City Commission - workshop

These projects, do we use in-house where the employees we have can put up the tile?

That would make a big difference also for the budget. Thank you very much.

You can add me to the list of people who made that request.

When I asked that, that was in regards to the public works building, the roof.

If I may, through the mayor. I also believe that I was requested that whoever receives the benefit has some kind of vested amount.

Okay, thank you. I know that I voted yes on this ordinance, but I really think it is too much money for one department, especially since it's the beginning of the department. Maybe once it's fully... that fully know what this department will really bring back to the city. So I would like to see that amount changed. I think it's more important to put that monies in some other department. So I'm not sure if we have to bring it back as an ordinance to change the amount or...

So then we're going to give the community development, we're going to take money away from the community development department because now they don't have that salary?

Well, I'm just saying that we need to cut money. I'm going to talk about if that amendment 3 passes or not. I'm not even going there. But, you know, we're trying to cut monies in all the departments and here we're giving the economic development a million dollars. So I would like to see something cut there as well. If nobody agrees with me, then we'll suspend it.

Through the mayor. So I just, I checked on the history of BTR employees before. Is there, from my understanding, like we have, when the BTR was working like clockwork, which was a while back, it had two BTR employees. I am wondering if we can repurpose like the four and then have the two do other duties that are inside and perhaps like from the eight employees, you could reduce it down to six.

Correct. That's what I'm saying is you have four already, right? And then how many people in total do you have right now? I think Dr. Pierre is back there. You have six, right? Correct. So if we keep that and repurpose the BTR, the two BTR employees who would like to go into other things, is that possible? So that we don't have to hire, have two more spaces for BTR and accelerate the AI or the technology process of it. But I mean, I think that maybe that's one of the ways that we could bring that down without compromising on any of the other services, right? We're just bringing down the staff level.

As long as we save some money there, I'm game.

Through the chair, the economic development was totally rerouted. A million dollars will be nothing if the economic development performs what the intention was. I was at an affair last night, beautiful affair, and the mayor from Aventura was there, speaking to the developer that's in our city, making a deal for him to develop in Aventura, right before my eyes. That was the purpose, to bring economic development, to get out and knock on the doors, to meet the street. In fact, it's the contacts. If that happens, look at what you just showed us is coming in. If that economic development worked li

I agree with that through the mayor. I agree with that. and um you know we have the p3 that's uh being worked on uh for the tennis center and then we have other other land that we're looking at doing partnerships and so um you know i agree wholeheartedly with commissioner smith on that point um is that that department and really every department is supposed to understand what role they play in bringing in development, bringing in economic development and also even bringing in new residents. because when you talk about Doral, when you talk about City Place, these are things that bring people to

Yes. Ms. Pierre, by the way, I think you're wonderful. This is not anything against you. So, you know, I'd like to see what a million dollars is doing. I mean, that's a lot of money. I'd like to see some money go to the police, more to the police department, to the library, to code. I'd like to see, I just think a million dollars a year is a lot of money for that department. And if you guys can't see it, seriously, until we start seeing that it's happening, then I don't think we should be spending that million dollars a year. Once we see...

in full effect go ahead spend much more but in the meantime we need to cut and a million dollars is a lot of money for that for one department through the mayor um i think commissioner smith said something very important what she said just now was was mayor howard weinberg was the one who was discussing with the developer to bring him into aventura i was thinking about the things that i want to bring to our city um early in my career when i got elected we had like the ambassador from beijing bring in a cohort of chinese investors who open up restaurants because i'm very interested in creating

Yeah. But we do need to, we need to do something. And like, you know, like right now, I know they're hard at work with the whole NMB Bites for the centennial. And we really need to get that going so that, I mean, businesses are very happy to see that the city is supporting them. I mean, I think we should review a little bit of the new business initiatives. A lot of companies or a lot of businesses get their BTRs way ahead of six months before the ribbon cutting. And to limit it to six months is a little, you know, because they have to do certain things and go to Durham and go to, you know, all

I would like to add to that one quick thing. Staffing has to, there's a difference between us being ambassadors. I talk to developers all the time. I talked to a couple of them last night. But staff has to see the parcels. that are currently here because we don't have a lot of green space. And they're the ones that have to massage the owners to think about selling and putting a few parcels together so somebody can come in and make something where it's at the right place and not hindering the lifestyles of the residents. There's a yin and a yang. Is that economic development or is that communit

And one final note, Commissioner Smith said a word that triggered a thought in my head. She said the word parcels. We have a few pieces of parcels that are empty, doing nothing, paying property taxes and landscaping bills. Why don't we sell this? I mean, why are we holding onto them? I'm not sure what you know, right, because you're just like new to the job. But we have some property that I think we should just, right, we're paying property taxes on them? No, we don't pay property taxes? No. We're paying landscaping, right?

Yes, so, I mean, I know, I think there's a rather large parcel on West Dixie that I've been approached to, not recently, but in the past, about, I don't understand why we just, why we're holding onto it.

Right, so if we lease the land and it gets developed, it actually goes up in value, and it helps?

At minimum, what that does is it provides you with some sort of revenue from whatever organization is building, right? At minimum. I don't know the other details about valuation, about land valuation. That's not my domain, but you're going to make money off of whatever project is on that land. However, through the mayor, Mr. Manager, you know, we need that internal infrastructure to even make these deals happen. You know what I mean?

I know conceptually what we can do. What I'm saying is we need the infrastructure necessary to get these things done. And I'm talking about the people power, right? That's significantly important because we can imagine that, hey, you know what, we're gonna do this P3 here, we're gonna do it there, but there's a reason why We've been looking at that space for years. And by the way, if you drive by there now, it's actually pretty nice and plush. The grass has grown and it's green. It's gone from dirt to now green grass. Hopefully someday in the near future we can actually see something done. We'

And has ever been correct. And so, you know, that's why last I think last time we had our commission meeting, I said, you know, we need to get the buy in of the residents, you know, because if they better understand the goals of this kind of development, then you won't face any or not much hesitation and buy-in from the residents. So that's significantly... going to help you or delay the process.

TO THE MAYOR, VICE MAYOR, WHICH PARCEL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? DID YOU ALL TALK ABOUT THIS PRIOR TO MY JOINING THE DEUS OR THE COMMISSION?

I THINK IT'S THE SAME ONE COMMISSIONER SMUCHLER WAS TALKING ABOUT. IT'S AN OLD PARK ON WEST DIXIE Yeah. I forget what street. It's beside the TECO property. Beside the TECO property.

Ah, okay. 158. Yes. It had blinded brown. Have we talked about that? Like what we want to see on?

I think we missed our comp plan deadline this

We have to wait until next year, I think. Right, so maybe we should start thinking about setting some dates for us to have a workshop, just us discussion. I think we all have kind of like an idea of what we want to do. I mean, we're not going to talk about today, I hope. Today's budget, but what I'm saying is we should start planning out dates where we can all come to... We all have different ideas for different things, right? I mean, I hear it through the grapevine about different things, but we never talk to each other about it, and I'd love to have that conversation.

