City Council - Regular Meeting

Call the city council meeting to order. Clerk, please call the role. Council person council person hater. I forgot my roll call sheets. I prepared everything else but I forgot that. Council person her here. Stillgrave here. Bining here. Geriney here. Stringham here. Felder here. Clark here. Th we all plead rise for the invocation. Remain standing for the pledge of allegiance. Grant us the strength to manage the challenges ahead and the wisdom to identify opportunities as we strive to serve our community. As we make decisions, grant us the gift of an open mind, the willingness to learn, and the humility to accept the ideas of others.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Clerk, next item, please. Next is the approval of the regular agenda. Thank you, Mr. Robinson. Any adjustments to the agenda? The administration has no adjustments to the agenda. Have any items? [snorts] If not, uh, Councilman hat her. Motion to approve the regular agenda. Second. Motion from Councilman Hater, supported by Councilman Stillgave to approve the regular agenda. Clerk, please call the role. Council person her? Yes. Still, yes. Vining, yes. Gerainy, yes. Stringham, yes. Felder, yes. Mayor Clark, yes. Next item, please.

The next item is the consent agenda. And for item B, approval of payments, the amount should read 1,21,76787. 1021767.87.

Thank you. Are there any items on the consent agenda that council wishes to have pulled for further discussion? Any items on the consent agenda? Seeing nothing from council. Any items on the consent agenda? Those present here this evening wish to have pulled for further discussion. Any items on the consent agenda for further discussion? If there is, it would be brought back at the end of the meeting of the first session. Seeing none, a motion or would be in order. Councilman uh Felder. Yes, your honor. I'll make a motion that all items on the consent agenda be accepted, placed on file, recommendations carried out, and resolutions adopted. Support.

Motion by Councilman Felder, for by Councilwoman Stringum that all items on the consent agenda be accepted, placed on file, recommendations carried out, and resolutions adopted. Clerk, please call the role. Council person haters, yes. Stelgrave, yes. Steining, yes. Geriney, yes. Stringham, yes. Felder. Yes. Mayor Clark. Yes. Next item, please. Next item is under presentations, communications, and public hearings. It's item 56 5643, public hearing on proposed ordinance 25-010, zoning classifications for 317 West Front Street parcels. There are no comments on file in the clerk treasur's office.

At this time, I'll open the public hearing on item 5643. It's a public hearing on proposed ordinance 20- 25-010 zoning classification. Any comments from those present here this evening regarding this public hearing? Any comments for the public hearing? Seeing none, I'll close the public hearing. Clerk, next item, please. The next item is the item 5642, deck the house holiday light competition. Thank you. What a what a great season. So, uh, Manager Robinson, um, I move forward here. I see that, uh, Miss Egan's here.

Yep. Director Egan would like to, uh, present the the winners of the Deck the House holiday light competition.

Good evening, Mayor and Council. Jody Egan, director of communications. Our second annual Deck the House Hometown Holiday Lights uh residential lighting contest was held from December 15th to December 28th and I'm excited to present our winners of that uh public voting period with you. As you know, residents could cast their votes with a QR code or visit our website and take a tour of each of the houses with a beautiful story map created by our uh GIS coordinator. And um it was another successful event. We had a lot of feedback online and a lot of public participation and I'm excited to present those winners to you tonight. Um the winners were announced December 29th on our social media and I believe we have two of the representatives here this evening for a first and second place winners. Um I'm going to announce the third place winner who is not here tonight but it is Mr. David Grassley at 476 Hollywood. Uh Mr. Rasley will receive a certificate signed by the mayor um for this um placement as well as a $75 gift card. And I don't believe David is here this evening, but I wanted to wish him a happy holidays, happy new year and congratulations to him. We all know him pretty well. He's a floral city photographer and takes a lot of photographs, especially for our uh tree lighting. David was the photographer here in city council for our Santa uh who was visiting us. I'm going to ask the mayor to come down um with and join me here for our presentation of our second place winner. [snorts] And may I have Tammy Van Riper please join us up at the front and her family. Tammy is the proud home owner at 711 Cass whose photo is up on the on the monitors there. Tammy, um we'll get your photo with the mayor here in a second. Um

