City Council - Regular Meeting

At this time, we'll call to order the September 16th, 2026 meeting of the Clearwater City Council. If you wish to address the council tonight, please complete a comment card. Comment cards are located by the clerk seated to the right of the dais. When called to speak, please hand your card to the clerk. We may have some folks tonight who have not spoken before at a public meeting. At this meeting, I just wanted to remind all those present of our council rules of conduct for our council meetings. Rule 15 says that any comments that the public wants to make tonight, when you have your opportunit

Before we go further in tonight's agenda, I'd like to introduce our dais. To my far left is our Deputy City Clerk, Nicole Sprague. Good evening. To her right, our City Clerk, Rosemary Cole. To her right, our City Attorney, Owen Kohler. To his right, Council Member Lena Teixeira. To her right, my immediate left, is our Vice Mayor Ryan Cotton. To my right is Council Member Mike Menino. To his right, Council Member David Allbritton. To his right, our City Manager Jennifer Poirier. To her right, Assistant City Manager Dan Slaughter. And to his right, Assistant City Manager Al Battle. With that, we'll move to item 4.1.

Approach the podium, please. Whereas September 17th, 2026 marks the 239th anniversary of the drafting of the Constitution of the United States of America. And whereas Public Law 915 guarantees the issuing of a proclamation each year by the President of the United States of America designating September 17th through the 23rd as Constitution Week. And whereas it is appropriate and proper to recognize the significance of this document upon its anniversary with patriotic celebrations and readings, and whereas all citizens should not only appreciate but also preserve and defend the principles of Am

I missed you at that one, but I did have the great pleasure of joining the Daughters of the American Revolution in Constitution Hall in Washington to participate in their national meeting, which was a very impactful organization. And to see our Clearwater chapter represented nationally. And then I also want to say... You support veterans in our community like you did on Tuesday night when you were there for the welcome home for the honor flight. So many of you were there supporting our veterans who, many of them served in Vietnam, did not get an appropriate welcome on the way home. Well, they

Have a good evening. Yes, thank you. What's that? My son is...

Yeah, he's on the. Thanks. Yes, he did. All right.

Miss Melina Allison, Junior League of Clearwater Dunedin. How come I'll read the proclamation and then we invite you to make some comments. Whereas the Junior League of Clearwater Dunedin is dedicated to advancing women's leadership for meaningful community impact, through volunteer action and collaboration and training, and whereas Find the Good Day, observed annually on the third Thursday of September, encourages individuals to recognize and celebrate the positive aspects of their communities and to take intentional action to uplift others through acts of kindness and service. And where this

OK, with that, we'll move to item 4.3 on the agenda.

Any questions from the council? Thank you. Thank you. With that, we'll move to item five on the agenda.

Is there a motion to approve the minutes?

Opposed? Unanimous. We will move to item 6.1 on the agenda.

So good evening. I think all of us, we've reviewed the materials. Thank you.

I do. So on the map there, it's just the two properties east that are the only two that are not part of the city?

Is there anyone here from the public tonight that desires to speak to agenda item 6.1? Hearing none, is there any council discussion? If there's no council discussion, is there a motion?

Move to approve agenda item 6.1. Second.

Let me ask again, after we've had a couple more readings, anyone here from the public desire to speak this agenda item? Hearing's seen none now. Any council discussion after the second time we've heard? Okay. If not, is there a motion?

Move to approve agenda item 6.1. Second.

I think we'll go ahead and let the applicant present and then we'll see if the Council has any questions for the staff and then for the applicant.

Yes, sir. As long as the consent of the council and no one objects, that's fine with me.

Chair Jerry Cook Okay. This time if the Council has questions for either the staff or the applicant, I have a couple questions, but if somebody else has questions, who wants to go first? Okay. Council Member Tisciago.

Yes, I reached out to you Mitch, where are you? Right there. More than eight times and I have not had a response so I'm really happy to have you here and I'd like you to answer those questions at this time. Tonight actually I heard a couple of times discussing dangerous access points. Can you please list them for me? What do you consider dangerous access points when you're talking about the parking lot access and your building?

I'll review my phone records. I think we have different information.

So then your front entrance, that corner entrance, what street is that on?

But there will be cars that will be stopping to have people come out of the cars and enter. Do you not feel that that is a dangerous access?

you still have a street that has to be crossed to get the access to the main street. You don't feel that that's a dangerous access?

If you're dining at a cross street, and I want to cross the street to go to the movie, you deem that to be unsafe. Crossing a street to get access to your movie theater, you feel is unsafe, right? That's what I'm hearing.

Because you feel that crossing the street from a parking lot you feel is unsafe.

But you feel that your guests crossing a street from other venues is acceptable.

Okay. Let me see. I'm just still stuck at that whole thing. You should ask the restaurant owners. I don't see how that is relevant. But you talk about this is your center, and this is what you request, and you're thinking of the safety of your clients.

Yes, what you require. What would be your response if I say, as a city councilwoman, I would like to require for my city the most active streets in an urban setting of a grid. And that I would require that perhaps a different alternative may be considered to maintain east-west access.