That's correct. It's already calculated in our comp space, so we can't remove it without putting it somewhere else because we have to have that.

So that's why we should have a discussion. I just want to say the TECO property is privately owned.

Somebody said the TECO. I just heard it. Next to the TECO. Next to the TECO, you're talking about, which is a much smaller piece, but it is vacant land that's owned by us as far as the TECO.

Oh, just for the record that Andres did send out an email about two months ago for a workshop for the comprehensive plan. She did, and instead we did the tennis courts, the paddle ball courts, but we did have that scheduled. Just saying.

I know we were headed to HR already, sorry, I was looking at finance. In the current, I know, I don't, how, what is the ideal staff number?

Okay. I don't know. I mean, I only know of like five individuals in the finance department. Yes, yes, yes. They're all hidden.

Yeah. I just wanted to know, like, so you're going to hit your target of ideally 18?

Yeah. Okay. Can you do the positions for me roughly?

Okay, and currently how many are staffed?

All right. Oh, so, okay, so Grant has now moved in there to the finance department. Well, I think you mentioned that last time. Yes. Okay, thank you very much. Let's go for the questions.

I wanna give a shout out to the HR department that when I did the hiring of my aide, I had never been through HR to do the hiring, and the way that they set it up with the pamphlets and everything and had it all set, it was beautiful, and they did a great job.

Yes, Commissioner. I'm not understanding how that cut is possible.

All of them. I mean, like, you have HR. Well, HR is the only one that is increasing, right? Oh, no, it's actually decreased. Yeah, everything is decreased. So can you explain, like, where the cuts came from?

OK. And then, so what about the workers' compensation self-insurance fund?

Okay, all right. Well, I mean, yeah, we'll definitely walk through that. And this one is, again, operating expenses went down by $1.5 million.

22. Okay. I mean, I have no problems with reducing expenses. I just want to know, like, what is what, you know, there's always a catch, right? Like something's got to give.

So what's the operating expense that went down by 1.5 million?

No, I don't want to do that. I just want to know, like, was it, like, were we eliminating, combining contracts?

But that's clear, though, because it's...

So like an example is... We're talking about operating expenses. We're not talking about compensation. So compensation is the, you know, I get the employee portion.

Yes, sir. Mr. Manager, your example. Yes. Are you saying that no one used the contract, meaning that it wasn't activated, there were no payments made? No, no, that's not what I'm saying. Or there were payments made, but no one actually used the service?

Sorry, that's a significant savings? Yes. And I just want to see where it's coming from, right? Absolutely.

Yeah. And I think that kind of lends itself to a, you know, there's a term for that position when they're looking for efficiencies and cost efficiency, et cetera, et cetera. I forgot. The term is not coming to my mind, but. Okay. No. Definitely not that. But there's a specific position that looks for these types of efficiencies and things of that sort. It's a type of analysis, and the word is escaping me as well. Right, right. But either way. if we're doing that consistently to kind of measure because there's a lot of times we vote on something here as a commission and either you know uh we fi

By the way, Ninjio, is that, okay, so, but is that a platform that we can, are there other platforms that we can use, or is that the only platform? I'll have to call him up to answer that one.

Right, okay. Because the thing is, with all due respect, the Ninjio is a very interesting dynamic, or I don't know how to really phrase it, to get... Well, not really. You know, it's kind of the way to get the messaging across. I think that it's just using a very odd way of trying to train. But that's a whole other conversation. I'm just wondering if that's something that most corporations or organizations are going with now, or is that just something that we just happen to select? How does that work? Well, no. Other organizations use know-before.

Why is this not under IT and not under building department?

Yeah, I understand that, but it says it's here. Is it housed here and then HR and the building department gets it from here? Like you say, okay, building department and permits. If the permits are automatic and on an electronic system now, is that in HR or that's in IT?

I have a question. Yes. Through the vice mayor. Yes. So transfers in, can you say a little more about that for me?

Okay, and I think previously NMB Water was also like paying for IT stuff, right?

Do we know how much NMB Water is contributing to the funds?

Mr. Manager, we actually were held for ransom a few years ago.

2020, more or less. It was the police department. We were able to, well, right? What happened is the records that were taken could be duplicated all but very few. So rather than pay, they let them go.

Right. Right? For a lot, they were asking a lot of money, but we didn't pay. Yes, they usually ask for $5 to $10 million. Under Esmond's, yeah, under Esmond's.

And also that's when I think the police department and the city merged.

I said when that ransomware happened, that's when our city went from having two different IT departments to one, I think.

That doesn't make sense. If you go to compensation of 801, and you go down from eight with 801, and then you go from six to 789, 37,000, wait, that's not where I was. The difference between it is only 25,000. Correct. And it goes down.

These positions weren't filled positions, right? Correct. So they were budgeted for, but they weren't filled. That's correct. And you're saying that the department was functioning efficiently with the number of employees that it had? Yes. To the best?

Okay. You know, I'm just looking at a department where, you know, Almost everything that we have is procured, right? That's correct. And so if you can just help me understand, you know, maybe I'm overthinking this. Well, is it a manpower? Is it manpower that allows the department to be as efficient as it possibly can? Or is it is what what is allowing this department to maximize its potential? Because. I'm looking at manpower and I'm looking at the ability to process as much procurement as possible efficiently in a timely manner. And I'm thinking that's manpower, right? So unless there's some

And having said this, what departments are actively participating in their own procurement? Now, none. Okay.

But what about other departments, like parks, for instance? 100%, every single department. But have, if I may, Mr. Manager, at some point, was parks ever, or do you recall having to participate actively in the procurement of anything?

OKAY. SO THAT'S USUALLY THE BEGINNING OF THE PROCESS IS ON A DEPARTMENTAL LEVEL.

So now what you're saying, Mr. Manager, is that that process is no longer happening? No, that process is still happening. Yes. All right. Now, I am a bit a bit concerned because the police department is a very large department. Yes. And if this is something that we've been doing for some time, that they've been able to, you know, procure and to manage that side of of of of their operations. You know, that is a bit concerning. You know, I'd like more clarity on that. You don't have to do that right now. Okay. But, you know, I'd like I'd like more clarity on that because, you know, for the for t

When you say under $25,000, I'm assuming bulk things like paper just to run an office. That's bulk and you go and you make a bid on that.

But less than $25,000 each department doesn't go after that. It's done for the whole building, and then whatever department needs supplies, they go to one person. Let's just make that clear.

Okay. Okay. I understand they're doing a great job. Yes. And I think they're doing a great job. But if you compare us to the county, which I don't ever want to compare us to the county, but if we're compared to the county, I want to be better than the county.

