia event that was scheduled for May 16 and 17. And May 17 was also going to be the Paddle for Plastic event activity with plastic fishermen. Unfortunately, it rained a lot on Saturday. What was originally a 15% chance of rain for maybe an hour turned into just a downpour that lasted most of the day. So unfortunately, we did have to cancel that day. We did have to pay Sarah's company the full amount because, of course, everything was contracted. Everybody was ready to go. So we'll talk about whether you're interested in maybe rescheduling this. My suggestion would be later towards the end of the fiscal year, maybe the last weekend or two of September. And then on the paddle for plastic side, the event in total, I think, is something like 13,000. We, I think, have to pay... maybe around 3.6 for the staffing and some different needs for Rodrigo's team. But we also have to pay for some of the merchandise that was specifically ordered for that event. It says paddle for plastic. So if you don't want to reschedule it, we'll probably have to pay around $5,900. And that's to absorb, again, the promo items. But you could also choose to reschedule it in late September and that those promo items will already be secured.

Frank, correct me if I'm wrong. There is a date later on during the year that is national, I think. It has to do with plastics and clean beach and so on and so forth. And the last time that I was familiar with this program, the one that was national, it was very well accepted. The other one, it was an added attraction. He wanted more days to do the programs. What I don't understand is Parks and Recreation has a group of people that are constantly, I don't know if it's ongoing or is it just once a month or is it whenever, that they do have these kids go through the beach area and clean it up. I don't know, is anybody familiar with that? You had that activity? Anybody? I guess not. But there is an activity I believe that is provided by the.

Through the chair. I think there are a number of different beach cleanups. I think is one that the county does that occasionally has some, you know, has an activity here in Surfside. And I think that last year there might have been a series of cleanups that were. Led by a young person in the community. I remember seeing multiple dates. So there are occasional beach cleanups that happen. Um, you know, the ones with plastic fishermen are obviously with, with that organization. And I think the one you were referring to the particular date was the international coastal cleanup event, which we have since changed from the regular plastic fishing on that weekend. to a Clean for Cones event. So we're still going to have an event, I believe it's September 20, the weekend of September 20. And it's still an event celebrating international coastal cleanup, but this time you're going to be cleaning the beach and getting free ice cream So really it's an effort to kind of change up the program a little bit and attract some more kids to diversify the lineup instead of doing the same traditional plastic fishing, which we just did in April for the Earth Day event. And that's always successful, the Earth Day event that we also do with Parks and Recreation.

The only reason why I'm questioning is because I know the Parks and Recreation have a program.

Sure. I think that the big difference between what they do and what plastic fishermen offer us is the approach for the tourists. and the social media they bring and they carry on with, which is completely different. The other thing is more like a local kind of thing, you know, that happens in most of the municipalities, but the plastic fisherman has, like, it's through so many countries, and they travel, they visit, and so... I think it's a very like touristic kind of event, which is completely different than the regular ones, you know?

And the last thing I will add is that we've also gotten some media coverage through those events, which I don't think we've been able to get through any of the other events, but We have had Channel 7 and Channel 10 cover the plastic fishing festivals.

Yeah, because it's art and cleaning. So it's two different things, you know, that are connected in one plus the tourism that can bring.

Sounds good to me. I think it's going to be all warranted in the line-up with the budget.

Yeah, we'll have a line item for that.

Thank you.

Well, she's going to present first. So sorry for the wait, Sarah, but yeah.

The agenda.

Which one? Sarah, please. It was a couple. I'll help you. Because there was two components of Puddle Topia. I see that now. There is Puddle Topia. The plastic?

Yes, Puddle Topia. Who's the plastic?

No, the people in the back. The first one we had, I had approved it.

I was on the board.

Okay, I don't remember it. I just remember it raining that weekend.

in all day.

Okay. Sarah List, 424 91st Street. Very excited to be presenting to this new board. Some familiar faces and some new faces. So I've been a resident here for 20 years and been producing events for the town for about eight years, nine years now. So I made a quick video to show you guys, for those of you who weren't at the event. So if we want to just, it's going to be a little loud here. Let's see if we can. Thank you. OK. Yeah, so just to recap, the event had fitness. We had a lot of kids activities. We had a climbing wall this year, which was a new addition, which was very visually appealing and also, I think, drew attracted people. And then there were paddle boards, kayaks, and they were available throughout the event. And then at the same time, there were beverages. There was Topo Chico. We had iced coffee, natural juices, light bites. The different veggies made great. They were making healthy bites. And so there was a little vendor village as well that contributed to the energy of the event. Again, that was Saturday. And on Sunday, we... attempted to wait out the rain in the hopes that we could set up, but it did not stop raining.

The question I have for you is, you only have one day, right, for Parathon? Because the second day obviously rained. On the first day that you had this promotion going on, how many participants did you want?

I don't think we counted, but I was going to actually talk with the board about reconfiguring the idea of doing either the event just on one day, because when I originally proposed this event in 2018, I think the town was different, the community was different. And more people were likely to come out on a Saturday morning. And now I think that the community is just different. So we're not going to get as much of a crowd on Saturday because we had envisioned it as a two-day Saturday 10 to 2, Sunday 10 to 2. And also because at the time, we were building the dock. The dock wasn't already built. So we figured it's such a huge undertaking, so let's have it as a two-day festival. So now that we don't have to build the dock anymore, which is great, I think it can definitely be reconfigured as more of a one-day festival. And of course, partnering with Plastic Fisherman on the Paddle for Plastic, making it more of just a big, robust, one-day, Sunday festival. you know, 10 to two or possibly, you know, 10 to three or whatever you guys think is best and having it just be just a Sunday event. And I think, I think we would definitely capture more of the community that way.

But you still didn't answer my question.

I don't think we, we did not count how many people attended on Saturday. But, um, in terms of the like things that we, I think we gave away around 150 items. for various things that we had giveaways for?

I don't know how the board feels, but I think that these are two events that should be separated. Because it's not an ongoing thing. I mean, we have the plastic fisherman, which I was very proud to bring him into town in acceptance. But having the fishermen mixed in with the parotopia, I don't know, how does the board feel?

May I? Sure. I believe I want to recommend that maybe doing that because when we think about why people like Surfside, and one of the biggest reasons is our assets, right? Our assets is not only the beach, but also our water channels. And we do a lot of events, especially during the last two years. We try to move as many events as much, not only to the beach, but also to the park behind the community center, which is beautiful and was never used before. And when it's lit up, it's amazing. and give us that beach town vibe. But we've kind of neglected, if it's the right word, our bay, so our waterway. So I thought it was a great idea, since plastic fishermen is very internationally renowned, and it serves different purpose, that we could use that and promote to clean up our bait. So that's, and we thought, okay, since it's Puddle Topia, it could be like a good relationship between both. We can do it in separate dates, but I thought it will fit each other. That's what the reason we, the previous board decided to do it that way. But we can, you know, as she mentioned, things are changing. The dates are, maybe Sundays are stronger than Saturdays now, so we can always just talk about it and see what's better for the community.

I don't really have an opinion on all of this, but I think that the bay doesn't really have the expanse that the beach has, you know, as far as the cleanup is concerned and as far as plastic fishermen is concerned. So I believe that each one should stand on their own. And like I said, I don't know if you guys know this, but when the plastic fishermen first did the pitch to this town and the board, we loved the idea. Actually, I remember it was three events and we knocked it down to two and one was very good to us in obtaining it because it was international. And then the other thing is, I don't think It depends on the board. The board decides. And we can put it in the budget. We can say, no, we can separate it. We can have it together. The board is the decision, not me. I'm just basically having some thoughts that this should be, I think plastic fishermen is excellent, but it should stand on its own.

through the chair just and again all good points but just you know to help frame this discussion you know we're looking to see if if you want to reschedule um that one day for this fiscal year and then separately you know we can talk about next fiscal year whether you wanted to just do it one day but just so you know even if you decide to approve it everything that's listed in the draft budget that we'll talk about later You know, all the events are not set in stone. It's a preliminary approval, but in order to fully execute it, it will come back to you with a formal proposal and a full presentation. So you wouldn't really be approving Padletopia. You're approving the line item, but in order to really approve it, Sarah will come back on a different month and give you that full presentation.

