City Council - Regular Meeting

Good evening.

Our invocation today will be Chaplain Joe Hassler. It will be followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.

Will you please join me in prayer? Gracious God, we are thankful for the community that you have blessed us with. We ask that you continue to help us guide, lead, and strengthen all that come and all that are here. We thank you for who you are for each of us. In your son's name we say, amen.

Amen. I will pledge allegiance to the flag, It is now 4 p.m. on Tuesday, July 21st, 2026, and this meeting of the Ocala City Council is called to order. Clerk, please call the roll.

Mr. Marciano? Here. Mr. Musley?

Here.

Mr. Dreyer? Here. Mr. Hilty? Here. Mr. Mansfield?

Here.

Mr. Bethea?

Here. Item two on our agenda is new employees. When I call your name, please stand up for us. And I've been to mess this one up. Nathaniel Rodriguez. And he's with Public Works. Yes, sir. And no, I don't see the other person. Hey, let's welcome him. The clerk will provide the public notice for this evening meeting.

THE JULY 21, 2026 CITY COUNCIL MEETING WAS PUBLICLY NOTICED ON JUNE 3, 2026 ON THE CITY OF OCALA'S WEBSITE. AS A REMINDER, PUBLIC COMMENTS AND PRESENTATIONS ARE LIMITED TO THREE MINUTES UNLESS AUTHORIZED TO STAND BEYOND THAT TIME BY THE COUNCIL PRESIDENT AND MAJORITY OF COUNCIL. ALL MATERIALS FOR THE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL MUST BE GIVEN TO THE ATTENDANT STAFF FOR DISTRIBUTION. PRIOR TO SPEAKING AT THE PODIUM, PLEASE STATE YOUR NAME AND ADDRESS FOR THE RECORD AND TO MAINTAIN ORDER, SPEAKERS MUST BE RECOGNIZED BY THE COUNCIL PRESIDENT. Please silence your cell phones and all electronic devices for the duration of this meeting.

Thank you. Item 4A is a service award recognizing Priscilla Davis for 20 years of service with Recreation and Parks.

Thank you.

Ms. Davis, would you come up?

Priscilla Davis, affectionately known as Mimi to many in recreation centers and community, began her career with the City of Ocala's Recreation and Parks Department in June 2006 as a seasonal recreation aide at Lillian Bryant Summer Camp. In this role, she helped create positive summer experiences for countless children through engaging activities supervision, and program support. Three years later, she joined the department as a permanent part-time employee where she assisted with a wide variety of recreation programs and facility rentals at the same location. While balancing her responsibilities with the city, Priscilla maintained a parallel career with the Marion County Public Schools as a transportation aid. She retired from Marion County Public Schools after 30 years of dedicated service, demonstrating her remarkable commitment to serving the youth and families of our community in the multiple capacities. Following her retirement from the school system, Priscilla transitioned to a full-time position with Recreation and Parks. She has since become one of the most reliable and beloved customer service attendants at the Mary Sue Rich Community Center. Known for her warm smile, genuine care for patrons, and unwavering commitment, Priscilla consistently delivers exceptional service. Whether greeting visitors, answering questions, processing registrations, or resolving concerns, she creates a welcoming and inclusive environment that makes every guest feel valued and supported. Her 20 years of loyal and continuous service combined with her consistently positive attitude and strong work ethic have made her an invaluable member of the Recreation and Parks team. Priscilla's dedication and community-focused spirit continue to strengthen the department's mission and serve as an inspiring example to her colleagues across the city of Ocala. For 20 years of service, it's my pleasure to congratulate Priscilla. Please join me in thanking her. Thank you.

Item 4B is a service award recognizing Alton Peoples, Jr. for 25 years of service.

But Ocala Electric.

How are you?

Yeah, thanks. Thank you for being here for 25 years. Alton Lamar Peebles is a Marine Corps veteran who began his career with the Ocala Electric utility on June 5, 2001, when he was hired as a line crew groundman. Through hard work, dedication, and a commitment to his craft, Lamar advanced to line truck operator on January 27, 2003. He entered the apprenticeship program on June 1, 2006, and was promoted to lineman on June 1, 2010, and earned the position of working foreman on May 20, 2019. Throughout his career, Lamar has played a vital role in storm response efforts, providing mutual aid both locally and across the country. His first mutual aid deployment was in 2004 when he responded as a groundman to assist the city of Bartow following Hurricane Charlie. Since then, he has deployed to assist communities in Tallahassee, Bluntstown, Biloxi, Mississippi, Houma, Louisiana, and the Virgin Islands, among others. One of the highlights of Lamar's career was volunteering as a lineman in Papua New Guinea with the ITEC, the International Technical Electrical and Construction Group. During this mission, he helped upgrade and expand the electrical infrastructure, serving a local hospital, using his skills to improve the lives of others through reliable electric service. Outside of work, Lamar enjoys spending time outdoors hunting and fishing. He's been married to his wife, Lori, for 30 years. Together, they have one son, Brian, and a daughter-in-law, Christina, and two grandchildren, Junior and Addie. Is that J.R. or Junior?

That's Junior.

Junior? Brian Junior. Brian Junior?

They just wrote Junior. Okay, that's fine.

Okay, Brian Junior. You back there, Brian?

He is.

Stand up, buddy. For 25 years of service, please join me in congratulating Lamar Peebles.

Item 4C is a service award recognizing Linda Roos for 25 years of service with Ocala Police Department.

Thank you. Linda Roos began her career at the Ocala Police Department as a part-time supply tech and then as an administrative specialist before becoming a full-time fiscal technician in 2001. Linda has served in that capacity for 25 years. In her spare time, Linda likes to read and loves spending time with her daughter and granddaughter. For 25 years of service, it's my pleasure to congratulate Linda Roos. Please join me.

Item 4D is a service award recognizing Captain Sandra Duryea for 30 years of service with Ocala Police Department.

Captain Sandra Duryea began her career at the Ocala Police Department in 1996, where she served as patrol officer, field training officer, drug agent, and detective. Beginning in 2002, Sergeant Duryea served as a supervisor in patrol, field training, the mobile field force, property crimes, economic and sex crimes, intelligence unit, accreditation and training division. Beginning in 2017, Lieutenant Duryea served as patrol watch commander and oversaw the technical service unit. Promotion to captain came in 2021 and she oversaw the training division and and the Investigations Bureau. Currently, Captain Duryea oversees the East District Community Policing Bureau. She's been a department instructor since 1998. Captain Duryea is the wife to retired Captain Fred Duryea and the mother to one son, Michael Fernland. For 30 years of service, please join me in congratulating Captain.

ITEM 5, PRESENTATIONS. THERE ARE NONE. ITEM 6 IS OUR CONSENT AGENDA. ARE THERE ANY ITEMS WHICH COUNCIL WOULD LIKE REMOVED FROM THE CONSENT AGENDA FOR INDIVIDUAL DISCUSSION AND OR CONSIDERATION? Hearing none, I will accept the motion to approve the consider agenda. So moved. Is there a second? Second. Are there any comments from the public on this matter? The clerk will call the roll.

