City Council - Regular Meeting

all right so you can keep talking now it's not a library does everybody know everybody well turn around say hello to somebody behind you hi neighbor oh you went silent too quick try again I didn't hear any names exchanged Let me know when we're ready, Ms. Bravo.

Sure will.

Have we heard from Ms. Hodigan? Hello, Ms. Bravo.

Hi, Commissioner Scudo. How are you?

Good.

Excellent. I know. It's five, Mayor.

All right, I'm going to call to order the City Commission meeting of Tuesday, February 10, 2026. If you would, Ms. Bravo, please call the roll.

Mayor Ryan.

Present.

Deputy Mayor Guzman. Here. Assistant Deputy Mayor Clark. Here. Commissioner Kirch is absent for now. Commissioner Scudo.

Present.

City Manager Mark Lebelski.

Present.

City Attorney Thomas Moss.

Present.

Administrative Services Manager Lourdes Lund. Present. City Clerk Felicia Bravo here.

All right. Good afternoon. This meeting has been noticed. You get to hear this all again, folks. Sorry. This meeting has been noticed both as an in-person meeting and a virtual meeting. The public may attend in person or participate in the meeting by calling 954-395-2401 and entering the code 368262. Procedures for public participation and comments will be explained in a moment. Information for each item on the agenda has been and is currently available at City Hall and online 24 hours a day at www.sunrisefl.gov. Anyone interested is also invited to call 954-746-3430 for additional information. The city has provided various options for members of the public to address the commission. Prior to the start of the meeting, we asked if anyone wished to speak on any matters before us. We've maintained that list, and I'll call upon speakers at an appropriate time. I'll also open up for public comment at an appropriate time and ask if anyone attending in person or by phone wishes to speak. For those participating by phone, you may press 5-star on your phone to request to be heard. I'll attempt to take the comments in the order that they are requested by the five-star feature, but please be assured all comments will be included as part of the public record for this meeting and will be considered prior to any action taken. When addressing us, please state your name, address, and what you're here to speak about. I'd ask that everybody on the call please mute your phones until you wish to speak. There you go. And please do not place this call on hold as it could cause an unintended interruption to the meeting due to background music. If you're experiencing technical difficulties, you may call 954-578-4792 at any time. and our staff is available to assist you. As we do before each meeting, we take an opportunity for us to gather in a moment of silence. It's a moment of individual silence and a moment of collective silence. It's an opportunity for us maybe to reflect on the grace that we have to be here together and the things that we're going to celebrate tonight. Perhaps to think about those in our lives who are going through some rough times, going through difficulty or have been facing medical challenges. also an opportunity for us as we do before every meeting and we've done for a very long time let's take a moment and make sure that we reflect on the fact that as we are gathered here tonight there are so many that are serving our country across the globe many in harm's way and many many more in ready support they put their lives on the line in training in preparation and when they have the call to duty and so we must think and be grateful for those that are serving our country And we never forget that those folks that are serving are also being missed by their families and their families serve alongside them by making sure that they have a home prepared for their mother, father, brother, sister, friend, neighbor, coworker when they come home. So we make sure that we do this before every commission. Anyone else that we need to remember before we proceed? So what I'd like you to do is I'd like you to stand for a moment of silence. And then the Pledge of Allegiance. Please join the commission. I pledge allegiance to the flag. All right, we have a little bit of business before we get to some pretty exciting presentations. I have the consent agenda for A through J. Can I have a motion?

Move it.

Motion by Commissioner Scooter, seconded by the Deputy Mayor. Any polls from my colleagues? C. Any polls from staff?

Yes, Mayor. We're going to pull items G and H and remove from the agenda and bring them back at a future meeting.

Okay. Anybody in the public wish to have any items on the consent agenda removed from the consent agenda and handled as a full public hearing? If so, please raise your hand in the hall or press five-star on the phone. I see no hands raised. Can you confirm no hands raised?

I confirm no hands are raised.

All right. Go ahead and call the question on 4A and B, D through F, and I through J.

Commissioner Skudow?

Yes.

Assistant Deputy Mayor Clark? Yes. Deputy Mayor Guzman? Yes. Mayor Ryan? Yes.

Yes, those items pass 4-0. All right, we have some special proclamations tonight, and I want to announce the first one that we have here tonight. The proclamation proclaiming January 13th, 2026, as the Marie Hodigan Day in the City of Sunrise. And this proclamation is joined by Mayor Michael J. Ryan, Deputy Mayor Jacqueline Guzman, Assistant Deputy Mayor Latoya Clark, Commissioner Neil Kirch, and Commissioner Joseph Scudo. If you could please... Put your hands together. Emily, I think before we have the proclamation, we have some special guests that are here to join us and announce this. If you would, Ms. Hodgkin, please join us in the well of the chambers. We are very fortunate tonight that we are gonna be joined by the Piper High School Band to celebrate the Marie Hodigan Day here in the City of Sunrise. And this is for an incredibly special, I'm gonna sneak through here and I'm gonna ask Ms. Hodigan to come up as well. Come on up, let's give Ms. Hodigan a big round of applause. So as most of you should know, and you can have a seat because you're going to stand up and we're going to dance some more, all right? We have been incredibly blessed in the City of Sunrise to have amazing principals in our schools. And the City of Sunrise has for a very long time as a commission and city staff supported public schools in our city because we recognize how important they are. We're the only city, I think, in the state of Florida that every month recognizes a teacher of the month, even though we have nothing to do with the schools, we don't have any control over the schools, but we recognize as a commission and as a staff and as a community that so much of what goes on in success in a city starts in the classroom. What we haven't done is recognize the great principals, the inspired leaders, the ones who take a vision and and say I can do better, we can do better, and inspire not only those teachers who already have that flame inside them, but most importantly, the students who may have self-doubt and are unsure of whether they can ever climb over the barriers of life, whether real or perceived. And it takes a great leader. And I will tell you, Marie Hodigan is that great leader. She has been an amazing principal at Piper High School. We've seen the amazing changes at Piper High School, and we have seen the influence not only at Piper High School, but throughout the feeder system. That is the schools that feed into Piper High School. And I have seen firsthand that ReHot again has an amazing vision and pulled together the feeder systems to use that vision to make a difference from kindergarten all the way to high school. See, Marie Hodigan understood that it's not just about what she can do at Piper High School. It's about what she can do for those kids that are coming in in kindergarten and working together with principals and with staff across the schools, finding funding in an imaginative way. I'm not sure it ever went to the school board, but you found ways to do it. Shh. But I saw firsthand, and I had this incredible opportunity one day when there was a gathering at West Pine, and all the principals happened to be meeting before the event. And for whatever reason, I was allowed to sit in the room like a fly on the wall, and I listened to the principals. who talked about what they wanted to do, the inspiration that they had to produce new programs, to be imaginative and innovative, to work together from elementary to high school in a seamless way. And Ms. Hodgin was leading the charge, but make no mistake, It was an amazing opportunity to see how much passion there is in public education. And unfortunately, the rest of the world didn't get to see that meeting because if you had, you would have been inspired not by issues of budget or issues of what challenges there are in public education, but what they could do. for the least student, the one who is struggling the most, the one who maybe has that self-doubt, and to start at the youngest age and work together across the schools. And it started with someone who could bring those schools together, and that was Marie Hodigan. You've done so much for our community that we are so proud today to be able to declare Marie Hodigan Day in the City of Sunrise. Before I declare that, though, I want to hand it off to my colleagues, because each of my colleagues have been committed to this process of supporting not only Piper High School, but all of the schools in our community. And you have inspired the chamber. You've inspired us. The amount of hours you put in, you certainly earned retirement, even though we didn't want you to. But you've inspired us along the way to make sure that we're there to be there for the students and the teachers and the families and to improve public education. So I'll just pass it around to my colleagues for a few comments.

Jeez, Ms. Hartigan, when I got that letter that you were leaving us, I was like, oh, my God. But on behalf of the city of Sunrise and on behalf of the residents and the kids and the students, you know, Piper always had a bad rap. For many years, I've been in the city a long time, and Piper definitely got that bad rap. But I would say between yourself and Mr. Gomez before you, you guys started to do a lot of changes. But when you came in, you truly went above and beyond when you brought in the Cambridge program. When you said that you were going to bring in the Cambridge program, people around were like, oh, my God, it's Piper High School. Why would you think about bringing Cambridge? You brought that forward. So many students have benefited, got scholarships, and learned something above and beyond. Having been able to go to college, been able to do the dual enrollment, and then you went further. you said, I wanna do the Pipa Zone as a Cambridge, like the mayor said, as a feeder program, so that the kids in elementary school and then the kids in middle school, so when they get to high school, it just becomes like a natural progression. We originally, when we started with the school resource offices around the county, they were only in high schools. But it was the City of Sunrise that said, you know what? We want to go into the middle schools with resource offices. Then we went further. We went into the elementary schools. We were the only city that did that. So you're the visionary for the principals that took this Cambridge program and took it to the limit. it's going to be sad to miss you that every year i get to go and give out five you know one thousand dollar scholarships that we give away to uh... you know students So we're going to continue to do that. We know that the kids are deserving. But what you have done with the school board, Mr. Holness, I still love you. You know, it's a tough thing sometimes when you come up with these great ideas, and it's tough when they don't have the funding for you. But you've become very creative. We got you two nice wrapped police cars. We were, it was a pleasure to do that for you. You know, we know that you needed the help. Our school resource is second to none. I'm gonna get to that. She came to us and she said, you know, our security guys, you know, it's a big campus and we need to travel around the campus and this is our golf cart. The fender was hanging off, the thing was hanging off, and we came to the city and we said, hey, you know, we have the golf course. Every year, you know, every couple of years, we're trading those in and getting new ones. The mayor and the rest of the commission supported turning some of those golf carts over to you so that your security for the residents, I mean, for the students and for the parents, to have that safe peace of mind, that, you know, regular security to get out and about. And Truly, you are missed, whatever it is that you're doing. Anyone who gets you is gonna be ecstatic to know what you're gonna bring to their organization as you go forward. Even though you retired from the school system, I'm sure principals that are gonna be at Piper High School I know you're going to be a phone call away because they're going to be calling you and saying, what about this, and what about this, and does this work, does that work? So on behalf of the residents, on behalf of myself and my family, we love you, and thank you for everything you've done for us.

Thank you.

I know, I love this band. But Ms. Hannigan, it's been a pleasure to work with you for these last couple of months. I am a product of Piper High School, and I don't think that Piper High School is a bad school, but I'm a product of that, and to see the legacy of it carry on and to carry true with your ingenious ways to add programs and to build the programs that I loved so much and to see them transcend into the students' lives and to meet some of the students and how proud they are to have you as a principal and to see how you have built up teachers to excel from your transition to another area. I'm so really proud to know that your legacy will carry on. Thank you so much for all your hard work, and we will see you in the next genre of your life.

Sorry for my backstube, but I'm going to be talking to her for a minute. Ms. Hodigan, I don't even know where to begin. The past four years, you have done not so much for the entire community, but me as a parent that has a kid graduating this year. Yeah, I'm going to cry. I'll be honest, all of the rumors back in the day about Piper, this Piper, that I was skeptical. My son was going to be a freshman and I'm like, well, I want to do what's best for my kid. I sat with you and within minutes, I'm like, okay, my son is going to Piper. And I am so glad that was the best decision I could have made, not only for him, but even for my daughter, Jasmine, who's now a sophomore. And in the medical program, I mean, the things you brought to the school, not just the sports and the staff and the coaches and the teachers, but the programs that you have incorporated into our community are just amazing. And I cannot... you know, stress enough to the community what you've done and how great Piper is. And it's the best in Broward. Excuse me, guys. I see South over here over plantation. Um, but I thank you from the bottom of my heart. And although we're sad to see you leave what you've done for us and for your own future, where you're at now, you're just going to continue to do that for where you are currently. So I love you. Thank you. Thank you for Trent, uh, Passing on everything to Mr. Lewis, who we're excited to see what your tenure is going to be. And even, I believe there's PTA back here. We have all sorts of people here. Your support is just phenomenal, and how cool you got to fly in the air for the, I forget what the planes are called, the blue, yes, that's cool. So anyways, I love you, thank you, and I wish you the best.

And your reach, Ms. Hodigan, has been beyond the commission and our staff. You know, we have the Chamber of Commerce here tonight, and you really set the standard for principals in attending the meetings and working and building community partnerships and really driving other schools to do the same thing. But you were on point for that for so long, and you did it quietly. Uh, not for accolades, but because you knew these were the type of partnerships and you inspired this chamber to rise up and do things for not only Piper, but for education as a whole. And I want to hand it over to the executive director, Brian Fowler.

Thank you, mayor. Thank you. The commission is Hodigan. We have grown over the years. Not only with you, Mr. Lewis, the entire school. And for the last few years, our golf tournament, I know Joey's too as well, a portion of our proceeds go to the school. So we're going to continue to do that as well. Anything the chamber can do for you, for you, you guys know we have your back. So we're text message away. We'll get on a text message thread too. And thank you so much for all you've done for the students. Thank you for your involvement in the chamber and the community. And we do wish you the best of luck in your new venture.

Wow, what an amazing band we have back here. Come on, make some noise. Give him a round of applause. so i am going to say miss hardigan that everything that have already been said is true and so much more you are just amazing now when i came on the school board in 2022 i had a conversation with miss hardigan i said my son is on an iep because i have two sons and one is on an iep And I said, Miss Hartigan, I'm going to have you look at his work and see, are you able to make sure he's successful? And Miss Hartigan was so instrumental in his success. He graduated last year, and I attribute his success to Miss Hartigan for everything you've done. And I can tell you, Ms. Hartigan, you made my life so much easier at Piper because you've just gotten everything perfect at Piper. I've never had, as a school board member, any major concerns out of Piper. And that is because of this lady right here. Her leadership is exceptional. And I can't thank you enough. And I thank you for not only being a principal, but becoming a friend. And I thank you so much, Ms. Hartigan. Thank you. Okay, so Ms. Hartigan, I have a proclamation as the Vice Chair of Broad County Schools in honor of you today from the school board. So whereas in recognition of her recent retirement on January 23rd, 2026, The Broward County School Board honors Miss Marie Hartigan for a distinguished career spanning 26 years in education, including 20 years of dedicated service to Broward County Public Schools beginning on January 19, 2006. And whereas through her service as a substitute teacher, language arts teacher, magnet coordinator, assistant principal and principal, Miss Hartigan consistently demonstrated steadfast commitment tireless dedication, and a profound belief in the limitless potential of every student. And whereas during her tenure as principal of Piper High School from July 1st, 2019 to January 22nd, 2026, Ms. Hartigan led with extraordinary passion, high energy, and contagious enthusiasm, inspiring students and staff and creating a school environment filled with pride, joy, and a strong focus on academic success. Her outstanding leadership during this time earned her recognition as the Broad County Public Schools 2023 Caliber Awards Principal of the Year. Round of applause. She was also honored with the City of Sunrise Hero Award and she was selected to fly with the Blue Angels in an experience featured on Channel 10 News. And whereas Principal Hartigan is widely recognized for her deep and authentic connection with students. Her leadership extended beyond classrooms and hallways and into student life, where she participated fully and joyfully. Her halftime performances with the Piper, Bengal band, dance team, and cheerleaders became a cherished tradition and earned more than one million views, reflecting her belief that leadership requires presence, encouragement, and heart. And I have to tell you, Ms. Hartigan, when I saw that video, I said, I need to know who that principal is when I came on board. WHEREAS UNDER HER LEADERSHIP, PIPER HIGH SCHOOL IMPROVED ITS SCHOOL GRADE BY NEARLY 130 POINTS, A POWERFUL REFLECTION OF HER STRATEGIC FOCUS, HER COMMITMENT TO STUDENTS, AND HER BELIEF THAT EVERY STUDENT DESERVES HIGH QUALITY INSTRUCTION, SUPPORT, AND OPPORTUNITY. And whereas Ms. Hartigan's dedication to academic excellence is reflected in her leadership in expanding access to advanced coursework, she further demonstrated her advocacy when she presented at the National College Board Symposium titled A Dream Deferred, where she shared her vision for providing broader opportunities for students to participate in advanced academics. And whereas Principal Hartigan's commitment to student success is also seen in her role as a mother of two sons who both graduated from Broward County Public Schools and later earned degrees from Georgetown University. And now therefore be it proclaimed that I, District 5 School Board Member, Dr. Jeff Holness, along with District 1 School Board Member, Maura Bullman, DISTRICT 2, SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER REBECCA THOMPSON. DISTRICT 3, SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER SARAH LEONARDI. DISTRICT 4, SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER LAURIE ALHADEF. DISTRICT 6, SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER ADAM SERVERA. DISTRICT 7, SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER NORA RUPERT. SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER AT LARGE, SEAT 8, DR. ALLEN ZIEMAN. AND SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER AT LARGE, SEAT 9, DEBBIE HICKSON. hereby honors and celebrates Ms. Hartigan for her distinguished service, her enthusiastic and uplifting leadership, and her steadfast dedication to ensuring that every student has the opportunity to succeed.