Yeah, but that's why we're talking about it now. And then see if there's an interest. Is there no interest now? to add it to the budget, not to add it to the budget, and that's what this is all about. It's like Frank said, it's preliminary.

I think through the chair, he's trying to narrow us down to do we want to reschedule day two, basically, that was washed out this fiscal year. We invested how much already into this because those funds are not returnable to us. So let's, I would say, I'll move to actually ask Frank to reschedule that and have that completed since we're already invested in it.

I second.

Okay.

My apologies. Can you please restate your motion?

Move to reschedule day two of the Paddletopia event.

Combined with Paddle for Plastic.

Combined with Plastic Man, Plastic Fisherman, Mr. Plastic Man over there, before the end of the fiscal year, September, whenever is appropriate, and continue and have that completed.

I second.

All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Any opposed? Motion carries.

Thank you. And I just want to add that there is plenty of funding available in the events budget that has already been approved. It will not impact being able to do anything else. There's a lot of money there.

I was going to ask that question. Good. So now we can spend it.

But through the chair, Rodrigo wanted to speak on the partnership. Is that possible?

Sure. Oh, okay. I'll give him the microphone.

Thank you very much. Good to see you again.

Hello, members.

Rodrigo here. I'm representing Plastic Fishermen, 9517 Carlisle Avenue. Thank you very much for your kind words. I appreciate everything that I've heard. Just a quick point on the addition of what we bring to this event. I understand your concern and how you pointed to the bay versus the beach. I think what we're trying to bring to this event was... We're trying to get people in the water. So that's what we do. A lot of people we know, we have more kayaks. We have a pretty good reach through social media. We have people from different schools, different organizations that join us on that. But what we did specifically that unfortunately we couldn't complete was we created a little bit of a tour. We had like four or five stations around the canal that people will go to. So they will go to this first station. If they find plastic on the way there, they get there to exchange for a T-shirt. Then they go to the next one to exchange for a Popsi. They go to the next one, they exchange for a keychain made with plastic from our beach cleanup that we previously had. So it was just ways to get people in the water and fortify the event that was already happening. In many ways, you're right. We're not going to get by not even close to the same volume of residue that we get at the beach. But what we get is a pool to get people to participate and understand the benefits of being in the water and cleaning the bay as well as cleaning the beach. That's it.

Well, it sounds good to me. I mean, anything to promote... You know, the environment is excellent. But, you know, I just want to make sure that we don't mingle events and that the events stand on their own, and especially when it comes to the environment. Paratopia is kayaking and so on and so forth. Plastic fishermen is more involved in the environment, you know, plastics and so on and so forth. So, I mean, they're good, but I just want to make sure that they stand on their own

Parallel avenues. I see your point.

Thank you. Any questions from the board? No? God, this board is so quiet. Come on, guys.

Through the chair, if I may, I apologize. Before we move on, I did catch a mistake on my part at the beginning of the meeting when Mr. Karp was nominated as the vice chair. Chair Torgerman have made the motion. However, chairs are not allowed to make the motion. So if we could just go back for a second and if another board member could please nominate Mr. Karp as the chair, as the vice chair of the board.

I will move to nominate David Karp as our vice chair.

Is there a second?

Second. Oh, I can second.

Yes, you can second, yes.

I can second. Leave me there in the same spot, more or less.

All those in favor, say aye.

Aye. Aye.

Any opposed? Motion carries. Thank you. Aye.

Aye, perfect. Next item on the agenda is, Sarah, do you want to say anything else? Sorry. You sure? Okay. Next item is summer Sundays. Beach gathering proposal.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. And this will be Sarah's presentation again. Just really quick before she begins. Summer Sundays is typically the event series that we do in the summer. It's a nice kind of beach party gathering, of course, on the beach. It originally started at the first Friday.

Oh my God, no, sorry.

It originally started at first Fridays, then it developed into summer Sundays because Sundays was a better day for the community. So this year, we had a couple of inquiries about whether the town was doing any watch parties for the World Cup. Of course, we know it's the World Cup in Miami. FIFA is one of the host cities. So we were thinking of doing a World Cup theme for the first event in July, should you approve it. But of course, the event would be on a Sunday. So we're proposing the Sunday after 4th of July, which this year is on a Saturday. However, the Miami games are both on Saturdays. So it's Saturday, July 11th. or Saturday, July 18. So the question for you all, if you want to approve the series, will be, would you be interested in doing the July event as a summer Saturday so that it could be combined with a watch party? Or do you want to keep the Sunday date and then potentially approve a separate just watch party event on the 18th, which I think is a third place match? And I do have numbers for what that standalone event would cost separate to summertime. So just for you all to think about.

My concern really is any event done on Saturday, we exclude certain population of the town. And that cannot happen. So we need to be very careful on the dates. Because if you plan to have or this board plans to have any type of activity, Saturdays is a very, very technical day, especially from the environment and the community that we have here in Surfside. It's a little bit different. Go ahead.

Thank you, Eli. We are very aware of that and most of our, I think all of our events take that in consideration. But since this is the World Cup and they set the specific dates. It's something that we cannot do it on a Sunday because it cannot happen then. Because it only happens in those days that are available for the field workup. And I think there's a lot of the community that will enjoy to watch, to have these watch parties for something that is very strong in our community, which is soccer, right? And we try to do that. the last commission, but since it happened, I think it was, I don't know what event was coming regarding soccer, but we were so close when we started that we couldn't do it, and people was like asking, is there gonna be a watch party, and we couldn't make it. And so I thought, and Frank had the idea, we should do this for the FIFA World Cup, which is even bigger event than Copa America. And it's like a huge, I think, big number of community who would love to watch the FIFA World Cup.

Can I ask a question as well?

Yeah, I want to.

Through the chair?

Sure.

Are there matches on Sundays in that same time period? It's only Saturday. I don't know what the schedule is. Just Saturday.

No, no, I'm working for the people.

Sorry. No? So good. The match doesn't have to be in Miami because we're seeing it, obviously, not live in the stadium. So if there's a match on Sunday, are there matches in other states or cities on Sundays? Yeah. There are?

Yes, in other cities. Okay, so. Miami.

My point is a match in Miami or a match in New York is, because we're on the beach, it doesn't matter. So we could see. We don't know who's going to be participating, what country is at this point in time. So it's, you know, is it Colombia? Is it Brazil? We don't know. So we could have the watch party on a Sunday and then combine it with this beach gathering and have it be one big event. and not separate it, because I think the cost might be unnecessary.

I think that this is a very good discussion that we should have at the time that we're approving this event, Frank, because, again, we need to be very keen about the community. This community is different than most communities. And if we have any events done on Saturdays, that means we exclude part of this community. That is for us to discuss to see if we wanna go ahead. Just like what you said, Fred. So I just wanted to bear everybody in mind. Go ahead.

If I may, we, you know what, you can't please all the people all the time. And while you do exclude a major part of this community on a Saturday, you exclude part of the community on a Sunday as well. So we need to be mindful of everybody. We really do. And if we do do a World Cup thing, if it's after ,, after sundown, we potentially could keep doing it on a Saturday. It all depends on the time and the matches. Also, if we're worried about people coming, because the World Cup is going to be such a big thing, and because we are so close and have partnerships with the towns and cities around us, what about offering a very nominal fee if it's a Saturday for those from other municipalities? Because North Beach was crowded for Copa America. We do also have a very large Latin American population in town.