Mr. Holti?

Aye.

Mr. Musling?

Aye.

Ms. Dreyer? Aye. Mr. Mansfield? Aye. Mr. Bethea?

Aye. Item eight, introduction and first reading of ordinances. 8A is an introduction and first reading of ordinance 2026-22. Is there a member of the city council who will introduce this item? I'll introduce it. Thank you. The clerk will read the ordinance by title.

An ordinance amending the zoning map of the city of Ocala, Florida, changing the zoning from A1 general agriculture district to PD, planned development district, for a certain property located at 5575 Southwest 52nd Street, parcel 23835-000-00, approximately 82.10 acres. Case number PD26-0001, providing direction to staff, repealing inconsistent and or conflicting provisions, providing for severability of ordinance provisions, providing for modifications arising from consideration at a public hearing, providing direction to the codifier, and providing for an effective date.

Item 8B. It's an introduction and first reading of Ordinance 2026-23. Is there a member of the City Council who will introduce this item? I'll introduce. Thank you. The clerk will read the ordinance by title.

An ordinance amending the City of Ocala, Florida, Comprehensive Plan Future Land Use Map Series as required in Section 163.3161 through and including Section 163.3248 Florida Statutes detailing the future land use change case number LUC26-0003. Amending future land use map designation from neighborhood to public for property located in the 2800 block of Southwest 20th Street, Parcel 23476001-00. approximately 4.06 acres, providing direction to staff repealing inconsistent and or conflicting provisions, providing for severability of provisions, providing for modifications arising from consideration at a public hearing, providing direction to the codifier, and providing for an effective date.

Item HC is an introduction and first reading of Ordinance 2026-24. Is there a member of the City Council who will introduce this item?

I'll introduce. An ordinance amending the zoning map of the City of Ocala, Florida, changing the zoning from R1, single-family residential, and B1A, limited neighborhood business, to GU, governmental use, for certain property located in the 2800 block of Southwest 20th Street, parcel 23476001-00, approximately 4.06 acres. Case number ZON26-0008, providing direction to staff, repealing inconsistent and or conflicting provisions, providing for salvability of ordinance provisions, providing for modifications arising from consideration at a public hearing, providing direction to the codifier, and providing for an effective date.

Item 8D is an introduction and first reading of ordinance 2026-25. Is there a member of the council? Who will introduce this item?

I'll introduce.

Thank you. The clerk will read the ordinance.

An ordinance amending the City of Ocala, Florida Conference of Plan Future Language Map Series as required in Section 163.3161 through and including Section 163.3248 Florida Statutes. Detailing the future land use change, case number LUC 26-0004. Amending the future land use map designation from neighborhood to low intensity for property located in the 2800 block of Southwest 20th Street. Parcel 23472-003-00, 23472-002-00. and a portion of 23472-001-00, approximately 4.88 acres, providing direction to staff, repealing inconsistent and or conflicting provisions, providing for severability of ordinance provisions, providing for modifications arising from consideration at a public hearing, providing direction to the codifier, and providing for an effective date.

Thank you. 8E, introduction and first reading of ordinance 2026-26. Is there a member of the city council who will introduce this item?

I'll introduce.

Thank you. The clerk will read the ordinance by towel.

An ordinance amending the zoning map of the city of Ocala, Florida, changing the zoning, the zoning rezone from R3 multifamily residential to INST institutional for certain property located at 2781 Southwest 20th Street and northern portion of 2801 Southwest 20th Street. parcel 23472-004-00 and a portion of 23472-001-00, approximately 2.99 acres, case number ZON26-0009, providing direction to staff repealing inconsistent and or conflicting provisions, providing for salvability of ordinance provisions, providing for modification arising from consideration at a public hearing, providing direction to the codifier, and providing for an effective date.

Agenda item nine, public hearings and second readings of ordinances 9A is the adoption of ordinance 2026-21. Councilman Manfield, who introduced this item, is recognized for a motion.

Mr. President, I move that ordinance number 2026-21 be adopted as provided by the Charter of the City of Ocala, Florida and based upon evidence presented to City Council. except that adoption by sections on the second reading be waived.

Is there a second? Second. The clerk will read the ordinance by title.

An ordinance of the City of Ocala, Florida, amending and revising Chapter 43, Article 5, Code of Ordinance of the City of Ocala, Florida, Police Officers Retirement System, to conform to the 2025-2028 Collective Bargaining Agreement between the City of Ocala... FLORIDA AND THE FRATERNAL ORDER OF POLICE AMENDING MEMBER CONTRIBUTION RATES, PROVIDING FOR DROP CONTRIBUTIONS, ESTABLISHING A COST OF LIVING ADJUSTMENT FUND, REVISING CHAPTER 185 REVENUE ALLOCATION, LIMITING SUPPLEMENTAL BENEFITS, AMENDING DROP INTEREST PROVISIONS, PROVIDING TRANSITIONAL PROVISIONS, providing direction to staff, providing direction to the codifier, repealing inconsistent and or conflicting provisions, providing for several Billy of ordinance provisions, providing for modifications arising from consideration at a public hearing and providing an effective date.

Chief financial officer Janice Mitchell is recognized for a presentation.

Good afternoon, mayor and city council. I'm Janice Mitchell, chief financial officer. This item supports the city's goal of being fiscally sustainable. The proposed ordinance amends Chapter 43 of the City Code governing a police officer's retirement system. These amendments implement the pension-related provisions that were negotiated and agreed upon as part of the 2025-2028 collective bargaining agreement between the City and the Fraternal Order of Police. The ordinance increases the employee pension contributions, establishes a funding mechanism for a future cost of living adjustment benefit, revises the allocation of the Chapter 185 premium tax preserve revenues and updates to deferred retirement option plan provisions. These changes have been administered since October 1st, 2025, pursuant to the collective bargaining agreement, and this ordinance formally codifies those provisions within the city code. Do you have any questions?

Are there any comments from the public? Any questions or comments from the council? Clerk, call the roll.

Mr. Mansfield?

Aye.

Mr. Hilty? Aye. Mr. Musley?

Aye.

Ms. Dreyer? Aye. Mr. Bethea?

Aye.

Thank you.

General business agenda item 10. 10A is the adoption of additional expenditure for the purchase of two auto transformers. Do I hear a motion to approve this item? So moved. Is there a second? Second. Electric Utility Deputy Director Chad Lynch is recognized for presentation.

