City Council - Regular Meeting

Good afternoon and welcome to the September 14th, 2026 meeting of the Orlando City Council. We're going to begin today's proceedings with the invocation and the pledge led today by Commissioner Bakari Burns.

All right. Thank you, Mayor. And if you're so inclined, please bow your heads and join me in a word of prayer. Gracious God, we come before you this day with humble and grateful hearts. We pause first to remember 25 years ago on a clear September morning, our nation was struck by tragedy and thousands of lives were taken from families who still carry that loss today. We ask your continued comfort for those families and we ask that the memory of the fallen never fade from our country's conscience and that we never forget. We lift up those who ran toward the danger that day, the firefighters, th

Okay, Madam Clerk, we're going to call the meeting to order. Would you call the roll and make the termination of a quorum, please?

Okay, first order of business is the minutes from August 10th, 2026 City Council and agenda review and workshop meetings. Motion by Commissioner Ortiz. Second. Second by Commissioner Chapin. All in favor indicate so by saying aye. Aye. Those opposed? And so the motion carries. That brings us to awards and presentations. First up is Hispanic Heritage Month, September 15th through October 15th is Hispanic Heritage Month. And it gives us, our community, the opportunity to celebrate the rich heritage and cultures and contributions of Hispanic Americans to our nation, state, and city. And as we kic

Okay, and I have a proclamation that I would like to read. Whereas the city of Orlando joins in the national recognition of Hispanic Heritage Month to showcase the contributions and accomplishments of Hispanic Americans. And whereas Hispanic Americans have made a lasting impact on the United States, helping make our nation, state, region, and community stronger. And whereas in Orlando, Hispanic Americans represent numerous and distinct cultures, shaping our community in a vibrant and welcoming way. And whereas this year's National Hispanic Heritage Month theme is Together We Are More, which hi

Okay, I have a couple additional general items. So I would also like to invite the community and especially those who have served in the armed services to our Veterans Advisory Council's POW MII recognition ceremony, which is this coming Friday on September 18th at 1030, the Dr. Phillips Performing Arts Center. It's an annual event that honors our country's prisoners of war and their families. It's a very moving tribute, and if you haven't been to one of these, I would encourage you to come on out on Friday, and there's more information at orlando.gov. And just two or three things on the conse

All right. Thank you, Mary. And good afternoon, fellow commissioners and everyone in attendance. First, I'd like to say thank you to OPD and OFD for the excellent manner in which you all held the 9-11 remembrance ceremonies. But also thank you for what you do to keep us safe right here in our great city day in and day out. Also, this past weekend, I joined the Carver Shores Neighborhood Association and Neighborhood Watch for their prayer breakfast and national night kickoff at Poppy Park. It was a wonderful morning of prayer, fellowship, conversations as residents came together to pray for our

Thank you, Commissioner. Commissioner Keene.

Good afternoon, Mayor. Thank you very much. Over the past several weeks, been another busy stretch here in District 1. I want to take a moment to highlight some of the work that's been happening across the community. I had a chance to get behind the scenes and look at some infrastructure that keeps our region moving. I toured the FAA airport tower at Orlando International with GOA, as well as a waste management construction recycling facility. I Bet you can figure out which one I enjoyed more. So much of what makes Orlando work happens behind the scenes, and I appreciate the professionals who

Thank you, Commissioner. Commissioner Ortiz.

