Remarks by Jeniffer Viscarra
22 remarks on the record, newest first · Page 1 of 1
- Play at 28:01
“One of the things that I've tried to push forward is for us to be more engaged in the legislative process just as a commission. I think generally that was just not part of our culture. We just let the Florida League do it, or we would just let the lobbyists do it for us. And there really wasn't a lot of discussion. And little by little, that was changing. So we do now have, in terms of the legislative piece, that's largely up to us. And it's tricky because of the timing. And we only meet sometimes because we only meet once a month. And the session is only so long. Sometimes the timing is very…”
City Commission · Aug 20, 2026
- Play at 29:01
“No, just in terms of the process, I think having better relationships with the legislative people in the Florida League. I don't have as much as that kind of communication with the county legal cities, but I think that's something else that we could, you know, nurture those relationships, or maybe they already exist. I just don't happen to have them. And I have been, you know, as you know, trying to present the, I bring it to you, then we talk about it. But, you know, going forward, I mean, I would imagine, I mean, that's going to be up to the commission for you guys to, like, be on top of…”
City Commission · Aug 20, 2026
- Play at 44:14
“Well, my only comment is that whatever is decided, it goes through us. So if we wanted the bond, it would go through us. Even if it were presented and we don't want it, then we take it off. It's not the city manager's office that's trying to suck up all the money. They recommend, and we accept or reject. So it's on us. It's not the way it's been presented in certain chats that it's the office that's trying to push money in or out of the budget. It's up to us, and that's why the conversations are useful.”
City Commission · Aug 20, 2026
- Play at 50:04
“I'll just chime in since Jerry is clearly talking about me. I still disagree. I think it was short-sighted to do it last year. I think it's short-sighted to do it this year, lowering the millage, given last year was the possibility, and this year is the real possible. It's even more possible because This amendment is going to be on the ballot. So lowering the millage when we're looking at possibly losing all this possible revenue if this amendment goes through, I frankly don't understand it. So it was a bad idea last year. It's a bad idea this year, in my humble opinion. Obviously, you guys…”
City Commission · Aug 20, 2026
- Play at 1:04:57
“What is your opinion? I think that if it's at the point where it can, because it did go out to bid, but they were the only ones. So if we're at that point where it can go out to bid, that's fine. As I understand it, this is a revenue source. where with a zero work. They're basically doing all the work and we get a percentage. So that's easy money and limited liability. So I think that's a good setup. And when you work on that percentage, If people are using it, great. Then we're making money. And if people are not using it, we're not losing money. But if you hire somebody for that purpose and…”
City Commission · Aug 20, 2026
- Play at 1:12:46
“Correct. Yeah, but then you have them in place.”
City Commission · Aug 20, 2026
- Play at 1:36:57
“So as you're revamping, the ordinance, I think there's two things that we need to think about. One of them is the intended length of the event. Because if it's a birthday party that's for an hour or two, and you show up with some pizza, and you go home. I don't think you need a permit for that. But if it's going to be longer where you're more likely to need a bathroom or other things, then you would need a permit. And then the other thing is the expectation of privacy. If I'm with a bunch of kids with pizza on the beach, I don't have an expectation of privacy. And if somebody comes and sets…”
City Commission · Aug 20, 2026
- Play at 1:39:09
“Well, I guess I'm thinking the exclusive use.”
City Commission · Aug 20, 2026
- Play at 1:39:16
“But then what's the point of the permit?”
City Commission · Aug 20, 2026
- Play at 2:04:07
“I think the courtesy would have been to just tell him you don't need to make a public thing about it. And with regards to hiring within the city, we're a tiny city. That's a very limited pool of people. I think you may want to rethink that one. Yeah, no, I obviously... I just don't agree with you. I think having had the experience of more than one city manager, I think Stan has done a fantastic job. And I know that you're waiting for me to turn out, you know, to have that conversation, and I don't think that we should be polling the commission here. But, you know... you know that, you know…”
City Commission · Aug 20, 2026
- Play at 2:06:31
“But all of those things come through come through the manager. We can propose our initiatives, but a lot of the stuff of the day-to-day that gets done are things that are being proposed through the departments and through the manager. And the departments don't work independently of the manager. That is under his oversight. We have an accredited police department. We are one of a tiny, tiny percentage of cities that have an accredited building department. We have the autism training across, you know, for the ocean rescue and for the police department, hirings across the departments, cleaning…”
City Commission · Aug 20, 2026
- Play at 2:42:46
“I think he's referring to the building that's next to the empty lot.”
City Commission · Aug 20, 2026
- Play at 2:46:11
“I agree that we've had extensive conversations. And my concern, Alex, is that everybody's going to like the $200 million project, but they're going to want to pay $50. And that's a problem we have. Right. And that's the underlying issue with this particular group of commissioners is that we have a hard time getting consensus on some of this big stuff. Fine, we can get more prices, but I think it's”
City Commission · Aug 20, 2026
- Play at 26:19
“Well, I don't have any questions per se, but City Attorney, did you have an opportunity to read the letters that were sent to us today or no? I did. Did you have any comment on... I'll tell you my... I guess I do have a question. The... The one from GLG government mentions, let me see. that the conditional approval use solely authorizes Sunny Smart Core to operate the facility and any change of the lease or operator requires a submittal. That's probably addressed within our procedures, but.”
City Commission · Aug 20, 2026
- Play at 1:16:35
“I'll go on this one. I think it was on the previous item that one of our speakers said that this is an investment. And on our budget, it looks like an expense. But it really is an investment. And obviously, I support it. Thank you. Commissioner Lama?”
City Commission · Aug 20, 2026
- Play at 1:29:39
“I think that given the scope of the work that we're talking about, I don't think one year is enough. And I support it the way that it is. OK. Commissioner Joseph?”
City Commission · Aug 20, 2026
- Play at 1:33:09
“And also, if I may, because it's custom built, like this is something being done just for us. You don't want to get left hanging like in the middle of a... It would be disruptive.”
City Commission · Aug 20, 2026
- Play at 1:52:33
“Vice Mayor, anything? I think it would look better with the green, but it's OK. I know you guys, we took this vote already, and we went with red.”
City Commission · Aug 20, 2026
- Play at 1:52:45
“I think it would look better with the palm trees with the green. And the labyrinth, I think, is pretty cool. OK, Commissioner Joseph?”
City Commission · Aug 20, 2026
- Play at 1:54:42
“I have an adjacent question, not really about this. But I got an email about the bio walls. I know I asked you, Susan, a while back, but I haven't followed up. Do you happen to?”
City Commission · Aug 20, 2026
- Play at 1:55:12
“So that answers my question because that's what I thought we had talked about, but I got an email and I figured I would just ask him.”
City Commission · Aug 20, 2026
- Play at 2:09:52
“And adding to the confusion is that what we use as our boundaries for establishing our districts is slightly different from what the county does for where you vote. And just like St. Tropez also, we have the unnamed building that we couldn't think of in the earlier meeting. It would make sense that they vote here. But they were at the church. And now these people here are going to have to go to Gateway. Even though it makes sense that they would come here. But that's the county determines that.”
City Commission · Aug 20, 2026