Tammy um and her family place second, as I said, by popular vote. Would you like your family in with the photo? Sure. [laughter] Tammy receives a certificate from the mayor and a $150 gift card. I'll just say congratulations. Thank you for your efforts. It's always great to walk drive down the street and see all the efforts that the community puts into the hometown hall lights and our deck the house and uh it's just fabulous to see the work that's being done. So, uh, we have a certificate here for Tammy and her family. You can hold that and we'll get a photograph. Great. Thank you, Tammy. And thank you, mayor. Thank you. Thank you for participating.

Would you like to say anything? [applause] [laughter] I I'm also I'm a Christmas fanatic, and I was really excited when I learned about this this year. So, I hope there's a lot more participation because I seen a lot of houses lit up. I think maybe they just didn't know about it, but I like it. Thank you. [laughter]

And of course, to find out what's going on in the city, we recommend you subscribe to our My Monroe e newsletter. And all of those participation dates are published in November when people are start putting their lights up and also on our website and social media. So, if you're interested in participating next year, please tune in to our communication channels. Um, and finally, our first place winner by popular vote is Mr. for Ralph Gapis and his family at 9:02 McDougall. Ralph receives this year the first place award presented by the mayor. Look at that.

It's the Griswald Award. [laughter] And Ralph also gets to join the mayor on stage at the 2026 Christmas tree lighting event to countdown the annual tree lighting. So exciting. Congratulations. You [applause] did a wonderful job. Beautiful. Congratulations to you. Congratulations. Yeah. You want to stand over here by the mayor, man. Jackson. Jackson. [laughter] I'll take it this way. Okay. Ready? One, two, three. Let me take one more if you don't mind. Thanks, Ro.

And congratulations to you. Thank you so much. You worked so hard. You know, last year you did too and this year added stuff. Yeah. So, just want to thank everybody who voted for us and city council and mayor for sponsoring this event again. Um it's a lot of effort and thanks to my family for putting up with [laughter] all my craziness and like my love for Christmas and this little guy here helps a lot. So, thank you everyone. Appreciate it. Oh, thank you. And also the remote control.

Thank you so much. [applause] Thank you. We look forward to seeing you at the tree uh lighting here this year. It's already this year, right? Just a few days away. So, get prepared for the next one. [laughter] And uh make sure you bring Jackson with you, too. So, we'll have a lot of fun and countdown and you get to cheer everybody on to as we uh start the holiday season. And uh like you said, Christmas is the best [snorts] time of year. So, thank you. Thanks, Jinx. Thank you, J.

Thank you so much. And congratulations to all our winners. Next item, please. The next item is under council action. Item 5585, ordinance 25-010 317 West Front Street, parcel zoning classification up for its final reading.

Thank you, Manager Robinson. Anything additional comments on this? Nothing additional. As you know, this was brought in as a work session as well as had a first reading and you just held the public hearing tonight. So, there's nothing else other than the the second reading and your decision to adopt this ordinance. I know it's up for uh uh council action. Uh this is an item that went came through us through a work session, came through us through our previous meeting and of course the opportunity for public hearing and today is the day in which it's on for council action. Any questions from councel? Councilwoman Germany.

I'll make a motion. Ordinance 25-010 317 West Front Street parcel zoning classification. Move to place proposed ordinance 25- 010 on the floor for its final reading. Motion by Councilwoman Geranny, supported by Councilwoman Stilgrave on item 5585. The ordinance 25-010 West Front 13 third 317 West Front Street partial zoning classification. Clerk, please call the role. Yes. Yes. Bining. Yes. Germainey. Yes. Stringham. Yes. Felder. Yes. Let's see. Yes.