Well, I found out how you get the band going. You just say Caliber Awards, right? Is that how you get the drums going? Miss Hodigan, there's a lot of things that can be said in words that can be put on paper and a sentiment that we can try to express. But the sense of... your importance to our community is found in the students that aren't here. The ones that doubted themselves. I sat in a meeting with you and I heard you talk about how you wanted to find more resources. It wasn't for the gifted program. It wasn't for those that were excelling or trying to apply for college. It was those that perhaps had given up on themselves and others had given up on them before. It is so hard for a high school principal and teacher to take on the educational mission that may have been challenged for years. We know the statistics about if you're not at reading grade level and the benchmarks at grade three, how hard it is to even graduate. And there could be those who would just give up And say, I'm going to try to get the most points I can to change a grade and see if I can put on the marquee how students have gone on to great schools. But I saw you work with the teachers and focus on how do I find the resources for those who need the most help. That is the measure of your legacy. For all those students who have gone on to become doctors and all sorts of important things or in medical school, that's great. but it's the one who perhaps no one thought would even graduate. And for that, we love you. And we were so grateful. And so on behalf of the commission, it's my honor to declare this day for all history to be miss Marie Hodding and day in the city of sunrise. I'm not going to read the similar words that Dr. Holness did, but I am going to declare the day. Whereas Marie Hodigan has devoted so much of her life, not only to the field of education, but to the enduring impact she has on students, families, and our community throughout Broward County. She has served with distinction at Piper High School and throughout her tenure has demonstrated an unwavering belief that quality education is transformative and that it opens pathways for students to reach their full potential and strengthen society as a whole. Whereas Murray Hodigan's visionary leadership at Piper allowed grade performance improvements reflecting significant advancements in school culture and academic rigor in expectations of both teachers and students and the value of student achievement. Whereas Principal Hodigan's commitment to public education, as was said, was recognized on the national stage, not only in some video of you dancing, by the way, but when you presented to the National College Board Symposium, talking about a dream deferred and the importance of allowing and expanding the vision to make sure that advanced academic opportunities were there for all students, not only the ones who it was expected of. Whereas her innovative approach to student engagement and school pride has inspired the community. Whereas in recognition of her exceptional leadership and service, Marie Hodigan was honored as Caliber Principal of the Year 2023. The drums went quiet on that one. I thought it was Caliber Principal of the Year. There we go. And her commitment to education and impacting the developing community partnerships that are so important to the success of the school were recognized by the Greater Sunrise Chamber of Commerce when she received the Sunrise Hero Award in 2023. Whereas beyond her professional achievements, Rae Hodgin has demonstrated that you can balance, and I don't know how, the devotion to everyone else's child and her own children at the same time. Whereas Marie Hodigan's career includes service as a teacher, a magna coordinator, assistant principal, interim assistant principal, and principal, but her real legacy is one of inclusiveness, collaboration, and the unrelenting pursuit of excellence for every student, whether they believe in themselves or not. Whereas the city of Sunrise is deeply grateful to Marie Hodigan, and we are gonna miss you so much for your extraordinary contributions to education, your leadership at Piper High School and in our community, and the lasting positive impact you've had not only on the Sunrise community, but on every student you have touched. Now there be it resolved that I, Michael J. Ryan, Mayor of the City, along with my colleagues on the Commission, do hereby proclaim February 10th, 2026, as Miss Marie Hodigan Day in the City of Sunrise, and I urge everyone to recognize and commend the spirit that she represents in so many teachers and principals, but thank her for her distinguished career in education and extend our sincere gratitude and best wishes for your next steps. Congratulations.

So I will hold these for you. Thank you. Because we want to hear. Okay.

Hey, Miss Morgan, do you have a ball?

Yeah!

Hey, Mr. Lewis, you better get ready.

So good evening, everybody. So I really did not expect this. I mean, I had no idea. And like, one of the things I will tell you is, you know, I'm usually not one short for words, so you can tell that this is very impactful. It will be a moment, a day, a ceremony, an event that will be imprinted in my heart forever. And I do want everyone in this room to know that the City of Sunrise is unique in that it truly steps up to the responsibility of children and it believes that providing those children with every opportunity IS ONE OF THE KEY PRIORITIES OF ANY WELL FUNCTIONING GOVERNING BODY. AND MUCH OF THE SUCCESS THAT IS PIPER HIGH SCHOOL WAS DUE TO THE SUPPORT OF MAYOR RYAN AND THE CITY COMMISSION. I do want to say that the work I did at Piper was very meaningful to me. It gave me a sense of purpose every single day. I do believe that every child is born perfect. every single child. I don't care what continent they're born on. I don't care the wealth in the home. I don't care if there's one parent or two parents. I don't care because they are perfect. The issue is that the path is not the same for every child. So there are obstacles and there are difficulties and there is sadness. And while that is for almost every child, there's sadness and difficulties and obstacles, some children have some very, very significant difficult impacts that children should not see. So I challenge everyone here, I really do, that you have to remember that this is the future these are the individuals who will move forward and shape this world the world that your children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren will be a part of these are the individual so it is our responsibility to give them every single opportunity to be successful, to be of good moral character, to make decisions for themselves and their families and for the world. And while there are so many good issues out there, there's climate change, there's equity, there's I could go on and we all could go on for days. The children and the raising of the children are all of our responsibilities, okay? And we must make sure that we partner with governments like the City of Sunrise and we provide them with the educational opportunities, as Nelson Mandela said, that is the change agent that changes lives and changes countries.

What do we got?

She's okay? Okay. So I challenge everyone to move forward, to step up and to really, really, really always keep the students, the children first and foremost. And I just want everyone in this room to know I love you dearly and thank you so much. I'm so honored.

So we're gonna take a picture and if the chamber can join us, everybody's okay, right? Okay, we've got all good there. And just before we take the picture, did you see the humility? Talking about how the city had an impact in the hallways of Piper, it started with you. We were just there in a supportive role. Let's give her a big round of applause one more time. All right, we've got one more joining. Hang on one sec. All right, one more time, big round of applause. And if the Piper Band will lead Ms. Hodigan out and make as much noise as you can.

We'll be right back.

I don't want them to stop playing, do you guys? I don't. Dr. Holness, thank you for being here for that. You know, when we built this new city hall and the acoustics are great, we didn't realize we could hold concerts in here, but I think we should start thinking about that. That was amazing. One more time, big round of applause for them.

Yes.

The presentation of the Youth Athlete of the Month Award for February 2026 to Onika Gale and Giovanni Gianfrido. From the Sunrise Swimming Program.

Didn't know we'd get a fan for him, did you? Well, this is a special night, as you've seen already. And we talked a little bit about how the City of Sunrise takes the time to recognize teachers and obviously great principals who've had an impact on our community. But for many years, the City of Sunrise has also recognized each month some great student athletes. And the idea was not just to recognize those that maybe are doing great in school. or those who are doing well either in the pitch or in the pool or on the court. It's really about recognizing character. that which demonstrates the highest ideals. And as the Winter Olympics are going on, we're just kind of awash, right? In that spirit of what it means to overcome, but also in many cases, teamwork and spirit of, and the grace of competition and how to work through difficult issues. And so we take in nominations from all our programs And the Leisure Services Board, our advisory board, has a very difficult process of trying to choose the best of the best to be recognized. And this month, we have some really special folks to recognize. And I'm going to hand it over to our Leisure Services Director. But this is an opportunity, again, to celebrate the spirit of what's in our community. Kevin, the floor is yours.

Thank you, Mayor Ryan. Kevin Picard, Director of Leisure Services. First of all, I was really worried about how we were going to follow the first presentation. So thank you for bringing your entire crew here. And nice job, everybody. All right. So I know we have the coaches here. So you guys can't hide. Come on. So it's simply my honor to read you some of the comments submitted about these outstanding athletes. And then a fair warning, I'll pass the mic over to you, coach. All right, so we're going to start with Gio Gianfrido. Gio is an 18-year-old student at Somerset Academy Charter High School and a participant in the Sunrise Swim program. A few comments from his coach. Gio has been a member of Sunrise Swimming for over 12 years, starting in our lesson program at the age of five. And then moving through the training groups, where he now trains with the champions group. He is a competitor both in practices and at competitions. He doesn't give up even when faced with difficult scenarios. Gio is a sectional qualifier, which puts him in the top 10% of swimmers nationally. He has been a high school state qualifier for the last two years, finishing 21st and 10th respectively. Gio is in all advanced high school classes and has earned many academic and behavioral awards through the years. He even published a poem at the age of 12. In addition to his swimming achievements, Gio has been working with Sunrise Swimming, teaching private and group swim lessons to children and adolescents for the past three years. He is a valuable member of our staff and is respected by those he works with. Congratulations. Miss Onika Gale is an 18-year-old student at South Plantation High School and a participant in the Sunrise Swim program. A few comments from her coach. Onika has been a member of Sunrise Swimming for over 11 years, starting in our lesson program also at the age of five, and then moving through the training groups where she now trains with the champions group. She has been a state finalist in her events since her sophomore year of high school, which means finishing in the top eight. She suffered a stress fracture during track season in 10th grade, but overcame that challenge to go on and become a finalist in her junior and senior years. This December, she qualified for the Futures Championship, which is a national competition for athletes transitioning from the regional to the national level, typically the top 2% to 5% in the sport. In addition... In addition to her swimming accolades, Onika has maintained a 3.87 GPA while completing a rigorous course load and earning the ACE diploma. She is also enrolled at Broward College through the dual enrollment program, graduating in June with both a high school diploma and an associate's degree. And because she has so much time on her hands, Onika is a member of the National Honor Society, tutors fellow students in English, and is a youth leader at her church. She also completed an internship at Fort Lauderdale AC and Marriott Hotels this summer. As you can imagine, Onika has been accepted to several colleges and universities. She has received the Bright Future Scholarship and plans to major in nursing while also swimming in college. Congratulations.

Hi, everybody. My name is Alec Wathen. I'm the head coach of Sunrise Swimming. This is my mom, Christy Wathen. We've been running the team for 25 years this summer. These two young people next to me represent everything that our program stands for. We are a family-run business, and we treat the team and everybody here like a family. Our goal has always been, yes, to create and help foster an environment where they can become better swimmers, but more importantly, better people. And these two have obviously shown that being a part of our program since they were young children until now. Now they're seniors and they're getting recognized as they should. So can you please give one more round of applause for them?

All right, I told you you were in for something. For most of us, what we're in for is feeling like complete sloths. And, you know, really, we have so many hours in the day, we could be achieving more. And they show that, do they not, Raya? Both of you may exemplify the program, but you really are also emblematic of what we wanted to really demonstrate, that there are amazing young people in our community who might be good at their passion of a sport, but much more importantly, they are amazing people with great character, with moral compass, with a recognition of what it means to give back. Both of you demonstrate that, about giving back your talents to the next generation. And I don't know how, as Kevin said, I don't know how you find the time to do all this, but there's something inside you, a passion that has been developed of excellence. And not just in terms of awards or medals or what you can put on a shelf, but personal excellence of what it means to be a good character in the community. And this is exactly what we wanted from this program, right, is to inspire us to be better people. Everything we've heard about, we will walk out of here tonight saying, how can I be like Jill or how can I be like Anika? And the answer is I can't. That's just really the reality. But I can try. And we're really, really proud. Now, the real reason we did this, because we know you're going to go on for really great things, is that we wanted to be able to say we knew you when, so that we now have pictures. And people are like, nah, you don't know Gio or Nico. And we're like, yeah, we do. Yeah, we do. See this picture. But we sincerely do want to be part of your journey. The commission as a whole. the city staff, the community, the chamber, everybody wants to be part of your journey. So as you go through that journey, if you need help, not that you need it from us, but a letter of recommendation or some support, something to help just a bit, we're here because you really demonstrate the best in what we want in ourselves, but also what we want in the next generation. And frankly, it gives me hope not only to see you all here, but to see you all here as well, celebrating. Are your folks here tonight? All right. Parents, you've got to come up. You can't sit in the back and film all night. You've got to come up. Let's give them a round of applause. Come on. Come on.

If you're wearing that shirt, come on.

Congratulations.

And for parents, congratulations.

For parents, I know... It's almost easier if your kids kind of tie their shoelaces together on both feet and can't do anything, right? When they're this talented, it's so demanding on families, right? To make sure all those years when they were younger and they couldn't drive themselves to practice, they couldn't get there with their friends. It took a family commitment to help them get to this point. And you didn't just focus, obviously, on the achievements in the pool. You focused on what it meant to be a good person. And you should be so incredibly proud of yourselves and what they've become. Let's give the parents a big round of applause. And over the years, I know swimmers often have practice very early in the morning. Is that right? What's the earliest you start? 5.30 in the morning. They couldn't wait for you to drive. They could not wait. At age 12, they were like, go ahead. You turn the key. That's what you do. Pedal on the right. Anyway, congratulations. If you could step forward for us so we can get a picture. Are they cheering because they're not in the pool right now? Is that what it is? Okay. All right. Everybody to the pool now. Let's go. Practice starts. One more time. Big round of applause. They wanted me to keep talking so they didn't have to go to practice. Teachers. All right, make some noise for teachers. We brought a band earlier for you tonight. I don't know if you saw that. I already said it earlier, and this is an opportunity for us to deliver on that, and that is what we do every month in recognizing great teachers. And it really started from this concept that here in the city, and I've said this many times, if you call and complain about the car loop or traffic around schools, there's very little we can do about it, right? It is what it is. And when young ones complain about the food in the cafeteria, we can't do anything about that either, right? But what we do know is taking the time to celebrate our great teachers in the classroom who so often go unrecognized, who put in extraordinary hours, who when they leave work are still thinking about the one in the class that they are trying to find a way to unleash, to inspire, to keep that flame alive, to keep them coming back to school with an inspiration. It takes amazing teachers. And while we're going to celebrate two amazing teachers, I know they would say the same thing, that it represents a lot of great teachers out there and that our public education system is one of the great strengths of our country because it starts with teachers in the classroom. So I'm going to turn it over to Kevin so you can learn a little bit about our two award winners this month.