Okay. And I get... conversations with contractors and homeowners who say that they have more trouble with ours than they do with the county. And the county is so much, they can order inspections, they can order everything from online, and we don't have that. And I know when I first came back in 2022, we started getting that up. Are we still working on that? Are we not where we're supposed to be?

Yeah, well, we hear from the residential ones. We don't hear from the commercial ones usually, unless there's really a problem. Yes.

Through the chair, vice chair, I just want to piggyback on that. It's a crime when somebody calls you after eight months of waiting or six months of waiting. They should call the second month. But one thing I want to say is time is money. for these people that are doing additions or renovations or doing something new. And I agree, if the department's so efficient, there should be zero phone calls. And yet that is something we do get a lot of phone calls about.

Is that it, Commissioner? Okay. As far as that fund is concerned, what, can the building department do, or is the building department allowed to provide some type of relief to our residents and to our business community when it comes to fees,

And it and is the building department or is that fund also allowed to pay for improvements or or no?

Okay, and also the The Assistance with improvements to residential and commercial properties because that's a significant number yes right and if you're saying that we can't move that that that money to any other fund or any other line item correct has to stay within that department right so I want to I want to see what ways we can we can utilize that, at least some portion of it, right? Absolutely.

Okay. Just when you bring back those options, make sure you don't reference another commissioner.

Make sure you credit the Vice Mayor. I'm just joking. Certainly, Vice Mayor. Vice Mayor, through you, wasn't that economic development that we are helping residential units to repair?

That was under the economic development million dollars.

Yes. So, I mean, if you're talking about commercial now, that's a different thing, but that's already in place.

Through the vice mayor, if I may. So I'm sort of going to change topic just a little bit. If this tax bill, the amendment three passes, I almost feel like we're wasting our time with what we're doing here. What is the effect to us in our city if this bill were to pass?

Yes. All right, community development. All right.

I'm so sorry. I know I'm a little slow. Through the vice mayor. I'm going to go back to the building budget for a second. 37. So here it says you still maintain 21 full-time and then you have six part-time not available for 26, right? You look at compensation and we are going down by 884. Is that accurate? So you're maintaining the same number of employees, but the pay is going down by almost a million dollars?

But doesn't... Commissioner Hsu, doesn't the department head do the hiring? No. Well, I guess, I'm sorry, let me rephrase that. Yes. The department head participates in the hiring process? Absolutely, yes. Okay, and then HR then hires that employee for that specific department? Right, so there's record of what departments hired who and et cetera, et cetera, right? Correct. But you're saying just for the purposes of the budget. Just for the purposes of the budget. You weren't able to get the FTE.

but if we were doing if we were doing actual then i probably you'd be able to get that yes okay i don't know if commissioner sue was done no i have another question okay also um where is the enterprise fund in this portion like about permits it's you want to see how much we got from permits right because all of this is the enterprise is the enterprise fund where is that

Okay, my bad. So when we had 8 million last, I thought we had 8 million last year or nine. Nine, yes. Eight-ish nine.

A little different. Yeah. In your big book, does it have the actual?

Like, you see, this stack is easier to digest than that big book. I see the big book, and I'm like, I gave it to a CPA.

But it's in there. I have a feeling I know where she's going with this. I hope you don't call it the big beautiful book. Because I feel like that's where you're going with that.

Okay, Commissioner Hsu says she's good. Anyone else? Okay.

All right, so we'll move on to community development.

The Beautification Committee had a study done last year on our tree canopy. We all think we have a huge canopy. We don't, because palm trees don't count. Correct. Correct. So that's why the Beautification Committee, the last two years, has been giving Florida native trees that create canopies. And we want people to plant them and put them, because we get credit for having a good canopy.

To just add to that, I think Sunray, maybe both Sunray East and West, but especially Sunray West, if you're driving down those streets, they're like individual palm trees that really don't do much. If you don't couple them together, they really don't do much for shade, and it really doesn't provide an aesthetic as you're driving up and down these streets. Correct. Correct. Yeah, they have a lot of those in Sunray.

Was that sign replaced, I think, on 19th Avenue, the Tree City USA sign? It, I thought it. I think there was a sign that. It was an Arbor City sign. Arbor City, okay. Yes. That was replaced? Okay, thank you. Yes, sir.

I have a question. Yes, ma'am. First place, I think there was also an award signed up on 163rd Street in the medium between Biscayne Boulevard and the bridge.

So if you could check on that. Yes, ma'am.

And by the way, Maria happens to be one of the nicest people you'll ever meet. The Golden Glades interchange to Northeast 8th Avenue, that's only on the north side, correct? Okay, because the south side, of course, is county.

Through the vice mayor. TOD is, what does it stand for again?

Transit. Ah, there you go. Okay, because it's that little triangle for the 151st.

Yeah, that's what he was saying. Yeah, okay. No, I was just like, I know it's, you know. I'm sorry. I'm getting this transfer upon death thing. You know what I mean?

So I also want us to, about, so there's a completion of this already, right? All three items, the last page, 42. Okay. So the top three, the.

So, Mr. Manager, I've been talking to you about several zones that I wanted to bring up and see, and we did say that we need to wait for the comprehensive plan, so I would like to see those items incorporated into this process as well. Okay, so I think there are two or three, I don't remember. I know there's 19th Avenue, there's, of course, 163rd.

Mr. Manager, so I don't know if this is the section to discuss this, but in Windward, well, I'm looking at the roundabouts that we have now, right? Yes. One right down the street here, I think, what is that, 20th Avenue? Right behind 168, right?

And then I'm looking at the one in Washington Park. So the good thing is it's helping with traffic. But, I mean, initially, it's also helping with beautification. But what I'm seeing is that over time, the maintenance is not there, right? And so... You know, I think we need to, whether it's our arborist or we need to talk about what plants go into these roundabouts that may need less maintenance so that they can continue to be, you know, beautification for our city and not an eyesore. Second, in Windward on 10th Avenue, that roundabout, needs a complete makeover. The roundabout itself is crack

Mr. Manager? Yes, sir. I think you need to do all the ones that we have. Because in Sky Lake, there's two that also need addressing. Okay.

I don't know that it would come under this, but maybe the entrance ray, some of the real focal points should have some lighting in the trees because when you go down, Golden Beach or some of the others, or if you go down in Bell Harbor, just having some of that lighting in the trees makes such a significant difference in what the appearance of the city is. So maybe coming across the railroad track, 171st, I don't know where that comes under. I don't know how many blocks. I know they put some lighting in eastern shores. They didn't go the whole way up to 171st. They only went halfway. And I get

So you're going to move to code and then. communications, events, and production?

Okay, now with all due respect, I see communications is like a whole 10 or 11 pages. And the dollar amount for that department is 1.3, right? Yes. So, you know, there's a lot of just, if we can really put this in capsule form.

Yes, Mr. Vice Mayor, I just think when you get to communications, maybe they need another 10 million or $20 million just so we can get communications correct. That's my call because I hear more complaints that people didn't know they didn't know. And that's a shame with all the latest technology and all the AI would definitely have room for improvement in that department.