Ordinance 25. Oh, sorry. Mayor Clark. I'm telling you, I need the roll call sheets. Ordinance 2510. Chapter 720 zoning. An ordinance to amend the zoning map of chapter 720 zoning of the code of the city of Monroe. The city of Monroe ordains. Shall this ordinance pass? Council person her? Yes. Yes. Vining? Yes. Geriney? Yes. Stringham? Yes. Spelder? Yes. Mayor Clark? Yes. All right. Next item. Next item is item 5644. Consideration of Mson Park Tennis Court's naming request.

Manager Robinson. Comments on this item. Your honor, as you know, this item came before the city. There were some tweaks we we did with with that we brought before council that was approved regarding the the naming policy uh because this was actually naming a secondary facility within Mson Park and that wasn't truly addressed in the previous ordinance. But I'd like to uh offer assistant uh city manager and economic development director Cochran to address this as his office did the did the uh the the the work in in preparing everything for the ethics commission who reviewed this request and uh I think he's got some information about Mr. Asher's family who unfortunately are traveling but they're watching the live stream probably right now.

Director Cochran. Yep. Good evening, honorable mayor, city council. Um, so as the city manager indicated, council previously adopted a a policy and procedures for the naming of city pol or city property and public property. Um, and that uh policy was reviewed in June 2021 or 2022 uh to address the naming of um in October 2025, sorry, uh to address the naming of secondary facilities um within the city. And so, uh, following that, we did receive a request from Mr. Brad Asher, uh, to name the the Mson Park tennis courts in honor of his late father, Mr. Wayne Asher. Um, and so the procedure that the policy lays out is that these requests are reviewed by city staff and then reviewed by the ethics committee who makes a recommendation to city council for final consideration. So, uh, in your packet this evening is a copy of the original request as well as the staff review as well as some background information on on Mr. Asher. But, um, for the purpose of, uh, the public and for city council, um, Mr. Asher was a longtime Monroe resident, uh, who was involved in the sport of tennis, uh, dating back to his participation as a team player for Monroe High School and later Michigan State University. Um he when he was an adult he started uh competing in local tournaments and then when he retired from Ford Motor Company here in Monroe he began coaching youth um both at the Monroe Family YMCA but also establishing his own school of tennis the Asher School of Tennis in 1996 uh until he passed away in 2019. He was a longtime coach for 13 years at St. Mary's Catholic Central uh coaching many many students in the sport of tennis who went on uh to play both at the collegiate and professional level as well. Um and he also was a instructor at the Monroe Family YMCA for 15 years. uh

and he founded the community tennis association for Monroe County, a formal association recognized by the United States tennis tennis association uh that was established for the benefit of growing the interest of tennis in the region and to develop local tennis talent. He also hosted uh tennis camps annually in our city parks including soldiers and sailors and Mson Park. Um his legacy lived on uh when he was recognized by being named the Monroe County Coach of the Year eight times here on League Coach of the Year twice, three times the Southeast Michigan Regional Coach of the Year, and in 2018, he was named the State of Michigan Coach of the Year. And later this month on January 30th, Mr. Asher will be inducted into the Michigan High School Tennis Coaches and Association's Hall of Fame in recognition of his career with St. Mary's Catholic Central. Mr. Asher passed away in December 2019 at the age of 80 and a copy of his obituary was included in your packet this evening. So reviewing uh the request from uh his son Brad uh and the rest of the family as well as the the policy. The policy requires that uh certain criteria be met for the consideration for a facility whether it's a primary or a secondary facility uh to be named in somebody's honor. Um, some of the criteria includes the the individual must have been a local or regional leader with strong identifiable ties to the community or to the area or connected to the public property to be named. And certainly Mr. Asher's publicly recognized long service of coaching tennis to youth in our community, particularly at the courts of Mson, which are proposed to be uh named his in his honor meet that criteria. um a city resident who distinguished themselves in community service, public service, or an individual with strong identifiable community contributions to the city. Uh certainly through his