Thank you, Mayor. And for our award winners, if you guys can step forward. You're stars of the show here tonight. Perfect. Okay, we're going to start with Piper High School. Piper High School proudly nominates Miss, excuse me, you're going to have to help me here. Malaika, okay, even gave me the phonetics and I still messed it up, so I apologize. But Ms. Malaika Panthier as February 2026 teacher of the month. Ms. Panthier is a popular and highly effective English language arts teacher whose passion, innovation, and dedication have positively impacted countless children. As Piper's outstanding English department chair, Ms. Panthier oversees one of the most successful English departments in the district. She is the epitome of excellence in the teaching profession. As a former Piper graduate herself, Ms. Panthier always envisioned returning to her alma mater to make a difference. She certainly has. Congratulations. Plantation High School proudly nominates Dr. Saima Sonala as February 2026 Teacher of the Month. Dr. Sonala has been a dedicated school leader at Plantation High School since 2012, whose focus on excellence and equity drives student success and professional growth. As department chair and science teacher, she uses data and collaboration to improve student outcomes. She has served as SAC chair, overseeing compliance and approving key initiatives. As MTSS coordinator, facilitating interventions for at-risk students, and as PBIS facilitator, you guys love acronyms, so I'm working through here. implementing incentive systems for positive behavior. Her leadership in science raised biology EOC proficiency from 37% to 63%, and she supports academic growth through reviewing events and extended learning opportunities. Dr. Sonala designs interactive lessons across multiple subjects, mentors teachers, and delivers professional development. She boosts school engagement by assisting with the coordination of open houses and sponsoring student groups. She is a member of the 2025-26 Broward lead and consistently demonstrates effective student-focused leadership. Dr. Snell is recognized as Plantation High School 2025-2026 Teacher of the Year and, as of this week, was also named the Broward County Public School Teacher of the Year. I was going to say Caliber. I was concerned the band would show up, so... Her accolades reflect not only individual achievement but also the positive transformation she inspires in others. Dr. Sima Senal is an exemplary educator whose visionary leadership continues to elevate Plantation High School making her our nominee for the City of Sunrise Teacher of the Month. Congratulations. Mr. Lewis or Ms. Rios.

Hi good evening. I have known Sonola since 2012. I am her administrator, but she is my friend. We have a great relationship. Plantation High School is very lucky to have Sanula in our corner. Our children love her, and I could not be any prouder that she is at the other P, right? And I want to say that she is a former resident of Sunrise. We'll get you back, don't worry. And I'm still a 33-year resident of Sunrise, even though I'm at the other P. Thank you, thank you for honoring her, and Sanula?

Thank you for everything you do for us.

I just want to take this moment just to thank you for each and every day that you step onto that campus because the students just, they glow when they're in your presence. And the real work takes place behind the closed doors. So I know that they see Piper High School, you see the face of Piper High School, but I just want to tell you that I thank you from the bottom of my heart for what you do for our kids each and every day.

So I just wanted to say that years ago... Oh, I'm Pat Coat, the assistant principal at Piper High School. And I've been there. I came shortly after Ms. Hodigan got there. She brought me in. So I've been here for this whole transformation. And when I started... One of our current teachers, Ms. Ortiz, was telling me, I got this girl who just graduated, and she's going to school to become a teacher. The only one left, I guess, at that point. And I said, okay, when she graduates, we need teachers. And every year, is she done yet? No. Is she done yet? No. Oh, she had to do an extra semester. Okay, fine. And then finally, this young lady came in to interview, and it was Malaika. This is your, what year is this? February. This is her third year. Mrs. Sterling, who's in the back, was the department chair of English for many, many, many years. She's now an assistant principal designee. This is her third year teaching, and one of the most successful English departments with a ton of veteran teachers elected her as their department chair. That is how much we believe in her and they believe in her. I love you. Thank you all.

Well, a couple of observations. When we had the band here and then the swim team, they saw how to get loud. Typically, folks in the audience don't get that loud, but I think they've learned something tonight. Can you get loud for some teachers? Both of you represent the best in education, not in data and metrics. in the work that's done in the quiet hours of trying to figure out how do we get the ones who are having the most difficulty? How do we inspire those that are talented to go beyond what they think they can do? And there's something that was inside you, obviously, I don't know where it began, but there was this flame about how important education is, that you're calling to this, because it's not a job. It's an absolute calling for both of you. But something happened at Piper or somewhere along the way, and then you stuck with it. And it's so challenging for teachers in the public education system. And we know that we need to do better for teachers. This is what helps inspire our community to stand up for teachers. greatness in our midst and for you to be in your third year and your your colleagues say yes we want you to be our leader want to work with you together because of your collaborative focus but also because you have that passion and what you've done with metrics and the changes are just amazing that you've been able to achieve that and you are part of the Sunrise family it says plantation right But we recognize as a commission that there are so many of our students that go to Plantation High and they go to Western. And so when we decided to do this, we wanted to make sure we were celebrating the teachers that were making a difference in our community. wherever they come from, it doesn't matter. But what you've done together is really inspiring. And so we thank you for sharing this moment with us. And as I tell all of them, the commission's worked on this. There's some really, you probably can't see a small writing. It says, now that you've received this award, you're unable to leave your school ever and must always teach. We have it on video now. Oh, yeah, no. No, no. I'm sorry. You can't get out of it now. Well aware. But we are incredibly grateful as a community. One more time, give them as loud an applause as you can. Well, we'll see if we can get a three-peat. What do you think? We're all about back-to-backs, though. You know that? NHL Panthers, right?

Come on. You guys can clap more than that.

She's wearing Panther red, for Pete's sake. All right. One more time. Oh, hold on. Let's get a picture. Dr. Holness, why don't you come up? Don't go anywhere. Don't go anywhere. Dr. Holness is here. Let's get a picture with Dr. Holness. One more time, make some noise.

The proclamation proclaiming the month of February 2026 as Black History Month in the city of Sunrise, Mayor Michael J. Ryan, Deputy Mayor Jacqueline A. Guzman, Assistant Deputy Mayor Latoya S. Clark, Commissioners Neal C. Kirch, and Commissioner Joseph A. Scudo.

Come on, make some noise, come on. Where's our chamber? Come on, chamber, come on up. We have a number of representatives. Ms. Jarrett? Where's Ms. Jarrett? Is she here? Marcus is here, yeah, she's here, right? Okay, perfect. And we have a bunch of folks representing businesses and healthcare across our community, talented folks in the arts. I'm hoping that Laurel will hurry up and get that child's book going on that we've been talking about. So I'm gonna turn it over in a moment to our chambers here, but I do wanna take a moment talk about what we're here celebrating and the history that's so important. And we can talk about it in words and we can talk about accomplishments across industry and culture and arts. But it's important that we recognize as a community that while we recognize Black History Month as a separate month, black history is American history. And it's 365. It's every day of every year of our entire existence. We take this moment because there were moments in our history when we didn't celebrate that. And we recognize that it's important to never forget that the black experience in our country is the American experience, and that it is part and parcel of what we are as a community. No matter what the rhetoric is nationwide and what we hear, this is an important time. And each of you represent the success of a community, the success across generations, and that there's more to do. So I'd like to turn it over first to the Black Chamber. Yes, okay, yes. And then the Chamber of Commerce here. Did Marcus come on?

OK, thank you. Thank you, Mayor. And thank you to the commission here in Sunrise. My name is Shahiwa Jarrett-Gellin. I'm the founder and president of the Broward County Black Chamber of Commerce. We have been in existence here in the county for about eight years. And our focus has been to help ensure that everyone, no matter your background, that you have an opportunity to have government contracting, that you get the training you need, and that you have an advocate to ensure that there's equity. One of your prior honorees mentioned that equity, and you saw those students from Piper stand up here. Those will be graduates. Those are our future leaders. They will own businesses. They will be general managers. And we have to create an economy and an ecosystem, a business ecosystem that will work for them as well. So we're proud of our work and proud to be here today. Over the years, we've helped over 12,000 people here in this county access technical assistance, and that means we help folks learn how to go after government contracts, learn business fundamentals, so that they're prepared to run an efficient and effective and, most importantly, profitable business today. Because our small businesses, contrary to popular belief, are the ones that, in fact, employ the majority of Americans, whether you're looking at the statistics nationally, statewide, or locally. And they're the innovators, they're the job creators, and so we have to support them and ensure that they're ready. And then lastly, I would just say, that we ensure that we're interacting and liaising with our entities on a county-wide basis. So we interact with the Broward County government to advocate on that level with our school board. You just saw our school board member leave. But we also engage advocacy in Tallahassee. And I know you mentioned the federal rhetoric, but I just got back from Black Chamber Day in Tallahassee, and there's some rhetoric up there that we have to address as well. But we're proud to be here to celebrate Black History Month because our chamber operates in a steep and deep tradition of black chambers around the nation. For those of you who know the history, the initial chamber or business league, it was started by Booker T. Washington, the Negro Business League and turned into chambers that powered our communities and our businesses around the nation, not just in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where we hear about Black Wall Street, but there were Black Wall Streets right here in Broward County and Jacksonville, Miami, all over this state and within this county. So I'm happy to be here to celebrate with you all. And thank you for the recognition.

Thank you, Mayor Ryan and Commission. It is an honor to be here representing the Sunrise Chamber and also to stand next to my colleague who put it so eloquently and gave us a small amount of history that we all should know and embrace.

Absolutely. Your role is the chamber. There's millions at home watching. They need to learn about you.

Please. My name is Marcus Amos, and I am the new chair of the Sunrise Chamber of Commerce as of January the 26th. We try to do our part to be a part of the community, not only a part of the community, but to bring us all together. Whether that be white, black, green, purple, yellow, it does not matter. We are here to help. I know now I will start to learn more and share more with my colleague so that we can be impactful. I know how hard it is to start a business, also to start a business as a person of color. So I am proud of a lot of you who have started your business, who have maintained your business, who have been in business for years and years, who have endured lots of struggle and didn't give up. Because all of that is some of the things that fall onto us as rewards because of what they do. So we celebrate each and every business up here. And put your hands together. And thank you, Mayor and Commission, for having this day for the businesses.

So, you know, as was very elegantly and eloquently said, right, small businesses are the heart of America. That's just the reality. And we do celebrate large businesses that we have here. We're blessed to have a huge job generator in the Sawgrass Mills Mall, American Express, in Amerit Bank Arena, soon to be Baptist and Broward Health and so many. And they are important. But it's the dreamers. It's those who work hard every day, who try to follow something that's an inspiration in their life to make a difference in the community. It can be in the arts, as we know Harrell does, or in business, or serving as a CEO, or doing the things that are important. And the history of getting to this point can't be forgotten or ignored. And what we have to do moving forward to make sure everybody has the best opportunity, no matter, as you said, Marcus, No matter. And that's what we're so proud of in Sunrise. And so as we celebrate Black History Month, I'll say it again. It's American history. It's not a separate history. It is part of the American journey. And we're really proud of the people standing here. And each of them have stories that should be shared tonight if we hadn't spent so much time with the band. Exactly. But we're so honored on behalf of the commission, and I have proclamations for almost everybody here, I think, that you can take home or display in your business and inspire others to take the time. So it's my honor on behalf of the city commission to declare Black History Month in the city of Sunrise. Whereas Black History Month, celebrated during the month of February, originated in 1926, when Dr. Carter Woodson set aside a special period in February to recognize the heritage and achievements of black people in the United States. And it took 60 years for Congress to pass a public law which designated February 1986 as National Black Afro-American History Month. The law directed the president to issue a proclamation calling on the people of the United States to observe February 1986 with the appropriate ceremonies and activities. Black History Month has since been an annual national celebration of the achievements of African Americans and their central role in U.S. history. Whereas since 1976, every U.S. president has officially designated February as Black History Month and chosen a specific theme. The theme for this year is a century of black history commemorations. This theme highlights that in 2026, it marks 100 years since the first national observance of Black History Month. And so this is a historic moment. Whereas consistent with this theme, we recall the sculptor Edmina Wildfire Lewis and poets like Langston Hughes and Josephine Baker, painters such as Aaron Douglas, a leading figure in the Harlem Renaissance, musicians ranging from Muddy Waters and B.B. King to Nina Simone and D.J. Kuhlkeer, mathematicians who continue to inspire like Gladys Mae West and Katherine Johnson. Physicians like James McHugh Smith and Dale Hale Williams, leaders in their medical fields. Dancers like Alvin Haley and movie stars like Sidney Poitier and Denzel Washington, who are not just great actors and pioneers, but who are civic advocates, representing all of them, representing the best of black culture and its influence on America and the world. Whereas the year 2026 provides us an opportunity collectively and individually to reflect on the rich history, enduring legacy, and the invaluable lessons of African Americans, and to recognize the growth and resilience and success and diversity of their contributions and the achievements that have so profoundly shaped our community, our state, our nation, and our city. Whereas the City of Sunrise recognizes that the soul of America is what makes us unique among all nations. We're the only country in the world that's actually founded on an idea. It's the idea that we're all created equal and deserve to be treated with equal dignity throughout all of our lives, from birth until the grave. While we still grapple today with the moral stain and the vestiges of slavery, our country's original sin, we've never walked away from the fight to fully realize the promise of America for all Americans. And throughout our history, black Americans have never given up on the promise of what America is. As the Mayor and the City Commission of the City of Sunrise recognize the importance of not only commemorating Black History Month, but its importance in the American journey. In doing so, we pay homage to and acknowledge the achievements of African Americans throughout our nation's history. Some you know, some whose names have been forgotten. but all fought for the continuation and its celebration to raise awareness of the community's accomplishments for all Americans. Now, therefore, be it resolved that I, Michael J. Ryan, Mayor of the City of Sunrise, along with my colleagues on the Commission, do hereby proclaim the month of February 2026, this 100th anniversary of Black History Month in the City of Sunrise, and encourage all to celebrate our diverse heritage and culture and continue efforts to create a world that is more just and peaceful and prosperous for all of us and to live up to that American idea that started at its foundings. Thank you for everyone being here. Let's make a lot of noise.

Can you guys outdo Piper? Come on.

If you want to open them up, then we can... Yeah, or else we're going to make an image out of it.

All right, one more time, make some noise.

Always, man, I believe in you. Thank you.

Nice to meet you.

Proclamation F. Proclamation proclaiming February 4th, 2026 as World Cancer Day in the City of Sunrise. Mayor Michael J. Ryan, Deputy Mayor Jacqueline Guzman, Assistant Deputy Mayor Latoya Clark, Commissioner Neal Kirch, and Commissioner Joey Scudo.

All right, this is not one we feel like we should clap for, right? I get that. But it's an important one to observe. If I ask people to raise hands who've been touched by one or two degrees of separation with cancer, all hands would go up. We all know somebody. And so this is an opportunity, and I think we have some folks here tonight, to come tell their story and to remind us why it's important to take the time to make sure we're as I said at the beginning, recognizing that there are those who are going to go through some challenges, who are going through challenges, who are fighters, who are survivors, who are caregivers, and how important it is to recognize that You know, we can kind of feel alone at times, but when we talk about World Cancer Day, we're really talking about the connection throughout the entire world. And it is one thing that unfortunately connects everyone. But at the same time, it allows us to reconnect to our own compassion, our own empathy. I'm hoping you can introduce yourself and share your story, if you would, for us.

She's a little shy.

That's okay. You're with family here.

I'm sorry. Okay. You can do it.

All right. Hi, my name is DeShawn Thomas. So back in May 2024, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. That was a shock because being under 40, no history of breast cancer. When I got that call, I'm like, what?

That's crazy.

But I turned to my husband and the doctor and I said, what we have to do, what we gotta do, let's just get this done. February 5th, 2025, I'm cancer free, thank God. Thank God, thank God. My husband by my side, family, friends, the community, it just helped me push forward and keep fighting and I'm so grateful that I am here and that I did it.

Yes, thank you for sharing because she said she was very shy, but I'm glad you did that. Not only is she a survivor here in our community, she's also a small business owner, which is why I'm holding one of these proclamations for you. I got to meet you a few years ago, and through your sweet little guilty pleasure cupcakes and cakes that she makes, literally they are probably the best I've ever tasted in my life. So I always order my cakes from her. Also, she does a 360. So she also provides that photo opportunity for those who are interested. But even through the small business and getting up and getting those calls early in the morning, I see her posting her Instagram stuff, fighting through what she was going through behind the scenes and still showing up every day for her family and for the community. I just commend you for all of that. It's a knock on one notice. So I'm glad for you to be here. If your husband wants to come up to you for a great picture, but thank you for what you do in our community and go buy her cupcakes. They're so good.

