City Commission - Regular Meeting

Test, test, one, two.

to the Pembroke Pines workshop of June 3, 2026. This is board night. And I want to thank all of our advisory boards for being present. The clerk will note that I am here, along with Commissioner Schwartz and Commissioner Rodriguez. Commissioner Good and Vice Mayor Hernandez are en route. And they will be here shortly. But we have 11 presentations today. And we have an hour to do it. So if the presenters could keep their presentations. We have your full presentations. They're part of the record. We've read them all. But if you can keep your presentations at the podium to five minutes. I'll leave a couple of minutes here or there for the odd question that might come up. And I just want to start by saying thank you. Thank you very, very much for everything that you do to support the city of Pembroke Pines. We know that you are volunteers. We want you to know that each of the boards, they meet regularly, and they also... are accompanied by an assistant city attorney and also a member of the city manager's management team. Everything that you tell them and everything that is said bleeds into the city through staff. And we also get the minutes of your meetings and we read them as well. So we really, really thank you because you help make Pembroke Pines a better place by providing the voice of residents, inserting that constantly into the work that we do here on behalf of the people of the city. Mayor, may I have a point of personal privilege?

Yes, go right ahead. Thank you, Mayor. The residents of City of Pembroke Pines, I want to just make a brief statement regarding an event that happened in my private life on Friday. I'm keenly aware of the conversations occurring and statements being made. And at this time, I'm working with the agencies that are assigned I want to thank, first and foremost, the Pembroke Pines Fire Department and Police Department, the North Perry Tower, BCAD, the Sheriff's Department. I want to extend from my family A TRUE APPRECIATION TO COMMISSIONER MARIA RODRIGUEZ FOR HER OUTREACH. TONIGHT I'M FOCUSED ON THE CITY'S BUSINESS AND AT THE APPROPRIATE TIME, MAYOR, I'D LIKE TO BE ABLE TO RECOGNIZE THE FOLKS, THE the people who didn't have to be there. So thank you, Mayor.

Thank you very much. OK, so the first presenter this evening will be the Arts and Culture Advisory Board. There's a button there. You are on.

That's it? Good evening. My name is Rose Colombo. I'm a member of the Arts and Culture Advisory Board. I would like to acknowledge my fellow art board members, some of who are with me tonight. Karen Koren, Kit Jordan, Ananis Rodriguez, Margo Mercado, Jasmine Murias, and Catherine Muniz. They are just a lovely group of ladies. I've been on the board a long time, and this is just the best group. They're really wonderful. OK, my report's long, but I'm going to keep it short. The Frank Art Gallery, under the direction of Sophie Burnett, who is the chief curator at the Frank and also at Studio 18, continues to flourish. as one of the premier art galleries in Broward County. The gallery has hosted an amazing array of visual art exhibitions, national and international artists, and we're very proud that children and family themed events are a regular part of the cultural offerings. There were several major exhibitions held at the Frank, and some of the children and family events included Sensory Saturday, where families can enjoy the gallery in a low stimulation environment, soft lighting, reduced sound for our neurodiverse families. Also, there's family day, field trips, and movie night on the plaza. Some of the other special events hosted by the Frank were the Holiday Art Market, the Frank Studio, the Frank Contemporaries, Florida Talk Series, and the American 250 Tapestry Community Project. The Frank supports artists in all stages of their careers with various lectures, panel discussions, and hands-on workshops. The Studio 18 complex continues to be a hub for emerging artists and established artists. They held some major exhibitions also, Studio 18 Takeover, Collective Matter, and the Golden Watercolor Retrospective. One of their biggest events is the 20th Annual Art Competition. We gave awards in seven categories, and the art board chose Pedro the Parrot, a piece of work created by an artist known as Siki, as the 2025 art festival poster. Some of the other events at Studio 18 were coffee and create workshops, clay workshops, and open house. The Pembroke Pines Cultural Arts Center continues to offer year-round programs and various workshops for the children of our community, including art classes, musical theater classes, piano lessons, and piano lessons. They also host spring break and summer art drama camps. Let me see. Pee Pee Topa continues to be very active in our community. They are founded over 30 years ago. Their this season shows included Plaza Suite, Marvelous Wonderettes, and Neil Simon's Broadway Bound. OK, and our big event, the Pembroke Pines Art Festival, was held at the Charles F. Dodge City Center on November 8 and 9. We welcomed more than 2,000 attendees over the weekend. There were 60 art vendors and 10 food trucks. The lobby showcased the eighth annual student competition, featuring 253 artworks of Pembroke Pines students. Let me see. The Inside the Frank Art Gallery visitors took part in creative workshops led by teachers from the Pembroke Pines Art and Culture Center. The Cultural Arts Department was very successful in obtaining $24,000 in sponsorship for the festival. Some of the other very successful events and projects completed throughout the year by the Recreational Cultural Arts Department included Gary Gore Art Workshops held at Village Community Center, the 24th Annual Storybook Festival themed Follow the Yellow Brick Road, a celebration of the Wizard of Oz, Story Walk in the Pines, Spring into Art Music and Children's Show, Summer Symphony Series featuring the South Florida Symphony Orchestra, and also the biannual art, culture, and entertainment guide. The city received a $25,000 grant from Broward County to be used for the Caribbean American Heritage Festival. With regard to public art, utilizing a recommendation from the art board, the Traffic Rap program continues using images of past art festival poster winners. There was also a Fletcher Park mural that took place. The design concept revolves around girls softball. There was the Panther on the Prowl project. The American Cancer Society partnered with the Florida Panthers for a public art initiative called Panthers on the Prowl. With a $5,000 donation in support of the Cancer Society, in return, the city received a fiberglass panther The Panther was then painted by an artist, and the city launched a three-phase social media contest to name the Panther. The Panther ended up being named Hope. Let me see. There were two other murals that took place. The Spring Valley Mural Project, the mural was an uplifting, family-friendly, and colorful. The Silver Lakes Mural Project created a mural inspired on the concession building at the Spring Valley Park. The art board wishes to extend our sincere appreciation to Christina. Holly Bronkowski, and the entire Recreation and Cultural Arts staff. And of course, the Art Bowl wishes to thank the City Commission for your continued and ongoing support of the arts in Pembroke Pines. I've given you each a folder. And inside there, there's many of the flyers. A lot of you attended these events. The flyers in themselves are so beautiful. They're a work of art, so something you can look at at your leisure. And again, thank you for your support. It means so much to us.

Rose, thank you so much to you and to your board for everything that you do. You help make the city of Pembroke Pines a better place. And we cherish the work that you do for us. It really makes a difference. So thank you so very much. The next presenter will be the Board of Adjustment. Anyone here from Board of Adjustment? I'm sure they're coming in. I'm sure traffic is being held up because of the rain. We'll come back to that. The next board will be the Charter Academic Village Advisory Board.

Good afternoon, Mayor Castillo and City Commission. My name is Michelle Reynoso, and I'm here to present the annual report on behalf of the Charter Academic Village Advisory Board. You should have a copy of our report as well as our attendance record for the past year. Please note I am the outgoing chair, and next year a new chair will address you all. It was a privilege to serve on this board for 12 years. I'll now highlight some of the board's accomplishments this past year. We reviewed and approved the 2025-2026 Academic Village School Improvement Plan, both the high school and middle school handbooks, as well as the PPCSS wellness policy. We reviewed presentations by the Office of Innovative Learning on the implementation and use of AI in charter schools and the Cogner mid-cycle report for student and teacher improvements. We received and discussed monthly updates by the city controller regarding fundraising activities and events. And of course, we held an open forum at each board meeting where parents were encouraged to voice their concerns, ask questions, and provide feedback. Principal Beyer attended every board meeting and responded to each parent. We also received with enthusiasm from Principal Bayer monthly accomplishments of the various academic, athletic, and band successes of our amazing charter school students. My last official meeting with the board was on May 11, and I believe they reviewed the upcoming school year's budget on Monday, June 1 for recommendation to you all. So I think you all will be getting that information, or you probably already have that information. The board appreciates the support of the city commissioners, city manager's office, and the school principals. And the final version of this report was approved for presentation to the city commission by the board at the May 11th meeting. I'd just like to say something in closing, if I may. Both my children graduated from charter. Son, I told him I wasn't going to say baby, but my baby graduated on Friday in an extraordinary ceremony. Loved it. It's a great school system run by great people who care deeply about the students who attend there. My son participated in band all four years that he attended high school, and that helped him to grow into such a remarkable young man. I personally think the high school band program, which he helped me to write this part, which for the first time this year was awarded superiors in every graded program they performed in. And I think that they should be provided with more resources so the performers there can thrive and feel even more proud to represent their school. Thank you for your time. If you have any questions, let me know.

I just want to thank you for everything that you do. Your board is instrumental to the success of the charter schools and we really, really appreciate it. It's one of the more important things that we do here in Pembroke Pines is make sure that everything for kids is available and that it is meaningful and enjoyable because it lasts a lifetime. So we really, really thank you and appreciate your leadership.

Thank you. The 12 years went by so quickly. Take care, everybody.

The next board is the Charter Elementary Middle School Advisory Board.

Good evening, everyone. First of all, thank you for giving me this opportunity to speak with you tonight. Let me start off by first introducing myself. My name is Dr. Imran Siddiqui, and with me today is my fellow board member, Kavita Amar. I am a proud parent of three children in our exceptional A-rated charter school system. I want to take this opportunity not to go down the report that you already have in front of you, but to give my sincere gratitude to our mayor, our vice mayor, our city manager, our assistant city managers, our commissioners, school administration teachers, and my advisory board team. Without your support and your vision, the exceptional A-rated school system that we have would not even be in existence today. Thank you, Mr. Dodge, for your vision. Thank you, Mr. Bonilla and Nalini, for working so hard every year to present a balanced budget. I have had the pleasure of working with an excellent team of advisory board members. As I mentioned, one of who is with me here today, Kavita Amar. And just very briefly, I just wanted to mention only three or four points that's already on the report. I know it's about two to three pages. I don't want to really get into all of it, but just to highlight approximately four points. First is we were able to do, believe it or not, food testing. food tasting through Chartwells. And so we always got feedback from our kids. And it was mixed reviews from kids and always saying how the school lunch is. And we've always heard about this. And we had doubts as well as parents. And so finally, the idea came. And Jonathan, I'm sorry, Jonathan, you probably heard about this in all of the board meetings whenever something with school lunch was brought up. But I have to humble myself and say we were wrong. our kids were wrong. The school lunch through Chartwells was excellent. What they did, what they presented is exactly what our kids get. We had that testing not only with the board members, it was with the parents there. So the only recommendation I would make from that is if we could please have that every year, maybe at one of the meetings, very small, you know, food tasting. And it would encourage all of the parents to, instead of just listening to their kids, actually try the food. So I was pleasantly surprised. And by the way, it was a unanimous decision. All board members, all parents. So we rarely get a decision like that. Number two was the school hour survey. I'm sure everyone was aware there was a possible change in times. But from my understanding, I don't know the details, but I believe the school hours will remain the same. There was, I believe, an overwhelmingly about 70% or more wanted to keep everything the same. So the school will be applying for a waiver to the state for that, from my understanding. The third is AI education. from OIL, which is known as the Office of Innovative Learning. We were provided education on that. And the conclusion was to form an advisory team to look at the pros and cons for our kids. I'm sure all parents have that concern. And finally, the parents were also invited to a meeting regarding bus transportation. And that was always the question, not only food, but transportation for our kids. And so those are the four topics I wanted to just highlight. I wanted to be very brief. I want to thank all of you again from the bottom of my heart. Have a great summer, and God bless all of you.

Thank you very much. Thank you for everything that you do. School transportation is essential, not just to how kids get to school, which is important, but the quality of life of parents and the traffic in the morning in our city. It has been a very, very difficult issue to confront, and that problem may start getting harder. But there's no question that the more kids we can get on the bus to go to school, the better off we will be as a city. And I think it helps the kids, not just every kid. It's not for every kid. But if you could get half of them or a third of them even on a school bus, the improvement to the quality of life in our city and the enjoyment that the kids would get would be terrific. I have great memories of riding to school on a bus. I don't have great memories of what the school cafeteria lunches tasted like because by the time I was so hungry that by the time I got to lunch, it was gone. So I don't know that that was ever really a concern that we had when I was a young kid, but I'm glad that it's a concern now. Striving for better is always what we're about. And I'm glad that the offerings were met with approval, and I want to thank you for everything that you do.

Thank you. Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Thank you so much. Okay.

And next up is the Citizen Budget Advisory Board.

Mayor, I'm sorry. While he gets prepared for this, on the attendance sheet, I just wanted to mention for the record that the total excused absences and total unexcused absences on the sheet don't add up. So if we can have the clerk amend that and then be able to correct it on the record.

Mr. Clerk, without objection, would you please take another look at that? And for those that have inexcused attendance, if that could be double checked, and if they're over the threshold, we really need to sort of tell them that that's a problem. And ask them whether they wish to continue serving. You know, things happen. These are volunteers, and sometimes there's There's an obstruction. There's a problem. And they can't be there on an ongoing basis, not just one given night, but on an ongoing basis. They have a conflict of some kind, a responsibility that came out of nowhere that wasn't anticipated when they first signed up. It's OK if they can't make the meetings. We will thank them sincerely and post a vacancy. I think it's important that the people go. So thank you very much, Commissioner. Mr. Barnett.

Hi, my name is Scott Barnett. I have the privilege to serve on the Citizen Budget Advisory Board. Mayor, City Commission, and to the City Manager and staff, we do have, you know, outline details of what we discussed, but I just wanted to kind of summarize in brief. Thank you for this opportunity to share our progress on the Budget Advisory Board. We continue to have an energetic membership that cares about this community and contributes in-depth commentary and debate on the various issues that come before the Board. Obviously, the uncertainty of future state legislation continues to hang in the balance as we look for credible solutions that can provide the necessary revenue to maintain the standard of living we all enjoy in Pembroke Pines. We are privileged to have the participation of the city manager and his staff at every meeting, and no question goes unanswered. Over the past year, we have worked with the staff to identify and understand the way in which the City consistently balances the budget as well as the ability to present theoretical case studies in order to create stress tests for the challenges ahead. We are thankful for the mindfulness of the City Commission to keep our millage rate at a consistent rate even in the face of necessary capital improvements. We have been able to witness the creativity of the city staff as they continue to make necessary improvements to our city, utilizing available funds. The proof of this is evident with the completion of sorely needed projects, such as the refresh we have seen recently with our parks, like the revamp of William Armstrong Park, along with the road improvements both in the far western and far eastern quarters of our city, and even a thoughtful approach in the creation of sustainable recreation areas. We look forward to the future solutions regarding the public safety initiatives with our essential personnel, as well as finding ways to keep these important members a part of our community through fair and sensible wage structures. We appreciate this commission's sensitivity to our environmental priorities and look forward to the early completion of an improved water utility that will address the current PFAS issue. We also look forward to responsible budgeting that will hopefully allow us to place our blue bins on the curb when the time comes, with a quality recycling initiative. We want to thank all the various leaders within the city who have joined us throughout the year. They have all presented thorough and transparent information with enthusiasm and answered every question with great patience. We look forward to more opportunities to share this information with our fellow residents through various media distribution channels to keep everyone in the city informed of how our contributions help this community thrive, even while maintaining lower fees in comparison to neighboring communities. Ultimately, we all believe in maintaining a standard of living that is affordable, yet provides the premium services that has resulted in this city becoming a benchmark of responsible governance. We also appreciate that each commissioner strives to bring a fair balance of services to each of their districts. These are indeed trying times, but the solid foundation and adherence to fiscal responsibility, along with financial transparency, allows residents to have the confidence that this city puts its citizens first above all else. Like every city board, we are challenged at times to maintain a quorum. And if there are vacancies or lack of participation, we'd like for the commission to ensure that each district has the proper representation it deserves In conclusion, I also want to make a special recognition of Marlene Graham, who keeps our meetings going. She's the engine that makes it all happen. And also Attorney Quentin Morgan. And Mr. Gorin has attended our meetings well, but they definitely do everything they can to keep us in check and keep these meeting structures. So thank you very much.

Thank you. And I just want to say that In the two years almost that your group has been an official city of Pembroke Pines board, you've provided a great deal of information to us and a great deal of input that we've used. The role of the Citizens Budget Advisory Board is about to turn pro. With the advent of the ballot question which was approved for voters this November. The possibility is clearly there that the state of Florida will redefine how it is that cities do business both financially and operationally. And it will have a deep and very significant role in redefining what Pembroke Pines can do for its residents. There will be a lot of work. There will be a lot of questions. There will be a lot of difficult decisions, potentially, that will need to be made depending on what the voice of the people commands us to do in November. And I feel comforted that you and your board members, because of the experience that you've had over the past two years, understand the city's budgeting, understand the city's financing, understand the city's financial position, both from the expense and the revenue side, sufficiently that you can help us on top of being great residents of our city, that you can help us to look at those redefinitions if they become necessary. So I just want to thank you for all that you do, and thank you for all that you're about to do.

Thank you.

Yeah, we look forward to it. So we will be in close touch. Thank you very, very much. And now we have a wonderful diversity and heritage board.

Good evening, everyone. I'm Dawn Prospect. I'm the chair of the Diversity and Heritage Advisory Board from District 2. And I would like to thank the commission for always listening to our ideas and enabling us to move Pembroke Pines forward. I would also like to thank my fellow committee members for showing up and always supporting us at the meetings and providing all of the necessary information and resources needed. Two things I would like to highlight. This year we had our inaugural MLK Day parade and celebration, which we were pushing for for a while. So I'm really excited that the city was able to have that and also plan to make it an annual event. Also, we had last year our first Juneteenth celebration, which we also intend to continue on June 19th of this year. I'm really excited about that. We are looking forward to having our third annual Caribbean American Heritage Festival also in June, on June 27th, and also the fourth annual Hispanic Heritage Festival. And with these, I'm saying that they're going on annually to see. When I first started on this board in 2019, we didn't have these things. But the committee, we came together, we made suggestions. The commission agreed that these are things that we should have. And now we're on third and fourth annual of these events. So I'm really excited to be a part of a committee and a part of a community that embraces diversity and heritage. Thank you.

