Remarks by Jay D. Schwartz
142 remarks on the record, newest first · Page 3 of 6
- Play at 2:25:26
“OK. Which goes to the next point. Administration identified approximately $1 million in contingency and another $2 to $3 million of general capital that could potentially be reduced or deferred. So why use the $3.885 million of reserves before evaluating those expenditures?”
City Commission · Sep 16, 2026
- Play at 2:26:08
“It's an assumption. That's all. It's an assumption. Reserve policy. After the final changes were made in first reading, where does the projected unassigned general fund balance stand relative to both the city's 10% policy and the 25% benchmark presented in your response?”
City Commission · Sep 16, 2026
- Play at 2:27:01
“OK, I'm just trying to get on the record. What's our current funding percentage for that?”
City Commission · Sep 16, 2026
- Play at 2:27:09
“About 30%. And Mayor, I recall, before I even got to the commission, I think the height may have been 40% at some point. And it was a good thing we had that, because we had Hurricane Oblivion come through here. We had a lot of cleanup, and we had to wait several years before we got reimbursed. It was like over $4 million or something like that, if I'm not mistaken, on the cleanup costs that the city had put away. But there was a discussion. I mean, this was... This was a while ago. This was probably 2008 or 2009 range, where the city commission pressed the administration to kind of pull back…”
City Commission · Sep 16, 2026
- Play at 2:28:08
“No, not the fund itself. Just the overall reserve policy. I mean, it's probably been 20 years since it's been discussed. And I just don't know in today's dollars.”
City Commission · Sep 16, 2026
- Play at 2:28:35
Not quoted here: it may name a member of the public. Hear it at the meeting.
City Commission · Sep 16, 2026
- Play at 2:29:14
“Yeah. The salaries that are budgeted for executive team members, city manager, assistant city managers, is that salary only or is that total compensation as far as the increase?”
City Commission · Sep 16, 2026
- Play at 2:29:33
Not quoted here: it may name a member of the public. Hear it at the meeting.
City Commission · Sep 16, 2026
- Play at 2:30:49
“What I'm trying to say is we're going to prioritize city needs.”
City Commission · Sep 16, 2026
- Play at 2:31:02
“OK. So I believe communication is important. I also believe not overpaying for social media posts, personnel. I think we have the loss of independent media. All of our media now is paywall. You can't see anything unless you pay a subscription to First Amendment journalists who are supposed to be covering the city. You can't even read this stuff anymore. We have Instagram. We have Twitter. We have Facebook. We have ad buys. We need to be able to measure the return on investment of those efforts. I think we would get more bang for our buck administration were to reconsider who can actually…”
City Commission · Sep 16, 2026
- Play at 2:37:19
“No, it's not just us. I mean, Microsoft is- Well, you said this one city. Well, I'm saying this one being us. I mean, the amount of money that we are paying Microsoft, it is mind-blowing. We may need an act of Congress to break up monopolies, because it's to the point now where we're beholden to big tech. I appreciate Carla and her team for the amazing work that you're doing to bring the Pembroke Pines administration together working in one unison. The investments that we're making in this year's budget is a testament to the outcomes of this current fiscal year and since you've been here. And…”
City Commission · Sep 16, 2026
- Play at 2:39:41
“The building fund. The building fund. The building fund, yeah. It's something I will get with staff. This is going to be a follow-up item. I just want to state on the record that I think some of this, because we have it out on the street, may get resolved at some future point. So I'm just putting a pause on that.”
City Commission · Sep 16, 2026
- Play at 2:40:01
Not quoted here: it may name a member of the public. Hear it at the meeting.
City Commission · Sep 16, 2026
- Play at 2:44:46
“We have a charter school that will run $0.65 on the dollar. And we're outperforming many, many systems throughout the state of Florida on $0.65. I challenge this commission to do the same for our general fund. I think it could be done. I'm prepared to do that. I'm prepared. When they say this is all you're going to get, I'm prepared to make that decision. Pembroke Pines is a beautiful city. It's been my home now 37 years. I would live nowhere else. You know when you miss Pembroke Pines? When you go travel somewhere. You know, it's like, it's good to be home. And I agree. We may not agree on…”
City Commission · Sep 16, 2026
- Play at 3:19:30
“To the city attorney, is there any voting conflict for me to vote on this item, city attorney? May I respond, Mr. Mayor? Yes.”
City Commission · Sep 16, 2026
- Play at 3:21:42
“Thank you, Mayor. I'll be quick so you can go home and celebrate your anniversary. Congratulations on that. So discussion of possible action to have the city of Pembroke Pines participate in the first North Prairie Airport 5K, the participation level would provide up to 100 city sponsored registration fees at the discretion of the city manager. I was made aware of this event through Broward County Commissioner Alexandra Davis, who led the charge when she first got into office. Her goal was to get more community involvement within the airport. She's worked with Broward County Aviation…”
City Commission · Sep 16, 2026
- Play at 3:26:15
“Okay, I make a motion to support the commission of our county commissioner, Alexander Davis, and have the city of Pembroke Pines participate in the first North Prairie Airport 5K. Participation level would provide up to 100 city sponsored registration fees at the discretion of the city manager.”
City Commission · Sep 16, 2026
- Play at 37:08
“Yeah. I don't have a book. It wasn't provided to me.”
City Commission · Aug 31, 2026
- Play at 37:23
“Is this the PDF that I asked you to... Okay. Yes, the same book. Okay.”
City Commission · Aug 31, 2026
- Play at 37:37
“Well, I didn't know what this presentation was going to be tonight. Okay. I didn't have my questions answered that I had submitted. I know staff is working on it. And I look forward to seeing that on Wednesday, so I can be prepared on Thursday. Correct. Okay, so 21, I just need, because I don't have the book, and I want to follow the Vice Mayor.”
City Commission · Aug 31, 2026
- Play at 41:19
“And now my eyes are starting to challenge me.”
City Commission · Aug 31, 2026
- Play at 49:17
“Commissioner, City Manager Dodge, how much money was set aside for commissioner town halls?”
City Commission · Aug 31, 2026
- Play at 49:56
“That was a different response. I had six months ago Well, it costs money to have a district to town hall.”
City Commission · Aug 31, 2026
- Play at 50:06
“Town hall meeting yeah, yeah if district commissioners want to like engage I think Commissioner I can't hear the same magic.”
City Commission · Aug 31, 2026
- Play at 50:42
“Yeah, I recall you saying that there was an expense to that. Now you're saying there isn't one.”
City Commission · Aug 31, 2026