City Council - Regular Meeting

you you you Thank you.

Good morning, everybody. If you have a seat, take it. Welcome to Tampa City Council. Why is everybody here today? Okay, I'd like to call this meeting to order. Clerk, could you please call the roll? Oh, we have to end the invocation first. Okay, who has the invocation? Let's do a moment of silence, please. Everybody stand, if you're able. So I can make a remark that Tampa mourns the loss of Dolly Parton. If you are not aware that we have changed our lives on City Hall last night and our cultural assets to pink in honor of her legacy and her life. Now, can we leave the Pledge of Allegiance? I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, So good morning everybody.

Can we do a roll call please?

Can I get a motion to adopt the minutes from the regular session held on August 6, 2026 and the evening session held on August 20, 2026. I have a motion from Councilman Miranda. I have a second from Councilman Maniscalco. All those in favor say aye.

Aye. Opposed?

Thank you very much. Approval of the agenda. We have lots of changes. First, I would like to get a motion to adopt the proposed revised order of business that I emailed everybody yesterday. It mirrors the same pattern we did the last time when we did the MOU. It should have been in your email yesterday. Here's a copy of it if you'd like. So what we'll do is, for the public I will read, we are going to have a special call CRA meeting after item number 69. So the initial public comment is going to be limited to board administration appointments, item three, consent agenda items four through 53, items 54, 57, 78, 81 through 91, and 58, and off agenda topics. So basically in plain language, the first public comment period is going to be everything except for item number 80. So if you're here to speak to the raise, as a matter of fact, if you're here to speak to the raise, you should be downstairs in floor number two because we're going to get to you guys a little bit later today. After item 69, Tampa CRA will be called to order for both bodies to receive public comment on item 80 and the city council agenda on item 1 on the CRA agenda. To speak on board administrative appointments, we already talked about that. To speak to the combined City Council and CRA public comments on item 80 on the City Council agenda and item 1 of the CRA agenda, members of the public should sign up to speak on the first floor. There's a sign-in sheet. If you're here to speak to general public comment, you should have already signed up on a card. If you haven't done one or the other and you plan on speaking today, please find staff over here or outside the chamber and they will assist you in signing up. We'll give a little grace this morning, a little bit of time for people to make those changes if they need to. Again, if you're here in the morning to speak to on agenda items other than the raise, item number 80, you'll need to sign up on a speaker card. If you're here to speak to item 80, please find staff and they'll show you the form to fill out or the sign. Mr. Shelby.

good morning mr chairman martin shelby city council attorney good morning members of council also a reminder with regard to off agenda items off agenda items not related to the raise also require a speaker card be filled out and also if you're here to speak on public hearings which are items 59 to 70 and number 71 to 76, the time to speak at those public hearings are during the public hearing when that item is called up. And the time to do that is when that particular item is before city council. The sign-in sheet outside is for you if you wish to speak and be heard at the public hearings.

Thank you. Also, for council's information, we'll have lunch at 12 o'clock. We'll have it brought into the chambers. And in order to try to make this more expeditious for people waiting, we're just going to break for the 30 minutes since lunch will be here. We won't have to go outside to find food. At a.m. or p.m.? 12 p.m., yes. If we're still at 12 a.m., it'll be breakfast. So we'll have that around 12-ish to 12-30 for the information. That's when we'll break for lunch. For those of y'all that are waiting for public comment for the raise, we may start it before that, but it might continue until after. Okay, can I get a motion to approve the proposed revised agenda? I have a motion from Councilman Maniscalco, second from Councilman Vieira. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Ayes have it. Thank you very much. Now let's go through the agenda. Item number four is a request to pull that in here with item 62. We need to hear item 62 before we approve item four. Can I get a motion, please? I have a motion from Councilman Miranda, second from Councilman Maniscalco. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? The ayes have it. I have a request to continue item number 46 to September 3rd, 2026. I have a motion from Councilman Maniscalco, second from... Councilman Miranda. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Ayes have it. Request to move item 82 to September 3rd, 2026. A motion from Councilman Maniscalco. Second from Councilman Miranda. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Ayes have it. Request to move item 87 to October 1st, 2026. Let's do three at a time. 87, 90, and 91 to October 1st, 2026. A motion from Councilman Maniscalco. Second from Councilman Miranda. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Ayes have it. Okay. I understand there's no administrative updates. Do we need staff on 81, 83, or 86?

I just need to recuse myself from 81.

Okay.

And Mr. Shelby, you were going to have a former.

We will anticipate that.

So that needs to be a separate vote.

Okay. Okay. Very good. Anybody, anything else?

I just want to pull 41 for a separate vote.

41 for a second vote. Okay.

And may I, Mr. Chair?

Hold on one second. Yes, sir. Separate vote. Okay. Councilman Vieira.

Yes, sir. For item number 40, I don't ask for a separate, but I would like to make a brief comment once we pass it, if I may. 30 seconds, whatever.

Okay. Just remind me after. Yes, sir. Do you want to do that right after or can we do it after we finish the consent agenda?

Absolutely. Yeah. In other words, once we pass it.

Okay. So after the consent agenda, I'll recognize if you remind me. Okay. Very good. Okay. Anything else? Staff, do we have anything else that we need to adjust or change? Did I catch it all, Celine?

There was a misnotice on a case. Oh, yeah, a misnotice. Could we see? Can we do that now? Clerk, please?

Okay. That was a misnotice on item number 77. Can I get a motion to move?

No, no, excuse me. I believe it's item 77. Yeah.

I have a motion from Councilman Escalco to remove item 77 from the agenda. Second from Councilman Miranda. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Ayes have it. Mr. Shelby.

And Mr. Chairman, have you taken action on item 71? That also should be removed from the agenda as it has already been taken off per Council's direction.

Motion to remove item 71.

I have a motion from Councilwoman Herchik to remove 71. Second from Councilman Randolph. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Ayes have it. Thank you. And there was also a staff report we needed to remove associated with the police. What was that one? Because it was redundant with the... 585. Can I get a motion to remove 85? I've got a motion for Councilman Vieira, second for Councilman Maniscalco. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Ayes have it. Thank you.

I do need staff here for item 84.

84, we need staff, okay. Okay, any other changes? Item 59, can we pull item 59?

Item 59. Well, actually, that was under the public hearing.

Yeah, it's a public hearing. Okay. All right. Thank you. Okay. Okay. Anything else? Going once. Going twice. We have a motion to approve the agenda from Councilman...

so i just have a um i i mean obviously today is going to be a big day and i know that mr shelby has worked hard on the new resolution for rules of procedure i'm thinking that maybe that might be something that requires some conversation today and maybe that might not be a good idea and maybe we should move it to next week

i'm just like if we wanted to shorten next week's going to be a big week too um okay well then never mind that's just a suggestion yeah remember next week we have the maybe even a bigger sort of public comment okay i had a motion a second you can withdraw it no i'll withdraw it i just i just thought it might be yeah that's fine never mind okay um nope we do not need staff radio 183. Mr. Shelby.

I'm going to make a recommendation that we move those after we move the consent docket so they travel with that and those high ticket items are resolved early in the meeting.

81 and 83 you're referring to and 86? No, 86 is the thing. Never mind. 81 and 83 you're talking about? Yes. Okay. So we'll move 81 and 83 after the consent agenda. Somebody remind me of that if I forget it. Write it down. I'm doing that right now. What was that? Can I get a motion to receive a file 88 and 89? Motion from Councilman Maniscalco, second from Councilman Vieira. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed?

Aye. May I just say thank you to staff for the hard, CFO's office for hard work on those, or at least 89. Yeah. Yeah.

That's it. Okay. Now I had a motion to approve the agenda from Councilman Maniscalco, second from Councilman Vieira, and the addendum. Second. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed, ayes have it. Ooh, that was a complicated one. Okay, we are now at item number one, the aquarium. Councilman Miranda.

Councilman Miranda? Yes, sir. Mr. Chairman, honorable members of the Tampa City Council, it is indeed my pleasure to be with you and stand next to one of the best directors.

I'm sorry, sir. Who are you?

Jose Jimenez. State your name, please. Yes, sir. My name is Charlie Miranda, and I want to get sworn in before I speak later on with the race. I want to make sure I tell the truth. There was a movie about you called To Tell the Truth, Your Honor. But anyway, the convention that we have in the city of Tampa, the business that we have in the city of Tampa, the convention center, it's all related to various many things. One of them is the Florida Tampa Aquarium. Let me say this, I remember where Mayor Sandy Friedman thought about the idea and took it to the task of having it built. And it was open what March of, uh, 1995. And, uh, it's an honor because when I was first elected in 74, which was there with the convention centers, that was about 80 feet of citrus nitrate in open air. It was a little different, but, and now that convention center has made. And I'm not going to brag about it because I didn't do it, but Roger and his staff did it. Uh, four years of over 1 million people in attendance of the Florida Tampa convention center. And Roger's the one responsible for it along with his staff. And he'll talk about that later, but the Tampa city council proudly recognizes the Florida aquarium for being voted one of the 10 best aquariums in the country and USA today. And that is a deeply honor. And it goes to you and your staff. And these things happen. A global leader in maritime conservation, the aquarium hosted the world's first center for special survival focus on coral conservation, pioneering and reproduction of the Atlantic polar and rigged cactus corals. You will talk about that because I don't know too much about cactus corals. The Tampa city council present this combination to the Florida aquarium on the 27th day of August, 2026 and recognition of an outstanding contribution to downtown Tampa. It continues dedication to a stronger, more vibrant community, healthier future for the Tampa Bay region. All together. This means a whole, whole, whole lot to the city because it brings what it called tourist dollars. And they're once one of the reasons that Tampa is doing what they're doing. And not only do they do that, but the children, when they go there, learn a lot about conservation and what to do with an aquarium. Roger, it's your turn.

Well, thank you, Councilman Miranda. And thank you, City Council members. And look, on behalf of our board, our staff. You have to say your name. Oh, Roger German, President and CEO of the Florida Aquarium. Sorry about that. But I will say again, thank you, Councilman Miranda. Thank you, Council members, for the accommodation for your Florida Aquarium, as we like to say as well. As the councilman mentioned, we opened in 1995. You know our story. But over the last few years, we have said make no little plans here at the Florida Aquarium. And we have been driving to create an experience and an aquarium that you and our community not only are proud of, but deserves in a world-class aquarium. So this is a great honor. And so on behalf of myself, our board of directors, Our 300 members of our staff, including Tony Rokita and Sally Keklik, who are here, thank you very much for this honor. And we will continue to drive to make an impact and make this aquarium the best aquarium in the world and, again, one you and our community are very proud of. So thank you very much.

I just want to say congratulations the aquarium is a real asset to our community but one of my favorite things about the aquarium is if you did not know you can go to the public library and you can check out tickets to the aquarium I think you can get four at a time yes yep so you could take your whole family and you don't have to pay for it you're just checking it out from the library it's amazing it's a phenomenal program along with many of the other programs they do but if you live in Hillsborough County Take advantage of that. Take your family to the aquarium. I just think that's something that we don't talk about enough. We are lucky to have the aquarium. It is a wonderful asset, and I really appreciate what you're doing. Your renovation plans are going to just help make it even better.

so thank you roger and thank you for doing everything that you've done with the aquarium i'm really looking forward to the expansion plans and the new exhibits that you're bringing to uh to the community and to the kids and be able to learn about wildlife from all over the world it's a it is as councilman hertech said a great asset and as councilman miranda said it really is remarkable especially when we're talking about these types of things you had an area that was dilapidated warehouses, nefarious kind of businesses, and no economic activity, and the government got involved and they built the Aquarium. And it changed Tampa forever. We have billions and billions of dollars now of growth and infrastructure in these beautiful areas. I mean, I don't know if we would have the streetcar channel side, Water Street, now Future Gas Works, and the revival of Ybor City without the aquarium. It was an anchor piece. I don't even know if the Emily Arena would be there without the aquarium. It's remarkable that one small project becomes a catalyst and we're even going to have a ferris wheel there's a but uh you know it's uh it is remarkable and it is a beautiful building my my family my son my daughter-in-law and my granddaughter are members and are there frequently i think my daughter my granddaughter is only six but she can name every animal and fish in that in that building so thank you for everything that you do thank you for your staff you have wonderful staff it's a great experience and as councilman hertech said if you haven't gone to the aquarium go to the florida aquarium

I just wanted to one when you and I met with along with Tony and you had such a vision for what you want to do with the aquarium. So I'm really excited to see the expansion as well. It's awesome to see. I went to visit when they had the Howard University swim team and the coaches, and they came to the aquarium. And you all provided them with such an experience. And so I'm just happy to have this asset in the community, but also thank you both for your leadership and your outreach and making sure that all of our youth are being exposed and our community can be exposed and come and enjoy the aquarium. So thank you.

Thank you very much. Have a beautiful day. Thank you, guys. Thank you. Okay, Councilwoman Young. Take care, Roger.

All right. Good morning, Council. Councilman Naya Young. So I am very excited today because we are presenting accommodation to Mr. Jamal Jefferson, who is the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Inspire Change Changemaker Award. Tampa City Council proudly honors Mr. Jamal Jefferson for his role as a pivotal community leader and mentor in the Tampa Bay community. This combination is in recognition of Mr. Jefferson's dedication to uplifting the youth of our community through his leadership as site supervisor at the Jackson Heights NFL Yet Center since 2010. The NFL Yet Center, as we all know, is a staple in the East Tampa community, and it provides a safe space for our children daily. They provide after school programs, summer programming, sports mentorship in partnership with the Buccaneers, guitar, ukulele lessons, and other enrichment activities that really just illustrate the variety of paths and opportunities available for students at the NFL Yet Center. Mr. Jefferson additionally supervised the Teens Lead and Change program with Tampa Parks and Rec, and he has helped to organize the primetime turf takeover earlier this year to support teens wishing for more positive gathering spaces. Through his work, Mr. Jefferson has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to providing a safe haven for children and teens in Tampa. He has been a true leader and public servant and is someone that our youth look up to. In gratitude to his efforts, Tampa City Council presents this commendation on this 27th day of August, 2026 to Mr. Jamal Jefferson as Tampa Bay Buccaneers Inspire Change Changemaker Award recipient.

I didn't know I had this many fans. I see the cameras and everything. I'm happy to know they came to see me this morning. In all sincerity, thank you to Tampa City Council. Thank you, Councilwoman Young and your office for the recognition. Also, thank you to Tampa Bay Buccaneers. I don't think I see Mr. Ford here this morning, but the Buccaneers have always been a gracious and supportive partner of us here at Parks and Rec and the Jackson Heights NFL Yacht Center. I'd be remiss if I didn't thank my wife who graciously shares me with the community all the time. My mom is here this morning. My mom is here this morning, my brother, my family, some of my colleagues and peers and other community partners are here this morning. I can't leave without thinking of staff at Jackson Heights, and I have to say their names, Shalonda Dye, Ralph King, Josh Alexander, Martin Jordan, and Omaro Buggs, because I'm the person that people see all the time. I'm the face of the YET Center, but they really do the work. They're the boots on the ground. They're the ones that are engaging every day. So thank you to everyone. I won't hold up too much time, because I heard y'all got something big to do today, so I'll get out of your way, but thank you all for the recognition. Thank the community for the support, and we appreciate it so much. Thank you so much.

Councilwoman Hurtado.

Just thank you for all the work you've done. I know Councilwoman Young, you know, works in this area and was helpful in getting the city's teen takeover project and plan. And I'm really happy that we are doing more and more for our youth. And I'm really expecting and hoping to see in the budget this year more money for those types of programs because it does help our youth and helps with what they want to become later in life, gives them an opportunity and somewhere to go and something to do. And just, you know, Working with youth and children is a calling. Absolutely. And so as a former teacher, I just want to say thank you, because it is a calling that not everyone can do. It is a hard, hard job. And I just really appreciate all the work you put in and the love you pour into each of those children. And thank your family for enabling you to do that. And that's, you know, and if your family wants to come up and just be around you and your supporters, that would be wonderful. Just to see everybody who supports you today. So if you're here to support him, please stand up and come on up and just, I mean, it's really important. Thank you so much for all of the work you all do to support him and the community. Appreciate you.

Lee, it's come to my attention that you're a Jefferson Dragon.

The one and only.

The one and only.

I did that to garner favor with Councilman Miranda. I watch every Thursday. He's always representing the Thomas Jefferson University.

That and the late Councilwoman Gwen Henderson. She was a champion. Oh, I'm sorry, Ann Sue Ling. Our clerks, would you like to stand, Sue Ling?