That study was basically looking at is it possible? Of course it's possible. It didn't ask the question that I wanted to know which is why? Why eliminate a street when there's other options?

So you're saying that anything that does not fit your requirement, you're walking away?

But the vacations weren't even before us to review when you had those discussions.

That is for now. I will reserve the right to ask again.

Okay. Any questions for the staff? We'll come back. Vice Mayor, do you want to go next?

I mean, yeah, I don't have any questions. Just I'll respond to some of those.

Yeah, we're going to do comments, discussion later, but just questions we have.

I have no comments. I will save my questions and concerns for that later.

Yeah, okay. Right now it's just questions of either the staff or the presenter.

Mayor, thank you. Just one question, Mitch, if you do not mind, I thank you for being here and take time out of your day and your family's schedule for being here. There was a discussion previous about east-west access and giving some sort of alternative and reprieve, and I believe the solution that was given on a compromise was a right in, right out. Can you discuss that just a little bit?

Yeah. Or emergency services? Yes. Correct? Thank you. Yes.

I'm going to make it work here a while, okay?

I just have a comment. I was born and raised here in Clearwater. And to have you come in with this great project, I've never seen anything like this before. And I'm so excited that this is happening because it's going to be a major anchor for our downtown. We're going to see so many other things pop out of the ground just because you're here. And I just want to let you know that, that I appreciate it. Thank you so much.

Yeah, I'm saying. You know, first I want to say to what's just been said. For me, this is not about your entertainment center. I mean, you're able to build the entertainment center on the plot of land where it's at. You don't need to close the street to build the actual entertainment center. You're just talking about the parking, the access to the building. And that's why you're saying. But I do have some questions a little bit off of what Councilman Teixeira said. When you say this is the way you do it, have you done this kind of concept in an urban environment similar to what we have here in

Yeah, but you and I did talk. It's been a while ago. I didn't reach out to you here recently, but you and I haven't talked since early on. But you did talk about how... this opportunity was unique for you because of the proximity to saltwater, proximity to Clearwater Beach, one of the top beaches in the United States, even in the world, that this would be a different demographic you would draw from for this and that there were a number of things you might do differently here. than you've done elsewhere. Are there other places where you have asked to vacate an active public street to build one

Another thing that was said earlier was negotiating, assuming that this street would be vacated. You understand that the citizens of the city of Clearwater own that street. Correct. Yeah. It's not anyone's to bargain or negotiate with. It's their street. So that's the concern here is they're vacating a street that the citizens own and that's actively used by the community now. So the facility that you put forth and the slides and everything looks amazing, and you and I have talked about that. The question is just we're being very creative in building the building. It's a little bit challenging

Okay. Thank you. I do have a couple questions. Thank you, Mr. Roberts. I have a couple questions for the staff. One of the documents that was attached to the agenda item was this vacation internal review. Yes, sir. Lots of comments in here about how this is against the downtown planning code and concerns about the loss of Laura Street by the staff and different departments. Is it fair to say this accurately reflects the concerns of the staff for the closure of Laura Street?

It's not just traffic. It's, you know, and the other thing, when I looked at the maps that even the applicant put up, other than the parking lot there in Garden Avenue, that's an open space. There's buildings all around this. Part of our downtown core is we don't have any choice but to try to build up and put buildings on everything we can to, you know, we have a housing shortage. We're trying to get people to live downtown. So, I mean, I think that's one of the concerns here is that a couple of the comments in the staff report were this open space flat building parking lot next to it eats up

Okay. That's all questions I had. Thank you. Okay. You're going to go into discussion when you wanted to, but I interrupted you earlier, so why don't you go to lead our discussion.

Awesome. Thank you, sir. So I'll just kind of... cut in where I was at. Mitch, I apologize for that. Thank you for handling it very well. I'll tell you, when I went to get Mitch's contact information, I found his email, I emailed him, and surprisingly enough, he called me three hours later. So trying to get a hold of Mitch has not been a problem for me. That was early on in the discussion, probably much like the mayor's. I have not spoken to you since. So thank you for being so responsive and I think we had a great conversation, you know, explaining the history of downtown, being a second gene

I am going to take public comment now. I think we'll do that and then we'll discuss further if that's okay with you. No, I'm done. So with that, we'll now take some public comment and then the applicant will have a chance to offer anything at the end before we discuss it. With that, is there anyone in here from the public? I doubt there is, but is there anyone here from the public that desires to speak to this agenda item?

I'm done in about 20 seconds, and I'm done. Your time's up, sir. Please, please. Your time is up, please. Very good.

Craig Ferrara. Look, I'm not trying to be overly tough, but if you go over your time, you're cutting into somebody else's time. So when that light hits red, please respect others and conclude your comments.

Excuse me. Ma'am, could you stay with the crowd behind? Yeah. Thank you. Yeah. Thank you. Please continue.

One or the other, I think we're going to take a recess. I appreciate all the kind comments about the entertainment center. That's not the issue now. It's a vacation of the street tonight. And we've heard different personal stories, but we've heard kind of the same thing over again about support for. So I think I don't know what's the pleasure of the council on extending it on to. hear from more to maybe, I don't know if there's anyone in that stack that has a different opinion, but I don't know we're serving anything well by hearing the same thing.