So you said, so what are you saying, 10 million or 20 million?

I'm thinking 40 million now, now that you put it like that. Thank you.

No, but listen, I agree, but I think it's a matter of really harnessing technology. Yes.

um and being facetious about the money i'm no i'm disagreeing about the money part uh i know it's not 10 million so if you were serious about that i know i'm being very facetious but but i am when you say it's a department that had very little money the way you were explaining it so let's not think it's going to be that is probably the most important besides the police department we have Because if people don't know, what good is it to have the services?

Well, Commissioner, I agree with you on that. But I guess what I'm saying is when I'm looking at what, right, when I'm looking at this presentation is specifically for budget, right? And so there's a lot of information as I just scrolled through as I just flipped through the pages that are not specific to the budget.

I made my complaint come under the headline of budget.

Right. So, no, no, I get it. And so, I just want us, if we can just focus, like for instance, and I don't want to spend just as much time asking about it as I'm trying to save, right? So, you know, there's areas that specifically talk about numbers, and I'm just asking if we can get the capsule form and speak about the numbers, that would be good.

Thank you. Oh, sorry. In increasing the two, I have no problem with that. But can we start implementing the philosophy that the code enforcement, code compliant division, that we start being proactive instead of reactive. Okay, so it takes a little more on their part, but have relationships with all the owners of the zone that they're in and let them know when something's wrong and how to get, you know, before they have to cite them. And then it becomes a better, more people comply and it's a better, they're not looked at as a bad thing when the code enforcement person comes down the street.

okay um well thank you for adding the weekend and evenings i think that's uh usually when they take you know i mean like we have law-abiding citizens who are being take advantage by people who don't want to follow the rules um but um so my question is like you know there's there needs to be a massive clean up in our commercial area I think it's just not... Hedges, landscaping, a lot of things have been let go for a long time. I would love to see our code go in and educate. our stakeholders that are in the city so that we could all work together as one city to make our city pleasant. I know we'

He said that he's not aware of the second kitchen ordinance. So I was like, wow, okay, we need to, you know, create a protocol for that. So people, yeah, I maybe like he missed, we passed the ordinance so quickly, you know.

anyway okay so yeah i think yeah he was like what i was like okay so i just wanted to get that present because we're talking about permits i just figured like that process should um also get created because if somebody wants to come in and create a second kitchen they can absolutely understood thank you yes thank you um vice mayor

So 163rd Street, right, which is supposed to be the gateway to North Miami Beach, and only half of it, I mean, one side is NMB, the other side is the county. You know, why can't we take some of that money from economic development and put it into code to fix up that area. We, you know, have code go and make sure that these businesses all look beautiful. We want people to come into North Miami Beach, right? So take money from economic development, do something with that. Okay, yeah, we want to bring in more businesses into North Miami Beach, but we have businesses in North Miami Beach. We shoul

Yes, it is, because. Commercial has reduced from 10% assessment down to five, so I don't think that's true.

Okay, so now, because it's not homesteaded, that's gonna go up, and yes, it is. Of course it is, because where is that money going to come from? You're not going to the classes, are you? You're not listening to this. I know that you want this.

No, what I'm saying to you is the assessed value of the property instead of 10 is now capped at 5. So that means that it's actually going to raise less than before. This is for commercial properties. Right. Yeah. And then the residentials are going to increase by three just the same. But the exemptions are raised up higher. they're gonna go up, Lynn.

Trust me, they're gonna go up, because nothing ever goes up in the property taxes ever, and they're always going up, all right? So if people wanna believe they're not gonna go up, they can believe they're not gonna go up, but it's gonna go up, and the rents of these businesses are going to go up tremendously. They're going up as it is. The property taxes are going up as it is, even without amendment number three. I know this. Okay, I know this for a fact because I'm in that business. Okay, thank you. Anyhow, so I would like to see maybe economic development. If you're all gonna insist on spend

THE BUDGET FOR COMMUNICATIONS IS $1 MILLION?

TO ME CODE IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN PARTIES. I would like to see maybe, and I did see that some things have gone down in the expenses and there's less events because of the DEI law, but I would like to see code getting a little bit more money than the parties getting. I mean, what's the point of having parties if our city's ugly? THAT'S IT.

QUICK QUESTION PRIOR TO GOING TO COMMISSIONER SMITH. ARE YOU REFERENCING THE SOUTH SIDE OF 163rd?

The county, I'm sorry, the city side. Only the city side. Right, it's the north side. But it would be great if the city and the county can get together.

Because we've always talked about that. How do we get that side, the county side to really.

We actually have an agreement. We have an agreement with the county on maintaining and code enforcement on the south side. The problem is we never enforced it.

Yes, we have an agreement that we do it. And where's that agreement?

In the third drawer on the second floor.

Okay, so we need to, I'd like to see it, right?

But there is an agreement where we agreed. We solicited the county to be able to take care of that because they weren't doing it.

Right, so now has that agreement been shelved or what?

It's never been implemented since I'm here and I've mentioned it, I would say at least 10 times.

Is the county paying us for this? I mean, we're going to be doing their work and-

and i'll tell you something moratorium or no moratorium the control of that 163rd street should be in our hands i have gone down to where the man made the arch for golden beach and would be a wonderful people getting off the interchange to see a beautiful arch coming into North Miami Beach. The problem is we don't own the south side for control. The problem is you can't just annex 167th, that's 167th over there, you have to annex 166th, the north part of it as well, because the whole block is considered the block facing 167th and the block behind it that's facing 166th. But it can be done. Unf

So, Mr. Manager, can we find that agreement and see what we've done in furthering that agreement? And if we haven't done anything, can we put a process in place to further that agreement? Because that conversation has been one for a while, as Commissioner Smith is saying. Absolutely. Can we... Okay. Right. So we, yeah.

Not if they don't know about it. It's been. They know about it. They both know.

Would a copy be in the clerk's office perhaps? Okay. Okay. So what we're going to do, Commissioner Smith, were you done or did you have?

No, I wanted to just ask a question. I'm thrilled that you're hiring for, when we're not hiring and it is a hiring freeze, that you are hiring for code compliance. Yes. Because if you don't have a beautiful city, who wants to spend time there? But looking at it, each new employee costs $125,000. That's what the difference was.

Well, we have to be mindful of that because like now the insurance is going up again, although we haven't discussed it, how we're going to handle that, who's paying. But we have to be mindful of it's not just the higher this year, it's what's going to be for the breadth projected as we go up with the budget. And that's an important thing. It really boils down to a lot of the departments to bringing in more revenue, to bringing in more businesses. It really does not just affect us for this year, but what's going to happen in years to come. Thank you.

Thank you, Commissioner. I'd like to see, have we taken a look at the compensation for, can you break down the positions that we have? In this department?