Thank you. Chad Lynch, Electric Deputy Director. This item supports the council's strategic goal of operational excellence. On August 15th, 2023, council approved the purchase of two 105 MVA auto transformers for the Gearman substation. As part of that agreement, the contract included a price adjustment provision tied to the producer price index due to the nearly three year manufacturing timeline. That provision was included because we knew market pricing could change over the term of the agreement, even though the final adjustment could not be determined at that time. Over the past three years, staff has provided informational updates to council on the status of the producer price index and the potential impact on this contract. Since our last update, the final adjustment has now been calculated in accordance with the contract. This agenda item requests approval of an additional 1.1 million to fund those contractual adjustments. These transformers remain a critical investment in maintaining the reliability of the Dearman substation. supporting continued system growth and ensuring the safe and reliable electric service for our customers. Staff recommends approval, and I am available to answer any questions.

Any comments from the public? Council, comments, considerations? Call the roll.

Mr. Musley?

Aye.

Mr. Mansfield?

Aye.

Ms. Dreyer? Aye. Mr. Holti? Aye. Mr. Bethea?

Aye. Thank you. Item 10B is the approval of a contract with C&M Lawn Care and Tree Service for grounds maintenance services. Do I hear a motion to approve this item? So moved. Is there a second? Second. City Engineer Sean Lanier is recognized for a presentation.

Good evening. Sean Lanier, city engineer. This agenda item supports the city's strategic goal of operational excellence. On April 30, 2026, the city issued an invitation to bid, and 11 vendors responded. Robert Daniel Dean, Sr., doing business at CNM Lawn Care and Tree Service, was the lowest responsible and responsive bidder. Staff recommends approval of the agreement with CNM Lawn Care, and I'm here to answer any questions.

Any questions from the public? Questions or comments from the council? Call the roll.

Mr. Holti. Aye. Ms. Dreyer. Aye. Mr. Musley. Aye. Mr. Mansfield. Aye. Mr. Bethea.

Aye. 10C is the approval of the second amendment to a contract with Polydyn Inc. Do I hear a motion to approve this item? So moved. Second. Mr. Lanier is recognized for a presentation.

Thank you. Sean Lanier, city engineer. This agenda item supports the city's strategic goal of operational excellence. Liquid polymer is used to remove calcium hardness from potable water and is used to dewater biosolids from the wastewater treatment process before hauling and disposal in a landfill. Staff recommends approval of the remaining one-year renewal with Polydyn Inc. for supply of liquid polymer, and I'm here to answer any questions.

Questions from the public? Council? Call the roll.

Ms. Schrier? Aye. Mr. Musley?

Aye.

Mr. Holti?

Aye.

Mr. Mansfield?

Aye.

Mr. Bethea?

Aye. Thank you. Item 10D is the approval of a three-year contract for janitorial services with J.J. Holdings and Services, LLC. Do I hear a motion to approve this item? So moved. Is there a second? Second. Police Chief Michael Barkin.

Good afternoon, everyone. Mike Balkan, police chief. This agenda item supports the city's relevant strategic goal of quality of place. We're seeking council's approval of a three-year contract for janitorial services with JJ Holdings and Services LLC with an aggregate expenditure of $107,100. This contract covers janitorial services for four separate locations. That includes OPD headquarters, both of our district offices, and the drug unit. I recommend approval.

Any comments from the public? Council? Call the roll.

Mr. Hilty. Aye. Ms. Dreyer. Aye. Mr. Musley. Aye. Mr. Mansfield. Aye. Mr. Bethea.

Aye. Thank you. Item 10E is the approval of Fourth Amendment to Agreement with Wear Gloves, Inc. Do I hear a motion to approve this item?

So moved.

Is there a second? Second. Public Works Director Darren Potts is recognized for staff presentation.

Good afternoon, Darren Park, Public Works Director. This agenda item supports the city's strategic goals of operational excellence, quality of place. This is a one-year renewal with our agreement with Wear Gloves. They provide litter control in city-owned and maintain rights-of-way in the parks, and they also provide stormwater surface drain cleaning. They have performed exceptionally for us. Staff recommends approval. I'm here to answer any questions.

Any comments from the public? Council.

I would just, I know Ken and Wendy are here. I just got to say they do a great job. I mean, I'd love to see this contract even grow to get some of the other homeless people that are, you know, in some of our parks. They do an amazing job getting people off the streets and back on their feet. And our city is clean because of what they're doing. So thank you, both of you.

We will continue to look for ways to put them into service.

Absolutely.

Well, I like to echo that because I see them somewhere everywhere, and I'm sure there's some supervision there somewhere, but it seems like they're well-trained as well. I mean, you see them all over the city, and it's a good thing. It's a positive thing, so I echo that sentiment. All right. No further comment? Call the roll.

Ms. Dreyer? Aye. Mr. Musling?

Aye.

Mr. Hilton? Aye. Mr. Mansfield? Aye. Mr. Bethea?

Aye. Thank you. Item 10F is the approval of the Second Amendment to an Agreement with Infrastructure Consultants and Engineering PLLC. Do I hear a motion to approve this item? So moved. Is there a second? Second. Our Port Director, Matthew Groh, is recognized for staff presentation.

Good afternoon. Matt Groh, airport director. This agenda item meets council's strategic goals of, or goal of operational excellence. This is the second amendment with infrastructure consulting and engineering, PLLC, to provide continuing professional general aviation engineering services out at the airport. Happy to answer any questions. Staff recommends approval.

Comments from the public? Council? Call the roll.

Mr. Hilty. Aye. Mr. Musley. Aye. Mr. Dreyer. Aye. Mr. Mansfield. Aye. Mr. Bethea.

Aye. Item 10G is the approval of the second amendment to an agreement with McFarland Johnson, Inc. Do I hear a motion to approve this item? So moved. Is there a second? Second. Mr. Groves recognized for staff presentation.

Thank you. Matt Groh, airport director. This agenda item meets Council's strategic goal of operational excellence. This second amendment to the McFarland-Johnson agreement for continuing professional general aviation engineering services. We have two consultants with the airport. Staff recommends approval. I'm happy to answer any questions.

Are there any comments from the public? Council, call the roll.

Ms. Dreyer. Aye. Mr. Hilty. Aye. Mr. Muslin. Aye.

Aye.

Mr. Mansfield?

Aye.

Mr. Bethea?

Aye. Item 10H is the approval of Resolution 2026-44. Do I hear a motion to approve this item? So moved. There's a second. Second. Mr. Grove, you're recognized.

Thank you. Matthew Gray, Report Director again. This agenda item meets Council's strategic goal of operational excellence. One of the things that came out of the airport master plan process, we're almost done with it, was a need to provide a turnoff, for lack of a better term, non-aviation term, for aircraft to pull over and go through their pre-departure checklist and engine checks and whatever. Get out of line. We're so busy right now there are six or seven airplanes that are stacked ready to take off and oftentimes they're sitting down there at the end of the runway waiting almost 30 minutes at a time. This holding bay was recognized through the master plan process as a way to alleviate that and provide some additional efficiencies in the movement of aircraft at the airport. The FAA has agreed. They're funding the design for it. Staff recommends approval. I'm happy to answer any questions.

