Remarks by Christi Fraga
2,372 remarks on the record, newest first · Page 47 of 95
“Okay. All right. And then the capital improvement, which is for the building that we're looking at building, because obviously you need to vacate the public works. Public works has grown. They need their facility back for vehicles and everything. So we're looking at building this. police building, which was part of our strategic plan, and the land that we have from the state, that capital is not reflected here, but there is a large capital improvement that we are looking at putting in. Is it reflected here? No, right?”
“Here's the thing that is hard to explain with that. The capital improvement is still funded from general fund. So I questioned this when I saw it in our budget, because I said the 15 million looks duplicated in our budget when you look at the full 174. And the reason for that is because for accounting purposes, to pull the 15 million out of general fund and transfer it into the CIP fund. You have to show it twice, but it's actually, and so I asked, so I said, could we general hypothetically fund capital improvement projects from general fund? Your answer. So it was.”
“And so better practices would, And that's why we have triple bond rating and our audits. It all goes back to those things. That is a policy decision to take that fund, transfer it out, put it into CIP and earmark it so that it's basically, they're identified, separated funds from our general fund. Correct. But that has to show that debit out and in. And that's why you see it twice, basically reflected in there.”
“Okay. I just wanted to clarify that. Thank you, chief. Anything else you want to add about your budget or a need here for us to make a better decision?”
“Thank you. I also want to just point out, I'm going to hand it to you right now. I also just want to point out, we were made aware of this also during their presentation, is that FRS is up to 30 what percent now? 35.19%. 35.19%.”
Not quoted here: it may name a member of the public. Hear it at the meeting.
“Okay. Thank you. All right. I'm going to move on to code compliance very quickly. We're running on time. So I believe in code compliance, significant change this year is the additional position you're asking, which if you could please, Edgar, tell us a little bit about that position because I asked. And I really grilled administration this year about positions being added in certain places, but this one seems very justified.”
“Okay, perfect. Is there any other significant, and I'm looking at the budget for your office right now, and really the bulk of your budget is personnel, which is what your department is. They're out on the road enforcing our code and making sure the city stays compliant.”
“Okay. All right. Anything else you would like to add?”
“Thank you very much. All right. I'm going to go into Parks and Recreation. I'm going to skip Public Works because I think that one's pretty self-explanatory. I believe there's one position being added there. Which two? Two positions? You want to address those real quick too? I think that's the only significant change there because most of those capital funds are from transportation and stormwater.”
“Okay. So the department will kind of be divided into two areas, infrastructure and construction, and the other one more transportation, mobility, and”
“All right. And then parks and recreation, I think, is the other big change. Obviously, the large increase here is that we now have Central Park 100% operational.”
“And therefore there is a lot of operational costs. I think we saw in the presentation that it could be up to $9 million that really impacts Central Park and that's encompassing all different departments that support Central Park. Is there any other major changes? And I know obviously we're doing a lot of capital improvements in parks as well too, not just the parking garage we're looking at in Central Park and retail to generate revenue, but also we're replacing the playgrounds in two of the parks. So, can you just highlight a little bit of the major changes and improvements that we have to…”
“So I know that there are a couple of positions being requested in this department as well. And I did have the discussion with the administration, I did have a concern with the park ranger because we are investing into the police parks unit. I felt that it was duplicative to invest into another park ranger. I shared my comments with the administration and I'd like to see a reevaluation of what we're actually using those positions for to make sure they're supporting the needs of the service in the park and the maintenance. What we did What I noticed, and I made many complaints about this, was…”
“Okay. All right. Perfect. Any other comments that you want to point out on your budget?”
“Okay, perfect. Thank you, Michael. Thank you, Aaron. All right. Those are really the bulk of the departments and the services that are provided. And I think the reflection of the changes, while we have to say that they are increases, they're really the cost of operating in the city. Obviously, just like everything else, there is a cost of operation and it does increase in everything. As you saw, services, programming, they all reflect an increase. I think that this was a very thoughtfully prepared budget understanding the situation we're in, also meeting the needs of the community and the…”
“Perfect. I think we have consensus to add to that. Is there any other requests to be added to the budget at this time or to be reduced?”
“Thank you. Any other comments? All right. If there are no additional comments, then I think everybody has their direction. Madam Clerk, we need an adjournment. Motion to adjourn the... Yes, motion to adjourn our budget workshop. We have an in the shade session that we're a little bit behind for so on paper side. This meeting is adjourned. Thank you. We'll see you back here at six o'clock.”
“Our regular scheduled council meeting for August. Today is August 13th, 2025. The time is now 10 10 a.m. And I hereby call this meeting to order. All right. Just a reminder, please silence your phones. If you must take a call, please kindly step outside and let's maintain a respectful atmosphere. Madam Clerk, please call the roll.”
“Mayor, you have quorum. Please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance led by Councilwoman Reynoso.”
“Before we go into the invocation, I would like to quickly ask for a moment of silence for Alejandro Ruiz Martinez, a valued member of our parks and recreation team who tragically lost his life last week. In his honor, the city of Doral flew its flag at half staff, half mass, I'm sorry, of August 11th. The city of Doral will not be the same without him, and we send our condolences not only to his family but to his colleagues and friends as well. So if we can please take a moment of silence. Okay, thank you very much. We will now have our invocation done by Pastor Padma from Mi Casa de Oración.”
“Thank you, Pastor. All right, before we proceed, I want to take a moment of personal privilege to introduce something we're going to be trying out here in the city. As many of you may know, when I was first elected in 2022 as mayor, I brought forward an item that we wanted to provide opportunities for members of the public to hear our meeting in the language that they preferred, translation services to increase engagement and participation in our meetings. We did a study. We looked, and it turned out to be quite costly. Well, recently, I went to the clerk Technology is always advancing and…”
“Sure, absolutely. So we're going to move the manager's report up to right after public comments. Okay. City Attorney? City Attorney?”
“We can leave yours where it is, if that's okay.”
“Mayor. We'll now go to Councilman Pinedo.”