Okay, so for... Non-compliance officers, and I believe an administrative assistant. So for the manager and the supervisor position, have we taken a look at the compensation as compared to other municipalities?

Well, yes, we can, is the answer. I know we can. I guess what I'm asking... I was thinking about where to get the money from. Well, yeah, because the thing is, and I appreciate your... You're thinking about that because what I'm realizing with some of the requests that are happening to my colleagues, this is where we get it done. This is where we say we want this, we want that, or we don't want this and we don't want that. And then by budget hearing number two, all of that stuff should be line itemed, right? And so that we can vote on the budget that we desire, you know, with the with the mana

So with the other departments that you made adjustments to, how did you come to those conclusions? Were the pay ranges already established? Yes. Okay. Yes. So you went through each position and you looked at the pay ranges for those positions and made that accordingly? Correct. Okay. How long does it take to do a... A pay plan. For the entire organization?

classification and compensation study in the HR department. So, yeah, we did. And I think, I don't know if procurement had done an RFP, RFQ, but I remember that this was a citywide thing that was actually, because I was also advocating for this, seeing that we had, at the time, we had three underpaid directors, like Cherise being one of them, So that's why we have that allocated, and we really do want to see how we are underpaying our staff.

I'm vaguely recalling what you said, but I want to know if that's the same thing as the pay plan. Yes. Right? But we need to have that conversation, because we're talking about... specifically since we're on this particular department saying hey you know what let's why don't we take a look at what's happening on the miami-dade county side yes and i could only imagine they're saying oh my goodness you know more work right so it's either we give them more more manpower to handle that or we provide them with the resources necessary in order for them to be able to accomplish that and you know the

Yeah, I think it's called a compensation and classification study.

Yes. Yeah, that's in the- Could I just interject through the Vice Mayor? I've never voted on an increase in compensation without reaching out to the other 30 municipalities to find out, especially the ones that are the same size. I think that it needs to be done. But my question to you, Mr. Manager, I think it needs to be done. But my question to you is, then what? If you were going to vote for a budget now and we're going to reach out, where are we going to get the extra money? Because we don't compensate. like neighboring cities, we don't also have the income of the neighboring cities. So if

And I think Commissioner, thank you Commissioner Smith, I think Commissioner Smuckler wanted to say something, but prior to that, you wanted to speak? Oh, I saw your microphone.

Okay. I definitely understand where you're coming from, but like Commissioner Hsu said, we more than likely have allocated funds for this type of a study. And that was last year's budget, Commissioner Hsu? We have $65,000. But that was last year's budget, right? Correct. And it was for this current fiscal year, but none of that was used or was any of it used? None of it was used. So we have a whole fiscal year where one of the issues that we wanted to address, which was the equity in pay for our employees... was ignored, right? And so, and look, I understand, transition, a lot going on, right?

Right. So Greg already understands capsule form. Hamid has two departments, but that's about 60 plus pages. Yes, but my foot can reach his foot from under the table. OK. All right. All right. Because I'm looking at it and I look if I if I know Hamid. We all know him. He loves the numbers. So I'm looking forward to that presentation. Okay.

Thank you, thank you. I just wanna go to the events dates on page 56. So I just wanna state that the menorah lighting, this will be the last year that it's done because of the DEI law. Just wanted everybody to know. And also for Valentine's Day, didn't we charge last year? This year, we did it for free.

It was free for everybody or free for NMB residents?

Okay. I'd like it to be free for our residents and charge for non-residents because it's a nice event. Yes. It's a very, very nice event, and I think it should, yes, for our residents, 100% for free, but for non-residents, I'm not in agreement that this should be for free. And also the small business expo, can we not take that money out of economic development, Mr. Manager? The small business expo, can't that be paid from economic development?

I'd like to see that. I agree with that one. All right, thank you. All right, so there you have more or less a consensus. Yes, okay, yes. All right, and then how about charging non-residents for Valentine's Day?

Right. Okay, done. All right. And then I just want to, just for clarification purposes, for next year, the back to school, it's back to school slash national night out. Just for clarification. Sure. All right. Sure, Commissioner. That's it for right now. It was an amazing, an amazing. Same people. The national night out back to school.

Greg, you're doing a great job. You have all these employees from all the other departments. The best of the best. Would you please task someone to figure out how we can improve our communications. And I mean from answering the phone, to people getting a good experience, to all of us getting the same emails and having the same calendar and all those kinds of things.

So I am a little concerned about the DEI issue. I know Juneteenth is now a national holiday. Can you explore on that? Because I know Commissioner Smuckler just mentioned that the menorah lighting, this is going to be the last year due to the DEI bill. So I'm looking at Juneteenth as well.

I think because it's a federal holiday, it's a different story. Okay.

Thank you. So back to school, I thought some of that funds came under the money that's allocated for the women's group. I didn't know that there was separate money.

And the other question. We don't have any money allocated in the commission.

No, the commission says the woman has never had money allocated to them. This has always been the back to school, has been part of the commission of status of women, but it's allocated to the back to school national handout. We've never had any funds, ever.

There was always conversation that they got money and why wouldn't I?

That's North Miami. Their commission gets a lot of money. The North Miami commission of status of women has money.

And there goes back the thing about comparing it from city to city, because some cities are flush with money, and they can afford. The Health Walk and the Bike Walk, the Bike 305, we've always said $15,000, but when you go there, you literally see the same vendors You see the walk, you see hot dogs and hamburgers, and you see the shirts. What is the $15,000? What's that money for?

I'm talking about the Heart Walk and the Bike 305. Last year on both events.

Well, we have the police at everything. There's the snow fest, there's the manure lighting.

But those are on weekends, and so it's extra to have the police there.

If I may, let's direct the question to the staff. Within these figures, is staff included as far as parks and rec, police department, et cetera, or are these costs simply for vendors and items that may be needed for the event?

$25,000, I was at both events. Where's the money from?

Okay, so when you, oh, go ahead, I'm sorry.

so okay how about we do this okay um the uh commissioner sue had a question so let's go to her you guys can figure that question out and if you get the answer by the time she's done you can come back or you have it now thank you do you have the answer now i would like to know how much the juneteenth breakfast cost also Let's, okay guys, so we're gonna allow the ACM to answer the first question about are these numbers all encompassing or is there a breakdown?

Should be. OK. You don't have the details as of this moment?

okay so i'm sorry commissioner smith to the best of my knowledge and all the events that i've ever been involved in in the commission status or multicultural i know we always don't spend it all because we leave money for staff and police department okay thank you for that insight commissioner sue

Thank you, Mr. Vice Mayor. I was wondering if maybe Commissioner Smuckler and Commissioner Chernoff would entertain an idea of combining Bike 305 and the Heart Health Walk?

I mean, I get what you're saying, and I think it's a great idea, except Heart Health Walk is February, because that's Heart Health Month, and Bike 305 is always in March, because that's Bike 305 month.

