Remarks by Javier Fernández
827 remarks on the record, newest first · Page 1 of 34
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“Good evening, everyone, and welcome to South Miami. Today is Tuesday, August 18th, 2026. The time is 7 p.m. Recording in progress. We will replay the last announcement. Good evening, everyone. Today is Tuesday, August 18, 2026. The time is approximately 7 p.m. We will now call to order this meeting of the South Miami City Commission. Madam Clerk, if you can please call the roll.”
City Commission · Aug 18, 2026
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“Thank you, Madam Clerk. If we could please rise for a brief prayer followed by the pledge led by Commissioner Rodriguez. If I can find this prayer, that would be great. Since today's election day, we'll say a short prayer for our democracy. Gracious God, we come to you today to ask for your blessing, wisdom, and protection for our democracy, help our nation to choose peace over division, to listen with open hearts, and to stand strong for justice, truth, and freedom for all people. Amen.”
City Commission · Aug 18, 2026
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“Yes. If you could read the first one, please.”
City Commission · Aug 18, 2026
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“Actually, let me hold on that just because we have public remarks. I keep skipping that. So I apologize. We'll get to that next. So first on the list for public remarks today is George Usatoris. Sir, welcome. Please come forward.”
City Commission · Aug 18, 2026
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“No problem. When you start, your name and address for the record, please. Thank you, sir.”
City Commission · Aug 18, 2026
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“Sir, before you go, I'm sure we have a couple of questions. I just want to clarify so we know, have the right context, and not assuming. You're in Valencia, I'm assuming, then, correct? Correct. OK, and you're referring to the project, the old roadway in sight across the street? Excellent. OK, that's the source of the noise, because there are two projects in the area. I just want to make sure that's the right one. OK. Or is it both? Or is it both? Directly across the street. Directly across the street on your south side is the one that's generating the issues.”
City Commission · Aug 18, 2026
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“For us. What would the after hours work that you're observing?”
City Commission · Aug 18, 2026
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“I understand. I just wanted to clarify who is originating the issues and what the issues are. So thank you for the clarification. Commissioner Kaya, did you want to ask a question? No.”
City Commission · Aug 18, 2026
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“Sorry, I couldn't pronounce your last name again. Remind me one more time. Thank you.”
City Commission · Aug 18, 2026
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Not quoted here: it may name a member of the public. Hear it at the meeting.
City Commission · Aug 18, 2026
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“Okay, if you could also get us a report on Would the city's attorneys help when they're allowed to work? Are there any special provisions in their development agreement? I think they did sign one, correct?”
City Commission · Aug 18, 2026
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“And if there's a repeat violator posture, we can bring them back before the board? We can. Correct. So I think that's what we'll do next is if we will get a report from the manager. Once we get an assessment there's a problem, we can bring them back to this board and ostensibly open up the order. I know for them, every day is money because it's a student housing project. So they want to deliver by a date. If they don't cooperate and we were to take some sort of extraordinary action, it's going to be a huge issue in terms of them being able to make their delivery window. So we do have some…”
City Commission · Aug 18, 2026
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“Absolutely, no, absolutely. And again, I will say that I think to a boy we're excited that the hotel went away because... Yes. I don't know if you're aware, you probably are aware, it's a huge driver of police calls for us, given the nuisance activity. And I do know that the school was happy to see that building go. But notwithstanding that, they've got to live certainly within our norms and regulations, and we'll hold them to account. Excellent. Thank you.”
City Commission · Aug 18, 2026
- Play at 12:52
Not quoted here: it may name a member of the public. Hear it at the meeting.
City Commission · Aug 18, 2026
- Play at 14:22
Not quoted here: it may name a member of the public. Hear it at the meeting.
City Commission · Aug 18, 2026
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“If it ever happens, again, just since you called me Mayor Highrise, I did try to move to cap it at 25 stories, but that's a historical footnote in this conversation, but that's okay.”
City Commission · Aug 18, 2026
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“We didn't approve that one either, but that's okay.”
City Commission · Aug 18, 2026
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“Thank you, sir. Appreciate you. Okay, that's all we have for public remarks. Is there anyone else in the chamber who'd like to address this commission on any topic in public remarks?”
City Commission · Aug 18, 2026
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Not quoted here: it may name a member of the public. Hear it at the meeting.
City Commission · Aug 18, 2026
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“Thank you for joining us. Anyone else online? Seeing no one else online and no one else in the chamber, we'll go ahead and close public remarks. And Madam Clerk, we'll ask you to again read presentation item number one, please.”
City Commission · Aug 18, 2026
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“Lieutenant Bukins, the floor is yours, and we'll hear from Detective Tosol.”
City Commission · Aug 18, 2026
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Not quoted here: it may name a member of the public. Hear it at the meeting.
City Commission · Aug 18, 2026
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“Who puts us all to shame, honestly. Yes, he does. He does, yeah.”
City Commission · Aug 18, 2026
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“Kudos to my colleague, Commissioner Kaya, who's really championing that effort. So thanks to you and thanks to him for making us aware of the issue and contacts, putting us in contact with folks, and for taking the lead on marshalling aid from our side.”
City Commission · Aug 18, 2026
- Play at 36:49
“Thanks, Josh. I'll just piggyback on the comments very quickly. One, on the 7th when we got the news, I sent out a message which I just want to share with the public. We have a WhatsApp group. Nothing is discussed about city business. It's just kind of a way that the manager keeps us informed of BREAKING DEVELOPMENTS THAT HAPPEN IF THERE'S AN ARREST OR SOME OTHER ISSUE IN THE COMMUNITY. BUT I DID POST A NOTE WHICH I WANTED TO SHARE MOSTLY FOR THE BENEFIT OF STAFF SINCE MY COLLEAGUES HAVE SEEN IT AS HAS MOST OF THE LEADERSHIP. BUT IT'S A COUPLE OF HOURS AFTER WE HAD GOTTEN THE RESULTS AND HAD…”
City Commission · Aug 18, 2026