Thank you very much for everything that you do. I recall when your board, for whatever reason, wasn't meeting for a while and I played a role in reawakening the interest in diversity and heritage in our city, and you all have made many contributions in the short time that you've been back through COVID and everything else to assist us. I'm very sad that the state of Florida has chosen to adopt a new law. It's a DEI law. It is going to redefine what we as a city can do. It's going to redefine what I as a mayor can proclaim. It's going to redefine what we as a city can celebrate. It's going to redefine what kinds of events we can have on our own grounds here. It wasn't placed before the people for a vote. This was decided in Tallahassee, and the law applies statewide. Mr. City Attorney, I don't know whether The assistant city attorney that serves this board so ably has been able to talk to them about the DEI?

She has. OK. She's here. She has.

I do not know what the future brings for your group. But I know this. The statute, Mr. City Attorney, does not prohibit music, correct? I mean, we can still play music?

So far as I can tell, music is still available.

Let me tell you what the wonderful thing about music is. It connects everyone. And it brings everyone together. Music is a wonderful thing. I'm a music lover. Raise your hand if you're a music lover. Maybe we should be celebrating music. All kinds of music. at all different times of the year. And maybe your group should be the music committee.

Maybe.

Because we like music. I've just proved it. And maybe that's something we should do.

Yes.

Because I don't know how else to say it. We like music. This is definitely something we've talked about. I don't know that that's true. I don't know that that's possible. I don't know that we'll be able to offer it free anymore. I don't know what the future brings. I just know that music is a wonderful thing. Yes, I agree. And so I want you to feel dejected. I don't want you to feel frustrated. I don't want you or your great members To think, oh, it's all over. Nothing's over. So we say it's over. Because we live here. So, and I don't want to get this wrong. We're allowed to have music.

Mayor, if you will, I'm not aware of any preclusion as to music.

Okay, good.

That's music to my ears today. Right. There you go. So we'll be in touch. Okay. Mayor, may I? Don, I am so proud of the commitment that you made. I remember that phone call we had so many years ago. I want to thank your predecessors who've served. I want to thank the current board who has served. You know what? Sometimes statutes require things to expire, but that just means you come back better. Yes. Right? Yep. So, you know, while we can say it, you know, whether it be good morning, buenos dias, bonjour, or assalamu alaikum, in the city of Pembroke Pines, we're all one. Thank you.

I agree. Okay. Thank you. Thank you very much. Economic Development Board.

Good evening, mayor, commissioners, city attorney, and city clerk. My name is Christopher Zaidi. I am the chair of the Economic Development Board. I'd like to recognize some of my members that are here, board member Reinstein, Baker, Alvarez, and Lee. Thank you for being here tonight. In the past year, the Economic Development Board has held eight meetings. The board, along with staff, created a meeting calendar for the entire YEAR. THE BOARD DID NOT MEET IN JULY OF LAST YEAR FOR SUMMER RECESS SEPTEMBER FOR THE CITY BUDGET HEARINGS IN NOVEMBER FOR THE ART FESTIVAL AND FEBRUARY OF THIS YEAR FOR THE TASTE OF PINES. SO THAT OUR BOARD MEMBERS COULD ATTEND IMPORTANT COMMUNITY EVENTS SPONSORED BY THE CITY. IN THE PAST YEAR Two new board members were appointed to the Economic Development Board. Currently, there is only one city commission appointee position that remains vacant. The Economic Development Advisory Board engaged in discussions throughout the year relating to ongoing development activity, city initiatives, and support for local businesses. At our January meeting this year, city attorney Sam Gorn presented an overview of the Florida Sunshine and Public Records Law. The presentation covered aspects of the rules applicable to public meetings, gatherings, and discussions to which the Economic Development Board is subject to. The board discussed efforts to enhance communication and support for local businesses, navigating the city ordinances, and permitting processes. These strategies include the use of social media, assisting guides, the how-to, and city's website for improved guidance and resources. The board also researched and reviewed opportunities to improve access to economic development information, including simplifying online navigation and expanding educational materials for the public. The Economic Development Board was excited to hear about the Mayor's Roundtable event on February 12th of this year with the restaurant industry and looks forward to initiatives that may result from those conversations in partnership with the Chamber of Commerce. The Economic Development Board would also like to encourage the support of city staff to conduct additional educational research meetings for permitting and due diligence with groups that support businesses like the Board of Realtors and Shopping Center property managers. In conclusion, the Economic Development Board is enthusiastic about the city's economic development strategy plan and how it will influence the future of our city. Throughout the year, the board provided valuable input on development activity, business support initiatives, and community engagement efforts. The board looks forward to continuing its role in advising on policies and programs and improve quality for life for the residents and businesses within the city. Thank you.

Thank you very, very much. And we very much appreciate all you do together with the business community. The issue with the restaurants is a great opportunity. Assistant City Manager Stam at some point will be coming forward to talking to us about a potential partnership that we can do with our local restaurants, the Chamber of Commerce, and ourselves. to keep more of them open, keep more of them filled, keep more of them exciting, and get more residents to use the restaurants. It's an important thing. We've, in a short period of time, seen a number of restaurants close. We've also seen some open. But it's getting harder and harder to plate a meal in this city for what we're willing to pay. There are certain things in our regulations that, if looked at a little bit differently, would assist that most important and delicious industry. And so we're gonna be taking a look at that. The city commission will be fully briefed, and then they can decide whether this is a partnership that they wanna participate in or not. But I really, really think that that that's an important thing for your committee to focus on as well. And I really, really want to thank you for your work.

Thank you. I appreciate it.

Mayor, you just had a, I had some music in my ear and now I have food. It sounds like there's a food and music committee. Yes, food. I mean, who doesn't like food? Who doesn't like music? It brings us all together, doesn't it? What's a tune without a nosh? Absolutely.

Yes, absolutely. Education Advisory Board is next.

Good evening, everyone. My name is Dr. Rebecca Staden-Reinstein, and I am a member of the Education Advisory Committee and Board. And I want to thank you and welcome Mr. Mayor, our wonderful commission, and the staff who are here today. Thank you all for the support that you give us. The Education Advisory Board met most months during the 2025 and 2026 year. We each visited the Pembroke Pines schools we were assigned and provided them with information about the city and county resources that were available to them. At some meetings, we had speakers who educated us about the city, the county, and the state matters about schools and our functions. I was going to highlight three of the activities that our members participated in this year, which really reflect the diversity of activities for our students. November 2025 marked Student Ambassador Day. When seniors from five high schools came and worked with us, they were all members of the student council. And they came to visit the city departments, the mayor, the police and fire departments, and really learn how the city operates. They asked a lot of questions, and they got a lot of good information, which many of them were surprised and happy to hear. We took them finally to Southwest Vocal Point, which provided a wonderful meal for them. And many of them signed up as volunteers for activities with one of the government departments or with Southwest Vocal Point. In March, 2026, we participated in Read for the Record in several of our assigned elementary schools. We discussed the ideas in the books with the students. We read some passages from the books that we had chosen. And we answered their questions and many times left some follow-up materials for them to continue discussing. In April of 2026, we participated in the Broward County Public Schools STEM Fest, working with students from our middle schools. And throughout the day, they were involved in discovery projects in, of course, science, technology, engineering, and math. They and their parents were enthusiastic and they came up with some creative solutions to the problems they were given to solve. They obviously had a good time and they were having fun while they learned. Our special thanks go to Dr. Lisa Mirage, who's the city liaison with us, and she gives us so much support, encouragement, enthusiasm, and knowledge. And finally, we want to thank, of course, Southwest Focal Point and their staff, who is where we have our meetings. And they're incredibly supportive and helpful to us. And of course, we want to thank you, the commission, again, for all you do for our entire city. Thank you so much.

And thank you. I have to tell you, you all do a wonderful job for the city. We're always looking forward to hearing your recommendations and the activities that you're involved in. And we just thank you so very, very much.

Thank you.

OK. The Environmental Advisory Board.

Good evening, Mayor. Good evening. Vice Mayor Missing, Commissioner Good, Commissioner Rodriguez, Commissioner Swartz, City Attorney, and City Clerk. Good evening. My name is Ram Tiwari. I have been a resident of Pembroke Pines since 1988. And it is my privilege and honor to give this annual report of the Environmental Advisory Board. I can say that I have most of my members here except one. And they are very dedicated. Even with the rain and other things, they are still here. So thank you for being here. And as you said, that already you have gotten our report. I need not to go on the entire report. But I would like to highlight one thing, that we have vacancies in our board. And they need to be filled in, because otherwise it becomes a problem. So my request is that please fill out those vacancies.

Mr. Clark, if you could make a note of that, please. Thank you.

Mayor, can I make, I guess, a draft pick trade here? Because when Mr. Tiwari was appointed by Commissioner Good, it was District 1. So now it's District 2. And so I would maybe, if we could open up a position for District 1, Commissioner Good, if you think you may have somebody. And we can at least fill that slot. That's your guy. So I guess we're going to have to. So let me redouble my efforts to see what I can do within the district. And now that I have Commissioner Good's blessing to do that, I can move forward, OK? Thank you. Thank you. OK, go ahead.

Go ahead. Okay, so EAB provides constructive advice and counsel to the city commission and works to ensure that environmental protection and conservation remains a priority for the city. The board advocates sustainability initiative that align with city's strategic goal and monitors the progress of the city's green plan. EUB members appointed by you are seasoned professionals. They are. And they are very expert in their field they have chosen. And they promote clean and renewable energy, waste reduction, wildlife protection, litter control, transportation planning, and other environmental initiatives. Board remains proactive and focused on the mission to support and advance city's sustainability goal. EAB has 11 members and one alternate appointed, and during the month of April, two members resigned. Therefore, there are only four vacancies at this time, so please fill out those vacancies. EAV recommendation you already have with you. I don't have to go on repeating those things. Accomplishment and recommendations are also in the annual report, which has been. And I'm glad that Mr. Gomes, who is the sustainability coordinator, so thank you for making him liaison, because he is focused on sustainability. And he is also working with like Nature Escape, Water Brower, and those kind of things, because it's a good thing to coordinate with other agencies as well. I have a list of those recommendations. Please go through that. I won't. At the end, I would like to acknowledge the board would like to acknowledge city commission for establishing EAB as a valuable resource to provide guidance and counsel on environmental production and conservation initiative. Board also extends the sincere appreciation to Mark Gomes, Mark Gomez, assistant city manager, director of procurement. He has been a wonderful liaison for our board. His efforts in researching complex topics, providing clarity, assisting in key issues have been instrumental to our success. Conclusion, throughout the reporting period, the board remained actively engaged in advancing city's green plan, fostering meaningful dialogue on critical environmental issues, and supporting initiatives that promote sustainability, resilience, and community awareness. Board's accomplishments reflect a collaborative effort to enhance communication, expand regional partnership, and position the city for recognition through environmental achievements and best practices. Looking ahead, we will continue to serve as a trusted advisory board, offering informed recommendations and innovative solutions that align with city strategic plan. It will be environmental protection, responsible growth, and resource conservation. And we are dedicated, as you have appointed us, we remain dedicated for the environmental protection and sustainability. And Mayor, thank you for giving a proclamation for Arbor Day, because trees are very important for us, climate-wise, even so. That was a good thing that you gave a proclamation, and you recognize the importance of trees. The city has been a tree city for 33 years, and that's very momentous and proud of it. Civic engagement, though we have not been involved in that, but Mayor, you have. And I'm really fascinated by your Facebook postings. Even on the solid waste plan, after the workshop, you gave a Facebook posting on the solid waste management issues, what county has, what city has, and what the vendor has. So that was one civic. from you, which is going to help us. You also talked about the budget and how it might affect the property taxes and how it will impact. And I appreciate that. Also on incinerator, probably this commission took initiative. So no more incinerator. That was a good thing. So in the end, I would like to say, You highlighted that even the water utility charges, you said this is your two charge. City of Pembroke Pines has the lowest rates for 3,000 gallons per month, the charge we have. So thank you, Mayor, Commission, and the staff that you have helped us. And please continue to help us. And with your Facebook post, I like at the end, discuss. I'm ready to discuss.

Thank you. Thank you very, very much to the Environmental Advisory Board. You guys are terrific. Staff loves working with you. They are constantly talking about your recommendations and your ideas. Very much like bouncing ideas off of you as residents, but also as people who understand the subject matter. And in not too long a period of time, we'll be talking more about waste once we have a better understanding of how that can evolve. And we're very much looking forward to recycling again soon. Administration has been directed to come back to us very soon with some sort of plan for that. And there are exciting days ahead for us with respect to the environment. We've recently purchased an additional property in the 196th Avenue Ranch area, which we're going to add to the open space and preserved category. We're doing everything that we can to keep Pembroke Pines green and happy and to also explain to the great residents of the city that we do live in the Everglades and the best way to live here with the wildlife is with your eyes but never with your hands. Just watch them. and marvel at the beauty, the natural beauty that we live in. But let them fend for themselves, because that's nature's way. And when we don't do that, we end up with animals in our community that wouldn't otherwise visit us. So all of that is very, very important. And it's all part of being good stewards of the environment. So I really want to thank you for everything that you do. And excellent report. Thank you.

Thank you. Mayor, it appears that Mr. Tiwari's steadfast dedication caused one of our residents to reach out to me while he was speaking. It looks like I have an appointment coming in two weeks. So before you leave here, you'll be filled. So District 2, Tom, Commissioner Goode, you're good. Oh, wonderful. And we're going to fill the boat, OK? Keep rolling in the same direction. Oh, thank you.

Let's make sure that it's posted. Oh, it's been out there for a while. OK, good, good, good. You've got to follow the rules. OK, thank you very much. Planning and Zoning Board. We have Ms. Linda Gonzalez, who's with us, who, unless I'm mistaken, is the longest serving advisory board member in the city right now. And unless I'm mistaken, that's true. And I want to thank you. How long have you been on planning and zoning, 30 years?

Almost 25, I think. 25.

And you've done a great job each and every day as a volunteer.

It doesn't seem possible, but it is.

You've brought so much to our community. And your fingerprints will forever be here. And it's a beautiful city. And we thank you and all of your board members, past and present, for their contributions.

Thank you. I'm joined tonight by Rosalie Labate, longtime member, and our newest board member, Heidi Jones, is an alternate member. Yep. We heard this year two zoning changes, seven side plans.

Pull that down a little.

Yes, good.

Two zoning changes, seven side plans, 19 zoning variances, and 35 miscellaneous applications. I want to especially thank our support staff in getting the newer members up to speed and in answering their questions and comments before the board meetings, so our meetings run much smoother. We are having a little problem with miscellaneous paint change applications. Paint? Paint change. When a business owner wants to paint his buildings, he's supposed to submit plans to the staff for review, then to us for review. It used to be we'd have maybe two or three in a year that didn't do that. Well, it's gotten out of hand now. From May of 2025 to April of 2026, there were 20 paint change applications, nine of them put them in for review, but 11 of them didn't. They went ahead and painted, and they're cited by code enforcement. Then they come before us, and unless it's really awfully gregarious looking. We're not going to make a business owner spend the money to paint his buildings a second time. So they come and say, oh, we're sorry. We're sorry. We didn't know. We didn't know. So then we approve it. But it's sort of getting out of hand when you have more that are doing it without approval than you have that are doing it with approval. That's interesting. And one of the actually was a suggestion, a unanimous decision of the board that we ask you if you would consider a after-the-fact architectural late fee for business owners that don't follow the rules, accompanying with an education program to notify business owners that, hey, if you want to paint your building, this is the process that you have to do.

I can see Mr. Stamm scribbling notes right now. So thank you very, very much. Is he here?

He is here. I'll have to go talk to him. And as always, we serve at your pleasure. If there's anything you want us to do, please let us know. And I was very impressed with your anaerobic discussion of garbage destruction. So anything we can do in that area, please let us know.

Thank you very, very much.

And for everything that you do for us, Mr. Mayor, before we move on. Yes, just one of the things. I mean, every business has to have an annual business license renewal. Is that correct? So maybe there could be some sort of required documentation that goes along with it that reminds the business owners about the P&Z process.

Or maybe an education process, too. In the beginning, I think some of it was they would go to the building department and ask if they needed a permit, and they'd say no. But there were new people there, and they weren't aware that they had to come before us. That might have been some of it. But it's kind of gotten out of hand now. with more people doing it without the process than there are that are doing it with the process. Anyway, that's our main problem this year. Thank you.

Thank you so very much. The Youth Advisory Board is here. We're so very thankful for everything that they do. The voice of young people in this city is something we did not have for many years, and we have it now in a very formalized way, and we're very thankful for it. So you can proceed with your presentation.

Thank you. Good evening, Mayor Castillo and City Commission. My name is Roberta Joseph, and I'm the chair of the Parent Pines Youth Advisory Board. I'm here to give a report for the 2025-2026 year, which was actually our most eventful year yet. So I'm excited to share. First, we have our very first iteration of the Teen Takeover event. This is a new initiative focused on teen mental health, which was held March 13, 2026. Along with community partners of the Boys and Girls Club, Community Affairs Unit, and the YMCA, we were able to host 80 high schoolers to allow them to put their phones down, stay in the present, and focus on mental health. As well as this, we were able to do something that was actually a recommendation from last year. We were able to have a very productive Q&A session with the one and only city commission, We'd like to thank you again for being able to talk to us so we could learn more about what you guys do, but also to be able to have our voices heard, because that's always important. Next, I am extremely proud to say that our advisory board was selected as a winner for the 2026 Youth Council Excellence Award from the Florida League of Cities. This was from our second iteration of the career fair and life skills event and is an award only given to two other city councils in the state. So because of that, we are able to receive a trophy and a monetary award of $500. Now onto our recommendations. We would like to work with the city to continue to provide more accessible mental health resources through the city website to make it more appealing to high schoolers to not only be able to visit the website, but feel that they are being seen and heard. As well as that, we would like to expand and collaborate with our student ambassador program and allow them to probably join us in a meeting and have productive discussions. As well as that, before I finish my report, As the chair of the Youth Advisory Board, I am the person that has to handle all the discussions, ones that range from mental health, preparing for adulthood, creating a plant garden, and more. But four words that I have never heard mentioned in my three years on this board is it probably won't matter. And that's what makes this board special. We understand that any effort created for youth is better than nothing. And I'm proud that along with the current city programs, we're able to show youth of Pembroke Pines that the city not only sees them, but cares about them. As my last time up here as the chair, I'm excited for what's to come in the generations after me. Thank you to the board for three great years. They're here today. Thank you. Thank you to Holly Bonkowski, Katherine Borgstrom, and Alberto for making every meeting special. And a huge thank you to the city commission for always believing in its youth. Thank you for your time.

