Remarks by Maureen Porras
392 remarks on the record, newest first · Page 1 of 16
- Play at 33:44
“I have some comments, Mayor. Councilman Boris. I want to thank you guys. I can't believe it's already the fourth edition. And since the beginning, I've always been supportive. It's something that you guys have always done with professionalism. You've given a lot of local artists as well opportunities. You've really, and to reiterate the comments that my colleagues have made, you really have elevated our culture and our art, which is something that residents really wanted to see here in our community. So I want to thank you for that great work. And hopefully, you know, we can continue this and…”
City Council · Aug 12, 2026
- Play at 44:49
“I have some quick questions, Mayor. Yes, Councilwoman Porras. I get the intent, and I do agree with it. I mean, I've heard this happening at the county level and, you know, different governments, levels of government. What was done in Councilwoman Reynoso's case? Was her budget replenished? I don't remember, actually.”
City Council · Aug 12, 2026
- Play at 45:30
“No, I agree with the policy. I think it's, again, I've seen it happen in different offices. My only question is, I don't see it including the mayor's office. Is that something that we can add as well?”
City Council · Aug 12, 2026
- Play at 59:04
“Thank you, Mayor. This is just a very, very brief discussion on the implementation of a search tool that's going to allow the public to access and view employee salaries for the city. When I was looking into this after the city of Miami Beach and the city of Miami, passed their own. And I emailed the city manager's office about it. She informed me that the city was already working on something like this. And so I just wanted to let residents know that it is going to be happening. And also, it is going to be something that new state law is going to require of cities and municipalities. So I…”
City Council · Aug 12, 2026
- Play at 2:15:54
“Thank you. I have some comments, Mayor. Councilwoman Forrest. Thank you. You know, I'm also in agreement with my colleague. Well, first of all, I want to thank the residents. Thank you guys for showing up. Thank you for coming. It takes a lot of courage. It takes a lot of organizing. But obviously, you're showing that you really care about your community. Many of you have been living there over two decades. And so... You know, it's always unfortunate when we have these cases because we're faced with a community that wants to protect their residents and their people, and then you're also…”
City Council · Aug 12, 2026
- Play at 2:18:26
“And just to know, would it be completely detrimental and a big delay to reevaluate that and look at the position of the gas station?”
City Council · Aug 12, 2026
- Play at 2:18:54
“Okay. Okay. Yeah, I mean, I think those were the two. And again, you know, personally, if I were living there, I would also... want the gas station on the other side as well. Again, I don't know when discussions took place or when the meeting with the residents happened, whether it was before the site plan was done or after. But that would have been something that I would have also suggested as well.”
City Council · Aug 12, 2026
- Play at 3:04:40
“Yeah, I just want to confirm that there will not be anyone that's going to receive the pension moving forward, even if, you know, they acquire the age required under the original pension because they were just not vested. I just wanted to confirm that this, that's it.”
City Council · Aug 12, 2026
- Play at 14:48
“Yes, Councilwoman Porras. This is a question that I got asked if, I don't know, a financer or the city manager can answer. So adopting the rollback rate, as mentioned, is going to generate the same revenue as the previous year, correct?”
City Council · Jul 29, 2026
- Play at 15:06
“So where does the $2 million figure come from?”
City Council · Jul 29, 2026
- Play at 15:18
“Okay. So it would have been an additional 2 million if we would have kept the same rate. Correct. Okay. So we're essentially getting the same revenue as last year. We're not, I mean, and again, correct me if I'm wrong, but we're not I mean, we're losing out on $2 million, but it wasn't $2 million that was already something that we had. Because I've heard it be mentioned as the city is cutting $2 million from the budget, but it's actually we're losing out on $2 million by not keeping the same military.”
City Council · Jul 29, 2026
- Play at 16:19
“Yeah, I just wanted to clarify that because someone did ask. And again, I just wanted to make sure that we're still getting essentially we're operating within the same revenue that we received the past year moving on to this year.”