Yeah, it's a whole county initiative as well.

Yeah. Your idea is great, but it... No, because I love how you combine the backpack and the National Night Out, right? And I think we get more people to come and participate, and then it also costs the city less. I think I don't know...

Except that when you do the heart and the bike, there are a lot of the same people. Yeah, and plus you really can't have bikers... No, because you can't do both the same event. If we combine it, they can't...

ride the bike and they're not going to walk for three and a half miles and ride a bike like like my husband likes to bike and then he'll bring the bike to the the heart health walk and then everybody gives him the look because he's biking during the walk and you know you're you're kind of like biking in the middle of a walk and you can't you really can have it's not conducive to have bikers and walkers at the same well why don't we just do a triathlon so they start off walking and then they jump on the bike right okay we can swim in the canal it

And actually, the last two years, we've included in the walk, we've had racers, a 5K. Right. So we'll start off with the 5K, and they'll be running. And then a few minutes later, we'll do the walkers.

Right, which I do remember this year. And it's a great idea, Commissioner Hsu. I think that it's just the timing. Mm-hmm. with the county doing, with Heart Walk being very specific. And I know that we talked about raising funds specific to Heart Walk to help the organization get a higher contribution from the city. And I think the county and all the initiatives around 305 is for that specific time. I think how we maximize participation, like you're saying, is we really need to depend on our team to have partnerships to find people who are bikers and to, well, not bikers, because when I say bik

Yeah, we reached out to, right, so we reached out to runners and got them involved in the part of the 5K.

Right, and I think also when you go to Brickell, I think they have a run club that runs every week and it's a massive couple of hundred people that are running through downtown. And then I think every year there's a huge cycling event that goes through downtown and through the through the MacArthur Causeway. So we really need to kind of make those connections and leverage as well. And you're the right person for that.

Yeah. And also in the heart health walk, you know, we have speakers come on heart health. You know, we have Dr. Powell come every year and she speaks and so we focus on heart health and the Bike 305 focuses more on bike safety.

Okay. I wanted to mention about Juneteenth that the breakfast was beautiful. Beautifully done. They had people from different faiths come and give prayer. They had singers. They had poets. They had a magnificent breakfast. And I didn't know that that was around a $20,000 cost.

Thank you, Commissioner Smith. I think when it comes to the numbers, if we can just have an opportunity to hear the ACM, and then we're going to close it out and go to our next.

I have one more question, Vice Mayor, before you move on. If it's budgeted for 15,000 and you only use 10, do you give extra gifts to use up your 15 or do you move that 5,000 to another event?

Thank you. Vice Mayor, I wasn't finished. You weren't? Yeah, no, I have one more thing just to update Director Williams here. September 10th, we're not having the state attorney workshop. I'm combining all of our partners in the county, whether it be the state attorney's office, the supervisor of elections. to join us in our Monster Mash Bash, to have tables in those events to serve and answer questions to the public. So there's not gonna be a separate, I don't want staff to have to work extra for that. So we're just going to combine them and have them have a table at all of our major events,

fine we can do that so september 10th is not uh it's not happening yeah we'll make a note of that uh commissioner and then we're gonna we're gonna end with uh commissioner uh smuggler did you have something yeah i did want to say if if we were able to do i don't know why i put on my calendar the juneteenth breakfast on june 20th i don't know why i did that so i missed it but um if if we can maybe take since we can do the breakfast and as commissioner smith said that it was amazing maybe we can take some of that money and put it towards the the stars and splash um because that that was like ama

the, the Juneteenth experience from what it, from what I've seen it, the potential of that, of that experience. Um, although we did get a, the breakfast was good. Right. I'm not denying that, but what I know the experience was and can be, um, I don't think we need, I don't think we should be using the breakfast as, as the new model, um, for how much money we should spend on Juneteenth.

Right. So. So. So. So. And I appreciate your statement. Go ahead, ACM.

Thank you. And so you mentioned the Stars and Stripes. I agree with you. I'm just thinking it shouldn't come from Juneteenth. No, that's fine. That's fine. In addition to that, I just wanted to just... the charge for non-residents for certain events, I think the opportunity cost You guys can let us know what it is, but depending on the event, I don't think it's worth it, right? Depending on the event. If it's a large-scale event, maybe the opportunity cost is worth it. But if you were talking about Valentine's Day?

But something like Valentine's Day where a lot of seniors participate, you know, seniors are on fixed incomes, et cetera, that might not be an event where you want to charge non-residents because your numbers may drop as far as participation. So go ahead, ACM.

THAT'S WHAT I THOUGHT. FOR NON-RESIDENTS.

BOTH CATEGORIES GOT CHARGED. AND WE HAD A FULL HOUSE? OKAY. ALL RIGHT. I ASKED FOR THE NUMBERS. YOU GAVE ME THE NUMBERS. Pardon me? Thank you, Mr. Attorney, for chiming in. All right, we're going to land a plane on it.

Thank you so much. Last thing. I remember back when I first moved here, we had newsletters. It's coming. Okay, so this is already included in this whole budget and the staffing?

We used to have every thing and then we could send them out to residents so they are aware.

OK, well, that's greatly appreciated. We also have a radio station, or a radio channel. And all you ever hear on that is what, the traffic? So there may be something that we can do there as well. We have an opportunity there, too. making a note we got you all right 77 needs to be updated if we can meet with each commissioner and just get get a get a a thought from them you know but when it comes to this department i've seen so many iterations of it right um and um i'm not sure if you were part of one iteration at a certain point earlier on but you know i i the the point i'm making it's a it's

So you can grab some things from a previous communications director that did something right. Yeah. That you want to implement and you can add your own flair to it. So I think there's there's just so much that we've done over the years that you can look at and just perfect as well. Last thing, Instagram. should not, to me at least, be a place for flyers, right? So when you're looking at that grid on our Instagram page a couple of years ago, it was that. It was flyer after flyer after flyer after flyer. And if you're looking at other cities, they're showing the experience, right? So when I'm lo

The plane has already landed, but we're taxiing on the runway.

We're going to get to the gate. During the celebration on Saturday, it was beautiful. It was a great thing. But one thing that we knew to do at the auditorium and find out how much it would cost is we need screens on the stage so that our row can see.

We couldn't see... Oh, yeah, when you're in the center, when you're sitting in the center, it's hard to see the side...

Okay, and also, Commissioner Smith, just so you'll know, the Heart Health Walk, The Heart Health Walk for next year is gonna be taken over by Parks and Rec, so communication. Communication. By communication. We do all events. Right, it's no longer gonna be part of the Commission of Status of Woman because of the DEI law that most likely the Commission of Status of Woman will be, that committee will be eliminated.