Thank you very much. And let me tell you that it gives us a rush of pride to see young people involved in government as energetically and well as you all are doing. And we really, really thank you. And there will always be a special place in our heart for the young people who stand up and help their city. For all of that and so much more, congratulations and all the best.

Thank you so much. Have a good night.

This will be second call for Board of Adjustment. Yes, sir. I know it was raining out, and we thank you for attending.

And thank you for allowing me to make the report. Unfortunately, downtown traffic was diverted The lanes were closed off with the turnpike being reconfigured. To the Mayor Castillo, Commissioners Good, Rodriguez, and Swartz, General Counsel, City Clerk, I am Carlton Krull, the Chair of the Board of Adjustments as of September 2026. And I'd like to start by recognizing The long-serving Mr. Rodriguez Soto, who served for 23 years on this board and recently passed. The summary of our report is between April 2025 and March 2006, the board concluded 10 meetings and heard 45 requests for 27 residential single-founder properties. We passed 45 motions and failed one. 29 petitions were made. without building permits and or city approval. We have approved 97.3 of the petitions and 2.7 failed. At my recommendation as a member on June 18, 2024, ordinance number 2022 was approved for an increase for the front lot coverage for driveways from 35% to 40%. And this was a decrease in staff's workload for the year ending 2024 from 127 requests, 2025 down from 94 requests, and for the current year, 2026, only 45 requests. And we thank the Commission for passing this ordinance, which reduced staff workload. We tend to allow a little lenience on the eastern side of Pembroke Pines due to the older homes being built. They have smaller driveways, and we have a load family members moving back into the home, children, and the elderly. So the front lot coverage and additional driveway was a big help. We have to be very careful with the therapy needs because many of them have different needs, handicapped, mental issues, and so forth. So the members that you provided are very conscious of that request. I want to thank our clerk, Ms. Catherine Bostrom, and also the general counsel, Quentin Morrison, for keeping us in line at most of our meetings and making sure the audience is within the guidelines of the board. And this concludes the report for the Board of Adjustments. Thank you very much.

Well, sir, I just want to say that having listened to your report very carefully, you're the perfect choice. for us moving forward, and I'll tell you why. You get it. You understand that these rules are there to serve us, not the other way around. And the purpose of these rules is to keep neighborhoods moving forward, but the purpose of a house is to keep a family moving forward. And so sometimes the rules, a rule here or a rule there needs to change because the way things are presenting in life now required. And you came up with a perfect example. We're seeing more and more young people and others staying home longer. That means more cars. That means more of a lot of stuff. you know, the world marches on and the rules need to march on with it. And I'm very, very thankful that you're recommending rules that was not always the case with the committee. Sometimes it was, but I'm very, very thankful for all that you do and for the good work that your board is putting forward. I am noticing that, unless I'm mistaken, there is some sort of, decline in the number of cases that are coming to you. And I can only assume, because I am an optimist, I can only assume that that's because of the great work of the Code Enforcement Unit. They're out there all of the time. And at the State of the City, I was able to read a very, very impressive statistic that 80% of all of our code cases are resolved voluntarily, 80%. That says a lot about the residents in this city. It says a lot about the pride that they take in their properties. It says a lot about the compliance and the respect that they have for their city. But code compliance continues to be a huge issue, particularly in pockets around our city. And I just want you to know that this commission is very much aware of that. Your group, though not defined that way, is actually an integral part of the code compliance process. And we're very, very thankful for everything that you do.

Thank you.

Thank you very much. And with that, we will conclude our workshop on board nights. And thank you again for all of you who presented and for all the volunteers and for all the work that you do. And with that, I'm going to gavel the meeting. Welcome, everyone, to the City of Pembroke Pines City Commission meeting of June 3, 2026. We are in session now. And Mr. Clerk, if you would, please call the roll.

Commissioner Goode.

I'm here.

Vice Mayor Hernandez. I'm here. Commissioner Rodriguez.

Here.

Commissioner Schwartz. Here. Mayor Castillo?

Here.

City Manager Dodge? Here. City Attorney Gorin?

I'm here.

We have a quorum.

Thank you very, very much. OK. Today we have the honor of six choir members from the Franklin Academy under the direction of Dr. Granados, who are going to lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance. and then to the national anthem. So to honor America, will you all please stand and remain standing?

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty Oh, say can you see by the dawn's early light What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming Whose broad stripes and bright stars Through the perilous fight O'er the ramparts we watched Were so gallantly streaming And the rocket's red glare The bombs bursting in air Gave proof through the night That our flag was still there. Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

Wow. How absolutely lovely. Franklin Academy, thank you so very much. How lovely. How lovely. God bless these kids. They can do anything. That's great. OK. An announcement of items to be pulled from the agenda?

No items, Mayor.

I note that we have two addendums here. We will get to those. Friends, we have the privilege of having in our chamber today State Representative Robin Bartleman, who has done everything that she could to represent this community exceptionally well over many, many years. Currently in Tallahassee at the state capitol. She flew in late last night. I was texting with her about the special session, and she's here to give us some information. State Representative Robin Bartleman, welcome and thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. And thank you, Mayor, and to the commissioners. It's been a long two weeks. And I'll touch on the properties tax session. This is supposed to be my legislative update. So I'm going to be very quickly on the legislation and try to let the people know what happened with property taxes. This session, I received over $5 million in appropriations. And I passed two bills, a child abuse bill with Senator Sharif. I want to thank Commissioner Maria Rodriguez for coming to that meeting and testifying when you were in Tallahassee. I appreciate that. That gives parents the ability to have a second opinion when they are charged with abuse. This usually has to do with infants who have five genetic disorders. And when you take them to the hospital for injuries, it looks like abuse. The genetic disorders like Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, brittle bone disease, they mimic the signs of abuse. And what's happening is the kids are being taken away from their parents. They have to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to even get that second opinion. One parent spent $300,000 and was separated from her newborn infant for 18 months. And the whole time, the kid had brittle bone disease. So this just gives parents the right to get a second opinion. The second bill that I passed is has to do with human trafficking. South Florida is number three in the nation for the number of human trafficking cases. The only place you can identify victims are in hospitals in urgent care, because they're usually in the shadows. But when they're very ill or hurt, the predator does not want to lose on their investment. So they will bring them in. And this trains nurses. So the first day they get on the job, they're able to identify the victims. And then they're able to get help for them. Appropriations with the $5 million that are subject to veto by the governor, we always have to say that. Things that will impact Pembroke Pines, the South Broward Drainage District, S2, S3, and S7 sluice gates. This is really important because these are pump stations and the gates that go to the pump stations They have to be repaired to take care of inland flooding. Also, the South Broward drainage district Pembroke Falls sluice gate and telemetry project. So if you live near Pembroke Falls, this is going to help make sure the gates are working in that area so you do not have inland flooding. It also helps the lakes lower so that we have a storm coming. We can get the water out of our community. And I had received $2 million, and this impacts everyone in South Florida for the Village of South Florida Autism Independent Living Facility. As parents age, it becomes increasingly difficult to take care of their adult children with disabilities. And so instead of being institutionalized, it is much more appropriate and humane to have these individuals live in independent living communities where they can thrive as adults should. And so this is $2 million, which will help which will help build this home. The location has not been set yet, but it will be here in Broward County. And so I'm excited to bring that in. The other things are Southwest Ranches, but you'll be happy they have a fire truck if you need it and drainage. And Weston got a community center. And the other thing that impacts you all is the Psychiatric Emergency Ambulance Pilot Program, which is for the whole county. When children are Baker-acted from schools, they're usually handcuffed, which is incredibly traumatic. This will be a pilot for the whole state that they are transported in an ambulance. The only bills that I think are going to be important for your community, besides the property taxes, is I know you recently became an autism city. Commissioner Hernandez, thank you very much. There was a blue envelope bill that was passed. So this is going to be how individuals with disabilities, when they get pulled over by the police, there will be a program where a blue envelope is passed. so the police can identify them. That's going to be a statewide program. And the topic of discussion for everyone is e-bikes. I know where I live, we have gangs of children on their e-bikes, terrorizing neighborhoods in some cases. So we've changed the laws on how fast they can go. And we've set up a task force statewide And so we're going to be bringing forward laws to regulate the e-bike. So that's really important for you all. And this you don't have to worry about, because you have Memorial Miramar. But other communities do. For instance, in Weston, someone had an asthma attack. And minutes matter. And because Cleveland Clinic did not have a pediatric unit, they transported them all the way east. And the child actually ended up dying. What this will do is create, make sure that every ER, Cleveland Clinic, no matter what ER it is, it's equipped to deal with pediatric emergencies. So that was a really good bill that I'm proud of. So we had some bills that will impact you, the DEI bill. So you can't have any diversity, equity, and inclusion. You can't have your festivals that reference diversity, equity, and inclusion. This is an incredibly inclusive commission. This is an incredibly inclusive community. You recognize everyone, no matter where they're from, what kind of family they are. You embrace everyone. And so this is going to tie your hands a little bit. I'm sure your lawyer has already looked at it, because if you do, or if you attend an event in your official capacity that is not one of the federal or state events, you can be removed from office. So I'm sure you're going to have a workshop on that shortly, because that has already been signed into law. And in terms of voting, everyone, just make sure you have your star on your driver's license. The only people we're having issues with are in Century Village, because Bernie, he is very old. He's in his 90s. He's never missed an election, but he doesn't have his birth certificate. So Darien, who is my district aide, tracked down what state was he in? New York. We were able to track down his birth certificate, but it took weeks. So he could get a star on his driver's license. So if anyone is having an issue doing that, let me know. Also, I didn't know this, but people who were born during the Jim Crow era were not born in hospitals. A lot of black people were born at home, and they did not have birth certificates. And so their names were written in a Bible, which was interesting because these people came and testified. So they're also going to have the issue getting the star. So just call our office if you can't get a DMV appointment or you can't get the star. Now, property taxes. First, I want to acknowledge that everyone's hurting right now, that everyone is trying to figure out how they're going to pay their bills and how they're going to make ends meet. But I do want to tell you that I have never had a call about property taxes. I have only had a call about property insurance. And we have never talked about property taxes until it was brought up by the governor. I want to talk about what your property taxes pay for, your police, your fire, your parks, your garbage, your roads, your infrastructure, everything you move to Pembroke Pines for. Everything. Now, people will turn to me and say, but I can never really own my house. And I turn to them and say, You can own your house, but don't you want your asset protected? Don't you want high property values? Living in Pembroke Pines, you're going to have that because you're going to have your garbage picked up. You're going to have your streets fixed. You're going to have parks for your children to play in. And most importantly, when you dial 911, you want the ambulance, fire truck, or police to show up. That's what your property taxes are paying for. They're paying for your libraries, and they're paying for your jails, so we can put criminals in the Broward County Jail. So you're going to be educated on this, but I wanted to start with that premise. So the first bill, the governor's bill, if you have used the cost calculator, it does not work now because we have removed schools. The first bill would have just bankrupt all the schools. What they forgot to include was the Florida Education Finance Plan. 47% of their budget is required local effort. So it would impact Pembroke Pines Charter, it would have impacted all your public schools, but it also would have impacted all your vouchers and homeschoolers. So every child in Florida would have been impacted. The House and the Senate removed that. The second part of the property taxes, it's a $150,000 exemption the first year, a $250,000 exemption the second year, and then it's up to the state legislature next year to have full elimination, come up with a plan for full elimination of property taxes. Now, the only way we fund the state of Florida is through property taxes, fees, and sales tax. And no, tourists aren't paying your bills. They're only about 25% of the overall budget on sales tax.

So that's how we fund Florida.

We do not have a state income tax, nor should we ever have a state income tax. So when you take out that third leg, which is a huge part of funding Florida, the first year it's a $9 billion hole for all of Florida. Then it's like a $16 billion hole. And then it goes to like a $45 billion hole with full elimination. You cannot get something for nothing. I'm going to repeat that again. You cannot get something for nothing. We have to pay for services. This commission next year, if you all vote for this on the ballot, they're going to have to cut 17.5% of their budget, which is $20 million. The second year, they're going to have to cut 30.3% of their budget, which is $36 million, and full elimination is $53 million, which at that point will be 44% of your remaining budget. Decisions will have to be made. Unlike previous bills, fire and police are no longer protected. There is no protection for you, your salaries, your departments, or your pensions. Unless you're under FRS, and I'm not sure if your city is or it's a city pension. Okay. The bill that was talked about earlier protected you all. There is no safety net for any of you. that needs to be put out there. Also, it impacts your county, which are your libraries, your roads, your jails, and I gave you the Pembroke Pine numbers, but for the county, it'll be $194 million the first year, $333 million, and then $624 million. So there are gonna be tough decisions that have to be made if the voters pass this. I wanna point something out. You cannot get something for nothing. This is not a getting rid of taxes. This is going to become a tax shift. What does that mean? And we'll post it tonight. If you go on my website, we interrogated the bill's sponsor. And we said, well, how are the cities going to fill these holes? And he reminded us that you all can fill the hole, the counties can, with food and beverage taxes, fuel taxes, and fees. Those are incredibly regressive. So while you're paying your property taxes with your front pocket, You're not going to have to do that anymore. But out of your back pocket, you're going to be paying fees. You're going to be paying sales tax increases, et cetera. So make a decision. And if you are a renter, this doesn't help you at all. None of this helps you, and you will pay, if we increase your fuel tax or your sales tax, you're going to get hurt even more. And your rents are going to go up because there's only a limited protection for commercial properties. And we're going to have, I know this city is going to have informational meetings for you. The other thing that nobody talks about is this also impacts the Children's Services Council, which provides aftercare, out-of-school care, and summer programs for children in the entire county. I did file an amendment. to exclude them. We put that on the board. It failed. But Senator Harrell, this was not a partisan issue, who is a Republican senator on the other side, filed the same amendment to try to say we can't hurt Children's Services Councils because the only way they get money is ad valorem and there is no way to recoup $144 million. And if you have a child with a disability, at the county level, it impacts all your veteran services, all your senior services, all your Meals on Wheels, all the senior centers that are funded with county dollars. It impacts all of them. It impacts the South Broward Hospital District, which are our safety net hospitals, which will lose 12%, 23%, and then 35% of their budget. And most importantly to our area is the South Broward Water Management District. If you do not know who that is, they are the ones that are appointed by the governor. It is a governance body that is in charge of Everglades restoration, the quality of your drinking water, and all inland flooding. So when you see the C9 canal and the C11 canal, they're the ones who open those canals when we drain the lakes to get ready for a flood. There is no way for them to recoup this money. So a lot is impacted. So yeah, you're saving property taxes on your home, but good luck when there's a flood. You cannot get something for nothing. I'm going to say that again. And then people say, well, then what would you do about it? We filed a bill, and it was a bill in HJR that was $100,000, which is a stopgap. And I'll tell you why it was a stopgap in a minute. Our bill was $100,000 protection, up to $100,000 for Homestead. It protected fire police. Did not create a ceiling because you had to, based on the cost of living index, that would change. It protected all the special districts that I spoke of. If you're getting bit by mosquitoes, mosquito control in most of the state of Florida is a separate taxing district that will be impacted. So it protected all the special districts and public safety. My biggest problem with this bill is that every 20 years, constitutionally, there is something called a Budget and Taxing Commission that meets in the state of Florida. Their whole job every 20 years is to look at our taxing structure and see if it needs to be fixed. They then take proposals and put them on the ballot. We need to be fixed. I pay $8,000 in taxes, and my neighbor who moved in a year ago is paying $12,000. He's up to almost $20,000 in taxes. That needs to be fixed so first time home buyers can get in. But their whole job would be to have a study, to run numbers, to have it scored, and then present something that provides voters relief without bankrupting everything else. That's meeting next year. We're not waiting for them to meet. We're going to put this on the ballot. When you put it on the ballot, it is cemented in the Constitution. So if this turns into a mess, which we have time because it is a phase-in, you, the voters, are the only ones who can undo it at 60%. And I'm going to tell you why that's dangerous. In Kansas, they have a state income tax structure. And back in 2012, they were like, our people need help. We need immediate relief. And they legislatively, not a constitutional amendment like we're doing, changed their whole state income tax structure. And it was a mess. All of the state, all of the cities, and all of the counties, their bond rating dropped. They had to close schools in the middle of the year, literally shutter the doors because they had a financial emergency. And guess what? The legislature was able to fix it with a vote, which is what they did. But economically, by 2017, they were still recovering. We cannot fix this legislatively. It can only be fixed by the voters if there's a problem. There are, and luckily this has a phase in, which is very important, so we can see what the real impacts are. Now, Pembroke Pines, the cities I represent, they have a very high medium price value. The average price in Broward County is like $460 to $480. But 211 of all of the 407 cities in Florida, their assessed homestead value median price is under $250,000. So 211 cities in the state of Florida will have their budgets wiped out. And if they do not have a lot of commercial, like Parkland does not have a lot of commercial, they're going to get hurt more than anybody else. Their budgets are wiped out. What the bill sponsor said, dissolve the cities. combine the counties. We are lucky, because in South Florida, $150,000 hit, it'll help us. But you guys, as you move towards that elimination, it's going to hurt you. If we have an economic downturn, like the 2008 housing crisis, which happened, and we all lived through it, a lot of us here. I know Angela did. Tom was here. Jay was here. Patty was on the school board when we laid off 700 people. that will be a problem. So they're gonna be asked to vote on this, which is fine, but you will not get as voters any of the fine print. You have to have an implementing bill. What the governor has said is that vote on it, and then we're going to have an implementing bill. So vote on this concept, but we're not going to tell you how we're going to fix it or how we're going to handle it until after you vote yes, which is crazy, because you should have all of the information up front. So that's another problem. So your job as a commission is going to have to be to educate what this means. And like I said, Broward County will get hit really, really, really hard the second year phase in. But the other counties are going to be a problem. And this bill does not have a requirement for a backfill for the counties that are going to be affected. Basically, their budgets will be wiped out. So that's going to be a problem. But you should also know that your tax dollars in Broward County are helping fiscally constrained counties as we speak. We already help the counties that are in need. And at the state level, so when this happens, that's going to grow exponentially. And they're going to have to go somewhere for help. So you're going to have a decision to make. I'm not going to tell you how to vote. It's my job to educate you on everything. If we stopped at 150, it'll hurt. You're going to lose some stuff. But 250 and then a complete elimination is a different story without identifying another funding source. We'll have the video of the bill sponsor answering the questions posted up. We'll start posting up the videos with the amendments we brought forward. We did bring forward an amendment to protect fire and police, and it was voted down. So they're going to be tough discussions, and it's going to be really hard, because just like you, the gas prices, the food prices, it's killing all of us. So educate yourselves and then make the decision you think is right. But I don't want anyone to ever say, I didn't give you the whole truth. So that is my legislative update. Any questions?