City Council · Jul 29, 2026
- Play at 16:36
“Yes. You know, and I'll just mention, obviously, I'm happy to see that the rollback rate is the rate that's proposed. I think it's the highest rate that we can adopt with a simple majority. But, and I mentioned this to your office, I would like to see lower rates so that we can compare. Obviously, I would have liked to have seen them before this meeting. I know traditionally we haven't submitted military rates lower than the rollback rate, but we have compared and we've had something to compare with whatever was recommended. So like we always had the rollback rate which hasn't been adopted to…”
City Council · Jul 29, 2026
- Play at 18:31
“So yes, I'm going to support the rollback rate because obviously it's the lowest rollback rate that's on the table for us right now. Again, I wish there were other alternatives lower than the rollback rate, but I would like to ask now and also after we take a vote for the council to consider having the city manager's office provide us with lower rates than the rollback rate, because right now what's on the table is the highest to my understanding that can be passed with three votes. So again, I'll support it, but I would like to hear from my colleagues to see if they're also on board with…”
City Council · Jul 29, 2026
- Play at 33:55
“Yes, I just want to be clear, and I want to clarify a lot of the things that are being said. So the first question is, and I think we all know by now that the first military hearing or meeting is to set a ceiling. Just because it's to set a ceiling doesn't mean we can't consider alternative rates right now. Personally, I would like to have that information now to compare it. Does it mean that I'm going to vote to adopt it? Not necessarily, but I would like to see options. The second thing is, and to the attorney, under the new law, What is the maximum millage rate that can be adopted by a…”
City Council · Jul 29, 2026
- Play at 34:42
“Not today. In general. It is a statement, a question.”
City Council · Jul 29, 2026
- Play at 35:01
“So again, the statement is accurate, has been accurate. The maximum allowable millage rate that we can adopt with a simple majority, because even if we, let's say adopted the current millage rate today, if there's only three votes at the last hearing, the only millage rate that can be adopted with those three votes is the rollback rate. So that statement is true. Whether it's today or later, at the end of the day, if there's only three votes to support the same millage trade, it's not going to pass because the law now mandates that. That's one thing. Two, I was definitely part of strategic…”
City Council · Jul 29, 2026
- Play at 37:17
“Okay. Yeah. So, you know, I think it's a good exercise right now to start looking at all these things. Again, I'm not saying I would have voted for a lower rate, but I'm saying I would like to see that information before the final hearing. I would have liked to have seen it today. I would like to see it before even the first hearing. It's something that I think we should be able to consider. I honestly don't know what the real basis for not giving us that option alternatives to look at is, but I mean, it doesn't make sense to me. I don't think we should wait last year. You know, there was…”
City Council · Jul 29, 2026
- Play at 51:46
“This happened last year. You make comments, but you're afraid of a response. Just say it. I mean, you make very accusatory comments and then you don't want anyone to respond. I'm happy to respond to your comments. Hopefully during the budget hearing, I won't be limited in silence like I was last year. Hopefully we'll have a real honest discussion, but don't be afraid of a back and forth”
City Council · Jul 29, 2026
- Play at 52:13
“I'm very happy to answer your questions, your remarks.”
City Council · Jul 29, 2026
- Play at 52:20
“Hopefully that we can have a real discussion during the hearing.”
City Council · Jul 29, 2026
- Play at 52:29
“Yeah, you just like to silence people because you don't want to hear a response.”
City Council · Jul 29, 2026
- Play at 52:53
“And so you control what gets said and you like to have the last word, make accusations, but you don't like the responses. I get it.”
City Council · Jul 29, 2026
- Play at 47:06
“I have some comments. I have some questions. Councilwoman Porras? Thank you. Thank you to Michael and the city manager's office and the consultant for putting this together. I just have a couple of clarification questions.”
City Council · Jun 10, 2026
- Play at 47:18
“So the first one is regarding the use of facilities by the government agencies. I think before we had fee waivers, right? And now, if I understand it correctly, it's a 30% discount. Yes. Okay, so we moved away from allowing government entities to use our facilities for free at no cost to a 30% discount, the same as nonprofits.”
City Council · Jun 10, 2026