So the pleasure of the council, I'm just interested in what the others may feel. So Vice Mayor.

Yes, sir. Thank you. So far we've had 28 speakers, all four positive comments to this, more so for all of us to understand. I know the last time that we had a topic like this come up, you were able to do a side for and against to get equal comment. Are we not allowed to do that now? Or ask if there's anybody that's got the opposite opinion that would like to speak?

It's not a good situation, obviously. You know, if we're not going to allow people with different views to get up, then I... I think what I would like to do is I'd like to take a recess briefly. We're at two hours anyway we're going to, and then let's come back and talk about whether or not we want to continue public comment or not. We'll recess for ten minutes. Okay. We will call the meeting back to order. And what I'm going to suggest to the council is our rules require the council to extend the time. We have a time limit. We've exceeded that. And so it's the council's decision whether or no

Thank you. I completely agree. I pulled the city manager, city attorney, and city clerk aside during the break and asked them if we could do something like that, to which they said that still acknowledges the First Amendment right, but still records your position as being notated. If you are positive, I would appreciate it, just as the mayor has said, that you would stand up after your name's called. If you've got your three minutes, you're more than entitled to it. But in order to try and get through it, that you would just say, I support. We'll notate that and then try and move through it mo

So we have consent of the council to extend the time. Okay.

Mayor, I agree as well. My only question would be, if we're talking about extending a time, should we put a time limit on this extension to put any sort of guardrail, or are we just opening it? You could have 15 people that say they want to hear their voices heard, and we continue through.

My rules, we took their cards to sign up to speak, so my position would be, That's what we'll do. We'll stay as long as we need to stay.

Can we just revisit this after a time frame? And I'll tell you why. Most of the people here have been here since 9 o'clock in the morning. And so I don't believe that this accurately reflects the whole community, right? Not many people can be here this early. And everyone has been here a long time. And there's other people, I think, that are willing or wanting to speak on other items. So I do want to extend it, of course, but with some kind of and would be much more comforting than another two hours. Because I'm thinking of all those who have other agenda items that want to speak to it. Becaus

We'll go until 9, and then we'll reevaluate when we get there. Okay? Consent on that? Okay, well, we're going to extend it at least until 9 o'clock. So now she's going to call the cards, our city clerk. And, again, if you hear her name – You know, we've heard a consistent theme from others. If you feel like that represents you or if you don't, you feel like you have something different to share, then by all means, you know, take this time to come up and speak. But if you feel like others have already made the general points that you wanted to make, then we invite you to simply raise your hand and say I support or I'm against. Next speaker.

Folks, we've already talked to you about it's getting late and we're trying to get through this list. Would you please hold your applause? It just slows things down and be respectful of the other folks who are down at the bottom of that pile. Steve Perry.

So she's ‑‑ you're with the flag organization, correct? You're with the church of Scientology.

She's asking on behalf of the church to consider our recommendation to you if you don't have anything additional to say, but it's already been said if she's recommending that. If you're here tonight with a group in support, that you consider just saying that you support instead of speaking.

I support the vacation. Thank you, ma'am.

Thank you, sir. We are at 9 o'clock, so how many do we have left?

We only have six more. Continue on? We'll continue.

All right. Well, at this point, does the applicant have any, want to use any of its remainder of its time? No.

Thanks, sir. Well, with that, we will move to continue council discussion. So Council Member Menino.

Thank you, Mayor. I'll go ahead and start first how we probably should have started three hours and five minutes ago and to say thank you. Thank you, Mr. Roberts, for your interest and passion in this city, for your vision and willingness to invest in two most common words that we've all sat here and listened to tonight was destination and downtown. We've asked for that for 50 years as a community, and we've heard it tonight 25 times. So thank you. The question tonight should not be, why do you need the road? Should not be, why are we giving up another street or what are we giving up tonight?

Well, I could echo everything that Council Member Menino said, but I won't because he eloquently explained it better than I could. But here's the thing. I've been in this position for almost nine years. And before that, I was on the DDB for close to nine years. And I would have killed... nine years ago to get a $1 million investment brought to Cleveland Street. And here we've got a $50 million private funded, not taxpayer funded, not CRA funded, unbelievable anchor that just dropped in our laps. And I can't believe... why anybody on this dais, and I'm saying this, would question that. Because

Actually, after listening to all these people sharing, there are stories I feel the urge to, so here it is. I'm Lena Teixeira. I've been married for 32 years to a very patient man. Got two great kids. They won't give me grandchildren. So I'm going to hit you up to babysit yours. I finally have my cholesterol under control. I wear many hats, and today I'm wearing my elected official hat. But in all seriousness, I want to start with being very clear. I have worked and lived in downtown for many, many years. I've practically been in every board of management. I love downtown, I'm passionate about

Thank you, sir. So to that, I'll just say I wasn't implying that. If you felt like that was implied, that was just your interpretation of it. Mind-boggling. What I was getting at is that it is mind-boggling that Evo, CEO of Mitch Roberts, showed us and explained a very real reason as to why he incorporates closed parking lots and that I get it and even gave an example with my young children as to why I fully understand the safety aspect. Next, you know, I don't understand it, and I have to thank everybody else in this room because at the count that I got, and this could be off, but we're over