Representative Vardaman, I thank you very, very much for that presentation. I thank you for your hard work in Tallahassee. I caution the city commission because this item has already been passed. As I understand it, in order to get an item on the ballot that involves the Constitution, the governor is not required to sign it.

Correct. It's going on the ballot.

And so this item has already been passed. And so the state's statute, which keeps city commission and elected officials from using any public connected means to advocate, which means I think this is a good idea or I think this is a bad idea, advocate, has already told. The city manager and the city attorney understand what the rules are with respect to education of factual education of residents. As this city, together with other cities, move toward the possibility of this, residents are going to have many questions like, well, how would this affect our city? And Mr. Manager, I think it's important that within the constraints of this Let me be respectful. Highly unusual law that is now applied to this other highly unusual law that we be very careful how we put the information out. Some of us chose to disgorge ourselves of our views timely before the passage of this item. However, it has now been passed. And the law being the law, we must follow it. So I wouldn't want anyone in a moment of passion to forget themselves because the penalties for this include removal of office. That's what the law is now. So I really think it is important that the residents have answers to their questions. Certainly, the city has a responsibility to educate. And under the limits of the law, we will do that. And we will give you all the information that the law allows. Outside of this building, off these grounds, if anyone has a question for me, I'm happy to give you my honest opinion, and I hope each one of us in our own individual capacity is similarly disposed. But I agree with what you said in the beginning, which is that there are a lot of people who are looking for property tax relief. They just feel that it's just too much tax. The governor said that he felt that... homeowners, even people who own their own homes, that they were renting. This was the statement that he made. It's like they're renting their own home from the government because they pay tax. At my home, we pay more in property insurance. This is a fact. So, Mr. City Attorney, this is an advocacy. This is a fact. In my home, I pay more in property tax... homeowner insurance than I do in property tax. So it's been said in my house that we feel we're renting our house from an insurance company. But in November, people are going to have to make these choices based on the information that we can provide and the comments that you all generate amongst yourselves. And one lady said to me the other day that this bill vaguely reminded her of giving a lung cancer patient a carton of cigarettes. Imagine that. This is someone who's very measured with her words. I neither offer that to you in advocacy or not. It's simply a fact. Somebody said that to me. So what I think that we should do is we should... pause and think it through. Everyone has a vote to make. But I can tell you damn sure this way, this city will survive no matter what happens. There will be a better day. We live here. We love this place. We ain't moving. And we will find a way, come what may, to make things work. It may be different. You might like it. You might not like it. But we will find a way to make Keep this city moving forward because we must. That's our job. That's your job. And we run it for you. Just one last observation. I think it's just amazing how folks say, well, you'll have to cut this program of yours or that program of yours. I said, of mine? I think you're having a little cognitive dissonance with your possessive adjectives. We don't have any of this. All of this that you see, everything that we do is yours. We just run it for the boss. We don't have any programs. There's nothing here that belongs to us. Everything about this city, everything about your government is yours. And so the decisions that you make now, pay very careful attention, because they affect you. And if anyone else wants to say something, I've already given you my admonishment. City attorney, do you feel you need to add anything?

You've given facts, Mr. Mayor, have you not? Yes, I have. Thank you, sir.

Does anyone else have anything to say? Yes, Commissioner Rodriguez.

I think it's really, well, first of all, thank you, Representative Bartleman, for your The way that you voted on this bill can't be said the same for a couple of other people that represent us, but thank you in particular. I, as a statement of fact, it's a lot easier to drive to your city hall than it is to drive to Tallahassee. When you guys have any kind of concern regarding our budget, regarding our millage rate, regarding our taxes, you are more than welcome to come to city hall to stop us at Publixes, to see us at city events, to participate in our budget advisory board, to do all of those things. And we hear you. That is why we have actually reduced our millage rate in the last couple of years. It is a lot harder and almost impossible to go all the way to Tallahassee, even if I paid for the buses for you to be there, for you to go ask the governor and the representatives there to give you the money for the services that you all deserve. And so keep that in mind. Your local, again, local governments represent the local constituency here in a lot smaller amounts. It is a lot easier for us in our everyday capacity to contemplate, to understand, to see how the decisions that we make here impact our residents. And when we succeed, any kind of power to the state that is no good for anybody. And we end up having you guys have to go to Tallahassee to advocate for very basic services.

Thank you. Commissioner Rodriguez brought up a very good point that I forgot to mention. In the bill, it does limit what you can spend the remainder of your money on. Now, originally, you weren't even going to be able to spend your ad valorem on parks or salaries or water in your buildings. So Sam, along with all of the city, sorry, Mr. Gorin, along with all of the city attorneys across the state are currently analyzing that bill because they want to tell you what you can spend your money on. And Pembroke Pines, your parks, could you imagine if you couldn't put that money towards your parks? And there is one other point, because there's so much about this bill, and it just happened in the last 48 hours. There will be a lawsuit, because it creates two classes of people, because you cannot have this exemption unless you lived here five years. That is in the referendum. There have been court rulings that actually would be like, this is unconstitutional, this amendment. So that could happen. It could get tossed out before it gets on the ballot, or it's going to get on the ballot. I am not restricted like you all are. So I will come to any meetings you want me to and talk about this, because I can. But I just want to say what's ironic is that the state government used public tax dollars to create social media and a calculator to sell this to the public and campaign for it.

It's true, and I neglected to mention it. The state is not subject to these rules. Yes, and what we- It's only local governments that- Can do this. The state can do anything they want.

And we did have an amendment that said no one can use public dollars to campaign on this, and it failed.

It was about $35 million, if I'm not mistaken.

Yeah, that's what he put in the bill, I believe. I don't know how, but we didn't even approve it. They already did it. It's crazy.

So $35 million of your taxpayer funds will be used to campaign on this. Mayor.

Yeah, we really have to move along, but Commissioner, I understand the importance of the issue. If we could just, let's do it because we have a long meeting.

30 seconds. Go right ahead. Okay. So legacy homeowners like myself in the city, some of us are up here as well, when you move up to $250,000 of taxable value, given what our median taxable value is in the city of Permapines right now, that means that half the people will pay taxes and half won't.

That's true.

Which means that whatever has to be paid for it potentially could double for the ones that are contributing. And so I am very interested in getting a breakdown of how things are gonna play out because it will literally divide our city.

It will. Well, for other residents, I am here for whatever you need. Robin Bartleman, 954-668-3662. We have a lot of unemployment cases, unfortunately, coming in. Still the trickling driver's license cases, Medicaid, Medicare, Agency for Persons with Disability. My job is to help you get the services you need. So feel free to contact me. And thank you to this commission for the amazing job you do. And it's an honor to represent everyone. Thank you.

Thank you, Representative. Thank you very much. Is Nathan Gansert here? Ah, please come forward. Fire Chief, if you could. Ladies and gentlemen, we have a hero in the room. Last Friday, there was a plane crash in Pembroke Pines. The information that I have from police is a plane that was taking off from North Perry Airport almost immediately, had engine problems, had to make a turn, hit a tree. hit a ditch in front of the South Florida Psychiatric Building and toppled over. This is the information I have from police. And nearly struck the building where there were patients. Mr. Gansert saw the accident. We spoke on the phone yesterday, so it's an honor to shake your hand. And he drove into the facility, which he knew, and got out of his car. and went to this plane and helped the people who were in it, two women, get out of the plane. And I'm here to tell you that there are two kinds of people in this world, one who see danger and run away from it, and one who see danger and run toward it. There's only two. But some of them get paid, and some of them don't. And when someone like that does that in a city that they don't even live in, he was driving through Pembroke Pines. It touches our heart. And it makes us remember the inner goodness of human beings. And so, sir, our fire chief has a presentation for you.

Good evening, Marcel Rodriguez, Fire Chief. So Mr. Ganser, it's an honor. I want to thank you very much to present you with the Civilian Special Recognition Award from the Pembroke Pines Fire Rescue Department in recognition for your remarkable actions during the plane crash of May 29, 2026. This award is presented to citizens who perform commendable acts that go above and beyond the expectations of good citizenship and provide a significant benefit to an individual, multiple individuals, or the community at large. Thank you very much. A good Samaritan would have just called 911 and continued underway, but instead you turned around to provide help and went out of your way. And thank you very much. It's an honor to present you with this award. Thank you, sir.

Why don't you put that down because we want to hear your story. So tell us how it happened.

You were driving and where? Yeah, I was coming south on University. I just went by Dollar General to get some medication. I was going to go. I work at Broward Health Medical Center downtown. And I was going to go in for overtime. Decided not to because I wasn't feeling very well. And as I was driving south on University going back home, I see this plane above me, and it looked like it was losing altitude. And as it was losing altitude, I was like, man, this thing is looking raggedy as heck right now. And I had seen it losing the altitude, and I seen it start wading back and forth like this. And the left wing clipped this tree. And I fly the little RC jet planes and stuff. I'm not very good at it, but I still can kind of see something like that. And when I kept looking back, I noticed I didn't see it in the sky anymore. So I had turned the corner. There was a stoplight. I turned the corner and turned the other corner and seen just tree branches on the ground. I seen the plane. And I seen one of the girls starting to climb out. And I jumped out my car and ran over there. helped the other one, and just pretty much did what I did best, I guess, as just being a human and made sure that they stayed on the ground, laid on their backs, tried to keep their head straight, tried to keep them, you know, because I knew they were in shock. I knew they were... adrenaline, everything, you know, it's an intense situation. You know, they're, I don't know how high they were, 100-something feet in the sky, and then 50 feet later, they're flipped over, you know, on the ground. And all I could do was make sure that these girls are going to be okay. I didn't want nothing to happen to them because I got a sister and I got family, and I just know life is very, it could be, forever or it could be right away. And I want to make sure these girls made it home safe. I don't know what else to say. I'm kind of nervous right now. I'm sorry. No, no, you're doing fine. I know I was going to have to speak in front of people tonight, but I'm serious.

You're with friends.

It's OK. Yeah. I had, you know, tried to get them where they're at on the grass. And I pulled my phone out, called 911 as I'm talking to them. I'm trying to keep them, you know, level-headed. One of them kept wanting to get up. The other one, you know, I'm not going to get in that. But anyways, so I called 911, and then another gentleman had ended up showing up because these girls kept saying to me, you need to disengage the fuel line, you need to disengage the fuel line. I didn't know what that was. I didn't know anything about this thing. And so, you know, I called 911, and I stayed there with the girls and tried to keep them as calm as I could until they showed up. And thank God to... the fire department, and it took, I looked at my phone, it was about four minutes that they had showed up from when I had first called, and that's very, very quick, because they're all there right on, like, because anything could have happened, you know, because I did see, like, a little fluid leaking from the plane, and, like, a little steam or smoke or something, and I'm like, oh, like, I'm like, oh, shit, this is it. But, like, you know, I was, like, not even worried about that at the moment, and it was like, let me just, you know, make sure this is okay. And y'all showed up, and I, like, had a sigh of relief, and it was, like, so thankful. So that's about – that's all I got to really say.

Did the passengers or the pilots say anything to you?

One of them – yeah, one of them just – Yeah. Yeah. One of them just, you know, she just said she's embarrassed. That's it. Yeah. But the other ones, you know, I just, yeah.

Okay.

So.

Nathan, you saved my girls. You saved them. One of them is watching right now. And when things, it's only been five nights, when things get better, we're going to get together, OK? We train hard for outcomes like these. It's a pilot's creed to do no harm. We'll put it in a tree. We'll put it anywhere other than property. And it was executed flawlessly. I saw you on scene. Mayor, I want to extend my gratitude once again, Chief, Chief, to our first responders. to the medical team, to the Good Samaritans, and to the community. Mayor, there's another individual who Nathan had mentioned. And I would also like to extend the same opportunity. 10 years ago, Sergeant Jackson changed my family's life. Friday, you do this again.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Commissioner. Congratulations, and thank you again. You're a hero. And you're always welcome in Pembroke County.

Congratulations.

Okay.

Wow. Thank you all. All right. We have state champions in the room. This is a proclamation of Pembroke Pines, Florida, the city that can, cares, and does, the city that runs faster than anybody else. Flanagan boys track team FHSAA state champions. And you make us so proud. Congratulations. Whereas the Flanagan High School's boys track team captured first place in the 2026 FHSAA track meet in Jacksonville, Florida after also securing first place at the FHSAA regional meet in Miramar, Florida and earning back-to-back district championships. in Miami, Florida, as well as a third consecutive BCAA Counties Championship at Dillard High School. And whereas the team delivered outstanding individual relay performances at the state meet, including Raymond Hawkins winning the long jump, Elijah McKenzie winning the 400 meter hurdles, Hawkins, McKenzie, Ronald Daniels, and Jacob Thomas winning the four by 100 meter relay. Where several athletes earned prestigious honors with Raymond Hawkins named Sun Sentinel's Track and Field Athlete of the Year. Jacob Thomas named Miami Herald Track and Field Athlete of the Year, and Jorge Perez recognized as BCAA South Division Athlete of the Year, while Malcolm Spence earned BCAA Track Meet MVP. And whereas several athletes earning prestigious honors, the team's coaching excellence was highlighted by coach Jayshia Carter, named Sun Sentinel and Miami Herald Track and Field Coach of the Year, contributing to the team's dominant performance in a field of 153 teams.

153 teams. Our guys got it done.

Now, therefore, I, Angelo Castillo, mayor of the city of Pembroke Pines, Florida, the greatest city in the world, nobody runs faster than we do, together with the city commission, do hereby recognize and congratulate the 2026 FHSAA 4A track and field gold medalists, the state champions, the Flanagan High School boys track team for their extraordinary achievements and championship legacy. City commissioners, will you join me, please, with these champions?

Look at all the gold.

Who's going to your left?

All right, who's going to hold this? Who's going to hold it? We need for two in here. All right.

All right.

Thank you very, very much.

All right, thank you very, very much. And congratulations, principal, for two. That's good, because I don't run anymore. I only run when I'm chased. is a proclamation of the city of Pembroke Pines, Florida, declaring LGBTQIA and Pride Month, where the city of Pembroke Pines cherishes the dignity, value, and worth of every individual and reaffirms its commitment to equality, inclusion, freedom for all people, whereas the city denounces prejudice and discrimination based on age, gender identity, gender expression, race, color, religion, marital status, original national origin, sexual orientation, or physical attributes. Recognizing such discrimination is contrary to our shared values and fundamental human rights. Now therefore, I, Angelo Castillo, Mayor of the City of Pembroke Pines, Florida, on behalf of the City Commission, do hereby proclaim the month of June, 2026, LGBTQIA plus Pride Month in the City of Pembroke Pines. Encourage all residents to recognize and celebrate the diversity and achievements of this wonderful community. Thank you very, very much. This may be the last time I present this award, proclamation. I may be forestalled from doing that in the future. So this is very, very important and we're gonna make sure that this gets into the right hands. So thank you very much. Okay, we have a couple more. And then we go into our commission meeting. There's a presentation here from Barney McCoy from Broward County Transit. You here? Okay. Hold on one second, please. And then also we've got Chris Holley from the Florida League of Cities. Come on up. He's gonna present a trophy to the City of Pembroke Pines Youth Advisory Board. Come on up. Look at that.

Thank you very much, thank you very much.

There we go. Well, good evening, Mayor, Commissioners, staff, citizens, and the outstanding members of the Pembroke Pines Youth Advisory Board. My name is Chris Holly, and I'm the Director of Member Services and Training at the Florida League of Cities in Tallahassee. That last sigh was because it has been a very, very busy time in Tallahassee. For those who may not be familiar with our organization, we have represented Florida's 411 cities, towns, and villages for over a century. And our mission has remained steadfast, and that's to protect local decision-making because we believe the best decisions are made by those who know their communities best, just as the mayor stated earlier. I want to begin by thanking the city of Pembroke Pines for being a dedicated and valued member to the league And I want to thank the Pembroke Pines Youth Advisory Board for participating in our Youth Council program. Tonight, I am honored to be here to recognize the Pembroke Pines Youth Advisory Board as one of three winners for the Florida League of Cities' 2026 Youth Council Excellence Award. For the contest, the League asked youth councils to submit initiatives for projects that have made significant contributions to their community. And our statewide competition is open to all Florida youth councils in all of our 411 member cities. The Pembroke Pines Youth Advisory Board earned the Youth Council Excellence Award for its career fair and life skills event, a citywide initiative developed in direct response to students' questions about life after high school. Now in its second year, this event connected high school students in grades 10 through 12 with nine local businesses, including the Pembroke Pines Police Department, Dade County Federal Credit Union, and Craigson Automotive Group through an interactive rotation model covering career exploration, financial literacy, vehicle safety, resume writing, mental health awareness, and much more. Organized in partnership with the Miramar Pembroke Pines Chamber of Commerce and city leadership, the Youth Advisory Board members played a central role in designing, coordinating, and executing the event from concept to completion, gaining firsthand experience and civic leadership while equipping their peers with the practical tools and confidence needed to navigate adulthood successfully. The Youth Advisory Board's efforts made an impact by empowering their peers with knowledge, resources, and real-world connections. It's a project that reflects both civic leadership and a genuine commitment to building a stronger, more prepared community. In addition to the trophy that we're here tonight to present, the Youth Advisory Board will receive a $500 check to help fund future community projects and continue their important work. Now, I'd like to take just a brief moment to step outside my prepared comments. I've worked for the league for eight years. I worked for Leon County before that for 10. My father has worked for cities and counties across this state his entire career. I was born in Naples. I then moved to Live Oak, Florida. I moved into the panhandle to Fort Walton Beach and then back to Tallahassee. I've been in a lot of council commission chambers. I've seen a lot of budget books. I've survived hurricanes and rode around with our first responders immediately thereafter. What is going on in our state and the leadership that you have here in your community is second to none. And this reflects the leadership of your elected body in this community. Do not let what is going on in this country and in this state divide what is so strong here locally. There were comments made, and I have to give another thanks to the representative. She did a fantastic job advocating for common sense and good policy. And what I challenge youth to do is to be listeners when developing good policy. And I will say what we have begun to see is a loss of listeners. There were statements made about local governments standing behind the shield of first responders, when first responders are those, like your presentation tonight, that are the first people there to protect our community. And what we fund most importantly, and one of the most important services that we provide our community, don't let words splinter what is so strong here. I'm going to step off my soapbox. But I want to thank you for allowing me to make those comments because the programs that you guys do here and the foundation that you lay for future youth touches me and in every presentation that's been made prior to me coming to this microphone tonight. And I still remember coming here and presenting a Years of Service Award a few years back. So it's a pleasure. So now on behalf of the Florida League of Cities, it is my pleasure to present the Pembroke Pines Youth Advisory Board with the 2026 Youth Council Excellence Award. Please keep leading, keep serving, and keep making this city and your community proud. Congratulations.