Any comments from the public? Council? Call the roll.

Ms. Dreyer? Aye. Mr. Mansfield? Aye. Mr. Mosley? Aye. Mr. Holti? Aye. Mr. Bethea?

Aye.

Mr. President, we're going to pull 10-J.

Okay. What about 10-I? I'm sorry. That's okay. Is it 10-J you want to pull?

Yeah. Okay. All right. I didn't see the budget resolution.

Item 10-I. Is the approval of budget resolution 2026-151. Do I hear a motion to approve this item?

So moved.

Is there a second? Second. Mr. Groh, you are recognized for staff presentation.

Thank you. Matt Groh, airport director. This agenda item meets council's strategic goals of fiscal sustainability and operational excellence. This is the budget resolution that obligates the funds for the previously mentioned grant. Staff recommends approval.

Did there any comments from the public? Any from council?

Yeah, I have one. Yes, sir. What do you estimate the cost to actually construct it once the design gets done? Are we talking a million dollars? Two million?

It's probably close to a million. Okay. Again, it'll be funded through the FAA. They've recognized the importance of the project. That was my follow-up question. And they don't like to... fund design projects that they have no intent of constructing. That makes sense. Thank you.

Okay. Any further comments? Call the roll.

Mr. Musley?

Aye.

Ms. Dreyer? Aye. Ms. Hilty? Aye. Mr. Mansfield? Aye. Mr. Bethea?

Aye. Thank you.

Item 10J is pulled. All right, so we have the city manager's report.

Thank you, sir. You see 12A, discuss interview dates for internal auditor. We thought that the way that we'd set that up is very similarly the way that we set up the city attorneys. We have four applicants. to be interviewed. They'll interview one-on-one with you in the morning for lunch, break for lunch, come back and do the public part of that for an hour at the end. So it'll take probably two and a half hours in the morning and then an hour after lunch. It can be an off Tuesday or it can be any day.

Tuesday's work for me.

Chris, you want to come up here? How far, what's the closest date that you can do? Can you do August?

Oh, certainly. Yeah, the 10th or the 11th? The 11th.

Yeah, the 11th. August 11th.

If that's okay. That's a Tuesday, right?

Yes, sir. We have a budget workshop. We've got a budget workshop.

Now you're looking Tuesday's become a lot tougher because then you're you're talking about your sandwich between two council weeks, right? Yeah fourth and the 18th you'd have to go to the 25th, which we We are moving along without any issue. So if we if that works best that would be that's totally fine with me It's just whatever is best for the council 25th the TPO board meeting as long as we've done by well, that's trying to move that to two o'clock.

So You can do

Getting back to the 11th, if we started at 9.30, you've got two hours until 11.30, which is the budget workshop.

We're going to be here anyway. It would take two and a half hours because there's four applicants, five people, a half hour apiece. That means we start at 9.00. Start at 9.00, correct, sir. Yes.

How does everybody else feel about that? Yes. Kills one Tuesday, not two.

Sure. Okay. August 11th? Yes. Yes, sir. Thank you.

Do you have Lori send out a? Would you have Lori send out an invite? Yes, sir. Thank you.

And I'll arrange it with the applicants. Thank you. Okay. Thank you.

Okay. I notice a gentleman sitting here in the front row. He was introduced last week, but this is Jamil Barnes. He's our new procurement director, so we welcome him from Pinellas Housing Authority.

Welcome. He's been here about three weeks now.

Doing a great job, so look forward to working with Jamil. July 11th, we had relatively disruptive storms, 70 separate outages, affected nearly 7,200 people. I think Public Works removed about 32 or so trees. I'd like to thank, the response was great. Our staff really worked. You know, effortlessly, it was a big effort, but they did it like, you know, like they always do, OEU, Public Works, Fire Rescue, PD, Fleet, OFN, all of them really work. They did a great job. And I'd really like to thank all of them for the job that they did. And the last thing, Travel and Leisure Magazine recognized Ocala as one of the eight best U.S. cities to live for baby boomers according to real estate professionals. So we made another list.

Baby boomers.

Baby boomers.

Ten years from now, they'll be saying, where did they go?

I hope not.

I hope not, too. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Lee. Ocala Police Department report. Chief Balkan.

Good afternoon again, everyone. Mike Balkan, Police Chief.

You broke it. Doing your own IT.

All right. Well, I'm going to get started while I work on that. For the year-to-date crime comparisons, we've trended upwards in violent crime when compared to this time last year. Thus far, we've investigated 896 incidents this year, slightly higher than the 2025 numbers. Thankfully, 75% of those cases, 668 of them were simple misdemeanor battery offenses. All right. Thanks, guys. All right, moving on. Reported property crimes are also up slightly with frauds representing the largest numbers under that category. And our economic crimes detectives are working hard to bring that number down. Societal crimes are on par with 2025 as well, largely driven by the proactive work that's being done by our officers, detectives, and agents. With that said, I can tell you narcotic violations as well as internet sex crimes account for a large portion of those numbers. All right, overall for the period, the department worked over 7,800 total incidents, about the same as last year. 2,700 of those were dispatch calls for service, which is up by 11%. The balance of those cases was over 5,000 proactive calls during the two-week period. 278 crimes were reported, which resulted in 227 arrests. Officers also conducted nearly 1,000 traffic stops and investigated 135 vehicle crashes. Case highlights for this period include an arson fire. We'll back up. I believe the deputy chief discussed this during last council's meeting and just completely destroyed the home on Southwest 4th Street. I won't go through the fire video, but our folks working with OFR's fire marshal as well as the U.S. Marshal Service were able to locate and arrest the offender, which happened to be a relative of the victim.

No.

Show me your hands. 10-3, 10-3. Give me a station. Give me a station.

I wanted to show you that quickly just to illustrate our ongoing efforts to prevent gun crime throughout the city. Our directed patrol units continue to stay busy focusing on street-level drugs and firearm violations. And what's become really routine is officers doing these traffic stops and finding these hidden firearms within these vehicles being possessed by convicted felons. That gentleman, Mr. Thomas, was ultimately arrested for the listed charges. Lastly, we are beginning to wrap up our 2024 homicide case of Derek Brown that occurred up in the 2800 block of Northeast 8th Terrace. This gentleman is the first of three co-defendants to be convicted, and he obtained a life sentence in prison. That's all I have. Thank you.

Thank you, sir. Agenda item 14, Fire Chief Cliff Welborn, recognized for his presentation.