Okay, that leaves me. So I just want to at the outset say a couple things. One is... Downtown Clearwater is already prospering and thriving. The Baycare Sound has been a fantastic addition to downtown Clearwater. It's bringing thousands. It's introducing people from all over, not just Tampa Bay, all over the state of Florida. We had a concert within the past year where half the crowd came from Orlando to watch the concert. and the mega market that was here recently. So many people, 10,000 I think total over the three days, talked about how, wow, we didn't know this is already here. They're alr

Yes, sir. Thank you. So again, I think this is where government's getting in the way. This is one of the reasons why I ran. I'm not a family entertainment center developer or expert by any means, nor am I an architect, nor am I an investment banker or the things of these needs. But we literally just had the CEO of the venue stand before us, present why things are needed for vacation requests that are tied to his lease agreement that said, and I do not blame him whatsoever, if this doesn't happen, I'm leaving. And again, I hope it never happens, but going back to the safety aspect, what is one

Well, I was not really wanting to argue, but I feel a need to respond. I thought I would just make my comments, and we all know how we're going to vote, and we would move on. But since you raised that, okay. By Hail Mary, I mean, you know, it was some of the stories that were told tonight, it's as if nothing else is happening down here, and they're waiting for something to happen, and I wanted to point out that that things are happening in downtown Clearwater already, regardless of whether Evo Entertainment establishes it. Things are happening. And over time, they will continue to happen. They

Okay, Mayor. All right, you lit my fuse here. I am more perplexed. by your attitude for this, and I'm just telling you to your face because you're our mayor. You should be bending over backwards for a $50 million investment into our downtown, but you're not doing it. I don't think you're doing your job, okay? Now, you put me on the stand last November when you thought I was wrong. I'm putting you on the stand now because I think you're wrong. I think we should have a 5-0 vote on this because this is the biggest thing that's ever hit Cleveland Street. It's no Hail Mary. And I'm just perplexed.

I don't want to do this, but I mean, you want to personally attack me tonight. That's not my intent was to attack you. That's unfortunate that you've chosen to do that.

Well, you know, you have a perspective that's different from mine. You say that I'm not supporting this project. I've said repeatedly tonight I do support the entertainment center. I also, my perspective may be different than yours, but on this vacation to street, my perspective is I'm fighting for the citizens. It's their street, okay? I don't think, as I said earlier, I do not believe it's necessary to vacate Laura Street to build this facility.

Well, we just heard from the guy right here that says if you don't vacate it, he's gone. And to me, that's not a good position for you to take. I don't understand it, Bruce. You can talk to your blue in your face, but I don't understand why. To me, I'm perplexed. Okay, we can leave it at that if you want.

We disagree. I respect you, even though you have a difference of opinion. And I hope that you respect me, that I have a difference of opinion. We have a difference of opinion, if you guys remember. And I think it's good that we don't always come up here and vote 5-0 on everything. We have a difference of opinion. I've stated my reasons. I didn't point out any disagreements with you. You have a different perspective, and I think we should all appreciate that we have different viewpoints.

Go ahead. I've already talked. If Mr. Menino would like to go first. No, go ahead. Okay. I would just like to point out that being in support of this vacation request also is looking out for taxpayers and the citizens of this city. And maybe that's a difference of opinion because when I look at this, I look at what this is going to be able to do for an economic driver for our core downtown. And I grew up in countryside, right? On the northeast corner of the city. I would, in my family, could see coming down to Clearwater for once, other than church, to go to something like this, because we wer

And I acknowledge that, and I respect that. But we have a difference of perspective on that. For sure. And that's fine.

Yeah, I'm hoping one of us makes a motion and we can move on with this soon. But I do want to double click and zoom out for a second, because things are happening downtown. There is absolutely no doubt the hope and optimism for our downtown, putting this discussion aside, is at a place that it has not been for generations. And everybody in this room would acknowledge that. There's no questions. the very greatest thing we could do as a dais to support the very hilton hotel denuncio development that we've discussed is help him feel it fill his real estate in his offices and his restaurants and t

Okay. Moved and seconded that we approve agenda item 6.2. I just want to say, everybody just said your opinion. I respect the fact that you all, you're voting the way you did. You explained it. And I think that it's good that we all explained why we're voting. We have different reasons for voting the way we are. I don't think anyone should be offended that somebody else's reasons for voting for it are not consistent with theirs. And I just appreciate what everybody said. Everybody has their own reasons for that. And thank you for sharing those. With that, we'll proceed to vote. So all those in

It would be Council Member Allbritton, Menino, and Vice Mayor voting for, and Council Member Teixeira and myself voting against. With that, we'll move to agenda item 6.3.

So with this, we have applicant making presentation at this point. Yes.

think has some concerns he may want to express to you so i'd like to have the opportunity to uh so reserve your time yes we'll reserve your time thank you sir okay i have a question uh yeah councilman robert has a question for you this is for mr whitson

Wait a minute, this is... I guess we're ready for public comment.

