City Commission - Regular Meeting

you you you you Thank you. Thank you.

All right, Madam Clerk, good to go?

Mr. Attorney, good to go? Yes, sir. Commissioners, good to go? Yes, sir. Mr. Mayor, good to go? All right. Please take your seats. Meeting date, Monday, July 6, 2026, at 6 p.m., Commission Chambers, 500 Southwest, 109 Avenue. Roll call, Madam Clerk. Noted. If anyone could please stand for the invocation. Anybody want to give the invocation today? In Jesus' name I pray. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for granting us the gift of life, the gift of family, the gift of friendship, the gift of service. Thank you for the very many blessings that you've bestowed upon this country, this state, our county, and our great city of Sweetwater. Please continue to bless our elected officials to make the proper decisions for the betterment of our residents. Please continue to bless our police officers, our firefighters, and the greatest military in the world. And please don't forget our staff A special thanks to our staff for coordinating the 4th of July event that we had this weekend, which was phenomenal. And Lord, if you're not too busy, if you can help us out tonight at 8 p.m. when USA plays Belgium, I'd really appreciate it. In Jesus' name, I will always pray. Amen. Please remain standing for the Pledge of Allegiance. Maybe seated. You know, normally, I'd recognize stakeholders in the audience, but I don't want to steal anybody's thunder. So I'm gonna wait for that. And I appreciate what you're doing, Mr. Mayor. Special presentations, Mr. Mayor.

special presentation today, somebody very important to all of us, and if you would like to join me, let's go ahead and give this presentation to somebody extremely, extremely important to all of us. Ms. Oliveros.

Why don't you bring your husband up?

They could take video for you too and you could be joining us up here. It's on TV anyway. First and foremost, I want to thank you. from the bottom of our hearts, because I know personally the work you've done in the city of Sweetwater. And no matter what I'm gonna read here, it still doesn't do the justice of what really has been done by you. But I'm gonna do it, and I don't like to read these things, but I think it's very important for me to do it today, okay? So, Proclamation by the city of Sweetwater, Mayor, myself, whereas Janet P. Olivero, Olivera, excuse me, has dedicated nearly four decades of a seminary service to education, possibly impacting the lives of thousands of students, families, educators, and community members throughout Miami-Dade County. And whereas throughout a distinguished career spanning almost 40 years, Janet P. Oliveira has demonstrated unwavering commitment to academic excellence, education innovation, leadership development, and student achievement. And whereas as the principal of Sweetwater Elementary School, Since 2009, Janet P. Oliveira has led a high performance tier one title. School serving as diverse students population fostering a culture of excellence, equality, and opportunity for all students. And whereas under Janet P. Olivera's visionary leadership, Sweetwater Elementary School achieved five consecutive gold destinations and earned the prestigious STEM Platinum Destination, reflecting a commitment to innovation and academic distinction. And whereas Janet P. Oliveira successfully implemented data-driven strategies and targeted innovations that enhanced students' performance, optimized resources allocations, and promoted continuous school improvements. And whereas Janet P. Oliveira Dedication to the educational excellence has been recognized through numerous honors, including being named central region principal of the year of Miami-Dade County public schools in 2018 through 2019 and received Miami Coral Parks feeder pattern principal of the year honors in both 2017 and 2018. And in 2018 and 2019, and whereas Janet P. Oliver's educational accomplishments are supported by advanced degrees from Nova Southeastern University and the University of Miami, as well as a continued commitment to professional growth and education leadership. Now, therefore, I, Mayor Jose Pepe Diaz, by the power authority vested in me as Mayor of the City of Sweetwater, do hereby proclaim and declare July 6, 2026, to be the Janet P. Oliveira. Now my, um, my children went to Sweetwater elementary and I seen that school for many, many years. I moved in here in 1968 and I would tell you that that school has come a long way and that thanks to your leadership and I know this feeling is the same across this day is here because... My kids too. Okay.

Mine too.

Some that are going. Maybe mine. So to us, it's an honor to do this, but more of an honor having you all this time. And all I could say is I'm happy that you're going your own way and doing your thing. and be able to enjoy life along with your husband that is here and your assistant, Percival, that's over there, I know that you will be greatly, greatly missed. Am I correct? Yes, sir. Okay.

May I say a few words? I was just going to tell you.

Go ahead and say some words. By the way, the mic is up here, so it's catchy.