Good afternoon, Cliff Welborn, Fire Chief. So for our update for the last two weeks, there's a call load. You can see Rescue 3, Rescue 4, both with 153, and then Rescue 1 right there behind them, 152. Engine 1 leading the way on the engine side with 123. 162 motor vehicle accidents responded. Across the city, we responded to 97 of those for Royal Fire. Two structure fires and 97 community paramedics and corps calls. Total calls for this period, 1,110, bringing the total for the year 15,249. Just a couple of highlights. Obviously, as was mentioned earlier, there was a weather event on the 11th and 12th. The 11th being the biggest event. Saturday's aftermath was definitely the most notable, leaving a significant number of residents without power. The sudden effects brought upon by the wind did bring 28 emergency calls, 24 of those being within the first 90 minutes of the storm hitting. Everybody and all the crews did do a great job across the board. And then also we didn't have a target fire. Early on, a couple of hours before the fire, we spotted flames. Luckily, no injuries were reported here. The fire wasn't the same. That's all I have. Thank you.

Thank you, sir. Any questions for Chief Welbon? Thank you, sir. City Attorney's Report.

Your report, sir.

Public comments. We have a couple. Christopher Diplom.

Yes, I'm here. I'm not going to take up too much time.

Okay, so when you get to the mic, I want you to give me your name and your address.

Oh, yes.

And you do have three minutes if you want to take that. My name is Christopher Dippin.

All right. And my address is 1612 Northeast 25th Avenue, Lot 8B, Ocala, Florida. Okay, so basically in a nutshell, I was unaware how safe Ocala is. It seems like... What happened to me last Sunday at 5 o'clock where I called for public service, 911, because a driver had displayed a firearm, because I had honked, and as they told the police, passed them aggressively. Initially, there was no police response. This is a busy section of town, Northeast 36th Avenue and the Boulevard. Sunday at 5 o'clock, very little traffic. Well, cup was on. I've never had that happen to me before, where somebody pulled a gun like that. Now, they didn't point it at me, so later, 20 minutes later when I made contact with OPD, they said they had the Second Amendment right to display the firearm because they didn't point it, they didn't say they were going to kill me, but the window was already down. I've reached out to the city, the officer, the chief of police, and the mayor. They keep bringing up this blotched investigation where it's kind of being turned around on me. So I'm getting the Florida state senator's office involved, and my release form says briefly state. You can cut me off. Am I past my three minutes? No, sir.

Keep talking. You'll know. Okay.

It says, I believe the whole handling by the police caused this reckless display of a firearm case to get turned on me since I tried to get the plate number and the location and because OPD from the get-go decided that they weren't gonna do anything about it and now they're shaming me because I followed the person because I tried to get a plate number and a location.

We'll see what happens.

Thank you for your time.

Yes. Sir? Sir? Come back up for a second. Okay, so we do appreciate you come sharing with us. Only thing I can say to you is this. I THINK THAT THE POLICE DEPARTMENT IS FOLLOWING THEIR PROTOCOL. I'M PRETTY SURE SOMEONE DID COMMUNICATE WITH YOU, CORRECT? I'M SORRY? SOMEONE FROM OPD DID COMMUNICATE WITH YOU.

SO WHEN THIS HAPPENED, THEY DIDN'T TAKE IT SERIOUSLY BECAUSE THERE WAS NO RESPONSE. 20 MINUTES LATER AT MY HOUSE TELLING ME THEY HAD THE SECOND AMENDMENT RIGHT. So I think initially from the get-go, the police didn't want to get involved with this. Maybe because it was a gun. I don't know. I don't know how City of Ocala, what's the protocol for road rage. So I'm unsure. So at this point, I'm just going to be in touch with my Florida state.

Sir, sir, sir. So, yeah, you do what you got to do. Yeah. All right? That's not a problem.

Okay.

You told your side of it, right?

Yes.

We hear you. That's all I can say to you. I'm going to say to you is I apologize for any misconduct. I'm not talking about our police department. Don't have to do that. I'm talking about another citizen carrying on in that manner, right?

You know, this is really messed up what the person did, but the police response, I think, is even more messed up.

Well, maybe, but I'm not sure that it...

That's fine. I've spoke my piece. I have plain more to say. We're not going to resolve anything right here right now. I'm just laying the facts out.

We appreciate you. All right. Ms. Alicia Gonzalez? Julius? Is that correct?

Yeah, Lisa Gonzalez. Hi.

My name is Alyssa Gonzalez-Julius. My address is 6656 Southwest 89th Loop in Ocala, Florida. Good? Thank you. Okay. Excuse me in advance. This is not easy to read. Okay. I stand here before you in deep grief and outrage following tragic and preventable death of my younger brother of 41 years old. His death was directly caused by the ingestion of kratom, a highly dangerous and unregulated lethal compound marketed and sold in almost all gas stations and tobacco shops. As a cardiovascular invasive specialist, I work daily in high critical and high acuity environments managing life-threatening emergencies throughout my career. I've never witnessed such terrifying, catastrophic whole body shutdown in a person so young that we couldn't save or prolong. Watching his body suffer, Complete systemic collapse was harrowing and unnatural and completely unacceptable. Kratom is not harmless nor natural in its form now. I can also assure you that if he knew he would never wake up again, he wouldn't have taken the substance. When ingested, its active compound, specifically mitra-nitrogene, I'm saying that wrong right now because I'm stuttering, and it's concentrated highly potent metabolizes into 7-OH, this process is made through the liver. As the hepatic system attempts to metabolize these toxic alkaloids, bioaccumulation rapidly overwhelms normal metabolic pathways. This triggers extreme hepatotoxicity, soaring organ toxicity, and severe metabolic dysfunction that cascades into multi-organ failure. Also, central nervous system and respiratory failure and total physiological collapse. These manufacturers have concentrated and profited from these substances that act as a potent, deadly, unapproved, lethal drug by selling 70H Kratom enhanced products without proper warnings or clinical oversight. They are deceiving consumers and putting human lives directly at risk of death for profit. Maybe it should state that if you take this pill, you may never not wake up again. In fact, the fact of the matter here is that there have been greater than 750 deaths in Florida reported by the medical examiners alone. This does not include families that just thought their loved one died from natural causes and did not perform extensive autopsies. This should never be in the hands of anyone in our community. A federal and state ban should be mandatory without any questions. Corporations should be held liable, both criminally and civilly, for the horrific deaths it has caused or near deaths in some cases. My family has lost a beloved son, brother, and uncle. He leaves behind also a four-year-old son who we will never know. And his son will never know how amazing he is. In the prime of his life due to negligence and corporate creed, I hope to use every medical and legal public platform at my disposal to ensure that no other family has to endure this nightmare, watching their loved one be taken away by toxicity. Sorry and thank you. Thank you so much. I do just want to show you. He was young, only 41 years old. This is his son, his family, his mom, his dad, and all his nieces. And I hope that somebody can help Do something to stop this in our town and city and state Thank you.

Thank you so much We can

My name is Ian Crawford. I live at 900 Southeast 3rd Ave in Ocala, Florida. I'm here today to talk about Seven Stacks Kratom Nitrogen Blend. Before we start, I printed photos out that I wanted to share with you guys. Which way do I pass them?