So I could see it in your eyes how terrified you were of the microphone. But this is a day where it's so critically important to share your story. Not just that you were diagnosed, but the shock of being under 40 and how important it is for women to go through screenings, women to pay attention to these things, and men to follow their own screenings. It's a reminder, and we can hear it from doctors, we can see it on commercials, but it's when somebody we know in the community tells us, that reminds us. That it's so important. And so I know that was challenging for you. I hope it's the start, right, of you.

Wasn't that bad, right?

All right, we've unleashed it. That's a good thing. And, of course, the idea that what's so important, right, is for those that go through this, it's not a death sentence if you can act. And if you have the support, if you have great medical experts, and just believe, right, believe in the grace of what can happen. And for you to do all that and keep it together, and I'm going to give you an opportunity. You've got to give a shameless plug for your business.

Go ahead. You've got to say it. Go ahead.

Little Guilty Pleasure Desserts. I'm located in Sunrise, and we also have a 360 video business. I'm off University and Sunset Strip. Well, it's a home-based business.

How about your website?

I have Instagram. Little Guilty Pleasure Desserts on Instagram.

And so while I started this before the proclamation and coming up here saying this is not something that we want to clap for it, right? Because that's our first reaction to it. We really are going to clap tonight because of what you represent, what you represent together. And there's so many others out there who are fighting through it right now. Just as we started the commission tonight, we know that there are people in our lives who are challenged. And this is the opportunity for us to celebrate survivors, caregivers, and the fight, even for those who don't make it through. So that's why we're here. And I'm glad to be standing here with you. You want somebody to film? Yeah. Sure. We'll have her story another day. Good to see you, Nadine.

Nice to see you. Thanks for being part of this.

So we declare this month World Cancer Day and this day. Whereas cancer is a complex, multifaceted disease that affects millions of individuals and families worldwide, regardless of age, race, ethnicity, or socioeconomic background. And whereas according to the American Cancer Society, approximately 2.1 million new cancer cases are projected to be diagnosed in 2026 alone, which equals about 5,800 new diagnoses each and every day. Whereas World Cancer Day, observed annually on February 4th, is an initiative to raise awareness, improve education, and promote action towards cancer prevention, detection, treatment, and survivorship. Whereas the 2026 World Cancer Day theme is united by unique, recognizing that every cancer diagnosis and the journey is different, shaped by individual experiences, needs, challenges, strengths of each patient, their loved ones, and access to quality care. Whereas the theme underscores the importance of personalized patient-centered and empathetic care. Acknowledging that effective cancer treatment must address not only the disease, but also the emotional and the social and the cultural and the mental well-being of the patients, their families and the caregivers. It is truly a family experience. Whereas advances in medical research, early detection and innovative therapies continue to improve outcomes. Yet equitable access to quality care, education, and support service remains essential to ensuring that no one faces cancer alone. Whereas communities play a vital role in supporting individuals affected by cancer through compassion and advocacy and education and collaboration with health care providers, caregivers, and nonprofit organizations. Now, therefore, be it resolved that I, Michael J. Ryan, Mayor of the City of Sunrise, together with my colleagues on the Commission, do hereby proclaim February 4th, 2026 as World Cancer Day in the City of Sunrise. And I encourage all to unite in recognizing the uniqueness of every cancer journey and honoring those currently battling cancers, cancers that are incredibly diverse, remembering those lost, and supporting the survivors and caregivers. Please give a round of applause for our survivors and their caregivers. And we'll get another proclamation for you as well.

We'll have that sent over to you. Thank you so much. G, presentation for Firefighter of the Month, awarded February 2026 to Captain Michael McCord, John K. McNamara Fire Chief.

Come on, you guys can make more noise for firefighters.

Thank you, Mayor.

Good evening. A couple years ago, I've had a unique opportunity. Well, I always have a unique opportunity to introduce to you some to some of our firefighters. But a few years ago, I had a unique opportunity to recognize employees that were trained to perform a unique life saving measure. And that was providing whole blood in the field. And at the time when we had done that, we were one of only two agencies that had taken on the task to do such a thing. Tonight, I have an opportunity to recognize an employee for doing a second skill set that not too many fire departments in Broward, let alone South Florida, perform, a critical life-saving skill set called a finger thoracostomy. I'm not going to lie, for the last hour and a half, I've been practicing that word under my breath. Make sure I said that correctly. But in a nutshell, that is a fancy way of saying that when someone has a collapsed lung or air in the cavity and they can no longer breathe, We perform a laceration on the side of your chest, and we actually take our finger and place it through that hole to create a larger opening to release the air to allow you to breathe. That is not a skill set that not too many people learn. Tonight, I'm here to introduce you to Captain Mike McCord, who was the first in our department to do that procedure just a few months ago that resulted in saving a young person's life. Mike and our team responded to a call. A person fell, had significant injuries. And Mike is one of our EMS supervisors, one of three that we have, that is trained in administering whole blood. So while they began that process and continued to evaluate the patient, they recognized that they had a collapsed lung. So Mike was trained in the procedure, performed the procedure, and I can tell you today that that person survived. There you go. And I have to say, when I'm done, the mayor's probably going to give me all kind of great accolades of being the fire chief and teaching these guys this kind of stuff. But I'm going to be honest with you. It is truly, Sunrise has always been at the forefront of EMS from Tom DiBernardo, Norm Reining, former fire chief. But two people we have that could not make it tonight, our medical director, Dr. James Roach. He will tell you time and time again, he does a lot of cool stuff in the emergency room. He is constantly enamored with the stuff that paramedics and firefighters do in the field. He is at the forefront of supporting our agency and pushing us to the next level. In addition to that, one of our battalion chiefs, Christopher Arbos, that man has challenged me in many ways to continue to push our team forward, but he can do it because we have guys like Mike that are truly dedicated to learning these skills, skills that Roach will tell you are normally performed in an emergency room where they can raise the bed and get a cool eye. And Mike's doing this in the back of a truck with space that's no bigger between your toilet and a bathtub. And he's performing these types of life-saving procedures. So it gives me great humility to introduce you to Mike and to recognize him as Firefighter of the Month.

So, Chief, I am going to start and thank you for your leadership and the generations that came before you that inspired the opportunity to go get this training at some level. It's hard to imagine if you guys can just kind of step to the center because you guys are the stars here. It's hard to imagine really, as you said, how challenging it is not only to learn this effectively, but then to do it in the field. This is truly trauma engagement. This is what's done at a trauma center. It's done in less often in an emergency room. It's more often in a trauma center where they're faced with this pulmonary problem that requires a very delicate and surgical approach to it. But like whole blood and how you've learned this, this is in the field a game changer. Whole blood, which came really quite out of the war experience and the conflicts of how folks can heal much better if you can intervene with whole blood much sooner, this we see as not only a theoretical but an actual result. uh... where it makes a difference and it does take leadership to say this is important and then it takes those within the the rank to say we're going to train our guys to do this and we're going to deploy it when it's appropriate and to do that uh... doctor roach has said many times and we've heard it uh... how sunrise continues to lead on these issues in so many ways. And the residents should be proud, not only of this event and what Captain McCord did, but that it represents a commitment to perpetual excellence in training, to find the latest, to make the difference. And it's hard to imagine When you were going through it and the decision was made, this is going to be deployed. It's a big decision. There's a lot of risk managers who would say, wait a second, time out. How long is it going to take to get to the nearest hospital? Let them do it. Even in an ER, let them do it if you can't get to the trauma center. The commitment and the confidence that leadership had in you, Captain, and the inspiration it has for even the new firefighters coming in. that they are soon going to be able to do and learn the most advanced techniques. And why does that make a difference? It makes a difference for all of us. So we celebrate tonight not just this individual moment and how life was saved, but this commitment to making sure this is the best department in all of Florida. Let's give them a big round of applause. All right, one more time, big round of applause.

Presentation recognition of service time and dedication for employees that are not gonna retire, that are gonna restart over from scratch. Oh, sorry, I was reading the wrong line. Retiring from the city service awarded to Steven Grasso Fire Planner, Fire Rescue Department. lydia walker code compliance officer community development department julie series senior public service specialist finance and administrative services department Matthew Kroger, Police Officer, also Resource Officer for Sandpiper Forever Police Department. Glenn Tyson, Plans Examiner, Community Development Department. John F. McNamara, Fire Chief. Shannon Lay, Director of Community Development. Susan Nabors, Director of Finance Administrative Services. And Daniel Ransone, Chief of Police.

All right, so we have an opportunity celebrate and then finger wag at people who are leaving our organization because we don't want them to go. But it's an opportunity to really recognize long-term excellence and a commitment to the organization. For those that aren't here, like Officer Kroger, who's the biggest teddy bear in the world and is a school resource officer. I hope he'll have the chance to come up because we really need to celebrate. He's the biggest guy. And and yet he just wants to sit and read to kindergartners. It's unbelievable to see. But this is an opportunity really to recognize the impact on our organization of people who each and every day believe in the mission, who really care about what it means to be part of a sunrise family. Not that it's, you know, just punching a clock, but that. They make a difference and then build a legacy for the next generation because it's critically important as we get into the, you know, as we reach really new heights and expansions that we inspire the next generation to really understand we have to connect with our community. And each of you demonstrate that. So I'm going to hand it over to you folks.

I'll start with Community Development. Yep.

All right, so Shannon Lay, the Director of Community Development. I also have Megan Caffold, the Deputy Director. And then the one here we're honoring, Glenn Tyson. Glenn with an E, that is. We got it right this time, maybe. So he's been here nearly 20 years, and a few months ago, we find out his name has been spelled wrong the entire time. But he didn't tell us until a few months ago, so we didn't know. But no, in all sincerity, we were here. I don't know if it was last month or last meeting, but I think it was last meeting a couple weeks ago. And I really said everything that you've done. But just to summarize, I mean, you're here almost two decades, of which half of that, I've been the director. And you've always been there to support me, to support the city, to support the department, the division. You are a true example of what a leader is with collaboration. I said that last time. Because you take it to the level of making sure all the divisions within the department or I always see you up there talking with planning and engineering that you're thinking about everything holistically and not tunnel vision in on one thing to make sure that the applicant gets a thorough review and doesn't have any surprises at the end. So we appreciate all that you've done. And this is our plans examiner machine right here. That's my personal nickname for him. We are going to miss you greatly. And I mean that from the bottom of my heart, Glenn. There's a big hole there that we're going to have to fill. I think it's going to take two people to do what you do as one. So thank you.

Thank you.

A little something for the wall there.

Hello everyone, I'm Susan Nabors, Director of Finance and Administrative Services, and tonight we are here to, I guess, celebrate Julie Siraci's retirement. Julie started with the city 15 years ago. She started in 2011 as a public service specialist. A few years later, THROUGH HER HARD WORK AND DEDICATION, SHE WAS PROMOTED TO A SENIOR PUBLIC SERVICE SPECIALIST. SOME OF YOU MAY RECOGNIZE HER. SHE HAS SERVED IN ALL THREE OF OUR LOCATIONS, ACCEPTING UTILITY PAYMENTS AND HELPING OUR CUSTOMERS OUT WHEN THEY WALK IN AND HAVE QUESTIONS. Julie has always been very dedicated. She is a tremendously hard worker. She is admired by her fellow employees for all of her hard work. She's always willing to step up, help people out, help her fellow employees out, answer phone calls, reply to the customer service emails. She has even, on occasion, canceled her time off just to help out when there's been some urgent matters and maybe a lack of staff to help out. So thank you for all of that. We're really going to miss you, all that you have done. You've helped train future employees that are still here. So we appreciate all you have done. Wish you all the best in your retirement.

So both of you represent really the highest ideals of what we want from ourselves and when we work in an organization. Glenn, not only your work ethic, right? We were afraid last month when you got recognized, a comment was made about what a great plans examiner. We were afraid that people would come to the front window and say, I want Glenn to look at my plans. So we deleted that video until you retire. And we'll put that back up now. But aside from the work ethic for your particular job, that holistic, that view of how everything fits together in the puzzle is so incredibly important. Long before you all came, right, there was this silo impact of everybody's in their own silo. Things don't move around and they don't communicate. And aside from it not being efficient, It's not good for a community. It's not good for business. It's not good for the residents. This is better customer service and the inspiration that you brought to that. your smile and always willingness to help. You know, nobody wants to come pay a bill. I'm sorry. You may not be, you may think they do, but they're coming to see you really not to pay a bill. Right. But to be able to have a friendly face, right. Somebody who understands and is going to work with them. Cause it's not always perfect on one side or the other that, Hey, we're going to work through this. It's the same thing that we're going to find the solutions together. We're going to make sure communication and collaboration is key. And, and while we can't convince you to stay, what you've done is inspired the next generation, right? Already, people are gonna be like, he's no Glenn, she's no Julie. But what they can is try and realize that working that hard, working together, collaborating, and the team effort, the community doesn't see this. It's all behind glass or it's all behind a wall, but there are people that you work with and have trained and are part of who really care about this community. So that's what we're really doing tonight. We're celebrating what you've represented to our community, your own accomplishments, but most importantly, the impact you've had on the next generation and how you've left it. You've left it better than when you got here and you should be really proud of that. Let's give them a big round of applause.

Mayor, I just want to add that I didn't even realize Julie was retiring. She has been such a tremendous help to so many people. I mean, people talk about her and rave about just how much information she has and how she has contributed to so many people's happiness. I'm going to miss you. Thank you so much for all that you do. And I'll see you in the next life.

All right, you have family here, right? Do you guys have family? Come on down because you guys are celebrating as well tonight, right? You're stuck with them now.

Come this way.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I, presentation, Presentation for Outstanding Performance Award for February 2026 to Megan Ricks, Operations Supervisor, and Kevin Picard, Director for Legal Services.

All right, you made it, so good work hanging out. I know you got a little one at home, so we're gonna get through this. Kevin Picard, Director of Leisure Services, along with Nick Ortiz, our Assistant Director of Leisure Services. Who are we missing? Who are we missing? Oh, he's here. Leo's here. Oh, yeah. I mean, honestly, Leo needs to be recognized for being quiet the whole time. But, no, it's my honor to introduce you to this month's Outstanding Performance Award winner, Megan Ricks and Leo. Thank you. Let me tell you a little bit about Megan. She started working for the City of Sunrise in 2019 as an admin support three. Two years later, she was promoted to an admin support four. Two years later, she was promoted to a bookkeeper. If you didn't catch the pattern yet. A year later, she was promoted to an admin assistant. And most recently, in May of 2025, she was promoted to the operations supervisor of our newly renovated Signature Sunrise Ballroom. So in May of 2025, not only was she still managing the responsibilities of the position she was vacating, but she was also tasked with getting the Signature Sunrise Ballroom ready to go with a grand opening that got handed to her only a few months later, October 4th of 2025. The administrative infrastructure of the ballroom was created from scratch, which really required Megan to collaborate with a variety of departments around the city, whether legal or risk or finance, the city manager's office, and probably everyone else. And she created comprehensive documents, not only all the contracts and agreements, rules, regulations, room layouts, FAQs, and probably 10 other documents that I'm forgetting, but she really set the city up to hit the ground successfully when we opened. And then when we opened, Megan really became the face of the operation, along with Jen Grant, who I think was somewhere. Oh, Jen's there holding Lilia. Along with Jen, her supervisor. You know, Megan handles the majority of the phone calls and the emails and the booking appointments and the appointments for the people who are just standing at the window waving, can you let me in to see the space? What impresses me the most is Megan is laser focused on the customer and she takes a massive amount of pride in the customer experience and the level of customer service she provides. Whether it's staying late for customers who just can't make it in time to get an appointment or when you're sitting with a customer and they're booking a wedding, so it's more than just a few minutes. It's an hour or more of making sure they understand every single detail of the venue and the contracts that she created. Everything else, Megan is always willing to put the customer first. Whether it's a wedding or a shower, engagement, a birthday party, a repass, Megan's well aware that it's potentially one of the most important days of a customer's life. And seeing how she handles that is truly impressive and something that everybody in our department can emulate. So, Megan, we're proud of your journey over the last six years. We look forward to seeing many more steps along the way. And the next time we do this, I'll have to rattle off all the promotions again. So congratulations on your work. And the leisure team who have made it all. So you guys come on up. Thank you for supporting Megan and family. Come on up.