Okay. It's been my privilege. to serve all the children in this community. I don't normally lose it, but this has been a difficult separation. After 17 years, this is my home, my family. The city of Sweetwater is such a beautiful community and deserves nothing but the best. I've had the blessing of having the children. I've had the blessing of knowing the families. I've had the blessing of meeting many beautiful people along the way that have become our partners. The one thing I will ask all of you, continue to fight for public education. The city of Sweetwater has one public school, Sweetwater Elementary. Fight for it. Fight for what makes this country amazing. Democracy is built on free and accessible education to all. Fight for your school. It is a beautiful thing to be able to have the opportunity to be around children. It is a beautiful opportunity to be supported. I could never have done 17 years of principalship without this man by my side. I could never have done everything that we've accomplished with all the team that's there, the amazing teachers, the custodians, the cafeteria personnel, everybody. This young lady, you are left in really good hands. She is going to be an amazing principal in a very short time, we hope, and right now, I know that she will continue the legacy, but I just ask for you, please, Continue to work and pray and support public education. It is critical for the future of our country. Yes.

Say something, Mr. Mayor. So I have a 20 year old, a nine year old and six year old. You've been there for all three children. I can tell you that. As a professional and as a public servant, we all want to leave an impact in our community. You most certainly left an impact in our community. There are thousands of children, thousands of children where you've impacted their lives. Aside from being a great principal, and that's cool. As a professional, you want to be the very best you can. I think you're an amazing human being. I think God has blessed us. The way that you carry those children When our children have a bad day, you know exactly just looking at their face. You know my wife is a very, very involved parent, and you've exploited that a bit too much. It's cost me some money. I will tell you the city of Sweetwater is losing an amazing stakeholder. When I received the notification that you were retiring, I received it from my child. It was a shock to me. I contacted my colleagues. I contacted the mayor, unfortunately, because of political circumstances, which I disagree with. I think this is a very poor decision on whomever made this decision. I can tell you that we're losing an amazing individual. And you're right. Your successor has been amazing. And we're going to help you continue being amazing. You got some big shoes to fill. Luckily for you, You're an amazing individual as well. So whatever you need from our mayor, we're always standing behind our mayor and our city. I love you. My children love you.

I love them a lot.

That's it. I'm done. Yeah, yeah. I don't know.

Dania, this is a special moment, so we all got to say something.

No, I thank you. My youngest one went to the school. Actually, On third grade, you guys decided that he needs to have a test, you know, so he can go and gift a program, which he did. And right at your school, he was pulled out two, I think it was twice a week. They pick him up in a bus and take him, so I was very grateful. Thank you so much.

Thank you for your service to our community. And enjoy your retirement. Enjoy your time with your husband. It's a cherished time. And move into enjoying what you've worked for. It's well deserved. Thank you. Blessings.

Thank you very much. As a Boy Scout leader, you used to give us the school for that, for those meetings. My kids also went to that school. Right now, one of them is 25 years old. He's a firefighter. Thank you. Thank you, you guys. That was basically the school that he started.

For me, it's bittersweet. For me, it's bittersweet. My niece and my nephews were able to be with you, and it's a bittersweet because my son starts now in August for the first time. But I know it's in good hands. I saw you the other day when I was enrolling him, and I was really looking forward. But again, you do have to share your moment, your retirement, and your life. There's That wasn't all of it. Enjoy it with your husband. I know I'm in good hands. So I'm looking forward to, you know, now I'm going to also be there as well. And, you know, I have a four-year-old and now I have a seven-month-old, but she's also going to be there too. But, you know, enjoy your time and enjoy your life. You know, I do stand behind all that and everything you said about the school, public school. I am a big public school person. So I'm also public school. you know, from Flagami Elementary to West Miami Elementary to South Miami High. Thank you for everything you've done for us and all the students that have passed through mostly from the city of Sweetwater. Thank you very much.

Well, I have zero history with Sweetwater Elementary, and my kids are too little for school, except one of them, but we're homeschooling him. And I didn't go there either. I went to Gilbert Porter way down in Kendall, but I did go to Coral Park. That's the only one I have in common with everybody here. But I just wish you the best and wish you good luck. And I've heard a lot of great things about you from everybody else. So thank you and God bless.

Well, once again, I think you know the way we feel. We can't hide it. I think Michael said it very well. You know, there's decisions that are made that are not easy to deal with. And I know the decision of enjoyment with your family is going to be a very good one. And I think I just have this feeling We'll be seeing each other again. So I just have that feeling, you know. So God bless you. Thank you. And may the Lord blow well on your sail. Thank you. Okay.

Thank you very much.

Take the picture. Oh, no, we're taking a picture.

Oh, picture time.

We're taking pictures. You got to stand next to your wife there.

We'll stand in the back. He's a teacher, too, so.

All right.

He teaches in high school.

All right.

Hey, Jenny, give me your order.

You guys got anything?