Thank you very much Thank You mr. Chairman no just congratulations for all the work you do with our youth you know but I know we have some really good folks up there see mr. Tim Crosby with Tampa Fire Rescue good to see you and we obviously have we wanted to recognize a representative elect Jacklin Coffee Leaks is here and we honor you for your service in tallahassee and and and everything and uh see miss oats and lots of different good folks who are here and uh who uh mr ted fowler and just a lot of good folks but particularly with your work with youth um what's the name that movie boy's town father flanagan there's no such bad thing there's no such thing as a bad boy or a bad girl i guess you could say today um i'm a big believer in that and we can't give up on our youth and and we no matter who they are where they come from when you're i mean you your work is based on the idea that when you're a young person so many things are changing rapidly in your world and you're given the chance to do great things, but also to make mistakes. And that with 99.9% of those mistakes, they shouldn't be permanent. We deserve second chances to quote Bryan Stevenson, we're all better than the worst thing that we've ever done in life, the biggest mistake we've ever done in life, but especially when you're a kid. And a lot of times when you're a kid and you come from a certain part of town, mistakes are held against you permanently, and we should do better. We should remember Father Flanagan and nothing wrong with being a bleeding-heart Catholic. So there you go. God bless you. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Thank you. Okay, we'll give a second to clear. Okay, just a reminder. We are going to have public comment on the agenda and off-agenda items except for item 80, except for the raise. If you're here to speak to the raise, this is not your opportunity. Or if you're here to speak to public hearings, this is not your opportunity. So this is for agenda other than public hearings and other than item 80. I have the cards that you should have filled out. Normally we would have stopped building out cards at this point in the agenda But because of this is a little chaotic this morning If you're here to speak to agenda items or off our off agenda items and you haven't filled out one of these cards Please see one of our members of staff and they will fill it out if you're here to speak to the raise issue item number 80 is There is a sheet that you will put your name on and staff can help you out with that as well. We're not going to do public comment for the raise yet. That will come later today after a short bit of city business. I'd like to recognize Mr. Shelby, our city council attorney, to read the rules for public comment. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Martin Shelby, City Council Attorney. Briefly, the rules of decorum for today's meeting. And as the Chair has stated, the members of the public are allowed a reasonable opportunity at the beginning of today's meeting to address any item on the agenda before the City Council takes official action on the item. And as he stated, Per Council's rules, preference will be given to those speaking on agenda items. A three-minute time limit applies to all speakers providing public comment. Speakers and members of the public are also reminded to please refrain from disruptive behavior, including making vulgar or threatening remarks, or making or causing disruptive noises or sounds, or displaying signs or graphics. and please direct your comments to the entire city council rather than individual members. The chair will rule out of order any person who speaks without being recognized or attempts to address the city council from outside the speaker area. at the lectern persons failing to comply with council's rules may also be ruled out of order and at the discretion of the chair may be removed from the chambers and old city hall for the remainder of today's meeting and again if you're here to speak on items set for public hearing and that are items 59 to 70 and 71 through 76 you will have that opportunity Also, no public comment will be taken later during staff reports. The time to speak to those items and items on the consent agenda is now during agenda public comment. And finally, please, City Council, refrain from engaging a speaker under public comment. The public should be aware that the City Council does not take questions or have a dialogue during general public comment. This is your opportunity to express your position to the Tampa City Council. Thank you.

Okay, and since we have a lot of new people, I just wanna remind folks, again, this is one-way communication when you're in public comment. You come to the dais, or the podium, there's a microphone embedded into the podium. And you speak to us, you don't turn around, you don't talk to the audience, you talk to city council. and when you start you start with your name and then you'll have three minutes there's a timer once you see the yellow light goes off you have 30 seconds left of your time because there's some folks that we're not able to make it into the chamber because we are full i'm going to read multiple names off so you'll know that at least you're coming up so if you're downstairs and you hear your name please come to tampa city council chamber the first speaker is going to be pamela cannella And by the way, these first speakers are going to be speaking to on-agenda items. They've indicated on-agenda items. Pam McConella, followed by James Ransom, Stephanie Poynter, and Rick Fernandez. Pam McConella, are you in the room?

Pam, I just didn't know if you were ready for me.

Come on up. If I called your name, you can queue up against the wall if you'd like. Start with your name. You have three minutes.

My name is Pam Cannella. Don't worry, I'm not going to need three minutes. I just want to speak on number 86, the amendment of the city council procedures. Again, I stand by putting public comment, both of them, at the beginning of the agenda. It shows respect to the public and the residents of neighborhoods who wish to express their concerns. And that's where it belongs, at the beginning, both of them together, not at the end of the agenda. Also, I just would like to make a quick comment that I was in the library yesterday and I noticed the on base agenda that I looked at and I go by and prepare for, and then I noticed just a few minutes ago when I looked at it, there was an information added to number 80.

Okay.

Well, let me make it general. I don't think that you should add any information once it's been, you know, It's been put out there for the public to notice and to read, you know, because I didn't see it until I just looked in here today. And I don't think it complies with state and local public notice laws. Thank you.

Thank you, Pam. Jane's Ransom, followed by Stephanie Poynter.

Good morning, Mr. Chair and city council members. I first want to let you know that I'm standing here with some board members from TOBA, TOBA Leadership Institute, and our Saturday morning breakfast group to thank you all for listening to our concerns, reading our concerns about agenda number 59. It has to do with the EBO ordinance proposed change, which we asked you most recently with this week to set aside indefinitely. The reason for that is because we know that taxpayers and voters who look like us and anyone else in the room should feel valued and have a real opportunity to actually do business with the city of Tampa. Anything that takes us further away from that, certainly codifying a law change, is going to make it a little more challenging for us to fix that later. the city attorney, the city council, and the mayor, other alternatives to look at rather than change the law, but look at policies that might still achieve not breaking the law, but still valuing the taxpayers and citizens who look like everyone that should be able to have a fair opportunity to actually do work with the city of Tampa. And so I'm here to thank you for that. Council Member Hertak really pointed that out and helped to support us initially and Council Member Carlson and then all of you, all of you agreed to sort of slow it down, let the attorneys go back and look at it. Now the attorneys sent us some very voluminous legal jargon and we sent back some very voluminous legal responses and they should take some time to look at what we sent back and then suspend and set aside we think indefinitely that situation rather than change the law. So that's why we came this morning. speak about this particular issue, and we'll talk about other things later on in the agenda.

I didn't catch that 59, which is the issue that you're speaking to, is a public hearing. So normally, so if anybody else is here to speak to that item, you got a freebie? For public hearings, the time to speak to those issues are actually during that public hearing.

I will tell you, Mr. Chair, that there's been a little complication in understanding when in the past it was just one segment of time to do certain things, and now we have all these different changes.

If we missed something, we apologize for that. I should have caught it. It's my bad. But you got a freebie. Thank you very much. Appreciate it. Thank you. Okay. We got Stephanie Poynter, Rick Fernandez, and then Frank Purtle III.

Ms. Poynter?

Good morning. Um, Stephanie pointer for the record, the bingo cards are all the same. Sorry. I don't, I might have a prize, but not today. I want to talk to you about the budget because that's what we should all be talking about because Amendment 3 could take our budget and throw it in the garbage. So every year I analyze the top three salaries in each and every department in the city. And the proposal that the mayor brought forward, she said that there was $24.5 million in salary increases. Chief Bennett told me that about 80% of that is union increases. Now, I don't know about you, but if I were in the union, I would be able to say, yes, it's okay to postpone those raises until after November the 5th, because we may cut our budget significantly, and we need to rethink this. The union needs to rethink this. Everybody on staff needs to rethink this. I'm not saying take away their money. I'm saying... Let's just hold off on the increases. But I just analyzed a couple departments because they were the ones who threw up at me. This one was the one marketing and communications that went up by 25% and then the director actually sent an email to you guys and said, no, that's wrong. It's actually correct. His department acquired three more people. I guess he has a hard time going from nine to 12. That's a lot of math. But bottom line is his department did grow by 25% monetarily. The next one and this is funny because this came up, it came up on my timeline on Facebook and the mayor's office. This picture is from a meeting in 2024. So two years ago, I talked about the mayor's salary in her department. This is five people. Their increase will be $166,000 this year for those, I'm sorry, that's between 2023 budget and this budget coming up, 167,000. One person in her department will be getting a 21.9% raise. That's ridiculous.

It's absolutely absurd. So we have to look at all these.

No one wants to lose their jobs. I mean, that's reality. We have no idea what's going to happen. But looking at these two departments, it shows us that we're not being conservative enough with this budget. The other thing I want to talk about for just a minute is item number 41. I want to know when the policy for the city of Tampa.

Damn it.

when the city of Tampa's policy changed that somebody can come back and work for and with the city less than two years after they resigned, after they left the city. This has Vic Bide's name on there, not once but twice. And he approved the contract when he worked for the city. So now we approve contracts and then come back to work for the contract? Yeah, we really probably need to look into number 41 a little bit deeper. Because I have lots and lots of great employees who work for the city who are my friends and they have sat on the sidelines for the last two years and haven't been able to advocate and do work for the city. But this guy can.

Thank you, Ms. Winter.

Thank you. Have a good day.

And the next speaker is Frank Fernandez. But I called Frank Purtle, but it appears as though you want to speak to item number 59. Also, Dorsey, Stephanie Hopkins, Sunday Reynoso, and Tommy Whitehead. Those are public hearings. Your opportunity to speak to those items are public hearings. If that is not your intent, just make sure you get my attention, and I'll call you up. Mr. Fernandez, come on up.

I'm deferring. What's that? I'm deferring.

Okay, Ms. Fernandez for defers. So we've got Sandra Attiles-Tyrell, Allison Date, and Mr. Hayes. Sandra Attiles-Tyrell. Are you in the audience? Good morning. And Allison Date, followed by Mr. Hayes and Valerie Bullard. Go ahead. Start with your name, please, and you'll have three minutes.

Good morning. My name is Sandra Attiles-Tyrell. And I am the co-owner of SAT Industrial Supplies and Solutions, a local small business founded in 2018. Long before SAT Solutions existed, I had the privilege of serving the city of Tampa as a sales representative for a large national distributor. Beginning in 2007, I worked directly with the city departments, learned how they operate, became familiar with their needs, and developed relationships built on responsiveness, reliability, and trust. That experience gave me the invaluable knowledge and the tools to understand government procurement. But when my husband Kevin and I built SAT Solutions from the ground up, we still needed the opportunity to demonstrate what our company could do. The City of Tampa Shelter Market Program gave us that opportunity. This program is not a handout. It does not guarantee us a contract or guarantee our success. It allows qualified small businesses to compete with a smaller pool where our capabilities can be seen and fairly evaluated. We must still understand the specifications, submit competitive pricing, meet every contractual requirement, deliver what we promise, and resolve challenges when they arise. The shelter program may open the door, but our performance determines whether we earn the city's trust to serve again. Although SAT Solutions is a small business, we have built strong partnerships with manufacturers, distributors, and technical experts. These relationships expand our capabilities and help us locate difficult products, obtain technical support, provide competitive solutions, and respond with the personal attention and flexibility that small business can offer. Through the shelter market program, we have gained valuable knowledge, established strong performance history, and grown into one of the city's trusted suppliers. For that, Kevin and I are profoundly grateful. Because of this experience, I regularly speak about this program with other small business owners. Through my involvement with the Tampa Bay Latin Chamber and other community organizations, I encourage entrepreneurs to become certified, understand the city's procurement process, and pursue these opportunities. I share our story because I want other capable small businesses to know that these resources exist and that success is possible. When one local business gains access, performs well, and then help another business find its way to the table, the impact reaches far beyond one contract or company. The shelter market program did not build our success. It gave us a fair opportunity to build it ourselves. Whatever name or structure the program carries moving forward, I respectfully ask that you preserve and strengthen the shelter market essence at its heart. Thank you so very much for letting us share our story.

Thank you very much. And after more advice and counsel from our city council attorney, it was brought to my attention that the, uh, hearing, even though it's a hearing and normally you would speak during those, that hearing, because it's a quasi judicial hearing, non I'm sorry, non-quasi judicial hearing. Um, it would be basically no harm to the record to allow us. What I'm going to do is I'll move through the cards and then I will, I will call up those of you that had indicated that you would to speak to the, uh, item number 59, um, as an agenda item, public hearing during this time, if you choose to, if you want to wait until the public hearing, you have that option as well. Okay. But thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. We've got Alison date followed by Mr. Hayes followed by Valerie Bullard.

Good morning, my name's Allison Date, and I wanted to talk about number 14. Is this the time to do that? I'm all confused. Yes, it is, thank you. Okay, about Nelson's Tree Farm, new contract for $250,000 for Parks and Rec. I just wanted to be sure, because when I looked at the trees that were being allowed for them to plant, there was the famous crape myrtle and bottle brush on there. One of the emphasis of the new, of the revision of the tree code is to focus on planting type one and twos because that's what was removed and also to not plant those this coming year to see how that could, if possible. but use other trees besides those, especially native trees. It's preferred because that's what benefits the other plants and animals and us the most. So that's what I wanted to make sure that those two trees had been removed from the list of trees that are going to be used by the Nelson Tree Farm. So that's all I wanted to say. Thank you very much. Thank you, Alison.

Mr. Hayes, followed by Valerie Bullard, followed by Tara Blema. Bullard. Mr. Hayes? I don't see the doggy. It may be downstairs. Mr. Hayes, if you're downstairs, please come to Council Chambers and I'll call you up as soon as I see you in. Valerie Bullard, are you in? There you are, Valerie. Good morning. And then Tara, followed by Sierra Sizemore.

Good morning, Valerie Bullock from Ponce de Leon and college here. I'm coming out here to talk about number 17 and 20, where we're going to charge the citizens for cleaning up their yards. We really should put that on the moratorium because we are giving all the big money to corporation and the billionaires and the, um, home owners are the ones who suffer. I'm asking you to waive the fees for cleaning up the people property. Thank you. Thank you, Valerie. Okay. Tara.

Tara Bluma. Tara Bloom, if you're downstairs, please come to City Council Chambers, and I will keep your card here. She's in the hall? Okay, if someone wants to get her, I'll call her up next. Sierra Sizemore, followed by Steve McElhinney. Sierra? Sierra Sizemore, if you are in the building, please come to Tampa City Council Chambers. Steve McElhinney.

Minor hearings.

Your hearings, okay. We're going to describe you. Okay, Frank, Frank Birtle. Followed by Sunday Reynoso.

Good morning. I'm Frank Pirtle, business owner of Ambit Engineering, a local small business enterprise. I'm speaking also as a member of the Equal Business Opportunity Advisory Committee. And this is to agenda item 59. And so I'm urging you to adopt 59. I know that there are a lot of changes that have happened nationally and at the state level. And we think that the ordinance changes that we are proposing allow us to continue to support small businesses and not garner the attention of others who are not in support of minority and women-owned businesses. A lot of effort has gone into making these changes, monthly meetings when we're only mandated to meet quarterly. So for over a year now that we're in August, we have met and sought to propose changes that not only support our businesses but allow us to stay in accordance with state and federal law. So thank you for your time. Thank you, Frank.

Okay, Sierra Sizemore followed by Tara Blummo. Good morning.

Good morning.

Start with your name, please, and you have three minutes.

I'm Sierra Sizemore. I'm here because I live very close to the Rays Stadium. If you're here for the Rays, yeah. I can hear their concerts from my bedroom. I've lived in the Tampa Bay area 15 years. I'm just saying where I live. because I'm relating to an intersection that's coming off of Dale Mabry onto Waters.

But if it's about item 80? No. Okay, very good. Go ahead.

It's a traffic concern in general. I just happen to live very close to that area.

Okay, very good. Thank you.

So I go to that tax location very frequently. I know it's one of the busiest in the county and they give good service and I'm really concerned about the relocation in general, because the traffic patterns over there, my area specifically, there is an intersection that has been missing a stop sign for over a year now. And I specifically looked at amendment item eight because the budget was confusing and a little bit General and generic and I have noticed that in that intersection where there should be a stop sign on the opposing side They just put a caution sign and I just worry that we're not We're spending all the funding as effectively as possible in regards to the safety of the area even on the way here. I Saw potholes and I know you guys have heard before about cosmetic concerns where our budget goes mostly to cosmetics and And I'm just asking that you continue doing all the work that you do. I've seen how hard you guys start to work to be earnest about where the money is going to. I just can't see you keep doing that and put citizen safety first because it feels like there's always a rush to spend taxpayer money and not as much of a priority towards citizen safety. And that's really all I have for you today.

Could you please see a staff member to let them know the intersection you're referring to that's missing the stop sign?

I'm here for her.

Would you please see a staff member to make sure they understand which intersection? Yes. Chief Bennett, could you find out what intersection she's referring to? Okay, Terra Bluma followed by Sunday Reynoso. Okay.

Good morning, I'm Tara Bluma. I am here because I want to sincerely thank Mr. Ted Fowler and Mr. John Dellaquilla from the Parks Department for installing eight new beautiful trees at West Shore Elementary. I was here a month ago and begging for these to get um some traction on this project and they heard the issue and they solved the problem so this really highlights the fact that we can plant beautiful big trees and that there are still places to do so i hope that this um the new policies with the tremendous tree program encourage more partnerships between neighborhoods and schools and the parks department to plant more trees and I am very happy that type one and type two trees are going to be prioritized in the new Tremendous Tree contract for the year. I think that that's gonna help our percentages tremendously. I didn't mean to make a pun there. And the clarity that trees will be allowed in the front and side yards and at schools. So thank you very much to the Parks Department. That's all.

Okay, Mr. Hayes, if you are down, and Mr. Hayes and Kyra, if you're downstairs, please come to Council Chambers. Sunday Renoso, followed by Stephanie Hopkins, followed by Junit, I think it's Junit Darcy, followed by Tommy Whitehead. Good morning, start with your name, please.

Good morning, my name is Sunday Reynoso. I'm here for line item 59. I serve on the Equal Business Opportunity Advisory Committee, where we are tasked with advising and championing the policies that ensure equitable access to all businesses, thereby fostering a diverse and prosperous business community, strengthening neighborhoods, enhancing the quality of life for every Tampa resident. I'm one of those Tampa residents, and I have been for about 14 years. And as a certified woman, LGBTQ, Afro-Latina business, I've had my tutoring business for about eight years. And because of the opportunities that are available through the sheltered market, I am counted in instead of out. Even as a small business, I have a seat at the table. And so that's what this ordinance champions. And that's why I'm urging that we adopt this. This is about having a seat at the table where everybody eats. Small businesses, mom and pops, dreamers. This is about the small businesses that need an opportunity. And it's not spoon feeding. It's just having a seat at the table. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Stephanie Hopkins, followed by Jeanette Darcy. Good morning. Start with your name, please.