volunteer service at the YMCA and the Community Tennis Association of Monroe County, uh he spent many many hours as a fixture at at the facilities teaching and impacting youth in the sport of tennis. And then finally, a resident or former resident having lived 10 years in Monroe in the city of Monroe who through distinction has brought prominent recognition to the city of Monroe at a state, national or international level. Um while Mr. Asher didn't live in the city uh in his later years in life, he did live in the city from his birth in 1939 until 1965. And certainly his uh coaching career was recognized at the regional and state level as we indicated earlier. Also just wanted to point out as we did with the ethics committee um in the original naming policy when we're considering postumously naming a facility after somebody um they had to have been passed away for 3 years. Uh when the policy was updated this past October that was inadvertently left out. Um however it is recommended that that continue to be one of the criteria and it will be added back into the policy uh in future revisions. And so finally um with Mr. Rasher's notable dedication to the tennis sport in the city of Monroe in both formal and informal ways being recognized at the in his achievements in the local, regional, and statewide level. Uh we also performed a review of his background and and it did show that he was an upstanding citizen of moral character simply with a desire to instill in others his own passion for the sport and fun and friendly manners. Through his decades of dedication to the sport and his constant presence, specifically at Mson Park, city administration does find the request meets the criteria for consideration for the naming of the Mson Park tennis courts and the dedication and honor and memory of Mr. Wayne Asher is prescribed in the naming policy. So the recommendation uh that the ethics

committee did provide uh unanimously for the city council is to consider uh accepting the request and accepting to name the tennis courts in his honor. Um just for background also if it is approved tonight and city council does uh authorize the renaming or the naming of the tennis courts. Um what will then occur is a sign will be placed at the tennis courts. City administration will work with the family. Um, the policy does prescribe what information can be included on that sign, and it's primarily the name, the years of service and life in the city of Monroe, as well as a brief statement about why the tennis courts would be named in his honor. Um, and uh, we would work with the family on on the design for that. Um, as Mr. Robinson indicated, the family couldn't be here. I will say when this was at the uh, ethics board on December 18th, there was a strong showing of Mr. Trasher's family in support of the request and uh as Mr. Robinson indicated they are tuning into the live stream tonight as they travel back. Um unfortunately a little late notice on the meeting tonight as well as their travels presented prevented from being here in person but speaking with Mr. Asher earlier this evening. He wanted to express his regrets for not being able to be here but your appreciation for the consideration of of the request.

Thank you Mark. Um any thoughts or comments from councel? Councilwoman Stillgrieve. Yeah, I'd like to make this motion. I do Mr. Asher and I'm really honored to make this to approve the request to name Mson um Park Tennis Courts in honor of Mr. Wayne Asher and authorize the city manager to collaborate in the request of the implementation in accordance with the city policies and procedure for the naming of public property. Support. There's a motion by Councilman Steelgrace, supported by Councilman Hater on item 5644, the consideration of the Mudson Park Tennis Courts naming request. Clerk, [snorts] please call the role. Council person, yes. Stelgrave, yes. Vining, yes.

Germaine, yes. Stringham, yes. Felder, yes. Mayor Clark, yes.

Further items. So uh tonight is the night that we finish our business that's uh kind of before us and final bills from 2025. It it's the first meeting uh as the new year starts but also that this is kind of the first half of our meeting. Uh there's a second half which is the swearing in ceremony and the opportunity to um uh for the public comment and other comments that might be available. Uh this is a practice by our our city charter is how we um uh move forward from this term into the next term. I'm really pleased to say that all of the council, myself, the clerk will all be here uh for our next term. So I first my thought about that is thanking the residents for uh being a participant within the election and uh bringing the council uh and the clerk um back for our next uh term here and their participation. As I said, I want to thank the council for their uh work and diligence of the past two years. So much has been accomplished. I'm not going to sit here and give a state of the city. Uh that's not what we're here for today. It's to move on to the next meeting. But it it it's easy to see when if you uh take the time to for instance just read the uh uh in our public service department the engineers report of all the uh projects that were done the the tens of millions of dollars of of funding grant funding that was received these past two years. one project alone that we uh approved to move forward and the project's yet to be done but it had to be it takes planning and time is $24 million by itself and and it this goes on uh with many many projects and we uh it's because of the uh the staff's support and also the council support when we hired somebody to do uh grant writing and I think that's been a significant uh process. I I have one thing just because it happened to be when I saw the paper today. It came out at the end of 2025.