Okay.

So good evening, Mayor and Council members. Thank you for allowing me to speak today. I'm here to share my experience with seven stacks, create a nitrogen blend and the profound impact it had on my life. On April 25th, 2026, my best friend Kosuke and I walked into Smoke Shop Guys, a smoke shop steps away from the Ocala Police Department. We purchased seven stacks, create a nitrogen blend before heading to his apartment in Gainesville, Florida. But we thought it was going to be a normal fun night between two friends quickly turned into my worst nightmare. On April 26th, at 8 a.m., my parents received a phone call that no parent wants to receive. My best friend and I had overdosed from Stevan's DAG Kratomitrogen blend. We both fell into comas, and Kosuke's parents were woken up from a phone call about this in Tokyo, Japan, and quickly were on their way to America. Thanks to the quick actions of the first responders and medical professionals at Shands Hospital, we survived. A simple choice of buying this legal drug cost me my sense of safety, my job, financial burdens, months of health and recovery, lingering physical and emotional effects, and the peace of knowing that my best friend and I would both come home. A substance with the power to put two young people in Tacoma should not be as easy to obtain as a soda or a snack. Kratom-Mitrogen blend acts on the same opioid receptors as in the brain that respond for pain relief, respiratory depression, and dependence. Between January 2023 and April 2026, there were exactly 3,672 suspected overdose EMS encounters involving Kratom-Mitrogen or derivatives. Unlike traditional medications that undergo rigorous testing and regulations, these products are often sold with limited oversight, leaving customers unaware of their true potency and risks. I'm not here today to relive the worst day of my life. I'm here to help prevent another family from receiving the call my parents received that morning. I stand before you not as a statistic, but as someone who survived and who wants to ensure that others have the same chance. A wise man once told me, sometimes God wrecks your plans so your plans won't wreck you. That is something I've had to come back to every day. There's a saying I often think of to remind myself of this. You don't drown by falling in the river. You drown by staying submerged in it. In this journey of life, we're all going to swing, miss, trip, and even all-out yard sale. But what matters is our ability to rise again. So always remember you can't lose yourself if you know how to be true to yourself. I ask you to take meaningful action to ban the sale of Seven Stacks Crate and Nitrogen Blend in our city so that others do not suffer the same fate. Thank you for your time and service to our city.

Thank you, Ian. Thank you, sir. Is there any other? Thank you. All right. Agenda item 17, information items. Councilmembers, you can look at your information items on your sheet. Remember those dates. Remember August the 25th, TPO is at 2 p.m. instead of 3 p.m.?

Mayor. Thank you, Council President. First, I want to thank Alyssa and Ian for coming in tonight. It takes a lot of courage to do what they did, and I'm very grateful. You know, I talked on Kratom about six months ago and how serious it is, and it's becoming more and more of an issue. You know, several of the stories have been presented. I emailed you out an email from Dr. Acevedo, He's seen specifically cases where a gentleman turned blue. He lost his loved one. At OPD, we've seen that people have overdosed with packages of Kratom next to them, and they're deceased. Numerous people have reached out to me in the last six months talking about what Kratom has done to them and their families. Kratom is now illegal in nine states. States are continuing to pick this up and see how serious it is. Even California, California has banned the sale of Kratom. I think that speaks volumes. Our Attorney General, three weeks ago, he extended his ban on 7-OH. The problem with that is there's no testing for that, and it doesn't address the issue of kratom. In fact, one of the doctors in his press conference talked specifically about kratom and how much of an issue. 7-OH is a compound that enhances kratom, but kratom is a major issue. We cannot wait for our state to address this. This is a serious issue, and we see that lives have already been lost. It was several weeks ago we were in the opioid settlement meeting where I brought up to Commissioner Bryant, where I brought up to the group, Council President Bethea was in there that this is an issue in our community. And she proposed writing an ordinance that would ban the sale of kratom in our community. And that's my proposal to you today is that we partner with the county and we ban the sale of kratom and we take a stand. Sarasota County has done it and they've been effective. I personally believe in the next year or two the state will have to address it. But why wait? We have lives that are being lost. We have kids' lives that could possibly pick this stuff up. And it rests with us. So I propose that I know that Will has started to meet with the county attorney. And they have a draft or an outline that they've worked on. And he's looked at it. And he can answer any questions. But I propose that we put it on the agenda. Will, did you have anything that you would like to add to that?

Thank you. The mayor and I have spoken several times. At his request, I did reach out to my counterpart at the county. I've spoken with the assistant county attorney who drafted their ordinance. He sent me a copy of that. It's my understanding that they're ready to move forward with that through their process. I don't know exactly what that process looks like, but they were waiting until the mayor had an opportunity to make this presentation tonight. So it If it's the pleasure of council, we can continue to have that collaborative relationship with them. We can either replicate exactly what they've done or, based on feedback from you, if there is a different approach that Ocala needs to take, we can develop an ordinance that does that as well. There is no framework to follow because this is a, other than Sarasota County, there aren't a lot of other jurisdictions that have done it There aren't any other jurisdictions that I was able to find that have done it. But I think, and I think there are some pitfalls to avoid and we can work through that. But I don't have anything else to add besides that other than, you know, I'm here to take your direction and if it's pleasure of counsel, we can move forward however you direct us to.

I have a couple questions. How old are you? Young man. Twenty-one. That's pretty bad. I mean, I have to admit, you know, my kids, I've got a son a little bit older than you now, but I mean, you go into a store and you look at this and say, hey, let's go have some fun. Whether I agree with, you know, it's like you're thinking you're going to buy something you can go out and have some fun with. I'm just going to kill you. So, I mean, I've heard the same things. I believe we should take a stance. I believe that I don't see why we can't just say, hey, or at least put, if we can't legally, and I know everybody, I've talked to attorneys, okay, what can we legally do? Well, the federal government hasn't outlawed it. Well, what can we legally do now? Is there any way that we can put higher standards on the people who sell this stuff? If it does get into the hands of somebody younger, that they can be just shut down totally. Put something that has some kind of meat on it right now. So right now all you're doing, they're just saying because there's no federal government that you can buy this stuff if you're over 21. I don't disagree that we shouldn't do something. I mean, let me back that up. I think we should do something, period. I don't want to see this stuff in my town. Again, that looks just like you should go in and say, hey, I want to do something about buying a six-pack of beer or something like that. So what can we do? And maybe just go ahead and do something. You get sued, you get sued. When they come in here and they talk to us and say, hey, you can't do that anymore, we're going to say, this is for our constituents. We have kids that are dying on this stuff, and you're telling me I can't do it anymore? I think you need to leave. So, I mean, at some point in time, we have to take a stand THAT'S HOW I FEEL. I FEEL PRETTY STRONGLY ABOUT IT.