Hi, guys. It's me again. I'm Roberta. I'm the chair for the Youth Advisory Board. I'd like to say, as my last year, when I first started, I was extremely scared to talk. I was someone who was really shy when I came, and I was afraid that even if I said something, it wouldn't sound smart enough to make any difference. But I will say that one thing about this city and one thing about this board is it doesn't matter how well you say it. If you're passionate about that will make all the difference. And the discussions that we've had in our meetings have been incredible because everyone here truly cares. And we wouldn't be able to have a place to discuss anything if it weren't for our city to give us that space and to continue to support youth. So as I've said before, I'm always grateful to the city, and I'm sad to have to leave this board to go to Tallahassee to attend Florida State University, but I know... I know that I'm leaving it in good hands. So thank you again. Thank you very, very much.

Congratulations.

Mayor, I'd like to thank Holly Bonkowski, the entire City Hall team that supports these young kids. It is a testament to the vision that Vice Mayor Arecibo had. And I know this is just the beginning of what we can do to show the state what it's like to get young people involved to do great things.

Thank you. OK. Thank you very much. Barney McCoy from the Broward County Transit, who will be presenting us with Transit Forward 2040 to the City Commission. Barney, this will take two seconds, please, if you'll sit here. I have the announcement of the winner of the District 1 Natalie Belmonte Great Yards Award for May. Are they here? Yes. Please come forward. Commissioner Good?

Mayor, our winner this month, the Laurent family, from District 1. Just want to take a moment and show you their tremendous landscaping. Their house is just incredible, and they just do a wonderful job of representing District 1 and just what the community can really look like. So we're really proud to recognize them this month. Wow.

What a beautiful home. So what's your secret?

Yes. What's your secret?

I just love to do art. That's what I do. That's what I do. I enjoy it.

Do you encourage him?

Yes, I do sometimes.

Well, that's fantastic.

Well, Commissioner Good is going to give you something.

Well, I'd just like to say, too, you know, Eel Creek is like incredible community. some really great, great homes in there, beautiful homes. And for you all to land on the number one spot means an incredible amount for how you take care of your home. So thank you so very, very much. And so we are giving you a certificate that you can frame and post. And hopefully it becomes a pass along to your grandkids and on. And we also have a $50 gift card from the Home Depot. So the question is, who gets that one? But congratulations for such great homeownership. Thank you very much.

Thank you very much. Thank you so very much, and thank you for your beautiful yard.

Mayor, next month, when we come back in August after the hiatus, we'll present District 2 and District 3.

Thank you.

Mr. Stamm, are you giving them an advantage of the growing season or something like that?

Say that again?

Are you giving Districts 2 and 3 the advantage of the growing season?

A little bit. Okay. Mayor, I guess we'll bring up Mr. McCoy. We'll bring up Mr. McCoy and his presentations on the screen.

Yes. Mr. McCoy, if you would come forward, please. Gabe, are you going to be able to click through for him?

Good evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor, Commissioners. My name is Barney McCoy. I'm the Assistant General Manager for Service and Strategic Planning for Broward County Transit. Want to thank you for the opportunity to give you an update this evening on a project that we started about three years ago. We've already shared some preliminary results with city staff and they requested that we come make the same presentation before you this evening. Today's discussion is going to start with an introduction of the plan. We'll go through a presentation, talk about the background for it, talk about a strategic outlook, some anticipated costs. We'll have an interactive map review for some of these proposals alike, and then end with a discussion. Background. Transit Forward 2040 started out as a comprehensive operations analysis. And it's a transit industry term, COA. What it is is a system checkup force. And what we do is we conduct these actually every three to five years. But we take things like rider feedback, we look at data, and then we look at projected growth in terms of population and jobs and combine these into analysis to make a smarter, more efficient system. Again, COA is a transit industry term. When we started the public outreach for this effort, what we wanted to do was brand the plan to something that could resonate with the public. After a round of internal discussions at the county, where we landed, though, was the Transit Forward 2040 as a Vision Plan. There were three things that we wanted to accomplish with this plan as we start the effort. The first thing is that we wanted to bring transit as a solution closer to everyone. If you're familiar with transit operations as a paradigm, traditionally what we do is that we would go out along any roadway, we would build stops, and then we would buy buses with the expectation that the buses would drive with some frequency up and down these corridors to pick up riders. What we wanted to do with Transit 424, though, is that we wanted to change that paradigm, that we actually wanted to bring the transit solution closer to the customer. Again, what we're talking about here is this first and last mile connectivity. We also wanted to enhance the frequencies for easier travel. What that simply means is that if you're standing at any point along a roadway, the amount of time between buses. Most of the routes in our system right now are in excess of 35, 40 minutes. What we wanted to do was reduce that so that buses would come every 10, 15 minutes. And then last, what we wanted to do was acknowledge the fact that the community needs have changed. What we wanted to do was expand our service hours so that service started earlier in the days and later in the evenings. When we started this effort, two of the biggest questions that we got was, why now? Well, what we wanted to do with Transit Forward 2040 was address those two items. One, we want to take knowledge then as we acknowledge now. The county's growing. This is specific to population and jobs. And then we also wanted to address something that we, like every other transit operator across the country, saw coming out of COVID, that commuting patterns had changed. We were also asked, what's the big idea? What we wanted to get people to understand is that we were not just tweaking our routes. If you look at our route structure, we make changes through our routes throughout the year. That could be based on customer feedback, customer comments, unfortunately, even customer complaints. But again, we wanted everyone to understand that we were not simply tweaking the system with this effort, and that we were simply reimagining the system in terms of premium mobility, specific to the Primo Plan, our fixed route structure, community shuttle, and express service. If you remember earlier, I mentioned about rider input. We were able to collect over 8,000 community touch points as a baseline for this plan. And this is important to us for several reasons. First, when you start this effort, you want to make sure that you get what we call statistical significance in your sample size. The lion's share of these touch points come from what we call origin and destination surveys. And that tells us essentially where people are starting their trips, where they're ending their trips, how they're making their connections. We spoke with staff in terms of staff interviews. We had pop-up events across all nine districts. We had listening sessions with each one of the participating municipalities. We also engaged in online e-engagement in the form of a virtual town hall online survey. And then we also tasked our consultant with this effort to do something that we hadn't done before. And then we asked them to actually get on our buses and talk to our customers. We got about 450 surveys from that. But again, the lion's share of this 8,000 touchpoint came through 7,300 what we call statistically significant origin and destination surveys. Next slide. I mentioned earlier about data. These are the data points that we use to also form a baseline for the analysis. We use the census data, which gives us the 10-year look. Again, that's based on things like employment, social demographics. We looked at the American Community Survey, which is a five-year refresh for the census data. We looked at the longitudinal household employment data, and what that is is a fancy term, is that we looked at the number of households within the census tract, the number of individuals who were living and working in these households. We used cell phone data, and this is something that was new to our planning studies, in that we were able to track non-identifiable cell phone data across the county. This allowed us, again, to see where trips were coming from, where these trips were ending, and also the roadways or corridors that they were using to make these trips. We use the advanced scheduling software. This speaks specifically to scheduling the services earlier, having them in later, and more frequent service. I mentioned about the origin and destination surveys. And then what we did was take these data points and overlay them on top of our system route network. We did that as a way to show us some efficiencies and also show us one to make sure that our routes were starting and ending where that people were traveling to, and also show us areas where we had services and needed more services, and actually, in some instances, showed us areas where we had too much service where we needed to make reductions. By and large, what our customers told us through this public outreach, though, is these four things here. They wanted our service to be on time, being on time mattered. They wanted the ability to make easier transfers. That speaks to reducing the wait time between our routes. They wanted what we would call upgraded technologies. This speaks specifically to things like tap to pay. And they also wanted to make better connections to the major trip generators. This speaks specifically to better jobs, schools, and health care. Next slide. As we move forward to a strategic outlook in terms of what these changes will bring to the county. Next slide. If we implement this plan as proposed, this is what you would expect to see across the county. You would get faster trips to your final destination, more frequent service as we schedule services come more frequently during the hour. You get better connections in terms of reduced wait time. You get more service options as we move to implement new services and realign existing services. You get more efficient service. And when we say more efficient service, what we're speaking specifically is straightening out our route structure. If you're familiar with our route structure, particularly through the central and southern portion of the county, we have a lot of routes that meander through neighborhoods. What's being proposed is that we straighten out that structure to provide more directness of service. Modern amenities speak specifically to upgraded shelters, upgraded bus stops, transit facilities, and a larger service area. When I say larger service area, we are geographically constrained. Our service area right now is about 410 square miles. We have the ocean to the east, Everglades to the west, counties to the north and south. When we say larger service area, what we're talking about specifically is putting more services into the existing 410 square mile service, a more accessible system in terms of providing more first and last mile connectivity. And these changes are expected to increase ridership by the nature of the changes that we're making. What you see here is BCT's existing service mix. You've got our local bus system or local bus network. That's the backbone of the system. We've got 43 routes in the system. Service starts as early as 4 AM, ends as late as 1 AM the next day. You've got our express service, which operates from southwest Broward County down into Dade County, specifically the Brickell Financial District, Jackson Civic Center in downtown Miami. You've got the community shuttle program that's actually paid for through the surtax. It's operated by the cities, but there are 18 partners in the program operating about 54 routes. You've got our paratransit service, which is the on-demand service specifically for our disabled population. The Late Shift Connect program is another on-demand type of service. And what the Late Shift Connect program does is it operates during times when we don't have fixed route services on the street. So what we're talking about is service that operates either late, late evenings or early, early mornings. And then you can track these services through the RideBCT app in addition to paying some forms of mobile fare payment. What's being proposed as part of Transit Forward 2040, though, is that you would take the existing mix and add these services on top. The high frequency bus network will give us the reduced frequencies. What we're talking about here is services where you would have 15 minute frequencies or better on specific quarters. For you, that would be specific to Pines and Hollywood, Sheridan, also Dixie Highway to the east, Atlantic and Sample Road. We're talking about bus rapid transit. That gives you the frequencies of 10 minutes or less. We're talking specifically there are corridors like Oakland Park Boulevard, Sunrise and Commercial. Light Rail Transit, which is being proposed for the Broward Boulevard corridor. You've got the Commuter Rail South project, which is proposed in the eastern corridor for Broward Commuter Rail North and South. And you've got microtransit. Now, what we found in the public education component is that when we started speaking about microtransit, that in and of itself is another transit industry term. So when we were talking about microtransit, if you've ever used Lyft, you've ever used Uber, You've used what we call microtransit, but microtransit is being introduced, or proposed rather, to solve three specific problems for us in this plan. One, in the areas where we straighten out our route structure, microtransit is being proposed to backfill into those areas so that people who are using those services can continue to use the services. It's being proposed to cover transit deserts. We've got corridors like Wiles, like Douglas, even portions of McNabb. Traditionally, again, we would go out and build stops along these corridors at about maybe $30,000 a stop. We would buy buses at about $1 million a piece, and then run them north, south, east, and west. What we're proposing for these corridors is that we implement the microtransit solution. And what they will do will give us a better level of service, a more frequent level of service, without the costs associated with traditional transit paradigm. And then we've also proposed to implement it as a mode shift for community shuttle. And this is specific to cities who have routes that are not performing well or not meeting the ridership threshold. What we're proposing for that is the microtransit solution, because it would give you a better level of service, a more frequent service, but again, at a lower cost. And then the ability to tie all these services together, it goes back to the enhanced amenities, specifically the upgraded bus stops, bus shelters, transit centers, transit facilities, and also the technology. Again, spotlight on microtransit. I mentioned earlier that what we found out, actually, as we started the public education component of this plan, that a lot of folks didn't know what that was. What we're proposing for microtransit is that, again, it operates like Uber or Lyft. What you would do is you would download an app to your phone, and then you would book your ride either through the app or either through a phone call, and you would meet your driver at a pickup point. What we're proposing, though, is that at this pickup point, what we're going to do is have these what we call microtransit zones, and they'll be geofenced. We found that their best practices for the industry is that they're most successful when you've got trips at about two to three miles. So if you're traveling in one of these geofenced areas, the proposal is that it will pick you up at that stop or your location, drop you off within that zone at your final destination. But if you're traveling to a point outside of that geofenced zone, It would pick you up there and then take you to a point where you could connect into BCT's fixed route system to complete your trip. All in all, what we want to do is use this as a launch pad for our next chapter. We're talking about the implementation of over 20 microtransit zones across the county. Again, this serves as the first and last mile solution for us It fills transit deserts and helps us with some efficiencies as we straighten out the network. I mentioned earlier about not tweaking the system. Well, we're proposing over 100 material changes to the system to speak specifically to the implementation of new services and the reimagining of how these services connect across the county. And again, what we're hoping or what our planning level estimates tell us is that if we make these changes or implement these projects as proposed, we'll see a 68% increase in ridership. Now, to put that into context, our fixed route network last year carried about 23 million trips. So what's being proposed is that if we implement this plan, we will see a 68% increase above that 23 million that we saw last year. In terms of how we get this done, phased rollout. Traditionally, when you do COAs, they're done with a three- to five-year planning horizon. What we asked our consultant to do, though, was give us a 15-year window on this, and that 15-year window was strategic in and of itself. What we asked them to do was to give us a near-term, a mid-term, and a long-term, and implement these changes so that they would coincide with implementation of the Primo project. This speaks specifically to the bus rapid transit projects and the light rail transit projects. What you've got is a near term that takes us from now through 2029. You've got a midterm that takes us from 2030 to 2034. And then you've got the long term, which takes us from 2035 to 2040. What's key to note, though, are the improvements going down the left-hand side of the screen, because these are the improvements of the treatments, rather, that you would see implemented for each portion of the plan. For 26 through 29, it's what we would call low-hanging fruit. And these are investments that can be made that do not require necessarily a lot of capital investment in terms of purchase of buses, but there is an increase in operating costs. If you move from the near-term to the mid-term, you see that you get all the improvements associated with the near-term with the addition of bus rapid transit, light rail transit, and commuter rail south. And then as you move from mid-term to long-term, you see, again, you get the treatments associated with first the near-term and the mid-term, in addition to the implementation of Commuter Rail North. What's key to note here, though, is that as we move through the phases of this plan, we don't have to get to the 15-year horizon in order to see the improvements. The way that the improvements will be made or sequenced into the system is that the growth in terms of ridership and the return on investment will be incremental.

Next.

What you see here to the left is BCT's current system map. And again, if you look to the central portion of the county, southern portion of the county, what you see is what we call the inefficient route structure, specific to the routes that meander through the neighborhoods. What you see to the west, though, is what we call the transit deserts. These are areas that don't have services. If you move to the right, though, what you see is the proposed all-in plan in 2040. What should jump out at you immediately are the areas to the west that we've covered with new transit services. You see the realignment of services in terms of straightening the route structure in central and southern county. Then you also see the implementation of the high frequency bus network, the bus rapid transit network, Light Rail Transit Network, Florida East Coast Railway, I'm sorry, Railroad Commuter Rail North and South, and the Florida East Coast Railway. And then what's key to note here are the shaded areas in the background. The shaded areas in the background represent the 21 microtransit districts, microtransit zones, rather, that are proposed across the county. I mentioned earlier that this is a vision plan. And in telling that it's a vision plan, it's also telling that it's not funded. Our planning level estimates put the cost of this plan at about $1.4 billion over the next 15 years. So what that's going to require is a significant financial commitment, financial investment on behalf of the county. When we're talking about improvements stored or efficiencies of value in transit, we talk about return on investment. And again, based on planning level estimates, what we're anticipating is a 68% increase in ridership over that $23 million for this $1.4 billion investment. Public outreach. We started the public education of public outreach component of this plan actually in December of 2025. And we started that with our district commissioners in December and January. We had our first district meeting in District 7 in March. We concluded the last district meeting actually two weeks ago. We've had listening sessions with 28 cities at this point in time, had the virtual meeting that was conducted in the last week of May. And what we're doing right now is finishing the public education with what we call pop-up. And the pop-up events are where we're asking the consultant to go out to major trip generators, major transfer stations, and essentially talk to the customers and present the plan in a 10- or 15-minute discussion. What's planned, though, is that at the conclusion of the pop-ups, though, we would circle back with the consultant, have another conversation about anything that we may have missed in terms of public output, public input, and conversation with the cities with an expectation that we would finalize the plan in late fall heading into the summer. Late, I'm sorry, summer heading into the fall. What I'll do right now is show you some maps to show you services specific to the city of Pembroke Pines. If you look here to the left, what you see is the current route network for the seat of Pembroke Pines. So what that is, it gives you community shuttle. It gives you fixed route service on Sheridan, gives you fixed route service on Pines, Hollywood, and also service on Pembroke Road. You get the service as well north-south on State Road 7 and University Drive. If you move from the current system, though, to the proposed, what you see is right off the bat, you get a microtransit zone to the west. You get a new route on Pines. west of Pembroke Lakes Mall. And then what you also get is the implementation of the high frequency bus network. And what that proposes, again, is that between Young Circle and Pembroke Lakes Mall, you would get service that operates every 15 minutes for 15 hours during the day. You also keep the community shelter network that the city currently operates. Again, services on University and State Road 7. As you move to the near term, though, what you see is that we get the introduction of bus rapid transit on State Road 7. You get more services in terms of better frequencies on University Drive. And again, frequency improvements throughout the routes that service your area. I'm sorry. No, I'm sorry. Back up. I'm sorry. If you move from midterm to long term, you see you get the introduction of another microtransit zone to the east here in the city. And then, again, there are also more frequency improvements specific to the bus rapid transit routes, specific to the service on Pines Boulevard. And you get the introduction of a new route that will go actually from Sawgrass Mills Mall, travel down Flamingo to Miramar Town Center, and then down into Miami-Dade County. That concludes the presentation. But I'll be more than happy to fill any questions you have at this point in time.