And this I think says what the council should be proud of. I think the community should be proud of as we continue to move forward. And we know there's always things to do otherwise we wouldn't be here. We're here to make sure we're serving our community and serving uh in service. I want to thank the administration, the the the uh the employees and the staff who provide that service directly to the uh the community and to our residents. But in this article, which was on the 31st or I believe it was here, this was and I'm just going to read a quote. It's from a business owner from downtown that uh back in 2012 purchased a building, needed work, needed brownfield, needed to have historic restoration still done to the windows that were there. Many, many things. Angela Labbouti from Logan Charles Salana and Spa. I'm just going to read her quote because I think it really speaks to how we look at what's being done, what's been done, and have an idea where we're going. Right. and they were in the process of putting up a new sign out front and she quotes and says, "It's been great doing business in Monroe where I grew up. I can say Monroe has changed for the better. Our downtown area is getting more life each day. More people are encouraged and excited to build a business or take over property and renovate it." I think about those changes alone from this just our downtown. I could go and talk about many things from from housing to the our corridor plans and it takes this long term. You have to have a long vision. So I want to thank council for that in these past two years and I look forward to working with you all and clerk Lavoy over the next couple years. But before we do that, we have to make sure that we take our oath of office. So this meeting uh can only be adjourned by a certain process as our charter says and it's adjourned by SADA. And at this time I'll adjourn [clears throat] this part of our meeting uh Sunni DA so we can meet and

um out front and take our oath of office. And I before I do that, I want to thank Judge Aker for being here this evening to do these uh um the oath of office for us. Amanda, so thank you so much for being here. So we'll go this way. Make sure you bring your Yeah. All right. I Michelle do solely swear or affirm that I will support the constitution.

This time call the city council meeting to order for the start of our year 2026. Clerk, please call the role. Council person her here. Stillgrave here. Vining here. Germaine here. Stringham here. Felder here. Mayor Clark

here. Before we start, I want to again thank uh Judge uh Amanda Iker for her being here to to our swearing in. I know she has actually an appointment that she's uh running towards. So I greatly appreciate her taking the time to be officiate the oath of office uh for the city of Monroe for this term. And uh before I ask um for the invocation, sister Maxine U Gish is from the Sisters and Servants of Mack of the Heart of Mary. I was very pleased that uh as the president of the uh IHM that sister Maxine was able to come here today uh and speak with us and speak to council, speak to the those that are present in our community uh with an invitation. And um sister, I think if you'd like to say a few words first and ask us to stand when you're ready to give us the invitation.

Uh thank you and uh it's good to be here with everyone. Thank you the mayor and the council. Um, I know that you were entrusted with a great duty and we all have faith in you, have had faith in you and we know that to be called and entrusted is a a wonderful responsibility and and a big responsibility. So, you like us to stand now? Please stand. Please stand.

I invite us all to pause for a moment to be present to our God who is always present to us. offering us always grace in abundance. Loving God, we gather to celebrate the start of this new year and of this new term of office for Mayor Robert Clark and the members of the city council. We ask you to bless Mayor Clark and the council members Mike her Deb Steelgrave, Kelly Vining, Michelle Germany, Kathy Stringham, Andrew Felder, and clerk treasurer Michelle Lavoy. We ask you, God, to bless them with compassion, with hearts and minds open to the dreams and needs of all in the community. Bless them with wisdom as they take on issues that come before them as they seek a way forward together in a spirit of integrity and mutual respect rooted in a deep love for this community. Bless them with courage as they face tough decisions that they listen deeply to each other and to the community on behalf of the common good. And God, we ask you to bless them with joy and with energy for this ministry of leadership to which they have been called and entrusted. May they, our city leaders, know of our encouragement, support, and prayers as they start their new term of office and throughout their journey of service. We ask all of these things, God, trusting in your love and providence. Amen.