Well, those are items that we need to consider. Go ahead, Frank.

Yep, and through the Chair, Board member landsman suggestion. So I did just look up that the final is on July 19 at 3 p.m Which is on a Sunday so we could potentially do summer Sundays on the 19th with a watch Party for the final would be huge if we do three to six, but I think that that you know We really had thought of the Miami games, but you're right. They don't technically they don't have to be in Miami.

I

Through the chair. There is one date also, but I don't know because of the time. It's on June 21st. Which is? Sunday.

Is that Saturday? Sunday.

It's a Sunday, June 21st. It's Uruguay versus Cabo Verde. But we're very close to that, so I don't know. That's Frank's, you know, I don't know.

Through the chair, that's a little close to the June 24 event, so I think it would be better in July.

I think this warranted.

Yeah, I'm glad we talked about the dates before the presentation. Thank you, Sarah, for holding on. And with July 19 in mind, we can proceed.

Okay. Okay, so Summer Sundays, it's part of the event series. Actually, this summer will be the 10th summer. We launched it in 2016. And then we went on to launch the Padletopia event. We also produced the Third Thursdays event and Surfside Under the Stars, and then back with the Summer Sundays. So... Just great to know that these events have grown so much since we first started, and I think that the town really looks forward to them. It's like a regular thing. Every summer, people know that we have these Summer Sunday events. So just to review the kinds of things that we do, we have... Usually some kind of, you know, live music, interactive activities for the kids. It's been drum circle, bubble soccer, art activities, blender bikes, surfing. We always have light bites and snacks, cocktails for the adults and giveaways. So there's always something fun and interesting happening and people can look forward to it. These are just our custom-designed dome tents, and then we always have shade. We have seating. There's always a hydration station, family-friendly activities, food stations, and what we call branded moments or surfside moments, things like that, where people can grab branded giveaways, and we sometimes get partners who come and do giveaways with us, so that's nice. OK, so these were the dates. So the event is always 3 to 6 PM. That's the timing that usually works for us. And these were some of the themes I proposed. We have three events we're proposing, but I gave you four themes in case you wanted to have a choice. And then I had thought July 5th or 12th, but now we're thinking July 19th. So that could be the World Cup Beach Party date. And I think it would be absolutely, yeah, I think everyone would be very excited for that. And we would work in the themes of whatever teams are playing and have flags, decor, try to work in the food element to tie into it. Possibly getting, obviously, an inflatable screen of some sort or...

Yes, so through the chair, we would have to add that to the budget. So I reached out to the provider that we use for the film festivals, who is really fantastic. This type of a screen, because it's a daytime experience, it has to be an LED, more advanced screen. So it will add a substantial cost. I think we're looking at potentially another $14,600 that would have to be added. But again, just so you know, you have more than enough money that is going to expire and roll over. So it would be well within the budget.

What more or less is the total that you are forecasting?

The what?

I'm sorry? What is the total more or less that you're forecasting?

So I think the event is $20,000 on Sarah's side. And so the screen and the setup and all that is $14,600. So we would have to add that additional. Is it one screen? Yeah, I mean, it's a large, big screen. It's the audio, it's the speakers, so it's the sound technicians, the team that sets it up, and also the seating. They provide inflatable seating.

I have a question. I think we'll have a lot of discussing.

We're only six weeks away, so when do we make this decision to invest this money if we don't do it tonight?

Oh, it has to be tonight for this series, yeah.

Huh. I wasn't prepared for that.

Yeah, this is the proposal. I mean, we would normally start these events in June, but because we had quorum issues, we couldn't bring the series. So in order for it to start in July and to do the World Cup event, it would have to be approved today.

And through the chair, is this four activities or four events or three?

It's three. I have July, August, September. Obviously, in the years past, the board has decided to extend the event into October and sometimes even November, and that's something we're open to. But I just was presenting the four themes as a choice for the three.

And to be clear, the August and September would be the regular 20,000. Obviously, only the World Cup would be more. Okay, 20,000 each.

So what do we get for 20,000?

We can get into that, but I just was going to go through the themes if you want to just have an idea. So the World Cup theme, obviously you guys understand what we're aiming for. We'd have live music, activities related to it. Hopefully we could do some activities, soccer. I was thinking empanadas, tacos, iced matcha, Japan, things like that, you know, just to kind of bring home the global theme. But we'll cater it more towards the teams that are playing then.

So are you telling me that the money is for food?

The money covers your infrastructure that you're getting on the beach, which is the custom-designed dome tents, which provide shade for the band and then provide shade for the attendees. And then there's also seating and shade that's provided like a beach club for all of the attendees. We provide at least, I would say, 20 separate clusters of seats They're called shibumi shades, and people can sit under them. And then we provide ottomans and stools for people to sit under. You also get, yes, you get the setup for the band, which includes sound package and sound engineer. And then you get the activities. So there's things for kids to be doing the whole time rather than just running around. There's art activities, focused activities. And then there's complimentary food the whole time. So, and we don't know how, it's an open RSVP, so we have to be prepared for anywhere from 100 to 500 people, whoever comes from the beach. And so that's kind of an open-ended thing that we always want to have something as a light refreshment for anyone that comes, but it's also, it's an open-ended RSVP, so we have to prepare for all of that. And you get cocktails for adults as well.

Sorry. Sarah, when we've used caterers in the past, this town tends to be very aroma heavy. I've also, I mean, having a horrible experience with them for an over 10,000 people event and spending tons of money with them for them not to provide me with adequate service. Is there any way that we can look into using different kosher caterers and giving them our business? There are a lot in in the North Dade area that are, I think, better and maybe more willing to give us not necessarily a deal, but the same amount of food, just better options. So Food Art, Seventeen, they all have different ideas. And I think with Aroma, we run into just doing a barbecue. So if we're going to do kosher catering, if we could look at different vendors and just kind of compare two or three, so that we give those in our midst some opportunity?

OK, yeah. Well, we have never used that kosher caterer, so I don't have any experience with them. But we always provide light bites and kosher food as available to the guests. It's not necessarily a catered meal because, like I said, it's an open-ended event. It's open to the public. It's open to residents, and so we tried last year. We had a paella caterer, and he also did tacos one time, and that was only for residents, and we did that through a ticketing system, and so we had a little control over that, and then we also had a kosher option for those who were kosher. But again, catering on a large scale is...

not if it's out of this budget through the chair just another component of this conversation and just to clarify what you said it was for the residents and surfside hotel guests with proof of stay so something that the board has to decide because the last board decided that because again they wanted to offer more high-end food but obviously the budget for food is finite i mean there's a certain amount of money that you can allocate so you have to kind of come up with a number in your mind so we would typically say 300 people But in an effort to have that food be available to the Surfside hotel guests and the residents, it was based on a ticket system where you had to show Surfside resident ID or your hotel proof of stay. But of course, that restricted outside visitors or local visitors. So I would like to know if this board wants to keep that same system, or if you want to go back to the old ways, which was more open to everybody first come first serve through the chair.

If I may pipe in on that and just share my vision, and I believe the vision. I think I can speak for much of the commission, as we've been seeing, is we want to encourage tourism. We want to encourage the others coming. We want Surfside to be the place you want to be. And I know that if I have to show IT or a ticket, that just doesn't feel inviting. And I think we have the budget.

I'm opposed to that, completely opposed to ticketing and all that stuff. Our events at the tourist board in years past has always been open. It's always been fun. When you have to provide tickets, listen, I was in one event this past two years where you had blue tickets and so on and so on. Nobody used them to begin with. Nobody was really interested. So I think in order to show that you're welcoming and everything else, I don't think we have to restrict in any of our events. So we need to revisit it. We'll revisit it. But this business of ticketing and so on and so forth, that doesn't go with the tourist board.