Good morning, everyone. My name is Stephanie Hopkins. I am the EBOWAC at large, and I also serve as the chair of the subcommittee of governance. And I first off would like to thank each and every one of you for appointing me to this amazing committee. So the question that we need to be concerned with today, the controlling question is what will Tampa look like in the 21st century? This ordinance has two part disparity. The first one is race disparity and the second is economic disparity. So I want to talk about the economic disparity because The numbers that are living in 2026 are from 2008. The dollar has eroded the buying power. So currently every dollar that we put down is worth 63 cents and the 2.5 mil threshold that we currently have for construction has eroded by approximately 35% and is worth 1.6 mil in today's dollars. The African-American wealth is at risk right now by 2053. It is deemed to be at zero by 2045. This will be a minority nation by it will take 708 years for African-Americans to be at the same wealth as our counterparts. So my question is again, what will Tampa look like? in 21st century. Thank you so much.

Thank you very much. Jeanette Dorsey, followed by Tommy Whitehead. Good morning.

Good morning.

Start with your name, please.

You have three minutes. Good morning, chair and members of council. My name is Judy Dorsey, CEO of Skilled Talent Workforce Solutions. It's a certified small business here in Tampa, and I've been in business for over seven years and in workforce development, which is what my organization focuses on. I have over 20 years of experience and works workforce development, and now I'm a small business owner here in this community, and I've lived the realities of this program, both its benefits and its limits. One thing I can definitely speak directly to as a part of the ordinance is the professional services sheltered market threshold. When I first became a registered or certified business in the city of Tampa, I was approached by an employer who not only needed my services, but had three other sister companies who also needed the same services. And because of that threshold, I was able to gain business from them as well. who successfully needed that program, not only to win bids in this area, but to be in compliance, and I was happy to service them. And to keep it short, I respectfully urge you to approve the ordinance. Because of this, it's very helpful to us as small businesses to be recognized in more than one area. It's a practical, overdue update that helps small local businesses like mine compete fairly and grow. Thank you for your time and your investment in Tampa's small business community. Thank you.

Thank you, Judy. Tommy Whitehead followed by Michael Grant followed by David Sinclair. Good morning, Tommy.

Good morning, sir, and thank you for letting me speak today. My name is Tommy Whitehead. I'm with Tomco Solutions. It's a local conglomerate of companies, primarily in construction, AI, and media, recently named Inc. 5000. I'm a local boy. My office overlooks your guys' office. I can see you. So this kind of thing is important to me. I had the privilege of serving on the Equal Business Opportunity Committee for the last year. To those that oppose this revision on principle, they're right. The disparity is real. It's document. I share the concern. I'm married to a black man. I have personally seen discriminatory actions in the last several years against him. And we've been together for more than a decade. It still exists. I wish it didn't. But look at what the program is delivering right now. Everything I'm about to come comes from the city's own public records on the websites. And anybody in this room can pull it. And I'm surprised nobody has quoted these numbers yet. So let's just talk about what this program is doing now. We looked at 64 solicitations from May 2025 through June 2026, roughly $2 million in awarded value. The city received 504 bids. Certified firms accounted for 11 of them. Let's break this down into a couple categories. Black-owned businesses, there's 226 certified businesses. There is one firm out of 504 bids, there was one firm out of 64 solicitations that even pursued anything. So we have an amazing organization. TOBA's great. I love what they do. But there's a misunderstanding. And I'm only quoting numbers, not emotion. One participant. Hispanic firms, 290 certified, three firms that bid. One of them actually won. Zero women-owned certified businesses bid during this period for this data set. So one win, $159,000 out of $2 million, about 7% to 8% from certified firms. So I'm going to ask the committee here. I agree with the idea that we should accept diversity and pick up disparity. But there is nothing you can do by keeping this ordinance that changes these numbers. They haven't applied when they had the availability to apply. And I say they, I say any diversity-owned business or small-owned business. So why are we holding up something or considering posting back something that they haven't even worked for? Black-owned firm that didn't, let me see, the single Black-owned firm that did bid didn't lose on bias. It's numbers. Their bid was $283,000 on a job awarded for $147,000. So I encourage the committee to actually look at the numbers and realize that right now, all these small owned businesses, all these diversity owned businesses are small owned businesses. They benefit from increased shelters, especially construction companies where construction costs have skyrocketed and we can't bid anymore at the values because of the shelter caps. And the small business purchases and procurement card purchases actually increase the threshold to allow these smaller businesses without going through the bid process to assist. So thank you so much for your time. Thank you.

Michael Grant, followed by David Sinclair, followed by Alyssa White. Good morning, Michael. Start with your name. You'll have three minutes.

Good morning. Michael Grant, the Boundless Group. We currently do work for the city. We're here in support of the ordinance change. I'm not a local boy. I'm a naturalized citizen from another country that has no opportunities. And the city has given us opportunity to grow in a small business. But there is a lot of work to do, right? We don't want to sugarcoat anything. Accepting this ordinance is only one step in keeping the program alive and changing. the items that are addressed in the ordinance is addressing reality currently. Increasing the thresholds, increasing the numbers, allowing small businesses to fit and be competitive. I definitely want to call out Tova as some of their insights and what they've shared, valid, but I do also want to request from them as well that, Let's not stop progress. Let's work together, let's partner as we've done currently. One last call out, I want to say thanks to the committee, the EBO committee for all the time they spent. I sat in not even half those meetings and I calculated probably in billable hours we would have lost about $60,000. That's just me. Times that by 12 people, they did it for free, right? So we need to consider that as well. Um, and then lastly, um, I want to call out Ms. Bertha Mitchell. She's tiny, but mighty. She stands up for small businesses. I've seen her do it. I've seen her take the brunt for standing up for small businesses. So I want to call her out and say, thanks for doing that. Um, and we should all support that. And that's it. Thank you very much.

Appreciate it. David Sinclair, followed by Alyssa white, followed by Cabela Mueller. Good morning, sir.

Good morning, everybody. My name is David Sinclair. I'm a volunteer with the Sierra Club. The city's wonderful climate action and equity plan speaks of understanding the needs and concerns of the frontline communities. Included in your plan, you speak of having listened to the community, having listened to what the community says, that wants to promote clean energy and maintain affordability. Also included in your clean energy plan, you mentioned a nifty contribution from Tampa Electric, where Tampa Electric says that TECO is the gatekeeper to 100% clean energy and renewable energy. It is the moment now to listen to the community. and step forward and give the opportunity for the community to have a town hall meeting. So I invite all of the members of the City Council to an October 22nd opportunity for a town hall meeting in the community. So on October 22nd at 6.30 p.m. at the Barksdale Senior Center, 1801 North Lincoln Avenue in Tampa, We'll have an opportunity for a town hall meeting in which the community can come together. We're inviting officials of Tampa Electric to come also so that we can, as a community, talk about the issues of affordability and clean energy, particularly at a moment when the electric rates of Tampa Electric have risen to the third highest in the U.S. in a time when the energy production of Tampa Electric is only 17% in the Sunshine State. You're all invited to come October 22nd so that we may speak as a community and deal with some of the issues that are very important for us. You're all invited to attend.

thank you thank you sir i appreciate it we have four more in-person speakers i'm going to call those four names if you believe you were supposed to speak this morning on these items and please bring your uh attention to myself so we can fix that issue if there's a problem alyssa white cabella mueller sergeant dos and ash leva good morning start with your name you have three minutes

Good morning council members. My name is Alyssa white. I'm the climate justice organizer with Florida student power and a member of the Hillsborough affordable energy coalition. And I'm here today because I am deeply disappointed in the lack of action from the city on the rising costs of utility bills. Not because the city doesn't recognize that these rising electric costs are hurting people. You do recognize it. I think we've been able to meet with most of you, and you've all agreed that this is a pressing issue for community members. But what's disappointing is that we keep hearing that this is a serious issue, yet we are not seeing any action that should come with that acknowledgement. because while we are here today discussing a lot of new business, Tampa family members are struggling right now with their electric bills. They are continuing to open their bills and wonder how they are going to pay them. And these aren't just abstract numbers on a spreadsheet. These are your constituents. Our coalition has been door knocking. We've hosted events and we've talked to community members about their struggles with their bills. And the city hasn't done that. And here's the part that I think deserves even more attention. Tampa taxpayers are paying this bill twice. Residents are paying their own increasingly expensive bills and their tax dollars are also paying for the city's electric bills. According to the city in fiscal year of 2025, you all spent approximately $25.1 million on electricity. And the city did something right. It reduced its energy consumption by switching to some solar options, and you guys saved about 9.3%, which is about $1.8 million. And that's great. But even after using substantially less energy, rising rates and the rate hikes are eating at those additional savings. So when the city itself is being financially impacted by these rate increases, I don't understand how we can say that this is simply outside of the city's purview. You may not control the rates, but you're absolutely in control of whether you speak up, you're in control of whether you use your voice, and you're in control on whether this council stands with the people who elected you. And frankly, residents need more than an acknowledgement that this is a problem because we are the ones living with it. We need action. So I'm asking this council to do something concrete. There's options. Pass a resolution. I know that we've approached each of you with it, calling for affordable, transparent, and reasonable energy rates for Tampa residents and formally communicating that position to the Public Service Commission. Hold a public town hall. I know my colleague David just talked about that. Or bring TECO and the appropriate state regulators to the table and make them answer questions from the residents who are paying these bills. If the city believes that there are limits to what they can legally or practically do, then please tell us what those limits are and what you're going to do within those limits.

because saying we don't control the rates cannot be the end of the conversation it should be the beginning of a question of what you guys can do we have already demonstrated that the city can reduce its energy your time is up thank you so much also if you are downstairs and you are here for a public hearing if you're downstairs and you're here for a public hearing please come to tampa city council chambers please cabella mueller followed by circuit dos Good morning.

Hi. Hi, council members. It's nice to see all of you. I'm Isabella with Food and Water Watch and the Hillsborough Affordable Energy Coalition. And I know we have a really packed agenda today, but I'm here again to make the ask to pass an affordable energy resolution and to join us in our work for fighting for affordable energy in Hillsborough County and Tampa. And as Alyssa mentioned, we've had this conversation with most of you and we all agree that TICO bills are too high and there really needs to be something done about this. And so earlier this year, we came to you urging you to pass this resolution, calling on our state lawmakers to pass affordable energy reform. And we did this because we believe that you all can be champions in advocating for affordable energy solutions and standing up for your constituents that are struggling to pay their bills. And since hearing your concerns, I have revised a new resolution for all of you to look at. And this includes specific actions that we all believe are within your purview that you can take action on, such as opposing electricity rate hikes that disproportionately burden residents, urging state lawmakers to pass affordable energy reform next year, utilizing state and federal funding for energy efficiency and clean energy programs, requesting the release of Tampa-specific shutoff data, which would be really useful to have, connecting residents with more cost-saving energy programs, opposing the construction of hyperscale data centers, then also calling for accessible in-district hearings. Tampa Electric is expected to have another rate case next year, so that's something you all can directly do when that's happening. And so with that, we've heard your concerns. I've drafted a new resolution for you all to review, and I'll pass that over after this. However, as Alyssa mentioned, I have been pretty disappointed with the lack of response from council members lately. The coalition has been reaching out to your offices all summer, calling, emailing, and I know you all are busy, but we have not been getting any response from you. Again, this is something that we feel we can work on. and find these solutions that are within your purview to help with this issue and i also understand as we have mentioned that you guys do not directly set the rates for tampa electric we know that you do not control the public service commission ultimately reform will come from the state level in Tallahassee. But we also all know that change does not stop at the top. It stops at the bottom. And so that's why we're asking you to join us in this work. Start at the local level and really start pushing forward with these small solutions and changes that we can make so that then we can ultimately drive that statewide level of reform that we're really looking to to crack down on just the pure corporate greed that we're seeing from these utility companies. So, with that, I hope you look at this new resolution and happy to discuss more over coffee or another meeting.

If you had a document to share, could you hand it to Mr. Polk? Okay, Mr. Doss followed by Ash Levy. How are you all doing? I'm Mr. Grant Doss.

I appreciate the commendation given to one of the University of Thomas Jefferson's own, Jamal Jefferson. I had the pleasure of coaching him when I got off active duty in the military. So I'm not going to steal his shine and give you all what I really wanted to earlier today, but I'm going to say something to the young people out there. I came in this morning, I was listening to Lamont Hill and Dr. Greg Carr. on urban view today discussing messaging and who's responsible for giving proper messaging to the people whose lives are ultimately affected by people like you all, the politicians. And unfortunately in our community, and it doesn't matter whether you're black, white, green, blue, or purple, we have too many people who have become intellectually lazy. Information is so readily available that you have no excuse for not finding information. You don't have to have information fed to you through some sort of straw that's palatable to you. We're in very serious times. And we have some people in my community who love hopping on platforms and diminishing the accomplishments of our ancestors who gave sweat equity and blood equity to help you acquire the rights that you think you've earned or you have. And I'm not just saying it as a veteran. There are some of us who would actually take a bullet to keep this country at a place where we help fulfill the duty of our posterity to generations to come. I'm really concerned that my children and grandchildren won't have the benefit of at least some sort of sanity within our country. I think we're teetering along the edge of the collapse of this thing. We kind of are following the guide of Rome. This is what happens when you put fools in power. And especially you put fools in power because you've chosen to be apathetic and not exercise the ability to control who your representatives are. I like to see more young people in here. I couldn't call Jamal young, but it's amazing how the time flies. You know, I'm 58, but I can, he gives me hope that The kids that he influences will hopefully take his lead and become better people than, of course, I have. Spirited debate, spirited discussion is necessary. My brother and I have it all the time. He's, of course, a distinguished professor at the nation's largest HBCU. I'm not, of course. But I always say sometimes it's not about right or wrong, people. It's about clarity. You'll never reach resolution if you're not willing to engage in honest dialogue, even if the dialogue is with yourself. Shout out to the greatest institution of higher learning in the city of Tampa, and you all showed it today, the University of Thomas Jefferson High School.

Thank you, Mr. Dawson. Okay, our last in-person public speaker is Ash Levy. Levy, did I get that right? Levy?

My name is Ash Levy. Thank you very much, Chair and council members. Like I said, my name is Ash Levy with Blue Sky Communities, with offices at 180... Fountain Parkway North in St. Petersburg, but I'm also here as a proud Tampa homeowner. My house is near St. Joseph Hospital and the Tampa Box Stadium. First, on behalf of Blue Sky, I want to thank you all for your support and your hard work on supporting Blue Sky's affordable housing efforts and for everything you do to ensure Tampa residents have access to high quality affordable housing. In 2024, we began planning and pre-development for the Adderley Phase II near the corner of Bush and Nebraska. You helped us out by committing substantial funding early on, even before we had the rest of the funding line up, and that is the key. Your confidence in us propelled us to apply for and win a very substantial funding package from the Florida Housing Finance Corporation. And so today, I'm here to officially announce that blue sky together with our partner, metropolitan ministries has received final on appealable approval from the state of the rest of the funding necessary to build the elderly phase two. And we will start construction in 2027. Uh, this development, uh, will be 100 units of senior housing, of which 50 will be permanent supporting housing for seniors that are homeless. And as we know, homelessness among our elderly neighbors is a big problem these days. Again, we could not have gone this far without your support. And I must add, without the cooperation and professionalism exhibited by your staff in many departments, including housing and community development, development coordination, city attorney, and city administration. Muchisimas gracias, and we can't wait to invite you all to the groundbreaking next year. Thank you. Thank you. Muchas gracias.

We're very appreciative of Blue Sky for their contributions in building that city for everybody. Thank you.

So I have to remind everybody that we don't applaud. We don't click. We don't applaud. This is their opportunity. I get it. We have a lot of new people they don't know, so no applauding on the council office. Again, I've said before, because if I allow quads, we have to allow the boos, and we're not going to do either one. That was our in-person, that was it. If you're in the room and you thought you were supposed to speak, please bring it to my attention now or forever hold your peace. Seeing none, we have one online public, oh, should they both on now? Okay, very good. Connie Burton. Start with your name, please, and you'll have three minutes. Unmute yourself, Connie.

Good morning.

Good morning. Start with your name, Connie. We can hear you.

Yes, good morning. Peace, power, and blessings. This is new. This was a science project trying to get through to this thing. But anyway, I just want to make my comments regarding this agenda this morning. And it is full with, you know, the hopes of the people, the hopes that you are listening. I know that there's a lot of moving pieces around the upcoming big decisions, whether it is the vote for property tax extension, the elimination of it, or this prize piece golden elephant that people really want to

see in this community not really want to see because Connie we're not doing the raised public comment right now so if you restrict it to the general public comments that'd be great okay thank you so

If you really want to do affordable housing, don't dangle it in front of the people's face. Don't say it comes with conditions of A, B, and C. If the CRAs are to improve, give us some timelines. Give us some money that's going to be attached to it. Again, don't dangle it in the face of people at East Tampa that has been waiting well over 20 years to see the quality of life. improve for the residents that's there. When we talk about small businesses, we need to have also some type of resources made available because many of our young people have not been attached to vocational training. It was purposely done. that it was eliminated from our school. So the poverty that we see in our community I don't just blame the people I blame people in power. So this is your opportunity. Those of you who want to have a good service record in public service understand that your full mission should be that for the people and not for developers and not for entertainment gatherings. we are in need of so much more and we need the proper leadership unfortunately some of you will be gone and then we would have to deal with this with a new administration and also new council members so don't handcuff the new people that are coming on board with your painted desires. But stay focused in knowing that if you're talking about workforce housing, mixed-use community, that it comes back to those communities that is indeed in need of it. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Burke. Michael Randolph, bring it home. You're our last public speaker.

