Remarks by Luisa Santos
83 remarks on the record, newest first · Page 1 of 4
- Play at 26:05
“Okay, seeing none. Thank you, Madam Chair, I'd like to speak. Okay, yes, ma'am. Thank you so much and thank you for all the effort that you have put in into negotiating these contracts. I'm sure you've spent endless hours, so we're grateful for that. I did want to take a moment, which I was hoping to have a discussion on this earlier in the week, but obviously because of sunshine, we have to do this here and talk about one of the sections of the contract on evaluation. This agreement is thorough and clear, and you did a great job of including language in that section that says that the board…”
School Board · Aug 19, 2026
- Play at 1:05:39
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School Board · Aug 19, 2026
- Play at 8:35:02
“Thank you. This is one of four parcels that we've been thoroughly working through in my district, and so I'm really grateful for all the work done there. I'm glad to see with this month's agenda, we'll dispose at least of three out of the four and hopefully next month the fourth so that we can, everything we're talking about, move into doing it and get these agreements in place and get shovels in the ground. Thank you.”
Facilities and Construction Committee · Jun 10, 2026
- Play at 8:40:34
“Just a quick congratulations on closing another five projects since last month. I want to see them all closed fast. Thank you.”
Facilities and Construction Committee · Jun 10, 2026
- Play at 4:35:24
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Academics, Innovation, Evaluation, and Technology Committee · Jun 10, 2026
- Play at 4:38:11
“Thank you, Madam Chair. I think it's clear I'm front-loading a bit here, so thanks for your patience today. I want to thank my colleagues and the Office of Strategic Planning, our superintendent, and everyone who has done tremendous work in developing the adopted 2631 strategic plan. Obviously, as we have said time and time again, historic input from so many different stakeholders went into this, and so was very proud to support its unanimous adoption. When we adopted that, there was a really important component of that plan that in the actual physical booklet we got happens to be like the…”
Academics, Innovation, Evaluation, and Technology Committee · Jun 10, 2026
- Play at 2:09:44
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Fiscal Accountability and Government Relations Committee · Jun 10, 2026
- Play at 2:11:55
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Fiscal Accountability and Government Relations Committee · Jun 10, 2026
- Play at 2:13:01
“Through the chair, thank you so much for that overview. We also, through different contracts, have voice over IP as a service that we have in our school district. I know downtown has had some transitions. School sites have had some transitions. What's the difference through the chair?”
Fiscal Accountability and Government Relations Committee · Jun 10, 2026
- Play at 2:13:40
“Thank you. Through the chair, would you agree that the copper lines are an outdated technology that's being phased out?”
Fiscal Accountability and Government Relations Committee · Jun 10, 2026
- Play at 2:14:14
“Thank you. But through the chair, it's my understanding that providers that provide the servicing of copper lines are even phasing it out. So it's not even something that we may even be able to purchase in the future, even though today it does provide some backup.”
Fiscal Accountability and Government Relations Committee · Jun 10, 2026
- Play at 2:14:34
“Thank you. for walking us through that, because I was very concerned to see a procurement for a technology that, frankly, is being phased out, I think, just generally in the world. And, you know, the cost outlined in this item is almost $16,000 per location. I know that's not, you know, it's an average across all locations. And we did spend $7.5 million the previous year on this. That's a large sum of money for a technology that we really ought to be phasing out very quickly, and so can you walk us through the timeline on which you will phase this out, please?”
Fiscal Accountability and Government Relations Committee · Jun 10, 2026
- Play at 2:16:17
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Fiscal Accountability and Government Relations Committee · Jun 10, 2026
- Play at 2:31:06
“Thank you so much, and thanks to my colleagues. I know we've all spent quite a few number of hours on this one. So I want to thank staff, selection committee, procurement, risk and benefits, and Aon for what was clearly a lengthy and complex process. Like I said, we've spent lots of hours reviewing this, including the committee discussions, the concerns raised by the proposers. and of course the recommendation before us today. Really where I've landed is this is not a decision about choosing between good and bad options. I think it was clear that all three firms are capable of providing those…”
Fiscal Accountability and Government Relations Committee · Jun 10, 2026
- Play at 2:33:32
“Thank you. I think through the chair, maybe accurately, they were considered or asked to be considered, right? But there is no, again, in the final voice vote, there is no sort of objective sort of weight or score assigned to any of those categories, although every committee member was asked through the chair to evaluate on those criteria, correct?”
Fiscal Accountability and Government Relations Committee · Jun 10, 2026
- Play at 2:34:35
“Thank you. And I think that, you know, I certainly want to be very clear on the record that I want to respect the procurement process. I want to respect the selection committee process. I think it's important that we keep that intact and integral to future and all procurement. And so I'm not interested in really doing that. But as my colleague said, we are the policymakers, and we do have a strong... responsibilities when it comes to leading on the vision for this procurement and ensuring that the data before us is great. So talk to me about the level of independent validation that was…”
Fiscal Accountability and Government Relations Committee · Jun 10, 2026
- Play at 2:37:32
“Thank you for that clarification. So through the chair, in the case of the third provider that you mentioned, we couldn't get that independent clarification. How did we make that request for the discounted database? upload, let's say, of data?”
Fiscal Accountability and Government Relations Committee · Jun 10, 2026
- Play at 2:37:58
“through the chair when you say through procurement?”
Fiscal Accountability and Government Relations Committee · Jun 10, 2026
- Play at 2:38:15
“Thank you, so through the Chair, I would definitely ask that that communication, for the sake of me understanding when that was asked, if that could be please forwarded to me before our final vote next Wednesday, that'd be great. Sure. So we have different levels, I think you could agree, of independently verifiable projected savings. What protections actually exist as the item is presented today to our district if those assumptions, any of them, prove inaccurate?”
Fiscal Accountability and Government Relations Committee · Jun 10, 2026
- Play at 2:38:52
“What protections exist for us as a district if some of the data presented doesn't actually work out through the chair?”
Fiscal Accountability and Government Relations Committee · Jun 10, 2026
- Play at 2:42:46
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Fiscal Accountability and Government Relations Committee · Jun 10, 2026
- Play at 2:44:39
“OK, so to close, certainly I want some clarity on that in the next day or two to understand what possible ramifications there are. And certainly, it is not my intent when this item came or what protests came after. It's not my intent to slow things down, certainly. And especially when it comes to people's health care, I think they deserve that to be ready to go on day one. I think we'll... Once we get these final pending answers, I'll be ready to make my decision. I think one thing that's become clear and I've asked, I've been very consistent in my request and ask for objective tools that…”
Fiscal Accountability and Government Relations Committee · Jun 10, 2026
- Play at 3:28:39
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Fiscal Accountability and Government Relations Committee · Jun 10, 2026
- Play at 8:29:48
“Yes, because you know they were coming. Yet another month, yet another proportionate share mitigation agreement. I will say we had a great meeting yesterday. I think the ball is moving forward, and we will be on track to provide an innovative option in South Dade.”
Facilities and Construction Committee · May 6, 2026
- Play at 8:30:25
Not quoted here: it may name a member of the public. Hear it at the meeting.
Facilities and Construction Committee · May 6, 2026