We'll have an opportunity during public comment to present.

Yeah. We'll now invite anybody from the public that desires to speak to this agenda item. So, Mr. Whitson, please go ahead.

This is public comment. You have three minutes.

I believe we may have some questions for you, but your three minutes is up. Your three minutes is up. So does anyone else here from the public desire to speak to this agenda item? So have a seat, and we'll call you up here for any questions. Thank you, sir.

Can we speak to the agenda item, please?

If you could just come up to help others who are here for other issues.

Mr. Ward. Okay, Councilman Albritton, you have a question for Mr. Ward too? I do. Yeah.

Mr. Ward, does he have landlocked property right now? He has no way to get to his property without going over somebody else's property?

Any questions? Okay. Thank you. Did you have a question of Mr. Whitson, or did that answer your question? Okay. Thank you. Okay. In fact, any council discussion on this? If not, is there a motion?

All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Unanimous. Thank you. June item 6.4. Excuse me. We've been at this two hours, so considering our break, let's take a short five-minute break and recess, and then we'll come back.

Call the meeting back to order, and we'll move to item 6.4 on the agenda. Excuse me. Yes.

DOES ANYONE HERE FROM THE PUBLIC THAT I DESIRE TO SPEAK TO THIS AGENDA? May we have a reading?

Move to approve agenda item 6.4. Second.

All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Unanimous. Agenda item 6.5.

Absolutely, yes. Does anyone here from the public tonight desire to speak to this agenda item? I'm going to say no. Any council discussion? If not, stir a motion.

Move to approve agenda item 6.5. Second. All those in favor?

Aye. Opposed? Unanimous. Agenda item 6.6.

Is there anyone here from the public tonight that desires to speak to agenda item 6.6? Hearing none, is there any council discussion? Not? Is there a motion?

Motion to approve agenda item 6.6. Second.

All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Unanimous. Agenda item 6.7.

So you want to hear from the public, then I desire to speak to agenda item 6.7. Any seeing none in the council discussion? If not, stir a motion.

Motion to approve agenda item 6.7. Second.

All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Agenda item 6.8.

Is there anyone here from the public tonight who desires to speak to this agenda? Hearing none, is there any council discussion? If not, is there a motion?

Move to approve agenda item 6.8. Second.

Opposed? Unanimous. Thank you. Agenda item 6.9.

Okay. Anyone here from the public tonight desire to speak to agenda item 6.9? Okay. Hearing none, any council discussion? If not, is there a motion?

Move to approve agenda item 6.9. Second.

All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Unanimous.

So I want to hear from the public tonight to the desire to speak to agenda item 6.10. Is there any council discussion? If not, is there a motion?

Motion to approve agenda item 6.10. Second.

Let's see. Does anyone here from the public desire to speak? I'm seeing none. Counselor discussion. Thank you. I would just like to say the Employee Health Center is fantastic. I'll be there next week. I won't tell you what they remind me I need to do better at every year for my annual physical, but I saw some of the things on there that you noted, so I appreciate the service that we're providing our employees already. Thank you. No discussion. Is there a motion?

Motion to approve agenda item 6.11. Second.

All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Unanimous. Thank you. Move to agenda item 6.12.

Is there anyone here from the public tonight that desires to speak to this agenda item? I'm seeing none. Any council discussion? If not, is there a motion?

Opposed? Unanimous. Thank you. Thank you for all the hard work on that. I know it's a big number, and I know it takes a lot of hard work by our staff to prepare it. So thank you for coming tonight and explaining it. Thank you. We now move to agenda item 6.13.

I want to hear from the public that I desire to speak to agenda item 6.13. Hearing none, any council discussion? If not, is there a motion?

Move to approve agenda item 6.13. Second.

Okay. You don't want to hear from the public. Desire to speak to agenda item 6.15. Okay. I'm seeing none. Is there any council discussion? If not, is there a motion?

Motion to approve agenda item 6.14. Second.

Does anyone want to hear from the public that I desire to speak to this agenda? Are you seeing none? Is there any council discussion? If there's not, is there a motion?

All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Unanimous. Agenda item 6.16.

Does anyone want to hear from the public that I desire to speak to this agenda item? If you're seeing none, is there any council discussion? If not, is there a motion?

Move to approve agenda item 6.16. Second.

Thank you for that. Does anyone here from the public tonight desire to speak to agenda item 6.17? Hearing none, is there any council discussion?

Just one question. Do we have a shade structure going over the splash pad, too, in the future?

Not for the kids, clearly, in the water, but for the parents and grandparents on the benches. Thanks. Appreciate your art.

Okay. Any further discussion? If not, it's their motion.

Move to approve agenda item 6.17. Second.

Yeah, we've got a lot to get to still, so I think it would probably be good to... Move along. Thank you. Yes. Gen item 6.19.

I want to hear from the public that I desire to speak to agenda item 6.19. Any council discussion? If not, is there a motion?

Motion to approve agenda item 619. Second.

So I want to hear from the public, and I desire to speak to this agenda item. I'm seeing none. Is there any council discussion? If not, is there a motion?