If I may, the problem, though, when you – and I've seen this. Miami is its own – and I use Miami broadly. We are our own worst enemies when it comes to planning events because nobody likes RSVP. Everything is last minute. And when you're planning on food, 300 versus 500 is a very different number budget-wise. I understand that we're not happy showing ID or we're not happy letting that in, but when you, I'm sorry, but when, and I hate to be like, I hate to say this, but when you have metal detectors at a swearing in, how are you not comfortable asking for ID? And let me finish, because I think that when you talk about fiscal responsibility, if you're paying for 300 people, you can't have an open thing. And if you want to be fiscally responsible, you need to know how many people are planning on coming, just so you have an idea. And so when we cater to everybody, we end up catering to none sometimes. And so if we're going to stoke fear with metal detectors, I don't think there's a problem asking people to bring ID.

All right, so these are two separate topics. And it's important to separate the importance of having security versus proper use of tax funds. And we have to remember where these funds are coming from and what their intended use is.

No, no, I wholly agree. And I think it's a very uncomfortable position that you're in an environment of the beach and so on and so forth to carry on IDs and so on. But we do have a board. We have five members. And you're all welcome to speak your mind. And when it comes time to vote, you vote what you desire. Period. Period. Am I understood?

You are, Mr. Chair. Question through the Chair to Frank and Sarah. Can we take the business of approving the August event tonight and then approve the other September, October afterwards? Or, I mean, sorry, July, then August, September? Because, again, this is obviously something we weren't prepared for. We don't have, I don't see a budget. I don't know what the cost will be for the. There is a budget. There is a budget.

So before we get into, I'll show you the budget. Just wanted to reiterate that the ticketing system worked well, I would say. And there was always food for others who didn't, who were not residents. So there is a table for people who are not residents. And there's always snacks, fresh cut fruit, beverages. The beverages are for everyone, including the adult beverages. Those are for everyone. And always some sort of snacks. So there is always something there that someone walks up to the table, there's always something there for them to receive. The more composed dishes we had through the tacos and the paella chef that was there and the kosher food that was there available for people, that was through the ticketing system. And the people have their IDs because if you want to go to the community center, you have to show your ID. So there's a lot of back and forth to the community center. And of course, they don't want people coming in who aren't residents. And so people are prepared to show that they're residents to go back and forth. So that didn't seem to be an issue. And as far as I could tell, people were happy. People had a great time. We have videos from the last events that we did. Everybody stayed and enjoyed. So I didn't hear negative feedback when it came to the ticketing system, and it did help us mitigate and allow that all residents made sure that they had what was a composed dish, which is what the board would like for them to have and the hotel guests. So that was, we were able to do that.

But if that- Sarah, just to interject for a second. The reason why I bring this up as far as your event is concerned in ticketing is that before me coming to this board, this new board, I have heard- from the residents that it was ridiculous to provide this, that, the other thing. So you may not heard, I have heard, and that's why I stated before, we're five board members and we decide. The outcome, we decide. Understood.

I will get through the chair. Yeah, just to give you a little more context, because I'm often at the table where, you know, that is taking place. I think, you know, I'm not sure there's a right or wrong. There's pros and cons on both sides. So to Sarah's point, you know, having the ticket system did, you know, allow more residents and the surfside hotel guests with the paper to have the best meal experience possible. But of course, on the flip side, that also alienate somebody that's coming maybe from Ball Harbor. And we often did have people that were upset. Oh, but I've been coming to these events for years. I live right over the bridge in Bay Harbor. What do you mean I can't have this or that? And also, there were some Surfside residents that would not bring their IDs or would want to check in a party of 12 people, but there's only two people in front of you. And so it would get a little contentious and messy sometimes. So pros and cons on both sides.

Absolutely. Go ahead. And I have one, too. One second, please.

Go ahead. I think also there is a difference between when we do events, like, for example, the beach event that is kind of more relaxed on the beach than when it's an event, like, for example, the Third Thursday. I think in Third Thursday, it could be more hectic and... And maybe you've heard those comments maybe from those events because they're usually more, you know, which is completely different than the beach. The amount of people that goes to the beach is not the same amount of people or the same people that goes on Thursday to the third Thursday. So I think it's two separate things that we can treat differently. Completely individually.

Right.

And I think to the point like I think we've had like the previous commission has had like really savings. because we were very kind of moderate with the amount we spend in each event. If we do want not to have ticketed system, depending on each type of event, we should increase the amount so we can make it happen. So those are things that we have to put in a balance, what we want to do, and we can discuss by type of event. Not all are the same, and we should not treat them the same. The type of tourists that go to one or to the other, or the people that are the same neighbors are completely different. And so those are different. I work in production, so I see it in a different, completely perspective when it's treating each type of event completely different. That's on one side, and I think as as Commissioner Lanzmann has mentioned, we are very close to need to approve specific one because of the data we are, we can discuss the other ones, we have more time, but I think we should, we all be a little bit more creative and get out of maybe the box and think that way to make things happen. Because we are kind of like already late for all the approvals and budgets and things. So let's start trying to doing this little by little. We don't have to approve everything at the same time maybe, but we have, you know, open our minds a little bit to it. That's it.

Can I add one thing to that, to the chair? Yes. Just... I agree. Let's focus on July, the World Cup. I would be an advocate of being open, encouraging, welcoming to whoever's on the beach. Perhaps we reduce the quality, not the quality, but the exorbitance of the food. Don't go with paella, but go with something else, something, other things.

More bites.

More bites for everyone who wants to come and eat something, drink something, and celebrate with us. Because I do... I'm sorry, this table isn't only for you, this table is for you, and this guy has a little crappy shit, so I'm sorry. But I think, again, inclusive, people that are on the beach, people that are tourists, people that are residents, let's make it, let's budget it so that it's affordable with whatever can be produced that everyone can enjoy.

Very good, thanks.

Mike, do you want to say something? David, sorry.

Jocelyn first.

Quick question, though. If we do do a ticketing system, there are systems that do allow you to do an upload or give something. So if we were to do a ticketing system, is there something that the town has if people don't want to have their ID, if they're worried about their ID, to either maybe put in their – town you know their town id something we could check off of so that if they do have to stand in line if they do have to get tickets it's pre-done and it's there for us and we can utilize technology or something else that way we make sure that you know if we're asking that people live in town because it's a giveaway or i think we gave out bags or something just to residents we have something that they can do it they're you know at their leisure okay

I think that the person that would probably have an answer for that, Jocelyn, is the town manager, and he's not here.

Yes. Yeah, I agree with Fred to let this one open, just smaller bites. And then I was against the ticket system when the last committee brought it in, but I'm I think we should just maybe see it once, to witness how they handle it at the tables, so we have some background for the second, for the August 16th one, and then we'll be able to make our decision. I knew there were people that used to just come in, even I had friends who, some friends of mine from South Beach, just happened to be driving by when we were originally on, and they just loved it, so I don't wanna, negate anything yet, but I want to see the ticket. I didn't pay much attention to the ticket system other than just get my ticket. So I think the 16th one, let's just see how it works and how Sarah handles the other food so we'll know and then we can make our basis if we want it or not.

So are you suggesting that we go to the ticketing system?

Not for the World Cup. But the August 16th, leave it just so we can witness it to see how it works. I really didn't pay much attention to it. So that's just my suggestion. How do you feel about that?

If it's appropriate for... event planner and our director can we again just vote tonight to move forward on july 19th and with my my i'll make the motion but i don't know if the budget is included i would like it to be open no ticketing open to the public come and enjoy we make the food offerings more volume, if you will, so that it can feed up to 500 people and not necessarily that sophisticated of a selection so that, yes, everyone could come and enjoy and get a good feeling. I want an open, a good feeling about Surfside.

I second that.

I have a motion on the floor. I have a second on the floor. Genesis, do you understand that motion? Yes.

Just for the record. Can you repeat the motion?