So there's one cup and a tie back there.

All right.

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

good evening everyone uh frank fernandez assistant chief of police city of sweetwater this officer of the month award started with a commendation by uh sergeant uh dario risco who's here also tonight where he presented it to us one of his officers for outstanding performance and quickly uh we suggested that we make uh make the paperwork necessary for officer of the month based on the uh the actions of this officer. This incident took place on May 31st of this year and this police officer demonstrated a huge commitment to public safety while investigating elude indecent exposure incident that occurred near the top golf business establishment, which is visited by families, tourists and residents alike. This officer not only met with the victims, but stay there and gather as much information as possible regarding the incident. He thoroughly reviewed video evidence and quickly developed information regarding the suspect's identity. Shortly after that, other officers arrived at the scene and they all began canvassing the area and successfully located the subject near the city furniture just south of Topgolf. The subject was taken into custody with that incident for charges related to the lewd and indecent exposure. And the reason we bring him here today is because some officers do go the extra mile. They don't just write a report and go to the next call. They actually take an interest in solving these crimes, especially something as serious as this. This officer's diligence continued after the arrest, though, as he discovered that the subject was in possession of suspected methamphetamine, And this, of course, led to additional charges. This officer's professionalism, his attention to detail and dedication to public safety directly contributed to the successful apprehension of this offender whose actions negatively impacted members of our community and possibly prevented future crimes. As a result of his commitment to public safety and proactive police work, Officer Joel Bosque is being recognized as Officer of the Month for May 2026. Please come forward.

All right. Bosque, bring your watch. No, no. Stand right next to your husband. Show respect.

One, two, three, four.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor, for those presentations. Most certainly warranted education and law enforcement. I'm all for it. I'm going to try and set a record here. Sixth presentation of Officer of the Month Award, done. Seven, reports of officers, boards, and committees. Attached? Madam Clerk? Additions and deletions to the agenda? Petitions, communications, and remunerations? None. Amazing. Consent agenda, item A. moved by vice president matisse second by commissioner ray all in favor say aye aye any opposed item passing unanimously staff items 11a in order to the city of sweetwater florida establishing duty for police officers to provide name and badge number upon request providing for exceptions providing for severability providing for codification providing for an effective date second reading and public hearing public hearing is now open anybody wishing to speak on this item please come forward Seeing nobody come forward, the public meeting is now closed. This is my item. I'm going to keep this brief. We've seen this on social media where people will approach a police officer or a group of police officers. They'll hold up their phones and they'll say, hey, jerk, name and badge number. And now the officer, after being ridiculed, has to give his or her badge number. If the officer is on a call for duty, then I wholeheartedly agree that based on transparency, you should give your name and badge number. When the officer is not on a call for duty, when the officer is drinking coffee, having a meal, and one of these social justice First Amendment auditors approaches a police officer and says, hey, jerk, hey, fat ass, name and badge number, the officer does not have to give their name and badge number. This is the first piece of legislation in the history of the United States pertaining to this. I ask my colleagues on the commission to unanimously consent on this item. Do we have any discussion? Move. Yes, Mr. Mayor. Mr. Mayor, you have the floor.

I want you to know that when the item first came up, I just wanted to check all the various variants, as you did. And I want to report that exactly what you said is exactly the case, not only with Ventura, uh, our attorney, but I am a thousand percent supportive of something like this because it's enough that they have to go through in their life to then have to deal with this also. So I want to congratulate you on this, uh, ordinance. I think it's, uh, very needed, especially in today's time.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Any other discussions? We have a motion by commissioner. Yeah. Your second by commissioner Rinaldo Ray roll call. Madam clerk. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. So if anybody here is familiar with the Halo Law, and I know Commissioner Saldez was referring to the Halo Law, the Halo Law is a state statute where if officers are performing their duties, there has to be a 25-foot radius from anybody approaching that officer. I don't know if people know this, but the Halo Law was actually created here in the city of Sweetwater. That Hato law started here in the city of Sweetwater. It was then presented to state legislature, passed state senate, and now we have the second piece of legislation. Many politicians talk about being pro-police, but there is no city in the great United States of America that's more pro-police than my colleagues on this commission and our mayor. So I'm very, very proud of my colleagues. Thank you so much. I'm very proud of you, Mr. Mayor, for supporting this item. And let's keep supporting Sweetwater PD. Keep doing a kick-ass job, guys. Reports. A, Mayor's report. Anything to report, Mr. Mayor?

Yes, sir.

We got a couple of things, and I'll try to make that meeting as fast as possible.