Opposed? Unanimous. Thank you. Thank you, sir. And item 6.21.

Does anyone here from the public desire to speak to agenda item 6.21? Hearing no, any council discussion? If not, is there a motion?

Move to approve agenda item 6.21. Second.

Opposed? Unanimous. Thank you. Agenda item 6.22.

No. Is there anyone here from the public tonight that desires to speak to this agenda item? I'm not seeing none. Is there any council discussion? If not, is there a motion?

Move to approve agenda item 6.22. Second.

Opposed? Unanimous. Thank you. Agenda item 6.23.

Is there anyone here from the public that I desire to speak to this agenda? We're seeing none. Is there any council discussion? If not, is there a motion?

Motion to approve. Agenda item 623. Second.

Opposed? Unanimous. Thank you. I think you were the last staff member to have to come up here. I appreciate your patience in getting all the way to the end tonight. Thank you. Yes.

Does anyone have from the public the desire to speak to this agenda item? Hearing none, any council discussion? If not, is there a motion?

All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Unanimous. Agenda item 6.25.

Okay. Anyone here from the public that desires to speak to this agenda? If not, any council discussion? If no discussion, is there a motion?

Move to approve agenda item 6.25. Second.

Opposed? Unanimous. Move to item 7 on the agenda. That's citizens to be heard on topics pertaining to city business. That's not on tonight's agenda. Is there any citizens to be heard?

Yes. Ms. Meyer, you're discussing an item that's already been on the agenda. There will be a second reading on this, so you'll have another opportunity to address the agenda.

Right. This is for items that were not on tonight's agenda and for everyone's. But there will be a second reading on that agenda.

Thank you, sir. Next speaker. That's it? Okay.

Thank you, ma'am. Anybody else? No? Okay. That moved to item eight, city manager reports.

Thank you. Move to 9.1, city attorney reports.

Chair Greg Musil Okay. All right. Discussion on giving direction here. So anybody want to go first or?

Chair Greg Musil Sure. Somebody asked to, right? I appreciate the discussion and the way you kind of communicated and walked us through this process. I'm not an attorney, so it's not my field of specialty. It seems to me from the options you're giving us that legal action in one path or the other seems inevitable, depending on where it's initiated or where it comes from and what side. if what you're saying is in June our paid outside counsel and federal court basically placed the court system, the city of Clearwater, and saved the garden on notice of a possible violation of state law 163.3167,

OK, thank you for that clarity. So I think what you need is direction on those four or five options you gave, just direction without needing a motion and a vote. And then am I understanding correctly that the motion and vote you would need would actually be whether we're handing that responsibility off to the supervisor elections? Am I understanding that correctly?

Okay, thank you. To close, I'm supportive if that's the group's request of having that transfer of verification to the supervisor of elections and removing the clerk from that front-hand responsibility. And of your four options, I find the most comfort taking a legal pathway of letting the Attorney General give the city direction and then proceeding from there.

Thank you, sir. I just have one quick question in regards to what you said with the supervisors of election. You did say it was going to be 10 cents per card. Like when we have to get the petitions verified to run, who is going to pay that? Is that save the garden that should pay that? Cause they're asking for the verification.

Yeah, I mean, I have no problem honoring their request either. However, I do think that if it's their request, they should pay for the verification since we do have a city clerk that's capable of doing it with their staff.

Regarding the county, that's fine. I'm okay with that. Regarding the outside council's opinion that it is a violation of state law, That is still, it remains a disputed legal question. It is not a settled one. This is the second petition effort. Petitioners followed this charter. They were not told that there was a potential violation of state law. The signatures are well beyond the required threshold. And I am not interested in having the city spend taxpayers' dollars initiating litigation against its own residents over that process, over 10,000 residents. If another party believes that the p

Okay, well, you know, I agree. I agree with following our charter. We have accepted the signatures, petitions. So if they don't think that our clerk does a good job on counting, I'm fine with letting the supervisor of elections do it, but, you know, twice when I ran, I had to pay the supervisor of elections to count my petitions, so I say that they write the check to... They can have her do it for free, or if they want them to do it, pay like we did. And then we follow up with a... I think it would be prudent for us to get an opinion by the AG. And then we can move forward. They say they got 1

Yeah, so I'll say a couple things. One is I noted the city attorney said BMO, Miller-Olive, said potentially. They didn't give an opinion that it did. They said potentially. They saw the argument.

So it's not even their opinion yet. And all I would say is I hope we're careful here. We've got, you know... We'll verify whether they are voters or not, but we've been presented with 10,000 signatures of our voters on a petition saying they would like something done, and I hope we respect that. That's a very strong statement, they would like it considered. So to get ahead of it, Oh, well, it might. I think first we need to verify the signatures and send it over there and do that. I would tell you that, you know, the last time our amazing city clerk did this and her team, it was significant st

Yes, thank you. I just want some quick clarifications. Lena, when you spoke, did you say that Save the Garden was not aware of any potential violations of state law?

When they collected the paperwork, to my understanding, I was never advised that they were informed that it could potentially be.