Yeah, so I'll move to approve the July 19th World Cup Beach Party As an open event no ticketing required and a budget amount of $20,000 That's the budget slide sorry I was getting to it. I don't know if you want to look at the number that you yeah, I

I think it makes more sense to approve the series because we're proposing three events.

So you technically have a motion in a second, but we were clarifying. Once you have a motion in a second, I don't know if you want to continue discussion. So you can withdraw your motion.

Again, was that better clarification than the $20,000 budget in the motion? Just the 19th, asking Sarah to readjust the money allocation for the food so we have more versus less and can satisfy a broader population and, of course, have it be open.

Do we have a motion?

Do I have a second?

And I second that. Do we have a second?

Do we need clarification on the motion? I'm sorry, let's do a clarification on the motion. Third shot, we'll get it. What's going on?

I will move that we approve the July 19th World Cup event beach party as an open, available event for everyone to join and improve the budget of $20,000.

Thank you. And I second that.

Second? I don't have a discussion right now. We have a second on the floor. Do I have a discussion? Third discussion?

May I?

Sure. Thank you.

Because I think we are mixing things because we clearly know that the... The World Cup event cannot happen with 20,000, because we have to put on top the screen and the thing.

So it's like we are making a motion that is not- Through the chair, I think the approval is on Sarah's side. So separately, if you want to make a motion for me to contract the screen vendor separately, I will add that, but that will not be- Through Sarah, it'll be through me. But of course, I'll put them in touch. But that won't be part of Sarah's scope. Go ahead.

Continue.

Yes, so we have, like, we make a really, you know, good motion, so we are all in the same place and we understand. I also think that if we're going to do this special event for World Cup and we are doing it on Sunday, a lot of people are going to come. I don't know if with the 20,000, and I'm not the organizer, but I have a little bit of, you know, sense, it's like, if it's going to be enough to have the food as open as we want it to make it successful. So we want it to make it successful. We don't want to shoot on our feet. So I think we should be a little bit conscious about that. I think that's my only, you know, so we make a really good motion of what we are.

So more money you're talking about.

I think for only for food. Not for any other thing, but only for the purpose of opening the not having the ticketing system. So it can be successful. Because if we are going to pretend that any, and it's not the person that is in front of us, Any vendor comes with the same amount of money that was made for ticketing, but now not for ticketing. And to be honest, prices have increased a lot with the gas and everything. So we have to just be a little bit open to think about it to be successful. And believe me, we've been very productive with money the last time. So I don't think we... And we have the money. We didn't invest it. So I think we should do that. Thank you.

So I'm okay with adjusting my motion yet again, but through the chair to either Sarah or Frank, how much more money should we allocate for the food? $5,000? What's appropriate?

Yeah, I think we're going to have the kosher option, and we are going to have a kosher option, and so we want to have it to be just as... A high quality is the other option. So, yes, that would mean that would need to be at that rate.

Keep in mind, it's the final. So if it's a nice day and it's the finals, I mean, we could have a huge turnout.

That's great. I mean, people are going to go all over to see this event, especially if their country is represented as one of the two participants. They're going to be nuts about this. I don't know that people come to Surfside just to see it. So let me adjust my motion and see if this flies. Move to approve.

So you want to move to amend your motion?

I do want to move to amend my motion, yes.

I second. Okay. So now you may amend your motion.

Good old Robert's Rules of Etiquette here, yes. I would like to move again to approve the July 19th World Cup Party Sunday event here in Surfside. increase the budget for Sarah and the event planning to $25,000. And while I'm here, let me add in the $14,700 to obtain the screen for the beach to be able to watch this World Cup game.

Chair, if I may, will this also include the event to be open to the public?

Yes. Yes.

Is there a second to the motion?

I second it.

Board Member Kinzer?

Wait, I have a question. Judy, do you think that will be enough, the $25,000?

I think I'll go a little bit more, because it's the final, and I know she's trying to be cautious, but we all want to be successful. You want everyone to feel included, and we have the money, and so it's going to be one of our first events as this board. We wanted to make it... No, not really. No, but I appreciate, Mr. Karp, your concern, because it's my concern as well. And I know we want to be, but if me, my producer's head, I will allocate at least 3K more, at least. But being very reasonable and just right there.

Having just done kosher catering, I think we should go to 30.

OK. Well, I don't think so. Is it up to 30?

No, it hasn't happened. Maybe.

Sarah, is 30 what you add in the extra 10 to food?

We would definitely be able to. That's some good food, right? Yes, exactly. That would give us the ability to put out.

Maybe some leftovers for us in case the people don't show up. We'll just bring it home with us.

No, I mean, I think, like I said, we have to have available for whatever comes our way. So again, that is a difficult thing. But I mean, we would plan for 500 plus at that point. I think that we would get that.

We have this in the budget. Will you have this money available?

Absolutely. The money is there. The question is how we spend it.

Let me amend my motion yet again. I move to amend my motion yet again.

Does he have a second? I second. The vote is we can amend the motion.

Let's do this. I'm sorry. I would like to make another motion to approve the July 19th World Cup event Sunday event at the beach here in Surfside with a budget For Sarah and her event planning to total up to $30,000, the additional $10,000 above the $20,000 budget to be utilized for food, both kosher and non-kosher, and $14,700 to be able to rent the screen to watch the game.

For an open event.

Aye. Wait. For an open event to the public.

I second that. And just for discussion, I walk on the beach every Sunday, and I see a lot of tents with people that don't come through the community center, big parties and groups. So I think they might congregate with us to watch that. So that's why.

Yeah, that's a good point. I appreciate it. Okay, so let's go, right?

Chair Mercado, roll. May I call the roll? May I call the roll?

Say yes, just say yes.

Board Member Kinzer?

Yes.

Board Member Lansman?

Yes.

Board Member Martinez? Yes. Vice Chair Karp? Yes. Chair Torgerman?

I'm really not comfortable with it, yes, but I'm going to go for it, yes.

Chair, the motion carries.

Thank you very much. I speak my mind. I'm not comfortable with it, but I voted yes.

Chair, if you please speak into the microphone.

I said I'm not comfortable with it, but I still voted yes. Thank you. I just wanted to go on record.

And I appreciate that. I just think if it's that big of an event that you know, the people are going to watch, I think it's well worth it. And if not, we'll learn. Exactly.

And through the chair, I actually have to step out shortly. I promised my daughter I was going to study with her for her finals tomorrow. But I know we have an awesome board here. And this is going to be an incredible event. I actually had the opportunity Friday evening. I was at the Lowe's Hotel in Coral Gables for the Saturday night Miami event. the League of Cities Gala, and I walked into the FIFA organizers, and they said, what's Surfside doing for FIFA? And I said, well, we're going to take something back to our newly formed board and make perhaps a watch party on the beach. So really happy this is happening. I spoke to town manager about it and excited that tourism ran with it. And I think it's going to be a very well-attended event that will be talked about.

Good. I'm glad then I've ordered yes. Thank you very much, Commissioner.

Good luck to your child.

Thank you, sir. All right, so we're done with that?

Well, through the chair, there was the other events I was proposing. The themes for the other events, okay. So the themes for the other events, Kites and Bites, Slice and Turf, and Sun, Sea, and Mezzi. So the idea, Kites and Bites, we did last year. It was a huge success. We had people coming from Aventura, Coral Gables, bringing their kites. People love a kite festival. So we kind of, you know, doing it on the beach and how Hollover does it over where they do it. So we're doing it over here. And it was really fun. We had kids making their own kites. That was a huge success. We had live music. Again, the different things that we already have, activities, art activities, and different live music partners. It was a fun theme. I think people really liked it. So Kites and Bites, that could be August when people are back for the school year. August 16th, I believe we had that as. And then September 6th, we had Slice and Surf, which was more of like a 80s and, you know, pizza and rosé kind of theme. We have the Sunsea and Mezzi, which is more of like a Mediterranean feel. Sunsea and Mezzi is a Mediterranean, and then we have the Slice and Surf and the Kites and Bites. So if you guys have any preferences, or we can just, August can be kites and bites.