With all that being said, I don't think I want to say anything else. Just kidding. Well Mayor, on August 11th, I welcome a new group of residents for the next session of the Government Academy. Another group of people wanting to learn more about government, especially in this day and age when there's so much controversy, so much ambivalence and most people don't understand what in the world is going on anyway from the federal government to the state government. Let's leave the local government aside from that. We're the ones who know what's going on. On August 14th, I joined Mayor Dyer, my fel

THANK YOU, COMMISSIONER. COMMISSIONER CHAPIN. THANK YOU, MAYOR. THANK YOU, COMMISSIONERS. THANK YOU TO THE RESIDENTS WHO ARE HERE TODAY AND LISTENING ONLINE. I also enjoyed attending this 2026 State of the City. It was a fantastic spotlight on all the work happening across our city and a well-deserved acknowledgement of the staff who make it happen. It was a great love letter to our city employees and I love seeing their interaction. I enjoyed a tour of the Leonard and Marjorie Williams Family YMCA. Thank them for hosting me on a tour. It's a truly impressive facility and offers opportunities

Friday marked 25 years since September 11th terrorist attacks. that changed our nation forever. I was fortunate to attend the Central Florida Hotel Lodging Association Patriots Day Remembrance Breakfast. I had an opportunity to attend the Orlando Police Department Memorial Ceremony. Thank you, Chief Eric Smith and guest speaker Clint Bruce. Orlando Fire Department also hosted a beautiful and powerful ceremony that evening. Thank you, Chief Teamer, for hosting us. That day reflected the collective compassion we saw in the aftermath of the attacks. I'm grateful to everyone who helped create thes

Okay. Thank you, Commissioner. Commissioner Sheehan.

Thank you, Mayor Dyer. And Jokita, are we ready to go? Maybe? I know this is a little unusual, y'all, but Jokita Johnson is an amazing artist. I got to meet and know Jokita. We took a stained glass class together. And she has taken it to a whole other level. She was one of the featured artists in downtown when United Arts did their downtown artist series, which was wonderful. Joaquita's story is absolutely inspirational. She is a person who has had tremendous personal difficulty, but has turned it into beauty. And she's one of the most inspirational and positive people I know. And it's my plea

Thank you so much, Tokita. And she also did some work over at one of our parks as well in Colonial Town. And I just think that public art is so very, very important. And a lot of times what we don't think about is people who don't have access to museums, people who don't have the ability to go to them. Public art is for everyone. And so I just wanted to thank Joquita so much for her great artwork. Again, I'm so sorry that the videos didn't show.

But we hear so much negativity. She looks so beautiful.

Thank you so much, Chiquita. I'd like to take a moment to recognize a very important person in Orlando that I would walk by frequently every time I'd go downtown. Milton McKnight passed away. And he was actually a beautiful, I call him a fixture in downtown Orlando because Milton suffered from cystic fibrosis. He was in a wheelchair. The whole time I've known him, he's either been selling flowers or giving people a smile in downtown Orlando. And Milton never begged. Milton wanted to give somebody something for what he was getting. It didn't matter how sick Milton was. It didn't matter how bad

everyone in the audience, mayor, commissioners. It's been a busy few weeks here in District 5, serving, celebrating, and connecting with our community. I've been to a lot of the events with my colleagues. I'm not going to repeat them all. I did want to highlight a few events and activities. I joined Light Orlando for their fourth annual Hunger Project, where we worked hard to pack one million meals for families in need. If you're looking for a way to get involved, check out Volunteer Opportunities with Light Orlando. Kidney health is really important in our community, and I want to thank our l

and downtown will be important so part of their app and their programming is to tell about the businesses here in downtown and i move to approve the agenda mayor dyer second motion by commissioner rose second by commissioner burns all in favor indicate so by saying aye aye those opposed and so the motion carries and if you are just here for your item that was on the consent agenda now would be a good time while we take a 30-second break to leave the chamber Yeah. I'll tell you afterwards. Okay, if there's no objection, I'm going to go out of order and take item 9B under hearings, which is the

MOTION JUST A SECOND. MOTION BY COMMISSIONER ROSE. SECOND. SECOND BY COMMISSIONER CHAPIN. COMMISSIONER ROSE AND COMMISSIONER SHEIN.