Say violation? Yes. Okay. No, no, you're fine. I just wanted to, because just listening to everybody. But I want to be clear, so Owen, In the brief that Brian Miller-Olive would have given to, I think it was the ACLU that was representing Save the Garden, would they have been made aware or should their counsel have made them aware of this potential violation is what you stated, Mayor, that it said, potential violation?

So they could have potentially notified them. It was in the same brief.

OK, very good. My next question for clarification, Mr. Mayor, are you saying that we, the city, should pay to verify the supervisor of elections process?

Yeah, essentially, because it's going to be cheaper for us to do that than it is for us to do it ourselves. I mean, I don't think probably, you know, care to pant themselves, but I do. The expectation is it really is for our benefit that the Supervisors elections is doing it, not just taking the pressure off our clerk's office, but time and resources that I know they had to extend outside the clerk's office to consume considerable amount of our staff time to do it, probably costing us far more than $1,000 to do it. So I think the clerk's office welcomes the help. And so in light of that, I thi

My next question to either the clerk or the city manager, were there any overtime costs encumbered from doing this?

Right, okay. So essentially, you just took up more of your time when you could have been dealing with other city matters?

For sure. I completely agree with honoring their request to allowing the supervisor of elections to do this. I have no problem with that. However, again, this is their petition. I believe they've raised funds, too. I mean, we could speak to that, but... We had to pay for our costs to get our petition signed. I think that they should have to pay for it if it's their request. I think that's just fair. So with everything that's been said taking it in, I would also say that we accept the petitions, have saved the garden, paid for it, it's their request. And I see it as just due diligence with the

I don't, I mean, I put one of them. Ask them to pay $1,000, I think that that's fine. I don't object to that. If that's the consensus, that's not, I think they'd probably do that. But so on that part, on the Attorney General's opinion, I just think it's premature and it's not binding. I would prefer, if we got to that point, that certainly Um, church of Scientology, you know, it's their property and they've, um, it's their street vacation that they've requested. So I would prefer if we need a legal resolution to it, that they'd be the ones to initiate it. Um, I think that's, it's their, we vac

Just another question. Again, I would see it as just due diligence while both processes are going on. Just because if we do collectively decide to send that letter, it doesn't mean we're going to get a response, right?

Okay. No, I just want, I mean, so, I mean, he might not even respond, and it might end up in a legal matter to begin with.

And I'm not saying any of the five of us shouldn't, or more than one of us. But to do it collectively, I would not support that. But if certainly one or two or three... Want to write a letter requesting that just as before? You're entitled to do that.

Thank you, Mayor. I'm not interested in us on a sole mission of requesting from the Attorney General. I think we saw the way the gentleman was treated when he did that solely. And I think we all learned a lesson from that, that this discussion should be had here on the dais exactly like we're handling it. I'm supportive of it only takes three. It sounds like you have the direction to request the opinion from the Attorney General. You can count as well as I can. I think the only other thing that I would add to that, I am supportive. If they did make the request, Supervisor Elections count it. I

So you made the motion, is there a second?

Didn't Mike second? I made it, he seconded.

Okay, I move and second that we send the petition to the supervisor of elections for processing and validation of the signatures. And that we agree upon request of the petitioner. and the committee to have them do that, but that we insist or ask that the petitioner pay the cost of that processing by the supervisor election. So that's the motion that's on before us. Is there anyone here from the public who would like to comment on the motion? Yeah.

I think we already have. Just state your name.

Any other public comment on this agenda? Yes sir.

Chair Greg Musil. Thank you, sir. Anyone else from the public want to speak to the motion?

Okay, before we vote, I do think a good point was just made. A lot of these folks who signed this petition are taxpayers, and their money would be I understand we're not paying overtime, but it is our resources that would be put to something else. And it is taking pressure off our clerk's office. So my point earlier was just the benefit to it. But I just want to say that before we vote. So, yeah. Yes, sir.

Thank you. I was just giving a for instance that when you do something civically, There's a cost to that. There was a cost to me. No, it wasn't $10,000. It was $250. Actually, I think it was $300 for something that I had to pay because I turned in over the amount, just like you needed $7,000 and you're turning in over that amount. According to your website, you guys have raised $75,386, and that's commendable. You guys have done a great job. I've always championed civic service, and if you have something you're passionate about, go out and do that. I don't understand why it would be a double t

Thank you. Okay. If nothing further, we'll proceed to vote. All those in favor?

Well, yeah. Hold on. Yeah, I would make it clear. I mean, we didn't vote on it. I'll give you direction. It sounds like a majority would like you to do that on their behalf. But like I said, any one of the five of us or three members of the council together could sign that same letter. So I don't know that you have direction. It's certainly not unanimous for us to ask you to write on the council's behalf. But as was done before, any of us or more than one of us can collectively write that letter ourselves.

May I just ask a question? Your hand was up first, sir. I'm sorry. But so you're just saying that if there is a letter drafted, you don't want your name on it. That's all.

Yeah. I mean, earlier the letter was written. I think you asked that. On your behalf, you asked the Attorney General for an opinion.