So first of all, if, yeah, you're doing a great job. Thank you for holding that forward. It's good practice for you. You know, your own personal commitment, hang on, hang on, hang on, hang on before you start shooting. Your own personal commitment to achieving and getting promotions, experiencing the organization, learning, all set you up for this moment, right? And for future moments. And that would be enough. in and of itself to be recognized. But the ballroom represents for the commission and the work of the city manager's office and the staff and so many represents such, and I'll say this, signature moment, right? And it's important. And people have been waiting for this for a very long time. It's OK to just open it, but to treat everybody and understand it's the most important experience for them. I am confident they're shocked because this is a facility that is a city operation. Right. You're not some Manhattan party planner. Right. Where you expect somebody to treat you like that or from Miami. It's the city. And what you do represents so much to us as the face of what we want from this, which was to make this a community place for celebrations that the walls will tell for years and years to come. And the fact that you treat everyone as the most important event in their lives, it'd be easy to say it's not that big a deal, it's a birthday. But, no, you stay late. You do what Kevin said to make sure they enjoy it. We are so grateful that you're there for that and that you're going to set the standard for the next generation that comes because there's no doubt you're just getting started in the organization. So we're really, really proud. Let's give her a big round of applause for her work. Thank you. All right, one more time, big round of applause.

Presentation J, presentation for the Quarterly Award of Excellence, Victoria Hernandez, Procurement Manager, Susan Niebuhr, Director of Finance and Administrative Services.

Listen to finance, getting the cheers. Wow, okay. I don't know if you get to stand in the middle. You're the important one. Come on, come on, come on. You don't get to hide.

So tonight it's my honor to recognize Victoria Hernandez for the Quarterly Award of Excellence. She was actually nominated by Mo Pierre-Louis in IT. He made a recommendation for her award because she took ownership and leadership to get two really important contracts that were time sensitive through the process. There was one for our alternative work schedule where we had to get a contractor to help us modify our payroll system in order to implement our new alternative work schedule. There was a second one with UKG Kronos where we were moving that system to the cloud. There was some technical issues and verbiage and processes that IT was just not familiar with. Through Victoria's guidance and leadership, she helped get those through, get them explained, and really brought two important programs forward for the city and for the benefit of our employees. So congratulations on that, Victoria. I also wanted to mention that in November, Victoria was promoted to our procurement manager for the city. And she leads an excellent team of procurement specialists and they're all like family and they're all here tonight for her, as well as her real family. And so we're really celebrating two wins for Victoria this evening. Congratulations.

You know, tonight we had the opportunity to celebrate some amazing folks tonight who've had legacy and we had band and we had, you know, Captain McCord and really amazing, life-saving work. This is an opportunity to really remind the community that so much goes on behind the scenes to make sure that this operation keeps going smoothly. And nobody's going to post a million views of what you did in procurement on this. It's not going to happen. I know you guys would like it. but it's incredibly important, and this is a recognition, to be nominated from another department, right? Rather, you know, some people might think departments are kind of self-protective and want to nominate their own people. The real point of Mo doing that was that within the organization, the connectivity that's so important to be able to turn and rely on in order for us to work efficiently is what's being recognized, and congratulations on the promotion. I think February is Hug Your Procurement Specialist Month or something? March is, okay, sorry. We'll come back from March for that one. But the real point is that the community needs to celebrate because there's so much work that doesn't get seen. It's in here, it's worked with legal, and I'm really, really happy that you've been recognized because it reminds the community that so much else goes on and it takes great people that are committed to this mission. So congratulations and congratulations to the team. Let's give them a round of applause. Come on, you guys gotta come up. Procurement family and biological family, come on. All right, one more time, big round of applause. All right, open discussion. At this time, I'll open it up for public comment on any matters before the city. We have at least, we have somebody signed up for 12A. We'll get to that in a moment. Anybody else who wishes to speak, either press five star on your phone or raise your hand to come forward. All right, I'm going to close public discussion. Consent discussion 4C. Resolution of the City of Sunrise, Florida, awarding bid number 26-30-12-MM for fitness center equipment to Pro Fitness Sales, Inc., DBA Pro Fitness Sales and Services, and providing effective aid to City Manager Mark Lebelski, Kevin Picard, Director of Leisure Services. Can I have a motion? Move it. Motion by Commissioner Escudo, seconded by Commissioner Kirch. Welcome, sir. This is a public hearing. Anyone wishing to be heard on this matter, please come forward or press 5-star on your phone. I see no one come forward, and I see no hands raised. Can you confirm?

I confirm.

All right. Commissioner Escudo, the floor is yours.

Thank you. I had spoken to Leisure Services, Mr. Picard, and also to Mr. Lebowski, but I pulled this because I just want to make sure that money that was allocated for equipment inside some of our facilities are the right equipment. You know, I know the city manager said that we have some pieces of equipment that are in there. My next question is, you know, someone comes into the athletic center and they want to play racquetball. They go in and they ask for a racquet and they ask for goggles and they're provided that. Someone wants to go in to lift weights or use any of the machines right. But the equipment now is, I'm not on? Okay, I'm sorry. But some of the equipment that we have in there are not for people that are full assessed. They're mainly if you just wanted to wheel up But some of the equipment is not labeled. So I'm just bringing this up. So I spoke to the city management since I pulled it. I want them to understand why I pulled it. I just want to make sure that we're going to be purchasing equipment for the people that are full assist paraplegics that don't get to have any exercise where the machines actually do some of the stuff for them. So they could be in their wheelchairs and they could be pushed up to the equipment. But this is where I'm saying to Mr. Picard and to the city manager, how do we give our employees the training for this? Because here we work through the city manager, and you heard me talk about this with Public Works. We had employees that wanted to – just saying, it's a totally different – item, a totally different thing, but I'm just trying to do as a for instance, that if somebody wanted to better themselves and move up and they had to lay out the money and they didn't have the money to operate some of this equipment, now we're bringing the people in to educate our employees, to give them the certificate so that they can move. I don't know how we go about this. This has to be with risk. It has to be with the city manager, with leisure. how we could get some of our employees, whatever it may be, certified through whatever, through a certificate, where if someone is a full assist, they could just actually just put their hands on the machine just so they could get exercise. They could just put their feet on the machine so that their feet could get exercise. I'm not trying to say I want doctors and I want nurses and I want... But through the board, I see one of the board members... And I'm not speaking for the board. I'm just talking in general. But a lot of the people that are on the board are full assists. And, you know...

So the question is how to make sure they're certified and they can do it, right? It doesn't help.

For the basic.

Right.

We're not asking them to take them out of the chair. We're not asking them to take them from a stretcher or from... But, you know, for the basic... And they would know what equipment they would need, right? More than I would. I'm saying is I'm not looking to hire a consultant. This is something that staff could do on their own and figure out what piece of equipment. I mean, they could go to a rehabilitation at Memorial or they could go to, you know, someone that has equipment and look and get an idea. But there is money that we allocated. And just by having a bicycle that, You know, for someone that's a full assist, the bicycle means nothing because they can't use it. So, I mean... So I think it's an equipment is for different people. Right.

And so it's a product of both education on the outside. But also, once we get it, the vendors should be able to also provide that that guidance. Right. How it's used. Correct.

Wherever Kevin buys his equipment. Now, the hundred pieces of equipment that we already have existing. I mean, we're replacing ones that are 10 years old and we're replacing them with updated stuff. But that's for people that. There's already 99 other pieces that are working for them. I want to make sure specifically that there are pieces of equipment for people that need it. That's pretty much what I'm bringing up.

I think it's a great idea, obviously. And it's consistent with...

what we've been trying to do both through the board and otherwise. Mr. Lebowski. Thank you. Mark Lebowski, city manager. So I understand Commissioner Skudo's request. We have not had equipment on a full assist, so it's something that we're going to have to look at, get with Legion Services, also see what type of equipment is out there, and I can report back to the commission.

Commissioner Kirch.

Mike's not on. I agree with Commissioner Scudo.

Okay. I think there's unanimity on this. So a couple things. One, identify what those machines are. Two, work with the board to make sure we're getting the ones that are most necessary. And three, identify how to make sure that staff, somebody's on staff when it's open to be able to identify not only you know, how it should be used appropriately, but also for safety reasons, make sure it's not being inappropriately because we don't want anybody to get hurt. That, again, as Commissioner Skuda said, is not medical intervention or being a particularly trained occupational therapist or whatever, but working with the vendors and rehab centers that can provide some guides I think would be a great assist. It's a good idea. All right. Any further discussion on this item? Go ahead and call the question.

Deputy Mayor Guzman? Yes. Commissioner Kurtz?

Yes.

Commissioner Scudo?

Yes.

Assistant Deputy Mayor Clark? Yes. Mayor Ryan?

Yes. Item passed is 5-0. All right. 12A, public hearing. Commission discussion or action or a second reading of an ordinance of the City of Sunrise, Florida amending fiscal year 2025-2026 budget ordinance number 720, amending the Stormwater Fund 444 and Fleet Management Fund 502, providing for conflict, providing for severability, and providing for an effective date. City Manager Mark Lebelski. Susan Neighbors, Director of Finance and Administrative Services. First reading, City Commission meeting 127-2026, passed 4-0, Guzman absent. Can I have a motion? Move it. Motion by Commissioner Escudo, seconded by Commissioner Kirch. This is a public hearing. Anyone wishing to be heard on this matter, please come forward. Nadine Delamont.

Okay.

Well, thank you for staying. All right. Anyone else who wishes to be heard on this matter, please come forward or press 5-star on your phone. I see no hands raised on the line. Can you confirm?

I confirm.

All right. Any discussion from my colleagues? Call the question.

Assistant Deputy Mayor Clark. Deputy Mayor Guzman. Commissioner Kirch.

Yes.

Commissioner Skudo. Yes. Mayor Ryan.

Yes. Item passes 5-0. Mr. Moss, we have B and C. Both items are being pulled, one for a specific meeting and the other for a future city commission. As to 12B, should I read that and then indicate that it's being conducted at a special meeting at a date, time, and certain at a location?

You can do that, Mayor. It's not necessary because this is the second reading which was scheduled tonight. We haven't finished the first reading yet, so I don't think it's necessary to table it at this point.

All right, so do I need to read the item at all from a legal perspective?

No, not from a legal perspective.

All right, for 12C, same question. That's being pulled. It's from the LPA, the carryover of that.

Correct. No, there's no need to read that or table it.

All right. Moving to 13A, which is a quasi-judicial hearing on Camino Real 12A and 12B. Any need to read those items since those were read into the record previously at the last meeting with a date certain and a time certain and a place certain?

No, sir.

All right. So 13A and 13B, we can move past, correct?

Correct.

Okay. If there's any concerns or wish me to read it, I know it was tabled, and it was tabled to a time certain and a place certain and a date certain, so we wouldn't be able to override that. It's already been done.

Correct. It was already done, so we don't need to do it again.

Okay. Perfect. All right. 17A, Resolution of the City of Sunrise, Florida, awarding bid numbers 25-73-08-VH to ENCO LLC for the Stormwater Pump Station No. 5 Replacement Project, approving contract number C25-73-08-VH and providing an effective date. City Manager Mark Lovelse, Rodrigo DeCastro, Director of Utilities. Can I have a motion?

Move it.

Motion by Commissioner Skudo, seconded by Commissioner Kurtz. This is a public hearing. Anyone wishing to be heard on this matter, please come forward or press 5-star on your phone. I see no hands raised here. Can you confirm no hands raised? I confirm. All right. Any discussion from my colleagues? Call the question.

Commissioner Scudo?

Yes.

Assistant Deputy Mayor Clark? Yes. Deputy Mayor Guzman? Yes. Commissioner Kirch?

Yes.

Mayor Ryan?

Yes. Item passed 5-0. B, Commission Discussion Interaction regarding a $1,000 contribution to the 2026 Broward League of Cities Scholarship for Government Studies. Can I have a motion? Move it. Motion by Commissioner Kirch, second by Commissioner Scudo. Commissioner Kirch, the floor is yours.

Yeah, this is the scholarship that we've previously done in the past. We did it last year. I know Commissioner Sofield has put it on several times, so I'm not asking for an increase, but to maintain the status quo, and I'm also serving on that committee, just so everybody's aware.

All right. So is that a motion? Motion to second. Motion by Commissioner Kurtz, second by Commissioner Scudo. Any discussion on that motion? All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? So the pass is 5-0. Thank you for bringing that forward. C, Commission discussion and or action regarding the supporting display of national motto and God we trust in the City Commission Chambers. Commissioner Joey Scudo, can I have a motion? Move it. Motion by Commissioner Scudo, seconded by Commissioner Kirch. Commissioner Scudo, the floor is yours.

Okay, so I was at the National League of Cities this last November. One of the convention halls had exhibitors, and one of the exhibitors was a previous city commissioner from California, and their booth had displayed about putting In God We Trust in city commission chambers. So I spoke with her. She told me how many cities that are doing it, you know, in California and then out of state. So I just thought I would bring it back to the commission. I did bring it up a couple of meetings ago when I said that I would put it on the agenda. So it is on the agenda for backup. There are some cities here in Miami that also have it. And then I just, you know, you know we do veterans day were probably veterans day memorial day were probably you know one of the cities that continually do those we have the junior r o t c that come before us and there's a fold of the flag and listen to them as they fold the flag and what each of the folds are uh... god is mentioned uh... and multiple times in the folds it is on our money uh... it's on the state flag i'm just saying so I just, you know, never really thought about it until I happened to see it displayed and probably noticed it in other chambers or noticed it wherever, and I wanted to bring it forward tonight for action, really discussion for my colleagues, and then also like to take action tonight to take a vote that we put it designed whatever how the city would want if they want to do it or not do it, but to install In God We Trust above the city logo. Okay, Sister Debbie Merritt.

So while I love the idea of having In God We Trust displayed all over, I do find it a little bit... hypocritical when we are not necessarily or individuals who come to the chamber doesn't necessarily display the in God we trust behavior. So to have it like right there, if we are going to do that, I would just love that we take that in consideration when we are behaving outside of the in God we trust.

Okay. Any further discussion on that item? All right, so Commissioner Scudero, is that a motion?

Yes.

Is there a second? Second. Second by Commissioner Kirch. Any discussion on that? All in favor say aye. Aye. Anybody opposed? Okay, so that's a direction to have staff begin that process. You'll have to procure that and have to give us an estimate of the cost and everything else that will come back before the commission. The understanding of that motion is limited to the seal here in the commission chambers. Do you understand that? Do you need any further guidance?

No, Mayor, I understand. Thank you.

Okay. Thank you, Commissioner Scudero. Thank you, Mr. Hrabowski.

I do. Can I?

Oh, sorry.

Yeah. I just have a question.

Yeah, yeah.

I'm very supportive of this, so thank you for bringing it forward. This brings me back to my question a few years ago, and I don't know if it's controversial or not, but I did ask about, during our Christmas time, about having the nativity displayed during our seasonal displays. And I don't know how that ties into... this conversation with us putting the God we trust, if it's ever critical for us to say, no, we can't put the nativity set.

You have to work with Mr. Moss on that to make sure there's no legal issues in staff and everything else.

I have brought this up on a few occasions. I don't get a definite answer because I know other cities do the same. I know the public has asked me to bring this forward, which is why I had had these conversations maybe three, two years ago, and I've respected what their feedback was. Did I agree with it? No. But now that we're here today and I respect this conversation, I'm hoping that we can have another conversation to move forward in that direction.