Yes. Respectfully, Mr. Chairperson, I ask to be referred into the raised conversation on item 80.

Okay, if you want to just, will he have a separate logon for that at the same time? You just want to stay on and listen? Okay, very good. We'll all recognize you when we get to item 80. Thank you so much. Thank you, Michael. Hope you enjoy the rest of your morning. Have some coffee for us. Councilwoman Hurtek.

Based on some public comment, I think it would probably be a good idea to pull item number 41 and hear from staff. That is the one, that is the REIA grant.

We've actually, we're already doing that. Item 41 is going to have a separate vote.

No, it's a separate vote, but I would like to hear from staff.

Oh, okay. So you're requesting staff on item 41.

Correct.

Okay. Staff, if you are available.

Is that to be done under staff reports later on?

Yes. Yes, I'd like to move that to...

Okay, I have a motion for Councilwoman Hurtek to move item 41 to staff reports, the second for Councilman Carlson. Councilwoman Young.

Or rather, items moved from consent agenda.

I'm going to move my items, but I have a question for number 14.

Let's take care of this business first. Okay, so I have a motion, I have a second. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Ayes have it. Okay, Councilwoman Young. no i'm just i'm i'm going to move my items but i don't know if i should ask the question now or we'll wait till we get to well why don't we wait till we get there because we've got one more item before we get to it okay very good okay board administrative appointments we have a resolution that's prepared by councilman our councilman shelby mr shelby mr shelby i recognize you thank you mr chairman martin shelby city council attorney per council's

motion based on its vote on August 6th, I have prepared for you a resolution approving, confirming, and ratifying the appointments to the Natural Resources Advisory Committee. You also, that day on August 6th, made a motion and directed me to come back with resolutions regarding alternates. Council, it is necessary for me to inform you that at the time you did that council lacked legal authority to appoint alternates to the board because it is a 13 member advisory board and normally on advisory boards that are not going to be making those findings there are no alternates on advisory boards generally this is a 13 member board with a seven member quorum and if you wish to discuss this further we can do it under new business uh... and i uh... i have additional uh... information about that but i just wanted to share with you that it was brought to my attention and my apologies to the public and to the board that i was unaware that at the time of the vote the the the the motion was out of order because council lacked legal authority to take action because there is no authority to appoint alternates to that board.

Okay. So we have a resolution approving the members. Mr. Shelby, will you take it upon yourself to notify the alternates that were selected about this issue so you can explain it to them?

that's council's direction i would i would appreciate that the chair's direction i'd be happy thank you thank you very much if i recall the alternates were miss lawson uh who's here and there was another young woman from uh terrace park thank you okay miss jackson haney i i

Well, the list of appointees are in front of you, and I don't know who the list of alternate are.

Let's deal with the business that we have before us.

I don't need it.

Two seconds, if I may, Mr.

Chair.

I would ask Mr. Leon to get the other alternate. Obviously, Ms. Lawson's here, but just put me in contact with him so I can speak with her on something, if you don't mind. Thank you. Yeah, very nice woman, like Ms. Lawson.

And again, my apologies to the appointees and my apologies to the public, and especially my apologies to counsel. But quite frankly, I did not have that information at the time that Council made that motion.

Okay, very good. So I have a motion from Council Maniscalco, a second from Council Miranda to adopt the resolution. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? The ayes have it. Okay, we are to, is there anybody in the audience that requests public reconsideration of legislative matters? Hearing none, consent agenda. Okay, Public Safety Committee, Councilman Vieira, would you please move items 5 through 13?

Yes, sir. Hereby move.

5 through 13. What's that? No, we're moving that to 62. Okay, I have a motion from Councilman Vieira, a second from Councilman Miranda. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Ayes have it. Councilwoman Young.

I'm going to move these items, but for 14... It's not 14%, but for the Tremendous program. So if I heard public comment correctly, that we use the Tremendous program, we're able to plant some trees at West Shore Elementary. Is there anyone here that can answer that question for me?

Yeah. Carl Brody from Legal.

Oh, Mr. Fowler is here.

Oh, Mr. Fowler is here. So he's administrating. He's actually doing it. A better subject matter expert. That's right.

Good morning, Council. Ted Fowler, Parks and Recreation Director. We did not use a tremendous program. We used it out of our operating budget.

Okay. Thank you for that clarification because I know that was something that I was wanting to know if we could use the tremendous program to plant trees at schools. I'm very happy for West Shore Elementary. I'm hoping that we can do the same at Young because they have a lot of open space.

spoken with hcps and said that they may be amenable to that so absolutely just putting down your docket okay can you move item 14 through 27 i move items 14 through 27. i have a motion for councilwoman young second councilman all those in favor say aye aye opposed i have habit councilman maniscalco infrastructure committee i move items 28 through 42 41 is going to be a separate vote is that correct that is correct yes so um and what was with 40 that you uh okay so after we do it that's right okay so we have a motion councilman who was the second councilman miranda all those in favor say aye aye opposed eyes have it okay and then item number that we pulled was 41. okay separate vote okay so who wants to move the resolution no no it's a staff report we moved it to staff report i got it okay very good Okay. Finance committee chair, 43 through 50 council. Oh, and actually the 46 is continued. Yeah.

So 43 through 45 and 47 through 50.

Correct. Second motion for council Miranda, second councilman Scott, all those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed. Ayes have it. Councilman Carlson development, economic opportunity committee, 53 53. Mr.

Chair, I'm going to abstain from 52 and 53 in abundance of caution. My, my firm has a. client that may be related to this, although we don't have anything to do with this and don't work on these kinds of issues. Would you move 51, please? So I'll move 51. Second. Okay.

I have a motion from Councilman Carlson, a second from Councilman Maniscalco. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Ayes have it. Councilwoman Young, would you move 52 for 53?

I move item 52 and 53. Second.

Okay. We have a motion from Councilwoman Young, a second from Councilman Vieira. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Ayes have it.

Motion carried with Carlson abstaining.

okay councilwoman i move items 81 and 83. thank you i have a motion councilwoman uh her second second councilman scott put a move items 81 and 83 83. all those favor say aye aye opposed eyes have it thank you uh councilman beer wants to say something first councilman pierre yes sir

I did want to speak, and I appreciate it, for item number 40. I see we have some new Tampa folks here today. I see we have Mr. Alan Cohn, Chief Lopez, saw Dr. Jim Davison here somewhere, and I know Robin Lockett was here. But this is, I wanted to briefly speak about this item number 40. This is something that's a very big deal for New Tampa. This approves an agreement for design-build for services for the K-Bar Ranch Park, which is gonna be a really big, wonderful addition to the city of Tampa and New Tampa. That park's been a long time coming. So this is something that formally begins the process and public outreach can come from here and now we can set up those public outreach meetings with New Tampa. And so I just wanted to highlight that. Because I think that's a that's a great thing. So thank you counsel for your support and everybody for their hard work on it Thank you. Thank you. Councilman. We are a councilwoman hurt.

I apologize. I need to rescind the vote for 81 383 because I was supposed to risk recuse myself from 81.

So we have a motion to reconsider the votes for 81 through 83. A second from Councilman Vier. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Ayes have it. Can I get a motion to move items 81 through 83? No, just can you do it separately?

Because I'll move item 83.

Okay. We have a motion from Councilman Hurtick to move item 83. Second from Councilman Maniscalco. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Ayes have it. Can I have a motion to move the other two?

And the reason, it's just the other one, 81. And the reason I'm recusing myself from this is because I recused myself during both the hearing and the money for this because I own a house on this block.

Okay, can I get a motion to move 81? So moved. Second. A motion from Councilman Maniscalco, second from Councilman Miranda. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Ayes have it. Thank you. Motion carried. Sorry.

Motion carried with Hurtak abstaining and Carlson being absent at vote.

And Councilman, I will provide that form for you before the end of today's meeting.

Thank you. I believe I heard Councilman Maniscalco said he would like to move, accept the public hearings. Thank you. I have a motion for Councilman Maniscalco, second for Councilman Miranda. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Ayes have it. Can I get a motion to open the public hearings?

Okay.

I have a motion for Councilman Maniscalco to open the public hearings. Second for Councilman Miranda. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Ayes have it. All public hearings are open now. Okay. Item number 59.

Hello again. Good morning, Council. Carl Brody, legal.

And we have... Bertha Mitchell, Director of Strategic Business Development.

And we want to thank you for the opportunity to discuss the proposed changes to the ordinance, formerly the Equal Business Opportunity, now Strategic Business Development. And I want to talk to you a little bit about what the ordinance does, what the benefits are, and to address some of the concerns that the community has about the impacts of making these changes. So as I came to you last time, we did note that this isn't what we want to do. We agree with everybody that diversity is important, but We're stuck with several federal executive orders and directives. We have a state law that has just passed and will go into effect in January. And between these and the other interpretations that we're getting from the courts, legally we're being told that we are in jeopardy if we have a race or gender conscious program. Very importantly, the new law, SB 1134, which will be codified, that covers the waterfront. That covers everything. It basically states that we can't have any kind of program that provides any special benefit based on race, gender, ethnicity. There is no exception, whereas at least with the courts, there's some consideration in terms of if we can satisfy a strict scrutiny standard. That's not... That's not provided for in the state law.

Point of order, Mr. Chair, if I may. And I apologize. We should have our attorney in here for this. Where's Mr. Shelby? We should have our attorney in here for this item.

Mr. Shelby returned to council chambers.

And I apologize. Thank you.

Would you like me to continue or wait for Mr. Shelby? No, pause, please. Wait for Mr. Shelby. If the staff in the back can find Mr. Shelby. and put him back in his box.

If I can approach separately, Mr. Whitehead failed to provide support from the South Tampa Chamber of Commerce. So if I can provide that also.

You can provide that to Mr. Shelby.

He is back and you can proceed with the presentation. So as noted, state law is is black and white. It's saying that we can't have any programs that provide any benefits based on race, gender, ethnicity. That has to be addressed, and how we addressed this, and even previously when we were concerned with the federal changes, was that we suspended the current program. as it applied to race and gender. So right now, status quo is none of the businesses that we're concerned about are receiving any of the benefits of the program we have in place right now. That's suspended. They're not getting any benefits. What this ordinance does is it addresses both those firms that are being impacted now and other small businesses by increasing thresholds. What's that mean? That means that if I have a business... Can you pause for a moment?

If your cell phone is not on silence, please silence it now. If it goes off again, I'm going to ask you to leave the council chambers. Thank you.

Okay, so what does that threshold issue mean? That threshold issue means that if I have a business, whether it's a black business, Hispanic business, small business, I graduate from the program, which means I can no longer receive the benefits of participating in a sheltered market. When I go to bid, I only go to bid against the really big firms. That's obviously going to limit my ability to be successful. Increasing that threshold allows these businesses that are successful to continue to receive the benefits of the sheltered market and bid against other firms of similar size and not have to bid against these large, large firms. Also, the thresholds are set on our projects. Our projects are set at a level from 2009, so that means we're still 15 years behind in terms of inflation, in terms of costs. We all know how much those have gone up. This will increase the projects that these firms can bid on. All this is of special benefit just for small businesses, race conscious, so that we avoid any kind of challenges from any any party that might decide that they want to challenge any changes to the ordinance that would provide a special benefit based on race or gender. So, I mean, I think that it's very important to understand that what we're doing here is going to benefit all businesses, but especially going to benefit our small businesses that have a racial or gender component. Also, let me just, real quick, real quick. To address some of Toby's points, we're doing that now. We can do that in the future in terms of administratively addressing some of their issues like unbundling and things like that. That wouldn't be in the ordinance anyway. That's going to be something that's done on the EBO purchasing and CAD side. That can be taken care of without jeopardizing the new opportunities for small businesses. So I would say about 90% of their concerns can be addressed. A disparity study can be addressed while we have the updated ordinance that provides these extra benefits and protects the city against potential liability. I'm not going to give you my full spill on this. I'm just trying to keep, we've got a busy day. But I think it's very important for you guys to know that, you know, what we're doing here today, what the new ordinance does is all plus. Nothing that has been raised as a concern can't be addressed while we have the new ordinance that provides the new benefits to the small businesses. Thank you.

And the rest of them, can we make sure we have the timer set for ten minutes? Yeah. Councilman Carlson.

Yeah, first I want to say thank you to you and city attorney steady for the time you all spent in meeting with me and the TOBA representatives and listening to all their concerns directly and addressing them and all the follow-up that you all did. I assume you did something similar with my colleagues a lot of time and that there are a lot of concerns in the committee. My question to you, which they raised and to put it back out again is, why can't we just leave this suspended and or is there a way to leave it so that it's easier to bring back if these policies change. You know, the challenge is that if suddenly within a year or two years these policies change and we need to bring it back, then we have to rebuild everything again. How can we set it up so it's easy just to turn it back on?

Thank you. And for clarification points, and that's the longer form has this. The way we rewrote this ordinance, we still acknowledge the protected classes. We acknowledge... Black businesses, Hispanic businesses, LGBT businesses, veteran businesses. We acknowledge all those and we do that because if after we do studies, and this is something the department does right now and they're going to continue to do. They look, and that's part of what the ordinance keeps in place, is that we're going to continue to do record keeping so we can see where the disparities arise. And when we see a sufficient support to move forward with making those changes, all we do, is take whichever protected classes it is that we see the disparity in and we amend the ordinance to add that class to what's currently under the small business group or eligible business enterprise right now. So it's not a difficult process. It will take no more than a couple weeks to come to the city council to present the evidence we have that supports the need to address the disparity and to get you to approve the change.

Councilman Vera. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Uh, and you know, some of in councilman Carlson got to some of my concerns. I called up, you know, I've spoken with y'all on it. Y'all have been wonderful. And I think you offer your hard work on this. And I also wanted to thank, and I know we all appreciate everybody who came here to speak on this. A lot of sincere voices who are talking about the good in this ordinance, um, and the many good things that it does. My concern on this is, is that as councilman Carlson said, it takes things. that may be temporary and potentially makes them permanent. And I would like to see something that takes the benefit out of this without making permanent some of the things that are potentially a temporary political reality. Nobody, and I want to be very clear, nobody is saying we have to be inconsistent with Florida law. Nobody's saying that we should act in any way that is inconsistent with either applicable Florida law, federal law, and so forth. but to make things permanent i think gives gives uh uh some pause and i do think we need more time for this and that and that troubles me because of a lot of the good people that we hear today you know mr ransom had uh noted uh in his remarks a salute to uh councilwoman pertak uh for bringing up this issue and i did want to salute you man for that because you spoke out on this on the first time around and i think that's something that's that's worth saluting i always like to do that um and it's it it takes something to be a person who speaks out and and talks about that so thank you ma'am but again i i do think you know, that we do need more time on this. That's my opinion. We can get the good out of this without making permanent things that maybe aren't permanent. Again, nobody is saying we have to act inconsistent with federal law or state law and so forth, but there may be another way to get there. That's my challenge. But, again, thank you. Yes, sir.

If we can just acknowledge that, I mean, the ordinance is written to address that specific concern. We know it's, well, we hope it's not going to be permanent. That's our hope. Honestly, the fastest way to be able to achieve your goal is to pass this ordinance because it's already baked in. The ordinance bakes in making this update when we find that we have sufficient support to be able to move forward. And I know there was a reference to disparity study. Nothing in this new ordinance will stop us from doing a disparity study. Nothing in this new ordinance will stop us from doing the current analysis that we do to determine if there are issues that need to be addressed. And nothing in the ordinance will stop us from taking some of the TOBA recommendations in terms of unbundling, in terms of providing additional support for small businesses, and which would include women and minority businesses. I mean, the ordinance doesn't do that. Really all plus, no minus. The ordinance is just a quick anecdotal story. I just caught a guy out in the hall. He has a black business. His black business is no longer eligible to participate in the small, in the program because their revenue is too high, just a little bit too high, not a lot. They're not, you know, making money hand over fist, but they're just a little bit too high to be in our program. And this ordinance would allow him to return, be in the program, and be able to bid on higher projects. So, I mean, that's what we're looking at. Hold on a second. Yes, thank you.

Okay, whoever's phone has just gone off, last warning, silence your phones.

Sorry about that Okay, is there any other questions councilman young

Um, so I, when this, you know, first, um, came about, I, you know, ended up voting because I understood that, you know, what is coming down, um, you know, from Tallahassee that is out of our control. Um, I've had the opportunity to meet with the EBO and, um, you know, the, the committee members, multiple occasions that have worked really hard, um, on this. And I appreciate you all's hard work. My question is, I have two questions, and you may have already answered it. Is there some kind of reporting, like let's say if this passes, is there a reporting that you all could come back to us and say, with this new program, we actually have been able to increase. We actually have seen an uptick in opportunities for our minority women-owned businesses. Is there some type of reporting that is attached to this that we could come back and say, we actually do see the benefit. And then from that, if the report comes and it says, you know, it's actually kind of the same or it's not getting any better, are we able to go back and say, okay, this is not working, we need to do something else that is still in accordance with the Florida law?