All right, thank you, communications. All right. So we're going to public works and water utility, right? Yes. Okay, so having said that, I want to just ask my colleagues, are we able to provide a time certain for the presentation? Are we good with 15 minutes for the full synopsis of both of those questions? Okay, so Commissioner Smith is good. Are you good with that, Commissioner Smuckler? Are you good, Commissioner Chernoff? No, we're going to give him 15 minutes. We're going to allow him to present. It's too much for 15 minutes.

Do we still have a person that is on our side, is from us, that rides?

So Aventura Mall has 13%. How's Aventura Mall paying? North Miami Beach resident tax dollars is still paying for Aventura Mall's cost?

The one thing is there are people that don't want to wait, even though we're changing their wait time, they want to even wait less. And so we could do that if we kept it within the tax dollars within the city.

This is fine. Yes. We're going to the next one.

All righty. Thank you so much. That's the that was the Public works. All right. So guys we're going it's 932 The goal is 10 o'clock. All right to be complete with the with the workshop. Sure All right, so we're going to take about 10 minutes on questions from everyone so by 942 we'll move on to the next half and And Commissioner Chernoff, do you have anything?

The only question I have is that the street crew, that's under you, right?

Okay, so ideally a city our size with the services that we provide, what is the ideal number of employees for the Public Works Department?

Okay. Next question is, now that the routes, the percentage of rides that go to NMB high school and Aventura Mall are exceeding 30%, which is outside the city, right?

Do we have any details on the high school, like the kids that come? I assert that they're using this instead in lieu of a school bus, right?

If you have staff that's riding in those cars and auditing the numbers?

I was just thinking, like, perhaps maybe we could talk to the school board and see if we could get, you know, proper school buses for their kids' safety.

I still have some more. What's that? Oh, okay, go ahead.

On the freebie and the Aventura thing, can we talk to freebie and maybe freebie give us a credit for all the people that go over? Because Aventura won't give us money, so maybe freebie give us the money.

Now my understanding is like that three-year FDOT grant is expired. What happened was we got the first year and then we forgot to reapply for the second-year grant. Is that accurate? And then in the third year we applied and we got it.

I was saying like the second year I believe we didn't apply.

And if we apply again for that, that means we need to get more freebies in order to qualify for that grant. Is that correct?

Did you? Oh, I thought he wanted to answer your question.

Oh, he doesn't. You can go. Great. I'm looking at page 73, and I'm seeing PO balance outstanding of 20.9 million. Can you? Which page am I on? 73. Okay. Oops.

OK, now, great job on the savings for $1.3 million. Thank you very much. Building department transfers. Page 80, solid waste $50,000 for the proposed year for capital.

Okay, meaning possibility to eliminate or possibility to?

Okay, all right. And then, yeah, I circled the 600,000 FDOT grant. I think it's going to end. So that means that, you know, that means now the matching has ended. We have to inject another 600 to keep the freebie. Okay. Yeah, I'm a little confused about the CITT. I always had it that we get from the CITT like a lot more than that.

I always hear that it's like 3.2 or 3.4.

Okay, Commissioner Hsu, I'm going to just... Okay, because I want to make sure that Commissioner Smith gets an opportunity. All right. So I definitely appreciate your insight. Commissioner Smith.

Does anybody follow the ridership? Not what's told by the company, but what is an actuality of the trolley?

When they do the rate study for what people should be paid, The people that do all the work in the field, that should be the first one we study and see how much other cities pay them. I like our money spent where the public can see it, where they can see the road improvement, the sidewalk improvement, the infrastructures that need to be done. They actually see it. And I think we're really lacking on that. The city looks worse every year instead of better. I get more complaints about broken sidewalks. And I think that that should be a priority with the money. I also feel very strongly that we h

Thank you, Commissioner Smith. I know Commissioner Seuss stepped away. I don't know if she had another... She said she was done. She was done? Okay. So we're going to move on to the utilities. Right? All right. So the time is 944. So you think you can, 10 minutes? Yes, sir. Oh, 10 minutes. All right. Well, you said that you can do this in 15. We've already been asked. The question exceeded 10 minutes.

But I mean, obviously we want to make sure you go through the full presentation as intended with consideration to the time because the information is important. I appreciate that. So you can proceed.

Thank you so much, Commissioner Chernoff.

Good evening. Wonderful presentation. Thank you. Keep up the good work. You know, we can't pat you on the back. It's his job. But we're going to pat you on the back tonight. The numbers are fantastic. You know, you took over about two years ago. the water department, and since then, it's been nothing but positive, so congratulations. We thought that the other person was doing great, you're doing better. Okay, and we appreciate that. Mr. Manager, to that point, he's now managing two departments, please look into whether he's being compensated properly. Yes, we have. All right, please look at it again. Thank you.

Thank you so much. But while we're looking at making sure that he's compensated adequately, I know the goal is eventually to lessen his burden so that he can focus on the water utility, right? Okay, so we're going to go out of order, Commissioner Suge. Let's go to Commissioner Smith. And then we'll go to you. And then we'll go to Commissioner Smuckler, and we will conclude with the manager closing remarks.

I, too, want to thank you. The good news is the public sees it, too, so that's wonderful when you're a commissioner, to getting nice phone calls instead of aggravation and complaints. My question is about the money. Isn't the deadline over that if they did not spend the $9 million that we had put aside for Miami Gardens, is that deadline over and how much money did we get back?

No, that was the money that we had to pay them back.

Okay, so if that's not in your office, then let me go to another question. In reference to the fact that we have a difference of income from the water plant, What are we going to do to compensate that? Is there a plan in place without penalizing the North Miami Beach residents to raise their water rate to compensate? Do we have a plan B to compensate for the deficit we're getting in the water plant income?

That was the problem. Every time I hear that, I get a little crazy. So if that's the case, I'll take my question off the table. I'll answer. OK, because we need to have a separate fund and shouldn't be going into the general fund. It should be going into a fund, which I've been saying for a year. And maybe we wouldn't be in all this mess. Yes, Mr. Man.

But there was a deadline. You're saying they're accepting more.

There was a date certain deadline. There was a date. Yes, ma'am.

I just wanna follow up one quick thing. The problem is the cost for the utility keeps going up. The chemicals go up. The maintenance is old. Some of our equipment is old and needs replacement. But the one thing we have to do, unfortunately, is look not, not... to raise the cost of water to the public. They are choking. They are choking. So this presentation, utilities is a, I was on the PUC for years. It's really a very unique field because it's a lot of numbers, it's a lot of understanding. But the basic line is how much does it cost the residents? Thank you, Commissioner.

And that the water plan stays A number one. That can never go less than A above number one.

Thank you, Commissioner Smith. We're going to go to Commissioner Sue.

Thank you. I have a question about the Enterprise Fund 420, 430, and 460, which is a fire flow. So you've got adopted from 2026, 7.1, but then I think you proposed this because of the grants that we received. I'm looking at page 110, by the way.

Okay, great. And then there's, on the next page, there's water penalties. Can you explain water penalties real quick?