So with that said, I want to thank all the commissioners and their support on the Venezuelan support that we did. But I want to give a special thanks to two commissioners that are sitting here next to me, and that's Idania Año, Commissioner Año, and, of course, Commissioner Diaz, Saul Diaz. Thank you. Okay. They really stepped it up. We worked hard. We were there many hours. And we raised... A LOT OF HELP THROUGH THE PEOPLE THAT CAME AND DONATED. I FOUND A WAREHOUSE WITH GEM, LOOKING FOR WAREHOUSE HERE IN SWEETWATER, 163,000 SQUARE FEET, IF I'M NOT MISTAKEN. AND THEY, THROUGH PRO LOGIS, THEY DONATED FOR A CERTAIN TIME, AND THAT'S BETWEEN THEM AND GEM. They came through, and I said that we would try to fill it, and I think some of you went by and saw it. The warehouse is totally full. So we did our part here in Sweetwater, but we couldn't have done it also without the help of maintenance and code. They both did a great job in supporting, making sure the equipment was there and the manpower, and also building. I had a couple of people from building that were there too that were priceless. Everything was received, analyzed for date, making sure they're not expired, everything was put in categories, anything medical type on one side, canned foods, everything was separated and then palletized. And Jem was very appreciative. because it was palletized in a way that it was very easy to put that on either a plane or put it on a container to go see whether to Venezuela. So I want to thank everybody that was involved, but most of all, I want to thank the people that heard us and came with the donations and many business people at a sweet water and not in sweet water but they came to sweet water and donated i also want to thank you know working together with dural and making sure that there are sister city close by and together we helped each other so i want to thank the mayor also from dural for reaching out and i know our police did an incredible job too and making sure that everything was secure at all times, and they went ahead and also supported Doral during a couple of times that things got a little busy over there, let's just say. So I wanted to say that because it was important, and I think there's always been a time that Sweetwater's always stepped up, always, to help others. See, there was a time we got flooded out in this city, And it was hard, it was very hard, because we hardly had the money to deal with the things, but God is great, as always, and we were able to do what we needed to do, but it was thanks to the citizens of Sweetwater and the staff then. But we knew we needed help, and help came from a lot of places outside of Sweetwater, especially outside of Dade County. And we were very appreciative for that. So this is why when we do this, we do it from our hearts because we know what it's like to be in chaos. And thank God it wasn't a devastation that Venezuela has suffered and will continue to suffer for a very long time. So I want to thank everybody involved once again to starting police back there done an incredible job maintenance and of course code also and building and anybody else to volunteer. Thank you now to go to another note. 4 for July. I think that we could not ask for a better event. It was well, extremely well attended and we did anticipate a little rain. We had a big tent out there and it was used. It was used. So, and all the little tents that we had around, people used, but you know, there's something special. Nobody left after that. On the opposite, more people showed up and we had an incredible event. I want to publicly thank Romero Brito for the huge painting that we got put on a wall in Ronzelli Park, 40 feet by 20 feet, and it's absolutely amazing. patriotic, it's absolutely beautiful, colorful, and something that only just brightens up our Ronzelli Park. So I want to thank them, and I also want to thank two other people. I want to thank our people from Dion, Mike Dion, Dion Generators. He was a big sponsor in helping us The painting itself was wrapped on this wall because that's the new way of doing it so they last and it would go through weather and everything else. And it also saves a lot in expenses. So at the time Bruno for Miami Wrap came, Metro Miami Wrap came and did this and I could not ask for a better outcome. It looks like it was just painted on there so it will stand the time the the test of time and I really was impressed with it, but I also was a I was impressed with the amount of people that showed up and our new per se Park and this was a true test. of our park, including the screen, everything that was there, and it passed the test. So I wanna thank this commission for always being supportive, for always being out there, and making sure that our city continues to get that for quite a while, a lot of these things didn't occur. And now they do, frequently, as much as we can, and also, that Commissioner Villanueva brought to my attention back when we were doing the budget was to create, to bring in flags to be able to put up for the citizens. And I report, I think, over 300 flags. 300 flights were put up and we still got to get a couple more because some that were by the way donated by Home Depot sweet water and they donated the flags and our maintenance department put it up for the residents where they wanted it and so on so it's been some good things positive things that are going on one issue that I want to discuss And I hate to mix them, but it's important. This city has come a long way. And with the support of this commission, has done an incredible job working together in unity. And I know every one of you says that wherever you go, and that's the truth. We get things accomplished, we take care of our citizens, and we work together as a team. But there's people out there that they don't like to see that they wanted to go back to the old ways. I know that I won't allow that to take place and I will call them out when I need to and I shall. One thing that we're doing here, the four questions that were brought in by this by myself and this commission that was voted unanimously in most cases were put on for this election. There's already people, an entity or wherever it is, out there saying something that is not true, that is totally lying to the citizens of Sweetwater. That will not be tolerated here. Those days are gone. So I will do everything in my power And I will ask you to do the same to make sure that our citizens understand the reality and those days from the past where people used to lie here all the time to try to get whatever they wanted will cease and will end. And that is also important. So I wanted to make sure that we got that out because those are the kind of things that Sweetwater no longer is part of. Our citizens know who we are and what we're doing and these questions were put for their vote. So they're gonna have a right to vote for these questions. I just wanna make sure they understand the question in its entirety and they vote their cautious. So that is one thing I wanted to express up here. clearly, and we look forward to a good election now with these four questions. And that's it. I don't think there's anything else.