Thank you. Bertha Mitchell, Director of Strategic Business Development. We are collecting the data However, we can't see the true benefits of what the ordinance proposed because the thresholds are not at their max. And so, sure, we can come back. However, our small businesses are still not reaping the benefits of the ordinance. And that's hurtful to them. I spoke to business owners at an outreach event last evening. And I asked, would you rather have a $200,000 project or $500,000 project? And it was obvious. So I won't be able to give you the real stats because the ordinance hasn't been approved.

Right. I'm saying like, if it is approved, will you all come back with reporting to say, yes, this is working, no, it's not.

Yes.

And Councilwoman, that's also baked into the new ordinance. the department is required to do this record keeping and they're required to come back to you and give you an update. And that's why we need the new ordinance because it addresses all your concerns really. It might not be perfect because we can't do certain things in terms of race and gender consideration, but it takes care of everything else and it assures that you're going to be aware of how successful the program is moving forward.

And then if from that reporting we find that maybe this is not working, are we able to go back and make changes that are still in accordance with the Florida law?

Absolutely. If we find it there, first of all, by doing the record keeping, we'll be able to tease out what the problems are. And then we can address those directly. And part of that, remember, is part of why you have that EBOAC, why you have that advisory committee. Because that's what they're going to be doing the whole time, if we can prove this, the whole time from Moment of approval till the next time we meet before you, they're going to be teasing out all the specifics of what the benefits are, where we could improve, what we can do to be sure that we're hitting the groups that we want to without violating the law. That's what they're tasked with. And as you've seen, they're very supportive of moving that forward.

Okay, thank you.

Any further questions? Councilwoman Hurtado?

Yes. I understand that to me this is kind of an apples and oranges argument because if there's no reason we couldn't just change the levels in the current ordinance we already have. Correct? yeah we can change those we can bring back that and change those levels so I think that to me is the issue you're making this about wanting to pass this ordinance because it increases the thresholds but we don't have to pass this ordinance to increase the thresholds we can increase the thresholds of the current ordinance and I understand your position and the city's position I'm just saying that I i'm not going to vote for this because i don't agree with taking out minority representation and focus but i do want the public to understand that we could increase the limits without voting for this new ordinance we could simply change the ordinance we already have and i just wanted to make sure that people understood that

Yeah, and if I can just clarify, to change the thresholds, we're going to have to change the ordinance. Correct. So we would have to come back to you with a new ordinance regardless. Now, the point is we come back to you with a new ordinance that has everything that you're concerned with, which I completely understand, suspended and not applicable. The ordinance we're bringing before you allows us to have a more efficient process in making that change because the ordinance you have before you is very specific about each protected class. I think we have eight different protected classes that we're going to be analyzing once we get data on it. So it provides very specific, narrowly tailored, definitions for each class, and that's what we need to do to be able to support making changes that would benefit any class based on disparity.

Again, I appreciate that, but I'm just saying we don't, I don't want the public to believe that the only way that we can increase these thresholds is to pass this new ordinance. We simply don't need to. We could pass them in the old ordinance. So thank you.

That's all I wanted to say.

Yes, Mr. Shelby.

I have not had an opportunity to get involved in this discussion. I have not met with Mr. Brody on this, but I'm taking a look at 16604971, which I'm sure you're familiar with, which was the genesis of why you are here, and it looks like to to come back with the same ordinance just to change the numbers, maybe actually taking something that would trigger this provision. So I don't think that would be an appropriate recommended response, Mr. Brody, to actually come back with the same ordinance that you have now and ask Council to take action on it.

MS. Mr. Shelby, that's not what I was saying.

MR. I'm sorry.

MR. Just to clarify, so we can all be on the same page.

MR. Hold on, please.

And I just wanted Mr. Shelby to know that's not what I was saying. I was just making the point that we don't have to create this new ordinance to do this. Yes, we may be a foul of other things, but it just sounds like the only way we can do this is to pass this new ordinance, and that is not true.

Mr. Brody, could you explain the jeopardy the city would be in if we don't pass this?

Mr. Yes, absolutely. So we have several different levels. We have federal level we would lose, potentially lose any contracts we have with the federal government and any grants we're receiving from the federal government. And those numbers are high. We're talking in millions. From the state law, we can potentially, well, actually you, city council, can be subject to a challenge based on malfeasance, which can result in removal from office. And we can also be subject to challenge from any resident of the city that the ordinance doesn't comply and we'd be subject to any fees and costs that would be inherent and any damages that a court might determine would be appropriate based on the noncompliance or violation of the state law. So we have it at a couple different levels where there is liability for the city for not complying. But just a quick note. Currently, like we noted, the ordinance in place now, the race, gender issues are suspended. If we had to bring a new ordinance back, we'd have to bring it back with that, and we'd have to think through how we want to do it, but with that acknowledgement. We wouldn't want to remove it because then we'd be in a worse place than we are now. But that might be one of the options we'd have to take if we bring it back with the updated thresholds.

Mr. Shelby, as council attorney, do you have any reason to question the legal opinion of staff?

No. Actually, I'm looking at the ordinance and this was brought to my attention rather recently with regard to the issues that are involved in this and certainly during public comment that I understand council is sensitive to public comment and I respect that and you heard a lot of comments about it today about the importance of this. My suggestion would be if I could inquire of Mr. Brody, is there any harm or foul in continuing this a week to be able to address these concerns and for me to get more involved?

I would like to have a legal opinion, written legal opinion.

A written legal opinion? Yes. That might be, I might ask, I'm not going to ask for a week. I'd ask for a little additional time, please.

Give me a date that you need.

Well, I'm going to ask for Mr. Cody's help on his research as well. So what would be the 17th? That would have to get to council. And you also have the budget hearings coming up as well. Correct. So I don't, and for whatever reason, I've been exceedingly busy.

How about October 1st?

October 1st. Would that be acceptable to the staff or you have an issue? Please share it if there is.

And the only concern is, and I'm sure Ms. Mitchell would pass that on, is that It's a month that we can't provide extra opportunities for these firms.

I understand, but there's some serious legal considerations I think we need to be educated on to understand the gravity of what we're dealing with. So I think giving us that month and giving you all the opportunity to explore that is critical to either the success or failure of this and the other thing is hearing the concern of council and reviewing it in that context there may be other ways other avenues that we may be able to address so i have a motion to continue this october 1st a second councilman scout council miranda all those in favor say aye aye aye opposed the eyes have it thank you 10 a.m date time and place

I don't have the cheat sheet up here, so I can't do that. And just to clarify, the point is that you just want to know the legal implications of...

I would like a legal written opinion on the jeopardy that the city would be in if we failed to act on this, and the implications of acting on this would be to members of Tampa City Council.

Very good. Okay.

Okay, just a reminder, if you are in the building downstairs on the first or second floor and you are here for a public hearing, please come to Tampa City Council Chambers now, please. If you're here for a public hearing, please come to City Council Chambers now. Okay, and we are zipping along to item number 60.

Ross Samuels, Developmental Information, presenting file number BAC 26-08. This is a second reading and adoption. Council received a memorandum for a substitute ordinance. In the substitute ordinance, there is a frontier easement added and also a special condition for a turnaround requirement. Everything else on the previous ordinance is the same. I'm available if you have any questions.

Does Council have any questions? Okay, is there an applicant on this one? Very none. Is there anybody in the public that wishes to speak to this item? We have a motion to close on Councilman Miranda, second from Councilman, I'm just going to, close from Councilman Maniscalco, second from Councilman Miranda. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Ayes have it. Councilman Carlson, would you read the substitute, please?

Yeah, I'd like to move file number of VAC 26-08 ordinance being presented for second reading adoption ordinance. The city of Tampa, Florida vacating closing this continuing abandoning a portion of 43rd Street right of way located north of Ellicott Street and James Elementary School south of Shadow Lawn Avenue east of 40th Street and Gary Adult High School and west of 47th Street as dedicated by the plat of revised map of Rubenstein's subdivision in Tampa, Hillsborough County, Florida, and as more fully described in Section 2 hereof, subject to certain covenants, conditions, and restrictions as more particularly set forth herein, providing for enforcement and penalties for violations, providing for definitions, interpretations, and repealing conflicts, providing for serbility, and providing effective date.

I have a motion from Councilman Carlson and a second from Councilman Maniscalco. Please record your vote.

Motion carried unanimously with her tech being absent. I vote.

Thank you. Item 61.

Mr. Chair, if I may. Yes, sir. For 62, I have to speak to Chief Bennett about something really fast. I'd ask that that be put on hold. If I may.

Just quickly. Yeah. Yes, sir. Okay. 61. Is there staff? Oh, there we are. Good morning.

Good morning. Heather Bonds, Historic Preservation Specialist. I'm here for file number HTX 226. This is a second reading for an ordinance to approve a historic preservation property tax exemption related to 905 North Florida Avenue.

And I'm here if you have any questions. Council, have any questions? Hearing none. Anybody in the audience wish to speak to this item? We have a motion to close. Councilman Miranda, second from? Councilman Maniscalco, all those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Ayes have it. Councilwoman Young, would you read this one, please? 61.

Ordinance being a file number HTX 26-25646. Ordinance being presented for second reading and adoption. Ordinance approving in historic preservation property tax exemption application relative to the restoration, renovation, or rehabilitation of certain property owned by 905 North Florida Avenue property owner LLC, a Florida limited liability company located at 905 North Florida Avenue, Tampa, Florida, a local historic landmark based upon certain findings, providing for notice to the property appraiser of Hillsborough County, providing for severability, providing for repeal of all ordinances in conflict, providing an effective date.

Thank you. I have a motion for Councilwoman Young, a second for Councilman Maniscalco. Please record your vote.

Motion carried unanimously with Vieira being absent at vote.

Thank you. Councilman Vieira, please return to Council Chambers. I will have to swear everybody in on that one. Those are quasi-judicial, aren't they?

There's a potential issue with the language of 62, and I may need to continue this. I'm speaking outside with the lawyers. Something I caught, so I just move forward if you all don't mind.

We'll have to move to the quasi-judicial hearings.

No problem. Yes, sir.

Thank you. Okay, so if you are here to speak to the 10 a.m. public hearings, they are quasi-judicial. So items number 63 through 69, please stand. Raise your right hand to be sworn in by our clerk. Thank you. And just a reminder to everyone, this is 63 through 69. These are going to go relatively quick, and then we will be addressing item 80 after 69. Councilwoman Young.

I was absent at vote for the last vote for 67 through 69, but I have reviewed it, so I'm prepared to vote.

Thank you very much. Okay, item number 63.

Good morning council re, addiction development coordination agenda item number 63 is already 2016. this item is a rezoning request for a property located at 21111 East Bush Boulevard. The request is to resolve from CG Commercial General to CI Commercial Intensive. I'm available if you have any questions.

Council, do I have any questions? Hearing none. Yes, ma'am.

Hi, Eileen Osorio, ARPC LLC, 2504 West Crest Avenue.

I just want to say thank you, Council, for this reading. Thank you. Does Council have any questions?

Hearing none. Does anybody in the audience wish to speak to item number 63? We have a motion to close. Councilman Maniscalco. Second, Councilman Miranda. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed, aye. Senate Councilman Vieira, would you read item 63?

Mr. Chair, a move and ordinance presented for second reading and adoption ordinance rezoning property in general vicinity of 2111 East Bush Boulevard in the city of Tampa, Florida. More particularly described in section one from zoning district classification CG commercial general to CI commercial intensive providing an effective date.

Thank you. We have the motion for Councilman Vieira, second for Councilman Maniscalco. Please record your vote.

I hear you multiple times.

Okay, very good councilman Vera. What is the outcome of items?

And I, I think Mr. Brody and, and chief Bennett, if you want to hear it now, let's hear item 62 and thank you council.

A lot of baseball this week, Carl really legal. Um, this would go much better than the last one. This ordinance that we're bringing before you is for the purpose. Well, it's a threat three-part purpose first. we wanted to be able to provide some standards for public safety master plans. We did that through three parts. We had and worked with the mayor to issue an executive order, which was issued a couple weeks ago, which supported the resolution. That's item number four on the agenda. So those are the same, just acknowledging what the relationship between the public safety unions and the public safety departments will be It has specific standards provided for, and this was something that all parties worked together to achieve. The ordinances before you is to provide notice to city council if at some point in the future a future mayor decides to make any changes to that executive order, they'll have to provide notice to city council so they'll be able to respond and be able to take whatever next steps are needed. So that's what we have. You have a resolution that's consistent with the executive order and basically a notice ordinance that's going to require that notice.

Thank you. Does council have any questions?

very nice councilman councilman vieira you're recognized and when you're finished would you please read that yes sir absolutely sir and and thank you mr chairman and mr brody i wanted to thank you i wanted to thank just all the different folks from management with police and fire to the labor union chief bennett and different folks this is a very good compromise that gets across i think what i've been working on for many years what this council has supported for many many years and so i'm very very happy for that so this gets a public safety master plan moving in a very collaborative way that is substantive and robust so if i may mr chairman i move an ordinance presented for second reading and adoption an ordinance of the city of tampa requiring tampa city council to be provided notice of any changes the executive order setting standards for triennial updates to the respective public safety master plans of the tampa police department the tampa fire rescue repealing all ordinances or parts of ordinance and conflict therewith providing for stability providing an effective day okay and can i get a motion to close that

Oh, oh, that's right. So anybody in public wish to speak to this item? Okay. We have motion close councilman Scott, the second council Miranda, all those in favor. Say aye. Aye. Aye. Seven. I have a motion from council and Vera. Second from council and Maniscalco, please record your vote. And can we move the motion? Oh, what after this is called motion carry unanimously.

Thank you. And if I may, I move a resolution for.

I have a motion from Councilman Vieira, second from Councilman Maniscalco. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Ayes have it. Thank you very much. Thank you, Council. Thank you. Councilwoman Hurts.

It looks like item number 66 is requesting to be continued to September 17th, 2026. So I'd like to move to continue it to September 17th, 2026 at 315 East Kennedy Boulevard, Tampa, Florida, 33602, third floor, 10 a.m. We have a motion from Councilwoman Hurtek, second from Councilman Maniscalco.

All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Ayes have it. Okay, item number 64, staff.

morning council brie dixon development coordination the next item is agenda agenda item number 64 rez 2612. this item is a rezoning request for the property located at 1704 west northeast street 202 220 and 210 north rome avenue 1701 and 1711 west north a street the request is to rezone from ig industrial general to ci commercial intensive if you have any questions i'm available

Council have any questions? Hearing none, I believe our applicant is online, Stacy.

Hi, good morning council members. I don't know that my camera's working, but can you hear me?

Yeah, but it's a, you're still hearing, so we'd have to have you on camera, but I don't know if you're needed if, so you can just be a passive listener if you'd like.

Okay.

Okay. Is there anybody in the public that wishes to speak to this item? Hearing none, we have motion to close. Councilor Miranda, second for Councilman Maniscalco. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed, ayes have it. Councilwoman Heretic, would you read 64?

File number REC 26-12, ordinance being presented for second reading and adoption. An ordinance rezoning property in the general vicinity of 1704 West North B Street, 202, 220, and 210 North Rome Avenue. 1701 and 1711 West North A Street in the city of Tampa, Florida, and more particularly described in Section one from Zoning District Classification I.G. Industrial General to C.I. Commercial Intensive, providing an effective date.

I have a motion from Councilwoman Hurtek, a second from Councilman Miranda. Please report your vote.

Motion carried unanimously.

Thank you. OK, we are on 65.

Good evening, Council. Good morning, Council. For the record, Christopher DeMont, Development Coordination, item number 65 is REZ 2614. This is a rezoning request for property located at 1732 West St. Louis Street. The request is to rezone from RS-50 to plan development for residential single-family semi-detached uses. Provisions have been completed and certified plans have been provided to the clerk's office, and I'm available for any questions.

Council, have any questions? Hearing none. Applicants?

CHAIRMAN BERNANKE.

I'M SURE THE CHAIRMAN AND THE APPLICANT HAVE NOTHING TO ADD. DOES THE COUNCIL HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OF THE APPLICANT? HEARING NONE. IS THERE ANYBODY IN THE PUBLIC WHO WISHES TO SPEAK TO THIS ITEM? MOTION TO POSE. COUNCILMAN RANDOM. SECOND. COUNCILMAN MANASCALCO. ALL THOSE IN FAVOR SAY AYE. AYE. OPPOSED? AYE. SECOND. COUNCILMAN MANASCALCO.

THANK YOU. I HAVE AN ORDINANCE BEING PRESENTED FOR SECOND READING AND ADOPTION, AN ORDINANCE REZONING PROPERTY IN THE GENERAL VECINITY OF 1732 WEST ST. LOUIS STREET IN THE CITY OF TAMPA, FLORIDA, AND MORE to PD plan development, residential single family, semi-detached, providing an effective date.

Thank you. I have a motion from Councilman Maniscalco, second from Councilman Miranda. Please record your vote.

Motion carried unanimously with Hurtak being absent, I vote.

Thank you. Councilman Vieira, you were absent for the next two votes, but did you review the record? You're prepared to vote. Thank you so much. Okay, item number 67.

Good morning, Council. Brea Dixon, Development Coordination. Agenda item number 67 is REZ 2643. This item is a rezoning request for the property located at 5024 North 30th Street. The request is to rezone from RS-50 residential single family to IG Industrial General. I'm available if you have any questions.

Council have any questions? Hearing none. Applicant?

Good morning. Good morning, Maurice. Here on behalf of the agent, I'm sorry, the owner. Um, I don't have anything to add, but I'm here for questions.

Council have any questions hearing none. Has there been the public who wish to speak to this item? Come on up.