Put it on the agenda.

Put it on the agenda.

Thank you.

Thank you. All right. 17D, Commission Discussion and Interaction regarding Commission Budget. Mayor Michael J. Ryan, table of the City Commission, 127-26, pass 4-0, Guzman absent. Motion to remove from the table. Motion to remove by Commissioner Skudo, seconded by Commissioner Kirch. Motion to move this forward. Motion to move this forward tonight. Motion by Commissioner Skudo, seconded by... Commissioner Kirch. Let me begin by explaining the genesis of the discussion on this. It started, and I think I explained at the last meeting, but we didn't discuss it out of deference. The deputy mayor wasn't here. It started because I began to talk to staff about the nonprofits that we provide each August funding, that it occurs to me that for years, many of them, there are some who do it quarterly, regularly with events, but for many of them, we never hear from them, never see how the money is used, they don't get a report until they come back for their applications, which begin sometime in April and float in through July. So I'd ask staff if there was a... thoughts on maybe requesting that they provide at least some quarterly report. Nothing heavy, not a red tape issue of reviewing and denying or anything like that, but just so we can understand they're using the money and being transparent about it. And so it began at that discussion, and obviously I'd like to have a discussion on that, because while it's not directly in our budget, it's part of what we award each year. And the way the timing works, right, is... We approve the funding the end of September, so October begins the fiscal year. April, which is six months later, they're beginning the process of the application, and we don't even really see it until July. So the thinking was, and whatever the will of the commission is, my thinking was to just request and then make this, whatever we agree on, be institutionalized moving forward so that all know that they have to provide these reports. I'm not saying deny funding if they don't. But it might be something the commission takes into consideration on the next application. Hey, we didn't hear from you during the year. You didn't tell us how you were using money. So my thinking was to require probably just a quarterly update what they're doing. It doesn't have to be an accounting. They don't need to get an accounting firm. It doesn't have to be audited. Just a, hey, we got $5,000 and we held one event and this is how many people came through. It's kind of like what we see with NSCF. They constantly are telling us what they're doing. And so I thought this might be a good thing to institutionalize for transparency. We know we're very sensitive about these funds. Even this year, we didn't award all that we could out of concern. And I think that this is, it's both fair and it keeps the applicants really connected to the commission so that we are knowing what they're doing each time. And again, the idea was simply to request a report As we go across time, maybe it becomes more sophisticated, maybe it doesn't. But I'd just like to know, have they spent the money? Did they do anything? Or are they just waiting until the next application to say they did it and now we're going to do it? We don't really get a report on that. So that's how this began. And so my first part of this discussion is to see if there's any appetite in asking or directing staff to initiate that process for a report. Now, I know that they've already begun reaching out to the nonprofits to say, hey, can you just let us know it's not a formal request and i think most have already responded with some information i haven't seen it yet i know it'll be shared with the commission once it's done um but it seems like it's something we ought to institutionalize deputy mayor

So I'm glad you brought that up. I thought they were already receiving that information. I know the CHESS program does a phenomenal job of their presentation. Family Central, I believe, used to do it with the PLCI program, but some other organizations would provide information. So I think it's a good idea. I know another neighboring city recently had this conversation, and it was pretty interesting to, I guess, get those reports back on what they're doing with the money. So I agree we should do that.

All right. Commissioner Skudow. I agree. I just got to meet with an area agency, and it was a good meeting because they told me the things that they're coming out new, that they're going to provide new services. So I definitely think of all the time that we've been doing this. We really have not. And sometimes each year we're constantly getting new people. And it was just sad the one time we had the gentleman that came here and said that he wanted to buy a used car for $5,000. I'm just saying. It got to be so like we're not providing money to people or to 501s or to whoever if this is what... People are saying, come to the City of Sunrise. They have $250,000 to give away. And if you get your application in early, you know what I'm saying, maybe some of the people won't resubmit and you're guaranteed 5,000, you're guaranteed 10,000. And it's not just because it's 5,000 or just because it's 2,000 or if it's 10,000. It's really, like you said, what are you doing with the money? You know, they could say whatever it is that they want, but get them in here six months later and say, okay, we gave you $5,000. We gave you $10,000. We gave you $20,000. I wouldn't mind meeting with everyone six months, you know what I'm saying, halfway through and say, so what did you do for Sunrise with your $5,000, $10,000, $20,000, you know? The area agency, the Family Central, I'm saying those, they're nine-to-one matching. They have robust programs. They have phone banks. They're providing Meals on Wheels. You know what I'm saying? They're doing stuff. We know what our residents are receiving. But some of these other ones, you know what I'm saying? I mean, it just... Like you said, you know, when Commissioner Douglas was here, he made a tie that you only could put this much because it just started to get out of hand, you know, and I've been up here and it's went from 100 to 150 to 200 to 250. I'm just saying, you know, we love to give away money. We love to help. But, you know, what are we getting for, you know, what are we getting for our money? So I have no problem. And I don't know, I can't speak for the rest of you, if you want to meet with them. You know, I'm saying everyone. But, I mean, because maybe if they're not, I want to know who's coming on the next side. Why do I have to, you know, re... up them again when, to me, I didn't feel like they, you know, they met their part of the bargain where maybe this one would be much more beneficial. I'd rather give the money here than waste it here. I mean, I don't know. And I don't want us to go up here and, you know, go back and forth and saying, well, this is my one that I brought up and I told them to come here. And I think they should get, I mean, it shouldn't be that. It should be who's providing the service and that's who should get the money. Any other reason than that, that, so I agree, whatever, how you want to do it. If you want staff to look at it, if we can make, you know, every six months, a meeting or a phone meeting or a zoom meeting or in whatever it is.

So my thinking on it was what I don't want to do is. just me personally and we'll do whatever the will of commission is is to have a spectacle we're holding a meeting and everybody's lined up telling us what they did just minimal reporting to tell us hey you got $2,500 you said you were going to deliver on two programs with 50 students where are you this quarter and I and I don't want to do six months because that's really when they're starting the application so now they're going to start thinking about it this is we're planning But at least every quarter. And it's okay if they haven't yet used it, right? But they have plans to do it. And really just minimal reporting, not creating a hammer for staff. Just as we go through this first year to see how the system works. And then whether, like you're saying, it may turn out that we may want to do that meeting. But let's start getting the reports from what they're doing with the thinking. Then the commission could look at it, could meet individually with them and say, hey, you told us for 5000.

But when you meet with people, you could try to sometimes really get a true gut feeling of whether they are. Anybody could fill out paperwork and say that they're supplying 50 students or they're supplying 30 seniors and they're. I'm just saying. Anybody can fill out that paperwork, and we already get that. Sometimes when you meet with people one-on-one, you get to feel what the true sense of what they're doing with the money.

right and no question the commission on its own individually could say hey i want to meet with this one or maybe you don't have concerns i just did you know the concept of because there's a lot and the commission really tortures itself to make sure that making the right decision is stewards of the taxpayers money to make sure that the programs that we're committing to are the most effective and we've made some hard decisions to not fund some because we didn't think it was going to demonstrate so just kind of a general concept assistant deputy mayor and then commissioner kirch and then deputy mayor

So I think some of our programs are not things that we can like literally see in tangible form. For example, if it's feed the, you know, food for the poor, we don't necessarily see what they're actually doing with the funds because they're tied to something else so it would be more logistics. But for the ones that are tied to like an event or tied to something where it's a physical display, I think something more of like when their event is because you want to say that you want to actually see what they have actually done and you could go to the event if you want to. or have pictures of the event, something where you can see it in a real-time display. But I also think that when we are awarding the persons, that maybe that should be something on the application or the acceptance letter that says, hey, this is what we expect for you to do, because having staff chase them down now, it's kind of like, counterproductive and kind of not best use of our time and effort but have it tied to it that say hey we expect to have a quarterly report you can send us blah blah blah and we'll have that based on whatever their event is because their event could be two weeks before the next award we don't exactly know when it is if it's an event because some of these are for scholarships or other that are tied to like later on in the year. So we probably won't get that feedback.

But we shouldn't be giving people money to give away a scholarship. They're supposed to provide services. I'm saying to provide a scholarship and they're waiting one whole year to give out the scholarship. That's not what we're giving. No, I'm just saying if you said scholarship, That's not what we're supposed to do.

There's different types of scholarships. We could give a scholarship. It doesn't have to be a school scholarship. There's different types of scholarships. I hear you, but I'm saying. There's like programs that are excelling that that's what that would be for.

So that's something that we have to really look at then. Correct. What services are we doing this for?

We should put that on the application when we're giving them that acceptance so we exactly know exactly what we're doing and then next year we can evaluate. Maybe that's not something we want to really invest our time into. But we don't really know what that is because we have not actually seen any proof to what we have actually invested the money in.

Yeah, and to that point, just real quick, we're mid-season here, if you will. I don't think it's a It's counterproductive to ask staff to do it if folks send in their reports. We know some do it already. They don't even have to be asked, and they do it. They should all be doing it. Anybody who gets a dollar should be providing a report. There's no, hey, I have a different type of – they've asked for money, and they're delivering on it. They can provide a report, and it can be done quarterly. And what I had suggested the staff to be prepared to do, if it was the will of the commission, was to make sure it was part of the application process, at least for the first year for us to fully evaluate going forward for the next year. It may turn out that we see, wait a minute, there's a real problem here. We're not getting these reports and maybe the money, how's the money going out? When is it going out? Who's getting the money at what date? And I think that this is our obligation to do it, right? So I thank staff. They kind of felt like this was a good idea to do anyway, but we should institutionalize it and then tweak it over the years as we see whether, You know, Area Aging is going to have a different report than Double Dutch, right, how they do it. But they're still going to have a report. They still have to justify the funds either way, right? So that, I think, is the goal. Commissioner Kirch.

I think you hit the nail on the head there. This should be a requirement. If they're going to accept public funds, they need to show an accounting of how it's spent. So I agree quarterly, and it should be a requirement. And if they fail to make, meet those requirements, then they're not going to get funded. They're not going to get my vote going forward. So I don't think staff should be chasing them. If they want the money, send the report. If they don't want the money, don't send the report.

Right. And, you know, each quarter the commission can expect to receive, right, in a package of what's happened. It's a due date. And then we can evaluate it and decide from there. But in terms of institutional, it may turn out as we tweak this and get these reports and find out, you know, maybe some weren't. It'll be something the commission, future commissions can consider when they come back for an application, not just what you're telling us and how the gloss is, or even pulling on the heartstrings, which is often what happens, right? But tell us what you did with the money in the past year. So is there at least some consensus on the staff beginning that policy? Mr. Lebelski, do you have any concerns? Ms. Smith?

No, none, Mayor.

All right, so. There's two levels to it. Let's continue to at least ask for the report so we can kind of see where we're going. Again, it's not a hammer. They're not getting cut off, but let's just see. And then second, if you could put together a policy and procedure on this and application language working with Mr. Moss to make sure that it is institutionalized, that with dates certain when they have to provide it, and then the commission can at least expect to receive that. Okay? Is that fair?

Yes, Mayor.

All right. So then the second thing, after looking at that, I wanted to look at our own commission budget. And we're in a unique position as elected officials, unlike department heads who can sit down and say, hey, where are we at the current year? How's it going? What counts do we have to look at? We can only do it in the sunshine. And so what I simply asked staff to do, and I know it's morphed by a variety of additional requests apparently, But I just wanted to know where we were on the budget as a whole. And really the only ones that really, yeah, there's supplies and some other things, but the ones that are involved in some either full usage or non-usage are really the travel budgets. Through the process, and we've gotten a most recent printout, it allows us the opportunity to do what department heads do right now, which is to say, how much have we spent? Okay, how much is left in a particular line item budget? What's the intent moving forward? How are we going to get there? Are there funds that can be moved around? One of the things that I think I've come to understand, Mr. Lebelski, you can help me on this. In the past, if a line item for, and again, these travel categories are travel in county, travel out of county, travel out of state, and training or registration. If one, for one reason or another, one of those line items was going to be pierced, staff would move the money to another account. So the commission was never going over budget as a whole, but a line item might. Is that fair to say?

That is correct, Mayor.

Again, and I appreciate staff doing that, and we haven't really looked at that. I really think that's the job of the commission. Just like you come to us and say we want to move from account to account, that's something that really ought to come to us. If we have a lot of registration or there's something unique that's going on that's caused a lot of out-of-state, but we're not using any out-of-county, let's just have a discussion, remove the money, it's not a big deal. But when I went through it, what I realized, and I think the most recent, is and this is fine you know we still have plenty of budget funds. The estimate remaining for out of county the budget was 7000 actual or estimated that is what's in. In the hopper on the conveyor belt is either been spent or is being submitted was 2369 leaving a balance of $4600. That's fine. On the out-of-state, we budgeted $18,000. With what's been submitted or spent, we're at just over $16,000. It only leaves $2,000 for the rest of the year. And that's fine. The commission should have a discussion about is there expected out-of-state for the rest of the year, who's intending. I don't want anybody to be at the end of this. and feel like, well, you know, I wanted to go to this out of state, and I went, but now that part of the budget's pierced, and now we've got to have a discussion about is there enough funds in the others. But that is, you know, something we should do, and there's roughly 2,000 left in that. And then in training and registration, and this is kind of an interesting one because over the years, you might register for an event in August, but it doesn't happen until January. Or it may not happen until December. So you have registration budgeted in one year. And in looking at this, we've never gone over. But it's fine. So there will be some funds that, for instance, aren't spent this year for this year's events. It might be spent in August or September. But as long as there are sufficient funds, it's not a big deal. And so to date, what we budgeted was $7,750. 3500 and change has been spent or estimated on training and registration leaving 4200 so what i want to do is make sure that we had a discussion one whether the commission Wants to be informed of these numbers on a routine a regular basis to if the Commission wants staff to be The ones kind of making a decision for instance if out of state was to exceed the 18,000 But there was money in the training and registration historically staff would simply move that money so that that line item didn't get but would was never coming to us for that discussion and And then three, just looking at what's remaining this year, there's any concern from the commission as to whether or not we have sufficient funds budgeted to make sure we don't exceed the lineups. So that's the basic outline of those three things. I'll open it up to the floor on it. All right. So from my perspective, I was just going to say, my perspective, I would like to direct staff. to report this to us if they're going to move between light items. If we exceed on paperclips, I want to hear about it. And it's coming out of something else, we should hear about it. We would normally do that if we were in a corporation that didn't have this. It can sometimes be a little uncomfortable, but that's how we have to run our department. It's really a department, right? We have staff, we have expenses, we have things. And so I, for one, would like staff to report to us if they're going to move money between light items. Commissioner Kurtz. I mean, yes, Commissioner Kurtz.

Yeah, I think quarterly reporting would be beneficial. Part of being, if you can't measure it, you can't manage it.

So it's business 101.

Okay. Dennis, the second aspect, any difference of opinion on that? No? Okay. So, Mr. Hrabowski, two things. One, obviously providing the reports to us. And this is going through this process to get these numbers. Um, I really asked staff to treat us not like the commission and give us an overview, but to treat us like a department, right? Where if, uh, utilities had a travel budget, and they were sending folks out to get trained, they would sit down on a regular basis, quarterly or otherwise, and they'd say, okay, this is what we spent. This is how much is remaining. What is anybody intending to do for the rest of the three quarters? Are we going to have enough money? Yes or no? I don't want to go to Lebelski and ask them for more money or to move things around. You'd sit down. You'd have that discussion. Who's planning travel? And sort it out. So the first step is to make sure the reporting that's coming to the commission is helpful. The first few drafts of this, and I understand staff was trying to, and Susan, you've been great in working through this, was just telling us, hey, here's where the budget is and here's how much is spent. But it's not good for, to Commissioner Kirsch's point, it's not good for planning, right? We need to know how much has been submitted to be reimbursed, even if it hasn't been reimbursed yet. And it may not even get approved, but at least we know it's there, right? And so that's up or down. Second, what's been spent? We know that's been spent. And then third, it's really up to the commission to say, okay, with what's remaining, Are we okay? We only have $1,900 left for out of state. If we're going to exceed that, we ought to have a discussion about whether we're moving funds amongst accounts. So I guess you understand what I'm saying?