Amen. Amen. Thank you, Sister Maxine. Great words and I appreciate you again being here and uh spending your time with us here in this important day as we start our next term. Clerk, next item, please. Um I have no other items this evening, your honor. So we don't have items for council's action. We took care of that beforehand. Uh and I know that uh the next meeting I'm sure there'll be plenty of things for us to make comments about. Um u so it's council comments and as we do here we start by month with the first month of the year with the first precinct. Councilman her comments today.

Thank you honor. I would just like to wish everyone a a happy new year. I would like to congratulate the mayor, the city clerk treasurer and the rest of the city council and uh look forward to working with the entire city staff. Thank you. Thank you Councilwoman Stale Grave. Thank you honor. I must say that I am really overjoyed that Mr. Asher gets his name plate on the parks. He was a wonderful person. I've known him for many many years and I I'm really excited to have that happen for him and like Councilman her said really congratulations to everybody here this evening and uh look forward to having another great term. Thank you. Thank you Councilwoman Bin.

Thank you. I just want to thank my family and everyone's family for coming out to show your support for this wonderful, if I may say so myself, city council [laughter] and [clears throat] the administration. Um, thank you to the sister for the beautiful thoughtful prayer. It means a lot to know that people are lifting lifting us up in prayer because it does get overwhelming at times and sometimes we forget that people are in support of us and so thank for going before the throne for us and please continue to do so and congratulations. I'm really happy and excited to be working with the same group of people and I look forward to our meeting on Saturday.

That's right. Thank you, Councilwoman Germaine. Thank you, your honor. Um, basically the same. Um, thanks everyone for voting and keeping us in our spots. You have faith in us and thank you for that. um truly is an honor to work on this council because we work very well together. We don't always agree with each other, but we are a good council and a solid council and I look forward to the next two years and Saturday is going to be a fun morning. That's all. Thank you, Councilwoman Stringham.

Well, I want to say um I'm pretty excited to see that we brought back the uh Deck the House competition this year. My husband and I had a lot of fun driving around to all the different ones and getting to figure out which the best ones were. So, um, thank you, um, for the residents that participated to make that event very fun for us. [snorts] Um, I also want to add, um, this similar comment to everyone else. I'm very honored to be part of city council and I look forward to working with everyone um, throughout the city, the from the the city staff and directors to the other council members. Um, very privileged to be part of this. So, thank you. Thank you, Council Felder.

Thank you, John. Um, it seems to be a theme this evening that we're providing recognition to all the people in the community apart from us who have done wonderful things uh for this city uh to promote and advance uh the mission of the community from the dedication of Mr. Asher to all the participants in the Deck the Halls um celebration and competition and then uh on our committee appointments, Mr. Joshua Rhoden stepping up to serve who serves on several community boards and has also been key in planning events um that have that have happened at St. Mary's Park as well. So, it's it's wonderful to to see the involvement from the community and it's not an accident that the that the city is run so well. It doesn't happen by accident. It's a team effort. um from the staff to the community members to all the family who are here who are probably most keenly aware of the involvement that just because you're not on council does not mean that you are not involved in you know in the running of the day-to-day operations of the city. Um, I'm sure that each of you sitting here this evening have had your own role to play in providing uh advice or uh comfort or reassurance um to the the people who are leading our community and it's it's a wonderful reminder to us that we are servants of a of a community but the community gets a say as well. Um and we're so fortunate to be in the position that we're in. Thank you, sir.