Valerie, start with your name. Hi, my name is Valerie Bullock. I'm against this project right now. At this location, it's a 1,700 square foot home, and this is right over there by Fair Oaks where you all have put in affordable houses, and I don't see what industrial can go right where a 1,700 square feet home is at. It would be an eyesore and out of place in the neighborhood.

That's my opinion.

Uh, in this area, uh, in this particular, I understand what she's talking about, about fair park, but that's on the other side of 30th street, which has a different type of zoning. The location of this property, um, The IG zoning is consistent with the zoning around it. I don't feel like what she said would be relevant to the situation going on in this area.

Mr. Chair, is there any way you could just show us a map? Do you have a map real fast just to show that?

I don't have a map on me.

I'm requesting access to share the zoning map

just since it came up again, if we could just share.

Can CCTV provide me access to share? Thank you. The subject property is outlined here in red. And the surrounding zoning is industrial general IG, except for those specifically outlined as RS50 and RM24.

Thank you.

I have a motion from Councilman Miranda, second from Councilman Maniscalco. Please record your vote. motion carried unanimously thank you okay just a pause for one moment for if you are here to speak to item 80 we're going to be hearing that shortly if you have not signed one of these sheets if you're downstairs and you're not signed one of these sheets or if you're in here and if you're not signed one of these sheets please find a staff member sign one of these sheets so you'll be called during the time also a reminder that we are going to break for lunch from 12 to 12 30. councilwoman hertech i don't think we're going to be able we're going to even get to public comment we'll get some we have 40 minutes

Well, I still have an agenda item, and we have a petition to vacate.

No, we're hearing this after that. We're doing it after 69. Oh, okay. Item number 68.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Again, for the record, Christopher DeBosch Development Coordination. Agenda item number 68 is REZ 2645. This is a request to rezone property located at 24 The request is to rezone from plan development to plan development and RS50. Revisions have been completed and certified plans have been provided to the clerk's office and I'm available for any questions.

Council have any questions? Hearing none. Applicants? No applicants? Okay. Anybody in the public wish to speak to this item? Can I get a motion? Motion opposed from Councilman Miranda, second from Councilman Maniscalco. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Ayes have it. Councilman Vieira.

don't know why i went to the city yes sir because i just arbitrarily picked beer i know i was like what i i move if i may an ordinance being presented for second reading and adoption uh an ordinance rezoning property in general vicinity of 2404 and 2408 stewart street in the city of tampa florida more particularly described in section one from zoning district classification pd plan development to pd plan development place a real assembly an rs50 residential single family providing an effective date Thank you.

We have a motion from Councilman Vieira, second from Councilman Maniscalco. Please record your vote.

Motion carried unanimously.

Thank you. Item number 69.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Again, for the record, Christopher DeMoss, Development Coordination. Agenda item number 69 is REZ 25116. This is a rezoning request for property located at 3101 North Florida Avenue. The request is to rezone from commercial intensive to planned development for storefront residential commercial in all CN uses. Revisions have been completed and certified plans have been submitted to the clerk's office. I'm available for any questions.

Council, do I have any questions? Hearing none, applicant?

Vice Pinson here representing the applicant. I'm just here if you have any questions.

Council member questions the applicant. Hearing none. Is there anybody in the public that wishes to speak to item 69? Motion to close. Motion to close. Councilman Mascalco. Second. Councilman Miranda. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Ayes have it. Councilwoman Young. Would you read the ordinance please?

Yes. File number REZ-25-116. Ordinance being presented for second reading and adoption. An ordinance rezoning property in the general vicinity of 3101 North Florida Avenue. in the city of Tampa, Florida, and more particularly described in section one from zoning district classification CI commercial intensive to PD plan development storefront residential slash commercial all C in uses, providing an effective date.

I have a motion from Councilwoman Young, second from Councilman Maniscalco. Please record your vote. And then you're going to move to resolution. After she says so.

Motion carried unanimously with Carlson being absent. I vote.

Thank you, Councilwoman Young.

I move the resolution.

We have a motion from Councilwoman Young, second from Councilman Maniscalco. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Ayes have it. Thank you very much. And now the moment we've all been waiting for. We are moving on to item number 80 per our amended agenda for the day. Item number 80 is the development and funding agreement by and between the City of Tampa, Florida, Hillsborough County, Florida, and the Tampa Bay Rays. Yes, sir.

Martin Shelby, City Council Attorney. a noticed public meeting for regard to the CRA. Do you wish to take joint public comment? I do. I ask that then Councilwoman Young, if you do pass the gavel, she would be able to do that. Do you have it?

Councilwoman Young, would you please open your public hearing?

Thank you very much. This Tampa Community Redevelopment Agency, CRA, I call this special call meeting on August 27, 2026 to order.

Do you need to take a recess? I'm sorry.

No, we can run parallel, right?

Roll call?

Yes, roll call, please. Miranda. Here. Manascako. Here. Kertak. Here. Carlson. Here. Vieira. Here. And Young. Thank you.

We are now in session as both the Tampa City Council and the Community Redevelopment Agency for the purpose of hearing public comment on agreements with the Tampa Bay Rays on the City Council agenda that is item 80 on the CRA agenda that is item number one. At this time, I will pass the gavel to Chair Clendenin to take public comment for both the Tampa City Council and the CRA. Public comment being taken will be reflected in the minutes of both meetings. At the end of public comment, Chair Clendenin will close public comment and pass the gavel back to me, at which time the CRA will go into recess. I will then pass the gavel back to our City Council Chair and Tampa City Council will take up item 80 on its agenda. After action is taken on that item, City Council will go into recess and the Community Redevelopment Agency will reconvene. We will then take up item number one and complete our agenda. The CRA will then adjourn this special call meeting. I will pass the gavel back to the Chair of City Council, which will then reconvene to complete its day's agenda. For the purpose of taking public comment on the raised MOU, I now pass the gavel back to our City Council Chair.

Oh, if I can, just... Yes, sir. My apologies for not... That is the raised amendments... Excuse me, the raised agreements as opposed to the MOU.

Yes, the raised agreements, yes. Thank you for that correction.

okay i would like to recognize the uh... city staff thank you councilwoman young city staff and then i'll recognize a representative from the race that they're here to do the presentation chairman member city council scott chairman member city council scott steady city attorney uh... i would expect to come just i wanted to uh... acknowledge a couple people that they're not quite here yet and that's going to be uh... county attorney Julia Mandel, I expect her to be here as well as Greg Horvidell, the county administrator. So I think they're on their way over. But in the meantime, should be available online is Nikki Day. Nikki Day is the attorney for the county that worked on this matter. She's with Gray Robinson. And I wanted to make sure she's available. So if Nikki's there.

I am, Scott.

Okay, great. So, again, I wanted to start to make sure. I wanted, you know, obviously it's extremely important. And I wanted to make sure we had people here to answer all questions. Are we having a problem with the mic or something, Chair? No, there's some hot mic somewhere that we're reverberating through. I don't know what it is. So while they're doing that, let me pass this out. Okay, can I proceed? Okay, great. So, as I was saying, so Nikki Day is on the call. She's going to help me with some questions that you may have. I definitely was focusing on all the documents, certainly, but mostly the issues that related to the city. And the document has a lot of requirements for Hillsborough County. I mean, obviously, they're going to end up owning the ballpark. So I want to make sure, cause I'm sure there's going to be some questions that I I'm familiar with, but Nikki day will be able to help me answer some of the questions. And again, I expect the County attorney to be here shortly and the County assistant County administrator, if we have questions. So to kind of set the stage, there's actually three documents that are before you. The most important one that I expect we'll spend our time on is the funding agreement. That's the one that has most of the terms that affect the city. There's two other agreements, non relocation agreement. That's where they agree that they're not going to relocate. And then there's a guarantee agreement that guarantee agreement is basically the overall company that owns all these subsidiaries, that the overall company is guaranteeing all the representations and all the commitments that the companies underneath the umbrella company are making. So there are actually three agreements, three resolutions, but I expect that we're going to focus most of our attention today on the development and funding agreements. So with that, I'd just like to go back and kind of set the stage a little bit on how we got here. And I know there's some concerns or has been concerns about how this has been a pretty quick process. So I understand that the city council passed a motion that wanted to see the agreement on base by Friday at 5. It was actually made on base about 420, pretty close. I know some people have commented that it made the agenda about 420. It was published, but we did make it on base, I think, in compliance with the city council's directive and their motion. After that, we continued to negotiate the document. It was not complete. But really what ended up happening is because there was so much going back and forth, issues that Julie and I basically said Tuesday night, again, Julia being the county attorney, I went to her office. We sat there with Julia, Sam Hamilton, chief assistant, myself, and Nikki Day, and we basically said, we're going to create the document that we can represent to our clients. So Tuesday evening, we finalized the document, and we presented it. We put it on base and sent it to city council. And that's the document that had all the changes. So that's the document that both myself and the County attorney is going to recommend for their consideration tomorrow for the County commission. Uh, subsequent to that, there was one additional change that I submitted that I want to make sure it gets approved today. And that is, and it's, it's very important that, and I'll, when I get to it, I'll explain it, but the, the, the con the payment that we're making that I'll go through the 80 million, 20 million for each fiscal year. is gonna be paid based on a reimbursement of completed improvements, public improvements. So it's gonna be a reimbursement model. And that language wasn't in the first draft that came out Wednesday morning. So what should be on the record for the city clerk is the provision that has that reimbursement model. But I passed out, there's just a couple of tweaks that I would like to make. It reiterates, I highlight it in yellow, it reiterates that provision, payments shall be on a reimbursement basis for completed improvements. That's important to the city because that's always been our issue. And then, since we're going to address this today, I want to add in the city capital contribution amount shall be repaid as set forth in Exhibit E. It's already in Exhibit E that says Exhibit E, which we'll discuss later, that's the increment, that the money comes in for increment, which I'll come back and explain, will go back to pay for these funds that are going to be paid for the reimbursement. And it's simply putting it here so it's there so everyone knows that the money coming back from the increment will be used to pay down that money that's used to reimburse. And there's one other change we'd like to make, and that is there's conditions for our payment. There's conditions in the agreement before we would make the first $20 million payment, there's a number of conditions. One of those conditions is that the CRA, the county, and the city will enter into the revised Second Amendment interlocal agreement to effectuate all the CRA issues that are addressed in the agreement. And what this does is simply make this one change here on the second paragraph that I highlighted simply makes that condition cannot be waived. So it cannot be waived. It has to be complied with. So with that, just so I get to the end and then I'll come back and talk about the major components that address the city. If you want to move forward today, what I'd need is a motion, and I'm going to focus on development and funding agreement, a motion to approve the resolution that's before you with these two, these couple of changes. And I'm going to address the community benefits agreement shortly. We need to address that issue as well. So we're going to, I would need a motion to approve the resolution, propose these changes in the end of funding agreement. So now let me back up for everybody so we can talk through the major components that involve the city of Tampa. And those are first. the $80 million. Dennis Rejero, the Chief Financial Officer, will discuss how that $80 million is generated within the city's organization. That's for him to discuss. But that $80 million would be paid if all the conditions are met, by the way. There's a number of conditions, including that CRA condition, that there would be four payments made over four fiscal years. Those payments, again, I want to make sure that sentence is there, will be paid based on a reimbursement model that will reimburse them for completed public improvements. We're not going to advance the money. We're going to pay it only when the improvements have been completed. The improvements that we're talking about are for public, I got to get this right, public horizontal capital improvements. It's a term that's in the agreement. It's defined at the end of the agreement, and it's basically infrastructure. I mean, it's a big paragraph. There are a lot of things in there, but it's roads, sewer, water. I mean, that's one thing that's been said from the beginning. The city's money would go to infrastructure. Again, it's a broad definition, but it would... So the $80 million would go for, and I'm going to reiterate it one more time and then move on, four payments, four fiscal years, on a reimbursement basis for completed infrastructure and for basically infrastructure as defined in the definitions. Now on the other side, I'm gonna talk a little bit about what's the tax increment that we've been talking about or has been talked about. And it's basically provided in exhibit E. And what's been discussed and what will be required by the city will be, first, that we're going to need to contract out the college property out of the existing Drew Park CRA. We need to contract that out. So that's going to involve the council and the CRA. We need to contract it out so that the rest of the Drew Park CRA will remain intact. But basically, the college's property, which is what will be the ballpark and the mixed use project, will then be taken out of the CRA. What's proposed in this agreement is then an application can be made. I'm pretty sure it can be done concurrently, or certainly we can start the process, where a community development district would be placed within the new development for the ballpark and the mixed use. There may be one or two. A community development district, some of you know, is a local government of special purpose. It's a special purpose government, Chapter 190, subject to government in the sunshine, public records, audits, as a five-person board, it's a governmental entity. The intent of that is to create the CDD that then we'll enter into interlocal agreement between the county, the city, and the CDD, which that interlocal agreement will further define the money that will come from this Home Rule TIF. So for everyone here, what do I mean by a Home Rule TIF? Home Rule TIF is basically We have the inherent right, the County and the city to create a tax increment tax increment pretty much means other than school board, swift mod, they still get their money. But when you create a home rule TIF, that money can be designated for a particular area instead of back into the general fund. So exhibit E provides a tiered system that, that Dennis will go through that provides basically a split between what TIF money will go to the city and the county and what TIF money would go to the CDD. The interlocal agreement will describe how that money can be used in addition to what's in this agreement. And the money that is generated, and again, Dennis will go through it, but there's a early on the county and the city get a higher percentage because there's a certainty that that development level of development occur. and that the percentages increase for the CDD slash raise to incentivize them to actually build more square footage. Exhibit E provides that, and it's noted on Exhibit E, and will be also, if we could please approve this, that money that the city gets, now again, we're gonna share the money with the county, but our actual amount is higher because our taxes are higher, so we get more of that TIF, the money that comes in from the TIF will go to pay down the $80 million plus interest. So if I could summarize it, I have a quick point of order here.

When you're talking about these particular portions, can you please have that portion on the ELMO or whatever it is? Because I'm having a hard time following you when you're hopping back and forth. So if you could have it on the screen so that all of us, including the public, could follow along, it would be much better.

Okay. Thank you.

Okay. So this is, there's, I'm going to say I'll reiterate and take as much time as council wants in the public. I agree that we'll slow down. Uh, so this is basically the first aspect of what I talked about. This is where the requirement is. And the highlight is by the way, the language I definitely want in this, but on little, I it's pretty straightforward. The city contribution amount will be paid following four annual installments, a 20 million on January 1st of 2027. That's only if all the conditions that are in this agreement occur. So if they don't, that date, that would be put out. The highlight is the language that I believe is in the clerk's version, but I want to make sure it's there because it's a critical element to what the city has said all along. that the city will only pay for reimbursement of completed infrastructure. So that's what I talked about. And then down on little four, you'll notice it says funds solely for public horizontal capital improvements. It's right here. That is a defined term and that's basically infrastructure, okay? So that's the first aspect that I talked about. All right. And then let me pull up exhibit E. Councilman, by the way, I've just been eating and drinking this stuff so long. So I apologize. I'm going too fast anyway. So here's that exhibit I've been talking about. So what's provided for is, this is basically assessed square footage. So between zero and 350 million, the city and county receive, of the increment, 70%, the city and county. Now we actually, of our share, we get more because our tax level is higher. And the district, it says district, but it's the raise, it's for the benefit of the raise, would get 30%. The next tier is 50-50. The final tier, which is significant amount of development, is very high for the raise. And let me say, I'm not pointing the finger, but I'm going to back up, since the county was very much involved and very much was putting a lot of the money in, the county was taking the lead on these negotiations with our involvement. But the reason for that third tier is really to incentivize the raise to really go out there and build as much of that development that they've been talking about. So this is basically the menu for this TIF sharing between the city and the county and the district. And I'll just say one of the things that we did Tuesday night is absolutely lock in so that there was no misunderstanding of how this was gonna work. And you'll notice at the bottom, we said the city's increment share shall be used to repay the city contribution amount plus interest listed in that section here. So it cross references it. So that is basically, I'm not saying that we still have a comprehensive plan issue. That's the city's involvement. We'll still have permitting issues. That's the city's involvement. But a lot of this agreement really is dealt with a county because they're going to, and by the way, the sports authority, which the chair is a member of, they've been very much involved in this because they're going to be basically the county's agent to oversee the development of the ballpark. And again, that's another party that's been involved with this, very much so. So to kind of reiterate, the city's involvement very much so is obviously the contribution or the payment. I'd actually say it's not really a contribution, it's payment reimbursement for actual improvements. And then reducing the size of the CRA putting in place a CDD, putting in place with the county a home rule TIF, putting in place the interlocal agreement between the three to set up basically this financing structure. One other comment, and I still have to deal with the community benefits agreement, but one other comment that I've heard people say is why can't you pull the agreements out, make one for the city and one for the county? If we started that way, maybe it was possible, but they're so integrated that it was just hard to try to accomplish that in the last week. But what we did do at the very end of the agreement, and I think it really benefits the city more so than the county, is it explicitly says that the obligations of the city and the county are separate, and there's no, it's not like any suggestion that somehow if the, one entity doesn't perform somehow the other entities responsible and I'll say again I think it benefits the city more because the county has far more obligations in this agreement than we do but we put it in there just to make sure again kind of belt suspenders that the city's obligations are the cities the county's obligations are the counties so Again, I'm happy to go back over anything, but there's one other issue I want to address and then certainly answer any questions. If I could just look at my notes real quick, Chair. Sure.

Take your time. Just a reminder, everybody, in 14 minutes we're going to break for a 30-minute lunch.