SO IT'S MY UNDERSTANDING THAT YOU ARE LOOKING TO BAN THE SALE OF CREDIM PRODUCTS IN THE CITY OF OCALA. MARION COUNTY IS GOING TO DO THE SAME, IF IT'S THE PLEASURE OF THAT BOARD, VIA A CODE ENFORCEMENT MECHANISM. IS THAT CORRECT? WELL, THAT WOULD BE ONE OPTION.

THAT WOULD BE ONE OPTION TO USE CODE ENFORCEMENT, AND THEN MY OFFICERS would support that process. In fact, we'd be the ones to monitor it. But if we wanted to make it where they're breaking the law, it's a second misdemeanor, we could go that route. But we felt like the code enforcement option would be the easiest to keep it out of the courts to be able to essentially use our law enforcement to enforce it.

And I did speak with our chief earlier today about this, just to make sure that they were on board with using your officers for that. And he was completely on board with it. So you guys are the specialized group in dealing with drug enforcement, and they already know what they're doing. So any concerns? I did have some initial concerns, and he walked me right through it. So I think it makes sense. I think that for Senate Bill 180, I think you need to make sure that this passes the test, Will.

That's a concern. I mean, it's read most broadly this would be a more stringent regulation than existed prior to Senate Bill 180. I HAVEN'T HAD A SPECIFIC CONVERSATION WITH MR. MENTOR ABOUT HOW HIS OFFICE THINKS THEIR ORDINANCE AVOIDS THAT PROBLEM. AND THAT'S SOMETHING WE CAN DO FOLLOWING THIS MEETING. BUT THAT'S A CONCERN. FORTUNATELY SENATE BILL 180 THE LAW THAT IMPLEMENTS SENATE BILL 180 ALLOWS US TO CHANGE OUR REGULATION IN THE EVENT THAT SOMEONE CHALLENGES US WITHOUT INCURRING THE ADDITIONAL ATTORNEY'S FEES PROVISION THAT happens if you don't back out and lose. So we can address that in the drafting process and then that would also give you an opportunity to change your mind if you do get challenged when you see what the basis of that challenge is. But I'd like an opportunity to chat with them in detail on that specific point to see what their thought process is.

CONCERNS ME A LITTLE BIT. I DON'T TYPICALLY GO INTO GAS STATIONS WHERE THEY SELL STUFF LIKE THIS. I DON'T EVEN KNOW HOW THIS COMES OTHER THAN THE YOUNG MAN SHOWING US THE PILL FORM. like short shots, like little energy drink shots.

Yeah, you can buy it in shots. And it's right on the counter, right next to everything else, next to the candy. You can buy it in a powder form, a pill form. And I didn't even speak in the amount of people. I've spoken to people who... You know, they've become so highly addicted. They say that you can actually have a harder time coming off this than an opioid once you become addicted to this. So it is a serious issue in the community. But yeah, if you were to go into a gas station, the major chains do not carry this. And I think that speaks volumes that the major chains are not carrying it. It's the privately-owned gas stations and smoke shops. And I'm sure it's a liability or the fact that it's already banned in several other states, that they can't maybe carry it. But I think that kind of speaks volumes that it's being sold in these smaller gas stations, privately-owned, and then the smoke shops.

Where is this stuff made? Is it made in China? Is it coming from?

Yeah, a lot of it is.

Marion County Children's Alliance does environmental scans. In other words, send people into these gas stations and stuff and read the labels and stuff. And just like with some of this stuff, it has THC in it. It has to be below a certain level of THC. I mean, not the kratom, but, I mean, it's just a bunch of stuff in these small chain gas stations that, you know, if your kid get hold of that, ain't no telling what might happen.

Yeah. You know, I talked to, so I went one step further. I actually talked to some guys that I know that are in the medical marijuana market, you might say. And they're not even for some of this stuff. You know, they just, because their market, because it's federal and it has, they've actually, they're regulated. They have to show exactly what they have, what kind of potency. They have to go through a lot of tests. And so they're even like, hey, this stuff is not regulated. It's not. There's no way to test it right now, and you don't know what you're buying. That's the whole idea. You just don't know what you're getting. Again, if you looked at that and you just said, hey, let's go out and think you're going to have some fun, next thing you know, it kills you. And then, plus, like you said, now it's highly addictive. So there's no testing that's done at the federal level. That's the reason why they don't want to touch it. They don't even know. what the stuff is, basically. So, you know, that's where the medical marijuana space, you know, those guys were even not for this. So, anyhow, that's just what I think about. You know, I've talked to people in that market. Just I wanted to explore, you know, what's being said about it. And that's the information I'm getting.

I KNOW LAST TIME WE HAD THE DISCUSSION, AND THAT WAS REALLY KIND OF THE FIRST TIME OUR EYES WERE OPENED ABOUT THIS CREDIT. AND IT WAS MAINLY, DURING THAT DISCUSSION, IT WAS MAINLY CONFINED TO A TEA ROOM DOWNTOWN. AND THEN THAT FOLLOWING SATURDAY, I HAPPENED TO BE SITTING IN DUNCAN DONUTS WITH A BUNCH OF GUYS THAT I NORMALLY, I LOOK ACROSS THE STREET TO THE Shell gas station and there's the big thing the unsigned Kratom and that's when I first learned that it's now being sold in Places like that and and you're right. It's not controlled. So I think we really need to do something Test the waters do whatever we have to do. Let us get turned down and we'll try again But I think we need to do something be more proactive than wait for something else. So Especially if we can get some support from the county, you know in the forest legislation all that stuff So would you suggest that?

We have Mr. Will to talk with the county, find out more, bring it back to us. Absolutely, yeah.

Well, we need to come up with an ordinance. That would be what we could do at our level.

Well, yes. And the point is, though. to get to know just what they plan on doing. Not to say we got to do just what they do or whatever, but let's, I mean, sometimes there's an abundance of information, all right? We may have part of it. Somebody else may have another part of it. But we put all that together, then we got a stronger fight for what we want to really do to accomplish. That's what I'm trying to get at.

But we have strength in numbers if we can join the county, maybe not doing the exact same thing, but at least learn from them and learn from other counties what they've done.

So that's what we're going to ask our staff to do? Yes. Pete, you here? Yep. Mr. Will?

Yes, sir. I've got a couple of questions. Are you inferring that this should be a code violation or a criminal violation?

I believe they're doing it via code violation.

Okay. And you can address some of my comments. So if it's a code violation, then we're bringing in our code board to be the actual arbiter of when there's an actual violation because there will be a violation, okay? So I think we're going to need to educate our code board and then or decide that all cases involving Kratom would go straight to a magistrate instead of the code board. And I don't know if you can do that or not, Will. You can.

We can work on that. That's a good idea.

And I'm assuming it would be a violation to even display Kratom is sold here.

It would be.

Correct. So you're thinking of going that route?