Thank you. just a couple comments uh really kind of follow up to what we've heard here. But I wanted to give congratulations to the city council and clerk treasurer Lavoy uh for um all of us being willing to uh continue to serve u and that comes because of the support we receive from our family, the support we receive from the residents as we continue to deliberate and make decisions that we think and can be for the best interest of the community and our residents. But that doesn't happen by ourselves. And I I know you I look around and see some smiles. I know what I'm going to say next because there's ways in which everybody can be involved. You can serve your community without be elected official and there's two boards and commissions. As Councilman Feller said in our earlier meeting today, uh Mr. Joshua Rhoden uh he was at a meeting and heard that uh there was opportunities. uh he and I chatted on the phone and he was appointed to uh a board to uh here earlier this evening and I think he's going to have great um uh contributions uh and as councilman said he's very active in our community and it might be something that's just you don't have the time to serve every month on a board and commission. We have actually one commission that meets once every two years and it's uh and it's before petitions. is before who's going to be in office and it's called the local officers compensation commission. We look for people that can deliberate over that, get the data that's presented by our human resources director and what those comparables are to think what is the compensation for the not just the uh the uh council mayor but also the clerk treasurer. It's so it's something as much as every two years to something that could be every month or as needed quarterly. So, there's many opportunities and you can find those uh list of boards and commissions with onin the city's website. It's a simple onepage application. It's not difficult. So, if you find an interest and please fill it out, you'll get a call from me and we'll talk about that. Maybe there's something actually Mr. Rhoden had put in for one that was there and we got to

talk and I was talking about the heritage quarter and the heritage quarter plan for the Orchard East. He says, "I'm very interested in that." He's very interested because he works in the area and he has rich uh relations there at the at the labor hall. So I think you find that through conversation. So uh it's something that uh council takes um seriously. I make the recommendation but the council approves and how we get through that process. a a comment that was said uh by Councilwoman Germainey. You know, we don't always agree, but how we handle that and how we deliberate through that and how we make our final comments, we we we may not agree on everything, but we're not going to be disagreeable. We understand when the vote is take and taken and then it passes, then we all should be behind that. Sister Maxine had this conversation earlier this evening about uh that is and it's it's healthy to have different views. It's healthy to have conversation, but how we go about that and what our demeanor is, I think is what this council is known for and has been known for for years. And I look forward to our continuation with that. It was said a couple times. You think, what's this Saturday thing about? But yeah, the council meets the first part of the year on a Saturday for reviewing our goals and objectives, setting goals and objectives, but talking in strategic visioning for the next two years and even beyond. There's many, many difficult items that will be coming for us here the next two years. And uh if you as we uh deliberate on those, you can come and watch or sit at home and watch us and uh and then give us a call if you wish. Always looking for participation and comments. Those are my comments this evening. Uh clerk treasure Lavoy.

Thank you, your honor. Um I too am very um thankful to be here again, thankful to be working with this council and the amazing team here at at city hall. Uh, a lot of people do a lot of hard work every day that um that we'll never know uh exactly what that takes and what it costs some days, but they do it and they do it because they want to serve the public and so it's an honor to to serve with them. Um, city manager Robinson and attorney Matt Buds, uh, I want to thank you as well. Um, Matt, you've been a great partner in foyas and all kinds of things that aren't always so fun, but you're always there and I appreciate that. And and uh, city manager Robinson, it's been a pleasure to get to know you and to to develop a working relationship these last couple of years. So, looking forward to a couple of more years with you. Um, I wanted to thank my family. Um, as you grow up, girls, I know you're not always going to be here for these moments, so it's nice to see you in the audience, even though you made me cry. Um, and then I wanted to thank the sisters. Um, I learned about servant leadership as a high school student with the IHMs at the academy, and I will be forever grateful for the lessons that, um, I learned then and that I'm still learning from you today. We're very fortunate to have you in the community um, standing with us. So, thank you. So, looking forward to another great couple of years. A lot of work to do. The 26 elections are going to be probably as exciting as the 24 elections were. So, um me and my team are ready to go and um I'm looking forward to continuing to work with council. Thank you um to everyone for your kindness and for um just working with me and um making me feel part of the team. So, thank you.