Oh, I would have preferred lunch and then had this, but that's okay. So sorry. Yeah, I don't think. So sorry. Not really. Yeah, I know. I knew you were going to say that. Okay. So the community benefits agreement. Um, so right now in the agreement, there's a blank or two blanks. Um, that again was negotiated. Well, what was negotiated was the percentage share of the total. And, uh, in the agreement, it provides the county gets 65% of whatever total community benefits number would it be agreed upon in the city gets 35. And I, and again, I think the county has been, I personally think the county has been very fair on this, given their, the amount of their contribution that are ours is 35%. The issue is what's the number. And I think this is the recommendation of staff. I really think the county holds most of the cards here. So it's our recommendation a, that we accept the 65 35, but you defer to the county tomorrow to determine the overall number. So once that number's determined, we get 35%. We then have total jurisdiction to create the community benefits agreement for that 35%. And I know there's a couple of council people that have said, we immediately want to jump on that agreement and nail it down. And that agreement, obviously, will come back to you. So kind of reiterate, we need three resolutions for the three documents. But on the development and funding agreement, appreciate approval of the resolution, which I'll note here. There's definitely some cleanups, Scrivener's errors, I mean this was, we thought we did a good job on the substance, but our resolution does allow me to make some corrections to correct some pagination or numbering. So if we could approve the resolution, approve these changes that I proposed, and also approve that the blanks in for the community benefits agreement will be provided based on what the county decides tomorrow, assuming we move forward. And with that, I believe I'm done. Question time. Well, do you want to hear from Dennis first? No.

We'll break it in. Is his supplemental to yours?

Well, it explains the tiers and the money.

That's not my question.

Okay. Well, hold on a second.

So how long is your presentation, Dennis?

Please.

Hold on a second.

Good morning. Trying to make a determination whether we should hold it until afternoon. And that would be my recommendation, Mr. Chair. So question time.

Okay.

Okay. Could I, one, Councilman Brick, I appreciate Julia Mandel's here. That's all I just want to let her know.

So all I want you to do is I understand, so I'm just talking about these proposed changes that you gave us right now that I hadn't really understood before. So I understand the first one, the city amount. I do not understand the second one. So I'm going to ask you to do 3.3 subsection D. I want you to go through I through VI individually and explain those to me.

Okay.

Should be on page 15. As long as I have the right copy of the document.

Okay. Appreciate the comments. All right. Um, so D all right. Okay. I guess I'll read it from the Elmo. Got it. Okay. So D reads in addition to conditions set forth in 3.3, a, which is more conditions, the city's obligation to fund the city contribution amount, a defined term relating back to the 80 million is subject to the satisfaction of or or waiver by the city by the city representative the following additional conditions so all these are conditions to our payment so i can read them if you'd like city council has approved all budgetary actions required to authorize appropriate or allocate city contribution amount for the project improvements does that mean beef like before they get paid you have to do that so they have to come back to us for approval Yeah. Yes. This is, these are conditions.

So, so basically they have to bring us all the receipts.

No, no, no, no. It's to authorize the 80 million. Right. Right. I was going to say, you're not going to be in the business of reviewing the reimbursements. Okay. Fair question. The city has approved the then-current project budget and then-current project schedule, which will be dated within 15 days prior to the funding release date. So we need to see those before we would release any reimbursements. Okay? Let's keep going. The approval of the funding of the City College of Marisa has been validated by a judgment. Can I just stop all this stuff, all this stuff, a lot of these requirements are going to be, need to be validated. Validation means we have to go in front of a court. It's a validation process and basically have the court bless a number of things here, and this is going to be part of it. So our, our obligation here is going to be part of the validation process. It's going to go forward with the county to make sure that all of this. And the reason for doing that is to make sure. that if we get the approval up front, that we're not jeopardizing the project after bike challenges. The city, we validate bonds. You go out and validate them so that you can issue the bonds, the bondholders know that they're basically been approved. So I kind of cut short that, but that's what the process we're talking about. Four, the district financing of the ballpark CDD, including the source of security for such bond in particular, including their increment, what has been valid it's again details on the validation i mean again i can go through it but all this is details on the validation uh five the county has confirmed that to the city that the city will that the county will a commence the county bond sale in accordance with and to fund the components of the county contribution we're basically uh we need to know the county we don't want to we don't want to go first we want to make sure that that all these We only need to go first today, if that's what you meant. Today, but this is to make sure that we're somehow not obligated to spend our money before the county is. I mean, that wouldn't make any sense, right? So that's that. Oh, and then, so here's the one that we're looking to change. Um, city council CRA and the board of County commissioners have approved the CRA interlocal second amendment in their sole discretion. And that would be well, and then I'll just go to the end and I'll come back. And the last one city council has approved the resolution amending the drew park CRA plan, which would have to be eliminated. So all those, all those things need to occur. Now, all of those could be, am I done?

I thought I was done. Hold on one second. When we adopted the agenda, I had put a kind of an arbitrary time of 20 minutes for presentation. Obviously, that's not going to be enough. So can I get a motion to waive the 20 minutes? Yes, so moved. A motion from Councilman Mascot, a second from Councilwoman Hertert. All those in favor say aye.

Aye. Opposed? Aye. Seven. Okay. So all of these are conditions, but all of them can be waived. And there's basically the request... is that the one regarding the CRA cannot be waived in that manner.

Can you explain VI for us?

The I?

Yeah, the VI.

Oh, yeah. That the interlocal Second Amendment is basically all the CRI provisions, the Drew Park, the downtown, All those provisions, yes.

So if the CRA doesn't approve these, so which provisions?

Well, the CRA Interlocal Second Amendment, to me, references the other CRA provisions that outline the extensions, the downtown, not just the Drew Park. So that would have to happen. And by the way, I've talked to this here, Ray's attorney, because that's a lot. That's a lot. That's a big condition. And they understand that.

any other questions from you okay councilman vera isn't it it's lunchtime wait yeah and i actually don't have um i i wanted to make one remark on mr steady and just all of your legal team and miss mandel all your legal team in hillsborough county just i i i read over this document and i if i prepare a three-page release and a fifty thousand dollar settlement on a tour case it takes me an hour an hour and a half i just can't believe all of the um time and precision and care that you all took in this. So just as as an attorney, I just wanted to thank you all as public servants because, you know, your billable rate on this is probably close to the minimum wage. So, you know, I just I appreciate that. And one thing I wanted to say, if I may, and I'll say by the obviously all my remarks until after public comment, substantive remarks is on the you talked about the community benefits agreement. I do want to stress that that is something I leave here if if this passes. and and we go forward i leave i turn into a pumpkin on uh what is it november 2nd at midnight and that's something that district 7 obviously needs a voice at the table for so we should move on that if it goes forward but again just a professional thanks to y'all appreciate it councilman carlson then councilman miranda and then we're gonna break for lunch

Yeah, I want to echo the thanks to you and your team and Ms. Mendel and Bonnie Wise and everyone who worked nonstop on this the last few weeks. It's been a six or eight month process, not a one week process. So thanks to everybody. Mr. Chair, Just so we're all working on the same document. Could I go ahead and make a motion to add these two proposed changes that he recommends to the, to the document. So we know we're talking about the same document.

I have a motion councilman Carlson to add the two amendments to the resolution. A second from councilman Vera, all those in favor say aye.

Aye. Opposed? Ayes have it. Thank you. It's done. Um, thank you. And then, and then number two, um, the, um, on section 3.3, big D the little D V I. Sorry, that sounded weird. It sounds like E-I-E-I-O. It's 16? It says, do you have that? Sorry, page 16. Page 16, it's VI. It says at the bottom, it's talking about the CRAs, and it says, provided, however, that the failure or refusal of the agency to recommend, consent to, or execute any such instrument will not constitute default by any government party under this agreement. I just want to make sure that this does not undo... What that does not undo the requirement that was in the other section.

No. What that means is if the CRA, which is not a part of this, doesn't do it, we're not in default. It doesn't mean the condition has been met. Okay. Understood? Because I was asked that earlier by the CRA attorney. Yeah.

And then section page 31. uh... at page thirty one of the top it says drew parts here a and docs extend Sorry, it says Drew Park CRA and does not extend the duration of the community development plan or trust fund thereof. So I just want to make sure that this is not excluding us from, I just want to make sure there's not contradictory language because we are proposing in other sections to extend the Drew Park CRA. Oh, okay. I would agree. It's not contradictory or it is.

Well, hold on. Let me make sure. What are we saying, Councilman? Let me look. Where are you now?

31. Yeah, page 31, it's section 3.8G. About four sentences down, it says Drew Park City and does not extend the duration of the community development plan. I don't think that it's contradictory, but I just want to make sure.

If you need time to review, you can take an IOU and get back with us after lunch.

Yeah, maybe you could let us know after lunch.

I don't want to rush that answer. And I start breaking this up, I break up my agreement.

I've told him personally, too, I think he's a great lawyer. He's been very fair, and I really appreciate that. Page 7, 2.1. So this version now sets the mayor as the city's representative. And the last sentence at the bottom, this is 2.1, first paragraph, it says that notwithstanding anything in this agreement to the contrary, the city representative in his or her designee will not have any right to modify, amend, or terminate this agreement. So I just want to make sure that that, you just modified the section around the CRAs, but I just want to make sure that we're not giving the agent from the city, any additional power that we're not, the city council is not, not giving away future powers that would otherwise come to speak.

No, this is, this is to the day to day issues that may come up that don't amount to any substantive amendment to this agreement. No.

Okay. Last thing, uh, page 87, uh, section 19 point. 19.27. You refer to this briefly. This one says, the obligation of the city and the county under this agreement are several and not joint, and neither the city nor the county shall be responsible or liable for or be deemed a guarantor or surety of the performance of any obligation, covenant, representational warranty of the other. I just want to make sure. There's a lot of confusion about the difference between the city's deal and the county's deal. And we're not endorsing or approving today the county's deal. It just happens that some of it is together. But this paragraph separates those two. So what we're doing today is only approving the city's deal, not the county's deal. So if there's something in the county's deal that somebody doesn't like, deal with that tomorrow at county commission. If you don't like the city's deal, then tell us today. Is that a correct statement?

But I also further, once it's approved, This also makes it clear that we're not in any way obligated to any of this county's obligations. Yeah. So it's prospective as well.

Yeah. Any of the liabilities that the county has any debt, the county has any, there's no certain funds.

None of that has anything to do with belt suspenders, even though I don't think we needed it, but we'll put, we put it into, so that's clear. So there's not going to be any bleeding between the two obligations. Thank you so much.

Thank you, Councilman Carlson. Councilman Miranda.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. City Attorney, just one question. You mentioned the letter CRA two or three times in your deliberation with the council, and I appreciate it very much. I just want to ask you a question. Are you borrowing money from the CRAs or using CRA money? Are you saying then that the CRAs,

No. No, sir. No money comes from CRA. All this is talking about is contracting the Drew Park CRA for the creation of the Home Rule TIF and the CDD. And then at the same time, these other efforts to deal with the East Tampa CRA, the downtown, that needs to be done with the county and the city, but there's no money involved. There's no money. And all of it has to come back. All of those issues have to be dealt with the CRAs and this board. Go ahead, Chair. There's no money involved in the downtown.

So why mention the CRAs then?

Because. Where there's money, there's CRAs. That's why I'm asking. Well, because one of the requirements of the accomplished this effort was put forth that these efforts were needed to be addressed. And since we're addressing the Drew, let me back up. Since we're addressing the Drew Park, it's not a hard thing to say but I'm getting tired, the Drew Park CRA that we're gonna look at these other issues that require in the sole discretion the city council and those CRAs. So that has to come forward in addition to the Drew Park CRA.

I just want to make sure again.

There's no money involved.

In layman's terms. No money. We're not using one penny from any CRA today, tomorrow, or forever.

I'm not going to agree tomorrow or forever.

I got the drift now.

Yeah. All right. Don't put me down that. Thank you very much. I appreciate it.

i'm not going to stick around that oh i got the drip that means you are so we have got a a lot of people that our principals are going to have to do presentations so we're going to have to get some seats here if you are not signed up to speak or you are not testifying in this i'm going to read names if your name is not on this list i'm going to ask you to go watch us downstairs on floor number two until we have seats available James Jeffrey, Joel Robinson, Pam Cannella, Alejandro Noriega, Sandy Sanchez, Patrick Cimino, Mary Beth Angelin, Michelle Mastro Totoro, Michelle Dyson, John Bezek, Steven Gerhard, Jim Davidson, Carmen Edmonds, Laura Lawson, Ron Weaver, Doug Battista, Melanie Alvarez, Julie McGill, James Ransom, Jeffrey Johnson, Michael Marino, Rick Fernandez, Terrence, I can't read the last name, something, GS something, Todd Seam, CT Harris, Stephanie Pointer, Robin Lockett, Sierra Seymour, Max Endrigo, Jason Hall, Chris Bontevegra, Ray Hobe, I think Deanne Garrett, Mr. Hayes, Rachel Moscow, Stephen McElhinney, and Carmen Edmonds. Also, if you're city staff and you're not a part of this, I would ask you to leave as well so we could clear up seats. If you're press, I would ask you to give up your seats and stand along the wall so that we could have the principles of this come. So if your name was not listed while we are at lunch, if you would exit chambers, go down. You can watch us. The TVs are on on item number two. on floor number two. It is 12.05. We will be back in council chambers at 12.35. We are at lunch recess.

Thank you. do Thank you. you Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you.

you you you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. you So, . .

Good afternoon, everybody. Good afternoon. If you could find your seats and shut your hole. I'd like to call this meeting of Tampa City Council to order. Can we call the roll, please?

Miranda? Here. Thank you.

Okay, I'm going to pass the gavel to Councilwoman Young to open the CRA again.

This Community Redevelopment Agency meeting is now called to order. Do a roll call, clerk.

Thank you, and she's passed the gavel back to us.

We're back in City Council in a CRA joint meeting. For an announcement for the public that folks are inquiring, we're doing the presentation of the resolution of the tri-party agreement. so that you all can get more information and hear it before public comment. So we're going to complete that process. Next on the agenda is city staff, our CFO, Dennis. Dennis, would you like to come to the podium, please? May I make a statement? About?

I'm just going to ask that I want to get sworn in, make sure I'm going to tell the truth.

We don't swear in. Well... But thank you, sir. Let's finish this and you'll have an opportunity to talk.