Mayor, I just want to make a clarification. The reporting spot on, I understand what the commission is asking. Regarding transfers, are you asking just to be informed or are you asking for approval?

Oh, I wanted to come here. I think if you're going to transfer from paperclips to out-of-state travel, we should have a discussion about it.

So you would like to put it on the agenda if we're proposing any budget transfers?

Correct. And let me put it in some context because I think Unlike a department where you can walk down the hall and say, Betty, are you intending to go anywhere the rest of the year? We can't have that discussion, right? Are we going to run out at $1,900? I can't have that discussion. So we have to, unfortunately, build a system given the constructs of Sunshine. So yes, if you find that there's going to be funds that have to be transferred in order to make sure we don't exceed a budgeted item, it should come to the commission. Now, that means in this context, For instance, if there was out-of-state that was intended to occur in the coming months that would almost invariably exceed $1,900, that there needs to be some discussion that's not putting the city manager in the hot seat of approving or not approving. It's got to be the commission. He says, okay, yeah, that's no problem. We've got plenty of funds out of county, or we haven't spent anything in county. Let's move the funds over there. It's an important issue. National League. It's an important conference. And let's do that. I just don't think staff should be the ones making that decision. Mr. Lebelsky, are you okay with that?

I understand.

Is the commission okay with that? Assistant Deputy Mayor and then...

So I like the recommendation of making it a schedule event if you want to do something or go somewhere, et cetera. And if we're going to treat it that way, then we should probably treat it as we have a budget that we discuss up front. before throughout the year. Let's say we're on there, this is what we plan or projected to do throughout the year, have an estimate about it so that we can really talk about it one time openly just like how we're doing with every other budgeted item to really set the pace that nobody is uncomfortable as the year goes on. Whether we go or not, it will already be something that is budgeted and that we can really have transparency so that we all know what we intend to do. if something comes up sporadically that pushes us over that budget, but it would be great that we all project what we would intend to do and have that open discussion once if we decide that we're only gonna do two out of state trip or one out of state trip so that we all have a transparency and we're not feeling pressured or feeling as if that doing something is inappropriate. so that we can have it openly with everybody.

So to give you some context, just because I've been up here a few years, we have not historically, and I don't really think it's predictable, in August to know what event somebody's going to go in April. So what we've done is really looked at trends in the past And it's been pretty stable in terms of what's been budgeted. In fact, this past year, we budgeted a little less. But it wasn't based on somebody saying, I don't think I'm going to go to National League or I'm not going to go to Florida League or I'm not going to go to this conference. So I appreciate that. I just don't want to put expectation on each of the commissions to say, these are the events I'm going to do this year at the budget season. But to your point, as those pop up, Oh, my gosh, I'm on a committee or I want to go to this one or I heard this is going to be a really important one. That's no problem. But I think out of. I don't mean respect necessarily, but out of deference to colleagues to be able to say, hey, I'm going to go to this. We're getting close to the budget. Are you guys planning to go anywhere? I may say I'm not going anywhere, so it's okay by me. I don't have any problem. But somebody else might say, wait a second, I wanted to go to this conference. We're going to exceed that. Do we have sufficient funds in the other line items? You understand what I'm saying? Because it's going to happen during the year. I think to what Commissioner Kirsch was saying, and I don't think it's too hard on staff to kind of project what it's going to be, We have trends. And the other part of this, right, is we may mid-year, for some reason, particularly as we're dealing with property tax and other things, we may take a different position all of a sudden and say, look, we're going to time out. Even though we budget it, there might be some reason, COVID, it turns out we're not going to use it or something like that. So it wasn't my expectation. It's up to the will of the commission. But it wasn't my expectation to expect that we'll have a real knockdown like hey who's going to what and we'll try to put the number together okay it sounds like 15 is enough we've been pretty comfortable where this is that being said i don't want to get to a point where somebody feels awkward when they look at this number and they say well we've already spent 16 but i wanted to go to this conference i sure as heck don't want to have to go to the commission and say hey it's going to cost 2500 overall for me to go or whatever the number is going to be um and that means i'm exceeding the line item because i'm the last in line on this kind of thing so does that make sense

Unfortunately, now that we're looking at this and it's only $1,000 in that trip, it may come to that. And so one of us, if they want to do anything, they're going to literally come back to the commission and we're going to have an open discussion about it. and that is going to probably make somebody feel uncomfortable to hear other people nitpick on why they should or should not go to a particular event. So I think if we project that we're only gonna do one We put it in the budget and that's it. And if you want to do something else, then we come back and talk about it. But to talk about every event, because prices are going to go up. So, you know, it can change periodically. If we're going to talk about every trip, it may become problematic.

Right. It's no different than any department director who mid-year might say, we don't have enough for travel. You can't go to that. Can you do it remotely or by Zoom? All right, Commissioner Kirch and then Commissioner Scudo.

I was going to save this for my report, but it's on topic, so I'm going to discuss it now. I attended the Board of Directors meeting for the Broward League of Cities on February 5th, last Thursday. It's important as a league that we continue to tell our story to legislatures and residents, highlighting the importance of home rule, the value of property taxes and the services residents receive in them. nominating committee selected me to serve as the second vice president and I accepted unanimously approved and this role will be important to continue advocating on key issues including sovereign immunity property tax reform property insurance adjustments to the deliver it's going to require some travel Tallahassee Since we're on the budget, I want you all to know. I kind of gave you the hint that it might be coming. So I'll be the second vice president until May when they have their installation dinner on May 30th. I hope you all will come and see me sworn in.

That's great. But we don't pay until you become president.

The 70th year of the league will be the presidency. If I'm still around, I think I'm going to do everything I can to be. but I just wanted to give you guys a heads up. As we're talking about travel and budget and staff, there may be some more out-of-county travel covered on the budget.

So that's a really good point, right? So we've got 4,600 left, probably enough for Tallahassee trips and things like that, but that's a really good point of the type of reporting we'd want mid-year is to say, hey, if that budget was at $6,500, I'd say, okay, no problem. That's really important. We're going to have to make some changes and move money from other stuff to make sure we make enough, because as a commission, we want you to do that, right? That's a really important thing, no matter how comfortable. So congratulations on that. Commissioner Scudo.

Okay, so since Sean is not here, he's getting picked on.

Can we get him on the phone? Sorry, go ahead.

No, so I'm just asking in general. You're a city manager, you have assistant city manager, another assistant, you have all your department heads, right? On a basic, do they travel? Like the city clerk, say, travels for her, the city clerk association. The city manager travels for the city manager association. We travel for the Broward League. We travel for the Florida League. And we travel for the National League. The mayor, I'm saying, can travel for the Broward Mayors, the Florida Mayors, and the Council of Mayors, right? I'm just saying. So everybody has to break down the... I'm sure Rodrigo goes away for utility convention and Kevin travels for. Look, I'm saying this because even when we first used to travel, we changed a lot over the years because rooms back then was $79, $89, $129, right? Allowance for breakfast was $10, lunch was $12, and dinner was $15, right? But then times changed, and we had a, I'm saying we had to lay out another change. So breakfast is now this. And even, I'm saying, and all of us know that. All of you that travel, Felicia travels, I'm saying you travel. I don't know where you could really go to an actual breakfast place Right. And sit down and just have like a normal breakfast with eggs and bacon and toast and a coffee in a hotel that you're staying at. That's not going to be 20, 30, whatever, just for one person. Right. I mean, we know that. So our allowance, I'm saying sometimes doesn't even cover for the lunch and for the dinner. And we understand that, but we're traveling on the city's dime. We're trying to get the benefit of learning some information wherever we go. But I'm saying, do your department heads and yourself, city clerk, city attorney, police, fire, does he go on one national trip a year? Or does she go on one national trip a year? Or do they go on multiple out-of-states? I'm just asking. Do they do just one in-state or do they do multiple in-states? And then for the Broward, do they do like we do? The Broward League has dinner at wherever. This week we hosted, just a couple of weeks ago, we hosted. So like Neil said, Commissioner Kerr said, You know, sometimes I could go to one or two. Sometimes I could go to three. Maybe years ago, I went to 12. You know what I'm saying? So maybe you go twice and you go twice and I go three, you know what I'm saying? Whatever it is. Do we have to now say, I'm saying in the city commission budget, and I'm just saying, the local ones, if you're just going to the dinner, We could go to whatever. Then the Florida League is only once a year. The big is once a year. So it's either in the Diplomat or it's in Orlando. Years ago, it moved around a lot. Now they just have two spots. But we passed here in the city that if it's here in the tri-county area, that the city wouldn't pay for your room. They would get a room for all of us that if we wanted to use it in between meetings or whatever, okay? But then the city commission changed that now it goes to the city manager's office, and he approves our travel. I'm saying, but I'm saying what I'm saying.

It was the extra day. If somebody was going to go on a Wednesday or a Friday meeting, it had to be approved.

Right, no.

Or if they were going to get a room.

They still approve our travel now. Years ago, it never was approved. If I said to our secretary, whether it was Stella back then, or whether it was Bonnie back then, or Lourdes back then, and Lourdes now. Or now. I said now. I didn't cut you out. You know what I'm saying? It never had to be approved. Now it has to be approved. So, do you allow multiple for yourselves in your department? And... Other chartered offices, I don't know. I never really questioned them about... And I'm not trying to tell you what to do and not to do, because I think they're very beneficial. I'm sure all the department heads and chartered offices go to conferences, and it's a great meeting place. I mean... the same way we go. LPRs wasn't a big idea for me until you go to the League of Cities and companies are presented. The red light cameras, 20 years ago when I went and we brought it back, and I'll even say this, Erwin Harlem, the commissioner back then, there was for grants. We couldn't apply for a grant. We had to go to the National League of Cities or the Florida League of Cities and go in the grant room and go to every single table and pick up all the grants. And Erwin said, this is what you got to do. So you hit that side of the room. I'll hit this side of the room and pick up all the packets. And we bring them back to the city. And then the city could apply for these grants. I'm like, all right. But that was the only way back then to get the grant. So I'm saying times have really changed. But I don't want to tie anybody's hands up here not to travel. But do we want to say one Florida, you know what I'm saying, for the Florida League, one for the National League? And then if the basic of going to the Broward leagues, but I mean, yeah, I mean, we all would love to go on multiple things, but like you said, there's a budget and now the rooms at the hotels are 200, 300, 400, and it's for multiple nights. And like, well, you just went to Atlantic, uh, Salt Lake city, you know, It's multiple days and multiple people. Then it's plain fare. So getting back to staff, and I'm not trying to take away from anything from staff. I just want to know what is their basic so that we know or so that I know and the commission knows and the mayor. Crystal LaBelle.

Thank you. Mark Lebowski, city manager. So within each department budget, there is also a very similar travel budget that is identified with each department. That budget, as it is developed, is incredibly detailed. We get with each of the department directors, they identify within that budget everywhere they plan to go and who is going where, when, and why. Our office and the budget team reviews that at a very detailed level. uh... in terms of your question in terms of is there are are employees going to multiple put multiple uh... travel no not usually that would be extraordinary uh... i can tell you myself my travel as city manager has been only to tallahassee to to really uh... defend some bills or to be against some bills legislation is proposed so We do not travel a lot. It is part because there are some components that is necessary with the departments, but you will not see a lot of travel within our departments.

Okay. And all the other departments, the directors, they go on one probably main conference. Some of them may not go on anything at all.

Right. But there is travel within every department budget. Does it mean the director goes? It could be someone within the department that is going to travel. We'll have, for example, Intergov. There'll be an annual conference. We'll usually send one or two people to that to make sure we're up to the latest on those type of things. But it is not an extensive part of our budget.

So I'm just saying, I mean, just to get, like, to figure out, like you said, about our budget. So... You know, I know that they pulled my travel since 1999 or whatever, how back it is. So, I mean, look, I traveled. I thought it was productive. I think some of the programs that I brought back and then probably the one that's probably still around for 20 something years is the neighborhood participation program. Um, so I mean, that's probably one that has touched every corner of the city. It's lighting, it's landscaping, it's connecting sidewalks, it's signage. I mean, I, I could go through every neighborhood that has benefited, and it was not just an individual that got these. These were, when we first did them, you had to get people who were within X amount of feet from where we're ever going to put these monuments or landscaping or whatever, and then input from the neighborhood or input from the homeowners association. I'm saying that's just like one big thing that I took back in whatever 1990, whatever. And I, and then you could drive around all the windward aisle signs, all the twin lake signs, all the marble signs in Wellaby 84. I'm just saying, uh, All the lighting, the connecting sidewalks that we're still doing. People are still on waiting lists. So, I mean, it's a program that, you know, just like the chief brought back the LPRs and red light cameras and speed cameras. And, you know, Chief McNamara brings back one blood. And I'm just saying, you know, everybody learned something. But as far as the amount, I don't know how you go forward to figure out our budget. But I'm saying if you're gonna limit us, not saying you're gonna limit us, whatever the cost of 12 Broward League of City dinners are, I would say is a start. And then go to the Florida League of Cities, you know, one time, and then the National League of Cities one time. I'm just saying. So at least I'm not getting blocked out if I want to go to 12 Broward League of Cities dinners. I know I'm representing the city, and if you're going to pay 12, I'm paying for my own parking. I'm paying for my own drinks. I'm only getting reimbursed. I'm not getting reimbursed. I'm only getting my ticket paid for that night. As far as the Florida League of Cities, I love to go to the Florida League of Cities. I understand we have the Tri-County or whatever how that is. That's whatever. So then if I only go once every two years, if that's the way you're going to keep it. But the National League of Cities, if I feel like I want to go, I don't want to be able to say I can't go. You know what I'm saying? So, I mean, to come up with a number, if whatever the number is for the National League of Cities, it's all going to be the same for us. Unless I say or someone else says they want to go a day before because they are going to go to, you know, something else or whatever. I'm not saying that you can't do that, you know, not five days before or, you know. But I mean, within reason. So that's the only thing. Out of the country, going to multiple stuff. And I say the National League of Cities used to have the committees. So I was on a steering committee, and they would have three meetings more a year that we would have to go to. But now they switched it, and you go to one place, and it's wherever the president is, and it's like the one time. But any other board or whatever is different. Because when I started the Italian American Caucus of Elected Officials, what all the other commissioners did, we didn't travel or make the city pay for anything else that we had to do. So anything with the National League, and no disrespect to anybody. So if any other organization is having something, is different. You know, I think we should limit it because otherwise everybody could get on multiple things and spend multiple, um, trips on multiple boards. So I'm saying if you're trying to cut or you're trying to zone in, I mean, I would be in support of, of the Broward, the one for Florida and the one for the nationally. That's just my.

Okay. And just so the genesis of this, again, I, We'll have, obviously, a more intense budget discussion at the budget time. It was more just making sure we knew where we were for the year and make sure we're okay, we're not going to exceed it. The historic reporting I was a little squirrely because I know, for instance, when you saw out-of-county and out-of-state, it lumped in the registrations, so it wasn't breaking it out. Registration could be whatever they said, 695, 795, 800, whatever. So that was in there. And then there was clearly some that folks were going to, we had to go to Tallahassee for, like we went, Mr. Lebelski and I and some other staff went to Tallahassee multiple times on the Pat Salerno with folks. So there were things that just don't apply. But this would be the kind of reporting you'd want to know, right? Say, I'm not going to a conference, but I've got to go up to Tallahassee because I'm the first vice president or whatever else, right? That kind of reporting, just so everybody knows. Deputy Mayor.