Excellent job. Thank you so very much. Very, very impressive presentation. We are thankful and honored that you came to present it. Commissioners, any questions?

Just for, I'm sorry, I just wanted to ask for his email, that's all, so that I could email you a couple questions I had on microtransit. I don't want to ask them here. Not a problem. It's my name. B like boy, A like apple. When you're done, do you have a card? I don't have a card. Okay, I'll write it now. Okay, no problem. Thank you.

Commissioner?

Thank you so much for your presentation, and thank you for coming to the city commission. I did attend district six, Steve Geller's? I hope I'm getting his district number right. And I did have a couple of questions, obviously, because my colleagues and I can't talk due to sunshine laws. I'm going to reiterate some of the questions so they understand some of the things that I've asked in the past, and as well as kind of trying to understand a little bit more on the process of how this was built out and the implementation process in the future. So one of the questions, and if you don't have the answer right now, but you can reach out to, I believe you've been in contact with our staff member Bonilla or our city manager, if you can reach out to them or let us know kind of a little bit more in depth for some of these. I want to understand a little bit of the timeline of the data that you were using. I know there was a lot of community outreach. When did that start, particularly?

The data collection started in 2023. And what we've told everyone is that, and again, we found some of this out in meeting with the city since we started the public education. The environments that we were not aware of then. You don't know what you don't know. You've got cities that have new developments that they're planning. Our expectation was that the plan as proposed has the ability to self-correct. And that's based on developments within the city. That's actually why we're talking with the city to make sure, hey, we know we started this in 2023. We put this plan together over the last 18 months. Is there anything that's going on that's changed since then? Or does what we're proposing represent the needs of the city?

And I appreciate that, because that was one of the questions that I asked when we were there, kind of where this data set was coming from. Because between me and Louis Reinstein, council member from the city of Plantation who were there, had a couple missing pieces from our perspective being both of us admittedly newer commissioners to the area. So I appreciate that it is a living document rather than something set in stone, because that was one of the concerns when we did see it, was where is that data coming from? Our cities, at least in the last couple of years, especially those represented at that meeting, Plantation and the City of Pembroke Pines, have drastically changed within our city centers, some of the changes going on even in transportation. And I appreciate that you clarified that. I understand that there's no current funding, but I wanted to pick your brain a little bit about what are some funding ideas, if any, right now. Would it be through Surtax? Would it be through the county or grants, things like that?

It would be all of the above. It would be all of the above. We would go through the process to get these projects funded through our annual budget process. And then as things go through downtown, the flavor of the funds, be that federal, be it surtax, be it general fund, would be determined downtown.

Okay, and then on the question of microtransit, also sometimes seen as on demand, I didn't know that that was kind of the terminology and that caused some confusion at that meeting, so thank you for clarifying that as well. One of the questions that I had was if a city was already funding something like a microtransit plan, like the City of Sunrise, some Hollywood, Fort Lauderdale, they already have a portion of that, would be this supplemental, or would you take over that servicing of what they already currently have? Because I believe Part of that is also funded through Sirtex. So how would that, I guess, like cost sharing work out in the future if you have any concept of that now?

For the cities that are currently operating microtransits, my understanding is that was part of the third interlocal agreement that the city signed with the county. It's also my understanding that those existing services can be funded now through the surtax. There's an application process on the MAP website to do that. Moving in the future, the county does not have an intention to take over, say, the city's microtransit service. And when you say take over, I'm assuming you mean operating. It's not our plan to take over. What we're gonna need to do with the microtransit, because there are a lot of nuances with that. Adjusting our public education component. We met with some cities where the plan proposed microtransit and the cities told us they would prefer to stay with the existing community shuttle program. We've had some cities tell us they would like to do both. So there's gonna have to be continued conversation with the county as to how that rolls out. Also what we've learned, again, speaking with the cities, and we understand this, A lot of times these services that you put out are specific to your residents. When the consultants were asked to put this plan together, they were asked to look at building a network so that network goes across the county. So we're going to have to meet with the cities, again, in terms of moving forward because what we don't want to do is duplicate services. If you've got a microtransit proposed here that's doing this, we wouldn't want to come in and overlay something on top of that. But if there's a way that there could be synergies so that, again, you get the ridership that you're trying to meet versus the trips that the consultant identified across the county and then go from there.

Okay, and just following up on that micro transit just for our our staff here that you mentioned that surtax Does fund a portion of micro transit so that on a separate side note for us to look into those possibilities as well knowing that there is Obviously some surtax funding available for that. I know we've touched base on it at some point and and what I've been told is an expensive program to run, but if we can connect with the county as well as to see how we can further explore those options and that connectivity, especially as you pointed out that part of the west side of Pembroke Pines, particularly in my district and Commissioner Hernandez's district, we don't have consistent transportation out there it's kind of by West Broward High School things like that and those kinds of programs would highly be highly sought out after by our residents to in the very least connect them to those higher those routes that move a little bit faster on the east side of the city or in the very least connect them and let them come to our city events and things like that City Hall without them having to ride their car. One of the other things is I wanted a little bit clarification as to how this connects to the Primo plan. I see some overlap, but would we be able to have similarly to the plans that you, the maps that you have here, what would be within the Primo plan and because that's already kind of on its way versus what is part of the transit 2040.

That's a good question. PRIMO is specific to the premium mobility plan. And that speaks to these large capital projects, speaking specifically about bus rapid transit, light rail transit. That's on the heavier cores in the county, Oakland Park Boulevard, State Road 7 University. So what they're doing is going to build PRIMO. And Primo is going to be the backdrop of the system. Transit Forward 2040 speaks specifically to the fixed route investments. We're talking about express service, community shuttle, micro transit, breeze limited stops that would actually feed into the Primo network.

So to clarify, PRIMO is more on the capital projects?

It's the larger projects.

The larger projects, OK. Then this is more or less a fill-in to?

The fixed route system. OK, the fixed route system. It's the fixed route system. Again, the 43 fixed routes we're talking about, community shuttle, microtransit, all those are being designed or reimagined, rather, so that they feed into these heavier quarters with the PRIMO projects.

Okay. And then my last question, I want to understand a little bit. You're obviously here today and you've had meeting with our staff previously and as you've done with a couple other cities. But moving forward in the plan, what is the plan to continuously connect with municipalities? Because While our county commissioners have a lot of municipalities within each one of their districts, I want to make sure that the municipalities, and especially those of us who connect the most with our residents at the local level and understand those very basic needs, what can we do to help motivate maybe residents to attend some of those meetings? What is like the plan moving forward for us to receive some kind of updates on these plans? Is it just gonna be email? Can we ask for continued conversations and presentations? Because I think this is super impactful for our municipalities and in us planning our future of transportation here in the city of Pembroke Pines, we wanna have the most amount of information available to us and for it to be an open, line of communication between us and the county. And we know we can always reach out to our county commissioners, but having you come here is of a great asset. So I really hope that we can expand on that in the future. And then for you all to, I know you've been having meetings with staff, but also encourage our other local municipalities to asked for this presentation as well. I'm not sure if you've been to all the municipalities. I know there's plenty of them.

We've met with them all in terms of a listening session. Out of the 28 we met with, I think there were half a dozen that asked for us to present to the city commission. Okay. The others said that they would brief their commissioners.

I would just like to encourage the county, and I know that Corey, the director for transportation, is in tune with understanding that this does highly impact our municipality, so I want to give emphasis to that because everything that the county does obviously impacts us, and because we do manage a lot do the operations side for our shuttle services, I think it's really important for us to be part of that conversation to the most extent that we can be.

Fair enough. We coordinate with the city specific community shuttle at least on a quarterly basis. And that's a required meeting per the interlocal agreement. And that's where we tell them essentially anything that's going on in the program, if there are things that they need to be aware of in terms of route or structure changes, that's where those conversations would happen. On a larger level, again, we rely a lot of times on the cities in terms of if they're homeowners associations or people that you want us to talk to. We've got specifically for some of the public outreach that we've had for this plan. In meeting with the district commissioners, meeting with the city staff, they pointed us, hey, go have a conversation with this HOA. So we rely on the city a lot of times to give us that information. And then also we coordinate with the NPO. You know, in terms of our projects, particularly those larger Primo projects, those go through the NPO's process for MTP amendments. So there are multiple opportunities, you know, to be engaged. But again, we'll do our part. We just ask the city, you know, if you've got something that's going on specifically, let us know and we'll head out and have a discussion.

I appreciate it. That's the end of my questions. Thank you so much.

Thank you very much. Commissioner Good, you'll have the last word. And then that will be followed by George Corrin that signed up for public comment. And then we have Mr. Ostreicher, who's here, I believe. Yes, sir. Whose daughter just graduated from pre-K. And he's been waiting patiently. And congratulations to you and your family. Commissioner, go ahead.

Yes, thank you, Mr. Mayor. So great presentation, good to see progress, thoughts being put into this. 15 years, $1.5 billion, 68% increase in your ridership. So I'm assuming right now a lot of that is leaning on the surtax dollars that are going to be available. So what's the sustainable revenue source in order to go beyond 15 years at 68% increase in your transit ridership?

That's the question that I can't answer this evening, Commissioner. I could follow up and get back to you, but that's not the question.

Yeah, because you build it.

Yes, you have to maintain it. And what do you do? Yes, I understood. I'm good, but thank you. All right.

Thank you very, very much. All right, thank you for your time. For an excellent presentation. Thank you. Have a good evening. Okay, we are... Mr. Clerk, thank you. There's no commission order report or appeals of Board of Adjustment decisions?

None, Mayor.

Okay, so we're on public comment now. I have one signed speaker, George Corrin.

Good evening. My name is George Koren. I live at 6751 Southwest 11th Street here in Pembroke Pines in an area known as Pines Village. Welcome, sir. You are recognized. I would like to say how lucky the city of Pembroke Pines was on this last small airplane crash. Had this happened at the other end of the airport on the east side, the damage that would have occurred would have occurred about in the middle of Pines Village. And it would have been a real disaster. So the city and everybody concerned was really blessed for the outcome of that. So I'd like to make a few facts straight about the airport. One, yes, the airport was definitely here first. And at that point in time, it was tucked away in a very safe place, away from people. And if an accident occurred or something like that, no real damage would have happened. The communities of Pembroke Pines, Hollywood, and Miramar grew up around this training facility with the, try to read my own writing, With the number of single-family homes being built, they were built in the late 50s and early 60s. Then Broward County took over control of the airport, which is now North Perry, which was a playground for those who could afford the luxury. There were no... tremendous amount of air traffic. It was very limited, and it was very tolerable up until about the 70s or the 80s. But Broward County has steadily grown the number of operations with total disregard for the residents of the surrounding community. To my knowledge, I've never had a knock on my door or a phone call asking me for input about the things we find most important, noise, air pollution, things like that. Along the way, there has never been any documented testing for noise levels, air pollution levels, soil pollution, water pollution. This testing must be implemented to ensure EPA standards for lead, particulate matter, and other heavy metals are being met. As the annual number of operations now exceeds 317,000 operations annually. And to imagine the shower of noise and air pollution our residents are being subject to on a daily basis, that is a lot of traffic. For too many years, the county has stonewalled our request to supply residents this vital information. In lieu of these circumstances, it is time to close North Erie Airport to all but emergency operations until the difficult questions are specifically answered. This is owed to the residents of these three cities, Pines, Hollywood, and Miramar. Operations, the number of operations, are the key and must be a priority to bring down if they want to stay. Along with the inspections of airframe and power of older airplanes flying out of North Perry, as the incidents of late have been attributed to airplanes that are in the 30 plus year old range. So I would say that the county has a lot of work to do if they want to keep that place here. because they haven't been giving the residents a fair shake. This is the air that we have to breathe on a daily basis, the noise we have to tolerate on a daily basis. And it's causing people to have to change their way of life in order to stay in our homes.

Well, sir, I just want to thank you for your for your comments. I also want to share with you the conversation that I had very recently, because I did receive a phone call from you, with Commissioner Alexandra Davis, who was out of the country but was kind enough to take my call. The county is getting ready to issue two awards, contracts. One is for a comprehensive air quality study. And the other is for a comprehensive safety study. They're on slightly different tracks in terms of time frame. And it's taken quite a while for us to get there. I remember when we made this request almost four years ago. However, it's coming in for a landing, as our former mayor used to say. And that work should begin shortly after those contracts are issued. And we should have many answers to questions that we have been asking for years that we still don't have answers to. So I want to thank you for coming forward. And I want to thank you for your leadership in the community on this issue. I know that you've cared much about it, as we all have, for a very long time. Those questions are coming in. So I want to thank you for coming forward. OK, the next item is the discussion of possible action to appoint one member to the Police and Fire Pension Board for a two-year term, which would expire in June of 2028. Now, I want to tell you that I think it was four of us who were there that evening at Hispanicville. And that's the first time that I met Jason Ostreicher, who lives in Pembroke Pines, who grew up in Pembroke Pines, who lives in District 3 in the Silver Lake area. And we got to talking, and he said, you know, I live in Pembroke Pines. I said, really? I grew up in Pembroke. I said, really? So what do you do? He goes, well, I'm a certified financial planner, and I work with public unions, and I also work with private companies. Private clients have been doing this for a long, long time. I took his business card and I gave it to Dan because this is a board that we need to have a bench for because the positions are only for two years. And frankly, we're asking them to do for us what they do for a living, for free. And so... Then we got a letter of resignation from Rafael Barrero, who has served the group for the last two years. We would have had to post the position anyway because his two years had expired, but he decided to retire and we're thankful to him for his service. The clerk, after we received the letter of resignation, posted the position for two months. Mr. Ostreicher was one of the applicants that responded. Mr. Rothstein, following our recently enacted approach, interviewed them. And Mr. Rothstein tells me he was very impressed with Mr. Ostreicher, which is saying a lot, because Mr. Rothstein is very rarely impressed by anyone. but yet he was impressed by Mr. Osteen. He's a tough cookie. He's a tough guy to impress. So, Mr. Osteen, if you would come forward, and Mr. Ostraker, if you would draw near. Go ahead.

Just read everybody just a little quick bio and why I was impressed with his background. Dan Rothstein, special projects manager for the city of Pembroke Pines.

OK. Mr. Rothstein, please tell the record who you are. He just did. Please.

Thank you. So Jason Oestreicher is a certified financial planner, as the mayor said, longtime resident of the city of Pembroke Pines with approximately 20 years of financial experience. working a lot with public sector as well as private sector, but public sector. He has a good understanding of investments, being a certified financial planner. He understands the fiduciary responsibility of a board member in that capacity, which is very, very important, and understands the long-term process of a pension plan and the sustainability that it needs to have. Based on his professional experience, we believe he's a very, very good candidate for this position. The position is a two-year term. There is three appointees by the city commission, and the other two appointees, their terms expired June of 27.

So I have to say, this is a $1 billion fund. And the city of Pembroke Pines is contributing approximately, Mr. Dodge, correct me if I'm wrong, approximately $30 million most recently to the fund annually. All of it comes from ad valorem taxes. And I think I've captured everyone's attention right now. The effort that this commission has wisely put forward is to get the most qualified people on board who understand how within conservative investment practices to increase the rate of return so that we have to put in less every year and still ensure that our police and fire personnel have a pension that they can rely upon. And now it's probably more important than ever before that we have the best and most highly qualified people that we can find mindful But they do this for a living. Our opportunity is as a volunteer. And the person who we select must live in the city of Pembroke Pines. So I'm going to pass the gavel, Vice Mayor. And it gives me great honor, sir, to thank you for your good citizenship and for stepping forward and your willingness to do this. And I recommend you and nominate you for appointment to this position.

Thank you, Mayor. I'm honored.

I think you should introduce yourself, your name and address for the record.

Vice Mayor, we need a second, please.

One second. Mr. Gorin. Yes, sir. Can he just introduce himself prior to going?

I would get a second just for the record, Mr. Vice Chair. Does anyone second?

Second.

Okay, go ahead. You have it, Mr. Vice Mayor.

Sure. My name is Jason Ostreicher. I'm a certified financial planner. My address is 1541 Northwest, 182nd Terrace. Zip code is 33029.

Normally, you just receive two to three minutes to talk about your experience, if you could.

Yeah, well, for the sake of time, I'll just say that I'm honored. Being in the financial services industry for nearly 20 years and being a certified financial planner, the fiduciary standard is what I hold to the highest level. And I am going to do my homework, and I'm going to ask good questions. I'm going to be here to be as responsibly available to everyone that serves for the community within the fire department and the police department. I grew up here. I went to school here. My parents were the only two people that left New York in 1985 and moved to Pembroke Lakes. My whole family is still in New York. And I purchased my home about 10 years ago from my father, who retired down in the Keys. And I have started my business here in this community, and I am just honored to be here in front of you, and thank you for the opportunity.

OK, and I appreciate very much that you're willing to step up. I am going to have my colleagues speak. It takes a lot of courage to get up here, so I want to commend you for that. This is not a reflection on you. I need to ask a couple of questions of the clerk. In the past, Commissioner Rodriguez, I believe, introduced or moved to add 750 or some kind of city dollars behind the advertising of the position. Did we put any city dollars behind the advertising of this position, whether it be social media platforms or anywhere? We did not. Thank you for the answer. How many applicants did we have? Maybe this is for Mr. Rothstein.