So through the chair, do you want to address these other months right now? If we punt those until next month, does that give you enough time to prepare?

The timeline is we usually prepare for the summer starting now, and we have the three events, and we can schedule all of our staff and all of our vendors in the same way. So it also helps with the budgeting and with approvals and things like that to just... usually approve it as a series. And then we can also promote it in the Gazette as the lineup of the dates.

And through the chair, we have three options for two events? Yes. Okay, so we get to choose two?

Yes.

Kites, Slice, or?

Or the Mezzy. Or you can decide if you want a different theme.

Through the chair, I like the kite idea. Can we go back to that slide? Yep. And I've been to the one at Haulover. Very successful. Yeah.

That's huge because the winds there are also exceptional for kite flying.

And they didn't have, I didn't go last year, I went the year before, they didn't have free food. They had the food trucks. Food trucks, yeah. they had the food trucks so there wasn't you know the issue of the ticketing system so I was thinking, you know, since that's the next event, let's watch to see how the ticketing system goes. Or not, because again, once people on the beach see all these kites, they're going to come over. I have a feeling so. Just like the World Cup, this could be a big event too. So that's just my thought on maybe holding up, you know, delaying the ticketing until the next one. Because this is, again, I was just drawn in at Hallover because I saw the kites and I just rode my bike and went in.

That's a real huge attraction at Hallover. Go ahead.

I love the festival in Hallover. But I think we also have to be a little bit responsible with our beach. So I think, for example, here on the beach to have like the tracks is not really, you know.

I didn't mean that. Okay.

No, it's not the vibe yet. And I think kites and bikes is more light. It's about the kites. And I think the bikes are more simple, more, you know. It's a different completely than the World Cup. So I think we can do something good, reasonable with Kites and Bites with really not the amount of money that we require for the and make it open anyways. I think she can figure it out. And we can see how it happens in July also. And we can always revise. We revise the events month by month. And we restructure, because we see What happened? How can we fix it? And we can fix it by month. If we think it's working, it's not working. So to your point of the ticketing on the ticketing and if it's, no, because I know, I mean, like, I love the idea of not having tickets because it's beautiful. The concept, it's beautiful. To make it successful is... it's quite a different thing. But if we can revise, we approve the events and then we revise as we go by event, by month, and how it's been successful or not.

I like everything you said. Are you recommending ticket or no ticket for this one?

No ticket.

No tickets for this one, okay.

No ticket, no ticket. All right, moving along, anybody else? No. Is there a motion? License, sir?

I'll make a motion, and I'm sure it'll have to be changed, but I'll make a motion to approve August and September for our Summer Beach Series here in Surfside, Florida, with Kites and Bites.

Oh, Slice and Surf. Pizza's here.

Slice and Surf as the themes for the... So Kites and Bites, Surf, and Slice and Surf.

Okay.

These two events also being open-ended for the public at large to come join us.

Okay. I second that.

Yes, that was good. Thank you.

And discussion. So then after these three events, will we visit if?

For the next year. Or if we need another one more for if we like that or whatever. Yes.

Okay. If we see it's a problem.

Yeah.

Okay, good idea. All right, anything else? All right, let's move along. Do we have to say the amount, or we're going with the 20,000?

Chair, may I call the roll?

Yes, ma'am.

Thank you. Board Member Kinzer?

Yes.

Board Member Lanzmann? Yes. Board Member Martinez? Yes. Lester Corp?

Yes.

Chair Torgerman? Yes. Chair, the motion carries. Okay, thank you.

All right, moving along. Thank you, Sarah. Thank you. Let's hope that the events are as successful as we planned it to be. Yes. Good.

Yeah, point of order. I went to all of them, and I really enjoyed seeing everybody. I liked the sample of food, and I just had a really good time, even though we didn't plan. I wasn't on the committee then, but I did enjoy.

I hear thunder, so we better get moving here. Yeah.

All right.

Item number 7G. Budget discussion.

My apologies, Chair. Item 7F.

Sorry?

Item 7F. It's a Surfside ThinkPod video.

Oh, 7F. Okay, so we have here, it's a Surfside Thing pilot. And I saw a lot of screens on, it's a Surfside Thing.

Yes.

Let me just start the conversation by saying, I hate it.

Yeah.

Tell us how you really feel.

So having that premise, you guys can start.

What, do you hate the slogan? Yes. Okay, all right.

That could change. No, years ago we had something called simply Surfside as a slogan. It didn't fly. You know, these slogans that we tried to take a little bite here, a little bite there, and the Surfside thing, it's like, what? What do you mean it's a Surfside thing? It's just... I don't know. It just it doesn't fly good with me period. That's just to start the discussion.

Sure.

Yeah. But through the chair, I think the video will will inform what that is. But of course, the slogan can always be changed. And this is not necessarily. a full-time slogan like Uptime Beach Town was or simply Surfside. This is just specific to this content series. But again, if you don't like it's a Surfside thing, we could think of something else. But the video will kind of talk about what makes Surfside distinct. So just to give a little bit of background, we did produce and approve the first video, which we're going to show now. It's really a social media first driven campaign. As all of you know, social media is the most important channel nowadays for any kind of promotion, even more than websites. So of course, having top quality content is extremely important, especially when you're competing with the likes of Miami Beach and Bal Harbor that do invest a lot of money into their content creation and their promotion. So I really think that we have had a deficit in top quality content production for the last few years. Right now in my department, it's only one person. We don't have the in-house multimedia communication specialists that we used to have. They used to produce great videos. So this level video, we really haven't had since the Jacoba days. But it's very much more focused on the local feel of what makes Surfside special. So again, we can talk about how to brand it. But I do want to show the first video and then invite Rodrigo and Gabriel to talk about it. Because the idea, again, this video has already been approved. We can change the slogan if you'd like to. But the question is, I would suggest expanding on the series for next year so we have a nice set of evergreen fantastic videos that could almost be used as ads for Surfside. Because really our goal is to bring in more tourism, right? So I think that that's one of the things that we're missing right now.

Can I ask a question?

Yes.

Instead of because we don't like it's a Surfside thing, and just to keep with continuity and branding, and if we wanted to go back and use some of these images, could we make it just hashtag Surfside? And then encourage people, hashtag Surfside.

Yeah. Yes, Chair. The idea when we approved this, the previous commission, it was because we wanted to give, you know, we wanted to give, kind of clean how people see suicide. When you go on your phone or your tablet or your whatever and social media, whatever, the first thing you put on suicide is our tragedy, right? I didn't think about that, I'm sorry. the tragedy that happened, the collapse of the, you know, and on all the political things that come every two years or whatever, whatever. And so this, the idea of this is a suicide thing is all the positive things that suicide brings. I still don't like it. besides besides you know besides the only negativity that can be around the time that we are better done be better and bigger than our problems that was that was the I think one of the first motives and we came with this campaign and let's see the results and then let's see how how you see it, right? I just wanted to mention that because you were not here and I wanted you to know the balance. I appreciate it.

Thank you. I wasn't here either.

I think let's play it first and then... All right, thank you everybody for the intro here. We'll start it off with the actual video. And again, this was just delivered today. So obviously we haven't posted it and we can change the slogan if you'd like to, but we'll lead with the video and then Rodrigo and Gabrielle will come up to present.

Yeah, we got surf in Surfside, but our town is much more than that.

A full beach just for you at sunrise, that's a Surfside thing. Sea turtles on our sand and even our streets, also a Surfside thing.

Excuse me, sorry, can we replay, but louder, because we are not, right?

Let me see if I can make this work.