Because I disagreed with our city attorney. That's why I didn't ask his opinion. I didn't ask his permission to send something that I didn't agree with him on. So this is different, though. We're talking about what you said last year, that we ought to all talk about it as a group. Now, my question is this to Owen, is what kind of time frame are we talking about? How long is it going to take to get all these counted and then back to us? And is there a certain time frame that we have to meet? Because it sounds like there's going to be some kind of lawsuit one way or another. They're going to sue

Mayor, if you don't mind. I mean, I think we're leaning towards the city attorney as the lead attorney that represents the entire city. And I think what is being asked right now is a direction of giving is the city of Clearwater needs a legal answer and a legal determination regarding the possible violation of a state law. And I think that what the direction I was asking for was direction from the city attorney's office that represents the city of Clearwater to ask for that opinion. I wasn't asking for that on behalf of me or him or you or councilwoman. I was on behalf of the city of Clearwate

I don't mind anybody asking, including the city attorney. If you write and ask, it was not a majority of the city council asking you to, directed you to seek the opinion, that's fine. But we're not all... I mean, the city as a body is not asking for it or asking you to write. Again, it goes back to, as I said before in the prior one, you know, if we really want, if it's going to end up in litigation anyway, well, let's just, you know, the Attorney General will be able to weigh in to file an amicus brief if The Attorney General wants to give the Attorney General's opinion, but it sounds like it

I just have a couple of questions for the attorney. Number one, the last time I remember that the attorney's office asked for an AG opinion was for the CRA funding. Remember the budgeting? Yes. And that was done with the consensus, meaning three, right, the majority of the council, or was that done independently by your office?

And then the other thing is, will we be able to read the request before it's been sent? That's just curious.

And if we get it, the question is, what do we do with it? Because it's just advisory. It doesn't have a binding impact on this. So we're still going to end up litigating it one way or the other. So again, if Sounds like three of you want the city attorney to write and ask for the opinion. That's fine with me as long as it's clear there were three members that requested that you ask for the opinion. I think I'm fine with that.

I'm okay with Owen's last option there, throwing our names on the bottom, who requested it and who didn't. I mean, if we want to put that on the bottom of your paragraph, however long the letter is, I wouldn't know. Okay.

Well, for me, I'm on record how I feel. So whether my name is, whether it's the council, it's not that relevant to me. I'm on record saying that I don't feel we need it. But, you know, I'm not going to ask. Split hairs over it. I'm on record saying that I don't want it, so.

I trust you. I think time is of the essence. That's my opinion.

drafted send it out i don't need to see it i just don't understand how we as a city back in june took a legal stance that we believed in a federal court this was a violation of state law and that's what our legal counsel put on the record in federal court how we then sit here and believe that we're going to take a different route or a different course of action when we believe it to possibly be a violation. This seems like the only recourse. And whatever direction we get from the AG, then we have another decision to make. And some way or another, it's going to lead to inevitable legal action.

Okay, we'll move to agenda item 10.1, approved city manager 2027 goals. I will start by saying at midnight, I personally am not going to debate the city managers or the city attorney's goals. Personally, for me, this is a process that was set forth by prior counsel, and I think it's a good idea to some extent, but I think both our city manager and city attorney understand that their jobs are fluid and changing throughout the year. We've got a a lot going on here on the ballot in November that could change a lot of what we're approaching in the goals for the year. So for me, I don't have anythi

Yeah, I'll keep it quick because it is tomorrow. City manager, I thought it was a good idea to have goals. City manager has to think about things that are coming up and plan more than the city attorney. The city attorney is more reactionary. In fact, the final line of the relevant statement here was the city attorney is the top legal advisor for the city and is responsible for prosecuting and defending the city in all complaints, suits, and controversies. So if we don't have complaints, suits, or controversies, there's not really much for you to do. But I agree with both goals, so I'm good wit

Yeah, I'll just keep it short and sweet, too, after reviewing it and then going over it with each of you in one-on-ones. I completely agree with the goals, too, set forward.

I'm good. I'll reserve any additions to our one-on-ones. We're fine.

Anybody else? So we've covered both 10-1 and 10-2. That's good.

Okay. So are we going to vote on both of these in that direction?

Move to approve agenda item 10.1 and 10.2.

Second. Okay. So, yeah, I'm a little, I'm not exactly sure what you're trying to say here.

Okay. We will vote first, I guess, on agenda item 10.1. Oh, for both items. Excuse me. Okay. All those in favor?

Public comment. You may hear from the public tonight. So I speak to agenda item 10.1 or 10.2. Okay. Seeing none, we will proceed to vote. All those in favor? Opposed? Unanimous. Move to agenda item 11, closing comments by council members.

I'm going to take my full three minutes because we haven't been here long enough. I appreciate you all from all sides getting the perspective and have a good rest of the night. Be safe getting home.

Okay. Anybody else? Okay. Mr. Maroberto?

I'm going to stretch it out a little longer. Thank you all for coming. And it's not nighttime anymore. It's morning. So go home, go to bed, get a good night's sleep.

Anybody else? Move to agenda item 12, closing comments by the mayor. I don't have any tonight. So we will adjourn the meeting of September 17, 2026.