We had one applicant who submitted in a timely fashion. And just for your information, it was posted on the city's website from March 26 until May 14. So we did have it posted for quite a while.

OK, this is me speaking for myself. I don't know, Commissioner Rodriguez, if in the future, in our budget discussions, if you would like at some point to bring up the fact that I think we should put some dollars on social media to advertise many of these positions. To the mayor's point, it's a billion dollar fund, if I'm not mistaken. I feel that promoting those types of positions would benefit the city of Pembroke Pines. I think you're an excellent applicant. I just need to make those points because I don't know too many people who are camping out on the Pembroke Pines website. And I think we should use, even if it's small dollars, Commissioner Rodriguez in the future to promote. And I'm asking your opinion.

So for clarification, I believe when we had two vacancies was when we put money behind for larger outreach and that was executed. So those, I think it was only 500 or 750 or something like that.

I also did a video, right?

Yes, so that was executed and that was done. From my understanding, the person who applied to this position that we were going to appoint and then could not appoint applied during that process. And so then this obviously became open again. But in my perspective, what I had suggested was executed and had somebody applied in that moment while that money was spent, they would have come already. I don't think it makes sense to redo it when when we already had a multitude of applicants.

No, no, I wasn't suggesting to redo it now. I'm suggesting it in the future for these types of appointments.

I think it can be an ad hoc basis whenever we have these conversations and we feel the need if a bunch of applications come up because of the website and we did enough organic outreach, that's great. I think it's... NOT SOMETHING THAT WE NEED TO PUT IN EVERY SINGLE TIME AND BE DISCRETIONARY ABOUT IT, BUT I APPRECIATE THE POINT.

OKAY. ANY OTHER COMMISSIONER SCHWARTZ?

THANK YOU, VICE MAYOR. ALONG THOSE LINES, MR. ASHBRECKER, THANK YOU FOR BEING A PEMER PINES RESIDENT. WE'VE SEEN THIS PLACE GROW UP TOGETHER. So the advertisement that Commissioner Rodriguez is referring to built a library of applications. And it was only just a few short months ago that due to COVID, conflict, the appointee couldn't move forward. So, Mr. Ostreicher, given your fiduciary responsibility within the trade and following the SEC and all that good stuff, have you looked into any potential conflicts with who the City of Pembroke Pines Police Fire Pension Board is currently working with, vendors, that sort of thing that you may have had or anticipate having business with going forward? Have you done that search?

As far as I'm concerned, and what FINRA says, as long as I name this as an outside business activity, and I don't have any voting rights, and I'm not getting paid, then there shouldn't be a problem with it. But to answer your question directly, I don't see any conflict of interest from anybody that I've researched.

OK. We've had attendance issues on this board. We've had, in the past, we've had volunteers, and they're volunteers, but they make a two-year commitment, and then they have unexcused absences, And then the pension board has to decide at the meeting on whether or not they have to vote to provide an excused absence or vote for the unexcused absence. Have you looked at the days, the calendar, when they meet, what time they meet, where they meet, and do you see any potential conflicts?

Unfortunately, I have not been provided the calendar. Living here, I have a two and a four-year-old, and I don't get to go very often, too. OK. All right.

Mr. Rothstein, can you please provide?

Now I see why he did impress you.

Yeah, so I want to be able to. I'm a pretty punctual person. Mr. Rothstein, can you please advise the applicant the day that it meets? Once a month.

On the third Thursday.

As far as the exact dates?

It's the third Thursday of every month.

I can easily commit to that.

OK. I had one more question. You said it was a Hispanic vote. When was that held?

I don't really remember.

Mr. Ostriker, when did you provide the mayor your business card?

You remember I mentioned we were eating chicken? March or April. Maybe around there. Late March, I would guess.

Late March.

Maybe even February. I can't remember.

It responded to the posting at the end of March.

That's not my question, Mr. Rothstein. My question is that there was obviously a resident interaction interest in boards passed along the information. The reason why I'm asking is because I'm the only commissioner not to have been notified of the opening. Of the what? Of the opening. The rest of the commission was provided via email the resignation of the individual that you would be replacing. And so I asked the clerk. I'm just trying to. I don't understand. It's very simple. I was not notified by the person who was leaving but the rest of the commission was. I was left off of the email notification. By the person? Yes, by the pension board member.

Did you not see the two emails that we were all sent advising of the noticing?

There was an email advising certain members of the commission, not all members of the commission, and then the clerk posted the opening.

And you saw the opening that was posted? So you were aware that there was a vacancy?

I'm aware of the optics. I'll just leave it like that. I'm aware of the optics. So what I'd like to see is if we are going to, as a collegial body, advertise applications, We need to establish a policy of how far the look back period is going to be for any applications that may have come in during that advertisement period. Not everyone is selected. And I know you're going to tell me to put it on the agenda. You should put it on the agenda. That's not part of this discussion. Mayor, go ahead, Commissioner.

I'm just trying to...

I'm trying to get you to speak.

Yes, go ahead. I'm trying to address what... What I'm interpreting, what the vice mayor is indicating, that there was effort put in to build a library.

I'm not indicating anything.

I'm asking the speaker. And how far is the look back going to be? Are we going to make all applications stale after 12 months? That's all.

Okay, no, I can speak for myself and what I was asking. I was simply asking a question. Did we place advertising dollars as Commissioner Rodriguez had moved to do many months ago? The answer was what the Commissioner put on the record. That's what I was asking, not whether a contract becomes stale. That wasn't any part of my question. Vice Mayor, I'd like to... Could I have Commissioner Rodriguez first? Go ahead.

I think just to follow up on that commentary that there were past applicants, we obviously selected one that fell through. When this came onto the agenda, I went back and I read all the past applications because obviously if there's now a position available, in theory those other applications could possibly, maybe one of those people could reapply, do all of that. I went back and I compared it to this application and I still think that this applicant had kind of, I would have chosen this person out of that group. So whether that was presented to us in whichever way, I did my due diligence to understand that These applications, at least to me, they're on record. We keep the books, or you can kind of go back into our emails to see all the other applicants. And had you been part of that first pool of people, we might have chosen you. I compared it to that pool of people as well, and you still came out on top. while no other applications came through, I at least went back and did that. So any of us could have done that and could have called any of those applicants to encourage them to reapply.

Thank you. Mayor, did you... Wait, before we do that. Commissioner Good, anything at all from you? No, I'm ready. Okay, Mayor, go ahead.

I move the question.

Is there a second?

Commissioner Good, seconded. You already seconded it.

OK. Any discussion? No. OK. Do we need to do a roll call, or we need to do all in favor?

No, all's in favor.

All in favor of the applicant being appointed to the pension board, say aye.

Aye.

Any opposed? Passes unanimously.

Unanimously. Congratulations. Let's make money.

Thank you for your service. Thank you for being a great citizen.

All right. Now we are on consent agenda. My friends, which tonight consists of items 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. What is your pleasure?

I move to approve the consent agenda.

There's a motion made on the consent agenda by the vice mayor. Is there a second? SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER RODRIGUEZ. ANY DISCUSSION? SEEING NONE. YES, MR. MAYOR, IF I MAY. YES, SIR.

SO, YOU KNOW, I DIDN'T PULL THE ITEM. YOU CAN. I DON'T WANT TO REALLY, I JUST WANT TO MAKE IT A POINT. THE ITEM NUMBER FIVE, WE'RE HAVING OUR FIRST BUDGET HEARING ON SEPTEMBER 3rd. I WILL NOT BE IN TOWN. SO I JUST WANT TO CONFIRM THAT I'LL BE ABLE TO PARTICIPATE VIRTUALLY.

CITY ATTORNEY? MAY I RESPOND, MR. MAYOR? YES. THE SIMPLE ANSWER IS YES. And let the record reflect that the ability to dial in or to be accessible will be confirmed through the administration and through IT.

So long as we have three present.

That is correct. Thank you very much. Physically present.

On that point, I will be here for the regular commission meeting, but I want to put on the record that's my 44th birthday, so thank you all for scheduling. Yes, I really, really love spending my birthday here with each and every one of you.

Well, just think, in a couple of years, you can join the Senior Hall of Fame.

I'm far from that, sir, no. Okay. But thank you.

All right. And it puts him within a 24-hour period of my wife's birthday.

Oh, see that? All right. Any further discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor of the consent agenda say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Passes unanimously. City Attorney, item number nine.

Oh. No, it will be addendum. Mayor, if you will.

Oh, we got to go to addendum. Yes.

With your permission, Mayor. Please. The add-on item, which was submitted on Monday, is addendum item 2026-04, which is a motion to pass proposed ordinance number 2026-04 on first reading, which is an ordinance of the City of Pembroke Pines, Florida, pursuant to section 8.03 of the City of Pembroke Pines Charter, authorizing the execution of an agreement to enter into a sub-sub-lease attached here to Exhibit B, And in corporate area, and by reference, the real property, Jenna, located 8103 South Palm Drive, that's Tower 1, 8210 Florida Drive, that's Tower 2, and 8203 Drive, excuse me, Florida Drive at Tower 3, collectively referred to as Pines Place, and described in Exhibit B, which property is subleased by the City of Pembroke Pines from the State of Florida Department of Children and Family Services and owned by the State of Florida through the Board of Trustees of the Internal Trust Fund of the State of Florida, authorizing the closing of the transaction contemplated in the agreement effective upon the filing by the City Manager with the City Clerk of a certificate confirming that the closing requirements in the agreement have been satisfied, the form of which is attached here to Exhibit C, subject to the terms and conditions as set forth in the agreement. Authorizing the proper city officials to execute all necessary documents and to take all actions necessary to close the transaction consistent with the authority granted herein, PROVIDING THAT ANY AMENDMENTS FOR THE RECORD EXTENDING THE REVIEW PERIOD TO THE AGREEMENT ENTERED INTO THE SUB-SUBLEASE MAY BE APPROVED BY A DULY EXECUTED RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COMMISSION. PROVIDING FOR COMPLEX, PROVIDING FOR SEVERABILITY, AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE. FOR THE RECORD, ADDENDUM NUMBER TWO IS ON THE FLOOR FOR CONSIDERATION. IT IS REFERRED TO AS 2026.04 FOR THE RECORD. THANK YOU, MR. MAYOR AND COMMISSIONER.

WHO WISHES TO MOVE THE ITEM? SO MOVED. MOVED BY COMMISSIONER RODRIGUEZ. IS THERE A SECOND?

I'LL SECOND FOR PURPOSES OF DISCUSSION.

SECONDED BY THE VICE MAYOR. Discussion?

If I can, I just have a couple questions. Go ahead. City attorney, the information has a lot of volume. We've spoken over the last several days. When is the due diligence, when does the due diligence period end? What is the specific date for Reliant that they have to give us a decision whether to go hard?

Mayor, may I respond? Yes. OK, there is an effective date defined in the agreement to sub sublease to Reliant and to its affiliate, which requires a $3 million deposit. That effective date is within five days of the approval of the last to approve the document. As a matter of law, as you know, under Section 8.03 of the city charter, this is a disposition of a piece of real estate or a real estate-related asset of the city. It requires an ordinance, and it requires a four-fifths vote on final reading by the mayor and commission. under consideration at the second reading. Tonight is first reading of the ordinance. There will be a second reading presumptively on the 17th of June, which is consistent with state law in the context of advertising. The due diligence period requires a number of different deliverables. I can go over them in specific detail as needed. The consequence of which is if you're looking for an outside date, The estimate of the outside date is basically driven by the activities of both the City of Pembroke Pines with its due diligence required by the contract and by the due diligence required by Reliant in their performance of certain duties and functions. the end result of which is that this document, this relationship, this transaction is controlled principally and largely by the state of Florida. The city does not own this property. This property is owned by the state of Florida, and the city subleases, as you know, from the Department of Children and Families, a document that goes back to 2001 and extended in the year 2020, providing for an extension period to 2090. Our estimate, and that's a good faith estimate based upon the good faith of both parties, which to date has been significant, the potential closing of the transaction could be somewhere in the middle of October of 2026.

City attorney, that's not the question I asked.

OK. Let me try to answer it differently then.

OK. I'm asking about the due diligence period versus closing.

OK, so due diligence, the purchases review period is 90 days following the effective date and the date on which the city certifies. OK, that's good. That's a good start because that's the contract.

So 90 days from June 17.

Can we agree to that? It's 90 days from the effective date.

The effective date would be June 17.

On which the city certifies that the review of documents had been delivered to the purchaser. The answer is that's an outside date. And the purchaser can review the due diligence documents in the event the city and purchaser cannot agree on the initial forms as provided for in the initial form period above. The purchaser's review period is extended on a day-by-day basis, not to exceed 60 days. So it could go beyond.

Okay, okay. I don't want to get ahead of our skis. I just want to, and I'm not debating the city attorney. I have great respect. It's mutual. We have a 90-day due diligence period. That's what I'm hearing. That puts us plus or minus September, middle of September. Does anyone disagree with that? If we have 90 days out?

The city attorney just said October.

No, that's the closing date. I'm asking about the due diligence period. City attorney, what is the due diligence date?

The review period is essentially 90 days. Okay, so that puts us in September.

Okay, so here's, so colleagues, this is what I'm looking at. I'm looking at while this transaction is structured differently.

Excuse me, 90 days from when? From June 17th, the second meeting.

I suppose that is if we pass it on June 17th, we could also defer, which I think is why the city attorney is giving a little bit of a more vague question on this specific date.

I understand. It'll be no earlier than the middle of September. So... I was, this is structured differently. We've learned from the last one. But we also have, and I'm just looking at the sequence of timeline of the obligations we have to notify the supervisor of election of certain items that are due in order to be placed in November. And that is approximately 60 days from June 17, which potentially could set up the possibility that Reliant could still be looking at, they haven't gone hard, they're doing their due diligence, and we have to transmit. Yeah, so that's my first concern.

Well, let's get an answer to that. Mr. Dodge, do you have any trepidation about transmitting a transaction to the supervisor of elections while you go through the due diligence date? I don't believe so. Mr. City Attorney, do you have any... Well, what he's saying is if it doesn't happen and we've got a ballot question, but if it doesn't happen and we have a ballot question, we don't borrow the money.

Right. That's correct. Right. Yeah, so that was the other discussion items over the last several weeks, months at this point. We've said that before. Of when the potential closing could be. I'm happy to hear that it could potentially happen before an election in November. The last time on live TV, I heard it would be after November, towards the end of the year. Is there any reason why the parties couldn't agree to a shorter due diligence period to go hard for $3 million?

May I respond, Mayor?

Yes.

Yes. There's a party to this transaction that's not in the room, but they're in the umbrella of this building, and that's the state of Florida. We don't get to control them. We don't get to control the Board of Trustees. We do, however, if I may, Mr. Mayor, to the Commissioner, we do have a very uniquely positive relationship with the Department of Environmental Protection. DEP essentially manages all state lands. We've been working with the same group of people in Tallahassee for the past 20 years, including myself personally and Mike Cirillo, my law partner. The end result of which is we've already sensitized them to the fact that the commission was going to consider a document. And essentially, they're prepositioned to understand that at some future moment, there'll be documents coming their way. The problem, if I may, mayor and commission, is the fact that we don't get to tell them what to do. And to that extent, the documents will drive the conclusion, and they will have to review them and sign off on them. Because at the end of the day, unless the state, through the DEP, and the Department of Children and Families does not sign certain estoppels and other documents, including approving the sub-sub-lease between the city and Reliant, or its affiliate, we don't have a deal. OK. But everything in the document and all of the time frames are the best good faith estimate that we can on the premise that we will hopefully get to the table and close the deal. OK.

So Mayor, I'm wrapping this up. Presuming that everything goes as planned, everyone does their job, What killed the last deal was financing. What assurances do we have that the financing is already in place to close?

May I try to respond, Mayor? Yes. Not to deflect, I'm not the one applying for the loan, nor is the city of Pembroke Pines. Correct. It's a cash transaction. We don't really care, per se, about how they find their money, but we do care about that they have the money. And that's what drives the transaction.

So who within the administration has, have they provided us any evidence that they can deliver on the ask? We extended the last deal way too long. And it wound up being, at the end, a financing problem. We literally changed. how they do business in Tallahassee that will help cities from all over the state. We went way above, and then financing killed it. So what assurances do we have that the financing, have we looked at anything? What have we done? so that we can move forward.

So there's a $3 million deposit.

Yep, there will be.

And that $3 million deposit is at risk if the deal is enclosed, because that's the deal that the city attorney and the potential buyer have entered into. But I think that what's more on our plate and what's actually more comfortable for everybody is our individual assurance. I can tell you, as mayor of the city of Pembroke Pines, if this deal doesn't close, I don't care what the public votes for. I'm not borrowing a nickel.

We can't do it without it.

So there's really nothing, unless one wants to create a narrative, there really isn't anything to deal with here. Nor should the city have to endure this circular question when in fact what we're doing is we're doing this deal in part in order to reduce the cost to the public. At what promises to be a potentially, I wanna advocate, difficult future ahead. So I think, and part of the reason that the other deal didn't work was because it took over a year to get an assurance from the state of Florida that I had to personally go and get from the legislature. And that took some time. First they weren't in session, then there was this, and then there was that. But finally, thankfully, it got signed into law. I'm glad for that. I'm sorry that we lost that buyer, but we have another great buyer. The terms in the contract are identical, correct, essentially?

Generally, they are, except, Mayor, if I can give one correct correction, if you will, the time frames are much more constrained in this document than they were in the last. That's correct.

You know, so there's substantively it's the same deal with a different player. And they actually benefit from the past effort. Correct. Because they inherited contract documents that were almost off the shelf on a deal this complicated, which never existed before. the tax advantage that any deal like this would need, because it is affordable housing. So I think the thing to do is to just move forward and express to the public that we're very, very close, because we are. And in the event that we don't expect, but in the event that it doesn't work out, they're not at any loss because no one here is going to touch that authority at all.