I second that he be sworn in. Okay. Mr. Rejero, start with your name, please. Good afternoon, counsel. Dennis Rejero, chief financial officer. And again, as always, thank you for having me up here today. I have a couple of slides to put on the wolf. But before I do that, again, it's been lunch. The city attorney, I think, did a great job of offering you the broad perspective, and we're going to get into a little bit more detail now. As you know, the project's anticipated to be about $2.3 billion. The city's anticipated investment to that project is estimated to be about 3% to 6% of that total project. Eighty million dollars you've already heard about, and we'll get into a little more detail on that. And for that investment, which again we anticipate will be paid back to the city, the city will recognize billions of additional taxable value. Let me give you a quick overview of the funding plan. If I could have the wolf up, please. Thank you. And some of this will be repetitive, but again, nothing wrong with additional and extended information. The city bill will be required to pay the raised $80 million toward public horizontal capital improvement As described not only in the agreement, but as you heard from the city attorney just a little while ago, the 80 million will take the form of debt financing and can be issued for any portion of the 80 million on an as needed basis. And I'll elaborate on that in just a moment. Revenue sharing, that's what it all comes down to from the city's perspective over the 35 years of this agreement, using the development's increase in taxable value to fund over time that $80 million plus interest. I have copies of these slides Well, this is a good time to ask. Would you like hard copies of these slides? Sure. And then Mr. Shelby, please. All right. The financing considerations, and we have a few. Some of these, again, the city attorney already referenced. We are working with our financial advisors, who I can't say enough about. They're absolutely financial wizards, along with my team, again, another set of wizards. We're going to find the debt instrument or instruments that is most advantageous to the city. And you see some of the reasons why. The timing of the issuance, interest costs, and the length of the issuance. Again, $80 million with some sort of interest component that will be determined. Council's well aware of the next item, a reimbursement resolution. Look for that from our office very, very soon. Again, this protects the city and enables us to make sure that what we spend to the Rays for their construction will be eligible to be reimbursed to us with whatever debt mechanism we use. And I know there's a lot of reimbursement going on here. It's a big deal. It's a little complex. and the debt validation. I think you heard the city attorney reference this too. We want to make sure that, to the extent possible, this debt is tax exempt. As council knows, tax exempt debt saves us money, saves the taxpayer money. We want to make sure that all the boxes are ticked for that particular benefit. And we will do this, again, as the city attorney mentioned, concurrent with the county's process. going to validate their debt. So the financing options, and there are a few of them. and there's going to be a few of them for a little bit. You've got a line of credit or commercial paper. These are the short-term ones, right? Why would we want to do a short-term? Because the interest rates are pretty high right now. If you go out for a 30-year bond right now, you're going to be locking in what is, in recent history, pretty high rate. So if you can do a short-term issuance at a lower rate and then hope the market improves, then you can issue a longer one. This allows us to, as you see here, borrow only what is required for payment. You see that flexibility word in there. We would only pay interest for what we draw. It's a big, big advantage. You don't want to be sitting on stale debt if you can avoid it. interest paid only on what is drawn, cover that, one-time approval of funding and appropriation. This is also very important, I think, to all parties that the $80 million be approved and then we can keep on trucking, as opposed to a $20 million approval by this mayor and council, a $20 million approval by perhaps a future mayor and council, et cetera, et cetera. And it's quick and easy. And I've already referenced the potential issuance of a long-term bond once if the market improves. So these are the things we're talking about, again, with the financial wizards. you know and have heard some of these items already again from the city attorney it's all about revenue sharing again a ballpark community development district is being created that's the cdd everybody's talking about using tax increment financing that's the tiff you'll keep hearing about and as i said earlier but i'll reiterate now the increase in the taxable value of that district's base year Throw it up against the millage rate, and I'll show you an example of that in just a moment, and split it among the city, the county, and that district. In other words, you see that fourth bullet, revenue sharing via the development's increase in taxable value is what we anticipate to reimburse the city over time. As has been mentioned before, but I think is worth reiterating, the revenue sharing is front-loaded. to the benefit of the city and county. Why? This is a heavily incentivized-based program, giving the incentive to the developer to develop much and to develop quickly. As has been briefed to City Council, the revenue sharing is expected to start in the early to mid 2030s. The development needs time to get ramped up and start putting that increased taxable value on the books. And of course, it's going to depend on the developmental progress. We've shared with you two different developmental progress scenarios, and there could be many, many others as this program continues. The timeframe for the revenue sharing of the principal $80 million you see here is 20 to 30 years. Why am I concentrating on the principal? Because the interest, we don't know how much that's going to be yet. It will depend on when we issue it, how fast we pay the raise, again, based on the reimbursement model, and the length of the issuance. As I note in that last bullet, the timeframe could be accelerated, as most debt can be accelerated, if the interest expense is less than we anticipate or if we make sure we have the ability to pay it off earlier from another funding source. That would be, of course, primarily decisions by the future mayor and city councils. If I could revisit Exhibit E. Again, Exhibit E of the agreement. And I appreciate the city attorney doing a good job of already speaking to this, but it's something you've seen before. I think it's something most people have seen. And you see the different tiers, right? And I'll just go over it one more time and then show you an example. The first tier, every dollar from, well, $1 to $350 million. And again, this is millions of dollars of assessed value, taxable assessed value, is at 70% for the city and the county, and the district, the CDD, gets 30%. That second tier, $351 million to $650 million, is split 50-50 between the district and the city and the county. And then, again, from an incentivization perspective, that third tier of taxable value over $650 million, heavily weighted, as you can see, at 85% towards the development district and the city and the county continue to get a portion, 15%. How does that work out in real life? This is a snippet of one of the pro forma projections. Again, informal, trying to demonstrate to council and the public and to remind us, because it is complex, how this works. I couldn't print the entirety of the spreadsheet. It's like 200 lines long. But you see $350 million of taxable value from $1 to $350 million. The 70% split and how that revenue splits according to the city and county millages. And the total tax revenue in this particular year of $4 million. That amount, regardless of the year you're looking at, will remain the same once you hit, once we hit that $350 million threshold. through the remainder of the agreement, and the same with the next line. That next $300 million is split 50-50, and you see the revenue to the city in green. That amount will stay the same through the end of the agreement. The only thing that changes once you hit that $650 million threshold is the 15% component. Again, incentivized to develop $650 million plus as fast as the developer can. And how's that look over time? We have shared this with City Council previously. And I do have copies if you'd like them now or if members of the public would like them. Up to you. No? Okay. You let me know. And you see two different scenarios, two different developmental scenarios. On the left you see the description, all right? And then you have a minimum and what is being identified as the target development scenario. Both 35 years long from fiscal year 30 to fiscal year 64. but different in how and when they start developing the additional revenue. And you see that on the next slide. The minimum, which is less, as you'll see in just a moment, less than the target. The target is what's being shot for. The minimum is 31 years. And you see at the very bottom there, the revenue throw off of this particular development scenario doesn't occur for not quite a decade, fiscal year, 34. And it brings in a total taxable value in this particular scenario of over $2.6 billion. And in that first year of revenue in fiscal year 34, a little over $1.3 million. So it takes a little while to get ramped up, and then it starts relatively small and then increases over time. Much more accelerated and aggressive development plan is the target as you'll see. The revenue producing years are 34 because it starts in fiscal year 31. All predicated or much predicated on the development of the stadium and the season of 2029 for baseball. To achieve, oh, I skipped over this and I apologize, to achieve that $80 million principle varies, of course, because these scenarios vary. In this particular target scenario, about two decades, we anticipate to recover that principal $80 million. And the total taxable value you see here of just under $7.5 billion. Again, though, the first year revenue relatively small as the development gets wrapped up and put on the books. And what do these development scenarios mean over time? You see that right here. At the end of 35 years, the total city revenue in the minimum scenario is just a little over $100 million. In the target scenario, quite a bit more. You see $183 million. And then the county revenue is there for you to see along with the district revenue. And again, the out years where there is a greater amount of taxable value at 85% you can see really shows up at the end of that 35 year period in terms of the district revenue. And the aggressive or accelerated model you see also significantly increases the anticipated revenue. Again, a little under $600 million to $1.5 million over that 35 years. I can answer any questions, council.

Dennis, your voice and talking about numbers is a bad recipe after lunch. Riveting. I thought you were going to say riveting. You're putting us all to sleep. There you go. Okay. A reminder, this is for council questions, not pontification. We'll do that. We'll save that for later in the presentation. So this is only pertinent to council questions of staff. Councilman Miranda, followed by Madam Scalpel, followed by her tech.

Mr. O'Hara, I've admired you in all your years of service. You've been a wonderful leader in the department that you head, finance. Thank you, sir. And I have never seen in my 32 years of being here, on and off, anything like this before. Have you in your years of service, have you done one for the city of Tampa like a CDD? I have not. So then we are actually a pass-through for loaning money. That's what I see here.

Am I correct or somewhat correct? Maybe we're saying the same thing, but I would frame it as an investment that recovers funding to a loan we're getting ready to distribute. All right.

The same thing. Have you got any papers from the Rays regarding their sheet financial statements and so forth and so on? Have they ever brought you anything that says that they're capable of making the payment?

Not to my knowledge. Not to my knowledge.

I have a problem with all this. And the problem is money. I told the Rays when I met with them that I thought they were broke. And the gentleman's right here. You can verify what I told him. And I questioned it, a question from the ownership down. When you buy something for $1.7 million, and the gentleman who sold it to you bought it for $200 million, but he sold it for $1,700 million, why would he buy 10% back? The question in my mind is, is this, well, this is the director of the staff. You're not the staff. I'm talking to him, sir. That's what I'm saying is this time is for any questions of staff. What do you want me to do? Keep quiet. I offered to get sworn in that I'm telling the truth. Okay.

At this stage, I want the clerk to swear me in council Miranda at this stage of the presentation. This is a question for staff. That's fine. But I want you to swear me in. Okay. We'll address that later, but no, no, no later.

No. Now we're going to swear me in or not.

No. Then you're just what I thought you were. No, you're an elected official. You're sworn in. No, sir, I'm not.

I'm an elected official. Elected officials lie also.

We're out of order.

Maybe out of order any time you want.

Do you have any further questions of staff?

I have many, and I'll reserve them for later.

Okay, very good. Councilman Miranda. I'm sorry, Maniscalco.

Thank you very much, Mr. O'Hare. Regarding the $80 million, it showed on one of your slides either a line of credit or commercial paper.

Yes, sir.

But then I saw another slide that said an interest accrued. Who pays the interest? When we issue that, I know there's a schedule of $20 million a year over four years, but we only have to vote on that resolution one, so it's not like every time they want money they have to come for a vote. It's up to $80 million. Who pays for that interest? I know it's only interest on what is drawn, but who's paying for that?

MR. Yes, and I apologize if I didn't make that clear. The City of Tampa. MR.

Okay. And you were looking at in one slide a target of 20 to 21 with a minimum of 26 to 27 years that that $80 million is recouped by us. MR.

Yes, sir.

When we borrow money, I see a line of credit. Is it the same as a credit card, or is it like when we're bonding? Is it like 6% like a mortgage, or is it 29% like a credit card? What kind of interest rates do we get on a line of credit?

That's a great analogy. It is like a credit card, the interest rates. I couldn't tell you what they would be because we haven't issued it, but they will generally be lower than a long term. Okay.

All right. Thank you very much, sir. Thank you.

Councilwoman Herchak.

Thank you so much.

Can you do me a favor and put up the last slide you had?

The last slide, I apologize. I believe it was that one.

Yes, thank you.

You're welcome.

So you're saying that generally when council talks about bonding and borrowing money, we add 50% of the cost of the bond because that's about how much it takes to pay off. So if it's an $80 million that we're going to borrow, we add $40 million. So it's really 120. So when we talk about borrowing, you'll hear city council talk about it all the time. We talk about the actual cost, which includes the interest. So that's $120 million.

and and ma'am i don't mean to interrupt you but in this environment we we would we would be very fortunate to get an int anticipated interest of only half okay so we're looking at more than 120. thank you for that clarification so if we look at the wolf

what this shows is that the minimum amount like in theory that we'll get from the raise from this deal in payments to the city is only a hundred million dollars correct yes ma'am but we're going to owe 120 million dollars or more yes okay and so we look at the target so basically If we're lucky enough to get $183 million out of this, minusing the 120, so we'll get like $60 million possibly, and this is like the best case scenario. Yes. In 35 years. Yes. And below that is the county revenue. So even in the best estimate, the county is only going to get $158 million back of their almost $800 million investment.

The only caveat I would say is, I don't know, I would defer to somebody else to define that as the best case scenario. But it is the target, it's more aggressive and accelerated.

And if they could put that back on. So the thing is, the total revenue from this, because the thing that really shocks me is the CDD revenue. They're going to get, I mean, on the minimum they're getting over double what the city and county are going to get and on the target they're going to make more than five times what the city and county will make correct yes okay if we were to just give this land to a developer and not put anything into it What you're saying is that we could make between $581 million and $1.5 billion in revenue without having to put in a penny.

I would not say that because that's not my expertise, ma'am.

Okay.

I see what you're saying, but...

In the theory is if we didn't put one penny and we put this out to bid and we let somebody else build it, these are the types of revenues we could receive.

Again, it would depend on what the increase in the taxable value is over time.

Okay. Thank you.

Councilman Carlson.

You talk about on this slide it says minimum and target. It doesn't say maximum, right? It doesn't say best case. It just says target. And then what is the taxable value in your model? Everything is based on a model, and this is just a projection. The raise, isn't it true the raise haven't given us a schedule of what they think the property value is going to be over 35 years, correct?

I have not seen that, no.

Okay, so, and I haven't seen it either. So we can make our, I ran my own estimates with folks, you've run your estimates, but at the end of 35 years, what was the property tax valuation that you, or property valuation that you set in your model?

Oh, anywhere from, oh, I apologize.

What was the final?

Anywhere from a little over $2.5 billion to about $7.5 billion. And I have the slide. I can put it up if you'd like.

So in 35 years, presumably, property values are going to go up compared to what they are now. You can do discounted cash flow to figure out what it is now. And that may be accurate. But it's also possible that it could be a lot higher than this. Yes, sir. Why did it go up? I don't know. Yeah, kill that. So anyway, this is not the best case. It's just a target. It's a model that you ran. And you're pretty conservative about numbers. So you ran what you call the minimum. There's a maximum. If the minimum is out of the CDD, we'd pay nothing. And isn't it true also that the CDD would get the money from the TIF, not the raise?

Yes. So the raise are not getting any of it.

And it's restricted. And the CDD is a government entity. It's restricted as to how it can spend it. It can only spend on infrastructure. And who owns the infrastructure after we pay for it?

I would defer to the city attorney.

Isn't it true it would be the city, county, and the state?

Yes, the whole Scottsdale city attorney. Yes, the stadium, the ballpark will be owned by the county.

The ballpark would be owned by the county, but the infrastructure they would build, the CDD, the roads and the sewage, all that would be owned by them.

It would either be the city or the CDD.

Yeah, so none of the improvements in this money are going to the raise. So this is not money going to the raise. It's building the infrastructure around it, correct?

Correct.

And you all remember a project a few years ago, Water Street, which everybody loves. That did not include a public entity. It does not include a stadium of any kind. But it was $100 million subsidy by the last administration. Do you all happen to remember if there was a call for a referendum on that one? Was there a call to analyze and bring in paid economists and others to analyze whether that was a good deal or not? Do you have any idea right now, I know I asked you the question on the spot yesterday, but do you have any idea how much taxes the city is getting out of Water Street right now?

I don't, but I know the taxable value, at least the information I've been giving, of Water Street is $1.1 billion.

So 1.1 billion after 8 or 10 years, depending on how you track it. And you're just looking at property taxes. Isn't it true that, can you go back to the slide, please? It says total CDD revenue. But of that, because of the difference in the Avalorum rates, the city's share of that, again, it's not going to the raise, and it's not going to for-profit buildings. It's going to infrastructure. We just proved that. But of that amount, it's only 55% as it reflects the city, correct? Plus or minus? Yes. Roughly, approximately. Yeah, so that's the city share of it. And have you done any analysis of sales tax revenues that the city might get out of this? I have not. And has anybody done any projections of surrounding area potential property taxes? Not to my knowledge. So there are economists that are paid to the county, the Rays and others had three different studies that economists got paid to do economic impact studies. I studied economics, so I don't believe those. I've also studied just about all the opposition economists who get paid to come up with studies that show that it's not valid. And so because I say economics, I look at the model and I see where it's flawed. All of those that I've seen have some kind of flaw in them, but we're not even talking about economic impact, right? We're not talking about the big, they talked about $50 billion or 70, we're not even talking about that. We're talking about the actual money that's gonna come back to the city or the county based on pretty conservative estimates.

Correct?

Yes, sir. So if somebody wants to hire an economist to trash talk the numbers, trash the economic impact numbers, but these are actual numbers on a very conservative basis. And you talked about who pays the interest. Isn't it true that in the document, it says that the TIF will pay not just the principal, but also the interest? Yes, sir. I mean, that's what you're just talking about with the estimate of $140 million. But when we estimate how much additional cost it's going to be for interest, if something costs $100 million, that means it's going to cost like $90 million in interest in addition. I use those numbers too. But that's over 30 years, correct? 30 to 35. 30 and 35 years in a bond. But if we are only borrowing money for 10 years or 20 years, which you said kind of on the minimum side we would borrow it for 20, that means the interest will be a lot less than 90%, correct? Yes, sir. Okay, thank you.

Thank you. Okay, this is going to be the conclusion of the first round, so if you guys have questions, Councilman Veer and Councilwoman Young. No. No questions for Jeff? No. Councilwoman Young.

Could you go back to, and I know... I have met with you and we've gone through this already, but just for me, because I want to be sure that I understand this fully and since we have the public here, could you walk me through the increment dedication schedule just one more time explaining the tiers?

Yes.

Exhibit E. Yes, ma'am. At the very top, and you see in millions, the taxable assessed value anticipated to be generated by this development. The city-county increment share, they remain identical throughout, and then the district share all over time. That first tier, from $1 to $350 million added to the taxable value, will be 70% for the city and the county, and that 70% is arrived at by throwing that taxable value number against the millage.

And that's as the project comes online?

Yes, ma'am.

Okay. Okay. And then the city-county increment share is based, that 70%, that split is based on our millage rates?

Yes.

Yes. Okay. All right. That was it. Thank you.

You're welcome. This is the second round of clerk.

We'll set the clock to three minutes. Councilman Miranda. Thank you, Chairman. And, Dennis, again, I'm going to go to your professionalism and who you are and what you do for the city. Thank you. Midtown. Midtown. Midtown is a private development. Have they ever asked the city for any monies at all, to your knowledge? I do not know, not to my knowledge. The answer is no. Okay. But however, I checked yesterday on the tax assessment office. You know what they pay every year now?

I do not.

$8 million in taxes. There are two different taxes there. 1.7 some million. The other week it was about $8 million a year. And that's a private development. West Shore is starting to, evidently, Start getting ready to do something, because I see some borings that were done the other day when I drove by. I believe that's what I saw anyway. So West Shore Beach, two and a half, three times, four times bigger than Midtown. How large of a property is this? Is this one time, same size as Midtown, or three times larger? Because in 30 years, even at $8 million a year, not escalating for the cost of living, and all these taxes rise every, unless, We're passing something today maybe that in November you're really going to lose money because the public is going to vote us for a tax decrease. And we're doing something today. We're real smart. But let me go furthermore. The amount of money that we're spending here for this private industry, that's called a business. But if you're sports, you're not a business. That's what's happening all over the United States of America. I hate to say that, but that's what, and I'm not anti-sport. I love baseball. I play with guys that are in the Hall of Fame.

It's a different story.

I'm just saying that we are doing the wrong thing presently. I'm not saying it's all wrong. I'm saying by the numbers that I figured out, we're shortchanging the taxpayers. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you. Thank you. Councilwoman Hurtado.

Did you make these pre-format estimates?

It depends on what portion you're talking about. The calculations are mine and the county's. The estimates of the development and the value of the taxable value, those are from the organization, from the RAISE.

Okay, so this is RAISE data?

Yes.

Councilman Vieira. Yes, sir. Councilman Gross. Thank you very much. We had a good discussion on this yesterday. One question, Councilman Miranda brought up Amendment 3, and as we've discussed privately and publicly, whether or not this passes, we shouldn't assume that it's not going to pass. There's a lot of political calculations in there, a lot of different issues, but something's going to pass eventually. Maybe not 250, maybe 150, something's going to pass. Could you tell the public, in your estimation, Mr. Rojero, What revenue-enhancing mechanisms and tools are in this plan that can additionally increase revenue to the City of Tampa?