Yeah, but no. You can probably roll yours. Yeah. So we can really have it.

Let's see if this is loud enough.

Yes, we got surf in Surfside. But our top, oh, it's much more than that.

A full beach just for you at sunrise, that's a Surfside thing. Sea turtles on our sand and even our streets, also a Surfside thing. The best kosher food in South Florida? Definitely a Surfside thing. Here, diversity isn't a slogan. It's heard in a dozen languages drifting down the block. It's written into our streets, named after literary legends. A Nobel Prize winner calling this place home? Yes, it's a Surfside thing. Colorful kites over the ocean, flip-flops as business wear, and block parties that turn neighbors into family. These are all our things. From making new friends in the canals to parrots gossiping in the palms, from Michelin star meals to movies under the stars. This isn't just where we live, it's how we live. Let's celebrate all the little things and the big ones that make our town unlike anywhere else.

Because loving where you live, that's the most Surfside thing of all. Come visit Surfside.

All right, I'll start my conversation with the board. I think the video, it's really nice. It depicts a lot of the angles on Surfside. I just don't think we should brand it as it's a Surfside thing. It's just not attractive. Surfside does have a lot of things to be proud of. It's a community like no other community. But it's not a Surfside thing. Sorry. Anybody else?

I'll add the video I think is excellent. It's lyrical. It's welcoming. Personally, I don't have an issue with it's a Surfside thing. I think it's it kind of the or the she she describes these and it's a surfside thing yes it doesn't out of context just seeing it here would make no sense but i think in the video it seems to join the the the emotion um i've been years ago i said i hate this uptown beach town i've never liked that i told frank that years ago i didn't like uptown beach town because it didn't make any sense to me because we're Surfside and we're not really necessarily uptown. We're a community, but I digress. I have no issue with the, I think it was a very good video, and I think it's a Surfside thing, does to a degree, for me, resonate.

One second. One second. Let's let the presenter...

Thank you. Thank you. I really appreciate it. Thank you, everybody, for your kind words again and for watching the video. As Judy put it together and explained it, the reason why we started this and we were briefed on this was exactly to try to change the perception about Surfside and the first things people think of us, not only here, but outside in Brazil, where I come from. It's like, oh, Surfside, we had the idea, you know? So this was trying to point to all these beautiful things that we as residents know and we want the world to know more about. So what this structure does, Eli, it's a Surfside thing, is that from a social media perspective where we need content to be fed all the time to people, we can start surfacing all these things. We have turtles in our streets. We have one of the most famous writers ever, We have people, we have businesses. We can talk about each and every business in Harding Avenue as a Surfside thing, all the way from Kosh to whatever we want to talk about. We can talk about people. We can talk about top models that live over here. We can talk about anything we want, organizations born on Surfside. We can talk about, again, so many things. So what I like about this, again, and I wrote a little presentation to talk about this idea, is that Surfside is much more than a place. It's a collection of things you won't find anywhere else. So that pride, it's something that I know you hold in your heart, and we all do. We all that live here hold that in our hearts dearly. So the idea is to turn these moments into a shared story, right? So it's a Surfside thing. Celebrates, of course, our town name and logo and everything. It works quite well as a hashtag, which is a very important thing for social media, too, because we can say, you know, Eli Tugerman is a Surfside thing. You know, Judy Martinez is a Surfside thing. Plastic Fisherman is a Surfside thing. I mean, we can go on and on about that. It's a very simple and very friendly to social media as a structure. Now,

I have a question.

Yes.

Do you think, I mean, I know that this is part of your production, but do you think that the video that it was done very well, it depicts basically the ocean, the sand, the buildings, the business, would it matter if we take out it's a Surfside thing to this video?

I think you're taking, as I say, I work in advertising. That's my job, my main job. I would say you're taking the gorilla out of King Kong. That's what I would say in terms of structuring. Now, let me see if I can point to you why I think this is an interesting structure. This is the video, right? Okay. Yeah. So the idea is that, again, we're going to play with a calendar, which I call with snackable content, right? Things that can be like short videos, images, GIFs, you know, everything created for social, inspired by the people, the places, and traditions, and little quirks that make Surfside uniquely yours. And this will be much, much more than content. In my opinion, it will be a portrait of the community divided in 12 months. So this is... Not a forever tagline. This is just us regaining the conversation and saying, you know what? Surfside is ours. Those things are ours. That's what Surfside is known for. If one year from now you say, Rod, I hate it. It's a Surfside thing. Let's move it to like simply Surfside or whatever it is. Let's do it. But I think we need to hold back, you know, what makes us us, you know, and I think that sense of pride. is what we're trying to communicate here. So imagine this, just videos like this, one mile of pristine beach, it's a surf site thing. That's a simple like that. Art inspired by the ocean. It's a Surfside thing. Each one of these things is a little post. It's a little tweet. It's a little whatever you want to call it. Now it's X, right? Great Kosher Dining, it's a Surfside thing. Kosh, it's a Surfside thing. I mean, certain person, Surfside thing. Making friends in the canal, like dolphins. We got so lucky with this shot. It's a Surfside thing. Of all days, we found dolphins in the canal. Morning is worth waking up for. It's a surfside thing. So I'm not saying like beautiful sunrises. I'm saying morning is worth waking up for. So again, it's adding poetry, adding like that sensibility, that love for the town that only people who live here can do. Movies under the stars, of course, it's a surfside thing. Dancing with the wind, it's a surfside thing. I don't know if you guys know, but you cannot do kite surfing anywhere else in Miami. That's the only place you can do, or Biscayne Bay. So again, that's a very Surfside thing. It's uniquely ours. Streets often named after literary legends, which took me forever to learn. After 15 years, I learned that. Now it makes sense. A, B, C, R, yeah, that's what it is. Waking up to nature's alarm clock, also a Surfside thing. Now, if you keep on going, We can do what? We can create, like, I am a SurfSite thing. So imagine T-shirts for our kids. We need something for our parties. We need a filter. Every time you have our summer events, wouldn't it be great if each one of those summer events, it's a SurfSite thing? So that particular thing that Sarah just presented, that's a SurfSite thing. The World Cup party, that's a Surfside thing. A kid born here, I am a Surfside thing. Our business can have a certificate that says, I am an authentic certified business in Surfside. I am a Surfside thing. So again, it's just creating that sense of pride, of knowing, of belonging that I feel like right now, unfortunately, because of all the things that happened in the past, we're still reading from. So that's basically the idea. So as I say, it's a one-time and countless things, places, and stories to celebrate.

Um, quick question with the branding. Um, so are we putting this hashtag on things as we give out during the year? Are we encouraging people, you know, to take pictures and hashtag it's a surfside thing. Right. So we want to build on it and give it more momentum for like me or you or like your kids are out building sandcastles and hashtag it's a surfside thing so we can repost it.

Absolutely. We can even create like a contest saying like, I am a SurfSight thing. Tell me your story. I'm going to use one of the most interesting story to make one of our content pieces. Pictures of a kid. He's a SurfSight thing or she's a SurfSight. I mean, again, it's one of those things that can go on and on and on as deep as we want it to go.

Any other comments?

Yeah, I want to say it came out beautifully. When you presented last time, we really like it, but the way it came out, and I think, you know, like, because I'm a producer as well, and I'm very audiovisual, and audio and visual, the sound here didn't really sound good because we have restrictions here. But when you add those... That's what I wanted to add, because when you have the sound of the ocean and the breeze and all the components that this has that we cannot appreciate right now here, you'll feel it through. It will give you goosebumps. I really love it. I like it. Thank you so much.

