Remarks by Thomas F. Carney, Jr.
415 remarks on the record, newest first · Page 1 of 17
- Play at 0:01
“Good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to this workshop meeting related to the discussion, clarity, and direction regarding the development services related approval process this September 22nd. If the clerk would please call the roll.”
City Commission · Sep 22, 2026
- Play at 0:24
“Here. We have a quorum. Great. I'm just going to make a brief remarks to start us, and then I'm going to be turning it over to Commissioner Mollica, whose idea this was. The first portion of this meeting is going to be public comment. And this is where we really expect the public to come in and give us their ideas. I'm not looking for people to come in and say, it took me this long to get this done, this permit done, or this done. That's not what this is about. What we're trying to do, unless it's in context of a proposal that you're going to be making as to how we can improve the process,…”
City Commission · Sep 22, 2026
- Play at 2:04
“Thank you very much. I'm sorry, I'm eating my Fritos here. Thank you, clerk. This meeting is now going to be open to the public. Any members of the public wishing to address the commission on this subject, please come to the lectern, give your name and zip code for the record, and you will each have three minutes. Now, the staff will go after. We have public comments. Okay, so the podium is open for public comments for anyone who wishes to address the commission on this matter. Surely some of you have something to say. Now's the time to say it. Don't be shy. We want your input.”
City Commission · Sep 22, 2026
- Play at 7:40
“Can I just summarize quickly what you're saying?”
City Commission · Sep 22, 2026
- Play at 8:54
“Respectfully, I really, I'm trying to stay away from individual applications and individual responses. We've been through 120 comments. I'm trying to encapsulate a little bit what you were saying. And if what you're saying is that there needs to be a better process after a review is done to not bring things back to a board or something or resubmission and that things can be done administratively, is that what you're trying to push? Administrative.”
City Commission · Sep 22, 2026
- Play at 9:29
“I don't want to get into a specific application.”
City Commission · Sep 22, 2026
- Play at 9:57
Not quoted here: it may name a member of the public. Hear it at the meeting.
City Commission · Sep 22, 2026
- Play at 16:11
“Thank you very much. I see people who represent builders in here. They're not saying anything. So if you... Don't be afraid.”
City Commission · Sep 22, 2026
- Play at 21:53
“Thank you. Thank you very much. You left out you were also on the city commission during that time.”
City Commission · Sep 22, 2026
- Play at 27:40
“Are you saying that as a constitutional option? Yes, yes. So we have to say yes?”
City Commission · Sep 22, 2026
- Play at 32:19
“If you would like to read, you would like to read?”
City Commission · Sep 22, 2026
- Play at 32:27
“I got this. He emailed us. You printed your own? Give it to the clerk, yeah. You may have more than three minutes if you need.”
City Commission · Sep 22, 2026
- Play at 33:13
“I mean, I'm sorry, it's in the record, and if you need to highlight, did you want anything, you wanted to synopsize it or something?”
City Commission · Sep 22, 2026
- Play at 33:24
“Because I got a number of emails also on this subject, which I was going to, and it's our turn, kind of discuss. know share with what some of the ideas were so anyway so are there any other members of the public wishing to speak okay public comment is closed to the city well i guess mr moore would you like to introduce um sure thank you so appreciate the opportunity and quite frankly since commissioner malika”
City Commission · Sep 22, 2026
- Play at 1:18:38
“Great. Thank you very much. I have a lot of different comments that I'm going to make, but I'm going to – I know Commissioner Malika has been calling around and talking to a bunch of other people. I know that because when I would call them, they'd say, oh, yes, I've already spoken to Commissioner Malika. So I know you've been making these calls. But you have a variety of comments you'd like to make because you've done a lot of research on – First of all, thank you very much for the presentation. I mean, it was very enlightening to see all the numbers. And I do agree with all those numbers. I…”
City Commission · Sep 22, 2026
- Play at 1:25:58
“Sure you did. Sure you did. I know that rule. It doesn't work for me. I wear my nightgown and they deny me. They run.”
City Commission · Sep 22, 2026
- Play at 1:26:12
“no i mean i just i'm gonna sort of readdress your needs because it was a big things but please no no i just have a few things i want to i mean god because i'm the only one actually up here that's actually sat over there and talked to you while you were up here and and tried to get stuff accomplished and mr tobias you and i have worked together for i don't know 20 years or so um um There's one of the complaints we hear that I experienced personally is that there's an awful lot of hands. They'll send the document out, and I'll look at the email, and there's like 25 names on it. And this…”
City Commission · Sep 22, 2026
- Play at 1:29:59
“We need to better explain the risk factors that you may not get approved when you do your application fee without going through a pre-app meeting. Right.”
City Commission · Sep 22, 2026
- Play at 1:30:16
“I just want to give you feedback. Do what I do. I play it back the next day.”
City Commission · Sep 22, 2026
- Play at 1:30:56
“Yeah, I mean, yes. I think that a de minimis charge before someone files an application, most of your builders would like to come in and understand that what they're going to propose or architects would be, and it doesn't need to be an onerous amount, but it should be covering the time of the person, because it requires you to do, I mean, we charge for these zoning applications, the zoning letters, at $275. It would probably cost us $500 to do in terms of time. So, I mean, I think that I'm not trying to make you a profit center, but I don't want to make you a loss center either.”
City Commission · Sep 22, 2026
- Play at 1:31:42
“I think that we need to consider that because it is your time. And trust me, when I have done these projects, it's really great to come out of the application meeting and say, they said I could do this, this, this, and this. And was it worth the time? Because I assure you, my client got billed for the time. So, well, they did. That's the reality of it. So we should be trying to, as I say, I don't want to make you a profit center so much, but I don't want to make you a loss center.”
City Commission · Sep 22, 2026
- Play at 1:32:13
“Well, the pre-op meetings, my average pre-op meeting took about an hour. They will have circulated the idea that this is required, what kind of that is required, and it gives a very good idea of the person leaving there to apply for the aptitude to make the application fee which I think in some respects it's also light in some areas because some of the applications are far more complicated and I know you have a staggered payment schedule but I'm just saying if I look at if I go to Boynton for example and I love point But they have that Sage application process. I don't know how good that is.…”
City Commission · Sep 22, 2026
- Play at 1:33:39
“That was going to be one of my points, yeah.”
City Commission · Sep 22, 2026
- Play at 1:35:21
“Number of meetings. Some of these projects are big projects. I know our boards are volunteer, and I know it works staff and everything, but my view is the faster I get things approved, the faster they get built, the faster they get on the tax rolls. It's a real simple equation for me. Do you think that planning only meets once a month? Should we have it twice a month? I mean, is there a reason why it used to be twice a month?”
City Commission · Sep 22, 2026
- Play at 1:36:24
“Which is why I think there should be greater administrative things. And by the way, in the approval process, when you go to your first set by your second set of comments, I really think that if the issues have not been resolved at the second set of comments, the application should get moved on to these committees and make them as conditions of approval. Right.”
City Commission · Sep 22, 2026