So I'd like to say this. We have sat down and did a CRA vision plan since 2014 in the CRA. It's really sad that we have voted on projects throughout the years and we get to a voting part when no one thought while we were planning out these projects and developments and staff work hard to bring every elected individual up here's visions into reality. that we get to a point that facade funds have not been allocated, that we get to a point where we don't want to support an agenda and we don't want to support a fiscal budget within the department. That is unfair for the hard work that staff and Da

Well, I'm not trying to diminish anyone. I'm just saying there's a concern that was brought up by my historic neighborhood association folks over the weekend because they had a chance to review the budget and saw that it was not funded. To say that this process is so transparent is kind of ridiculous since I just found out that right before a meeting, a little less than a week's notice, that we are doing away with the downtown historic district so i mean to say that there's this huge amount of transparency is ridiculous i've been on this council more than longer than anyone else i've never see

Commissioner, you have to take briefings to get information. OK, discussion? Hearing none, all in favor of the motion, indicate so by saying aye.

Motion by Commissioner Rose. Second. Second by Commissioner Chapin. Questions or discussion? Hearing none, all in favor of the motion indicate so by saying aye. Aye. Those opposed? Motion carries. 4F.

Motion by Commissioner Rose. Second by Commissioner Chapin. Discussion? Questions? Hearing none, all in favor of the motion, indicate so by saying aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. 4G.

Motion by Commissioner Rose, second by Commissioner Chapin. Questions or discussion? Hearing none, all in favor of the motion indicate so by saying aye. Aye. Those opposed, motion carries. OK, 4H.

Do you want to take a motion on that, Commissioner Burns?

LET'S GO AHEAD AND GET THE MOTION BEFORE US, COMMISSIONER. SUMMER. SECOND. MOTION BY COMMISSIONER ROSE, SECOND BY COMMISSIONER CHAPIN. COMMISSIONER BURNS.

UH YES THANK YOU MAYOR UH AS YOU'RE AWARE FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS I'VE SERVED AS THE PRESIDENT CEO OF THE HEALTHCARE CENTER FOR THE HOMELESS I HAVE FILED FORM 8B MEMORANDUM OF VOTING CONFLICT WITH THE CITY CLERK AND WILL BE ABSTANDING FROM VOTING ON THIS ITEM THE ARRANGEMENT TO SUPPORT AND FUND OUTREACH PROGRAMS TO ASSIST PERSONS IN REGAINING SELF-SUFFICIENCY AND MINIMIZING THE IMPACTS OF HOMELESSNESS ON RESIDENTS

BUSINESSES WITHIN THE WITHIN THE AIR PREDATES MY TIME ON THE COUNCIL AND NONE OF THESE RESOURCES GO TOWARDS MY COMPENSATION THANK YOU COMMISSIONER THE FURTHER DISCUSSION HEARING NONE ALL IN FAVOR THE MOTION INDICATES SO BY SAYING AYE AYE IT WAS OPPOSED SO THE MOTION CARRIES NOTING COMMISSIONER BURTON'S ABSTENTION FROM THE VOTE FOR AYE

Motion by Commissioner Rose, second by Commissioner Chapin. That's a great report. I had thought about a lot of seniors probably don't know how to access something digitally.

All in favor of the motion, indicate so by saying aye. Aye. Those opposed, motion carries. Okay, and 4J.

Motion by Commissioner Rhodes, second by Commissioner Chapin. Discussion? Hearing none, all in favor of the motion, indicate so by saying aye. Aye. Those opposed? So the motion carries. OK, any further business to come before the CRA DDB? Then we will stand adjourned, and we will convene the Neighborhood Improvement District.

Questions? Is there a motion? Second. Motion by Commissioner Sheehan, second by Commissioner Burns. Discussion? Hearing none, all in favor of the motion, indicate so by saying aye. Aye. Those opposed, motion carries. All right, 5B.

Motion by Commissioner Chapin, second by Commissioner Ortiz.