Yeah.

Oh. Thank you. You're always covering my back. There's a lady that did an incredible job, but I did it over there. thanked her for her work, but not only her, but her host staff, that did an incredible job in making sure that that park looked great, looked really patriotic, because we are, and the food, everything, there was no issues, the police working with your team, and of course, some of the maintenance people and so on, and the volunteers. I just wanted to thank you publicly again, Sandra Garcia, our park director, for such a good job.

Mr. Mayor, do you want to mention what you achieved with your finance director just recently?

Thank you. I'm glad we're all a team up here. This is the first time I didn't write everything down. Well, actually, you know, we brought up here a couple of times that we were going to go ahead and work at trying to change the financing and trying to improve our financing for the future of Sweetwater. We're no longer the little city. We have grown now to almost four square miles. We started at eight-tenths of a mile. And to do so, we need to make sure our financial stability will be recognized and in the future we could look to do certain types of projects within our city where there's a new city Hall a new police station or whatever it is that we need to do that we had the first thing and that was to get a rating that the city will get rated.

And I would like Scott you want to come up a second.

because this man worked tirelessly to try to make this happen and to get a positive response. So Scott, do you have the floor?

Hi. Um, we contacted the three major names, sir, please. Director city of Sweetwater.

Thank you, sir.

Uh, we constantly contacted the three major rating agencies, Moody's S and P, uh, Fitch and looked at, you know, how they worked and what they were in a charge us and basically went with Moody's. and paid them the fee and they looked through all of our documents and went to our audits and financials and compared them to our peers. You'll see a scorecard in there. Almost all of the grades the city gets are triple A. There's one double A and then there was one a little bit lower and that was based on resident income. But we could have been rated double A1. We were actually rated double A2. But that could improve, but that is about as good as you can get around here in Miami-Dade County. That's what the county has as bond rating. So if we do need in the future to borrow some money to do some major capital projects, the rating agencies already have a head start to look at our ability to repay those bonds. Of course, if we do something that the voters approve, we'll have the full faith and credit of the taxpayers with our rating, and we'll get the lowest interest rate you can get. Good thing.

Do you yield, Mr. Mayor? Do you yield? Absolutely. So, before I begin, does anybody want to say anything on Commissioner's report? No? Okay. So, Mr. Mayor, keep doing a kick-ass job. Every time I say kick-ass, people get a little weird because they say it's a bad word. I don't care. I busted the finance director's chops. because I'm very passionate about Sweetwater. And I've definitely given you a hard time, and we've gone back and forth. We've been on opposition on different items, and I'm okay with that. I can have spirited debates and dialogue. But if there's one thing I'll always do is give credit where it's due. Since 1941, the city of Sweetwater has never, ever, ever had a bond rating. Freaking kick-ass job, dude. So I applaud you. Keep doing what you're doing. Don't change. Mr. Mayor, obviously, you've chosen good people. So keep up the good work doing your stuff. You definitely Thank you, Mr. President, Mr. Mayor. Thank you. Oh, no, you're welcome. So nobody has anything for commissioners report. Okay, good. We're going to scratch that. City Clerk, report? Oh, this game is, I'm going to make it on time. City Attorney's report?

Just very quickly, about a year ago, I filed at the direction of this commission a lawsuit against Michael Ralph for code enforcement violations. That matter settled about six months ago with a six-month payment plan. I am pleased to report that Mr. Ruff has fulfilled his obligation and about 10 days ago delivered a check to the city, cashier's check, in the amount of roughly $137,000. So that matter is now concluded.

Building is under report. Attached. Code compliance report. Attached. Public Works Department report. Attached. Finance department report. You got nothing to report on. You already reported enough. Community and elderly service report. Bucca. Attached. Parks and Recreation. Attached. Great event for 4th of July. Unfinished business. New business. Good of the order. Adjournment. All in favor say aye. Aye. We are adjourned.