Thank you, Clerk Lavo. you know, before I move on to the the next comments, uh, Click Lavoy said about elections, and I think that, uh, they're they're they're watched, which they should be, but how we do that and how we process through that is also in a fashion that serves the community the best. I clerk the way you run the best elections and and also there is many of our residents that serve at the at the polling stations but also uh here at the at the um council chambers or in the uh as other items are votes are tallied and ready for the uh results. So I want to thank you for that. Manager Robinson. Uh, thank you for your service as our our city manager. And Matt Buzz, you you have to have an attorney. So, and I and Matt Buzz are our, you know, he's been with us for many years. And, uh, there times when you just have to listen because you want to make sure we're always going down a path that we don't have problems. So, you know, before I ask manager Rob Robinson for his comments this evening, it it made me think about our structure of government here because I look around. I think most probably everybody here knows, but it's it's weekly that somebody asked me, well, what's a manager do? And it's the mayor and the council. And way our charter is, we have a a a council manager or mayor council manager form of government. So, the council here, we set the policy. We listen to what the residents are saying. We deliberate over there for those goals and objectives and what what needs to get done. So, we set the policy of the vision of where we're going to go forward. But the city manager is here to carry out those and does the day-to-day management of all the operations including the employees. So, it that separation works and I think it works because we stay focused to what we should be doing. We always will take comments that come from residents and and I always learn to say I I don't say I'll take care of it. What I say is I'll

see that it gets to the manager that it gets addressed. So that way we know how we um stay kind of in our lane and at the same time still have opportunities to speak with the residents about those results if not by the administration. So I I'm glad that I heard some things because I always think about that and this is probably the best time to talk about it because it starts our next term for two years. Manager Robinson, your comments this evening?

Yes, your honor, and sincerely for uh the mayor and the city council members and his clerk treasur, congratulations on on your elections. And because I'm not an elected official, I can kind of say things kind of straight from the hip. And and I'll tell you as citizens and voters of this city, you could have not selected people who are more about the heart and care. They the decisions they make and the conversations they have come from deep inside of them honestly from a place of service. And I don't have to say that cuz I'm not elected. So I I it it's the truth and it's really it goes to say about the caliber that our citizens expect from their local government and I think uh I think they do a wonderful job and you're very lucky to to have such people willing to serve of themselves so much time, so much effort, so much reading. Sorry, but there's there's so much that goes into that and you know I I'm just very proud to be the city manager here and working for these individuals and our residents. So, thank you.

Thank you. So, at this time uh you have your opportunity if you wish to do so. Citizens comments uh just be mindful if you wish to have make comments here. Please come to the podium, state your name, your jurisdiction or residence and be mindful of the rules of the chamber is three minutes. So, you have three minutes to say what it is you may wish to say. Step up, Mr. Ferdin. How you guys doing? Good to see you, man. I was going to speak. Um,

I come here, I see see guys a lot of times, but um and I say a lot of different things, but I really want to take a moment to tell you guys all thank you. Um, I personally, as a citizen, I love the city of Monroe. Um, I love this community, but I love his community leaders. I stand before here and I look at all you guys. I actually personally know and have worked with every one of you guys in different capacities. Councilwoman Stringham, me and you will be friends. Um, Andrew, thank you for everything you do with the food pantry and you do in the community. Mickey, Miss Claus, and all the things you do. Mr. Mayor, you've always been honest and upfront with me. Kelly, I wouldn't be the man I am today if it wasn't for you. Deb, you helped me. Four years ago, you didn't even know me. You sponsored a program I did, and you've been fighting a good fight ever since. Mike, all the labor, the skills you teach, people, you guys do so much good for the community. And I just want to get up here and say I am proud as a citizen of Monroe to have you guys there. Um, and everything they said, you guys do govern. You guys are all different. I know all you guys different capacities. You're all different individuals and it's beautiful the way you guys work together. Thank you guys for being you guys. And I truly mean this. I love every one of y'all. Have a good day. Other [applause] comments from those present here this evening. Other comments.

There's only one other thing to do before we adjourn. Sister Maxine, thank you again so much for being here and of course as we know we have a great partnership and relationship with the sisters at the IHM and I look forward to [clears throat] that over the next term and well beyond that as well. So thank you again sister for being here. Motion to adjurnn.

Motion by Councilwoman Stillg to adjourn. Sworded by Councilman Her. Clerk, please call the role. Yes. Yes. Vining, yes. Geriney, yes. Stringham, yes. Felder, Mayor Clark, yes. Thank you all for being here this evening and uh enjoy some more time out in the lobby here, please. Thank you so much. for a journ.

Oh no.