Okay, let the record reflect the motion was made by the District 4 Commissioner and seconded by the District 3 Commissioner. Discussion? Hearing none, all in favor of the motion indicate so by saying aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. Okay, and the last I can take, which are meeting minutes from June the 10th. Motion. Motion by Commissioner Sheehan, second by Commissioner Chapin. All in favor indicate so by saying aye. Aye. Those opposed, motion carries. Any further business come before the NID?

Okay, thank you. Then we will stand adjourned and we will, without objection, reconvene the City Council meeting. And that brings us to... Item 9A, which is a hearing on the 2025-26 Red Light Camera Annual Summary Report. I'll now open the public hearing regarding the City of Orlando's Red Light Camera Summary Report for fiscal year 2025-26 as required by Florida Statute 316.0083. 26th red light camera summary report has been submitted to the Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. And this hearing is informational with no city action. At this time, I will call on our Orlando Stops Traffic

Commissioner Sheehan, Commissioner Ortiz.

Ray, it says that the portion that goes to the state of Florida goes to the Department of Revenue. That just goes to their general revenue fund, they get to use it for whatever they want to? Yes, absolutely. Wow, it would be nice if they use more for trauma centers and yeah. Yeah. Things that's really necessary as opposed to just taking most of the money off the top and using it basically for whatever they want to. When we have to pay for most of the operations and we only get less than half a million dollars to actually spend on our traffic safety programs and everything like that. And I reme

THANK YOU FOR THE GREAT JOB YOU THANK YOU FOR THE GREAT JOB YOU THANK YOU FOR THE GREAT JOB YOU GUYS ARE DOING. GUYS ARE DOING. GUYS ARE DOING. I KNOW IT'S NOT AN EASY TASK. I KNOW IT'S NOT AN EASY TASK. I KNOW IT'S NOT AN EASY TASK. I THINK I HEARD YOU EXPLAINING I THINK I HEARD YOU EXPLAINING I THINK I HEARD YOU EXPLAINING THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THOSE they decided that they found themselves to be wrong. But there's 18 of them missing. Should we put another classification for those that they are self-incriminated and decide to, so we know that everything accounts for? That's one question. The

I understand that and that's fine but for accountability it says issued as uniform traffic citation regardless if they paying them or paying them late or not those are issues so that's I get that that's that number there and then there's notices of violation paid So you're telling me that the other $1,548 have not been paid yet, is that what you're saying?

So we should have another line that says outstanding? Maybe that way. Outstanding violation, notices of violation.

Okay. I'm not going to make it any more complicated. I appreciate it. Thank you, boss. Appreciate it. You're welcome.

Madam Clerk, you ready to get ordinances? Yes. Okay, let's move to hearings. Ordinance is on second reading, 12A.

Motion by Commissioner Rose, second by Commissioner Burns. I do not have any requests from the public to speak on this matter. Is there a discussion among commissioners? Hearing none, all in favor of the motion, indicate so by saying aye. Aye. Those opposed? And so the motion carries. 12B, please.

Motion by Commissioner Keene. Second. Second by Commissioner Chapin. I do not have any requests for public input, discussion. Hearing none, all in favor of the motion indicate so by saying aye. Aye. Those opposed? And so the motion carries. 12c.

Motion by Commissioner Rose. Second. Second by Commissioner Chapin. Again, I have no request for public comment, discussion. Hearing none, all in favor of the motion, indicate so by saying aye. Aye. Those opposed, motion carries. OK, 12D.

Motion by Commissioner Chapin. Who had the second? Commissioner Rose? Commissioner Sheehan? Motion second by Commissioner Sheehan. Again, I have no request for public input. Discussion? Hearing none, all in favor of the motion indicate so by saying aye. Aye. Those opposed? And so the motion carries. Okay, ordinances on first reading 13A.

Motion by Commissioner Ortiz, second by Commissioner Sheehan. Corey, we know the economy is getting better when the roll-off franchises come out, so good job. All in favor of the motion indicate so by saying aye. Aye. Those opposed, motion carries. OK, Ed, can you get us ready for general appearance?