Thank you. And Eli, I just want to add one more thing. I understand that your point was we're kind of touching the surface on our video. right we're going to the most obvious things right now i think the idea is that each one of those like uh other pieces of content we can go deeper if we present what we're thinking of for instance we want to have like i am a surf site thing content series which is going to ask you like three questions about yourself are we going to learn about eli and what eli likes and what is what his favorite place in surfside is so again we can go deep into whoever we decided to be of course it's going to be up to us to decide who those 12 touch points are for this year. But I think that's what makes it so colorful. I call this almost like a rainbow type of campaign because we're going to be able to portray all colors of Surfside in many ways.

Through the chair, just to help move it along a little bit, we'll talk about the budget side now of what it would entail to do the full campaign. And so we'll pull up that slide in a second. But I do want the board to consider this. We could start on this fiscal year. There's no need to do all of it next fiscal year, which, of course, would allow you to save money next fiscal year. Because as I said, we have a lot of money on both the marketing side and the event side that is going to expire right now in marketing. We're going to have about $155,000 that right now is left that we don't really have much planned for. So again, that money is going to expire. I would recommend doing maybe half of the series this fiscal year and then half the next. And it's an investment that we can track. We can track the performance through social media. We can use it as advertising. But I think we have a possibility now to start on this this fiscal year.

Do you want to pull up those slides?

It's a Surfside thing. It's a Surfside thing. It's a Surfside thing. There we go.

So this would be the full series. We'll go back. And then this would be like half of the series if you wanted to just do half. But we'll start, Rodrigo, if you want to. I mean, it's basically, you know, the 12 pieces of content, the signature films, in addition to the 12 spotlight interviews. So we're talking about 24.

24, two pieces a month, basically. That's what we're talking about. So when we say 12 signature Surfside films, I mean, what we did right there is what I call the launch film, right? So what we're going to have is 12 films. Let's just say one is focused on Kosh. One is focused on a certain resident, you know? One is focused on an organization. The other one is maybe a couple of them are focused on events. But in total, we're going to have 12 dives into subjects in our town. Then we're going to have 12 spotlight interview videos, like the two question format. In that case, it will be 12 people. They could be leaders of organizations. They can be lawyers. They can be rabbis. They can be whoever we want them to be. And they will talk about, again, the things that make Surfside special for them. So that's what I call the video portion of that. Of course, each video, we can screen grab, we can create GIFs, we can create content based on that video. Now, on the bottom, sorry, we're just going to read over here. We have a campaign identity design, which is again, the logo and everything. Certified SurfSight thing stickers, again, for the town to place on the businesses in Hardin Avenue. We can even create a system around that with the reward, for those business. And then eventually we have, I'm a surf site thing, t-shirts, we can hats and everything like that, of course. But right now we have t-shirts, which also are, you know, counted for in this budget. So again, top is content, bottom is production of material that goes into that content as well as, you know, peripheral materials like t-shirts and stickers and things like that. And then on the next one, we cut in half, basically. Instead of 24 pieces, two a month, we're going to have only 12 pieces. And six will be films, six will be those interviews, and then the logo. No T-shirt, no stickers, no nada.

Through the chair. Yes. How did this come about? Was this the last committee or...?

the last commission or how did this all come about yes this was discussed with the last board and i forgot how it first started but it was just talking about you know the perception of surfside externally and kind of wanting to shift that and also find high quality video content that again we really haven't invested in since probably 2019. okay and i don't and are you the rod you can call me rod and what is your role i know you do the uh

I am a creative director by trade. I am the partner of Gabriel, which is the cinematographer. Everything you see, all the beautiful footage, was filmed by Gabriel over here, which is my partner. And we work as a team on this project together.

And you also do the recycling? Well, yeah. Parallel to that, I am Classic Fisherman's founder.

Yes, correct.

That's how he started with us.

I have eight arms.

Yeah, what he does for a living is advertising, and he is a Surfside resident. Both are Surfside residents, and he's a DP by videographer. I know this because I'm a producer, and I know them for so many years because of the industry. And that was the idea. We wanted to really... rebrand a little bit the town in a positive way and um you know and because of the meetings it takes time to produce something to be approved to your so it's you know we're gonna air we started the job of we're gonna air this with you guys which people i'm sure is gonna love it and it's like oh my god it's amazing so so we've made the the first things and now we're gonna have the the real thing so i think it's a it's a very good positive thing we haven't had it We didn't invest money on that, and we needed it because we are very visual now. It's like people create content like this and consume content like that. So I think it was something that we were really missing.

And Mr. David, just to return a little bit of a question, I think there's something about this. Again, I pride myself with my career in advertising. But there's something about being a resident in this case that it's more important than my career in advertising. This came from the inside out. If you had somebody coming in, observing the town, learning from you guys and creating a campaign, you'll be an outsider looking in. think what we're trying to do is create this like inside out feeling something that every person in town can relate to uh and uh and can be proud of it's really funny when we're filming the plagues uh there was a security one of our you know uh police uh cars stopped by it's like what are you doing you know and we told them what we're doing and they're like oh my god that's the story with the names i was like yeah so we like you know started talking about each one so i think there's there's a lot of like learning and education and belonging that that comes with it that I feel like, again, could add a lot to the social portion of this.

And it's your project, right?

It is our project, yeah.

Anything else? Should we call a vote or somebody wants to make a motion?

Yeah, I would like to make a motion to approve the, it's a Surfside Think campaign, starting with the six first, you know, the half with the money that's about to be expired, so we don't impact our budget for the future for what we wanna do for maybe next year or whatever, and so roll half and a half. I second.

Any further discussion?

Can we have a discussion at the next meeting on famous people? Can we give you some ideas?

Of course. That's the idea. I think I can come here as many meetings as I want.

Through the chair, I just need the clarification for the motion maker. Is your intention to approve the full series but use half of this with this fiscal year, or you just wanted to approve the half?

Yes. I would like to approve the full series with half

This fiscal year.

A second?

So we have a motion and a second.

Board Member Kinzer?

Yes.

Board Member Lansman?

Yes.

Board Member Martinez? Yes. Vice Chair Karp?

Yes.

Chair Torgerman?

No.

Chair, the motion carries.

The only thing that I see for myself, and the only reason I know it was going to pass anyways, but it's that thing. And I just, it just doesn't jive.

That's the word.

The video is beautiful. What we have to offer is great. And it's all visible and touchable and so on and so forth. The thing that really gets me is that thing. And he still gets me. The thing gets me the thing.

Thank you. I appreciate you.

All right. You got me? Yes. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Budget discussion?

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The last item of the night is, you know, the preliminary, the budget discussion. We do have to submit our budget numbers to the budget officer, just so that we can stay on track. The budget has a certain timeline that it follows in the summer. So normally, we do this over the course of a couple of meetings. But of course, when we have an election year, it tends to be the first meeting. So I did provide with the agenda packet the current fiscal year's budget as well as my suggested draft for next fiscal year. I'd like to just point out that we're going to stay flat. So the overall request to the commission is the same. So we're really not increasing. But separately, we will need to talk about the Parks and Recreation budget, which is also approved by the Resort Tax Board because those events are open to Surfside hotel guests, and therefore they are paid for by the Resort Tax Fund, not the General Fund. So Parks did increase their ask a little bit to $380, I think from $350 more or less last year. So their side went up a little bit. Ours did not. And then you can look at all the different line items, but... Just know that throughout the year, you can change them at any time. So as long as you're not requesting more money than this overall budget includes, you could change whether you allocate $80,000 to Thursdays or whether you do $2,000. Yeah, that you can change around throughout the year.

All right. I have a question for the chair. So Attachment A, what's the difference between Attachment A and draft budget? your two attachments.

So let me see if I can pull it up. Um, but one is last year. So there's a few, a few changes. Um, if you look at, you know, I've got, I think 50,000 for the content series. So we could cover the other half of the video series, um, as part of this year. Let me just, I got that.

Okay. I understand now. And is there a total for the 2027? I just see categories. There's category totals. We could add, add it up really quick. I think,

It's $790 something, but we can add it up really quick.

I got it.