So congratulations, Neil Kirch, to your appointment. It's a really nice honor, especially here in Broward and for FLC. While I understand all of the comments that were made, for me, because I'm on some of these boards, it kind of puts me in a position where I am on the HILA board through NLC. I'm on the WMAGE board through NLC. I'm second vice president for WMAGE. which puts me where there are other opportunities to go for these particular meetings, trainings, conferences. So for me to choose one NLC, like you were mentioning, out of the two opportunities, especially being on the board, that would kind of be hurting me as in my position for nationally. But I believe these boards are great. I've helped to make me the commissioner that I am, so I really appreciate the trainings that are offered, what we can learn, the resources we bring back. So I understand the mayor's obligation to making sure that, you know, we are staying within budget. I just hope that this isn't going to put me in a position now that I'm on these boards all of a sudden to make these changes. I just kind of feel like, not that it's not fair, but now it's happening because I'm on these particular boards. So I just hope that that's not going to interfere with my role.

Right. So the basic process was just to basically say, look, this is where we're at. We've only got nineteen hundred dollars left for the rest of the year in out of state. So if folks are going to plan to use it and again, it's uncomfortable when it's at the caboose side of the budgetary process as opposed to up front. that's something we'll have to have a discussion about maybe at the budget season, how we do it in a more defined way. So nobody feels at the end of it, for instance, they can't go to something because somebody, you know, it's all been spent on something else, but also to make the value judgments about, Hey, look in County, We've honestly never spent anything. Nobody stays out in county, and if they did, they paid for it themselves. And the Broward League doesn't really charge us. It gets billed to the city. Nobody's been putting in per diem for Broward League. So when you look back historically, in county it's been zero, zero, 200, zero, zero, zero. But we budget $1,000 just in case there's some conference that requires – something in county may not be broadly might be something else but when we look at the other ones that have historically you know been in play you know again we have out of state and i guess that's fundamentally we can talk about all this at the budget season but we're running out of the budget money we're at 16 000 we only have 1900 left so if someone's planning to go out of state we're talking about out of state and there needs to be a discussion about are we moving money from training and registration or in county or out of county but in state And that was my only purpose in really raising this, and we didn't get to. And I didn't think it was appropriate for staff to, frankly, be moving money between the accounts. I appreciate it, but it's really for us to discuss.

Right, I agree. If you're going to move money, then it has to come back to us. I'll agree with that.

So we don't have to take any action tonight, but just be aware that if anybody's going out of state, there's only $1,900 left, so we're going to have to make a decision about that. And then it would be, where is it coming from? Is it coming from out of county? Somebody might say, look, I've got four more things I have to do that are out of county but in state this year. I project it's going to cost $2,500 with flights and even one night stay or whatever else it's going to cost. We just have to be disciplined in that, I guess, is my point. So that's the only action I was expecting. Yes.

So how soon do you need that information? Are we talking about the next budget? Are we talking about this year? Now.

This budget. We're about to run out of the money, $1,900. We can't run out. And if we're going to, it may be worthwhile. It can be, hey, three people have a conference that they all want to go to. Very simple. What's the projected cost? No problem. We've got extra money in out-of-county. Somebody who may be going to four things out-of-county but nothing out-of-state might say, wait, time out before you make that move. I may be cut off from going to my out-of-county, right? And I'd say, okay, well, we don't have any in-county that we've been spending on. We can move that $1,000 into it. It's just doing what every department already does, and that's all I'm suggesting. So the major – well, yes, they approve basically – Just to be clear, the authority that the city manager has to approve or not approve is one, hey, was this submitted appropriately? Were you actually gone? Was this whatever else? The second one was a rule that we created because somebody might have a conference on a Tuesday, but they said, oh, I have to go in on Sunday. Monday there was no meeting Monday and nobody knew about it they were getting an extra day or it's done Wednesday I'm gonna stay till Friday and so the Commission said no timeout if you can justify it you can say hey for me to get there on a Tuesday I have a nine o'clock meeting and it's in Denver there's no way I can get there so had to go to the had to go to the city manager approve the day before travel On the other hand, if the meetings start at 1 o'clock, then the city manager can say, no, you can get in there in that morning. If you want to go the day before for whatever reason, you got to pay for it. And it was done because we had seen what was going on. So that's the level of authority. Beyond that, to say yes or no, to provide that memo, which is then provided to the commission, has really only been, hey, did you submit the receipts? Did you submit the right thing? Was it first class instead of whatever? I guess I don't think that ever happens. So what I suggest, and we don't need to take action tonight necessarily, but You have the numbers. You know what's in each line item for the account. If someone thinks I've got multiple trips coming up and we're going to exceed, we need to have a discussion about how we're going to move it, and we can do that at a later date or when everybody's done the analysis. And it may come to some value judgments that say, look, I'm not going to go to this one, or I'm not going to go for as long, or I'm going to see if they can do it by Zoom or encourage them, right, because Zoom and Teams have become the dominant. Any further discussion on that particular aspect? So then from that I asked staff to look at To do a survey and I think that's been circulated the other two issues were monthly allowance that is provided as an expense account and The car allowance that's provided as well the expense account monthly doesn't require any receipts and I've seen some reporting about concerns about that from OIG and others. So I asked for a survey of what other cities are doing on each of them. Now, auto allowance is a little squirrely, right? Because, you know, who's going to put in for... I drove 0.7 miles to sunrise residents or I drove one mile to, you know, central sunrise, whatever the case may be. But on the expenses... You know, all cities virtually provide some level of an expense allowance. There's some variety as to whether or not there's any receipts required. Most seem to be no, and I'm not sure that's good. know doesn't mean we have to go along with it but it seems to me that some like I think Tamarack requires it just requires receipts Weston's not applicable the vast majority other ones either not applicable or knows but you know this is money that's going out and seems fair to to maybe require receipts on what it's being spent on there there have been historically some would say maybe some you know over decades who not have spent any money you know that was for the benefit the community membership in something or sponsoring the PTA breakfast I mean I know Commissioner Skudos provides pizza to everybody in this here nobody ever questions that but I think it's something that we have to have a discussion about particularly because of the discussions we've seen out of the state focus on can you give me an example because I know Tamarac has individual discretionary money so I think it was circulated, the survey. I don't know. I can't give you anything other than what was reported. So it said, our commissioners provide an expense allowance.

Did we have that? I'm sorry. Did we have that?

I think it was circulated.

I don't have that.

It was asked to be circulated.

I don't have the printout.

It would have been probably six weeks ago, eight weeks ago.

I'm going to ask favor we revisit that. I've got to go to trial tomorrow morning.

Okay. So what I'd ask is take a look at that. We'll put this on the agenda for the next meeting, but I think it needs to be looked at whether or not to require receipts, either for auto or the expense allowance.

Recirculate that.

Yeah, if you could just send that back around, because I know the rule is anything that's provided to one is provided to all, so it should have been circulated. If it wasn't, then that's on staff. All right, so that's the last on that issue. Commissioner Mayor reports, Deputy Mayor.

Just one thing, well, too, thank you to the staff for the lunch. It was great to see all the families having a great time for the picnic. And then also this past Friday was my annual heart health fashion show at the Sawgrass Mills Mall. It was very successful. I want to thank everyone who attended. It was so packed that we may even have to look for a bigger venue next year, but I'm thankful for everyone who participated.

Okay, Assistant Deputy Mayor.

Just thank you to staff for everything that you have done so far through the year. I don't have any specifics, but everything has been fantastic. I know that we had a couple of outdoor events which was well supported and I attended an event yesterday that they raved about our utilities departments and they raved about or parks and the service. And it's good to see that Megan got her award today because I was told at the event that she was gonna get an award because they were just raving about her. So it is really good to be out in the community and hear residents just talk wonderfully about the staff and all the things that they do. So thank you to everyone for everything that you do and talk about it in the next two weeks.

Yeah, I apologize to my colleague staff and the public for my tardiness it wasn't anything I can control I am in a trial that had to be tried because it Ended in a mistrial back in December and the rules require a trial within 90 days. So this week is the only opportune time to do that with my client being in custody and I feel bad because I missed some great proclamations, especially saying goodbye to Principal Hartigan. I did listen to the band and everyone online as I was driving in traffic coming back, and I missed the Black History Month proclamation and Firefighter of the Month for Captain Michael McCord, who's the only trained to administer blood in an ambulance no bigger than the toilet and the bathtub, according to Chief McNamara. World Cancer Day.

We're going to get a big one.

Even though I wasn't here, as soon as I had the opportunity to turn on the meeting, I was listening and paying attention and hearing to what's going on. You heard my report for Broward League of Cities. I would announce that since we have funded, we're going to fund the youth scholarship, the $1,000, that our youth in this city apply. The details are on the Broward League of Cities website. They're accepting the applications now, and it would be nice to get a young student from Sunrise to apply. take advantage of that $2,500 scholarship. The way they do it, there's four $2,500 scholarships available, and they're broke up in quadrants of the county. So the northwest quadrant, northeast quadrant, southwest quadrant, southeast quadrant. So I hope one of our students takes us up on that. The employee picnic was great. Thank you, everyone. And that's my report.

All right, Commissioner Scooter. Yeah, I just want to thank everybody for giving me the opportunity opportunity to talk about the disability what Kevin and what Mark and I definitely are gonna follow up with you and make sure that you could have some information back for us for the next meeting if there's some equipment that you could purchase or if someone's gonna look into it and also about the training for our employees. Kevin, your department did a great job this weekend with the dog event at the dog park. A lot of people there, very crowded. The weather was beautiful. A little chilly in the morning, they said, but it was beautiful. I got to go out there with my family, so really great event. I just want to touch base with the city manager if you have any type of update about the screening process. For the life scan for the screening So I know tonight we had a presentation and someone said that they were under 40 years old got diagnosed I'm just saying where we at with this. I know we have many different people on Committee or whatever and different departments looking into but where we at Who's able to do the screening? Are we partnering with the people that are going to do business in the city, meaning Baptist and Memorial and Joe DiMaggio? Are those people that could do these things that we need, or is it that we have to go outside? And I just want to know for the commission, not tonight, but if you could get us where we're at and dollar amount, if we have any amount where it's going to cost for whatever it is. I talked to Sean over the last couple of days, Mass Tech and Comcast and Xfinity, and a lot of them are throughout our neighborhoods.

Getting complaints.

Ripping stuff up. But I mean, we understand progress. But when it comes to safety, where they're not even putting cones or putting tape, where they destroyed sidewalks. And now it's our problem because now that people are walking on our sidewalk and if they fall, they're not suing them because their sign is not there saying work being done by it's being done. They think it's being done by us. So, I mean, it's not, it's throughout the city and Sean, you know, gave me, cause I've gotten a bunch of calls and people coming to the restaurant, um, And right there in my own neighborhood where I drive by and I'm like, they didn't even like rope it off or do anything. And it's like a total mess. And I'm saying, I don't want to see a kid or an adult or whoever, you know,

Wait, don't stop on that because I think this is hugely important.

It's not just – But they don't even have to get a permit. That's the thing. You know what I'm saying? They come in, they rip up our streets and people's driveways and sidewalks, and we can't even do anything. You know what I'm saying?

So if I could just kind of jump in. Before you do that, the complaints we were getting are not just safety, right? It's also – Debris, blockage, breaking up driveways, it's all of that. And to your point, you know, if somebody else was doing work that was going to interfere with an intersection or sidewalk, they'd be required to get an MOT permit, right, to be able to have plans for pedestrian access, and they don't seem to do it. So we're getting a lot of complaints. How do we deal with that, Mr. Lebelski?

So just to kind of back up and you know the you're talking about the mass text of the world they're they're associated with the utility and they're they're registered as a franchise utility with the state and with also the city. And with that they are still required to get permits from the city, but there's no permit fee and what's happening is we're getting inundated with permits, I mean literally hundreds of them and chance team has been. going crazy tracking so we don't have the the wherewithal and the bandwidth to be able to track. every single one of these. In fact, we had coordination meetings with each of these utilities, and they, obviously, they always promise us the world, and they never deliver. How do we get them to come here? Because we need to have a discussion about this.

They don't care. Oh, good. I'll bring Shannon up. She prays. So ever since Shannon spent so much time on a quasi-judicial hearing, now she can't wait to get back to the podium.

No, that is not true. I was trying to get it to him so he could tell. You're not under oath. No, I'm not under oath. Mark doesn't know this yet. We have a meeting on Thursday where we have called in higher-level people. But we've told some of them we're not issuing any more permits and work as a staff.

Bingo.

Now we're.

Right. I know we're pushing the limit.

So we are working because Mark is 100% right. We don't have the bandwidth. It's literally hundreds. There's been plenty of coordination meetings. But at this point, we've told them we're not issuing anymore and that it has to get under control.

Right. They're just ripping up neighborhood after. They're not even completing any of that.

We're getting like 20 a week.

Right. Whew. And it's not just like one block. It's like 20 blocks in every neighborhood. They're ripping stuff up and then just leave it.

Yeah. So we have a meeting Thursday that I have asked for staff to coordinate with the top that I will be attending with some of the top.

Okay. Let's hear what that's about. Maybe you can report through Mr. Lebowski.

And if not, then it's going to go escalate meeting to him next.

And then onto us. Thank you, Shannon.

I just want to, Chief, I just, to you, I'm sorry, to Chief Ransom. I know I've mentioned this to you, but I'm constantly, constantly getting calls and people telling me about how many lights are out throughout the city. So I know that your men and women are out on patrol throughout the city. I just, you know, like I say to them, yeah, we have like a type of protocol where police officers, men and women are supposed to write down whatever ones are out or get the number on the pole, submit into the building department. I just wanna make sure that you can make sure that this gets down to the men and women, that it's important because some of the neighborhoods are so dark and then the lights are out for multiple, multiple days. And I'm constantly calling Sean, I'm constantly calling the girl from FPNL, but I'm saying, It's just they fix one out of five, and we went through this with Mark. They fix the one poll, but they don't fix the other four. Every poll is considered one ticket. So I'm saying I know that your men and women are probably submitting, but I just want to make sure that they're submitting. And please, I mean, it's so important for the employees that are out, you know, during the nighttime, because... It's an FP&L thing, and we want to make sure that they're going to provide what we're paying for.

Yes, sir. We've done this in years past, and it's been brought to my attention already. We've already opened a project on it.

So we're currently working to identify the poles and then working with FP&L to get those lights fixed.

Okay. Thank you.

Let me just expand on that. I think we've talked about this as a commission previously. It's really the hope is that all employees who are on the road will raise these issues and there's been points along the time right if a signals out you have to wait for an officer to do it somebody in utilities might be driving by make make the call it's all of our just like we do if we say we have the clean team because clean team because if they see these things we have to because they have to work together we don't expect utilities driver to solve it or leisure services and routes somewhere to solve it but to just report up hey i noticed this and right so It's really, you know, all hands on deck for safety reasons, but also because it may just be, you know, there's times, you know, PD's responding to something, they're not paying attention to that. And so everybody else has to be playing that role as well. So, Mr. Lebowski, you know, there are a list of items, right, that we just want to encourage. It doesn't mean they're obligated, but we want to encourage staff to report these things when they see them out there. It could be any one of us in this room. It could be us up here, but it's really kind of, again, the tractor-trailer issues, right? We shouldn't have to get a call from a resident that there's a lot of people driving through. PD's going to see these. I know you have other things to worry about, but we're still seeing those parking around, and we've got to continue to be proactive on that. That's it, Mayor. Thank you. Okay. Out of deference to Commissioner Kirch, no report. City Manager's report? No report, Mayor. City Attorney's report?

No report. Thank you, Mayor.

Ms. Bravo, nice to have you back. City Clerk's Report?

No report tonight, thanks.

We were in good hands. You've done a great job, and she was so happy to have quasi-judicial hearings to have to manage.

There is no better way to learn than to be pushed right into the deep end. Exactly.

All right, motion to adjourn? Motion by Commissioner Kerr, seconded by Commissioner Scudo. All in favor say aye. Aye. We are adjourned.