Yeah, there's two things I like about the deal. One, administration heard my request to shorten up the time frame, which We're close to that. It's a transmission. I just need to put that on the record. But two, when I was on the phone last week, I mentioned selling city property. And so this is what gets it done. They were at it long before you mentioned that. Go ahead. Take credit for it. And we're at town halls now, and people want to know. where the additional funding will come from, by moving this at least in first reading tonight, we can continue to tell the public that this is our eventual goal at second reading to be able to pay for, to be able to match this transaction with bond approval in order to have public safety move forward. Yes, of course. So that's... That's kind of where we're at. I didn't want to mention on the phone last week about Reliant, because they were still working the paperwork, but now it's in front of us. And so I'm happy to move the item tonight. And I would ask the administration to keep all of us posted as information comes in, because I like to see a shorter time frame. And in the cooperation of the state, I would ask them to give us their best effort so that we can give the public assurances that we're either moving forward or it's not.

Commissioner, I think we all agree that... that the quicker we can arrive at a deal, the better. And we're transmitting that sentiment not just to the buyer, but also to our staff. The quicker we can transact this business, the better. And I think that that's a point very well taken. Any other comments on this?

One from me. Oh, go ahead. Did you want to go?

Sure, mine is quick. I just want assurance from city administration that the conversations that we had previously with the other project about maintaining it as affordable housing, I know it's in the document and I did see it, but I just want verbal assurance that that will still be maintained as affordable housing and that none of the residents that are currently there would be displaced.

City attorney. I'll be happy to respond. The answer is you're generally correct, and that is the fact that there will be a declaration of covenants and restrictions. It's referred to as Exhibit K in the backup to the contract, which commits the potential buyer to maintaining the rent roll, rent rate at 80% of AMI, and after 10 years to increase 50% of the residential tenancies to 100% of AMI. Both qualifiers are consistent with the covenant that the city of Pembroke Pines has with the Department of Children and Families and with the DEP. What's important to note is that that's a restriction that the city committed to the state. And it was a separate approval that was given as an amendment to the city's current sublease. The distinction between this buyer and the prior buyer is that in the proposed agreement, there is specific language in the exhibit that relates to that commitment, which is, again, 80% of AMI. And then after 10 years, 50% of the property would be allocated to up to 100% of AMI, both of which are consistent with state law as well as our covenant to maintain the property for that purpose, bearing in mind that if the tenant, There's an ongoing relationship that will exist for the next number of years between this city and this buyer. You're selling, the city is selling the building, can't sell the land. So there is an ongoing relationship with these folks. The end result of which is that the city cannot tolerate nor will it allow there to be a violation of our covenant, which would subject this city to losing its sublease with the state.

Understood. Thank you for the clarification. Your point is well taken.

Furthermore, that the... that the buyer will use the city's waiting list composed of Pembroke Pines residents when there's vacancy. They'd be nuts not to. So, you know, this is essentially the same deal. Vice Mayor.

It is... It is essentially the same deal. I have a little bit of PTSD from the last one. But I commend my colleagues for all the comments at this moment on this item. I'm ready to, I'm okay to move it tonight, but I do have a lot of questions that I want answered. In particular, Commissioner Rodriguez just answered one of them on maintaining affordable housing, but also My questioning two years ago was on amenities because there were certain investments that were committed to by the previous buyer or previous potential buyer with respect to improving the conditions at the facility. I'm not saying they have to mirror what that former prospective buyer had, but I'd like to make sure that if they are going to purchase the sub-sub lease of the property, that they also would invest some, if possible. I know we can't mandate it, but I'd like to know if they are going to also invest in that property. People live there. 114, if I'm not mistaken, units. And I really would like it to be a quality of life improvement for them. Not that it's a negative environment now. I think the city does a good job. But the amenities are going to be a part of it as well. One final point. I commend Mr. Gorin and his team and our city administration. However, just a point. I can't speak for anyone else but myself. I need more than a couple of days to see a proposed ordinance on a $90 million deal. It's because of my personal schedule. I need a few days. I need to be able to sit down and ask more questions. I need more time. So I want to make that clear. I'm okay with this tonight because it's first reading. I need more time and more ability to ask questions, detailed questions. I can do Zoom. I can do phone. It does not have to be in person and I hope it's not in person every time because I work and I I am often mobile in another county. So I appreciate that. I'm okay to vote for tonight, Mr. Mayor. I'm gonna have questions between now and second reading. Thank you.

Mr. Dodge, can you please make sure that without fail that happens?

Yes, I have spoken.

Thank you. Anyone else? I haven't spoken.

And we're going to make those individual meetings for each and every commissioner that wishes it, that has additional questions. OK. Commissioner Good.

Yes. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. And a lot of good conversation. I'm just going to be very blunt. I'm not prepared to support this item at all tonight. And this is in my district. You know, this item came up the last time we had conversation, and what was very clear, and certainly with the support of my colleagues, the reference was, hey, as you go through this process, please keep me in the loop of what's going on, what's happening with the negotiations and things like that, because... I get regular communication from the Pines Place people who are not very comfortable with this at all. And so when they look at me and they're asking me questions, I really don't have very good answers for them at this point. But I tell them, don't worry, I'm going to be advised and I'm going to be able to know what to tell you. Get this within 48 hours of the meeting, excuse me, on my anniversary weekend with my wife. I got to tell you, I'm very disappointed. The only information I ever received about this was from the attorney's office, which was just more about a process or protocols. Hey, we got your document. Hey, did you get our document? But nothing about the details. So the details, the absence of the details are very, very concerning to me. I did, still, on my anniversary weekend, take a little time and took a couple hours and kind of did a peruse. And I got to tell you, Vice Mayor, you're absolutely right. This is way too much information to digest and to make a decision on in such a short period of time. So let me just tell you some real quick things that I had concerns about, and I'll be asking them. But I have more, but I'm just going to share a few of them that stand out. So one of the things is referenced in the item is that it's a $90 million sale price subject to closing expenses. What is subject to closing expenses? I don't need that answered now, because I know where I, unless, OK.

I'd like to know.

OK. City attorney? Mr. Mayor, to the commissioner, the only expenses the city would have would be for attorney's fees for the real estate transaction on the city side. The bulk of the transactional costs are borne by the buyer. And I'll be happy to review that with you.

Well, the bottom line is, to me, If we are going to be receiving $90 million, why is it contingent upon some language that is obscure in the sense of subject to closing expenses? Does that mean that if there's closing expenses that's going to run into a million or $2 million that it's gonna be deducted from the $90 million that we're gonna be paid? It's just really weird that you have a statement like that.

It sounds like standard language in a real estate deal, but is that correct?

My best answer is that that is not inconsistent with standard procedure and custom and practice in Broward County.

Well, I've seen that language a thousand times.

And I've not seen it a thousand times. So again, otherwise, why am I making a comment to it? So another question was, We talk about those folks that are currently living that are not at the 80% AMI. They gradually get bumped to the 80% AMI. So what's that plan? Is that a plan that we're going to approve, or is it just something we say that they're going to do? On their own, gradual could be, Five days, gradual could be five years. Do we even know what that means, the word gradual? Did anybody have any conversation about how that was gonna happen? Maybe not, but that's a question that I have in the process here, because there are a number of people there, Commissioner Rodriguez that you speak to, about are they gonna get displaced? And I'm gonna tell you the potential is yes, and I'll tell you why. One of the things here, too, that's tied to this is that after 10 years, they go from 80% to 100% of AMI. And that's only 50%. But still, 50% of people at 80% are going to have to go to 100% AMI. Who do you choose? Which 50% do you choose? Now, why is this important? You know, there's two facts going on here. One is, if I'm paying, if I'm in there and I'm at a 70% AMI, I'm not at the 80s.

I'm sorry, Commissioner. I think that that is phased in with vacancies. Is that not correct?

Okay, that's a good question. Okay, that's another question. I think that's phased in with vacancies. But it's not answered. Okay. It's not available.

Maybe, maybe.

That information is not available.

I totally, I totally.

I'm not, I'm just, I want to move through my stuff.

I know what you're going to say.

I'm really kind of upset that I'm having to have this conversation here tonight as opposed to having it prior. I get it. Okay, so I'm not going to provide my support. and something that I'm not really sure about.

That's why I think we should defer.

So the other thing is just, but I want to make something clear. We just recently opened up another very large affordable housing complex in my district. It's Douglas Gardens.

Not us.

It's in our city, but we didn't open it. But it's an affordability 60, 80, 20. Right. So what happens is when you go from, Let's say it's 70%. You're getting charged at the 70% AMI level, and you go to 80% AMI level. Guess what? Your rent goes up. But you were just at the 70%. So if you've got an increase of 5% in the AMI, that means you're going to get essentially a 5% increase in your rent that you don't have. Same thing if you go from 80 to 100. That's like a 20% increase of the AMI that your rent's now going to go up. Maybe 20%. Oh, wait a minute. But AMI itself goes up, too, because every year it changes. Last year it was 90-something. This year it's 106,000. So you keep getting change.

This applies to every renter in America. AMI is the standard that comes out of HUD. I really think that what we should do is this, because what you're saying makes me now feel uncomfortable. Mr. Dodge?

Well, I got one more comment.

No, and I'm going to let you make it. But I really think that the district commissioner is right. He needs to hear, and his needs have to be satisfied before we do this. And if I have to call a special meeting just for this item after commissioner has his time, I'm glad to do it. But we need to satisfy that the district has everything that they need. And if that takes a week, we'll call the meeting in a week. And if it takes two weeks, we'll call the meeting in two weeks. I really think that what we should be doing is hurrying up and beginning the process. That doesn't mean that the due diligence can't start. The due diligence can start. We want to make this deal, but there are questions that are not being answered or questions that are outstanding. Those things can overlap. So I want to allow the commissioner to ask everything that he needs to ask. But I agree that he's the district commissioner. And if he's not satisfied with this and he's bringing up reasonable points, we need to satisfy him. Commissioner Good.

And thank you, Mr. Mayor. And one other thing, too, that just kind of stuck out. is there was a reference about the 15% rule by charter. And basically it says that if we have an asset that is above 15% of the operating budget, then that has to actually be done by a referendum. We can't do it.

Mr. City Attorney.

Yes, Mayor. Can you respond to that? We have consulted with the finance director and she has confirmed that the

Transaction based upon the purchase price and the three appraisal does not exceed 15% of the city's operating budget Okay, and so and that's the question I will have because I can easily put a number before you we have appraisals in this document that because there's two two concepts here of appraisal has a range and the ranges and the appraisal goes from 90 million to 118 million and Which number are you going to use? Typically, I would use the higher number, 118.

City attorney, what number are you going to use? The three appraisals were based upon either the property being taxable or non-taxable. The property that is being transacted in this discussion is being being transacted as non-taxable. And one was at $73 million. Right.

And I'm going to say that when you look at $90 million in a $561 million operating budget, that's more than 15%.

Mr. John, I really think that these questions are best asked.

Yeah, we will. And that's very important. I can make an arrangement next week. I can make an arrangement next week for...

Commissioner Good to meet with the buyer, and I can also make arrangements with Lisa Chung to go over that threshold.

I want his every question 100% satisfied. Okay.

Listen, I went through this before, and it was satisfying. I mean, I got to a point. Well, we just got the document. So, Mr. Mayor, if I can kind of help close this conversation down a little bit, if I can just make a motion to defer this.

Okay, Mr. Mayor. We were attempting to get this completed by the 17th. Otherwise, it's going to push the sale out substantially if we don't get it done by the 17th. Well, then let's go. If you can't, then we'll just.

As I've said before, there's no reason why. I think that the buyer who is present is hearing, we want to make this deal. Let's go. And start your due diligence and answer the commissioner's questions. He's not adverse to the thing. He's got questions. That's all. So let's go through the process, all right? You're making a motion to defer?

Yes, sir.

OK. It's seconded by the Vice Mayor. Discussion on the motion. On the motion.

Oh, well, actually, I'd like to weigh in on the content of my colleague, if I may, Mayor.

Right ahead. But if it's not pertinent to the motion before us, we ask you to hold it until it comes back to us. The motion before us right now is a motion to defer.

I'm just sick and tired of... of the disrespect the administration has for district commissioners.

OK. All right. We're now, excuse me, sir. We're off the motion. All right. All those in favor of the motion, say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Passes unanimous. OK. So let's go to the next item. Thank you.

Can I weigh in now that we've moved that?

If you'd like to bring something up on old business, you can. We're on the next item. Sir, you're disrupting the meeting. We have to move on to the next item. Is there another addendum, city attorney?

No, Mayor.

OK, so we are now on item number nine.

No other items, Mr. Mayor.

Oh, the addendum was nine. That was it. That's why I had nine on. OK, we are now on. Regular agenda, anything in there? No. Reports of the league and the MPO representatives?

No MPO.

Nothing for MPO? Anything from the league?

We have our meeting tomorrow. And I'm hoping to obviously bring up some of the conversations regarding tax reform and see how the League of Cities will be discussing that in the future.

Thank you very much. And it was a good annual meeting. And congratulations to you, Commissioner Rodriguez, and also Commissioner Goode for your election to represent the city at the League. Reports of the city manager. Can I ask you a question? Yes, sir. When do we get your plan on recycling?

The plan on the recycling?

Yeah, the curbside recycling. Do you have a sense of when that comes in? Beginning of August. Thank you. City attorney, any items? No reports, Mayor. Okay. No commission items. New business. Old business. Commissioner Schwartz.

Thank you, Mayor. Mr. Dodge, it's like Groundhog Day. I mean, two years ago, the commissioner had the same issue with the first contract of not not being sat down to explain how constituents within his district would be impacted. We could roll back the tape. It's almost identical. At what point is it the intent to get this right? The timing of this deal is indicative, tied into the bond initiative. Okay, then why weren't these efforts tripled to make sure that this didn't just meet the 48-hour deadline, that the volume of information being provided would allow the five of us to read, to ask questions. And I don't want to ask the question, but I can imagine the last 48 hours, if there was a question, how concise the information may have been provided to my colleague. Clearly, he stated that he doesn't have enough information. I'm embarrassed by the... Well, I wouldn't say that you're embarrassed.

This is my view. I'm not embarrassed.

I'm embarrassed by the fact that I worked with the city attorney's office on the timeline. I knew it was going to hit late on Monday. I was in the focal point, and the clerk was doing everything he possibly could to meet a deadline. And I even got out of his way so he can get that done. OK, that's how close it was to making the 48-hour deadline. OK, Mr. Mayor, if I may.

Yeah, look, I mean, come on. Look, look, let's not overdramatize this. I'm not overdramatizing. The fact of the matter is that the real estate community and the private sector is built for speed, because that's how you make money. Government is built for comfort. We're slower than them. So there are going to be some conflicts like this. And when the commissioner said he wasn't uncomfortable, that he was uncomfortable, The first thing I did was say, let's make them comfortable. And that's something that we all feel about when it's reasonable. He's asking reasonable questions. Sometimes people say, I'm uncomfortable because they don't want to make the vote. That's not where Commissioner Good has indicated. He has substantive questions. True, this deal is comparable to the one before, but he wants to make sure that he has that answer. We have granted him his deferral request. I would like to see you all proceed as fast as you can to answer his questions, and I will call a special meeting so that we don't lose any more time. But I'm looking at the potential owner straight in the face, and I'm saying, you should be giving your due diligence so that we lose no time in the 90 days. You should begin it. That's it.

Mr. Mayor, I did speak to the potential owner, and I did express. He said he will sit down with each and every single commissioner between first and second reading. This is a legal document, and there were a lot of issues through the attorney's office that had to be finalized at the last minute. That's why it came to you so late. It's pretty well modeled after the Hayden Glades, but at the same time, there are questions. We'll have those appointments.

Alternatively, if he had waited, we would have potentially blamed him for waiting. So he brought it to us at the earliest legal moment. I'm OK with that. Sometimes things happen last minute. And this was one of those things. We're going to get this straightened out, and we're going to do the business of the city together, and we're going to do it respectfully. But there's no need to over-dramatize it. Is there any last comment on this? Yes, sir. Would you come forward? There's a button there that will turn green when you press it. And I'm glad Commissioner Schwartz brought this up because it allows us to meet you. Your name and affiliation.

You're on.

Your name and affiliation for the record.

My name is Sanj Kakar. I'm the Chief Acquisition Officer for the Reliant Group.

Yeah, Reliant Group. Can you move that closer to your mouth so I can hear you?

Sorry, sorry, sorry. And I just want to say, Jay, yeah, I'm... 30 days DD is usually enough time. This is a very complex. So you need to speak on the microphone. Sorry. 30 days due diligence is usually enough time for a normal deal. The reason that, by the way, we were involved with the deal before Hayden Glade like three years ago. But they just, they ended up getting the deal. We didn't. But we know the deal. We toured it. We're very familiar with the asset. I was following it when it fell out of contract. One of the reasons it fell out of the contract is because of the financing. This is a very challenging property to finance because, like you guys mentioned it, you guys don't own the land. The state owns the land that leases it to DCF. And DCF leases it to the city of Pembroke Pines. And then Pembroke Pines has to lease it to us. So we're four parties down the chain. That's the reason why. That's the due diligence is more for my lender to feel comfortable because they have to attach a loan on a property that you guys don't own, and it's owned by the state. So that's basically that's the deed. The DD is more for my lender, not for us. If he was like, hey, you're buying this piece of property, figure it out, I go, yeah, we could figure, I don't even, 30 days? Yeah, no problem. But it's the financing that, and it's the most complex part of the transaction. So we need documents that my lender approves, and then the state has to approve those documents. That's the whole rub on this whole thing. If we had a sub-sub lease that my lender approved, and then we could take that to the state, But we're good. I mean, I don't even have to touch the property. I don't even have to go to the property. And when you're buying a house, you inspect it. You check it out. That's the DD. But the DD here is more paperwork than physical looking at the property and financial and doing the rent rules. That's the time. So unfortunately, that's the time.

I understand completely, and I'm thankful to you. That sheds a little bit a better light on what some of the questions are. I want to ask you to please make yourself available to answer any questions that Commissioner Good will have, or that any of us might have, and I very much appreciate your coming forward, and I'm hopeful that it works. I'm very hopeful that it works.

Oh, we are too. By the way, we've been doing affordable housing for three decades. That's where primary... I've looked you up. Yeah, it was primarily as an affordable housing fund. So we'd love to, and we can have a meeting as soon as this week, or whenever it's convenient, we can set it up and go through all your questions. Happy to do so. Thank you very much. Thank you.

Okay, without further comment or question, this meeting is adjourned.