That's how I interpret the drafts of the county's ordinance that I see, in addition to actually selling it, the marketing of it. And at the intersection of one of your questions and one of Mr. Mansfield's, First points, I think the current state law makes it a crime to sell this to individuals under 21 years of age. I think what the county's ordinance does is also attach to the code enforcement process the ability to revoke the certificate of occupancy for the place that's selling it. So instead of just making it a crime for an individual to sell it and that person gets arrested and goes to jail, I interpret the county's ordinance to also empower them to close the business by revoking its CO. And so I think, to your point, that may be a different approach than the one that's already out there that the state has given us in the statute that simply addresses that issue of making a crime to sell it or give it or provide it to someone who's under 21. So that's not directly on point to your first question. I think the county's ordinance anticipates using the code enforcement path As Mr. Lee said, I think we can pick which cases we take to the board or to the magistrate. Or we may conclude that we need to handle it slightly differently. That may be the one difference between our ordinance and the county's. There's no reason they have to be identical. It can just be a starting place to have that conversation. It may be, and the mayor and I have talked about this, that we determine it is more appropriate for a law enforcement officer to be the one who decides does this kind of case than a code enforcement officer.

I totally agree that it should be a law enforcement officer. Right now we're in discussion amongst us up here. I think it ought to be the police department that would handle it. And if you want to run it through the code system, then you can do that. Because you've got the ability to levy fines and you have the ability for repeat offenders. And then, like you say, I guess you could revoke the occupancy license. And there may be some voluntary compliance. You know, maybe if a police officer goes in there and says, hey, we've got an ordinance here in Ocala, you can't sell this stuff and you can't display a for sale on it. And there may be some that will pull it off the shelves. Maybe.

Yeah. I'm not sure about that one, but that's okay. We've got to try it, you know.

I'm not sure anybody's going to voluntarily put it off the shelf. I didn't say that in anticipating that was going to happen.

There will be one or two that do. I don't know whether Mr. Sexton has done any research on this or not, but the DEA has, this month, issued an emergency notice to temporarily place 7-OH above a specific threshold INTO SCHEDULE ONE, THE HIGHEST FEDERAL RESTRICTED CATEGORY ALONGSIDE HEROIN. SO THAT WOULD CHANGE THE WHOLE GAME.

THAT'S A COMPOUND OF CRATEM. OTHER KINDS.

OTHER COMPOUNDS.

YES, SIR. AND THAT TRACKS AS WELL WITH FLORIDA'S ATTORNEY GENERAL ENTERED AN EMERGENCY ORDER PLACING 70H SPECIFICALLY IN THE HIGHEST LEVEL OF, I GUESS, IN THE HIGHEST SCHEDULE FOR. I think one of the pitfalls of the traditional methodology of trying to regulate this has been that there are myriad different formulas and variations of the same simple chemical formula. And so I think what the county's ordinance does is a different approach in that it doesn't focus so much on a specific compound or chemical formula. It very broadly defines what can register as the violation. So if it prevents someone from taking one variation from 7-OH or one variation from the plant, it says it doesn't have to be natural. It can be synthetic. It can be natural. So again, just looking at their ordinance as a starting point, they very broadly defined the thing that is being regulated and prohibited. But I do think what you're talking about, from both the federal and state level to dovetail with the mayor's comment about California and seven or nine other states is it does feel to me, we've been tracking this for a couple years now in various capacities, the trend is toward more regulation from the feds or the state level, which would make all local governments' lives easier. Right now we're trying to navigate this space with no direction from the agencies that typically tell us what's illegal or what's not, what schedule these drugs fall into. But it's in the absence of that that we're left trying to find our own way.

You know, the worst thing is they sell this thing that's like mint chocolate. Let's go buy some mint chocolate. How many people have traveled overseas? So we've traveled a lot. Have you ever bought a, I know you haven't bought it, but I'm just saying when you walk through the stores and you see the packs of the cigarettes, overseas in Europe, there's pictures of what a throat cancer looks like, and they're mandated on the packs of cartons of cigarettes.

Nice.

You should go look at that. And you pick it up and you go, ooh, that's pretty nasty. Instead of warning signs, they have a picture of what a throat cancer looked like. It's pretty interesting. We shouldn't do that in the United States. This one you could have put a picture of somebody in a stretcher maybe. Say, okay, you buy this stuff. This is what you're going to look like. Anyhow, I agree, okay?

I think you have your direction. Yes, sir, I do. Thank you. Thank you.

I'm finished. Actually, you know what? I don't know if James Haynes is here tonight. I just want to recognize him. Over the last three weeks, he's, I would say, at least five instances where he's helped individuals. He's calling me late at night trying to find housing for veterans or different scenarios, but the guy really just goes out of his way and does an amazing job. Brothers Keeper has been a great resource for us lately to help people that are struggling, but I just wanted to acknowledge James, and then I also want to acknowledge Matt Groh. I don't know if he left. I heard he did an amazing job at the CEP the other day representing the city. Unfortunately, I could not attend, but I've had numerous people reach out and say that his presentation was top-notch, so great job, Matt.

That's all I got. Thanks. Councilman Manfield.

WELL, I WAS FORTUNATE THIS WEEK TO ATTEND THE FMEA CONFERENCE IN WEST PALM WHERE OUR WONDERFUL ELECTRIC UTILITY WAS RECOGNIZED FOR THE QUALITY OF SERVICE AWARD, THE FIRST QUALITY OF SERVICE AWARD. SO I'D LIKE TO JUST AGAIN COMPLIMENT DOUG. I KNOW WHEN HE WAS GIVEN THE AWARD HE SAID IT'S BECAUSE WE ALLOW him to do what, but it's really what he's, his leadership that is doing to his team that got this recognition for us. So thank you again. And thank you for all your, what your people do.

I'm good. Thank you, sir.

Yes.

Most people in the room may or may not know, but Charlie Roos, a former councilman from, I think, 2007 to 2011, passed away last week. Charlie was very instrumental in my life. He represented the bank, and I was the main liaison with Charlie. But out of that became a friendship. Charlie encouraged me to run when my seat became vacant back in 2012. He donated his time, his money, and his expertise, and he's become a friend over the last 15, 16, 17 years. His service is tomorrow at 10 a.m. at the Lutheran Church on Lake Weir. Thank you.

I, too, would like to say something about... electorate, but I'm not going to do it today. I'm going to wait until they come up and show us their award, and then I will have something. So when we had the storm, what was it, the 11th?

Yes.

A lot of departments... had to do some work at some tedious times. And they ought to be recommended for their outstanding job that they've done. I'll tell you, we have an outstanding family here with the city. I like to call them family because you are. And I like to try to give you praise when we can because a lot of times we're knocking you on your head, you know, and we work you very hard. But that's what it takes to make this city the place it is. We're always talking about a great place to live, work, and prosper. It's because of you employees, your due diligence, and your job. Keep it up. That's the bottom line. Because I already said so. Hey, if you have nothing else, meeting adjourned.

Thank you, sir.