Okay, excellent. The other question is, are we targeting 25% reserve?

No, I know. That's what I'm saying. Are we going to keep it a standard, the minimum we're going to do?

Well, I think with commissioners adopted 20, right?

No, I love the 25. I'm just giving you a thumbs up on that one. I really noticed the difference that you've been making in not just the utilities, but also public works. I think per our charter, these two departments were actually one. It's called public service. And I don't know if the manager would consider just combining these two departments so that we could have... He's shaking his head.

Well, I mean, and so, like, if we do do one of those, you know, those studies for the compensation, I would love to see, I would hate to lose him to a neighboring water department somewhere else, and I really like to keep Hamid here and make NMB Water World.

I'm just echoing what commissioner Chernoff said just now.

So I appreciate it. I'm part of the team. Thank you so much. Commissioner Sue, commissioner Smukler.

All right, thank you. Well, obviously, I believe we are all fans of yours, and you're doing a great job wearing the two hats. And Commissioner Hsu, with your idea, the only concern I would have with your idea is that maybe in the future, when he decides to write off into the wild blue yonder, that we may have problem finding someone who can do both jobs. He can wear the two hats and get paid for it, of course, if he chooses to. That's the most important part, if he chooses to. So thank you so much for your service. So I have two questions. So that old, old balance that we've had for like 20 ye

Okay, and what about the residential accounts that were passed through from many years ago?

Right, so I believe Mario had already spoken to a firm and... About this. I think it was a collections firm.

All right, but they're working on it. I mean, they're actively working on it.

Yeah. Is it actually, what's the update on that? Do you have it?

So, Mr. Manager, if I may, I know that the commission, I think, voted on this particular item, if I'm not mistaken, right? So with respect to the fact that it was a commission directive, I don't know how that plays into your ability to be able to... IT DOESN'T IMPACT IT AT ALL.

OKAY. AND ALSO THE OTHER QUESTION, NOT QUESTION, BUT I BELIEVE THE CONTRACT WAS ONE WHERE IT WAS BASED ON THE PERFORMANCE. IT WASN'T A, THERE WASN'T A Certain fee if I'm if I'm not mistaken, but if you that's correct, right? Okay, so the attorneys That's what I'm saying. There was not a there was not a fee.

I thought Mario had contracted done in law and No?

Okay, Mr. Attorney, here's what we'll do with respect to that. The point, I guess, Commissioner Smuggler's making is that we need to work on this issue, right? It's a very important issue. There seems to be some gaps in what the actual facts are pertaining to this second firm, right? So staff can get together, figure out whether we voted on that or not. and what's going on with that particular contract, right? And if there's an update at a certain time, we can provide that update. Is that okay, Mr. Manager?

I said that there was a, whatever discussion that they're having relative to that previous contract or proposal, If you guys want to just get clarity on that, because Commissioner Smuckler may want that response, to provide that to her. You know, whatever you're doing, you know, within your abilities as a city manager for this particular issue and further and stuff. Yes of what the request is is you know I'm not going to do that I'm not in the fair with that this all right so commissioners but are you done no one more question thank you.

So you mentioned that you've got for Eastern shores you have gotten a $50,000 yes 57,000 if I'm not mistaken the exact number and that was for the

All right, well, the puddling is still there, just saying, but all right, thank you.

And in that survey, they also found that there is one house that, they did the driveway over the drain.

On Longstreet, yeah. All right, thank you.

Yes, thank you, Commissioner Smuckler. All right, so I believe everyone has gotten an opportunity to speak on this particular presentation. And I appreciate everyone's insight. I wish we had more time to... to allow everyone 10 questions. But you know, this is a workshop and half an hour. Yeah, we're just really trying to manage the time. So with respect to everyone here, hopefully, I've been doing a good job of helping out with that. All right. Thank you so much. Now, Mr. Manager, I know you had something you were going to say about the collections, and perhaps you were cut off. I don't know

OKAY, VERY WELL. SO THANK YOU SO MUCH, HAMID, MR. DIRECTOR. AND WHAT WE'RE GOING TO DO, WE'RE GOING TO GO AHEAD AND HAVE CLOSING REMARKS FROM THE CITY MANAGER. AND THEN FROM THERE, I'M JUST GOING TO SAY, YOU KNOW, I KNOW WE'RE ALREADY OFF TO THE RACES, BUT GUYS, EVERY IDEA, EVERY THOUGHT, I think after this, we have to have these one-on-ones. Yes. So that we can solidify how we're gonna get these dollars for whatever initiatives or whatever items we wanna see come to fruition with your office, we can do that exercise.

Thank you so much Mr. Manager for the synopsis. Second. We already have a motion to adjourn. But before we do that, I know that there is the conversation about the city clerk and her compensation. Yes. I see that there's an addendum here in the package, but you mentioned that you would be bringing that back or you wanted to discuss that now.

Yes, so that you can provide. Okay. You can't vote on it. Okay. Right. So having said that, typically when we talk about the city clerk's compensation, she usually comes before us with a contract, and then we go back and forth, and then we come to a conclusion. So we're kind of doing it a little different this time around. Okay.

Your contract is not up. No, it's not. So it's just to change the compensation. It's not to renew the contract.

Right. But I'm saying that's usually when that conversation about compensation comes up. So whether or not I don't want us to have to do the exercise up here, but if we can have that conversation individually with the charter officer, city clerk, and the management team, so that way everyone can have an idea of where they're at. So when we come up here, we're not really having to do the dance.

So we're going to do that at a budget hearing or at a commission meeting?

Well, it would have to be where we can vote. And the budget hearing, I'm assuming, would be the best place to do it since this is the reason why it's coming up because we're in budget season.

Is there more information other than what... Thank you. Is there more information other than what each city's paying? In other words, are they entitlement city? How many residents do they have? Et cetera, et cetera.

Yeah, like years of experience and work as well.

Yeah, like how many years have they served and things like that.

And also I'd like to know... From the other four cities.

Right. Okay, all right. I'd also like to know if their election is with the county or they have an election that the clerk has to run because that's another whole job the clerk does.

Well, North Miami Beach has, I mean, North Miami has their own, and so does Miami Gardens. No, no, Miami Gardens does it in August. Oh, it changed November, that's right. No, they're all at the same time.

Okay, so we'll have those discussions with our charter officer, Andres Bernard. And also the benefits. And also the city manager. So we'll go over those things.

And what is your current salary? I would like to know. I think it's 135. Is it more?

So we want to know what benefits, their years.

Yeah, I don't think when it comes to years of service, I don't think anybody's going to compare to Andrea. She's been here for decades. 30 years. So no one's going to be able to compare to that. But guys, here's what we're going to do. Here's what we're going to do. We're going to speak to the city clerk and the city manager and ask all those questions. So any final thoughts, Commissioner Chernoff? Any final thoughts? Okay. Any final thoughts? Any final thoughts? All right. Have a good night, everyone.